petplanet

Same. I run carbon for about 5 days every six weeks or so.

All the snails do is get rid of the visable algae which they turn in to waste. They also add to the bio load of the tank. If you are concerned about phosphate just use a phosphate absorber. I use JBL's and find it to be very good. Tried Green X and it did nothing for my tank. My phosphate level was 5-10ppm (yes 5-10 not 0.5-1.0). Now it is 0-0.25ppm and I have nine fish, the smallest being 2 large clownfish. These guys are feed everyday and get 1/2 a sheet of nori everyday. No algae in the tank, havn't seen cyno for years.

I take it by your measurements that your tank is 500 deep and 250 wide. It that is the case then you have a major lack of surface area. Generally saltwater tanks should be wider than they are deep as saltwater does not have the oxygen carrying capacity of freshwater. Did you buy all the gear new from the same shop? Which shop was it? Are the tubes the original ones that came with the light fitting?

Do you mean Arcadia?

Keep the brocoli for yourself. Get some nori sheets from the supermarket (the ones you make sushi with). The tang will really rip into it. Keeps them nice and fat. They tend t eat a lot more algae when they are in good condition. I use JBL Phosex to keep my phosphate levels down. There is a really good Aquaclear quickfilter you can put on the 201 powerhead. I would put a surface skimmer on the cannister filter. Really helps keep the top surface water clear. Ehiem do one (real expensive) or there is an Atman copy that is really cheap. What tubes are in the lightfitting (brand).

Hmmm, take a hint. Feed him or the clown gets it.

Hmmm....who hasn't thought "gee I must do something about that" and not done it.

What supplement brands are people using? We can run a poll once we have a list. So far: SeaChem, Red Sea, JBL

Nope, never have. It is a good idea but if you have another tank that is a reasonable size, and equiped properly, who can resist the temptation not to stock it up as well.

If you want a fairly large quantity, go to your LFS and see what they can get of their suppliers. I know at least two suppliers that have heaps of them and they could probably do a deal with them.

Do you mean the replacement cost of what I have now or how much I have spent due to bad advice, lack of knowledge, crappy stock, acts of god and fishy suicide?

My tank is 280 litres and holds 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Scorpius Tang, 2 Blue Tangs, 2 Perc Clowns, 1 Blue Line Clarke Clown, 1 Flame Angel, 1 Lunar Wrasse. They get Tetra marine flake every day or second day and 1/2 a sheet of nori. A piece of rock with algae grown on it about onces a month. I only feed 1 type of dry food at a time as it take quite a while to get through even a small containers. The tangs are really pandered to with feeding , keeps them nice and fat and growing - nothing worse than skinny tangs. Tell your LFS to give Biosuppliers in Auckland a call. They can order the Mysis shrimp from them and only have to by a box of about 10 at a time.

You can buy malachite green (the active ingredient in Malkon) form a company in Auckland (can't remember the name). I brought 100g for about $160.00. That is enough for about 50 litres of the stuff at a 0.2% solution like malkon. I think they also sell a 20g pack. Shops can buy (and sell) malachite green from Petware which is the same as malkon but cheaper and not a licenced animal remedy. Bottle states it is a 20g/l solution - it is not! I made my solution at that strength and used at their dosing rate. Way to strong. It will kill your fish. You only need 2 grams of powder to 1 litre of water.

Not good. You should always cycle a tank in properly before adding livestock. You need zero nitrite. That stuff is deadly. Unloading the corals to someone else (or the shop you got them from) is a good idea. Fully cycle the tank in then get them back. If you can't unload the corals then do lots of water changes. You could use some nitrite absorber like Green X but I don't know how good they are. If you are using saltwater mix keep an eye on your pH as when mixed the pH can be very high. Best to mix it a day or two in advance.

Bigger the tank the better. 3ft is a good size. Don't keep them with goldfish. They will eat them or the goldfish will nibble the axolytls. Easy to feed - frozen axl food, bloodworm etc. Hand feeding makes less mess and you know which ones have eaten if you have several. Feed daily when small. If it ain't groqing your not feeding enough. Feed big ones twice a week. Planted tanks are great. Hardly ever get sick. Easy to treat. Need cold water with good filtration.

Guess you are planning on never moving house!!!! Imagine how hard it would be to move with water and liestock as well. Might need to upsize the TV. Looks a little small in the corner will that monster.

Sound plan. You never know what nasties might climb aboard. Probably nothing worse than you can get already. Sure beats doing it in your own tank. I will have to check rock pools more closely in the future!

Are they really worth using? Is tap water really that bad.

Sounds like mouth fungus. Furan would clear it up.

I was using Masterpet carbon but have just changed to Aqua One. It comes in its own net bag. I only run it for a week every 4-6 weeks.

My partner works in the freight industry and deals with MAF every day. They have to fax documents to them like every other freight company for clearance. MAF have one fax in Auckland and spit the dummy if you fax it to another region. So thousands of faxs a day. Can't possibly except a PDF file, technology a bit scary, must have a peice of paper at all cost.

I brought an Arcadia quad T5 - 1 year, 6 tubes and only two fittings now work. Must say my corals never looked better even under two tubes. It replaces the 5 fluros that I had. Will be returning the unit to the supplier when a replacement arrives.

Get out a here, people at MAF have friends.....Can't be in Auckland MAF. We made a basic, and I mean basic telephone enquire, they took our details and said that would call back. Two days later they rang back and told us they were to busy and couldn't help. Real helpful when it is their damn regulations to start with. I know another guy who was told if he enquired about his goods one more time the paper work would go to the back of the cue. It somehow went missing for six days....don't get me started on MAF....

Good luck on that one. Prepare your knees, you will be doing a lot of this Just because you want to import small amounts make no difference to them.

Nice anemone. PLEASE tell me you put a sponge on the end of that Eden powerhead.....anemone+powerhead is not a good look.