Totara

So am I right in thinking filling the 55 liter tank up with 49 liters of NZ saltwater (1.028 sg) and 6 liters of freshwater?

Yeah sorry. Anyway I am now sure on the test kits and can move on. Whats the salinity of NZ Water? I think that its a bit above the optimal reef SG am I right? What % RO should I have in with it?

So getting all API except for magnesium is ok?

Cheers Kinnadian. I should be able to kickstart my cycle sometime soon then. I've been revising my test kit plan. Will I be safe getting API Ammonia, pH, Nitrite, Nitrate and Salifert KH, Magnesium, Calcium and Phosphate? Cheers Will

I haven't got it yet, I will let you know when I have. Ok I will go with that. So basically add 3 pieces of frozen shrimp then wait until after the algae bloom to add fish?

Just thought I would add a quick update. I have bought my wavemaker (WP-10 from fishstreet), and all I have left are the lights and test kits. I have a couple of questions about cycling, Im really conscious that the tank will start smelling if I use shrimp or similar for the cycle. And with the tank in the lounge that would be a huge issue. I was thinking of using the Red Sea Marine Care Program which has a set daily dosing and lets you add a fish at day 7, corals day 21 etc. Is there any cheaper option because I don't mind waiting. Cheers, Will

Where did you get that plastic tub?

Well from my basic knowledge of Betta's genetics there is 4 layers of skin cells each making up the coloration. I think there's something like 20,000 genes controlling the various layers so getting parents with all the correct alleles would be damn near impossible. With two "perfect" parents you would get 100% offspring the same as their parents, but with all the variables I would expect its around 30%. So I'd say alan's answer is the best. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. :sml1:

Hahahaha :cophot:

Im guessing its a indoor pond for them? They get about 3 feet long dont they? They aren't the most active of sharks I guess though, how many do you have? Its going to be awesome when they are all in their tank.

That is so awesome! Where did you get him? Assuming he eats a lot like most other baby sharks how much do you have to feed him?

Awesome. Out of interest si, do you sell/swap your frags? I would like to have a local place to get them. Cheers

Awesome, I really wanted to grow a scrolling montipora as the "feature" coral so the CoralBox looks like they should manage it. And how loud was the AquaOne one anyway? Cheers, Will

Just thought I would give a quick update, I am picking up my 200L barrel tomorrow night and should have the tank filled sometime this week or next week. My next question is, how loud is the AquaOne stock return pump? Will it be audible? Cheers, Will

:cophot: Looking really cool, where did you get your volcanic rock? I'd like to get some for a new aquascape.....

So a full list of test kits I need is: Ammonia Nitrite pH Nitrate & Alkalinity Calcium Magnesium Phosphate (I know I dont need it, I just want to be prepared) I may just bite the bullet and get all Red Sea / Salifert. I know I wont regret it.

Sweet, I guess that sorts my light. Building my own would not be a lot cheaper. I now have a question about test kits, I am going to get a API one for my basic parameters. And then get Red Sea ones for important things, what I want to know is what test kits should I get, and what ones are important that I should get from Red Sea. Cheers, Will

Sorry I keep changing my mind, but I want to explore each and every option. What would the CoralBox M1-30 be like? Could it grow some of the easier SPS like I want? Cheers

Haha :rolfl: that explains why my LFS Silver Dollar tank had plants last week, and no longer does.....

I thought Silver Dollars liked plants? But your right about the geophagus.

Oh ok, well it looks really good! Is it going to be planted? Any other details on it?

Wait so your going to add all those fish in at once? That will overload your biofilter I would think. I would start with the bristlenoses, or a bigger school of silver dollars.

Nice stand, did you get it with the tank? If I was you I would add in some more clown loaches, they have some really cool group behavior, especially when feeding.

The only LED I can find on rapidled.com is the Royal Blue, can someone steer me in the right direction of which LED's to buy? So many choices Royal Blue: http://www.rapidled.com/cree-xp-e-blue-3w-led/

Can anyone tell me if these lights are any good? The guy at Living Reef told me they would be perfect for my tank and I could grow anything including SPS. Just wanted to check. http://www.livingreef.co.nz/p/210/micmol-aqua-mini-color-led Cheers, Will