misnoma

of course

Forget it basically quarantine = so expensive it's not worth it unless you're importing huge numbers of anything.

Are these T8 fluros (36W)? The wattage will be the telling factor, but it sounds a little low to me

The only thing I've seen a CAE seriously attack was another CAE. I kept one with medium cichlids for 6-8 months, and they got on fine.

That idea works.. Ira uses it (or something very similar I believe).. just ditch the timer and put a float switch in there... wouldn't want the tank to overflow

Hence I said fill the inlet hose with water. put the cannister filter 10 stories down, and the return hose back into the tank, and gravity will lift the water 10 stories for you, the pump doesn't have to do diddly squat. Actually, the pressure of the column above the pump EXACTLY matches the pressure caused by gravity syphoning it out of the tank. The only thing the pump has to do is overcome the friction in the filter itself and the hoses. Sure.. so long as the water coming into the pump comes from the same height as where your outlet is... remember a sump arrangement is totally different from a cannister filter.

One way this hopefully will make sense to you. Take one cannister filter Take two hoses Fill Hose (A) with water, connect one end to the inlet of the cannister filter, and put the other end in the tank. (sound like filter instructions yet? ) Take Hose (B) and attach it to the outlet of the cannister filter, put the other end in the tank. Open the taps on the filter, watch water rush down hose (A), fill the filter with water. Now.. does it stop there? No it doesn't... once the filter is completely full, our friend gravity will start filling hose (B). Note the filter is OFF, therefore no pumping is taking place, purely gravity pushing the water back UP the hose. (note, you may need to lift hose (B) out of the water to release any trapped air). Once things settle, you'll notice that 1) the filter is now full of water, 2) Hose (A) is still full of water, and 3) Hose (B) is now full of water as well! Hang on... we haven't used a pump, but... doesn't the pump need to LIFT the water... NO. Equilibrium in a closed system is exactly this... water finds it's own level, and will move to equalise the pressure in the hoses, therefore the hoses both become full all on their own. So.. if they can become full all on their own, what is the pump there to do? Simple.. overcome the friction of the filter media, and also the friction in the hoses and provide circulation.

Brad. This is physics.. not fishkeeping, simple as that. Ira is utterly correct, in a closed system (like a cannister filter) the effective head between inlet and outlet is zero. In an open system like a sump, yes, head is measured from the top of the sump to the top of the tank, but that's a totally different story. Only difference moving the filter higher up (and shortening the hoses) will make is reduce friction in the hoses, and therefore allow a small amount of additional flow. Some manufacturers claim is worthless unless they have facts to prove it. The diagrams Ira posted clearly show how things work.

Was reading about this in the pico tank thread.. .was wondering what is involved.. Obviously top-off water is just aged freshwater, since the salt doesn't evaporate. So I guess you're basically looking for a sensor of some sort in the top of the tank that detects when the water level drops below normal, which switches a pump of some sort to put more freshwater in (out of a resevoir somewhere). Am I on the right track? or is it more complex than this?

You could build a pico float switch out of a microswitch+pingpong ball or similar pretty easily, get it to trip a relay. Depends on how much diy you want to do

Just to add to that, be careful with open/bleeding wounds in a cichlid tank (didn't realise I had skinned my knuckle.. my oscar did thou!)

This is my first sponge filter experience, so you could be well correct more used to cannister filters that you open every urm.... when they stop working Smell seems to be subsiding a bit now, so will keep waterchanging etc Cheers

I have a 21L tank (that's 39x25x25cmish for Alan ) which has about 10 killie fry in it, and a sponge filter. This has been running for about a month now, filter was initially "primed" running in my 4x2x2 freshwater tank, and I was doing water changes every 3-4 days.. no Ammonia detected etc. Suddenly today I come home and the fish aren't looking too happy, I test the water and notice the water smells, and there's a trace of ammonia in the tank Silly thing was I did a 20% water change yesterday of all things. Tank is bare bottom. I pulled the sponge off the filter just before, and it _reeks_.. have rinsed it lightly in some tank water, and the smell is a lot less, but I'm well confused as to where this could have come from. Ammonia is now back to zero (thanks to a decent water change) and fish looking happy, I'll be watching it closely as.. but does anyone have any ideas as to what could have caused this? I'm not keen on overcleaning the sponge obviously, but it's definitely the cause of the smell.

wasp: very nicely put - awesome summary of pros/cons etc Doc Holiday: sounds like a very similar system (even an identical talk lol) Since I'm cycling a tank from scratch, and have all the time in the world, I think I'll go for a minimal covering of sand, and then monitor the nitrates very carefully over time once things are cycled etc. I definitely get the feeling it's one of those things where it's easy(ish) to add more sand to create a DSB, but a heap harder to take it away from an established DSB without causing issues.

Initially, FLOWR, however looking at _very_ light stocking of reef-safe fish only. Idea is when I then get enough $$ to look at real lighting etc I can move to keeping corals of sorts without having to re-look at the fishload etc. My plan (after some reading and before the reading I've done lately) was to go for a light dusting (i.e. 1-2cm on the bottom) purely for looks other than anything else. As others have said if I feel the need for DSB I can then add more... just generally seeing if there was a compelling reason to go for a deep bed to start with. petplanet, cheers for your offer.. will chat more on Sunday anyhows

Right.. so I've been reading here and over on reefcentral etc etc... and I'm a bit lost as to what to do... RC as a whole (at least in the noob forum) seems to advocate a DSB setup (4"ish). Here I've seen much debate, and the members tanks that I've seen don't seem to have more than 1" max. I'm going to be running a 370L tank (5' long), with Deltec 600MCE skimmer, and at the moment it looks like about 40kg of rock (hoping to find some live to mix with base rock - seed it etc ). So... hopefully without starting "heated discussion" what shall I do?.. or really.. what are other people in nz doing?

Heh.. my head's hurting from reading all 25 pages.. scariest thing was the thread started in 2003, and is still active!

I stumbled across this thread on reefcentral - definitely worth signing up for http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... did=239848 Given I'm a noob, and haven't actually cycled a tank ever... I can't say it's gospel.. however the descriptions of every stage in the cycling process etc seem to be excellent, and one of the only places on the net where I've found descriptions and step-by-step type instructions.

OMG LOL BBQ! Happy birthday

Nope... the green slimy stuff is _really_ green and slimy. I have some of the long stringy stuff in my planted tank, only right up near the waterline though, doesn't seem to affect anything, and I just remove it occasionally.

Yes.. they like chasing em too at night.

Couple of questions for the ASW people on the forum. From what I've read, it seems (in the US at least) they recommend RO/DI water when making up ASW. What do people use here - are filters of that sort commonly available? or do you get them off the net etc? Are there other options to achieve the same result? (seems the big thing is a 0 Phosphate reading/less algae worries) Also.. good places to get marine salt from, and recommended brands? I would have been keen to use NSW, however my lack of towbar/trailer, and living on the 8th floor makes such things a bit tricky initially

Cheers heeps Chimera

"I think its called 'The Natural Reef Aquairum' by Tullock." I believe that was one of the recommended ones?

Books on keeping saltwater fish would be a whole lot better... Cheers Alan :lol: