wasp

I like it!! An interesting tank, nice to see all those softies. Plenty coralline, very cool! What took you so long?

I've never seen the problem with wet skimmate. At least you know your getting max crud out. We do water changes so there's nothing wrong with taking a little water out in the skimmate. Just my humble opinion

Hi Ghostface that software you recommended was so good I thought I should pay for it so done that got a legal registration. But now it seems if I want web access to the cam, out of all the options I have to pay them money monthly. Not quite sure I have it all figured out, is there any way for me to get web access to my cam, without paying them an ongoing fee?

Seems to be 2 conversations going on! Confusing...

PeneJane What Feelers said is correct however he is on a student budget. If you can afford around eighty bucks that will buy you the 7-8 kg of liverock you would need for your tank. Best plan is buy it dry and "dead". You then have to "cure" it, which basically means getting a bacterial population established in it. To do this you leave it in salt water for 6 weeks. Just leaving it in a bucket will not do, it has to be in a tank with circulation, or a rock pool at the beach. At first the rock, even though it looks clean, will release ammonia and other nasties, so the curing has to be completed before it can go in a tank with fish, etc. It's a good idea to get a nitrite and nitrate test kit so you can monitor when the rock is cured. The way to tell is as follows, if the rock is in a tank. The rock will release ammonia into the water, and will gradually become populated by ammonia eating bacteria. So you will see ammonia build up in the water for a week or two, and then decline as the bacteria get established that eat it. These bacteria turn the ammonia into nitrite, which will allow a population of nitrite eating bacteria to become established. These bacteria turn the nitrite into nitrate, which will allow a population of nitrate eating bacteria to get established. So if you have a test kit for nitrate, once you see nitrate in the water, you know the bacteria are established that eat ammonia and nitrite. Once nitrite is down to zero, you can start putting livestock in. Some nitrate is OK, it can take several months for the nitrate eating bacteria to really kick in. In the mean time, you can reduce it with some large (50%) water changes. In addition to the liverock, you can also put normal rocks in from the beach, to make the tank interesting with all the growth etc on them. This may all sound complicated, but actually it's quite simple, remember it would also sound complicated to a freshwater beginner, if someone explained to them how a cannister worked, but once you do it, it's very simple.

The temp you are aiming at is 16 degrees, depending on what you are keeping. A warning about using a fridge cooling system - they do not normally have the grunt to keep a tank cool, no matter how cleverly you can convert it's cooling power to your tank. A fish tank chiller even the bottom line ones, can turn out many multiples more "cold", than a fridge. If economy is a factor, try a fan or two from the Warehouse pointed at the water surface you'll be surprised what they can do. You'll have to top up more though to make up for the extra evaporation. An undergravel filter is not such a good idea in a marine tank, and nor is the use of any other form of aerobic only biological filtration such as a cannister, because the whole idea is to circulate aerated water through the media to allow the bacteria to process the waste. The problem with this is that to process nitrate, anearobic bacteria are needed and these function poorly in a cannister or undergravel filter. What people use now is liverock. It is porous, and houses bacteria on and near the surface that do aerobic processing, and also deeper inside it houses anearobic bacteria for the important nitrate reduction. Liverock is simple, you just stick it in the tank & let it do it's job, once it's had 6 weeks or so to get it's bacteria population established. The tank also needs good water circulation to keep the water moving around the liverock.

Likely if you don't seperate them, one will die and the other seriously damaged. My money would be on the bubble coral as the winner if it's a good big one, but could go either way.

All above is good advice, and here's a link on the subject also. http://www.garf.org/news27p2.html As most of your stuff is new in your tank just make sure the mushroom is settled and healthy before propogating. As Briananemone said the simplest safest and most foolproof way is to lean the mushroom on the rock you want it to transfer too in such a way it will attach, then cut it off the old rock. To speed the process you should cut a little more than 1/2 the "foot" off the old rock, and put this cut bit on the new rock, it will be looking to re-attach, and will join onto the new rock. And Slappers way of removing a tiny piece of rock and glueing is safe also. Another option is to first propagate the mushroom, with a sharp blade cut it into 4. Just the same way you slice a pizza, both cuts going right through the mouth, and make sure each piece is still attached to the rock. In only a few days you will have 4 smaller, but perfectly round mushrooms. You can then try cutting one off and attaching to the new rock by pinning, sewing, holding with net, or jamming between 2 rocks. This part is a little harder than it seems though till you've had some practise. But if it turns to crap and the mushroom piece dies, you've still got 3 left.

Wow Awesome!!! I've got a web cam thingy, must find out how to make it work!

Jansens North Shore stocked that or something similar a few years ago. Didn't really buy the disease claims, it was primarily sold for the lighting. Never did actually get to see one working though.

Don't you adjust the airhole or something?

Your best bet will be to order them, you may have to wait 2 or 3 months but no reason why an importer cannot bring them in for you. Just one thing about maroons, when they get big they will defend a fairly large territory, can be a pain.

Clownfish society closely paralels human society. Family group with a bunch of juveniles, a male, and a dominant female. When eggs are laid and have to be fanned, cleaned, etc, it's the male that does all the "work", while the female is out & about! :lol:

No dude, these particular ones have teeth, bone and shell crushing ones. they scarey! But your right about starfish at the beach I know they envelope prey by extruding their stomach.

Us North Shore guys get it at Takapuna boat ramp. Park right there so no carrying hassles. Go at or shortly before high tide, when the wind is blowing offshore and sea flat. Needless to say, when the water is nice and clear. Don't get it at B/head wharf or anywhere in the inside harbour, to much algae fuelling nutrients in it.

I'm a curious fellow, but nah. It's a big, big, ocean out there.

Scary Pies! :lol: Bet you shave with a blowtorch too, right?

He didn't mention the possible short term nutrient overload. I'm not saying there is one, just would have liked to see his comments on it.

Oh that's interesting, when I had a green brittlestar, (which I got rid of for trying to catch fish), he also got pretty excited about snails, grabbing them & moving to his mouth, but I didn't think he could actually eat them thought it would be too hard. Scared crap out of me the way he crunched up mussels though, I certainly did not let him get a grip on my hand.

Yes, overhangs etc. can work, but it's hard to get it right. ( For me anyway, I'm totally non artistic ) I'm wanting to do something "different" for my next tank, but I guess everyone does. Think I'll have to have sand too, unless I can hide the BB somehow. I'm thinking of moulding something that looks like sand, but is solid.

That sums it up, good post. I've used both, and simply could not tell any difference. So, as NSW is free, and in my case easier, that's what I use. I still use a withholding period though, mostly.

we seem to have a not very happy camper

He'll be clean afterwards! Just a concern about all those parasites! :lol:

Lighten up a bit dude we're just having a laugh! When in a hole, don't keep digging! :lol: