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ryanjury

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Ok well after looking around at getting marines for so long now we saw this and thought it would be a good buy and alright tank to start with...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... d=81755097

Were picking it up this weekend and was wondering if anyone can give us any advice for the move... Am I sweet to go and use water from the sea in it or do I make up my own water for it.. Im going to transport as much water as possible back, also regarding the "3x soft corals and 2x hard corals" how do you transport these? I presume is a vessel with water etc but are they pretty sensitive to changes etc?

Also any other advice..

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Actually you got a VERY good deal.

All the corals, or at least the ones in the pics, are hardy ones & easy enough to move. Just bag with water as you would a fish, or put in plastic containers but if you do that make sure they are not going to get too bashed around during the move.

The liverock needs to be kept alive, best way is to put in a plastic bin, without water, but cover with wet cloths or similar to ensure it does not dry out.

The more origional water you can bring back the less shock to the corals, but you can make up the balance with either sea water or artificial water. Just if you use natural sea water, (NSW), it must be clean, ie, only collect it when conditions are good & it is crystal clear. You then need to dilute it by 10% with fresh water to bring salinity to around 1.025, the same as the reefs where the corals come from.

There is a TON of other stuff to learn but you are starting with a nice set up and hardy corals, and I suspect you have been "lurking" in the salt section for a while, so welcome aboard! :D

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Wicked deal, well done. I started my first ever reef tank 3 months ago now. I asked quite a few questions here and they were answered very well by some people here. Some of the reefers on here are very helpful, and realy know their stuff. One thing i wouldnt reccomend doing, is topping up with tap water. Get new filter stuf for the RODI unit that comes with it, and you will be glad you did. My tank has had the most chronic brown algae (covers EVERYTHING) since when i started using tap water, but i am buying a DI unit now so hopefully things will get better!!

I use water from the sea, only because i dont have lots of RODI water to use for ASW, and i dont wana buy salt mix :lol: NSW (for a small tank) is very easy to get. For my tank, i only need 30 odd Litres, so i just go fill up two 20L water containers, chuck them back in the boot, then take them home and do my water change.

You will get hooked i warn you now!!

Good luck!

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Yeah it seems like its a good deal haven't seen it yet :)

Have been lurking a while reef and wanting to get marine after seeing all yours just waiting for a descent priced one to come up..

The algae your talking about is all that brown crap that can be seen in the photos? How do I get rid of it just scrub it off with toothbrush etc, and if I scrub it all off whats to stop it coming back? Ive seen some disgusting reef tanks covered in it..

And the RODI unit how do I get filters etc for that? Does that just filter the tap water and remove all the crap from it?

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And the RODI unit how do I get filters etc for that? Does that just filter the tap water and remove all the crap from it?

I heard you can get it from pool shops, and yes filters all the crap out of the water. I'm currently buying bottled water for top ups and NSW, I haven't touched the bag of mix stuff.

The brown algae comes off really really easy, i just don't bother coz theres only corals in there. BTW i was wondering how you planed to transport the corals?? are you going to brake them off the rock??

Actually what algae can you see from those photos?? the photos are crap

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isnt that tank yours timtam?

Correction..... Was mine :lol:

We are currently moving house and our new place is tiny so i have sold about 8 tanks in the last couple months, we will have two 300ltr tanks left and then i plan on doing a marine cube in the next year when i have some money. Its kinda funny coz I decided i kinda wanted to keep that tank thats why i put the price up and brought the finishing date forward but i'm really not bothered coz i don't have anywhere to put it :wink:

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I'm currently buying bottled water for top ups and NSW

Unless the bottled water is distilled water, I wouldn't put it in your tank as there are all kinds of minerals added to bottled drinking water.

You can get RO filters and DI resin from a water purification company like Taylor (If there is one there). Just look under "water filtration" in the yellow pages and call around. You can also go to a place like MasterTrade and bring the setup with you to show them and they may be able to get you sorted.

The brown algae will sort itself out if you get your water quality in line. Using activated carbon will help a bit, as will the RO/DI water, and keep the protein skimmer running full stop. Since there are no fish in there it should be easier to sort out since you aren't feeding it.

Poor lighting will also feed algae blooms. So you want to take a look at that as well. Keeping fresh bulbs of the right temperature (Kelvin rating), coupled with good water movement throughout the tank will help keep the algae away. Nuisance algae love low-flow areas.

The best advice anyone can give you is to read, read, read. Wet Web Media http://www.wetwebmedia.com/index.html is a great place to start as it is authored by many of the experts in the hobby. "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" is also a great book to start out with. I think it is written by Bob Fenner, who is somewhat of a Guru.

Good luck and ask lots of questions.

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LOL I wouldn't want to take the tank off her if she'd really decided she still wanted it regardless of auction or price I know we all change our minds, although im sure if she really didn't want it she would have changed the reserve and buy now to $100000 or (as she said) just taken the $2 hit and withdrawn it :)

I think ill grab the RODI filter and cruise around welly with it and try and find some filter bits and pieces as I guess im more likely to find them down there..

Also with the coral transportation, do you break them off the rocks? I was going to take a few chillie bins with me was just thinking of sticking the whole lot in there the live rock and water if it will all fit then it should all be sweet..

Also regarding fish a bit of a nube at this the misses wants nemo (and of course an anemone) some and dori lol Nemo's easy some sort of clown fish and I presume it would be sweet in a tank this size but dori is some sort of tang (blue tang I think)? I think they need bigger tanks but dont know really anything about them lol.. Obviously I will get the whole thing back and setup for a while before I try and stick any fish in it but best to case them out..

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the coral transportation, do you break them off the rocks?

No the way you are thinking is fine. When I moved from Auckland to Kerikeri I just took the whole rock with the coral, put it in a poly box, with a bit of tank water in the bottom, covered with newspaper wetted with tank water and sealed with the lid and a bit of tape so it didn't fall off. Just make sure you wedge the rock so it cant roll and crush the coral.

What size is your tank? Your clowns will be (relatively) easy to get and look after. Nemo is a percula (or false percula) clown - can't remember which. The true percula has heavy black lines between the orange and white bits (almost or sometimes fusing) while the false has pencil thin lines between them.

A small Dori (the blue tang) should be OK in your tank if it is bigger than 100 litres but remember it will outgrow it in time. The book that I have recommends a minimum tank size of 100 gal or 379 litres. Guess it is up to you whether you put a small tang in there but you will probably have to get rid of it at some stage :-?

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Or upgrade!

That is probably your best option. May as well do it now as you will do it sooner or later :D

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

I've got 370 litres and want about 2.5m long and 1 metre width. Go with the upgrade ryan........................go on.....................do it , do it now.................you know you will want to............one day

:D:D:D

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lol will have to see id have to say at this stage id rather see the africans in the big tanks... But things may change being in this area of the country doesn't help either im sure an upgrade would be more tempting if we were still in Auckland with all the shops up there we visited every week filled with marines..

Yeah I thought dori wouldn't be too suitable but had a feeling a pair of clowns would be sweet what else could you put in there that isn't too much trouble?

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Damsels are a safe bet - if you get a yellow tail blue they will add a bit of colour (only 1 though or they'll kill each other in a tank your size) and they are pretty hardy (and relatively cheap as marines go). Chromis are even cheaper and you can get a little school (say 3 in your tank) - always looks neat. Yellow tang always adds interest and colour but be prepared some $$.

If you get a sand shifter like a shrimp goby that will help with tank maintenance (assuming you have sand of course) and the ones I have had always have personality.

Have you got any books on marine fish? There are a few good ones around but probably the best reference that I have found (in regards to fish) is Marine Fishes by ??? (forgotten - will post the author tonight when I get home unless someone else can post it before hand).

It gives quite detailed info about a wide variety of fish, how adaptable they are to aquarium life, whether they are reef safe, fish size and recommended minimum tank size, eating habits and preferences, etc, etc. If you plan on getting into corals, Bournemans Aquarium Corals seems to be the bible and someone i selling one on TM at the moment.

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Scott W. Michael wrote "Marine Fishes" and a similar Pocket Reference book on Marine Invertebrates was written by Robert Shimek. Both are great reference books.

Borneman's book on Aquarium Corals is a great book to read and also have around as a reference.

Can't go wrong with anything written by Bob Fenner, Eric Borneman, or Anthony Calfo.

For the anemone you will need good lighting and water movement.

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Scott W. Michael

Thats the chap - thanks hazym. And yes I agree his other book on Marine Inverts is good too - I 've got both and refer to them all the time.

Haven't personally got anything by Fenner or Calfo but I have heard that they are also very good.

There you go ryanjury - we've spent at least $300 for you already :D

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Amazon.com

You can often get multiple book deals (ie. the Borneman and Fenner books, or both of the Pocket Refs) and even with shipping it is often cheaper than what you can find around in the shops.

Only problem is....waiting for it. But that will give you practice for your tank as there is a lot of waiting involved if you do it correctly.

:wink:

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For the anemone you will need good lighting and water movement.

And good stable water quality, suggest you wait a little while at least before you add one, you will have to upgrade you light anyway. You can add the clowns as soon as your ready you dont have to have an anemone for them.

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