PENEJANE

My male has never been sulky. Hes just not able to make the girls pregnant. Its apart of the albino gene as they are a defect in the first place and with it comes the fact that some just may not be able to reproduce. Unfortunatly it just happens to be my male (the only albino that I have seen at our LFS untill Tammy got the females) Its just part of owning fish I guess.

Ok so the stuff out of the LFS tank is "live rock" And I can use the dry stuff thats in the basket? If I was to use the dry stuff it takes about 6 weeks to come right? And if I get some rock out of someone elses tank do I still have to wait 6 weeks? With the dry stuff, once added to the tank would life start appearing? Like that pinky purple algae and maybe other bits? or is it all dead and I would have to add it manualy? Wow this is getting very interesting lol. So far covered filtration, lighting and now rocks! hehe. :bounce:

have you got the females that I had with my male yet? Have they had any drops? as there were at least 2 females that were fat as and due to drop soonish.

yeah but as I said my husband thinks I am going out to buy everything tomorrow when I am not. I am going to get like one piece of equipment at a time. Like next month get the lights sorted, month after that the HOB filter and a power head. Slowly build it up and hopefully he will never really notice (expecially if I hide it all first! haha) so if all goes well I might have it started by xmas. Next question. What is live rock. Is that the dry stuff or the wet stuff? Reason for why I ask is that some sites have mentioned curing live rock. When I thought that live rock would already be live and comming from a setup tank. So if this could be cleared up then it would be great. Like do I go down to the LFS and ask for rock directly out of their sale tanks? With the dry stuff, once in water and heated with correct light would that become live by itself or do you have to add things to make it live? Cheers

Well I have been spending most of this morning searching nano reefs. It looks like that would be the better setup for me considering the tank is only 67ltrs (not the 75ltrs I first thought). From many sites and posts at other forums I have realised that I don't need all the big expensive equipment for the small display tank that I am keeping in the living room. The most expensive part would be the light (looking about $70 for dbl T8 setup). Most of the nanos I have seen run on a HOB filter (no media) and 1-2 powerheads. Using live rock and sand for filter media. So this is what I am going to have a go with and see how it turns out. I don't give a flying rats arse about what my husband says. His big problem is that he thinks I am going out to get the stuff tomorrow when thats not the case. I am selling my bettas to get my camera and hoping to have some left over to help start the marine tank. Its still going to be 2-3 months away yet before I actualy get the marine started. So maybe all isn't lost. Cheers

Well as perdicted at the very beginning my husband and I got into a full argument over bloody fish and ended with me sleeping on the couch. Thank you very much for all the interesting support and for awesome information but unfortunatly (since he is the one that works and I don't) I am not allowed to do a tropical marine now :evil: So I will just stick to my fresh water fish and maybe in a year or two I could give it another shot that is if I manage to make enough money from my bettas to get my camera (first goal) and how well they sell I might be able to do it again to fund a bigger marine. Cheers once again guys Evil you may now fully hijack this thread! hahahahahahaha

HAHAHAH Evil all is good. As long as others are finding this useful then its a bonus. Cheers Maybe we can do a diary together of how each others tanks have turned out later down the track.

sorry for your loss slappers. Out of interest how much is it for a common clown (nemo)? Just want to compare prices to what we have down here. Cheers

HAHAHAHA yeah I know. I done the same with our fresh water tanks. I just wanted one of thoes little 30 ltr Jebo tanks with the light, filter all in one unit. I am soooooo glad that hubby talked me into the bigger 2ft tank there and then or I am sure that wouldn't of lasted. But then again it didn't last long lol I am now up to 9 tanks! haha, 2 sitting empty and another 3 to go and pick up But the cold water and tropical marine tanks are going to be our personal display tanks in the living room. The rest are going into the spare room/shop cheers :bounce:

lol I am not setting up a large reef tank :lol: just something to house two clowns, a shrimp or two and a couple of corals to add colour to the back drop. Nothing on the levels of what you guys have as thats just beyond me at the moment lol. :bounce:

The reason for why I ask about the kelvin rating is because I am getting the tubes from a wholesaler, not a petstore so going in there and asking for one marine white and a marine blue I could end up with some real funny looks lol :lol: Cheers for that wasp

ok I am at the point (after reading pages upon pages of lighting stuff) that I need someone to tell me the correct kelvin ratings that I am needing. I am getting things from 6,700K - 10,000K for the white tube and 7,100 for the blue. What should the kelvins be? I want 1 white and 1 blue. I have read that there are also tubes called 50/50 tubes. Would two of these do a better job than the two seperate ones? What would the kelvin ratings of the 50/50 be? BTW once I have all parts sorted I am hoping to do a photo diary of my tank setup in hopes to help thoes that are looking at going marine with as much information about products as possible as I go along Cheers

hmmmmm not a good choice then if its just me ordering lol Anyway as for the blue light. What would be the best one to get?As in what name, or is it just called a coral blue light? For now I am just going to set up the one light (dbl tube). As mentioned before they are T8 sized tubes. Can I get 10,000k white tubes and a suitable blue tube for these? The company I am working with has been very helpfull but I can only go so far as I don't know all the information. Its for a 2ft light fitting. Cheers

been doing hard out work on looking up T8 lighting. I have found that yes you can use T8 but have to get the right kelvins (10,000k and a certian blue one) I was wondering how hard is it to import lights into NZ? I have found a site that has (what seems to be) good prices for T5 lights. Prices are in US as well as Canadian. I have no idea what the exchange rate is and if they would even ship to NZ. http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe ... 1147745143 If any of the importers can let me know how this works it would be great. Cheers

Cheers for that chimera Ok went down to our electrical wholesaler and I can get a twin holder but there is one problem. It doesn't run T5's. It requires T8's. Would I be able to run these (if I can get correct kelvins) or are they totaly wrong lighting? I have also been told about the compact fluros. How would these work? Cheers

Ok after going and seeing njd's tank last night I was blowen away (so was my mum!!) I am now interested in T5 lights for the 2.5ft tank that I am going to be using so I guess 2ft lights should be enough. Would 2 white and 1 blue be enough or could I get away with just 1 white and 1 blue? Could someone please tell me the parts that I will need to do DIY for this? I am hoping to go out today and price it all up to make it myself. I don't need hood or reflectors as I am just going to use some of hubbys spouting or down pipe (hes a plumber hehe) and line it with tinfoil. Cheers.

The book that I like best out of the 3 that I got is copywrited for 2004 so its not tooooo outdated yet hehe. I will see if I can find out what the skimmers are and what their prices are when I am next out there. Cheers

ok now is not a good time to confuse me lol. The book that I am currently reading mentions the Prism hang on the back skimmer. My LFS has 2 skimmers, neither I can read as the boxes are that faded even the price tag is faded. Waiting on a reply from njd to go and see how their setup is and how it all works. Cheers for all the great info so far.

Would a SA-2014 Weipro skimmer be ok for this tank? I redone the calculation for how many ltrs are in the tank. I thought it was 75 but its only 67ltrs lol At present all I am looking at keeping is a pair of clowns (nemo sort) and a shrimp or two. I don't know about crabs or what is available here in NZ for the tropical marine. Apart from that just some simple corals knowing that the tank isn't that big. Cheers

njd that would be totaly awesome. Would be nice to see someone elses tanks apart from pictures from the net or books. And to see how everything works will help me better understand it all. Cheers very much :bounce:

ok just come back from the Library and these are the books I got Setting up a Salt water Aquarium by Gregory Skomal The Marine Aquarium by Dick Mills The Tropical Marine Aquarium by Vincent B. Hargreaves As for that site you pointed out Feelers I have no idea what is available in NZ or if my LFS can even get things in for me. Is there any chance of shipping things? Cheers

ok from sites I have been to and looking up soft corals here are some names that I have come across. I have yet to look up pictures of them yet but was wondering if these are available in NZ? mushrooms (don't know how many species there are yet) green star polyps yellow polyps button polyps leather corals Are there any more that can be added to this "beginners list" as I am guessing none of these can be shipped so I am going to have to see what my LFS has. Could you please tell me their names so it makes it easier for me to look up in google for images and how to care for them. Cheers

Well the only thing that I was looking at having fish wise was a shrimp or two (if they are able to be in this sort of tank) and a small clown fish. I know some of you have said that I am able to have some mushrooms and things. Is there any chance of seeing some pictures of what I am able to have? Because its all new to me lol I don't know what is ment by acros and frags and stuff lol. Cheers Also with a clown fish (nemo sort) would I be able to have an anemone that they like to live in? I will be running two fluros (hopefully the legenth of the tank) :bounce:

Ok the tank is 75ltrs 2.5ft L x 1ft D x 1ft H. I will not be running a sump so anything that hangs on the back, side or what ever would be good. This tank is currently sitting on a modified table so it doesn't have a cupboard underneath. I have just taken a photo which I will now upload. The marine tank will be in the current cold water tank. Cold water will be shifted into another tank. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/p ... G_0020.jpg I move the lights from my freshwater onto this tank at about 3pm-9-10pm that is why it currently is in the dark lol. So yeah thats the tank I will be making tropical marine. Cheers

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 214378.htm Would this do for my 75ltr tank? I have no idea on brands and prices and the two skimmers left at our LFS are soo old that the packaging is all faded and I can't find a price on it as its faded as well Are there any air driven powerheads or do I have to use electric ones? For this size tank how many heads would I need and in which direction would I put them? Would be awesome if the importers mentioned earlier saw this post and could help me in the right direction. Cheers. Things are starting to take shape. Even hubby is showing interest and is now looking up DIY skimmers! hahaha :bounce: