Check out the pic on this guys thread Dantezgirl, here is a sump with lots of trimmings.

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/hello- ... 28218.html

thanks for the link loooks like a pretty cool marine tank

Hi DantezGirl,

I don't know any marine tank people in Taupo, but if you headed up the road to Wonderworlds in Rotorua, you could have a look at their display tank.

Then you could can see what a sump, skimmer, pumps, live rock, etc look like in the flesh. But like I said before "don't take your wallet!"

Here is a link to the list of all fish (salt and fresh), corals and invertebrates that are allowed into our Country:

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/animals/standards/fisornic.all.htm

That should answer your - can I get this in NZ questions

An RODI is just a fancy water filter unit that we use for our marine tanks to do two different things:

1. Replace pure water that evaporates (the salt does not evaporate, it stays in the tank)

2. Make up Artificial salt water for water changes.

The reason we use a water filter is so we don't introduce things like phosphates, nitrates and other greeblies that could cause bad algae to grow or hurt our tank inhabitants

im haveing trouble finding the water filter any1 no were to find them or what name i should look up or ask for? ive looked up rodi water filter

on the seahorse thing what if i got a tank devider and seperated the seahorses at feeding time remove the devide and they can do what they want till feeding time or would they get stressed?

they genrally dont mix with fish at all, fish can nibble their fins, not all fish, but just not wise to mix at all, i have seen them in with clowns and it went bad... please for the sake of the horses dont do it

i wont just thaught id ask and find a solution

i think i may pass on the sea horses as i would have to set up a whole new tank then and not to keen on that so i think clownfish for a few years then tang and maybe mandarin thanks for the help and advice much appreceiated the fish guy at L.F.S lol i got the abbrev right has lots of experiance wif tropical fresh water fish not marine so ill have to learn on my own when im ready

i would like to space intro say two years apart clowns wait two years tang wait two years then mandarin so i can build up food source and rocks ect is this a good idea? also i reckon i would learn more before the next lot arrive so will be better on the marine life

I don't think you need to wait that long to add a mandarin.I waited two months before i added mine.that was 5 months ago and mine is fat and happy.The key is making sure you have an active and plentiful pod population.I started with very good liverock that had alot of life in it.within two months i had a great pop population.If you start off with dead rock that you cycle you will have to wait along time and introduce pops before you get a decent population.The best thing you can do before setting up a marine tank is read,read and read some more.Go visit some tanks if you can,then do some more reading and then when you have done that,read some more.see the pattern here.

my fat mandarin. 8)

Very nice pic!

Hey Swampy your mandarin reminds me of Mick Jager!

Hi there DantezGirl,

Please be aware that if you go with the tank size 120cm long 44cm wide and 44cm deep (232L/58G) you will not be able to support 2 mandarins. Each Mandarin ideally needs 200L/50G of water volume and 30KGs/60lbs of Live Rock.

Adding a Refugium is going to make it a lot easier to keep a mandarin (or 2). Especially if that refugium is quite large and the pods are getting back into the main system without being killed.

If you check out posts on ReefCentral about Mandarins by a guy called "Snorvich" you will find a lot of useful information.

While people say to move your Mandarin onto prepared foods. In the long term they must have a sufficient supply of pods (Copepods, Isopods & Amphipods) to survive. These fish are the ultimate grazing fish and are described as an 'experts only' fish. But if you take the time and set your tank up then they are quite easy to sustain.

You can in theory fill the tank, have it cycle (2-6weeks depending on how much live rock you use), add clowns then. A Tang can be added anytime after this. A Blue Tang can grow to 30cm long, so a 120cm long tank is really a bit small for them in the long-term.

Hey Swampy your mandarin reminds me of Mick Jager!

LOL, I was thinking more Elvis... Aha!

LOL, I was thinking more Elvis... Aha!

Very true, Mick Jager lips but with Elvis Presley sideburns!!

love the pout looks like he or she wants a kiss lol very gorgeous fish well i plan to get a 8ft tank to eventually house all fish in 2 clowns 1 tang 1 mandarin

so is it best to find some1 selling live rock that is setup ready tto go and lots of it do many people collect and sell rock like this? set up a tank specificly for rocks and coral to onsell

will go and look for that thread and see what im in for

there seems to be alot of misconstrued information about mandarins, You do not need a tank atleast 200 litres, I have been keeping mine in a tank with 9 other fish of 130 litres with no refugium and it came to me with a sunken stomach, now it is fat,healthy and happy. and this is 9 months on

My manderin is in a tank 120x 70 and as fat as all hell

I have to agree - I've had one in my 130litre RSM for nearly a year and she is fat, healthy, and happy - and I can still find pods running around on the glass. I think there is a lot more to a healthy tank than water volume and rock weight - things like the nature of the rock / surface area, feeding regimes etc., and the other stock in the tank all have an impact.

That said, the more cautious approach advocated by others is worth considering - I would not recommend putting a Mandarin into a new tank, especially if you are a marine newby. There are lots of things you come to learn about marine through experience, and that experience puts you in a far better position to be able to keep Mandarins. They aren't the sort of fish that you should just chuck in the tank and hope. They are an awesome little fish - which is why people should come to understand as much about all the factors that make for a healthy environment BEFORE they take resposibility for keeping one.

i agree thats why i decided to start with clowns as im told there a good beguiner fish then get used to owning a marine tank and all that go's with it for a few yers the slowly build up my knowledge over the space of years till i can finally manage a mandarin im only haveing a big tank for the tang as im told they like length rather then height and better to start of there than upgradeing every few years as i add the other fish

Yep, that sounds like a good plan.

thanks but i still have alot of reasurch on my choosen fish and saveing to do according to all the products ive lookd at but thanks all for the hints and tips and all the links keep em comeing lots to read and thnk about

are the above fish tank breed as i would prefer to get tank breed ones rather than wild caught but if not ill have to live with it dont like the thaught of them being taken from the wild but i guess if people have a chance at establishing a tank breed then there will be less taken from the wild and all animals at on stage were wild im talking beguinning of time before man domesticated em lol

Pretty much all marine fish, and certainly all Mandarin fish, are wild caught which really underlines why you have to do the right thing. Some species of Clowns and Cardinal fish are tank bred, but a lot are still taken from the wild for all that.

bummer what a shame i didnt know that well ill try and sorce some tank breed clowns and hopefully if i do everything right i can justify myself by makeing there captive life as pleasent as possible

but on the other hand one part of me says im just adding to the fire by purchaseing these fish and makeing more room for them to catch more and start te cycle again

but on the other hand i think if we didnt catch and domesticate them learn every little detail about them to keep them happy safe and breeding in captivity maybe there will be more captive breed ones hmm very hard decision