brett2003

Hello all, I'm presently running a sort-of converted freshwater aquarium (an old AquaOne AR620T) as a saltwater system, but it's just not working out - the filter and lighting are not at all adequate (despite what my LFS told me), and short of some serious hacksaw DIY, there's not really anywhere to put a skimmer or decent lights (plus it would seem a waste to buy decent equipment for an aquarium that had so many problems when I could just buy a new one ) The current stats are: 130L 15kg Live Rock Lighting: 2 x PL 18W Mix Triphosphor/Blue Fluorescents Stock: 1 x Clarkii clownfish, 1 x Coral beauty, 1 GSP coral (so far hasn't opened, had it for only five days so far, though), 1 Astraea snail (also five days in, looks like it's dying, to be honest - spent 2 hours acclimating it, but 'manually' rather than by the drip method, so that could be the problem) NH4: 0ppm NO2: 0ppm NO3: 10ppm (water change within the last few days, had some trouble keeping this down, convinced the filter isn't helping as its prone to getting detritus trapped in it) SG: 1.026 pH: 8.4 kH: 10 PO4: Approx 0.1ppm Anyway. There are two plausible 'set' upgrade options that have caught my eye, the AquaMarine 900 (with the apparently somewhat controversial MariSys filter) and the RedSea Max 130D. http://www.aquaone.co.uk/aquamarine_900.php http://www.redseafish.com/index.aspx?id=4377 Now, if money were no object, I would absolutely go with the 130D, but the reality is that there's a _massive_ difference between the two in cost (at Hollywood Fish Farm, anyway) - they quoted me $2000 for the RSM130D and only $1400 for the AM900. Being as I am a student, money is obviously a pretty big deal. My question is thus this - I know the AM900 isn't as good as the RSM130D, but is it good enough? As in, if I keep the bioload sensible, and replace the filter media in the MariSys (which includes ceramics, glass wool and foam pads) with the coral rubble I have in my existing filter, would it be acceptable? I've read a few forums threads on various boards about the AM900 and it seems to be a bit of a love/hate proposition(!)

Hi there, I have to be honest, my initial motiviation for signing up was to pick the brains of some locals (I mean, honestly, the US forums are great and all, but I get so tired of a) converting everything to imperial, b) explaining that equipment and fish are often way more expensive here in NZ and c) that I am absolutely sure that my tapwater is NO3/PO4 free lol) Anyway, it seemed kind of overly forthright to just ask a question and not introduce myself! I'm an apartment dweller in Eden Terrace (in Auckland), along with my flatmate (who also owns fish) and my partner (who is very long suffering, prefers puppies and thinks we're both mad). We're all doing PhDs, so we have, perhaps unsurprisingly, been compared to the crew from the Big Bang Theory by a disturbing number of people - although there is some dispute as to whether my partner is Howard or Leonard, as well as which of my flatmate and I is opinionated and mouthy enough to be Sheldon At the moment, we have 116L and 152L freshwater community tanks, and I've recently converted an old AquaOne AR620T to saltwater (which isn't working out so well, so that's what the question I intend to post on the Saltwater forums is about). I kept fish as a teenager, and recently got back into it (around 18 months ago) - after some initial chemical problems (caused by Auckland's incredibly soft water) the freshwater aquariums, at least, are going great