reef

there is a little plate which you can slide up and down, this adjusts the water level.

yea sure bro, you have not even been keeping marines for 6 years, I am using seawater as well based on your short success, just did a big crap in my tank.

Just notice that the water level is way too high for the deltec skimmer. It should be about half the level you have at the moment

1) While using a protein skimmer, do you also have to use additional external filteration? Also, what kind of fish/corals would you use a protien skimmer with? Protein skimmer is the most effective filtration, so it is important that you get a quality skimmer. Any skimmer will skim however a good skimmer will skim better and remove pollutants before it becomes a problem. 2) Where is the place to acquire good quality Halides and stuff, and how much do they cost? Depends what you are going to keep. Metal halides is good, however t5s will allow you to keep every coral you want. You can try to find second hand or try the pet shops. 3) How do you determine where to point your power heads if you are new to Marine? Does not matter were your point them as long as the coral is no too close as it wont open. Don’t under estimate the amount of current required as too many people don’t have enough current in the tank 4) What is the function of Live Rock? Where do you get it from? How much does it cost? Can’t get live rock in New Zealand. Live rock is rock that has bits of coral. Algae on it, However you will find cured base rock which normally sells as live rock. It cost about $10 kg The rock acts as a biological filter were all the bacteria live and break down ammonia 5) How do you make your water salty? Do you add the special salt from the LFS or do you bring in buckets and buckets from the nearest beach? I would mix your salt; it can be purchases at the fish shop. You can buy a device that will tell you how much to put in to get it to the correct reading. Some hobbyist are collecting it from polluted areas like Takapuna beach however its like a time boom as it only takes one bad batch of water to start causing problems and it is not worth the risk after spending so much money on live stock. New zealand beach water is also high in minerals from run off etc. Beach water contains too much organics and over time it will build up in your rock so you will get algae problems. However if you use mixed salt the same thing can happen if you don’t keep you water quality spot on. 6) Where do you get sand from? And when you vacuum, won’t you loose a significant amount of sand? shop, etc Janssen, hollywood,massey pets, etc 7) Where do you guys get your livestock from? Fish shop 9) How do you "Attach" corals and anemones? Do you just place them in your tank and will they just float around and find a good place? Or do you have to do something special to attach them? Corals come on rock which is live rock; you just place them in your tank. 10) What is Kalk? kaltwasser is calcium hydroxide which mixed with filtered water and dripped into your tank to maintain calcium and alkalinity. It is also a good idea to have a budget of $4000 for a 3-4 foot tank, you can go a bit smaller however the smaller you go the hardy it is to maintain water quality as there is not much margin for error. Also get a decent book as this forum and many others can have too much misinformation

its identical as it also came from the red sea. however the indo ones that i bought in were just as nice. all of them are eating and fat as.

This is not my tank, however i have a regal angel and he is going in my reef. Just cant get a decent photo of him. They are very nice fish. Regal Angel fish Pygoplites diacanthus Reef Compatibility: Reef safe, with caution. May pick on corals, feather Dusters, and clam mantles, but has been kept with high success in reef type aquaria. Maximum Size: The Pygoplites diacanthus grows up to 10 inches. Sizes shipped: Sml 2-3 Inches, Med. 3.5-4 Inches, Lrg. 5-6.5 Inches. Minimum Tank Size: The Regal Angel prefers a tank of at least 75 gallons with plenty of places to hide & swim. Diet: The Pygoplites diacanthus is an omnivore and likes to feed on marine algae, mysid shrimp, Spirulina, Sponges and other fresh or frozen seafoods. The diet of all larger angels consists heavily of sponge material, so it is recommended to feed "Angel Formula" by: Ocean Nutition, which has a very high sponge percentage mixed in the food Level of care: The Pygoplites diacanthus is a high maintenance fish. Compatibility Notes: Generally peaceful towards other tank mates, but may act aggressively towards other Angels. Water Conditions: Keep water quality high (SG 1.020 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F). Range: The Regal Angel, Red Sea is commonly collected from the Red Sea, Maldives, the Indian Ocean. General Notes: The Regal Angel is a very attractive species that is high in demand, and does well in a fish only tank or a reef type aquarium, with other community type fish i.e. Butterflies, Tangs, Wrasse etc.. Differences between the two sub-species of Regal Angels, is the Red Sea variey is brighter in coloration, along with the breat of the Red Sea variety being yellowish gold as well. The Indo-Pacific variety lacks the yellowish gold breast. It has also been noted that the Red Sea variety, does better in captivity as well. This species is very difficult to keep and should only be attempted by expert aquarists

not so sure it is the light. my nitrates are almost zero know down from 2ppm and phostphates are zero down from .001ppm also since adding reef solution all my acros are open all the time and the xenia is finally growing very well.

Here are some pics of my acropora which has changed colours. what caused the change ? well it could be anything, i have made a few changes like upgrading my lights from 250w to 400w. adding reef solution which is a type of coral food. before after

think tunze stream. awesome pumps

what a dreamer, i might offer 10 cents for it,

here are some pics of the port waikato reef. Very nice soft coral tank.

but the experts on the forum say that new zealand is so expensive.

i love his set up, so tidy and he has quality filtration like deltec.

that is a great tank. how does he do it without zeovit? Thats it, i am using sugar and takapuna seawater.

i am so aspired that i am thinking about going for a nano tank like jetski.

The arcadia t5s are not very good quality, they look good however they are far inferior to other units like aquaconnect/ bressline. The arcadia units run cheap ballast and the bulbs dont last long. t5s are great, i have even had my acropora do really well under t5s. They are a alternative to metal halides, however metal halides are still the best source of lighting. it all depends what you are going to keep. I use them in the quarantine facility and do recommend then over normal floros.

i have over 1000 of frags available. look forward to the frag meeting so i can share with the two other people. also should be able to frag my black tang into 4 pieces. cant wait for a bit of a yellow tang.

i think you should read my previous post again. i did not say that asw does not cause cyno. cyno is caused by excess nutrients which make it worse if you use seawater. i think my skimmer is big enough, it about the size of your tank.

The fact is that seawater can cause cyno. Especially collect around high populated suburbs. The reason it does is due to the high organics of seawater. Were do you think all the run off goes to from the land, which will have waste/dust/ fertiliser etc. Be interesting if someone would go and get a lab to test the seawater around takapuna and see how high the traces of organics are. Cyno is cause by high organics and even if you use Asw you can have cyno due to the quality of your tank water. I have had sml traces on cyno in my tank and this normally happens if I feed to much brine shrimp etc. it always goes away once the water quality has been improved. Changing from NSW to ASW will stop cyno , however it will take some time as all the rock will take time to release all the organics.

i would spear it with a knife. works well.

chimera corraline algae looks good. the cyno might be from the organics that has been sitting in you rocks, i think over time it will just go as long as you dont add anything to your tank and keep it clean.

nice pics layton. what is that coral on the right hand side under the stream. looks orange

For your size tank I would get 3x250w. You can get the ballast from Radium lighting in Auckland. Hoods I am not sure of but Radium might be able to help. Get double ended bulbs fc2 fittings as single ended bulbs are a pain to get. Get 10-20k. That is a big tank to light. You will also need some lights on the front and back of the tank. Try t5s which are like normal fluros, but they are heaps brighter. Calcium reactor is a luxury item, not really required unless you have lots of clams and acropora, Nitrate reactor is only required if you can’t keep your nitrates down, say below 5ppm. For acropora 0 is ideal. Sump does not have to be lit unless you are keeping caulapera in it to help with nitrate and phosphate removal. Also do you have a protein skimmer? For that tank you will need a large skimmer. Pm me if you want any bits, I am going to have a cleanout this week so I will have some second hand stuff . Recommend you get a decent book as some info on the net is outdated. Also get a book named: Ultimate reef aquariums: it has lots of details on tanks and equipment.

I feed fish a bit of every thing, whitebait,mussels, nori,\ i soak the food in a galick mixture for a few hours before feeding. For the coral food i have used salifert coral food. Best thing so far has been the reef solution by ecosystem. been using it for 3 weeks and thus far it is awesome. my acropora polpys are out all the time, my xenia has gone nuts, never used too. great for growing caulepra algae. Have had feed back from other guys using it and they are also having very good success with it. I have got some phyto plankton , but am waiting a few weeks to see what the results are like with the reef solution supplement.

should get everyone to post some pics of zoos.