reef

$600 for a marine tank?? I think my plumbing cost more than that. my view is if you cant afford it , don’t try to attempt the marine hobby as I cant see the point of experimenting on the coral/fish as they are delicate and most reefs are already being destroyed by the yanks as they get everything so cheap and just replace the stock when they die.

Fluro's just dont cut it in a reef tank unless you are only keeping soft coral. another alternative would be t5 fluros they are great for keeping hard coral if your tank is not very deep.

Personally i would go for D&D Rowaphos over saliferts as it has an unlimited lifespan rowa phos does not have a unlimited lifespan . basically when it is full it will not leech back in the tank. Rowaphos is Iron Oxi-hydroxide as is Salifert although the two are dry and a different structure Rowaphos is amorphous, Phosphate Killer from Salifert is crystalline. Both are FeOOH (iron oxy-hydroxide).

Practical Fishkeeping is the UK's best-selling fishkeeping magazine covering every aspect of the hobby. What’s in the October issue of PFK? Dr David Sands introduces a group of catfish that like life upside-down; Richard Hardwick takes a look at the Spotted gar, an ancient oddball fish; Ian Sainthouse discovers some unknown killifish on a trip to Tanzania; Andrew Smith introduces croaking gourmis; Matt Clarke looks at rainbowfishes; Steve Punchard has tips on breeding Discus, and we take a look at some of the livestock available by mail order in another buyer's guide. Marine aquaria - Phil Hunt explains how he set up his new marine aquarium; Les Holliday takes us to New Zealand where reefkeeper Alois Wolloner has a spectacular tank and plenty of tips on breeding Banggai cardinals. Coldwater and ponds - Matt Clarke looks at pond pollution and Nick Fletcher explains how the humble whelk brought a new interest to the life of a shellfish baron in the form of 500 Korean Koi. Plus much more. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/

i have seen the moorish idol in jansens and can confirm thet it is a Zanclus cornutus. they are not easy to keep . my friend has tried but they never survive. i must agree with david that the marine prices are out of control. paying $250 for a moorish idol is very expensive as they are a about a $90 fish. i have another example were in jansens there was a flame angel for $320. i paid $150 for mine about 6 months ago from another shop.

if you need more info on setting up a marine tank i would suggest you ring hollywood fish farm in auckland. I have dealt with janssens and they dont know a thing on how to keep marine fish.

fluval canister filters are no good for marine tanks, as they will cause nitrate and phostphate problems.the fluval will collect all the dirt then it will decay and cause the above problems. It is better to get a protein skimmer as this will remove the organics out of your water. All the decent tanks have protein skimmers as water quality is very important .

tank & stand $1000 protein skimmer $1000 metal halides $1000 base rock $1000 sump & plumbing $300 coral $2000 fish 8-10 fish $1000 pumps/power heads $500 i could go on.

how can i get some grindal worms

www.oceanicimages.co.nz/philboard/philboard.asp

Some folks out there are aware that there is a marine club getting started in Auckland area at the moment. The first meeting was held at Alois Wolloner's home and the few participants had a nice chat and barbeque at Alois place a couple months back. The first time some marine hobbyists faced each other and had oppotunity to exchange knowledge and Coral-fragments. The second meeting was held at the Zoo, wich I have organized, cause I'm the only Aquarist employed there. Due to the fact that participation increased from 8 at the first meeting to more than 30 at the second one, it seems to become harder to house so many people at one of our homes. I would suggest to have the third meeting taking place in a restaurant or pub on a weekday evening or on a Saturday afternoon. Also to increase information flow of not comercial interrests between people who like to join the club and take advantage of the benefits such a community could provide I would sugest that we create a member directory with email address and phonenumber. Once everybody out there knows details to get hold of other members, we will do much better to live such a club. So everybody out there who has been at one of the two recent meetings or all others interrested, please send me your name, email-address and phone number and I will reply in a couple weeks time, say end of August, with a club member directory. Also any sugestions for where to held the third meeting or anybody wanting to organize the third meeting are very much welcome. please email your details to [email protected]

i am breeding banggai cardinals, so far i have 50 babies and another 30 due this week. other marine fish can be breed like clown fish. angels. the main problem is keeping the babies alive as most need plankton to survive.

hi in auckland we have a marine club. it has about 30 members. if you want to join please email me and i will add you to the contact list. here are some web sites for some info http://www.oceanicimages.co.nz/index.asp www.aqua.net.nz if you are in christchurch you should be able to go to petworld. EDDIE the owner in a fish importer one thing about the hobby in new zealand i have found is that things are not cheap. a average tank will cost about $6000. one thing i say to people is if you cant afford to spend this amount it is better to go with tropical fish. lots of people try to do it cheap , and find that they lose a lot of stock. with most things costing over $100 you cant afford to lose anything.