Pies Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 Wind? Not here man. Wind is Aucklands best kept seceret Might go and get water tonight. Nah, it can wait, can collect water just about anytime we like Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 yeah true,... at least our beaches have sand :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 So do ours! (they just import it from Nelson) But thats just the harbour. We have a little thing called the west coast, which has sand, and clear water (you've seen the pics). Hows the traffic today? Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 What traffic, it's school holidays Anyways, I took the chopper in this morning 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 not too bad, but then again i walk for 10 mins to work. oh wait hamilton doesnt even have a beach, does the lake count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 arhh well, 1200 metres walk to the beach from my place... thats closer than our holiday home,... oh wait, i dont have a holiday home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 1200meters! Gez if I fell of the sunny deck at the front of my office I would end up in the sea... ok I would have to bounce 5 meters but you get the idea.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 my house, not my work. have you seen the price of beach side property in auckland? (or in fact almost everywhere in nzl) got a winning lotto ticket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 beach side? have you seen the price of ANY property in Auckland! I've just been offered a 50% pay bonus to move up there and it still not worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 thats NZL for ya in general, house prices sky rocket, petrol prices sky rocket, living expenses sky rocket,... salaries/wages stay relatively the same. and labour reckon they will stop the brain drain! after they got in i was VERY close to moving the family to aussie... btw, this post is not of any political nature, it is simple FACT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 i think the mods should remove that last post, we shouldnt even be joking about moving to australia :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 i think the mods should remove that last post, we shouldnt even be joking about hating our friendly neighbours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 nothing against australians (my wife included) i just dont like the idea of the country where every animal wants to poison you (even the darn amphibious marsupials) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 Ummmmm poisonous platapus? Or is that platapi? Bah. If a platapus/pi bites you and poisons you, you probably deserved it. Lotto wouldn't get you harbour views here man. Man its a stunning day here. Piezola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2005 I did a 200 litre water change last night. This was by far the quickest water change I've ever done, took about 10 minutes. I had a 200 litre drum full of ASW with an Eheim 1060 pumping water out and straight into the sump. Then I simply turned the tap on the 3 way ball valve and emptied existing water in two alternating 20 litre buckets (emptying contents out on the driveway and watched it trickling to the neighbours drain ) Im buying yet MORE plumbing this afternoon as I worked out the 3 way ball valve is in just a high enough position that I can run a pipe back under the refugium, and gravity fed back to a storm water drain at the top end of the house. There is only about 1/2 a metre in it but this is enough and will make life unbelievably easier. To do a water change will be as simple as turning a ball valve tap (water out) and flicking on a power switch for the pump (water in). Im going to make it even easier than this soon too, having another 200 litre drum (already bought) on its side with a ball valve so its essentially going to be as easy as opening two ball valve taps, water goes in, water goes out. I love plumbing, the amount of time you can save because of it is invaluable! Heres a pic I made ages ago of what it'll look like, the only difference is the sink wont exist and the water exiting will head to the bottom right corner of the diagram (as thats where the storm water drain is) For the second time I left the garden tap (goes to RO/DI) on last night, half the sump room floor was flooded as the 220 litre top up drum overflowed Time to add an overflow to the topup tank and have it empty into yet another drum! Easier still, anyone got a cheap ball valve and solenoid for sale???!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2005 oh, and steve - dont say I told ya so, I just havent had time to do it since last time! a waste of good ro/di water thats for sure :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 I finished "water change plan #1" today - plumbing up the 3-way ball valve to empty water straight down the drain. Couldnt believe my luck when the 3 metre 40mm drain pipe I bought reached the drain EXACTLY. no cutting required went and got 200 litres from Arkles bay today, water conditions were perfect (also met a young fella who works for Michael at Pet Planet, very enthusiastic dude ) Changing water is unbelievably easy now. Emptied 200 litres into a 40 gallon drum, turned on pump, turned handle on ball valve. 200 litre water change done in 5 minutes. Stoked. Still can't believe it's already been 9 days since the last 200 litre water change, time flies. "Water change plan #2" is going to be done next (the blue drum on its side from the pic above) "Water change plan #3" is welding up a frame on my trailer to a large plastic tank, together with a bilge pump to collect water. Collecting with five plastic 20 litre pales (twice) is far to painful for a Saturday afternoon when Rugby's on and BBQ's are to be had Also bought a little whiteboard and marker and hung it on the wall in the sump room. Always good to keep a note of when the last water change etc was done Going down now to dose some zeovit... joy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 a white board?? gunna out little graphs tracking tank stats as well?? and when your good give your self little stars???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 yeah, if the teacher says im good i get a star. when i get 5 stars, i get a free packet of rowaphos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Well, as some of you may have seen I have just sold my 2 x 250W halides. Currently I have 2 x 250W's and 1 x 150W in the middle. The main reason for selling is two reasons 1. while they are good, they are large and make accessibility to the tank a little difficult and 2. the return plumbing to the seaswirl and the seaswirl itself make it difficult to get the lights closer than about a foot from the water surface. I am planning on initially going to 3 x 150W's (retaining the existing 150W 10K in the middle) and 2 x new 150W 14k's on the outside. This will be supplemented initially by 2 x 54W blue T5's. After next pay day I will add another 2 x 54W white T5's. The advantage of doing all this I believe is being able to get the lights closer to the water surface thus better penetration into the water. It also means easier access to the tank as the existing 250's are bloody large and heavy! Other than that I want to give T5's a shot So, it will be interesting to see how the difference in lighting (and lighting setup) adds to the growth of SPS. So initially I will be going from a total of 650W to 558W, then after the next 2 x white T5's are added will bring the total back up to 666W. Similar to the existing wattage but again, much closer to the water surface and perhaps a better "spread" of light over the surface area of the tank too. Will show comparison photo's when its done (probably in a weeks time) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 That will be awesome. Are you using DE or SE bulbs? What are you doing for reflectors or are you going to buy some of those swanky Aquamedic lights JetSkiSteve was selling? Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 That will be awesome. Are you using DE or SE bulbs? What are you doing for reflectors or are you going to buy some of those swanky Aquamedic lights JetSkiSteve was selling? DE. nah, DIY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tel Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 bye bye to the old chunky 250's and hello to 3 x 150's. the ballasts for 2 of the 3 are mounted to the wall as opposed to sitting ontop of the lighting hood. This makes the hinged lighting hood extremely light and, due to the smaller footprint access to the tank incredibly easier than before. I still have the 4 x T5's to hook up, probably this weekend assuming. The pic is a little deceiving, but the lights are about 4 inches from the water surface (as opposed to about 10-12 inches with the 250's) The "spread" of lighting is certainly not as good as before (due to 200 watts less light and the 250's being higher) but those corals nearer the surface are seeing much more directed and intense lighting. As soon as the T5's go in I believe this should give the whole tank a good spread of light. Will put up photo's once this is done (will take before/after shots of tank with/without T5's to show difference too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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