wasp

What is your ser nam (starting with u & ending with e)! I will check it out.

Was that zooplankton, or phytoplankton in particular?

Please not the baked beans gasses! Lot's of hot air already! :lol:

If you contact a signwriter they should either be able to do you one or at least point you the right direction. Ones I see around Auckland are just the clear base with computer cut vinyl.

Got any close ups of some of the fish?

About 5 kg or so of coral rock. You are correct, that will handle the biological filtration, you should still have a skimmer if possible though, tank might get a bit crappy if you don't.

Just wondering if that would be enough rock for the new tank. Might look slightly empty at first but give it a year or two and surprising how the corals fill it up. With my last tank I had to remove rocks several times as corals grew, was wishing I hadn't put so much in to begin with.

Wow that's nice!

Yes the corals can be transferred whenever suits best long as things are liveable for them in the old tank, they can handle surprising discomfort as long as it's not for too long. Yes a good dunk will clean the rocks, pretty much. And sounds like a good plan with the sand. What you need to do is have a camera handy so you can show us a few pics during the process . And a few follow up pics over the following days and weeks will be interesting to see any effects, negative or positive.

I've done both, ie move everything at once, or move slowly, doesn't make much difference but the biggy is to wash everything carefully before transferring. So the rocks on the sand might have more crud attached than you would imagine so try to get as much off as possible before putting in the new tank. Likewise the old sand, wash it in the old tank water as thoroughly as you can before putting in the new tank, it may not be possible to do that all in one day just because of the amount of crud that will come out. Back from the days I had sand I don't think it matters if you put the old sand on top, underneath, or mixed, with the new sand, long as you wash thoroughly plus don't allow the bacteria to die. But transferring sand is a primo cause of a nutrient spike so it's all about cleanliness. Transferring rock is not much of an issue but there will likely be a bit of crud that could be blasted off. Transferring fish and critters should be done towards the end if you can keep the old tank clean enough to hold them. Having them in the new tank causes ongoing difficulty while you are trying to set it up.

Here's some more Puttputt's tank, slightly better picture quality

Also in Kerikeri there is a restaurant over the water, with a HUGE fish tank. Only part of the tank is visible in the pic, it goes round in a circle. Just had my cellphone camera but here are some shots

What a beautiful tank! The guy who built that stand did an excellent job! I am already getting vibes it is going to be one of the really good tanks! Just one thing from what you said in your first post, about coral sand, to me, i think coral sand is a dirt trap and shouldn't be used. I know some others run successful tanks that have coral sand, so you guys an girls that do, have my respect for actually making it work. However to me, if you want to go sand, aragonite or calcite is a better option. The reason is that coral sand is porous and the pores will eventually clog. A coral sand bed can actually contain a surprising amount of pollution leaching crud. Aragonite on the other hand is not porous, and can be vacuumed. Just my opinion!

You should get a decent skimmer even for a fish only tank, it is your main means to keep the tank clean. Lighting is not critical for a FO, whatever you like the look of. Either natural or artificial seawater, whatever suits. Stocking, too big a subject for one post, but most fish can live with shrimps etc without problems but there are just a few fish you should avoid with invertebrates. Good plan would be to sort out a wish list of fish you like, then research each one to ensure it is compatable with invertebrates, plus the other fish you want. You may have to weed out a few species. Sounds like you may be in a position to set up without too much expenses other than the skimmer. However you will find down the line that you want to get a few corals, then you have to upgrade lights etc.... and the expenses will go on. Oh also, for rock, you need coral rock for a marine tank.

OK well now I've got some better quality pics but no time to post them till later. But for now, here is the famous Puttputt meter wide green monster trying to grow out the top of the tank.

Ha Ha! I think that's an inside joke some of the newer members might not fully understand :lol: Well here's some pics, just hard to get to quality right but anyway here goes :- This one is a deep water acro with flourescent colour like I've never seen before in an acro Some kind of table A close up of a super big table, this was stunning in real life but the pic is blurrred The same table with a huge (meter or so maybe) green stag behind it Very fluffy gorgonian This shot just doesn't show the size!

On Anzac weekend I took my wife for a couple of days in Kerikeri, did all sightseeing stuff but for me the best part was a visit to Puttputts. Both Puttputt and his wife are excellent hosts it was a great visit. But the tank is a stunner, to be honest I can't remember much about what the rest of the house looks like I was pretty absorbed with the tank. It is a decent size, around 2 tons. Pretty much geared to sps with good lighting and excellent flow. To me, the flow showed one of the advantages of a really big tank, it was swirling around all over the tank with no dead spots at all, but also not too strong anywhere either. The corals love the conditions, everything in the tank is healthy as, beautiful colours (no zeovit system, although some zeovit additives are used), and the growth rate of the corals is astounding. One coral in particular is so big I'm not sure if I would be able to get my arms around it. Like a successful gardener, Puttputt has to get busy pruning regularly, and it is true, his drive is paved with coral skeletons! But hey, any successful grower has to do something with excess product I guess! Lots of fish, and they are all fat, didn't see any aggresion and they are all looking totally at home. Then we went under the house for a look at the business end, very nice fish room with generous sized refugium with caulerpa, and large sump. Very well set up large calcium reactor, skimmer, UV, phosphate reactor. A lot is fed to the tank and I was surprised how much skimmate is generated in just one day. The calcium reactor is going flat out, with the outlet running in a solid stream. I think this is part of the reason for the fast growth rate of the corals, all their needs are well met. It was very pleasing to see equipment set up that has plenty in reserve, in terms of being big enough to easily meet the needs of the tanks inhabitants. We got talking about the large number of frags Puttputt has distributed to other reefers. Puttputt is planing to set up another small tank, for mounting and cultivating frags. From time to time these will be for sale, to people willing to make the trip. And this brought up another subject for us, in my opinion anyway, people contacting other reefers to see if they have frags available, MUST be prepared, and expect, to make payment. The expenses in running these reef tanks that produce the frags are quite high, and paying for frags is only basic good manners. (My opinion, anyway). Hmm pics... Sorry folks not today! hopefully I'll get them sorted in the next day or two.

i think that's a different species although not 100% sure. There are a lot of small ones like that in my tank that never get any bigger.

Got a link for that Fish Unit? Might want something like that for my nano tank.

Good work!

Yes my 6 line spent all day every day hunting out pin head sized snails to eat. Crunchy but delicious! :lol: Enough survived though & if he didn't do it there would have been a population explosion & starvation I guess.

Ain't that pretty! Nice one Sally .

Well that article was interesting. Most news on the environment is bad, so it's a refreshing change to see some good news!

The products used are harmful to fish, however they are just sprayed onto the carpet. Make sure to notify the pest controller you have a tank, and follow his instructions. But as a pest controller and a fish keeper, my advice is to cover the tank with a drop sheet or similar, and turn off all air or preferably tube in air from outside, which will maintain aeration plus keep positive pressure inside the tank to keep drift out. Also put all food, tools etc away where they cannot be accidentally contaminated. After the job is done thoroughly ventilate the house for 1/2 hour before removing the drop sheet. Longer is better if the tank can handle that much being covered. If possible avoid pumping air from inside the house for 24 hours.

Are they moths or beetles? To do it properly you need a professional. They have probably been there more than 2 years, it can take several years before the person even notices anything. The main damage is the larvae eating the bottom of the carpet and quite a bit of damage is already done before the carpet starts coming out in clumps. Under the residential tenancy act the tenant is liable for "day to day" pest issues, but with longer term stuff such as carpet beetles your obligation is to report it to the landlord and ensure he understands the seriousness of the situation. As it is likely to have started before you moved in it is the landlords responsibility to sort it. It would be best to have some written proof you have reported it. And don't delay reporting it or you can share in the blame for letting it go until damage is done. I know all this because I do pest control for a job, and often deal with tenancy issues. The cost to treat the house is probably something around $200.00, money well spent from the landlords point of view.