reef

hows the fish today?

www.aqua.net.nz

Trickle filter, canister filter have no place in the modern reef aquarium when used as filtration.. Just need a good protein skimmer and lots of base rock. If you dont want a sump then get a good hangon skimmer.

Must be the quality seawater

Fresh water will kill bactaria. Can also kill snails

My Tomi tang. past away last year,

It is a very big deal and coral importing could stop due to too many idiot importers trying to bring in live rock.

My Catalaphyllia has just had its 1st birthday. It is still going well after almost crashing 6 months ago. So far it has survived a number of disasters when I ran the freshwater top up all night reducing the salinity to almost freshwater. I put the success down to feeding the coral as I feed once or twice a week with coral food. wont list the food as i dont want to be advertising the best stuff Has anyone else got any that are doing well? Also found a good site on Goniopora http://www.reefcraze.com/GoniExper/FlowerpotPg1/flowerpotpg1.html

No bits on the tank yet? 2 meters long?? does not look it

I cant bring my tank it is too big

RnB when will you have the location.?? does anyone actually use sandbeds in the modern times.

Yes the tank does need to be heated during cycling; also having you lights on will speed up the process, Once the tank has done the cycle doing a water change is a good idea as the tank will be loaded with organics. Maybe do a 50% water change after cycling and 1 week on do another 20-30% This way you will remove all the nitrates and phosphates/nutrients. Even better cycle the rock in a bin first. Using NSW during cycling is a good idea as it adds bacteria, however using it on going could be a problem unless you get it form up north as I have tried NSW a few times and always get diatoms due to the high nutrients in the water.

Shit that was a major skuzza. The flatworms are really bad news. When i see a few flatworms i tend to nuke them asap with the flatworm exit , as they are deadly when they die in large numbers.

never

If it did not wipe them out it is a good idea to treat again 1 week later so you can kill any that were hiding in the rocks.

Salifert flatworm exit will kill them. if you have many no wrasse will eat them all as they will grow as quick as it can eat them. Try hollywood fish farm as they might have some flatworm exit, beware, really follow the instructions.

What is Superior about it.??

Looks like the pink leather has been coloured with die.

With phostphates that high it is better to do big water changes until you get it down as it is going to take a lot of phostphate remover to reduce it.

I think the above statement already proves that improving the water quality will result in healthy livestock. Whilst the fish/coral are still alive the conditions need to improve .

Which items are you thinking of that we can’t even get? In terms of livestock I think we are pretty lucky as we do get a big variety of items. The problem is that due to the market being so small the number of livestock imported is limited.. As an importer I buy from the same places as any importer in the states does so the reality is that we do get the same stuff. I think hobbyist sees all the web sites overseas and think that all the nice pieces are a norm, but they are not, just plain marketing. Most shops in NZ can’t afford to spend money on display tanks as they don’t make enough money on marines if any to justify the costs of getting nice display tanks that hold a variety of livestock. Also we are limited as some items are not allowed in. IN terms of hard coral I would say we can get 90% of them and the aquaculture coral I get is the best I have seen. It is about 20% cheaper than the states and hobbyist still don’t want to pay the price. You can’t win. As they say the grass is always greener on the other side. Any terms of dry goods I would say the quality items are as cheap as overseas, Look at the Deltec items , about 30% more in cost in the states. However if the items are made in the states then it stands to reason that they are cheaper, but if you look at the price of a item that is exported from the states it is very expensive overseas due to shipping cost etc. I don’t think the marine hobby is cheap in any country. Steve you mentioned that you local shop gets 25 boxes a week.. Well in NZ if you combine all the importers it would be 20 boxes a week for the whole country. So that puts the whole thing in perspective. We just can’t sell any more. And is it good that so much goes to the states for example. I think not as it is too cheap and most hobbyist would kill 60% of it, Cant be good for the reefs.

Nice tank. How do you find the Deltec gear, as you have upgrade some of your equipment. I like the banner fish, Do they pick on any of your coral? When are you coming to Auckland to help landscape my tank? So many questions?, just comeover for half a day.

Was looking to move the date, However it is very hard to please everyone. Also i note not many Reef Club members are going to the FNZAS meeting. So far the numbers confirming to this weeks meeting look ok.

Meeting to be held on the 5 June. 1pm. Please email me for address details. [email protected]

which pic??