Tom Gunner

Hold on simfish, What these guys have said is exactly right, it is a pricey activity - but my baby is still under the $400 mark: http://www.pbase.com/chris_and_jen/aquarium If your on a tight budget (like I'm on), you just have to scale things back a little and use a bit more DIY and creativity with your equipment. Small and, in my case, very small tanks are not impossible to successfully run like you would be lead to believe. But they do require a little a bit more precision and thought into your stocking options. There's a big trend at the moment in the states towards Nano (30 gallons and under) without skimmers and sumps. I know a couple people who've had their's running for over 4 years and have had great success with some sweet looking tanks. Check out: http://www.nano-reef.com

There's a few new additions in mine, which is fillling up nicely.

Some misc links you might find helpful: http://www.fishdomain.com/article_propagatingcolt_conger.shtml http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/6279/RaiseSimplySpeaking3_97.html http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/6279/RaiseSimplySpeaking4_97.html http://www.frags.org/resources.php http://www.reefs.org/library/farmertodd/frag/lps/1.htm http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/best-way-to-frag-corals-vt3912.html

Kermit - big thanks to you and your patience with the lighting questions. The photos are looking a little bit yellow at the moment because I'm running a 6500k at the front. I accidently melted my moonlight onto the bulb and it cracked!

That Goby is awesome, where did you get him from and how much are they? I was also thinking about one of these: https://www.oceanaquatics.com/view_product.php?product=EVOKT0J6204 HelifaxNZ - I've been reading your thread - great job on the tank, I love the tank shape, you should be able to do some great scaping. Cracker's cube reef is one of my favorite tanks.

I've already done a bit of surgury. I fragged two branches and sewed them to some rock.

edit

I'm probably going to leave out any fish for the time being - but I'd like a couple of shrimps in there. As for corals - I'd like some different coloured zoo colonies, a small torch coral, starburst polps, featherduster, Ricordea Mushroom - so if anybody has any of those for sale - give me a shout.

Here's some updated shots, I will take some more this week as I have a few more additions. The Mushrooms are looking great and the leather is already branching out - It'll have to be fragged down soon. The Yellow Polps are spreading out nicely, They are starting to interweave with the rock which is looking very natural. I've left these small guys to attach themselves to some small rocks so I can attach them in place in a few weeks.

hazymranch - thanks for the advice - you're totally right. The plastic was getting too hot so I ripped out the ballests and replaced them with 240's. I can now sleep a little better at night.

If you scroll down on this page: http://nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=930&start=0 You can see a pair. I wish I could score a couple of these guys over here - they would be a sweet addition.

isopropl is what we used to use on artwork as it leaves no residue due to it's purity. You can score it at the chemists.

I'll take some photos tonight.

The more common proportion used within architecture and graphic design is the Golden section, or the Fibonacci Sequence: http://www.ewersarchitecture.com/golden_section.htm I think (on it's side) it would be quite a nice size ratio.

Do you need a chiller to do this?

suphew - so the good ones have a more distinct cats eye? Do they have the same shell colour? Where would you suggest collecting from in the Wellington area? Would Island Bay beaches have them?

great - I'll give it a go this w/e. Free turbo snails - I love this country!

Does anybody have a photo of a Cats eye snail (or even a good description of one)? I need to score some this weekend and want to make sure I get the right ones.

Pies - Those photos are hypnotic. I just keep staring at them. The depth, the colours, the composition, wow. I really should do some work now...

I had a friend who had one in Canada - and I concur with what Brianemone said - the noise can get chronic, especially with age. Saying that, I can remember reading a few fixes for this problem on RC.

Thanks guys - I'll get the ballests changed soon. I thought I'd add a couple of 'before' shots so I can track the progress of growth and how the tank matures. The next job for me is sealing up the back between the glass and the water. I'm loosing a litre and a half per week, which is too much.

This is the one I have: http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4321228b0dd5e9d82740c0a87f990746/Product/View/M1160

Ira - I fear you may be right. I'll see how I go with the fan cooling it - It does make me a little nervous being on the edge of the limit - I like overkill too! misnoma - cheers for the linkage. I'd have to go for the larger one as I need an earth pin. These lights might end up costing as much as a small MH! :oops:

The lights are 2 X 9W - and have two individual ballests. They are connected to a Dick Smiths AC 220V to 110V transformer which says it can handle power up to 25W (it's the biggest one they have). In your opinion, is this transformer sufficient for 11 hours per day use, or will I run into problems?

When you refer to 'sizing' - do you mean the wattage?