petplanet

Oh Fay, nice pic.

Yeah I agree. Problem is they hop in their car and drive to a store that will sell them a fish and not hassle them about it. In my experience wholesalers pass on very little/no information about the fish they sell. If you don't ask, they don't tell. I generally ask people what they have in their tanks and how big they are. But if it's a bad day.......

A baster - hardware stores sell them. Plastic tube with a rubber end. Great for blowing crap out from between rocks and turning over your sand/gravel bed. Syringes - for spot feeding corals and with needle for aptasia destruction.

I have to agree with dogmatrix. You can save heaps if you import but it is more hassle especially if you have not done it before. Even the super cheap heaters are only really cheap at the moment for one reason. A change in the electrical standards. All the wholesalers had to off load their stuff with the old plugs. They now have to be half teflon coated.

The water is normally pretty clear anyway. If it has sat for awhile everything will have settled so it does not need filtering. It never gets old. Just store it in the dark.

Layton, I think your lossing the skimmer fight IMO. I agree skimmers are great but not essential.

Jager Smager. Cheap heater will do the job just as well. Less than $40 for an Aqua One. Lighting T5's but more likely metal halides. Aqua One do a double 150W with 4 blue tubes. Probably retails around $900.00. I agree, off the shelf prices make it much easier.

I used to use Takapuna Boat Ramp. Use straight away or store for three months. In theory everthing dies in the water and settles to the bottom. In reality it would probably be fine to use anytime. Best time to collect is incoming tide, near full, calm, still day and not just after rough weather or rain.

Tank + Stand $350 Sump (3foot) $90 Plumbing $50 Return pump $150 Rock 20kg $200 Lighting Single Fluro + Power Glo Tube $140.00 Large Floating magnet $19.95 Plastic Eftpos Card Free (depending on bank. Best tool ever for removing hard stuff) Nets $9.90 (thats 2x6" nets) Hydrometer/Thermometer $14.00 300W Heater $39.95 or less Test kits (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH) $80 Aquarium Pharmacueticals Saltwater Master Test Kit. Probably not considered top of the line but more than good enough. Gravel $50 NSW (which most reefies seem to use) Without Skimmer, around $1200.00

It probably won't be the only pump the system has (powerheads). Worst case they gradually cool. I had a heater go in the middle of winter and the tank dropped to 14 degrees. Got a new heater, they warmed up again.

Yeah I would agree on the Laguna. I have one in my pond running on a prefilter. The sponges will be like solid chunks of mud and its still pumping.

Why not go for a pump that is not a brand name top of the line? Aqua One pond pump would do just fine and would be a lot cheaper. I know a lot of you guys don't like them but they are getting better all the time. As far as importing, maybe that should just be listed as a suggestion. It would be easier for most people if the items used are just off the shelf.

I would leave the overflow clear and let the crap settle in the sump. That way it will be easy to sypon out. The phosphate remover will catch a lot of crap in the overflow and probably start stinking too. It will have better water contact in the sump.

So why not go hardware only pricings - $500, $1000, $2000+ (tanks, pumps, heaters, lights,skimmers etc) in tank sizes - 3ft, 4ft, 5ft+ Approximate non livestock, deco for each size (rocks,sand) Additional equipment - test kits, hydrometers, fish food, gravel cleaners, books, RCD's, timers etc. Base on general retail prices because that is what most people will pay. Disclaimers for DIY or import to save $$$. Budget Beginners 3ft System under $500(recommended fish only or fish and hardy corals) 3ft 180litre tank 90x45x45 $100.00 300W Heater $25-$40 Twin 3ft Light Fitting $120.00 (Aqua One which comes with freshwater tubes) 2 x Power Glo Tubes $60.00 2 x Powerheads $120.00 (Budget Aqua Ones) Deco 2x4kg bags coral sand $40 10kg coral rock $100 Basic additional equipment: Saltwater Master Test Kit - Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate around $70.00 (Aquarium Pharmacuticals) Hydrometer/ Thermometer around $14 Gravel cleaner $14 Multi Board $10 (RCD would be better but its all about $$$, are you all using them?) Book $25 (Barrons Saltwater Aquarium) Hardware $440.00 Deco: $140.00 Additional Equipment: $133 Total spend around: $713.00 Recommend improvements after initial setup or changes keeping budget in mind? Freshys making the change to the dark side would already have some equipment such as hang on externals, cannisters, U/G that they could reuse. This is a basic, budget, entry level setup. Costs as much as my first car!

That anemone is a Heteractis magnifica that I brought from another store out of there tank lit with twin fluros, put in my T5 lit tank, and yes it shrank, now under twin metal halides and growing. I would go for a Macrodactyla doreensis. 180 litres - up to 25cm of fish - that is the recommended stocking rate according the the Practical Fishkeeping Magazine. This is a basic $500 system - later add skimmer, upgrade lights, gradually add livestock. No one sets up all at once. As for skimmers, I have been busy with my shop so mine has been U/S for two months and I have not done a water change. It all looks good. Baby hammer corals are growing nicely, pearl bubbles and anemone are way to big for the space they have. My tank is about 280 litres and had 9 fish (about 69 cm of fish). No problems. There are less now but they were moved into my shop display tank. If people only started with $5000 systems, how many people do you think would be in this hobby. I know I wouldn't have started a tank.

Put me down for 1 or 2 fish lost a year..... $500 tank Tank 3ft 180litre $99.95 Heater $24.95 Twin 3ft Fluro $119.95 2 x better quality tubes for marines $60.00 2 x Powerheads $100.00 10kg bag of coral sand $45.00 5kg of dry coral rock $50.00 $500 well spent. Basic/budget equipment. Heaps of water to keep two clowns and an anemone. Much better than an AR380 34 litre clownfish death camp. Sure, tell them about test kits, hydrometers, books, food etc, etc but don't scare them of before they start. They will buy some stuff and pass on others. Unfortunatly most people take the attitude of if there is no problem, there is no testing. Most of us learn best by the error part of trial and error!

The Reef Aquarium Vol 1 and 2 - great books in my opinion. Good pictures and care details for corals. The Marine Aquarium Reference and The Marine Aquarium Handbook both by Martin Moe - much more technical and the handbook details breeding clownfish. Corals of the World - old book Marine Aquaria and Miniature Reefs - good but old basic book The Manual of Marine Inverterbrates - good basic book

Yes, but most people don't start big. I always say to customers start with a 3ft tank minimum. You could do it for $500 and it would work. No/dirt cheap skimmer, powerheads and rocks and a fluro or two. Gets you in the game. That could be step one. Step 2, use 3ft as sump for bigger tank, lights for refuge. Not much wasted.

Reef racks are great if you want a nice clear space behind the rocks for good water flow. No point wating rock just piling them up.

I think that proves my point. Everyone has their preferences. My current tank runs on cannisters, powerheads and a skimmer just fine. Sure, maybe they are not the best buy but I already had them. I have read several books which discribe experts using nothing but rock and airlifts and that worked well for them. Just a note, when I replace the tank in the next year it will be a sump and a better skimmer to maximise water volume and increase fish load.

Wrong forum for that to happen! Can't agree with that for a start. You can do it with all those things or none of them. I would take plenty of advice from anyone who gives it, read a few books written by experts and then come to a decision that you are happy with. First decision is fish only, lots of fish and corals, mostly corals and not a lot of fish. I would go with a sump for added water volume and the ability to hide equipment. Fish only, fluros. If I had corals then a metal halide. You can pick up a twin 150w metal halide with 4 blue tubes for $900ish. You can always start the tank with fish, upgrade lighting later and add additional equipment. All the equipment you would need to start is tank, sump, return pump and stand (and at this rate a bigger apartment).

Can you post a picture of the anemone? I would let it keep walking. It will hopefully find a good spot and settle there. Some like burying their bases in the substrate while others attach inside rocks or just sit on the rocks.

I had a wrasse that would eat star polyps and zenia. My Flame Angel doesn't touch a thing.

The store probably did not have the right lighting or current for it long term.

This is my shop display tank about two weeks after adding the light and some livestock. Tragically nemo as you can see. All the livestock has come out of my tank at home. I plan to stock it with all tank raised corals except for the anemone which had spent a year shrinking in my tank at home. It is probably 1/4 the size it was when I first got it. It is a Heteractis magnifica and the T5's at home just did not cut it. It now sits under twin 150W halides and the full blast of the return pump. Since this photo it has darkened up and grown a little.