Brianemone

even if i where planning on keeping a smaller tank long term i would still have a sump (very very worth it) i dont have one now cause i downgraded when we moved, i regret that now but i have learnt from it the hard way i agree that skimmers are a must for a newbie, just look at the crap they pull out.

sound like a good idea,

the cheapest place to get Mh's would be an electrical shop (pies should have a contact or place in wellington that you could contact) or second hand is also good

if youve got room for the tank youve got room for the sump. you can have a skimmer without a sump but on a hex tank it would look a little awkward best way to create current would be with a return from the sump, as it would be hidden from plain view

most of us are in agreement that for a beginner its better to start as explained. its pointless to reccomend substandard approaches to a hobby that involves living things no wait not pointless cruel

lol ive got 150w on a 88 litre tank good fun

sounds like the added flow might have triggered something

so, claire (my wife) has decided that she wants to buy a house, (it makes sence) so the smallish tank dimentions can go out the window the tank is not "allowed to be huge (ill be pushing it to get to 6 foot) so my plan is make it rather deep (front to back) the final dimension will be decided by the house obviously (kindof ) so the plan is to get all the things i need for a larger tank and then get the tank its self most things like water movers are generic and will do well in any large tank the only thing is height which will determine the MH wattage

i would spend all my money on my child if i had to, it comes down to love i think but back to the subject, i dont think the price of the tank should be included or salt mix or test kits or electricity or filter or this or that the fact is that the suggestion was to put a list of reccomended items for any starting a marine tank, and the majority of us reccomend skimmer with lots of rock, you can plead your case all you want but it doesnt change the fact that its the veiw of a minority

duh who said you need to go buy it all at once, the fact is you can do what im doing and buy a metal halide this month and then the next one in another months time then the next month get some more equiptment, its going to take a year to get all the equiptment i want/need but hey at least its going to be worth it

i think in my current tank one will be more than enough, (we'll see) the upgrade is slowly changing as Claire has decided she wants to buy a house so the small tank dimentions might get slightly larger but she said no to a 8 footer (i think thats your fault reef :lol: shes scared ill start a quarintine facility)

very true no flatworms or pesty anemones

you last mentioned that your anemone is shrinking??? doesnt sound too happy to me if you know what you are doing and have connections then you can setup a small tank for less and have it bee successfull, but that is a small tank and after some experiance (that is gained by having a larger more expensive tank) the fact is rock for a tank four foot in size is going to cost a few hundred there is no escaping that (other than knowing someone that is getting rid of it)

so again as long as the water stays in the tank obviously one pinpoint of water blast like flow is not ideal but more broad wave like/tidal action

so back to this question is there such a thing as too much flow????

they dont usually carry high kelvin rating bulbs

if you can put in more flouros then you can put in t5s (space wise i mean) i beleive they use different balasts

that right you could i guess it comes down to personal taste

yeah i remember something about a photographer.

yeah so it would probably be a little overkill. slow would be good for the discus so 300l/hr would be ample would you have it on a float switch???

i have a via aqua that i would use for that i believe its a 3300, maybe something a bit smaller would be ideal is it for your discus tank??

he does have an awesome tank i should do a tribute nano the fish look as though they are photo shopped its so clear, isnt he a photographer?

the first pic is calustrea (trumpet coral) then the rest are mushrooms other than the grumpy leather thats avoiding being eaten nice fish too so are you starting the move to a full blown reef?

for stuff like that its usually quiker to get an answer by googleing it starboard is like a chopping board material that you put on the bottom of your tank if your going barebottom to prevent the glass getting broken if rocks fall down and to give it a white apperance (clean sand) durso's standpipes are what youll see in most peoples overflows built to deaden the noise that would come from a straight polle with water going in it

not to call you out on that, but what the cabbage are you on about. anyway back to the topic should i put baffles before the skimmer in the sump, from what ive seen almost every does have them. is it tostop the micro bubbles entering the skimmer motor or is it just as a part of a series of baffles to stop them returning into the main tank and maintain water levels??