PENEJANE

Well the reason for why I was put onto the wet/dry canister filter is to eliminate the powerheads and pumps as the spray bar from the filter provides this current pretty well. We are very limited with power points and loading a wall up with rows of multi plugs isn't a good look. Expecially with young kids. This is why the canister filter took my interest. If I only need skimmer, heater and more live rock then thats not to bad but when it comes to power heads and pumps then its a bit to much. I am seriously considering biffing most of my other fish and just breed bettas for income and just keep the nice tropical marine for a display tank in the living room. The tank is 2.5ft Lx 1ft Hx 1ftD so by the time you got substrate on the bottom (could I keep the sand I already have?) there is only about 20-24 cms of water as I have 4cms of sand. With a skimmer is it cheaper to make one or does it work out the same to buy one? I have read about air driven skimmers. Are these the normal skimmers? Because if I could get an air driven one then if possible I could maybe use a real powerful air pump to move the water instead of powerheads. Is this possible Cheers I can see things shaping up nicely :bounce:

ok looking at wet/dry filters most of them are no good for this size tank as the tank may be on the small size for the filter. How about one of the normal external canister filters? Would this work just as well. I know that I won't have the spray bar creating the current and stuff but would it still work the same? cheers

how much would it cost to get the broken parts fixed? Out of all my tanks my husband has liked the cold water marine the most because there is so much life in it, crabs, snails, barnacals, anemones, fish, shrimp, star fish etc. There is always something different to look at unlike my fresh tropical tanks where its just plants (jungle in some) and one kind of fish who has had so many babies that its just fully loaded lol. Cheers Petplanet. :bounce:

because I have been told that I don't need a skimmer or sump if I have a good quality filter running in it and lights to be basic fluros (of special kind of course) Thats why I am asking about the wet/dry filters. Tank I will be using will be my current cold water marine (moving cold water to another tank) which is 75ltrs. All my other tanks are pretty tall when this is my only large shallow one to allow for the lights to penetrate right to the bottom properly. I do have a 3 ft tank but this is housing my 15cm pleco so I can't really move her. Cheers

Hey guys. After much thought and arguments with hubby I am going to setup a marine tank. Don't know exactly when as budget is tight at the moment so it will be in drips and drabs. I am looking into a Eheim Pro Wet/Dry external filter. What is the average price of these and what do you think of them? My lights are going to be two fluros (one blue one white) what sort of things can I keep in this? Cheers

any chance of the rock being shipped to invercargill? Cheers

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/p ... G_0013.jpg Nothing flash but thats my budget marine tank lol. Its still hazey because as mentioned earlier I have moved the rocks about. The picture had to be tanken on an angel to remove the reflection of the flash from the camera but you get the general idea. The tank is 2.5ftx1x1. Cheers

at the moment my current marine tank is in a 2.5ft tank which is about 75ltrs. Sorry I don't know what that would be in gallons. I just thought that if I was to have a couple of pieces that are going good then when I do upgrade then I would have something to help seed the rest of the rock (wether man made or brought). If this won't work then all good. I just thought that it might help me along if I was to get a couple of pieces now for later down the track Cheers

yeah the rock that is at the LFS is a white/grey colour and is all dry sitting in this basket. From memory (been a while) it wasn't that heavy to pick up a piece either. Would this be ok in cold salt marine? It will just be a small piece to start with. The marine tank I have at the moment has little critters crawling all over the glass (looks like moving grains of sand) as well as little worm type things that live in the sand and stick out two long little tenticals(sp) even moving the rocks about today I noticed more little things that I didn't notice I had before. I have to say for the very limited knowledge that I have of this stuff I think I have done pretty well and all I have used is rocks from the beach (covered in things of course) and sand from low tide. Went to the rock pools again today and got another triplefin, starfish, small crab, anemones and having a go at a couple of pieces of seaweed. I will post a pic later as the water is still settling from the stuir up lol so once that has settled I will take a pic and show you how things are for me at the moment Cheers

ok I don't know if this will work or not but at our LFS (well last time I looked) she had a washing basket type thing full of this real rough looking dried rock. Would this be coral rock or what ever for marine tanks? Would I be able to use any of this in my cold water marine? Each piece has a seperate price and not by the kg so I would only be able to get a couple of the small ones if they are at all usable. I thought if I was to get some small pieces (eventually build up) and get them going in my current marine tank then when I upgrade I can switch them over to help the new tank as well. If this is not usable for me please let me know. Cheers

I would use ours but the kids put a split up the sides and unfortunatly it can't be fixed because of the type of pool it is. :evil: Just a passing thought....... what would I need if I was to go tropical marine apart from heater, skimmer. Also instead of the hight lights that you guys use is there a form of fluro that I could use instead? As I have seen special fluros at our LFS. What kelvin rating do they require? Cheers

ok if I manage to get this into a large rockpool how long would I need to leave it there? I have read that I can cure it in the tank also (just can't add anything else) What would I need to do this? Like would I need to put any form of filtration in there or would I just have to do daily water changes? Trying to find out who we know who is close to the beach that we can take this stuff to and keep an eye on for us. Most places around here are tourist spots which is the reason for why I am not that keen on taking it out to the beach. Cheers

there is no way I can afford to ship a bag of cement down from chch lol. Do you know what the product is called? like what brand name so I can see if I can find it down here. As for putting the stuff into a river or sea its basicly impracticle for me as I have no idea where I can put it with out it going missing or thanks to petrol prices be able to afford to go out there in the first place to put them in let alone to go and get them back lol With my current marine tank I don't have any "live rock" as such. I just have rock that I got from the rock pools that was covered in things and put them into the tank. The sand came from the same place. Its been going for a while now and so far no probs. With these rocks that I currently have could I use them to help seed my new rocks once I make them? I will also be keeping the sand and putting it into the new tank. This is proving to be more difficult than setting up a freshwater! lol Cheers

http://www.athiel.com/lib3/arago.htm This site here shows you how to make the rock with simple instructions as well as shapes and what mix they use. They also state 12 hrs in white vinegar, rinse in fresh water before using them. Does this 12 hrs in the vinegar break down the lime that upsets the pH? Does that mean that after 12 hrs and one heck of a good rinse you are safe to place them into your tank to use? Cheers

well unlike most pet stores our one doesn't sell rock by the kg. Its in pieces ranging from $10-$30 a piece. This is for the dry stuff that you can get as it doesn't come from out of their tanks. The live rock that I would use would be from the actual rock pools itself. Using that cement mix to plaster pieces together would I still need to let it cure for months or would I be pretty right since it would be such a small amount? Anyone have anything to sell that would be suitable for a cold water marine please pm me. Cheers

One of the main reasons for the poly is that in the end it won't weigh as much as it would if it was made totaly out of cement/sand/shells or what ever you use. The tank isn't very deep so I don't have much space but it is tall which is why I have opted for the "looking through the side of a rock pool" scene. I am now thinking of using the cement and plastering together a pile of living rock to create my wall (less curing time) but it still won't give me the affect I am after. As for shipping anemones I was thinking if someone was able to go down to the beach (their local) and see if there were any in some rock pools. I know that tropical anemones are no good because they do require heat to survive. Also if I was to do the poly rock stuff (with a few extra coats to allow for the digging critters) could I then place this into the tank to cure with a filter running or something to help? Because emptying and filling a 200+ ltr tank is going to take some time if done by buckets! haha Cheers for the support guys :bounce:

Ok another question. I have found a way to do my rock wall for my tank. Once I have put the cement mix on the poly I leave it for 24hrs then put it into water (or add water to the tank) and cure it for how long? Some sites have said 5 weeks while others have said 3 months. Since this is cement on poly and not solid chunks of cement would this still take the same legenth of time? Also I know this may be impossible but thought I would ask. Is there any chance of shipping anemones(sp)? Reason I ask is that the only ones I can find local down here seem to be a muddy green colour so nothing special lol. Thought that if it was possible to ship them then I could get some of the nicer colours from around NZ to put into this tank. Cheers PeneJane :bounce:

ok now this is getting confusing. For the mix I use: Sand cement water I then mix this up and place little bits into a poly box (or large plastic tub what ever will hold the extra sand) to form one large piece and leave it to set in there? From the pictures I have seen I can't see how they manage to get pieces looking like that. I thought it was hand molded. Proving to be a very difficult task. I would have to get on to this soon as I have read that it takes 6-8 weeks of sitting in a kiddies pool of water to remove the excess pH or something? http://www.captivereefing.com/showthread.php?t=702 If you scroll down a bit you will se the pictures that I am talking about. Its hard for me to draw (even in the paint program) what effect I am trying to get. Is there any way of speeding this up so I can put into a tank sooner than 6-8 weeks? Cheers

Cheers for that Feelers. I shall go and read up on that now. This rock is to be used in my cold water marine tank so yes it is saltwater Cheers again :bounce:

ok so if I was to make up a cement and sand mix over some poly sheets would the poly be ok in a salt tank? Which cement would be the better one to use to stop anything leaching back into the tank? Poly seems to be the only thing that I can think of that is handy and always available and the best way to form what I am after. Cheers

I have been told fiberglass or Styrofoam. Would this be ok to make the rock formations with, with out harming the things I will have in it or the water? I am hoping to have 3-4 triplefins, number of crabs, starfish, glass shrimps and anemones(sp) and other little critters that I can find. Could they have this in their tank fine or will it cause harm? Cheers

cheers thanks for that :bounce:

Hi again guys. I am looking at making some changes to my cold water marine and was wondering how I could make some of my own rocks as I want to make corner pieces and hope that evenutally some of the crawly things will make it their homes like barnicles and other things to live on. I want to know how to sculpture it for little bumps and mounds and some hollows like you would expect in most natural rockpools. I thought of using the poly stuff and coating it and sticking it to a piece of glass to make it stay down but I don't know if this would work well in a marine tank. Any ideas appreciated. Cheers PeneJane :bounce:

go down to your local garden centre. They often use heating pads for under the seedling trays. I have seen them down at our garden centre and they look like water bed heaters. I don't know the price or the actual size of them. But its a place to start. Hope this helps Cheers

well unfortunatly I can't afford the $24 for a small little container of brine shrimp eggs Is there anything else I can give them? I am thinking it might be time to move them onto a bigger tank to give them more space to grow out in. As that tank is only a 19ltr tank lol not much living space when you count all that fry there. Mine are starting to look the same with the red starting to show in the tail and bottom fin but I am guessing most of mine to be red. Let me know how I can do this. I have seen frozen daphnia down at our LFS but it is expensive. Would this be ok? Cheers