wasp

It's been said for a long time that only BTA's can be chopped, but someone on Reef Central tried it a few months ago on an H. Crispa and it worked fine. Wish i'd tried it on my Malu when I had it. BTW TheConch, re the sand depth, my Malu was OK in anything over 2 inches so you probably just scrape in. But it preferred deeper, 2 inches was only OK if it could get it's foot under a rock as well. that's why I reluctantly had to sell my Malu, when I went to a BB tank. Much of the literature describe H. Malus as a difficult species in an aquarium, i think that is because people don't meet their needs. If they got a decent bit of sand to bed into they seem to be pretty hardy. Also, they are described as a clown "nursery" anemone. this is because in the wild, they host many species of clown while the clowns are juveniles. When the clowns get bigger they move on to their preferred host anemone species. But it does mean that if you get young clowns of many species, including percula and occelaris, they will host in the H. Malu more readily than they would a BTA. So all up, nice score !

You are one lucky punk, TheConch, that appears to be a purple H. Malu, although to do a positive ID will need to see the back of the disk. The purple ones are hard to come by. It's buried in the sand which is what they like, and will be unlikely to move. They prefer deepish sand, how deep is yours? Only drawback, they get pretty big, my one started out fist size and was in a 60 cm tank, it ended up filling the entire tank, touching the glass at both ends. Even though a lot of the literature says they only get to around 12 or 14 inches, but I think that is from observation of wild ones.

Actually that raises a good point, with the ecosystem the export is done via macro algae and carbon instead of a skimmer, these 2 methods could be used even without going the whole miracle mud system. However it is telling that after many years of telling people the advantage of going Miracle Mud is that a skimmer is not needed, they are now producing their own brand of skimmer to go with the system (as an option), albeit a fairly weak skimmer. Another thought is that skimmers are primarily about achieving the needed water purity for corals, fish are much less demanding and a skimmer is not so essential if fish only are to be kept.

Strictly mathematically, yes, you are correct. But in real practise what happens is that these substances continue to accumulate in the substrate and exert an influence on the rest of the tank. Actually I'll have to contradict somewhat my mathematical example, having read it again it is less than perfect because it is strictly maths, and ignores some of the other processes going on in a tank, however to some extent the idea does apply, but not strictly mathematically. Also, the other observations made by the last few posters are valid points. But end of the day, going without a skimmer can be done, my own first tank ran with quite a few fish and no skimmer for several years. But there will be issues, it is a trade off. I'd say if someone wants to do it and a skimmer is not an option, go ahead, but leave the design open for a skimmer so at some future point one can be added if finance or whatever allows. Also Henward, hope you realise the bit about hating me was an attempt at a joke !

Skimmers remove waste not included in the nitrogen cycle such as phosphate and heavy metals, by removing organics that contain these substances. Water changes will dilute pollution, but not enough. They may be as good as having a crappy skimmer, but they cannot be as good as having a high quality skimmer. Here’s why :- To make an example, let’s say each week in the fishfood, there is a certain amount of undesireable heavy metals, phosphates, and other nasties added to the tank that are not removed by the nitrogen cycle. We will call this weekly amount one unit of nasties. So during the week, one unit of nasties is added to the tank. Let’s say ½ gets absorbed into the substrate, and ½ remains free in the water. (In reality more than ½ will get absorbed into the substrate but to make it simple we’ll say only ½). Let’s say at the end of the week we do a 50% water change. This will remove ½ the ½ of a unit in the water, or ¼ of a unit, leaving ¾ of a unit of nasties in the tank. The next week another unit of nasties is added to the tank, ½ is absorbed by the substrate, ½ remains free in the water. The tank now contains 1 ¾ units of nasties. We do another 50% water change which will remove ½ of the ¾ of a unit that is free in the water. However the total in the tank is still higher than it was a week ago. In this way, even with a 50% weekly water change, concentration of nasties will continue to increase, even the nasties free in the water increase by simple mathematics, never mind the substrate, and will inevitably reach harmful levels sooner or later. A few points though, a skimmer is not the total solution either, but if it’s a good one and running 24/7, it will give results superior than can be possibly achieved by even huge water changes. Nasties will be absorbed into the substrate, but will be in balance with the amount of nasties in the water. With a decent skimmer that can hold nasties free in the water down to low levels 24/7, the amount absorbed into the substrate will remain at a low level also, the two balance against each other. In addition to this a skimmer aerates the water, which also holds pH up. Having said all that, you CAN get away with no skimmer. But there will be issues, which in a fish only tank will be algae, lower pH, less than clear water, and poorer fish health. But it CAN be done. Henward, I know you don't want to get a skimmer. And right now you probably hate me. But trust me, one day you will thank me! :lol:

This one, ugly little sucker but personality plus and always very interested in whatever was going on. Had it for about 5 years then over a few months he started going downhill then eventually died I wasn't very happy that day. Not sure if something was wrong or it just got old.

Nice one . Some of my favourites are not the best looking, but ones I've grown over years from some tiny barely there bit of life. Just the joy of first actually keeping it alive, and later watching it develop, is a buzz.

If it's to the point where the new fish is in danger it's good to give the aggressive fish a holiday in the sump for 2 weeks. But if that can't be done a possible option is to turn the lights out for a couple of days plus pull the curtains so the tank is pretty dark, then bring things back gradually over a few more days.

i think the dry shipping works simply cos they don't get bashed around. When i've sent xenia in the mail if it's on a rock I've rubber banded a short bit of tube over the xenia to protect it from knocks, i also shrink the xenia prior to bagging so it can't slime up the bag. Long as that's been done they have arrived primo condition every time, even one time it got lost in the post & took 4 days!

Good to hear Fish Unit, amazing how fast they recover, the other half in my tank is right back to the size it was before i chopped it, and getting uncomfortably close to some corals I don't want it to sting, might have to chop it again!

Me! H. Malu is my favourite anemone. However you say it is locked onto the rock? This is not typical behaviour for an H. Malu, they dig their foot into the sand and will not normally go into rock unless there is no option at all. They are often confused with another species, perhaps that is what has happened in this case. Can you post a pic of it, including from behind? We'll do a positive ID.

But back to the origional question, I would say hard, and I base that because we see a LOT of people want to start a marine tank, then at some stage before it is completed, give up. It can be done by pretty much anyone, provided they are dedicated enough to spend time and do the research, plus have the needed funds. The other hard thing for people coming from fresh water is a salt water tank uses different filtration methods, it is hard to move away from what a person knows and understands, some people insist on using fresh water filtration methods such as cannister filters for their marine tank, and this causes problems. It is nessecary to approach marine tank keeping with an open mind.

Had any phosphate/algae problems raeh1?

:lol: :lol:

No NZ distributor you have to get them from an etailer. There used to be a HUGE thread about them on Reef Central a few years ago, but once Deltec got into the US in a bigger way, I later saw some of those people saying Deltec were better.

Yes marine does require effort & research, or it won't work for the long haul. The biggest problem for people moving to marine from a fresh water tank, is getting them NOT to use a cannister, and TO use a skimmer. A marine tank is not simply a fresh water tank with salt in it, it has to be run differently. Once that is accepted, people start to make progress.

From me? Sorry, didn't have a digital camera back then, or for that matter a computer! :lol: . Don't have any pics.

Yes should say I'm with Rollergirl about the skimmer, just read my last post & i accidentally made it look not such a big deal to have no skimmer. Should have said, it CAN be done, at a stretch, but not such a good idea. If you have no overflow, with Rollergirl again, a hang on skimmer is a good way to go when you get one, I don't have a sump either and use a hang on. There are also some good external skimmers that are not hang on, they sit beside the tank.

An overflow is not essential, it just makes it easier to install equipment into a sump without cluttering up the tank. A cannister for biological filtration is not a good idea as your tank will build up unhealthy nitrate levels. Get some "liverock" (coral rock that has bacteria living in it) and let that do the biological filtration, it will get rid of the nitrate also. You can have no skimmer, but you need some way to export waste, especially phosphate, from the tank, or the tank will eventually turn green with algae, plus will have other problems. Marine tanks have to be very clean for the kind of organisms we keep. There is a basic beginner guide at the top of the saltwater section may provide some helpful info.

That size is OK. Small, but can work. It is not absolutely essential to have a skimmer from the beginning, but the sooner the better.

Yes it is amazing how they pop up. I've just set up a QT tank with a small amount of aptaisia free rock from my own tank, plus one rock from somewhere else that had a few aptaisia. I killed all the ones I could find on it, but now there are aptaisia popping up all over the tank, they must walk around. I'm with Joe Blogg and Slappers, some of the angels eat them. Another thing you could try is doing a few rocks at a time hyposalinity, long as there are no corals on them. But long term you may be best with a fish that eats them, problem solved.

:lol:

Doubly pleased by the looks :lol: