Kermit

Ok just hot off the press. Trade $6.65+gst each Retail $8.86+gst each I don't work for Rexel so prices may varie, this is the prices i know of. Not bad i say.

Ok sorry about the delay, they are "Ellisco" brand part no: ST770/26 (T8 fitting), they're IP67 rated. Here's a site that explains the IP ratings for you. http://www.cable-ways.co.nz/generic.htm Hope this helps and they are a stock item at Rexel. Just about forgot some picks. Robert

Rexel Electrical wholesalers sell T8 end caps off the shelf (in Chch anyways), so if you know a sparky who can get them cheap at around $7-9 each. Don't know about the T5's though. Kermit.

If your after a cheap microscope pop on down to natures descovery and purchase a $50 microscope i brought one for my son and we spent the weekends looking at things from the aquarium.

Pies Heres a link i found ages ago when looking into the rotifers myself. http://rotifer.reed-mariculture.com/small.asp it says rotifer size varies from 200-375 microns, i've read somewhere that some people use a good quality coffee filter to hold/catch the rotifers, maybe a local kitchen utility shop will have something in stock. doing a setup myself when we move house may have 2 different types of clowns just waiting for the polymous clowns to spawn, in the past few days they've been doing the mating chase and giggles so heres hoping, already have a pair of commons breeding. All the best dude hope the above helps, keep us upto date when possible. Kermit

True you dont, but if they already have one that they they call home i'd rather keep them together as it wont stress the fish and they'll get back down to buisness quicker, i've heard/seen two lots of clowns die depressed cos of their home being taken away from them, not saying it's going to happen all the time but why bother taking the risk. Keep the clowns happy . Kermit

Your onto it Chris, thats what i meant as above Cheers. Kermit

True you have, i have my return coming up through the bottom and have no problems when power turns off as my return pipe extends to the top in the tank above the overflow hight so if power goes off then the water only fulls to the hight of the overflow becuase the return is out of water and any syphon is stopped. I wasn't sure on your sump so i thought i'd ask, looking forward to see some picks when all up and going. Kermit

Looks good so far dude, how about bringing the return from the sump up through the bottom of the tank that way you don't have to worry about an ugly pipe hanging out the side and then you can also put an elbow fitting at the top insteed of a right angle fitting just use some rock to hide the pipe and your sweet. Also if you still want to use the space next to the sump how about putting the bend (could also be a elbow fitting) up as high as you can go and then use a peice of flexible tube to connect it to the sump pump that way you not having two harsh bends and you still get to use the space. As for lights how about mounting them 300mm centers from the sides (gives you 600mm centers between the fittings) would give you a even spreed over the tank. Have you thought about putting some baffle chambers in the sump to help prevent bubles?

I'd be keen on that, i've got a couple of projects starting up in nelson in about a months time so could catch up then if thats cool, any other reefers in nelson keen?

OK Chris, i don't know what catigory i full in as i've been in the hobby for just over a year but my main tank is 4'L x 20"w x 18"h and my sump holds about 35L and i have a 3'L x 18"w x 15"h tank aside the main tank plumbed up, this gives me a total of about the 420L mark. The main tank has the following fishies: 1x Purple tang (Blurple) 2x Polymous Clowns (Brucie and Brucetta) 1x long nose butterfly (Beaker) 1x six line wrasse (Rex) 1x cleaner shrimp (No name but open to surgestions) the smaller tank has the following: 2x clowns i think ones a common clown (female) and the others a percullar clown (male) and they are a matting pair. 1x coral banded shrimp (eddy) i mainly have stonie and soft corals, not sure on the proper names as i dont realy have any good ID books so cant help you in that way. Kermit

I went through three hydrometers in nine months totaling $70 maybe i'm clumsy maybe i used it a lot, i do mix up fourty liters of water every sunday so theres four times a week. So i brought my refractometer for $130 if i get 18 months out of it thats still $10 saving , not to mention that there are more expensive hydrometers out there around the $70-80 range and the easy reading of the refractometer over the hydrometer that constently bobs up and down, having to read under water why would you not. I've got to admit when i heard the price of the refractometers at first i was put off but after breaking hydrometers like eating jelly babies it's defently worth the money in my point of view, i think this post has already made the concerns of not reading hydrometers correctly and the inaccuracy of the hydrometers known and i wouldn't be surprised if some people have found out what their salt level actually are by getting the LFS to cheack, if so thats what i wanted to do and it would be great to hear of peoples findings from hydrometer to refractometers weather they find the hydrometer to be accurate or not and vise versa, this way we can see the findings that each other have made and maybe do a % accuracy comparison of the two.

Sounds like its a common thing through out so far, how about the people that have made the move to Refractometers list the difference in levels they found from the Hydrometer to the refractometer. Mine was as follows: Hydrometer was reading 1.024-1.026 Refractometer reads 1.030 with same water. Kermit

Yeah i'll be in for a frag only the one though , as just want to see how they go in my tank as i have mainly softies.

Ok as i've mentioned somewhere in this forum as a reply i was using a cheap Hydrometer to measure my waters salt levels, Other then breaking them every five minutes and having to run out and buy another one to replace it i found them to be inaccreate. The hydrometer was always reading 1.024-1.026 and i noticed my leather corals were always with drawn and one was receading, one sunday morning down at a LFS i heard a couple of people talking about salt levels when cheaked with the Refractometer they said that their salt levels were 1.030 when their Hydrometers read 1.025, so i took a sample of my water to be tested and the result was 1.030, since then i've never looked back at the old hydrometer and never will my corals are all lush and the one that was receading has recoved. Todate i know of two more people that were using hydrometers and thought their levels were all good but their tanks were actually 1.030-1.032. I'm surprised in how far out all these tanks were and the end results as they were all out by around the same margins. Some of the people i know of were using what is considered as a top line Hydrometer as well as the old cheapy. Now i've told you my story i'd like to hear what other people on this forum have experienced and what their opinions are towards Hydrometers, or Refractometers are as i strongly recomend refractometers and concider them to be an essential tool. Kermit

DIY Halides, i can bring one along for you to look at, Chris. 150Watt

True, Steve i've just sent you my passport details.

Same here either of the above dates all good. How about the people from above and below (outside chch) are they invited and/or coming??

Weekends good for me more so Sunday anytime, keen on the house visits. Kermit.

Don't forget me i'll be in. Aaron i know what ya mean dude, but most people i've meet in christchurch that are on this forum are really easy down to earth people and it'd be great to put another face to another name, plus we all have something in common so what can go wrong . Hope to see you there. Kermit

Your onto it Layton, They sell them as an air purifire that sits on your desk or in some cases large office buildings have a unit built into the Air con, they make you more alert and allow your boss to get a well work 40 hours out of you . As for Ozone, some of the things i've read scare the c&*p out of me but there are people out there using it and finding it to be a great success in their thanks, as for negative ions i haven't read enything bad, but i haven't found anything that comments on the use in aquariums either. Thats the reason for this post, if anyone knows or has any info/topics on the use of negative ions in an aquarium please reply. Kermit

Hi all again, just wanting to pick your brains of knowledgable on the topic of Negative ions over Ozone, is/has this been tried instead of Ozone in the aquarium hobby?, if so does anyone know of any topics/results of it?(any links to aquarium results/trials would be great) If it hasn't been tried in the aquarium hobby is there any reason why not? I would have thought Negative ions to be pritty safe compared to Ozone from what i've read, for us humans anyways. Looking forward to your replies. Kermit

Hi all, Just came across this site on Ozone that i thought was helpfull, thought it'd be a good one to share. http://www.ozoneapplications.com/ozoneinfo.htm enjoy

O'well i'll have to wait till i've got a good supply of rotifiers then i'll give it a go with the egg thing just for interest anyways. I might look into those golden pearls though, cheers. Thanks all.

Cheers Guys, sounds like i'll be purchasing a six line wrasse, Tim you sold yours yet?