briank Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 At jansen, on small bag of lagoon sand is $6.50, coral sand is $18. one bag would make a 1in sand bed for a 2 feet tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 hmm, I think I might just go out and buy a cheap one for now. Pitty none of that would be cold water. What type is his sand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 Dunno what the difference is between lagoon and and coral sand, sounds like 'marketing guff' to me. I am sure either is fine, coral sand it normall about 2mm or smaller in grain size and white/gold but mostly white. Ad for depth i would go for sub 1inch, just for asthetics (remeber many people do not use ANY sand in there tank for many reasons and have the sadn bed in the sump insted. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 Damn I'm still in need of a tank!! someone help me out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briank Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Hi Chris, have you tried looking the T&E paper or www.trademe.co.nz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Yes. Im waiting till tomorrow (gee that's a big wait ) to see if there is anything. I went to Jansen's today and checked out their sand and protein skimmers. Coral Sand = $18 for 4kg, $34.95 for 10kg. Protein Skimmer = Lowest $95.95 = Highest $395.95. Pies, when you said about the skimmer not having a pump, what pump do you need for them? I'm still not sure on the sized tank I need. I thought 4ft but that's gonne be a huge amount of sand that I will need Chris- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Air pump ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 2 different tyes of skimmer 'mechinisims'. The 1st is an airstone driven skimmer, that requires an air pump to create bubbles in the water. The 2nd uses a venturi type of system. The skimmer is driven by a pump or power head, which swishes around the water and this drags air through the venturi, so you don't require an air pump. The 2nd type of skimmer are far better. You will prolly need 2 pumps depending on their design, 1 to run the skimmer, and 1 to get water from the tank/sump to the skimmer and back out. I use gravity to feed my skimmer, then an ehiem pump to swirl around the air and drive the venturi, water gets dumped into my sump, which is returned from the sump to another pump. Have I made sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 yes but, why wouldn't a tank (say 3ft) just be run on a filter? caryl did hers like this and it survived for along time aswell as an airbubble thing to keep it oxygenated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 mm .. I have been thinking about making a DIY skimmer. Brian - what instructions did you follow? How easy was it? Chris- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Have a read of some of the saltwater beginner guides at reefcentral or ultimatereef etc for explinations about filters vs skimming etc. I personally don't belive a filter is going to do what you want it do to, and is going to do a lot that you don't want it to do. That being said, if you want you can always try it and see how you go, but a protien skimmer really is the 'business' for saltwater, its also a lot lower maintenance than the filter, and doesn't upset the biological ballance of the tank when it needs cleaning. Also filters will produce nitrates in saltwater, hence if you see designs using 'filter wool' it is changed every 2-3 days. Any longer it starts to go biological and becomes a hinderance. And yeah you could use an air pump for circulation, but bubbles are a REAL pain in salt water, 'salt creep' will drive you nuts Find a tank first. You won't need to have the skimmer on from day 1 anway so there is no made rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briank Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Hi Chris, I am using the air stone version of the skimmer. The venturi system mention by pies is the most efficient but abit expensive to DIY coz you would need a power head to drive it and a venturi head to generate the bubbles. For the air driven skimmer, the material you need is a length of PVC pipe, plastic jam jar, air tubes, film canister and a wooden air stone. The key is fine bubbles from the wooden air stone and prevent the bubbles from escaping the PVC pipe. I will email you the spec for the DIY skimmer tonight. i got the idea from websites like http://saltaquarium.about.com/ they have lots of DIY schematics. visit their website, lots to learn there. Its better not to let bubbles go everywhere in the tank because it will splatter salt water everywhere and salt deposits with form when it dries. A power filter that moves and agitate the water would be sufficient in airating the water. I use internal filter as power head to move water in the aquarium so I can reuse my existing equipment I use for my freshwater aquarium. Dont use any filter media, unless you are changing water or cleaning the tank, put the filter media in before you clean the tank and remove the media when the water become clear. this helps remove some of the solid waste and reduce polution. Another thing I do is, I feed the tank sparingly and change water frequently. This will ensure a healthy tank. Topping up the water with freshwater if water has evaporated, otherwise the water would be too salty. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 Could you send me the details for the diy skimmer as well, would like to experiment sometime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 Thanks a lot guys. Brian - what do you put in the tank to feed them? ok so I will get an internal filter, skimmer, tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briank Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 Hi Chris, I feed my fishes flakes, mysis shrimps, tua tuas, cockles.. I guess what ever you can find on the beach. Try varying the type of food you give them. I also feed the anenome with tua tua or cockles, use a satay stick and put the food right onto their tentacles.. they love it. The glass shrimps seems to like everything, even eating their own kind!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 What about Mussels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 5, 2003 Report Share Posted October 5, 2003 What about em? Mussles are fine, but they do contain a lot of nitrates, so don't over do it. I've made up some 'home made' stuff. Chopped mussles, shrimp, scollops, some dried plankton, nori, different flakes, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp and some spirilina flakes. Mixed it all up, then froze it. Feed it twice a week. Everything loves it. On a side note its SCAREY to see how big a piece of food some corals can take. Ive got a Fungia coral that is about hand sized that eats pieces of food about the size of a 50c coin no problem. SCAREY stuff considering its only go a mouth about 1cm long when not in feeding mode. Photos comming... Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briank Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 hi all, Finally I have a home page, the site is still under construction but I thought I would share some pics of my little cold water marine aquarium. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kuansl/MarineTOC.htm Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 damn, brian it isn't working ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briank Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Oops sorry. mistake in the path.. try this one http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kuansl/MarineTOC.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 omg brian, i love the anemones. where did you get them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briank Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 I got them on Takapuna beach, the rocky area under the cliff face. They were abit hard to get coz they live in holes. you might need to use a small knife to pry it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briank Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 When i got them. they were like a 5 cent coin, now its bigger than 50 cents coin. I wonder if they would grow any larger!! They are great fun feeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 hehe. What do you feed them? Got any pictures of the inhabitants (crab etc) ? Chris- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Looks great Brian, the anemones are amazing, seen little ones at local beachs never thought they could grow like that Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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