suphew

It's not a question that is easy to answer particularly when you consider some fish like algae eaters may not need feeding at all, and platty's on the other hand tend to need a lot of feeding because of the high energy use. What you need to do is observe your fish, with most fish it isn't hard to tell if they are under or over weight

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Crossocheilus_siamensis

If you want to lessen the pH swing you need to buffer or harden the water, adding a little coral into the filter will help or if you want to do it quickly baking soda or a proper pH product from your LFS will do it. Plants actually just produce less O2 at night and use less CO2, they don't actually switch between the two. But the result is the same, less O2 for the fish. The CO2 probably doesn't change that much because it has a saturation point where it wont go higher, the CO2 injection should have the level at saturation point all the time anyway.

SAE's can be identified by the black line going right through the tail, and when they are smaller they will school. The schooling is the easiest thing to spot, you can see them doing it from a mile away, the Chinese Algaes don't do this. As other's have said they are currently on the importers lists as black line flying foxes so most likely labeled this way in stores.

Personally I'd use a water ager, they also take out heavy metals etc, with all the disturbance to the water system theres bound to by lots of nasties in the water.

I get it from Titahi Bay, by the boat sheds.

80w of light isn't much on a 350 liter tank, also Leafzone is a micro nutrient, it is mostly just Iron and Potassium. Also how old are the tubes in your lights, they will only have round half the output at 1 year old.

The filter wood should be directly under the spray bar so it catches the "large chunks" before the water goes into the biological media. It also spreads the water out over the biological media. HTH

You can also get electronic salinity probes which are as accurate if not more so than a refractometer You could also get a hydrometer, not as accurate as a refractometer but should only cost you $10 or and if you go to a knowledgeable store they will be able calibrate it against their refractometer which should be good enough for what you need to do.

PMDD=Poor man's dosing drops Interesting read http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/pla ... ition.html

Go to an electrical wholesaler like advanced or rexel, I've got bulbs of them for these tanks before. They can order them if they don't have them in stock. The importer of the tanks doesn't import the bulbs. Be wary of using the LED replacement bulbs of Ebay, they are brighter but a very tight beam so look like you have two spot light's.

The difference with marine over fresh water in terms of heating is the amount of pumps (generating heat) and light that you have on/in the tank. On a fresh water tank of the size your talking about you have maybe a 11w cannister filter and ~80watt of lighting. Or about 0.4w of heat producing equipment per liter. On my marine which is similar to the size your looking at I have over 200w of pumps (water movement, return, skimmer, etc) and about 1000w of light, or 1.2w per liter.

I gavel vac sand all the time, it works fine with a normal vac. You will get lots of very fine dirt in there, the heterotropic will do this. But the best way to find out is not take my word for it, just try it.

Even in Chc I think you'll find that cooling is still more of an issue than heating. Even getting bit's from a friend I'd be really surprised if your heat exchange would be more efficient or cheaper than putting in a heater. Pumping the water from your tank to the heat exchange lone is likely to cost you more than running the heater.

Gravel vac works fine, just put your finger over the end to control/slow the flow

Keep looking, there are a number of people using solar tubes to light tanks. No one I know in NZ is doing it yet, but the Aussie marine forum has a few guys that are doing it. Some use filter to change the colour temp of the light, other use supplemental lighting like actinics. More interested in your heat exchange? Most issue with marine tanks are cooling rather than heating, also about the only metal you can use in contact with the saltwater is titanium (this is whats used in chillers). I'd be interested to know how your going to run your system.

If you have time you could look at cycling your own, all you need is dry rock (which is far cheaper) a rubbish bin, heater and small pump. The advantage of doing this is knowing were the rock has been (and how dirty it is) and no unwanted pests.

Your current pump should let you attach a hose to the inlet, I have the fittings at work if you want to come and grab one. You could use this to suck the mucky stuff up, most 240v pond pumps will handle sludge and plant matter and even solids that aren't too big.

You filter doesn't need to be clean, a bit of dirt is a good thing. Those on top filters work pretty well and are difficult to block up, with the small fish load you have I think you might be doing something wrong, maybe trying to keep it far to clean, over feeding, maybe your plants are dieing and getting into it? Do you siphon the gravel and get rid of dirt that way? HTH

NSW is typically 1.027 about 10% pure fresh water will get you back to the 1.025 that you want. There are pluses and minus for using other option, don't dismiss ASW just to save a quick buck, you only have to have one problem to write off the savings. But in saying that I have used NSW for years with no problems. The options and the rules round collecting NSW have been discussed many times here, a quick search will give you all the answers.

Not wanting to spoil your sleep but the "fireproof" stuff might not burn but it still melts and gives of really toxic fumes if there is fire or it gets too hot. Most countries have baned it for insulation now, NZ always seems to be 20 or more years behind the rest of the world when it comes to insulation

Since you already have 240v and a pump in your pond why don't you just add another diversion to that pump (or pull the hose off the waterfall) so it will pump out onto your lawn? How often do you plan on clearing out the pump? Most only do it once or twice a year at most, adding a 12v supply and pump seems like a lot of expense and effort to save yourself a couple of hours a couple of times a year.

My understanding is pretty limited but I think the younger ones become carriers instead of being killed. If you do nothing else, when you restock just start with one new bunny, if they others are carriers at least you won't wipe out a whole new bunch.

The tank size requirements for clowns depends on what size they are, they get quite big but grow quite slowly. I have only 7 in my ~450 liter tank and would be hesitant to add any more big clowns, but some of mine are getting pretty big now. The "large" one's you get at pet shops I could have 20-30 in my tank and not be worried about running out of space for a couple of years or more.

There isn't a 'best' type of filter, it depends on what suits you, what your tank is like, and what you plan on keeping. On a little tank IMHO your best to just go for a small powered internal filter, ideally one with a spray bar so you don't too much current. Should only cost you $30 or so and is also ways useful to have round in the future.