jscottbowman Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Dear all, I have kept a reef tank a couple of years ago in the UK, before selling it all up, and emigrating here to NZ. I popped into local pet shop and walked straight into a reef display tank. Hmm thought I, dare I dip my toe back in the world of marine reef tanks here? So after a chat to the helpful store owner I learned a few things. One thing he seemed to suggest is that you cannot get Live Rock shipped into NZ due to customs restrictions. Is this true? He said he brings in dead coral rock then seads it himself for 3-6 months in his own tanks. I presume this would work as well, just take longer than buying ready to go stuff? Also as a general query, which stores are recommended in my area (Kapiti Coast). The one thing which truely puts me off getting back into reef tanks is the constant battle I had with Aiptasia anemones. Back in UK I tried all sorts; bought a couple of peppermints shrimps but they stayed in their own little rocky holes and just munched the ones near them. I bought a copperband anglefish which didnt touch them, wouldnt eat anything I gave it, and eventually starved to death after a couple of weeks (really heart breaking and frustrating). I had heard about a sp. of nudibranch (berghia?)that was supposed to munce them but as yet have not seem them offered commercially. The only thing I found successful was injecting them with kalkwasser, but i could only reach the ones on front face of rocks, and would spend most sundays for hours wth syringe in hand... I dont mind maintenance, but this completely drained my enthusiam for the marine tank. Any thoughts... Cheers Scott Paraparaumu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Welcome to New Zealand. I only kow the shops in Auckland and they are both very good. Jensans and Holywood Fish Farm. Aiptasia .... yes they are a problem. There is a product call Joes Juice which works well. You inject them and good bye. I killed heaps in one go and did not have any issuies. The reef community (one this site) is very good and we all know each other and help when required. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/do-you ... 1c05bbeb9f Is a link to a page on this site which shows many of our tanks. Give it a go.... well worth the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Yes, it's true, you can't get live rock here. All you can do is buy dead base rock or rock from someone else's tank. As for the stores in your area? You've already found the only one with marines within a couple hours drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Pies is in WGTN he might have some spare rock?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Didn't Pies have a whole setup for sale? Or has it gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 jscottbowman Go for it if you have the time!! great hobby!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krama Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I think you are lucky to have joined this forum, as you can see there is alot of support out there, both in advice and bits and pieces you can buy/swop/get off people. Things maybe alittle bit different here than the UK. I am fairly new to fish/marine and have enjoyed a community that provides an excellent support. We have a few shops up here in Auckland, but meeting and seeing how others go about it has been my best point of learning. Seems what ever problem you have,someone has had it before and is happy to share on how they have dealt with it. Best wishes on the road to building your new reef. MJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 but meeting and seeing how others go about it has been my best point of learning. Seems what ever problem you have,someone has had it before. I agree everytime I visit someone I learn something It's great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jscottbowman Posted September 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Dear all Thanks to all for your kind welcome and words of encouragement. As you say its that folks in the marine reef scene are a good bunch, and helpful to each other. I was fortunate to meet David Saxby (MD of D&D aquarium solutions / Delec) at a conference in the UK, and after chatting to him for a while, was invited to see his stunning aquarium at his home in London. Awesome just does not do it justice! Another thing possible with marine reefs is "Fragging". Do members of this forum offer coral frags for propagation of others tanks? I had great sucess in UK with a toadstool coral that dropped bits all over which grew on and could be offered to others. I had a little success with another soft coral by taking cuttings, but found it difficult to get them to adhere to a rock to pass them on, some made it though... Also, it was good to get some advice re Joes Juice for the aiptasia. I had heard the name before but not seen the product. If I recall it is based on garlic? Whats the current thinking on bristleworms? Some folks say they are a pest and must be removed at all cost. Others say they are part of the natural critters in the tank and are there to help remove detritus. Thoughts? I am presently in a rental, and busy having my home built, so I wont be doing anything quickly (a marine reef is not an easy thinng to move!), but i will keep visiting the forum, if only to offer comments from my past experiences. kind regards Scott Paraparaumu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Another thing possible with marine reefs is "Fragging". Do members of this forum offer coral frags for propagation of others tanks? very common here as corals are relatively expensive from shops. all depends on whether you want something smaller/cheaper and watch it grow or fork out now and get something larger. as of late i've been opting for larger acro's. Also, it was good to get some advice re Joes Juice for the aiptasia. I had heard the name before but not seen the product. If I recall it is based on garlic? dont believe it's based on garlic. i use it with great success. only 2 persistant aipstasia left :evil: Whats the current thinking on bristleworms? Some folks say they are a pest and must be removed at all cost. Others say they are part of the natural critters in the tank and are there to help remove detritus. Thoughts? general consensus seems to be that they're ok as long as they dont get too large. i see no problem with them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 First of all, welcome to the forums... Im am in the process now fo setting up a 60 Litre nano reef tank. I will be upgrading in the future im sure :lol: Anyways, i think you should get back into the hobby, it is a very fun thing... If you do get back into it, good luck I am presently in a rental, and busy having my home built, so I wont be doing anything quickly (a marine reef is not an easy thinng to move!), but i will keep visiting the forum, if only to offer comments from my past experiences. Yes, comments from experiences is what makes this site awesome!!! Hope ya get back into it Rogan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Hi Scott, There are a few of us in Wellington, I have a approx 800l tank, Pies is just up the road from me his system is around 2500l and there is another guy locally who has a around 2000l system. We all swap frags, gear etc often, getting stuff locally is impossible, I have picked up a couple of fish and corals from Kapiti and like to try and support him but is range is very limited so mostly we get stuff sent down from Auckland, if doing live stock we try and get togeather and order a box or two at a time to cut down on the costs. All the importers are on this site so it's not hard to arrange. If you biulding a new house it sounds like the perfect time to get a BIG tank built in :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Hmph...Obviously my tank's not big enough to rate a mention. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jscottbowman Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 My Tank in the UK was 4' x 18" x 18", plus sump. Cant recall whats its volume was. Its was quite successful in some respects and it was very much a learning experiment and went through several incarnations over a couple of years. My worst mistake was letting my LFS convince me to put a plenum under the live rock and substrate, when that had not been my starting intention. Sure enough my nitrate reading went through the roof and I couldnt get them down. I stripped tank down, removed plenum and re-estbalished a 2" coral sand base, with the live rock, and the nitrate level dissappeared. I had an auto top system pumping RO water through a kalkwasser stirrer, on a night timer and triggered by a float switch in sump. This generally worked well, until one night it failed on and pumped entire weeks worth of kalkwasser over in one night. Not a pretty sight next morning. I also ran a Calcium reactor during daylight hours, controlled by a solenoid on a timer. Only problem was I got a bit of a rickety secondhand CO2 system from Germany. I never seemed to able to get a steady drip with it, it either stopped, or poured though. Quite frustrating. I had two 150w metal halides over the tank, but i found the cooling fans very noisy in operation, so tank was relegated to dining room, too noisy in lounge. I couldnt afford nor had space for a chiller. One of the bonuses to my new house build is that I have already budgeted for Aircon, so should keep the room the tank is in, cool. That would be a relief. I did at one point back in UK consider upgrading to a 8' x 36" x 24", as a through room feature between lounge and study. But the quotes became astronomical. I aslo dread to think what the power costs would have been... I did get a new tank custom built in the end; 4' x 2' x 2'. It had two weir overflow towers; one in each rear corner of tank. It also was drilled with returns at the rear towers but also one return at each front corner of tank. The idea had been to direct these front return pipes across front of rock face, conceal then behind small pieces of rock themselves and have the return connected via wave maker so it would pulse back and forth across front of tank. I was trying to get away from having powerheads visable in main tank. I wanted all maintenance of pumps from sump cupboard undearneath main tank. But this tank was sold before ever seeing if it would work. If I do get back into reef tanks again, I've got heaps of ideas buzzing around me head still! I also would hope to attach a caulerpa filled refugium (sump#2) to help further drop nitrates and phosphates naturally. Oh, can you get Rowaphos in NZ? I found it excellent at dropping phosphates. Ok I am probably babbling now...please forgive! Cheers Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 so got any pic's of your old tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jscottbowman Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Hey Chimera Really nice tank you have there. Great to see the hard corals doing well, looks like you have got hold of several frags and milliputted them in place. I have always loved the pulsing xenia - gorgeous movement. The only detration is the equipment visible in main tank (powerheads/returns) but as they get covered in coralline algae at least this is minimised, but thats what i was looking to get away from with my last tank incarnation which sadly never saw light Sadly I am running my laptop as main pc at the moment due to rental situation. My Main tower PC from UK is still in storage. Thats where my old tank pics are stored... I did once upload a pic to "readers tanks" for "practical fishkeeping" magazine, back in UK. I'll have a browse through web and see if its still hoseted somewhere and provide the link. Cheers Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Really nice tank you have there cheers, but im not that happy with it at the mo! just taken all the sand out of the display as it's mega-dirty. hoping thats gonna help with some colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 449209.htm cheap set up in WGTN good to get started (Pies) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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