beachy

I totaly agree, very nice tanks, i have AR620t. My lights and filter are out in the garage collecting dust. If i could start again i wouldnt buy an Ar tank, definately go for a tank with an overflow and sump. Then again, you already have the tank, so if you are keen then, Hob skimmer, loose the top filter. Live rock, a couple of good power heads. As for light i will leave that to the pros :lol: i will be getting a halide for my tank soon, at the mo i have two aquaone AL20D lights(easier access than the standard hood), but dont have any corals. Hope this helps, you wont be dissapointed either way, i put off going marine for years, and wish now i had done it earlier. Here is my tank so far My tank

Sweet, i will keep my eye on it, if it rises anymore i will do a water change Thanks Tel 8)

Just a quick update, I checked water parameters today, and i cant even detect any nitrates, my cyno has stopped growing, and all the cyno that is still in the tank has turned a really light bleached red/brown. I checked for nitrites - 0 Then i checked ammonia - 0.25 :evil: I have aquarium pharmaceuticals ammonia test kit, which is starting to run out and is getting a bit old, could it be the test kit? I added two fish yesterday, 3 fish in total, could this give me a slight spike? Should i, do a water change, and stop dosing Vodka? I will go out and get an ammo test kit today, it just seems weird, the fish seem to be doing ok. Cheers

I still think they look nice :lol: , second that. Posting here is good, even if you get mixed answers, you can take the replies, and make a decision.

Thanks Skuzza, i would like to add another power head and hang a m/halide from the roof, and thats hopefully it for equipment. I have to say thanks to everyone here for there great advice also , call me spongbob, i'm trying to soak up as much info as possible :lol:

Cool thanks Wasp, cant wait to get a few more things in there

I have an Aquaclear 201- 480ltr hr Aquaclear 301- 660ltr hr ocean runner 2000, but not much flow after going through the skimmer. How does that sound? seems like there is good flow, but prob could do with a bit more. Does it look a little cluttered? its just that i thought being a tall tank i would stack the base rock quite high, and no sump to put any in either.

Skimmer seems to be skimming good , i will be adding corals when my tank is a bit more mature, and i can afford a metal halide.

Borrowed my inlaws camera today and took a few pics, this is my tank about 9 weeks ago, and this is now, looking heaps better, bit of a cyno prob but i gave it a clean out on the weekend. side on

You could try Jetskisteve, he does aqua medic skimmers which run ocean runner needle wheel pumps.

Sweet, thanks

I use an Aqua clear surface skimmer, i didnt think it was going to work at first, but after a bit of fiddling its going, and going well. They are a bit of a pain, but if you dont mind a bit of playing around, they are really good. Its worth not having the surface build up , it was getting so bad i was getting cyno growing on the surface :evil:

Hey Kevan, they are nice looking lights, can i ask What kind they are? Are they available in nz? cheers

They do look kinda cool though.

A little off topic, but i just connected a surface skimmer to my skimmer(no overflow or sump). What a difference in skimmate, heaps darker, and much more foam production, took a little juggling to get them both running together nicely though.

cool 8)

I have read that too, did it take very long to run in again?

Reef recommended about once a year to me. Every second cup empty, i clean the neck of my skimmer, i find it pulls heaps more out.

very nice

I have used this brand, it worked well on my f/w setup.

I have used uv on a number of freshwater tanks, using it gives you real crystal clear water. I have used proper aquarium uv, and pond uv (on fresh aquaria), both work well, but i would say proper aquarium high watt uv would be the call on a s/w tank.

I was thinking that too, i hope i can get some blue/white ones soon, or a mh

Thanks Fay, the biostar seems to pull quite alot out of my tank, its a bit hard to know exactly the right adjustment though. As for lighting i have two 18 watt power compacts(red and white), im trying to get hold of the blue and white kind, but they are out of stock. I also have a aqua one al20d just normal t8, one marine blue and one marine white, which i wish i never bought, cause they are so dull. The lights are on for 10 hrs. Im so keen to get hold of a metal halide, ive been told that a single 150w would be sufficiant, but i need to save some $ first

Yea i might give it a miss, for the size of my tank 130 ltrs, i could prob just buy pure dew at around 5$ for 10 ltrs and make ASW.

I have at the moment, Aqua clear 20 power head, aqua clear 301 power head, aquamedic bio star flotor, which puts out some flow into the tank, but not a great amount. I had a sieo 820 :evil: , but wont go there on that one. How does that sound 130 ltr tank? seems to have good flow, but its not kicking up a storm.