chimera

yeah, same dude who does the ca, mg and alk calculator. the key (yet simple) things to remember are 1. CR's add balanced amounts of Ca and Alk and 2. when configured correctly they will simply maintain the right levels, not increase them. this obviously means, initially, you have to use dosing of some form to get the right level and the right balance of ca and alk then use the CR to maintain those levels. then, occasionally you have to ensure that the CR is keeping up with changes (corals grow, new ones get added, water changes alter levels etc)

dunno, i got hrv i hear dvs typically use fewer outlets and place them in hallways, whereas hrv typically put in more and put them in bedrooms. thing is if you close your bedroom door, an outlet in the hallway aint gonna do much for your room. cant comment on dvs, never been in a house with it installed though.

:lol: highly doubt it. we got one in each of the bathrooms doesnt do bugger all. waste of time and money IMO. need a lawnmower motor hooked up to some 30" ducting to suck the condensation outta the air

yeah i've been reasonably happy with mine of recent too, still needs some tuning for alk, but ca is ok. i either need to upgrade the pump as well coz i shake it and CO2 bubbles rise through the media (either that or get some bigger media) the drip rate is relatively high otherwise it clogs up, otherwise levels are reasonably stable and corals are happy. i top up alk a little every now and then still but heaps better than before. Ca remains reaonably stable on 420. alk drops about 0.2 a day, sitting on 8 at the moment.

yup, thats the biggest problem with houses these days, they're made to be water/air tight. aluminium joinery is so sealed you get condensation. bring back villas

yes and no. there is a setting (not sure what they call it) which is how much air it normally kicks out when its idle (ie: temperature in ceiling is lower than setting on controller). the setting is from 1 to 6 and 3 is for the average house. the guy said 6 is setting for REALLY bad condensation. im going to up ours to 4 tonight (as its a reasonably large house) and see what happens. however there are a few reasons im not concerned yet: 1. it has only been a week or so, they reckon 3 weeks or more before you start to notice the full benefits. 2. the top of the roman blinds are fixed against the wall at the top, in other words there is no room for "hrv" air to drop down behind them. i need to remount them out from the wall to make a gap for the hrv air, i think this should make a difference. the areas where there are no curtains yet (kitchen, my office etc) there is no condensation at all. lastly, no carpet in the house yet so not sure what a difference that will make. so far all good though. definately the ventilation! you can seriously taste the difference. the "heating" side of things only lasts as long as you have warm air in the ceiling cavity. it definately makes a difference late arvo/early evening though, usually fireplace is on at 5pm, now we can wait til 7:30pm - 8pm. it basically keeps the house warmer longer, but definately not all night... there is a tradeoff on cold nights. the humidity is definately much lower but because hrv is constantly "on" (its always blowing air from the ceiling into the house) this means that when the ceiling temp drops to, in our case, 12 at night and the house is at 20, its pumping 12 degree air into the house overnight (although very slowly). the side effect being that its just as cold as it was without hrv late at night - however, on the plus side it's a much more comfortable "cold" because of the lower humidity and extra ventilation. as i say, its a trade off - we still have oil heaters on in kids rooms at night but because of lower humidity and better ventilation, even with the kids having colds they have stopped coughing at night immediately after the system went in. i've found that if i put the oil heaters on too high, the kids start coughing again because it gets too dry. so having the oil heater on low just to take the chill out of the air, its a really comfortable sleep. you can seriously "taste" the difference, its kinda like sleeping with a dive mask on :lol: will let you know my thoughts in another couple weeks time, all moisture should have been dispersed by then. not sure when we can afford carpet (got fish expenses you know ), but when we can i'll let you know the difference that makes

you sure its not its great great great grandson? :lol:

too nice a weekend, been out and about in the garden doing the big winter "spring clean". 9m2 skip full to the brim of rubbish!!!

i like the smaller footprint, definately tidier looking. but do they disperse water as good as the current streams? if your tank is designed well enough, you can hide the current sized streams anyway. but if its down to both being similar cost and performing the same, then its a given which will sell better

yeah im thinking the same. nicer viewing - but then again, is it worth that extra cost? probably not... the front of my current tank has a couple of scratches from sand getting caught under cleaning magnet.

Glass-Shoppe can do 12mm at $471.31 / sq m. So it seems plenty of people can supply it, you just need to ask

perhaps you should read the entire article layton http://www.dtplankton.com/phytoplankton ... dbeds.html

It matters a great deal. Reef keeping in the 70's and 80's and to an extent, for some of the 90's we were in the dark ages. Many conclusions that were made then have changed. Not saying they have an expiry date, just new research can show things differently.

far too cold. I assume pb means why is this not being blocked by mods if thats the case, why should it be? it was funny

the dates of those references are pretty old?

what getting blocked?

front piece only will be starfire, worth the $441 i reckon just to get that extra clarity. whats it worth for a piece of float in 10mm at that size anyway?

one of these?

even if it's covered in coralline?

what do you mean by this?

difference in colour between std float glass and starfire or diamante...

:lol:

put stand in lounge place tank on top of stand fill with water smallish tank so floor should be able to support the weight easy enough put them in the back? requirement of most corals ??? yes you do

using starfire for front only, no need for me doing sides and back if its an inwall. i think i'll stick with 10mm, lower safety margin but what the heck good bracing will certainly help.

Got a quote on starfire glass from Metro Glasstech in Chch. I asked for a price on 1800x650mm starfire glass in both 10mm and 12mm. They dont supply 12mm themselves but have another supplier in the North island they can onsell in 12mm. Prices include GST and edges polished: 10mm = $441 12mm = $738 For clean cut edges, save $80 for the 10mm and $99 for the 12mm Quite a jump for 12mm. I think I will definately go starfire for the front panel and probably opt for 10mm