suphew

Drainage is really important, if your going to use an icecream container, put holes in the bottom and put it inside a second container.

You mix looks a bit too damp to me, I have only had the bug thingies when mine gets too damp. The mix should be about the same as you would keep a pot plant, also if is in the same container it came in you should think about moving the culture into something bigger. I use an old small fish tank but any container will do like a poly box, I have an old under gravel filter plate with organic compost (from plant shop, just check there are no insecticides in it) on top this allows the air to circulate. The damp bread I use to feed the worms puts enough moisture in, with the odd watering during the summer. The bread also draws them to the surface so I can collect them.

Sorry to change the subject but I don't understand why you guys dont spend $30 and chuck a bag of phos-sorb into your filters which will last for a few months instead of all the cost of excel and hassle of water changes?

Wanting to DIY one, has anyone done this, I don't think it will be hard just looking for tips/tricks. Also what do ppl use for liquid, can use water but understand this evaperates?

What about using a CO2 fire extinguisher bottle? A lot of businesses throw them out instead of recerting, I assume you can just get the fitting changed (should all be standard) then get it certified for $35. I have used sodastream bottles for my fresh water, worked ok but costs $12 to fill and only lasted a month or so, was a pain to carry into work to get it refilled all the time.

Need Pic's anything grown ON her corals is not so good, on rock, prob not a biggie.

Would you end up with dead spots? I'm thinking that if you have baffles with water flowing over the top maybe the water would mostly just flow over the top and not move much at the bottom of each section?

It still doesn't really talk about putting the refugium before or after the sump and skimmer. I guess in reality for a lot of us (myself included) the sump and refugium are one and the same anyway?

They are attracted to light to so shining a light in the side of your container when you collect makes life easier.

IMHO the refugium should at least be after the sump, otherwise all those criters your spending so much time growing will end up in the sump and be taken out the the skimmer instead of in the tank feeding your fish. The ideal place is above the main tank with an overflow so that they dont get munched as they go in the return pump but this is impractical for most.

No problems with other algae, there was quite a bit of hair algae that came with the tank, which has been quickly declining, it has gone from around a square foot to maybe a square inch or to. Dont think it worth pulling my tank apart to clean it out, I'll leave it and if ever becauses a major problem think about a rebuild then.

Is there anything wrong with having bubble algae in your tank? I have plenty and quite like it.

I recon a lot of the trouble getting them started just comes down to luck, I was at a friends last night and watched him spend half an hour (then give up) trying to get a Jebo started. Where as I have my Fluvals on a shelf at the back of my stand and only have about 2 inches working space above them to pump the starter thing and never have much of a problem getting them going. Another friend with a ehiem always has problems getting it going. I'm not saying the Fluvals are better just that they all have the same problem. What I do like about the fluvals is the way the water flows down one side then up the other which means you can remove all the machanical filters for cleaning without having to pull out all the biological media first, this alone puts them at the top of my list.

Isn't this on his return? If so then there would be plently of extra back pressure if it feeds in the bottom of the tank, only a closed loop will have no back pressure. I would strongly suggest you dont try a one way valve, it reduces your flow a lot, plus all it will take is 1 snail or a bit of algae to stop it from working. Do you really want to have to test it each night before you go to bed so you can sleep??? How about running your return over the top and down the inside of your overflow box (so you cant see it) then out the bottom, put a small hole in the hose just below the water line so if it syphons when the water gets to the hole it will suck in air and stop the syphon

Not sure if its a good idea or if it works but I had a green water problem for a few months after setting up a tank, I was using rain water to do water changes, tried all sorts, then ran out of rain water one day so used tap water (without aging etc) and it cleared up. I guess it was the chlorine, it didn't seem to hurt the fish cause I dont think there was enough chlorine, plus I still use about 50% of my water change straight tap water.

The laws changed a few years ago, I rewired some of my house and asked a sparky mate to cert it for me, he told me that unless its a new circuit or is on the board (i.e. replacing an old circuit right back to the board) you can do it all yourself with no certification. I have my limited electrical cert, so know what I'm doing but still think this is crazy! Esp it you consider that you cant do any plumbing with out getting it certified, I guess it doesn't matter if you wiring is bad as long as your plumbing isn't leaking all over it hahaha.

Not 100% but works pretty good. Better than just a wet finger.

I have been using rain water for top up for almost a year now with no problems. I clean out the barral every couple of months to keep the bacteria down. When I first started using rain water (for my discus a few years ago) I emailed NIWA and asked them what the rain water in Wlg was like and they said it was pretty good. I also use phos-sorb in my tank but would run this anyway.

Shelly, my local super market sells silicon maybe thats easier for you than waiting for a trip into the big smoke. They good stuff usually has for aquaium use written it on. when you do the repair use a sharp blade to remove the old silicon but dont remove it from inside the joint (between the glass) do a far wider piece than the actual leak, the whole corner if you can. A strip of masking tape 10mm from each corner makes cleaning up easier. make sure it is really really really clean. If you can use isopropal otherwise meths to clean. Apply the silicon, use a soapy finger to push it into the corner, remove the masking tape before the silicon drys and leave it over night to cure. I always take the tank outside and fill it with the hose to test it and clean out any bits old silicon, dust etc. Anything I have forgotten anyone??

The piece I put into my tank is recovering nicely, standing back up and pumping again. Pie and I normally collect water together and have both done biggish changes for the last two weekends. So this rules out infection and water source.

As Caryl says there is no magic potion that speeds this process up. It is the bacteria that have to grow and this takes time. Once you have one tank setup you can speed up the process by moving a filter and/or gravel from a running tank to a new one, for this reason I run two filters on my main tank, if I need to set up another tank in a hurry I can just move a filter, bacteria and all on to the new tank.

B/N are algae eaters, unless your tank is very clean you don't really need to feed them at all, if it is a new setup I would just feed them until you can start to see algae on the glass etc then stop. They do however need a piece of wood in the tank which they will chew on, I think this is for fiber or something!! I have 15-20 in my 4 foot tank which I never feed (also never have to clean algae ) they are happily breeding, which is why I have so many, I started with only two. Over feeding is the biggest problem people have when they first start out the general rule is only what they can eat in 5 minutes but you will soon be able to tell if they are right by how your fish look and how that tank is looking. Remember that fish can survive for a week or two with out being feed, plus they will eat alot of 'stuff', algae, plants etc that is growing in the tank.

I have my sump uner my tank and it is pretty quite, other than an old pump which is driving my skimmer which needs to be replaced. My overflow pipe and return release below the waterline. Once you have the durso etc setup right I think the trick is using decent pumps, I have used (and still have one) cheap pumps and they rattle and hum.

Actually the rules are pretty strict regarding use of bulge water and dumping it into harbours hasn't happened for years, interestingly I dont think they are allowed to take on bulge water in harbour either. It is also illegal for any commercial vessel to dump anything in the harbour which caused problems for a few of the charter boats in Wellington a while back cause they were venting the toilets straight out, yuck! Sorry just had to clear that up, I work for a large container shipping company, its one of those industies that gets blamed a lot for damaging the environment, when in reality we spend millions on environmental care. Most of the harbour polution is caused by small pleasure boats and people dumping stuff into their stormwater drains and thinking it just goes somewhere magical! I also have a stream on the front of my property and every few weeks it stinks of bleach or chlorine cause someone decides to empty there pool into the stormwater or something equally stupid. While I agree that MAF have black listed some stupid things I fully agree with how strict they are, there must be a huge number of damaging things people would like to bring in and I would rather every thing was banned and then had to be justified than the other way round. If you dont agree with this then I suggest you go and ask a farmer about rabbits or look out your window at the gorse.

Bugga! Let me or Pies know if you need to store some live stock etc while you do repaires.