suphew

Totally agree, so hands up those who use 10mm glass for their over flows? SteveA does which is again why I think his is fine.

MOst of the time when people are cleaning their filters they are cleaning the sponges, these are normally (or often atleast) mechanical filters not biological (though of course they do a bit of biological filtering to) so harming the bacteria in them isn't really as big an issue, it sort of makes sense to have them completely clean therefore doing the maximum mechanical filtation instead of only half cleaning them in a bucket of dirty tank water. Also all that gunk that doesn't get cleaned off will keep breaking down making nitrates, mechanical filters should be used to remove as much gunk before it breaks down.

Yes they will just grow up with their parents. I wouldn't worry too much about what sort of food since being outside they will be getting plently of live food, mossies etc.

Be interested to know what you will do if your overflow box starts to leak, which of course will be when it's under most pressure when your pump isn't going. SteveA has a similar kind of setup but instead has the holes drilled near the top of his tank so the level will only drop a couple of inches, therefore doesn't require taps. His is one of the non-durso setups I like.

You should buy up a whole bunch add 100% and send it to Hamilton, it's mostly farm boy's there they don't understand anything thats doesn't come in a meat pie :lol:

I was ready a letter in practical marine the other day about using brown/raw sugar to do the same thing, anyone tried this? Dosage was 1/4 teaspoon per 100l

I'm pretty sure 380l is only big enough for 1 mandarin, and then only after the tank has matured for 6 months or more so they have a food supply. Also I don't know anything about saehorses but I'm guessing that eat the same pods, shrimps etc that the mandarin will be looking for so I don't think you would be able to do it.

No this isn't normal, are you using yeast CO2? Maybe your mixture is wrong.

Does the container get rain in it? WCMM breed after rain or if you put colder water into the tank. Also 3-4 weeks is a pretty short time for fish to settle in and start breeding, just give them some time you will soon have tons of them

sad to hear but at least your still keen in the future. 1. This is true but in some ways untrue! The advantage of SW is that you can (and usually end up having to) take care of a lot of the work with technoledgy, for example because of good skimmers and live rock you don't need to do weekly water changes like you do with FW, I aim for monthly but don't really get too worried unless I go for a couple of months with out doing one. BTW the long start up period doesn't stop you from adding a fish etc after a couple or so weeks, the main problem is the different stages of algae which make the tank look bad. 2. Have to agree here and with SW bigger is far far better, plus if the tank is deep you would have problems getting enough light in it. Of course the good news is that custom tanks a cheap, there's a good chance you would have spent more $ on live rock along than a tank costs. 3. yep, the sump is pretty much a must have, there is so much extra gear required. My first tank didn't have a sump, by the time I had live rock and the skimmer in there, I couldn't fit any fish! 4. It does seem huge, but the basic's aren't that hard and most of the rest is about keeping difficult stuff or getting color from the corals, it is possible to get a long way with out driving yourself nuts. Have you concidered doing a Nano tank? Jetskisteve made and sold one resently, I'm sure it was under a $1000, complete, cycled, already to enjoy.

Wish my worms would me some of my leathers, they grow like weeds. Why not use it as a reason to start adding more SPS/LPS corals!

Monster snail to block a 40mm standpipe!

Again way double the price for no gain??? You don't need redundancy because a durso works, that is why most people use them. My understanding (but then the guy that invented it doesn't know why it works like it does) is that the standpipe has to be larger than the plumbing below it, not just a restriction at the bulkhead. But anyway why try and second guess it, you have a formula that works, unless your happy to waste $ trying out stuff that has been tried before just stick to the formula.

Pete at port nick glass in Wlg is good, and will deliver most places in the North Island. I agree with ghost face, my tank is around 1680L X 600H X 650F/B, I sort of wish I had gone a bit longer front to back to give myself more room to play with. It looked huge empty but once the water goes in the f/b just disappears. I used 10mm glass, very happy with it, I was able to go without a brace in the middle (just 70mm odd round the edges) which is really good for access and lighting, plus because the tank base is so rigid the stand only has 'legs' at either end and making access to sump so much better. I wouldn't plumb the return through the tank, this will limit what you can do with it (i.e. moving it or adding sea swirls) plus would make it harder to add an anti-syphon hole, up and over is the way to go. I don't like the look of plumbing going into the tank, having holes in the back of the tank will make this almost impossible to hide and will make the plumbing of the pumps more difficult. I'm running two closed loops from the base of the tank, to the flow goes out the bottem middle of the tank into the pump and straight up at either end. Putting them out the back means you will either have to add more bends to the plumbing to get the pumps out of the way or have 300-400mm space at the back so you have room for the taps and pumps (and I guess stress on the bulkheads holding up the pumps). The other advantage of the plumbing going out the bottem is I have build the rock work on top of it so the only plumbing you can see in the tank is the return.

Again what would be the point? A single durso will do the job, he's just doubling the cost for no reason. The lower pipe can't be a durso because you need the air and level correct for it to work so it would have to be just a pipe. And the upper one would have to be a durso otherwise you will get all the noise problems or you have to restrict the flow so it doesn't suck air, then you run the risk of over flowing the tank.

You must have a ball valve on any plumbing coming from a hole in the tank, otherwise you will never be able to shut it off. What happens if your sump leaks, or plumbing etc?? I'm guessing you want the cheapest option? Why double the number of ball valves, holes, pressure pipe, etc, to save yourself a T and 90 bend? Doesn't make sense. Plus as Pies says 99% of sump setups use durso's do you really want to play with some uncommon idea on your first one?? I'm not saying it wont work fine, but I would be going with the numbers game.

Soaking in white vinigar might do it, or get a paint scraper

the size of the holes depends on the size of the tank, but I would say 30mm would be you minimum, with hole this size you are only going to be able to use 25mm plumbing, which might be fine depending on the tank size but as I said for me would be the minimum. Aslo as the others have said don't rush in, the tank is going to be one of the cheapest parts of your setup, take the time to make sure it is perfect, FYI gettting a custom tank made only costs around $1 a liter

What about a pleated pool filter thingy? tho I would be a bit worried about restricting the flow to much and flooding the tank. what about putting it in line with the return pump.

Mandarin's need lots of live rock and around 100g tank per fish, plus they only eat live food (pods etc) so your tank must be pretty mature (6 months plus) to have a big enough population to keep them going. Anemones need really good water quality and lots of light so unless you have the money for MH light ots of rock, good skimmer etc this isn't really an option either. Tangs can also be a problem if your water quality isn't good they suffer white spot and don't do well if stressed (i.e. by poor water) Seahorses would be ok accept that you will need a chiller to keep the water cool which will cost, this is also another reason you can't keep mandarins with them or do a half and half tank But all is not lost, clowns are a good idea, you don't have to have an anemone and they are pretty hardy it would be good way to ease your self into it with out having to out lay so much money, you can also have some soft corals (leather , mushies etc) without the costly lights. Have a look at some of the other damsels as well, they are hardy, really nice looking and cheap, so long as you know that they are aggresive and might have to be removed later down the track if you start getting other quiter fish. If you do go for a fish only tank and save some money, there are some stunning fish that most of us aren't able to keep because they damage corals. Good luck

for me the bottem is better, I hate the look of plumbing in a tank when the closed loops are in the bottem they can be hidden under rocks. Your return should be designed so a power cut doesn't cause problems you cant rely on turning off taps unless you plan to be home 24/7 and never sleep. there are a couple of people in Hamilton with tanks, hook up with one of them so they can explain how it works, easier than trying to explain by typing it out

one (the return) is on its rubber feet, the other is on its side driving the skimmer. The tank they are sitting in is sitting on top of a hollow cavity as well to make things worse. Don't get me wrong I'm totally happy with them and at fantastic price for the water they pump let alone how well built they are. I paid more for the resin king 4 I have driving the skimmer in my old tank, it uses almost as much power pumps half as much water and generally crap.

The lungna will pump more than twice that. I have two of the found them to be a little bit noisy, give out a low hum

I do a couple of hundred liters of cold water at a time into my 800 odd liter setup and have no problems.

How long has the tank been setup? Nasty hair algae is one of the cycle stages, I'm sure the lights top up etc aren't helping but maybe its just something your going to have to live with for a month or two.