suphew

There are a couple of ways to do CO2, you can DIY with yeast, but IMO getting a bottle and regulator is the best option. The reason you need CO2 is because just like terrestrial plants, they need CO2 to grow, and light and nutrients, you need to supply all 3 in balance, if you don't add in balance you will either end up with little extra plant grow or lots of algae. This is a possible reason why tank's in sunlight can get bad algae, i.e lots of light, but missing enough CO2 and maybe missing some nutrients. 3 things you need to CO2 setup, bottle (same as a CO2 fire extinguisher, but with tap instead of handle thing); regulator, this controls the amount of gas coming out of the bottle (you might also need a separate needle valve to slow the flow more depending on the regulator); and a diffuser, this mixes the CO2 with the tank water, there are lots of ways of defusing, I used to just feed my CO2 into my filter input and let the motor mix it. You might also want to get a bubble counter, this lets you see how much CO2 you are adding. You can't really add too much CO2, the water movement in the tank will de-gas the CO2 releasing it.

Stability is the key to keeping a marine tank. The smaller the tank the faster water parameters will change, so if your planning on keeping much more than a hardy fish or two and very hardy soft corals a nano will be a lot more difficult than say a 4 foot tank.

Give this post a read. I also suggest you hook up with a marine keeper and go have a look at their setup, one look is worth a thousand words. Trying to put numbers on things is impossible, for example your sump size will depend on how much flow your going to put through it and how much media you are going to use, which will depend on what and how many fish you are keeping. http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=168430&start=0

The flow isn't really an issue, you can aways add a spray bar or direct the flow into a corner. But in reality people far underestimate how much flow fish can handle and even like, remember most fish either come from flowing streams or lakes with tides, currents etc, very few fish come from stagnant, still, water. Personally I would go for two filters over one, I think that cleaning of one filter is actually a reason to go with two. All things being equal you wont be cleaning filters any more often since your cleaning is based on the filtering capacity not on the number of filters, but by having all your eggs in one basket you run the risk of crashing your tank every time you clean a single filter. And if your really worried about cleaning filters add a mechanical pre-filter (filter wool over the intake) and just change that with each water change, then your filter wont need cleaning for months, if not years.

All the sizes sort of flow from each other. Basically you want the plumbing to be large enough to take whatever your going to through at it, and you want the over flow box to be as small as it can be and still hold that plumbing. I went with 40mm for my overflow (with 50mm durso) and 32mm for every thing else, return etc. Next time I think I'll go 32mm all round, 40mm was over kill even with the UP7 pump I was using doing round 7000lph.

I have never seen one that comes with a pump, there is an ideal range of pressure your RO should be getting, which is the same as normal mains pressure. If your pressure is really low you will waste lots more water. If it is too high it can damage the membrane.

Have a look at this website http://www.dursostandpipes.com/ there are also other ways to make standpipe and overflows. Check out some Marine forums like reefcentral.com and nzmas.co.nz Having a tap is a very good idea, using it to regulate the flow is very bad. As soon as you get a bit of weed stuck in the overflow pipe you'll have a flood. For pipe I always use pressure plumbing with glued joints, it doesn't cost much more than irrigation push fit plumbing, but peace of mind is a great thing, when its a few hundred litre's of water on your floor

It takes five minutes to get someone to turn their pockets out and have a dog sniff their bags. My guess is these guy's had a quota to fill and it was a slow day

If he had done nothing wrong why should he have to put up with 3 hours of interrogation? If they had reasonable cause they should have told him what it was, if not they should pull there heads in. There are too many wannabe cops in NZ, give some one a uniform and they think they have special rights all of a sudden. I was working near a customs storage warehouse recently, would get convoy's of these guys, sunglasses on, speeding past like they owned the road, I could see them thinking "I'm the man" hahaha

Hi, there are a few of us in Wellington and it's becoming a bit easier now we have some shops stocking stuff. IMHO I would go for the custom tank 400l tank. There are a few reefers with stunning RSM tanks but you are fighting an up hill battle because the small water volume well make it difficult to get stale water parameters (which is key to success). Plus in the end you will be paying $1200 for just a tank, unless you are keeping just a clown fish and live rock you will need replace the skimmer and light, then add power heads for better water flow. Decide what you want then go see Pete at port nicholson glass.

I used to look after them for the lab when I was at school, we just used a fish tank with tight fitting mesh lid. We used to feed tux dog biscuits, dish of water (never saw them drinking but I gues they did) and have corrugated cardboard sheets for them to live in.

Your making a lot of fact out of nothing, the temp drop isn't large or sudden, as explained earlier only a few %, no different than the change of temp from room to room for a human. Or a colder mountain steam flowing into a pond as often happens in natural environments. Does it lower their immune systems?? In fact it actually causes a lot of fish to spawn which is just the opposite since most fish only spawn when at their peak. The temperature change in natural environments is often very dramatic, hill stream meeting pond streams, rain, thermal layers, warm days vs cold days.

:oops:

Lets say you change 10% of your water, and the new water is 1/2 the temp of the tank, doesn't that equate to a 5% change in the water temp of the whole tank?? Or a temp drop of about 1.25 degrees? Then take into account the substrate glass etc that is holding heat and I think the change would be even less. For thousands of years fish have been living in ponds and streams that would have drastic temperature changes, rain, different thermal layers, cold steams entering warm ponds, day and night temperature changes, etc etc

The thickness of the glass is calculated on the height of the tank not the length, this is because bowing in the length is taken care of using braces, but you can't brace height. I'm not convinced that for a tank this small you will save any money, unless you have access to free plywood, fiberglass, etc. If you go direct to a tank maker it should only cost you $600. I haven't priced up these things in a while but a quick guess, pinkbats $100 a bag, plywood $100+ each sheet and you will need 2-3, then add your glass, sealer (fiberglass), glue, stainless steel screws, timber for bracing, etc etc

They would work but are expensive options, even the small uncontrolled tunze streams cost into the hundreds. Plus the flow for reefs tend to be more random chaotic, where a steam bio-type wants linear flow. One good option would be a gyre which give really good flow using smaller pumps http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature#h5 And while I'm posting links here is one to a calculator for head loss (height), its interesting when you see how much difference 1 elbow makes. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/5/aafeature2

I looked into getting our one fixed, the screen had stopped working after a drop, the replacement screen was about $30 cheaper than a whole new camera add labour and........

What is actually being talked about here is friction, from the pipe, bends, etc. It is measured in head height because it is a convenient and easy way to think about it.

I have a Dell 8 port KVM console switch if anyone is interested, has rack mounting kit and 8 sets of cables. The model is 71PXP, doesn't support IP remote console. From memory it cost over $1k, I'd like enough to buy a 400w mh electronic ballast ($275) but am open to offers since I have no idea what they are worth second hand. Will list on TM in a few days if no one is interested. PM me.

For heating, have an insulated fish room and heat the whole room.

cold water is a trigger to spawn for some fish, guess it means the rains are coming. I used to do water changes by putting the hose into my tanks, never had any problems.

I had a similar one for an old tank of mine, you can get cinder blocks with flat ends, they look a bit cleaner. I bolted my blocks together but 'no more nails' would work, just makes it all a bit more earth quake proof. I used 20mm MDF shelves from bunnings for the shelves, stained then varnished to seal them but any oil based paint would be ok. Just watch that the stands end up being VERY heavy, you pretty much need to build them in place.

Think you would be lucky to find a LFS that stocks them. You could try jetskisteve, he was selling them, they also come up on trademe some times. But you best bet is to order on-line.

There are plenty of peristaltic pumps around but they usually run at $150+ If you are keen on a bit of DIY check this link out or do a search on DYI peri pumps, you can make them out of mechanical timers. http://www.aquariaforums.com/diy/Trace_Element_Dosers/

No that just means your fish are weak and need to harden up. But seriously you can't over filter, it's just the output water blast from your filter you need to worry about. Have a think about the water flow through even a slow flowing local stream, it's tons more than any filter is going to produce.