puttputt

Crikey LA, I'm sure last summer at a large rockpool at Taurauga bay up here, i played with a large (25cm)cuttlefish for 10 mins or so, wasn't a common squid, wasn't a bobtail, buggered if ni know, wish i'd taken a pic of it. Colour changes were incredible, and was very inquistive, like an octopus.

Only one, where's the rest :digH:

I think the point was not about keeping those animals in a aquarium that can be provided for and looked after - its about taking animals that WILL NOT survive, fullstop. Our local nudi's are mainly specialist feeders - i.e. they fed on one type of sponge or 1 type of hydroid that will not grow in our tanks. trouble is we see it alot - throw some water in a 30l tank, bit of beach rock and a jasons nudibranch - aarrgghh!!

no no no, with cold tanks, your water down south is colder and has more nutrients. jewels, sea squirts, nems etc all do much better down your way. Some stunning filter feeder types in the south. Fish, yes, we get a few subtropical types, but you have other very nice fish as well.

Pop up and have a look, you're only 80kms away

Bit of an update. Black angel got too bossy, started the final grey with blue spots to deep black transition and started hounding all other fish. So reluctantly sent him off to Living art and a bigger "rouge" type tank. Unfortunately fastway couriers decided to leave him in Auckland for an extra day, and of course he arrive deceased :dead%fish . No come back, nothing - never know a profession with so little accountability as couriers. Anyway, tanks looking great and well mature, collected some nice jewels and a few fish on Sunday, including a tiny wrasse, that i'm hoping wont be spottie, looks different, maybe a scarlett wrasse, or it may just develop a spot on its side :evil:

Arrgghh, my bad, should read the posts better. Get yourself a atm refractometer - salinity is important and should be controlled.

I have never keep my native cold tanks at anything other than natural - 1.026-1.027. Why would you want to keep a nz tank at 1.022??

Those in berry make great food for my scorpian fish :lol:

Drilling holes and using cables ties is another good option.

no. Others will disagree, but personally, dont believe you can overskim.

Tanked is a shocker - how not to treat your marine fish and inverts. :evil: Refuse to watch it now, annoys me.

Stability :digH:

try aquanet.

What ever advise you are getting is poor from whatever overseas site you have frequented. Far from trying to put people off, I'm more interested in making sure newbies dont take really poor advise like this.

You dont need any chemicals to cycle, or keep cycling a tank, very strange to do this. It just a matter of patience and waiting for the natural cycles to run there course. You should never stock a marine tank the next day, never!

Yes, its certainly a nz coldie Runas.

Nice diy, but alot of work for a pretty poor system of removing nitrate. How anyone gets there nitrates to 80ppm is a mystery to me. A good skimmer, REGULAR weekly water changes and good base of liverock should take care of all of that easy. Bit like a refugium (yes, i've had refugiums), pretty, but growing macro algae is a pretty poor way to control nutrients. If you run your tank right, dont over feed and over stock, - basically the same as you would a tropical marine reef - shouldn't need any other bits and pieces.

Good, well done. posted more for others than you 8)

Just like tropical nems, they require pristine water and mature tanks.

thanks for posting. thanks for posting.

It possible on all sorts of budgets, some try there best to make it elitist.

yes they do Joe :lol: , hence my post. They need alot of good light, they seem to have it so no real shock that they look good.

And that only rich people should be in the hobby, thats one that someone keeps piping up with.