chimera

i agree with the million dollar question too, couldnt quite understand their answer on that one!

cheers pies - just one small correction, its cyanobacteria. thanks all the same, now i know where to search to help get rid of it!

Test your knowledge via this online quiz, good for a laugh... http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/ww2b/ww2b5/blwhowants.htm even as a beginner, i made it to $4k without getting any wrong!

yeah, it does, but is it good or bad?!!! almost looks like dark macroalgae on the sand?! maybe i need one of these http://www.bbe-moldaenke.de/ what is frustrating is that there are many articles indicating that some red algae is bad shit - but none of them have pic's so I can compare.

see pic below, is this coral ok? during the day the polyps (?) come out all over it but in the early evening they start to disappear in patches - specifically around the top edges. you can see if you look at the top of the coral. also, whats this coral called?

i have this stuff growing on the sand in my tank, its a redish brown colour. any ideas what it is? i only have an ion exchange unit at the moment (getting a rodi system soon) so am putting it down to traces of phosphates. im going to syphon it out (but wanted to get a photo first) any suggestions?

I want to (eventually) get an anenome for my clowns once Ive got more live rock and some better water flow. whats the "easiest" of anenomes to keep?

no shit, thought you might have had a special drill bit for it. where do you get the piping that sits either side of the glass then? is this something you can simply source from a hardware store?

pies - quick question for you. i've just got hold of a 2nd sump and want to add an overflow to it (to basically run sump/refugium) q is: how or where do you go to get a hole drilled into the glass???

a little late reply i know, but i found this site which i thought i'd share - its an excellent quick read for the beginner wanting to know the important areas to maintain a successful reef tank (basically what i have read and learnt over the last month summarised into a single web page!) http://www.thecomma.co.uk/aquariumfish/

I had to sell my car to start up my reef tank... he hee, i wish! Layton - that reef pic on the first page is just SOoooo cool I've set it to be my wallpaper

my point is, how the f&*#! can you define that as a "fish tank". its a god damn vase what a joke keeping a fish in that is just ridiculous

"IN A REEF AQUARIUM, ONLY BAD THINGS HAPPEN QUICKLY" i just love that quote - its so true. something I have decided to keep in the back of my mind... as i consider rushing my next purchase...

hmmm, cheers pies, good to know the erosion and pressure part. probably why they cost so much!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Lifestyle/Pets ... 118141.htm Contents: 1 x live pebble 1 x frag of a frag 1 x copepod and i'll run it using a 10 foot skimmer...

reef - i say calcium build up because reef central mentioned something about calcium build up - maybe i got the terminology wrong but thats what i read. now i cant find the f&*%*ing article on ideas to fix. white vinegar is probably the go i think, good stuff to clean with i've found so far.

it is the in-sump model, not sure exact brand (its the main one hff sell for about $1,600) nothing seems to be blocking pipes anywhere so i think it is a calcium build up.

I've got a Deltec protein skimmer which works very well for my setup. However, I want to clean out the pipes coz I think there is a calcium build up specifically in one of the venturi valves or furthur back in the pump somewhere. The reason I say this is because if I blow into one of the inlet air hoses it bubbles out the valve very easily yet the other inlet hose I need to blow quite hard I almost passed out I've submersed it in a large bucket of fresh water and have turned it on for the last hour to see if that will clear it. Doesnt seem to have done the trick though... Any other bright ideas?

if it already has fish and has been established for a while, its already cycled. best indication is "do the fish look happy" - are they swimming around and gills moving at a smooth rate, dont look they are 'gasping' for breath, arent just sitting still looking like they're about to die! btw, its not a dumb question if you dont know the answer! gotta start learning somewhere

saltwater and metal = rust. stick with timber and they generally have nicer finishes too. tough tanks web site dont even have any pic's - what a joke! talk about lose easy business...

Here is a summary from what I have read in the past few weeks, much I suspect you know but I'll add what I've learnt just incase others want a read... Light is absorbed and scattered by water molecules and dissolved substances or suspended particles, so light covering a larger surface area should provide a more even "spread" around the tank than more intense light in fewer areas. More less-intense lights are better than fewer more-intense lights. The intensity of light shining onto a given area is measured in "lux" or lumens (lamps emission) per square metre - this is what you need to base your measurements on. Find out what lux should be for a reef tank and work backwards from that. Equation is e1 x a1 + e2 x a2 + etc.. where e = the lux required x the area to be lit (in your case, 1.9 sq metres) x correction factor. the correction factor is dependant on water and depth, eg: clear colourless water = 2, over 1 metre depth = 3 etc. i'd give yours a 3 since its close to 1 metre and its salt (more dissolved minerals) say lux for reef should be 10,000 then thats 10,000 x 1.9 x 3 which is 57,000. that means total light needed is 57,000 lumens. find out how many lumens each light you have emits and work out if you have enough from that (based on 10,000 lux - you might want to check what this should be for reef tanks) Regarding reflectors, the reflector should be as big as possible - the more light that can be reflected onto the water surface the better. Best materials for this are polished aluminium, stainless or enamelled steel, mirrored glass or plastic. I think your design on the reflector is perfect, the gentle curvuture means light is reflected over the water surface evenly. The hood and light needs to be as close to the water as practical to ensure minimum loss of intensity. The intensity of the light is only to a certain depth. White light decreases most rapidly whereas blue-green light penetrates farthest into water (up to about 100m at sea) Therefore, generally more white full spectrum light is required in proportion to blue-green light. Reflection from the waters surface decreases the amount of actual light penetrating the water. Further more, surface movement by waves and bubbles can reflect up to a third of the incident light. Problem is, in a reef tank water turbulence on the surface is a good thing (circulation of nutrients, removal of waste, gas exchange between air/water etc) so its a catch-22, you need to provide more intense light than with a tank with no water flow. Catch-22 again, more intense light (especially hallides) produce intense heat which can heat up the aquarium, therefore need some form of cooling system so I'd add a couple of fans in your hood design to compensate for this! Umm, thats about as much as I know - hope some of the theory should point you in the right direction

makes sense - im still learning with marine so i think i'll test for both

fresh or saltwater? for fresh, its mainly for plants. its "put" into tanks simply via an inlet pipe straight into the water. you can get a cheap setup from jansens (duplex co2 reactor) for about $90. from personal experience, i wouldnt bother with this unless you get a serious system. the co2 kits (contains chemicals to create co2) is expensive and doesnt last too long before it needs replacing. for salt, its used with a calcium reactor to form calcium carbonate which helps coral growth.

layton/pies - thanks for the reply re: aluminium. pies - the heat exchanger sits in the tank with pipes flowing to and from it to the radiator that sits external to the sump (with fan). no salt water goes near the radiator. layton - so surely a stable ph indicates a good alkalinity??? thanks for your replies.

damn i cracked up at your replies. touchy touchy, all on the measurement of a "hand". i was basing my handful (not pixie and not troll - an adult *human* hand) on my 3 foot (130 litre) tank so ok, perhaps a little more than required for a 2 foot tank. you can then argue is that flat or a mound of rock salt lets measure in tablespoons - my 'handful' is about 3 or 4 tablespoons. i have been adding a 'handful' of salt every 2 week water change to my tank for the last 7 years and I dont see dead fish so have no idea what you're on about - i wouldnt believe everything you read. Alan - I worded that wrong sorry. What i was meaning was more along the lines of adding dechlorinators without regular water changes. It just adds more chemicals to the water without removing the bad stuff - pretty much what the label on dechlorinator bottles say. what a stir!