puttputt

looks sweet KP, little frags looking good, bit of colour coming through too, good work.

thought you'd be on to it KP. hows those frags going, encrusting and starting to grow?

nope, it's buggered Duke. i'll come and get it for spare parts

Mg first. High levels of Mg allow you to maintain Ca and Alk above the normal balanced levels due to an ability to coat carbonate ions with Mg and trick the Ca into not precipitating. If you bump up Ca and alk first to unnaturally high levels that we seek in a hard coral tank, it may precipitate out. You will find that the Kh and Ca levels may alter once you adjust your Mg levels. KP, I think it's one of the most important areas to get right if you want good SPS growth. My tank parameters are currently Ca - 450ppm Kh - 9-10 Mg 1380ppm.

Stopped dosing vodka yesterday, did its job, got rid of most of the dino, but really reduced the nutrients to the point of beginning to lighten my corals too much. Certainly got the skimmer going well over the last month - 5l a week of skimate - but i think thats enough, for my tank anyway. certainly didn't stop or slow growth, acros are growing like mad. Going to just continue to blow down (daily) any area still with a bit of slime, and really just holding now until I strip it down for the shift up north to a new tank. Need to order 2 more streams, a chiller and other bits and pieces for the new tank. Going to try some different aquascaping as well, thinking 3 individual reefs in the tank and with the tank being deeper (back to front) try to get the look you have when looking through the side panes in my tank, and alot of yours as well, as this always seems to be the most stunning views of peoples tanks. Spent a bit of time with the tank today and must say its looking real good.

That's it Wasp. Beaut.

need an icon for shaking his head in disbelief

Pieatillo...... still coming to terms with you lot being Ninja turtle fans :roll:

sorry to hear Chimera, I'll hold a frag of it for you if you want.

not really, I wasn't going to run carbon in a fluidised reactor because you were, I just thought it was a good idea. so why the pfft!. I run carbon currently in a sock in a high flow area - directly in the flow of my return from the main tank with no issues, so i'm sure a reactor would be fine in my tank with carbon in it. Currently run the same reactor as you with phos remover. Don't worry Chimera, I've got problems too, damn acros keep growing out the top of the tank.

what, going to do what??? Don't understand Chimera. I was hoping to ask the odd person to look after a couple of my favourite corals when i move to Kerikeri, in an attempt to safeguard some of my treasures. I was just having you on, given your current and I'm sure temporary problems, that I would not be asking you. any clearer???

note to myself, cross Chimera of the list of possible candidaites for babysitting my corals when i shift......

do you get a cut from smirnoff or something??. Fay brought me a bottle of the good blue label smirnoff over, but I just couldn't tip it in the tank, so into the cocktails it went Quite a number of good triple distilled vodkas available, and they all taste good. :lol:

I get 5 litres a week from my 902. I skim pretty wet but it's still pretty dark muck that comes out. Again my system is almost the same as yours Pies, but I don't feed as much, and skim more (wetter??). Light, calcium reactor, photo period, etc the same, and very similar to Chims. Use ASW though, BB, and lots of rock.

No trade off with the schools - my kids were always top consideration and the schools in Kerikeri are very good, better in fact than the ones they would have gone to in Auckalnd.

Fay, are you shouting or just being bold today

They're harmless Fay. Enjoy the diversity, its hard to get in NZ, with no live rock.

dont worry Fay, they are in most peoples tanks, the tiny ones, and come out mainly at night. Like Cracker said, they will settle down to the number your tank can handle. I agree with you, they aren't baby Astraeas, as they don't get any bigger.

hey Skippy, Yep things are moving fast, mainly because we decided that the new shop in the john butler centre is going to be delayed too long, and we have leads on a couple of shops coming up shortly. Saw some nice property last week - Kapiro rd, and are very keen. Also looked at a place not far from you but not enough land. If the our sale goes well, we could be up there just after xmas, somewhat sooner that end of next year!!.. Can't wait actually, every time i go up to Kerikeri, the harder it is to come back.

Why, you of all people with the colours you have??

Just popped up to Jansens to have a look. Very nice snails, good size and look just like the photo. Would get one but looks like the shift to Kerikeri is going to happen sooner rather than later - i.e. no more stock. Enough of an issue what I'm going to do with what I've got.

Porcelain crabs (acro crabs) are fine, get rid of the rest. A while back, one type of purple tip stag I have began looking strange, and its tips began to look thin and damaged. In fact if you brushed against it the tips would crumble and fall off. Checked everything, almost decided to remove it, then went over to the tank 1 night and spied a hairy blue eyed crab munching away on it :evil: Best way to get them is to wait until dark, get a torch and a pair of forceps and grab them. They are surprisingly strong, and this little fella hung on for dear life. Put him in the refugium but when that cracked, he had to go....

Ha, I've had a nice dinoflagellate culture in my tank for the last few months. Finally getting on top of it with Vodka, rock blasting and running phosban. :bounce:

Its funny cause when I feed flakes or pallets I swirl them with a bit of tank water in an old flake tin to ensure they dont float and my fish often fight to get in the tin before I can swish a bit of water in. More than once have ended up with a chromis or damsel in the tin. My big boy larmarck angel swims around with his big shoulders and eyes out of the water when he sees the tin coming.

hes talking about you chimera