wasp

Ira is correct, it should not be making that much waste. Waste should be running somewhere around 2 or 3 to 1 of good water. To achieve this you put a restrictor on the waste outlet, otherwise all your water just flushes out the waste pipe. The people you bought it off should be able to supply the correct restrictor, but if not, Anthony Preston will. I think they're about 6 bucks. Not just any restrictor, you have to get the right one for your unit.

Well here's a good story, since we're telling them My Flasher Wrasse gets pretty excited at feeding time, couple of days ago he saw me coming with the food and jumped right out of the tank and landed on the carpet at my feet. This despite having a glass strip around the tank to prevent this. I picked him up and put him back in, and then dumped the food in. He looked a bit off colour for about 30 seconds, and then got straight back in and started eating.

Agreed some (but not many) wild reefs will hit 35 degrees, however many species will not cope with that, it is likely these reefs will not contain some of the species we would like to have in our tanks.

Would look awesome in your tank, but they are touch and go, if you get one it may or may not make it long term so be prepared for that. The mechanism of keeping them alive is not yet fully understood, but some people have had them for years.

Just had a look at that thing in my previous post about crystal sea, it is somewhat worrisome, maybe worth trying a good dose of either another brand, or NSW, and see what happens. If you're new to NSW, be aware it has a salinty in NZ around 1.028, and needs diluting. Talk to Suphew or Pies for some good info on collecting in Wellington.

The water at Takapuna has tested well for strontium, presumably it will be the same where you are. However as strontium is absorbed and used by some of the things we keep, such as coraline algae, if you're low in it may pay to dose it. Others will disagree as it has been shown to be not essential, however it does appear to have a positive effect on coraline.

Let's put it this way. None of the artificial salts are perfect, and some of the time Takapuna NSW will be less than perfect. I've tried both, no difference. But for me NSW is easier, and cheaper. Spending money on salt plus the extra hassle involved made no positive difference to my tank, I did give it fair trial for six months or so. Just don't want to see people being duped into thinking ASW is better because provided NSW is collected properly it's fine, or at least as good as.

It was an assumption. I've never said that.

When did I ever say that?

Yes for the average tank it's one of the best for those who must go ASW. Still a number of concerning things about it though, compared to Natural Seawater.

But you did knock it, I merely pointed that out. To then accuse me of "making it sound like you are making things up", is a little paranoid.

Pasted this from a study on ASW salts I read a while ago. Makes you wonder why people knock NSW. Interesting........ Oceanic Sea Salt has abnormally high levels of Aluminum, Manganese, Nickel and Zinc. It also has a Strontium deficiency, but is otherwise similar to the other salts. Some type of metal contamination seems a possibility. Bio-Sea MarineMix has unusually high levels of Aluminum and Vanadium. Crystal Sea MarineMix has high levels of Antimony, Boron, Lithium, Lead, Palladium, and Titanium. Like Oceanic, it is also deficient in Strontium. Instant Ocean, Crystal Sea MarineMix and Crystal Sea Bio-Assay all mix to an unnaturally high pH. A major water change followed by the addition of kalkwasser or the rapid addition of a buffer additive could create an undesirable pH peak. AquaMedic Sea Salt has Barium levels roughly double the other salts, as well as notably high Bismuth, Cobalt, Lead, Selenium and Titanium. Omega Sea Marine Salt has the highest levels of Copper, Chromium, and Arsenic of all the salts tested. Its Vanadium levels are similar to Bio-Sea MarineMix. Tropic Marin Sea Salt has high Copper and ties with Omega Sea for the highest Chromium levels. Instant Ocean has the highest Titanium level. Its Aluminum level is also high, but less than half of the highest salt mix (Oceanic). Kent Marine Sea Salt shares the Aluminum levels of Instant Ocean and Crystal Sea Bio-Assay, it is high, but less than half of the worst level for that element. Its Antimony and Chromium levels are also high. Crystal Sea Bio-Assay has the highest Lithium and Nickel levels of any salt tested. It shares the moderately high Aluminum levels of Instant Ocean and Kent Marine, and also matches Kent Marine in high Antimony and Chromium.

Not at all. No idea why you would think that. What did I say?

I very much doubt you know what those discrepancies are. If you did you would be less likely to knock NSW. In addition they are not consistant. For example, here is a graph of how some ASW salts measured up for potassium, against NSW. Potassium has recently been discovered to be important to sps growth and colour.

Another way to get a surprise is to check out what's in artificial salt. All the brands have some major discrepencies in certain elements from what is found in NSW.

No it was my mistake. Just assumed it was your tank.

Oh. And here I was thinking I was looking at your tank.

Oh well, second to bottom pics what I meant. The last pic in the post with a lot of pics in it.

Good to see some pics of your tank also. That's a lot of frags in that bottom pic!

I tried hyposalinity and it works, but there is a drawback, you just have to slip up ONCE during the 6 weeks by letting salinity go over 1.009. and the whitespot will return, and you have to start over. ( This happened to me). Now I'm going copper, harder on the fish, but also harder to screw up. But for your PBT, along with whatever other treatment you give him, lowering salinity to say 1.020, or even 1.017, will help him while he is full of holes, he won't have to work as hard to maintain osmotic balance. The fishes own osmotic pressure is 1.007, so he has to work to maintain the difference and when they are sick if you can relieve them of some of this burden, they have a better chance at survival.

No worries at Muriwai, help yourself! Long as your within fisheries catch limits, but that won't apply to much stuff you'd put in your tank.

It depends on conditions on the day, as you have noted.

I think it may be a run of bad luck, except for the bubble eye, which is nearly always related to water quality.

If you want some really colourful anemones, 10 cm + across, go to the rocks at south end of Muriwai beach at low tide. You also want low swell so go when it's blowing a good easterly. Take a few buckets and load up with mussels ( to eat ) while you're there. A great family outing.

Ha Ha well there's a wealth of info! :lol: