Reefkeeping South Africa » Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Marine Aquariums of South Africa

A Homemade Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Additive System

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 2:39am CDT by Warr7207

Hennie

What do you think of this recipe ?

What are your comments on making up solutions and only adding when needed ?

Server error!

Superman Montipora

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 1:37am CDT by Warr7207

Common Name: Superman
Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Montipora

Are these available locally ?

Any idea why it is called a Superman ?

Source:Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Super Corals - Superman Montipora

Protein Skimmer for a Nano Tank

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 1:30am CDT by Al

Hi Guy's,

Im definitely converting to marine tank(FOWLR) in the next week or so:thumbup: . I went to a LFS to have a look at few things for the marine tank and came a cross the Rio Hang on Skimmer (R260).

How is this Protein Skimmer? Any advice how good this skimmer is? It say's for tank 's up to 20 Gallons. Is there a better Hang on Skimmer's and what are the price range :)

Interesting lighting Info

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 12:32am CDT by Warr7207

Other than aesthetic value, there appears to be no advantage, photosynthetically speaking, in using high Kelvin lamps.

The implication of these results should be of interest to hobbyists; it suggests that lamp selection (with due regard to lamp intensity) may be based on appeal, whether that is price or the "look" it gives to a tank, without fear of hindering photosynthesis. Economy-minded hobbyists and coral farmers may find this especially useful. It appears that light intensity and relatively simple light measurements alone adequately judge lamp efficiencies within the context of zooxanthellae photosynthesis. This should not be construed to mean that all light sources are adequate for reef aquaria use.

Source: Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Lighting the Reef Aquarium - Spectrum or Intensity?

80 watt T5 kit for sale

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 12:04am CDT by Submariner

80 Watt t5s kit for sale

4 x t5 80 watt globes
2 x 80 watt ballasts (2 globes per ballast)
4 x reflectors

Selling for R1000 ONCO

Waterboy

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 10:17pm CDT by geoffrey

I just got the waterboy R.O unit... the waste water outlet pipe, is there no way of recirculating the water back into the machine. cause it wastes a ton of water right?

T5 80watt

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 5:07pm CDT by Warr7207

I just added a 80w T5 to my existing array of 54w T5.

Wow these lights are bright, makes the 54w look "dim"

I would even suggest that the 80W is getting quite close to a smaller Metal Halide

I would suggest to any guys that can fit this size globe, well worth it :thumbup:

So there will be some more upgrading happening to the tank soon.

Need advice for my new camera

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 4:44pm CDT by Fishy Steve

How long should I charge my battery for first time? Manual only states normal charge times but from what I've heard the first charge should be really long. Does anyone know if this is true and if so how long?

Zoas not opening

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 4:12pm CDT by geoffrey

Hi guys its been 3 days now that my zoas havent opened. no too sure waht the problem can be. they opened for the first 2-3 days now they've remained closed..,:(

Help, hammer coral isn't happy

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 3:22pm CDT by matt165

Recently put a hammer in my tank. Acclimated it and put it in but not looking happy at all!

Params rock solid and all other corals happy as anything. Just not sure what I can do?

Tropic Marin bio-calcium

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 2:49pm CDT by gaboon

I got this with the tropic marin calcium test kit today for R300, thought that was a good deal. How do you work out your tanks volume with LR, DSB, skimmer, pumps etc. I have approx. 40kgs of LR. Tank including sump volume without everything in is 246L.

Thank you kindly in advance.

Tank needed URGENTLY

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 2:41pm CDT by Franske

My tank is busy falling appart,the one side panel of glass is coming loose,so if there is anyone with a tank of anysize just laying around or if you want to sell please let me know cause I realy need one asap,im willing to pay as long as its cheaper than a new one would cost me cause im on a tight budget

Please

My sps tank

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 8:49am CDT by Bernic2008

Sps tank for sale

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 8:47am CDT by Bernic2008

Willing to sell sps,fish,live rock,hardware etc individually

New member

Posted: May 31st, 2008, 8:35am CDT by Bernic2008

good morning to all of you viewing

Upgrade advice

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 4:30am CDT by ImAClown

Hey guys,

I decided to upgrade from my 200l (1.25m) to something a bit bigger (1.7m) and practical.
I bought my tank when i started out the hobby - without a hole in it for a proper overflow. So now im using 2 powerheads to get the water from and to my sump :( Where is the best place to go look (online / LFS gauteng) for a decent tank with a hole in one of the rear corners for a standpipe- i will install the "drain compartment" and pipe myself, and a hole in at the top of the tank for "Water-in". Is this the best way to go when it comes to "water to sump"?

Thanks a lot !!

Hey ppl !!

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 3:34am CDT by ImAClown

Hey guys, just wanted to say hey, i didnt know about this forum till yesterday !! looks awesome !!

Clearance sale :)

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 2:54am CDT by iz1b1zi

i have a few last things i would like to sell. here it is...

2x light units (3x 150W MH 14k + 2xT5 + 4xMoonlight LEDs)

R3000

1x Aquamedic Blue reef 1000

R3000

1x Aquamedic Shorty 5000

R3000

1x Aquamedic Turboflotor Multi SL

R900

10x Giesmann 39W 4 foot and 3 foot tubes (both blue and white)

R120 each

Most of the stuff is a few months old and all still 100% working

I will arrange shipping at buyers expense... Do it!

Kalkwasser Question

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 2:00am CDT by Warr7207

Hennie

My tanks Calcium consumption has increased rapidly over the last couple of months.

Reasons: New SPS and the eternal struggle between the coralline and my urchins.

I am finding that my normal dosing procedure is not enough. I dose 1 TSP with vinegar every night. This only increases the Calcium level by 5 - 20 ppm, to the previous night.

Can I increase my dosage and how much more would I be able to dose ?

I have a 500L tank - pH 8.4, Alk - 10 dKh, Ca - 360.

I would like to get the Calcium up to the 450 levels, but with my dosing procedure at present it might take me a couple of months and that is if I don't leave out a single day :P

Importing Coral

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 8:44pm CDT by moz

Anybody know the procedure for importing live corals for personal use, I have found a few places that say they will ship internationally, but would like to make sure that customs will allow them in? Looking at acquiring some Florida ricordea.

Random Goods To Swop

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 7:00pm CDT by geoffrey

ok i'm sitting with a whole bunch of stuff i need to get rid of. lacking in the space department.

+- 20kg of crushed coral (R50)

+- 40kg of not so fine crushed coral. (R50) (size of a baked bean split down the middle):lol:

+- 80 Bio balls (R50)

a shit load of ceramics. (R100) think u'll like this lappies?

Im willing to swop any of this stuff for maybe a frag or two/fish/macro algae/live rock. make me an offer...

:peroni: :peroni: :peroni: :peroni: :peroni: :peroni: :peroni: :peroni: :peroni:

Protien Separator/Skimmer not working

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 6:28pm CDT by Sammy

Hi Guys,

After disasembling my protien separtor I think I messed it up ? The white magentic wheel I think should be spinning, is this correct ?

I cannot set this to balance on the magenetic field properly, could someone please shed some light ?

BTW i have a boyu nano TL-550?

Please help? Can someone explain it correct functionality and assembly

Cheers

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2008/05/30/Ts2'

Ts2

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 6:08pm CDT by dogshow446

hey everyone been away for a couple of weeks i know really slack that i did not log on have been really busy but i just wanted to tell you i got my new protein skimmer today cant wait to get it in my tank and let it start working will post some pics of the skimate as soon as it starts working have a good w/end

Bicolor Blenny - Feeding?

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 5:18pm CDT by matt165

Just bought one of these guys, I see they are herbivores. I have veggie flakes, will he also need feeding with Nori? I feed a variety of different flakes, will this be suitable for him?

CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Aragonite for sale - Brand new!

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 4:45pm CDT by matt165

mike Bushie is away and asked me to post this for him:

CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Aragonite - I had more than enough for him so he didn't even open this bag! ;)

Brand new in bag, never been opened. Weighs 18kg R374! (exact price he paid)

Awesome stuff, brilliant WHITE. Best quality Aragonite around

Cost of a marine setup

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 3:39pm CDT by highlander

Hey all,

Just wanna kno, how much would a total budget for a complete marine setup be if its a 3foot tank and sump?

New Member

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 3:33pm CDT by MarkB

Hi All
I am new to the forum and to marine tanks. I have 2 collegues who own tanks and have been bitten with the bug. I have been pointed to the AquaH2O Amazon 60 tank setup (I want a small setup as I dont have much space) Anyone have any experience/resevations with this tank (my colleague bought the Boyu TL550 and he is happy with it, so I have a choice and am in 2 minds) Some suggestions / pros / cons of the 2 systems would be appreciated.
Thanks
Mark

Metal Halides Needed

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 3:00pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

I need to change my Metal Halide Globes.
So, I need 02 x 250watt single ended globes as well as 02 x 150watt double ended globes. Please advice as to where I can get as well as price. Thank you. (Need to be delivered to Richards Bay)

250l Tank for Sale with livestock and extras

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 1:51pm CDT by kiffoke

I'm selling my 250 l M90 from Phuturelabs. The tank is in Cape Town. I'm looking to sell up everything together, so no separates please.

Make me an offer and we'll chat via PM.

See next post for details

DNW200 vs. TS3

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 11:47am CDT by Andreas

Comparing dnw200 vs ts3 skimmer

Hi Guys,

I would like to know your experiences with these two skimmers, pros, cons etc.

I know that the biggest difference is that the DNW 200 is an external skimmer but i'm considering placing a skimmer in my sump.IMO is does look neater especially if you have a nice cupboard that hides away your sump etc.

Thanks

Frogspawn and Torch

Posted: May 30th, 2008, 9:32am CDT by lappiesreef

Hey Guru's

I have my Frogspawn about 20 cm upstream from my torch.

Will the forg release stinging cell and damage the torch?

I had the Frogspan a bit high up, but it didn;t look that happy so close to the light. On the substrate it looks much happier...Just don't knwo how it will affect the torch downstream...?

Phosphate Reactor Question

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 2:25am CDT by Warr7207

I have pods running around in my phosphate reactor. Is this normal or should I do something ?

Coolest Projector Ever !

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 1:40am CDT by Warr7207

Check this out - insane

R2D2 Projector

Camera For Sale

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 1:36am CDT by Warr7207

Dear All
I am in the process of winding up the estate of my late gardener, who passed away on a neighboring property last week.
Amongst his personal effects is a digital camera in good condition. His next-of-kin have no use for the camera and have asked me to dispose of it. So, if anyone would like to purchase a Samsung KX2000 8 mega pixel camera (slightly scratched in places) please let me know. The photo quality is outstanding. Enclosed is the last picture which my late gardener took with his camera. You will see just how clear the detail is from the last shot.

Kenya Tree vs. Mushroom

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 12:17am CDT by Warr7207

I have a kenya tree that at night contacts and is resting against a mushroom coral.

Will either of them harm the other coral ?

Crab for mantis

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 9:52pm CDT by Furbz

the crab i've bin trying to catch has managed to crawl into the smallest hole possible.
i have no idea how to get him out!!
i took the piece of LR out my tank and it is now in my sump..
any idea how to catch this guy??

there is a small hole opening up to the hole he is in... thought of pouring hot water down there to make him run out?? think it might cook him before he moves tho...

Softies for sale

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 9:26pm CDT by Rory

Still have these for sale. Accidentally deleted the whole old thread while trying to remove a few posts... :/

Large pincushion R200
Attachment 386

Leather thing - R100ea (feathery "nodules" fluoresce under actinic)
Attachment 387

Sinularia dura - R200ea (another 3 not pictured)
Attachment 388

Rhodactis shrooms - R80ea (quite a few of them, 2 diff subspecies)
Attached Images

	IMG_4873.jpg (66.3 KB)
	IMG_4892.jpg (62.3 KB)
	IMG_4942.jpg (102.8 KB)
	IMG_4921.jpg (206.3 KB)

I want some sps,buy or swop

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 8:07pm CDT by lanzo

Hey guys

i only have a green motipora that i got from galibore in January and a acropora from likesfish.(these are my only sps's i have)

i would really like to have some more sps's in my system(frags)

i'll buy or swop or for free wil be nice?:whistling:

thanks guys

Any Reefers from East London on this forum?

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 5:00pm CDT by Rock pool

Looking for reefers in East London...:wave2:

Water quality

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 4:20pm CDT by highlander

Hey guys,

I want to ask in regards with water quality, is RO water the only way to go. Reason that I am asking is that one lfs sed that they use aged tap water and one person i kno uses sera aqumarine to eliminate nasty chemicals and he says it works fine...

Nemo VS Nemmie Crab

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 3:55pm CDT by Mtroboer

All of you guys who bet on whos going to win the nemmie as grand prize, the scores has finally been released!!

Nemo-1
Crabbie-0

Shame guys, I finally found the remains of the crab on the gravel this morning, Nemo bit of almost all of his legs as well as his pincers!

Curved aquarium for sale

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 3:44pm CDT by ziyaadb

615*370H*410W - 90 litres Tank and stand
Has light fitting with reefsun 50/50 bulb
Heater
Canister filter
Can be drilled for overflow

950.00

New Tank

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 1:25pm CDT by scruffels

hey guys been thinking about building myself a tank in the holidays. keep me out of trouble you know. so instead of studying exams been researching how to build a tank, what needs to go where, etc. designed one, would like to hear your comments and suggestions about it.

Pro car audio equipment

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 10:45am CDT by Suhayl

Precision Power A600.2 amp - R1800 each. Xtant 1001D monoblock amp - R2000. Audiocontrol EQT 30 Band Eq - R2000 pair. Zapco line driver - R1000. Willing to drop of in Joburg or ship ay Buyers expence.All are 100% working order,any test welcome. This is realy high end eqiopment and canot be replaced at this price. Im willing to swop to for marine eqiopment what you have.

RO Unit

Posted: May 29th, 2008, 9:20am CDT by trad

Hey could i get a price on a RO Machine + TDS meter. Dont need a lot of water everyday but quality very NB.

Also Price on 2x Seio M1100

and Real ocean salt 4 x 6.3kg bags

need delivery to JHB.

Aiptasia Wanted Urgently !!!!!

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 12:34am CDT by Warr7207

Anyone got some of these nasties, will take any amount :)

Police raid suspected meth house, only find fish tank

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 12:10am CDT by matt165

doh!

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_arti...storyid=509182

Brooklyn Park police were looking for a meth lab, but they found a fish tank and the chemicals needed to maintain it.

And a few hours later, when the city sent a contractor to fix the door the police had smashed open Monday afternoon, it was obvious the city was trying to fix a mistake.
It happened while Kathy Adams was sleeping.

"And the next thing I know, a police officer is trying to get me out bed," she said.

Adams, a 54-year-old former nurse who said she suffers from a bad back caused by a patient who attacked her a few years ago, was handcuffed. So was her 49-year-old husband.

"They brought us here and said once we clear that area, you can sit down and you will not speak to each other," she said.

Police were executing a search warrant signed by Hennepin County Judge Ivy Bernhardson, who believed there was probable cause the Adams's home was a meth lab.

Berhardson, who was appointed to the bench less than a year ago, did not return KARE 11's phone calls.

"Ohmigod," Adams said as she recalled police breaking down her door and flashing the search warrant. "I just kept saying to them, 'you've got the wrong house.' "

Police soon realized that themselves.

"From a cursory view, it doesn't look like our officers did anything wrong," said Capt. Greg Roehl.

Roehl said the drug task force was acting on a tip from a subcontractor for CenterPoint Energy, who had been in the home Friday to install a hot water heater.

"He got hit with a chemical smell that he said made him light headed, feel kind of nauseous," Roehl said.

The smell was vinegar, and maybe pickling lime, which were clearly marked in a bathroom Mr. Adams uses to mix chemicals for his salt water fish tank.

"I said, 'I call it his laboratory for his fish tanks,' " Mrs. Adams said, recalling her conversation with the CenterPoint technician. "I'm looking at the fish tank talking to this guy."

Police say there was no extended investigation, just an interview with the subcontractor.

"Everything this person told us turned out to be true, with the exception of what the purpose of the lab was," Roehl said.

Adams is looking for a lawyer.

"I could say that about my neighbor - I smelled something when I went in their house," she said. "Does that make it right for them to go in there and break the door down and cuff you? I think not!"

Police say the detective who asked for the search warrant is an 8 ½-year veteran, but he just started working in the drug task force.

CenterPoint energy maintains the home was "unsafe" and it would have been "irresponsible" for the subcontractor not to report it.

Favites - some corals I want!

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 11:07pm CDT by matt165

Moonstone!

Aragonite turning brown ??

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 10:54pm CDT by shiks

hey guys have been watching my aragonite turn brown...browish in certain areas( like in patches) over the last two days....have been using aqua organic ....and was asked to dump abt 15litres and add fresh water over a two day period cos i had a high salinity...the two soft corals i have in there still look happy and unaffected....

Some of my live rock has turned colour (red and purple in places) I am hoping this is normal and healthy cos my tank might finally be cycling.....

IS THE BROWN ON ARROGANITE NORMAL OR A CONCERN ???

TS1 wanted!! urgent!

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 10:20pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys, the skimmer i am currently using isnt mine...
and isnt great. its getting sold shortly so i'm gonna need a skimmer soon...
if anyone knows where i can get a decent skimmer, pls let me know!!
looking for something like a TS1 or just as good!

JEBO Quadplex Spraying Protein Skimmer

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 8:59pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys.
i've bin offered this skimmer. is it any good??
second hand, has a crack in the cup that has bin fixed.
i have a 250l system...
or is it worth forking out for a better one?

Madela swing electric breast pump for sale

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 8:23pm CDT by ziyaadb

Madela Swing electric Breast pump for sale used for 2 weeks only. For peace of mind Brand new Suction cup can be purchased from any baby store
Price new 1900. Asking R1000.
http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com...ing-breastpump
Shipping can be arranged at buyers expense

Cardinal diet

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 8:21pm CDT by joe

Hello all, i bought a bangai cardinal 3 days ago , he is eatin blood worm and mysis but hasnt taken to flakes or pallets. Is this the norm? Wil he eventualy take to flakes etc.?btw Iv tried omega and ocean nutrition.

Slug/Snail?!

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 4:50pm CDT by tinusb

Hi all,

Was at 'Cape Town Fish Market' at SomersetMall - and saw this in one of the big tanks. What is it?!??

Tinus :)

PS. Sorry for the bad quality - was with my phone.

Wanted. chaeto in pta?

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 4:28pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys i need to get hold of some chaeto.
staying in the pta area...
my sump is setup for it nicely, just need to get the stuff

Macro Algae

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 4:22pm CDT by lanzo

Micro algae grow as a result of either of two nutrients being in the water in too large a quantity:

1. green micros grow when there is too much phosphate in the tank water

2. brown micros grow when there is too much silicate in the tank water

Both can come from internal and external sources,they can be either generated inside the tank itself or they are added by the hobbyist ,

When these nutrients are high, micro algae grow, and harvesting them does not solve the problem

What happens when you do this is that you remove a quantity of algae but you kill off a number of them too that are not removed.

When dead algae start to decompose they add phosphate and silicate to the tank, depending on the kind.
This process then leads to the growth of more algae since the basic building blocks for growth (Phosphate and Silicate) are there.

This can be baffling as you keep pulling algae out and as fast as you pull them out other ones grow.

The reason is that when you pull these algae out you also contribute to the increase of PO4 and silicate as explained and that makes more of them grow.

There are some ways to deal with this :

1. Eliminate all outside sources of phosphate and silicate and make sure you do not add any to the tank. To do this you need to check the water you use for them, the salt, the additives, the carbon (often leaches phosphates) and so on. Eliminate anything that adds nutrients to the water by switching to another brand or if it is the water by treating it and removing the phosphate and silicate

2. Eliminate or minimize internal sources: clean up detritus you see, remove uneaten food, do not overstock the tank, do not overfeed, put algae eating fish in the tank are examples of what you can do.

3. Water changes with water that not contain PO4 and silicate will help you lower their levels. When the levels go down algae start to die off. Siphon those out. Do not let them die off in the tank or you will again contribute more nutrients which will result in more algal growth.

4. Use compounds that remove PO4 and SiO2 to lower the levels even further.

5. Use Hermit crabs

6. Perform water changes if the levels are real high right now to lower the ppm concentrations

Read up on algae and on how to use the products that reduce PO4 and silicate and you will get the problem under control.

Do not scrape algae off the glass as that just kills them and adds more PO4 to the tank (or silicate is the algae are brown which means they are diatoms).
Use a sponge and wipe from bottom to top, then rinse the sponge, then go to the next area and wipe from bottom to top, rinse, etc. Keep doing this until all panels are clean. Doing it in this manner you won't introduce algae in the water and thus lower the amount of PO4,Silicate added to the water when they die off.

When you have the levels real low and no algae grow you can use the addition of kalkwasser to the tank to control phosphates.

Am I over stocked

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 3:24pm CDT by Pete

Would just like to get your advice as to weather I am overstocked. I have a Boyu TL-550 have about 17-20kgs live rock. Crushed coral as substrate.

Fish - 2 x Clown fish, 1 x Royal Gramma, 1 x Sixline Wrasse, 1 x Coral Beauty and 1 x Regal Tang (small) which will be relocated as soon as new tank is up and running.

Corals - 1 x Pin Cushion, 1 x Candy Cane (two heads), 1 x Ricordia Yuma, some zoas and three mushies..

Best for fragging - new tank - current tank?

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 2:46pm CDT by Raven

Howzit guys,
I want to look at the fragging options, but have a couple of questions..
1. Should i do the frags in my current tank with the fish ext,
2. or should i rather invest in a separte tank and system for this purpose?

Will be cool if someone can give some guidelines regarding the equipment needed for optimal conditions.
If i'm going for a new tank for fragging then i will probaly use a tank of about 200 to 500 liter. Not sure on the dim yet.

thanks

How stupid you feeling?

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 1:47pm CDT by Wee-Man

Marine Tank Stone Fish on eBay, also Tropical Fish, Fish, Pet Supplies, Home Garden (end time 01-Jun-08 14:42:33 BST)

Fancy a cuddle?

Predator vs. non-predator tank.

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 11:49am CDT by Furbz

what are the advantages and disadvantages of either tank.
i know there is a large difference in the price of the livestock.
but just some help so i dont make the wronge decision when it comes to stocking my tank!

maybe a helpful link?
bin looking and couldn't find a discussion on this...

The complete book of the marine aquarium

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 11:28am CDT by RyanvdM

Hi

I have an extra copy of the book The complete book of the marine aquarium.

In near perfect condition.

A comprehensive reference guide to more than 700 marine fish and invertebrate species, and how to setup and maintain a living reef aquarium

The main topics:

The Living Reef in Nature - provides a background on the natural reef environment and reef areas around the world to help explain what we're trying to accomplish in our home aquariums.
Establishing a Marine Aquarium - topics discussed include aquarium sizes and types, heating and cooling, lighting, water preparation, bacterial reactions, filtration, protein skimmers, ozone reactors, uv sterilizers, natural system (Berlin), plenum system (Jaubert), live rock, aquarium substrate choices, water current, water management, feeding your fish, symbiosis and general care.
Aquarium Algae - everything you ever wanted to know about brown, green and red marine algae.
Choosing Aquarium Fishes - 80 pages of the most popular saltwater fish profiles with nice photos, descriptions and a rating system that gives you a clue as to how difficult the species is to keep in captivity.
Invertebrates for the Reef Aquarium - 84 pages of marine invertebrate profiles with photos, descriptions and the rating system.
Breeding and Culture of Fishes and Invertebrates - An introduction into breeding saltwater fishes and invertebrates along with the culture of marine rotifers.

The Complete Book of the Marine Aquarium is loaded with great pictures and lots of great content. rankings on each type of marine fish. The "difficulty" rankings give a beginner a very quick way to find some good marine fish to start with.

R200.00. excl postage

I'm in Cape Town but can send it anywhere.

Nudiebranch

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 11:08am CDT by Furbz

this may be a stupid question. but from diving i know that nudiebranches are awesomely good looking worms.
how come i never see them in tanks?

Bank of tanks

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 10:46am CDT by iz1b1zi

Hi guys, i have 1 bank of tanks left for sale its 3 tanks, plus 1 sump at the bottom.
With galvanized steel stand. Comes with AM return pump.

Dimensions: 1200x 450x450

R3000

here is the pic....

1 of them is sold 1 left.

Sammy's nano boyu new tank

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 12:28am CDT by Sammy

Hi Guys,

I'm a newbie, please give me all your input into where i'm going ?

As a 4 day old newbie i would like to highlight my mistaskes made aleady :

Very upseset with LFS for seeling me my LR without even staring cyycling my water ??

1) Too in a hurry and not cleaned cleaned my substrate, its the tidal marine sand?? ??? Could'nt wait to get mey tank gonig??

2) not wanting to add NSW and taking my LFS's advice of using tap water and adding INSTANT OCEAN ?? as its cycling now, should i start over or just let it run and change it slowly with NSW???

3) tank now cycling for the past 4 days, contemplating starting over with NSW ??

What do I do ?

Below find some pics, please please help ?

Some info about AC

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 12:21am CDT by lanzo

ACTIVATED CARBON...probably one of the best weapons of chemical filtration and possibly one of the least understood. There are several different materials used to make activated carbon (AC). Probably the most common is bituminous coal. Lignite and coconut shells are also used. The base product is heated to about 900 deg F. This first heating is done with no air. This results in the material being charred. Then, it is heated a second time with air to a temp of about 1600 deg F. The remaining hydrocarbons are removed with this step and lots of tiny passages and holes are left in the carbon. It is now "activated".

The carbon is much like a sponge...large holes on the outside lead into smaller and smaller passages on the inside. Basically, through a process called adsorption, molecules enter the large holes and are eventually trapped as the passages get too small for them to travel any further. Single molecules can enter through the smaller pores while the larger pores allow complex molecules to enter.
A few examples of the stuff that the carbon will remove ...iodine, phenols (yellow water), amino acids, copper, chromium, iron, mercury, chlorine, chloramine, hydrogen sulfide, sulfa, and antibiotics.
AC can't remove ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

How do you tell whether you're getting good carbon?

First, make sure the container says "Activated Carbon". Some of the cheaper carbon may be plain anthracite coal. A dull black color is preferable to a shiny appearance. The dull color indicates a higher porosity. A rounded particle will enhance water flow and therefore is preferable to a flat sided particle. Another indication that you have a good grade of carbon is, when submerged in water, it gives a hissing sound as the cavities fill with water. It should also float at first...sinking slowly.
Secondly, look for labeling that states that the carbon is "phosphate free".

The most effective use of carbon in the aquarium is to have it in a bag in a place where it receives a constant slow flow of water, or place AC in reactor with a small powerhead. Blasting the carbon with the stream from a high powered pump can wash the contaminants right out of the carbon.

How long will it last?

Impossible to accurately predict. A good system to start with is to have two bags of carbon in the system and change one every3-4 weeks and better to change it more often because the carbon, upon reaching saturation, can begin to leach the compounds back into the water. It's especially important to change the carbon quickly if you've used it to remove antibiotics or other medications from the water.
If you see that water is turning a yellowish color, then it is time to have replaced it.

Cleaner shrimp sex?

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 8:48pm CDT by Tobes

Hi guys, after the loss of my cleaner shrimp :( , I followed Anthony Calfo's advice and bought 2 cleaner shrimps :). Apparentely they spawn now and then and that is good food for the corals. My question:

1) Do you hope you got a male and female or do one of them change sex?

2) When do they start to spawn?

:wave2:

How do I remove mushrooms of of a rock?

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 8:11pm CDT by matt165

I've just bought some awesome live rock and I will hence probably need to remove a piece or two from my current setup.

There's one piece i'm interested in removing but it has a red mushroom and a green hairy mushroom on it. Is there any easy way to remove said tenants without damaging them? ;)

Many thanks

Lanzo's tiny tiny mantis/reef tank

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 7:58pm CDT by lanzo

Hey guys:

the tank is as follow:

815x500x500 45deg panorama 10mm thick glass
black oak
weir overflow(durso pipe)
sump

return pump 3000lh astro pump
2x24w t5's (actanic and 12000k)
+- 10KG LR
araganite dsb in DT
tunze II 9002 skimmer

Livestock:

1x Peacock mantis
1x Uvongo damsel
1x Sinularia (fingerleather)
2x snails
1x hermit( got eaten:whistling: by mantis)

Tank for sale(AQUAH20)

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 7:55pm CDT by All spark

Hi all,my H20 tank with stand with sump is for sale.
900Lx475Wx500H.
sump is 900x320x390.
stand is completely custom build,very strong.
stand is 1.2Lx530Wx900H,so even a 1.2 can go on this stand.
Reason for selling f

uture plans in mind.Tank is runing for 3months now and not even one problim...

Im selling it for R1000 cpt only and maybe maybe neg...

Ever seen this!?

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 7:03pm CDT by Punk

Aqua-Bridge

so you can link up 2 tanks to the same sump, i wonder how much flow this can handle?

Looky-see what my camera can do

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 7:02pm CDT by gaboon

This is my first of many half decent macro shots. A BIG step from my point-n-shoot!

PS. Broom sticks don't make the best tripods/monopods.

Seio controllers

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 7:02pm CDT by HenkHugo

Hey guys,

any one using the Seio Controllers on their pumps?

My tank!

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 5:29pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys finally got my tank up and running.
but gonna need some help with most things as i am new to this...
never cycled a tank before...

the tank is 250l acrylic

i have a 3cm playsand bottom.
9kg of LR
a small cushin star
urchin
2 damsels
a brittle star (brown with bands) not spikey
a blenny
one power head
i also have 7 hermit crabs (currently in geoff's tank as i dont have any food for them growing in my tank yet)
and an odd crab to... here is the link for the crab, trying to ID him.

Hairy crab!! - Invertebrates

and for my sump, i have a skimmer, phosphate remover, activated carbon, a new DSB(so far i seeded it with the old substrate i was given with the tank. got a couple of brissle worms and some sort of pollip i managed to find, the pollip disappeared tho. think it burried itseld in the DSB, a 2500l/h return pump with 2 nozzels in the display tank to act as powerheads...

hope that it goes smoothly!! looking forward to finding out what you guys think!

Boyu Nano Understanding And Maintanance

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 5:16pm CDT by Sammy

Hi Guys,

I'm sure you that have proudly aquired the BOYU 130L NANO will agree that the instruction manual is non-existant.

Could someone give some info as to exacty what the tank comprise of, what defaults to look at, removing and cleaning the various compontents?

I understand this might be a very dumb question but I dont really know what to look for as everything is hidden behind the tank?

Any help will be appreciated ?

Hairy crab!!

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 4:46pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys
just started my tank up its about a week old now..
bought myself a nice piece of LR from the LFS and an odd crab crawled out of it after a week. this guy blends in well with LR and has hairly legs...
not sure if he is a good thing to have in a tank..
could you guys help ID him and let me know if you think he is ok to keep in my tank?

i currently have a bunch of hermits, 2 durban damsels(ugly things) a brittle star and a very small cushin star. ( i guess also from durban)
and a pretty cool looking urchin. lazo says its not a durban one. so not sure what it is??

got all the livestock from the former tank owner. put in new substrate and cleaned the tank so its just starting a new cycle..

i seem to be struggling to upload a pic. i resize it but it still keeps saying its to large.
once i get it working..

Vermiculated/Singapore Angel

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 3:21pm CDT by Mtroboer

Hi Guys, I saw one today at the dealer and immediately fell in love, is it reefsafe?

Which Substrate to use? Aragonite, Crushed Coral, Playsand

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 2:05pm CDT by highlander

Hi Guys,

I am starting a new marine tank and planning to get crushed coral (fine) in the main tank and play sand in the sump for dsb.

Some people say that one should only go for aragonite, but wont crushed coral do as well? Also is playsand good for a DSB in sump?

How many fish to add to your tank(newbes)

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 12:44pm CDT by lanzo

As a guide to stocking levels in a reef system, allow 2.5cm of fish per 23L of water. In a fish only system allow 2.5cm of fish per 11.5 liters. Stick to these levels for the first year of a tank's life.

There can be no hard and fast rules as no two aquariums are ever identical, but, by being conservative during the first year chances of success are greatly enhanced.
:thumbup:

Something about light you should know

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 11:50am CDT by lanzo

This is for the newbes in reef keeping, hope this will help:

The appearance of your animals depends upon the color of the lighting used in the aquarium. The color tone of any light source is classified in terms of its temperature and expressed in degrees Kelvin. A candle flame is a very warm light source with a low color temperature of abgout 1,800 K, wheras midday sunlight in the tropics is about 6,500 K. Lamps running at higher color temperatures (10,000 K, 14,000K and even up to 20,000 K and higher) give out a harsher, colder, bluer light as the color temperature increases. Warm lights make reds and yellows look good, whereas the colder lights give the fish a much paler rendition. However, it must be said that these are the colors you would acturally preceive in the sea, where only the blue end of the light spectrum penetrates to any great depth:).

-tungsten lamps are 2,500 - 3,000 K Warm light.
-cool white flourescent are 4,000 K white.
-normal daylight is 6,500 K.
-A clear blue sky is 10,000 - 30,000 K.

Is this aptaisa on my zooz?

Posted: May 27th, 2008, 8:23am CDT by gaboon

Overflow box operation

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 12:19am CDT by snobee

I bought myself an overflow box, which came with zero instructions. The guy I got it from has no idea how it works either. It is one like this Reeftek - Reef Octopus Overflow box unit

Now I understand which end goes where :) but can someone explain how I am supposed to get the water flowing correctly? In a previous post I was told it needs to be "primed"... can someone explain this process please. Also the tube that sticks up the centre, must it be just left sticking in the air, or similar to the picture above?
Sorry for the noob question, but tried to find info on the web as well.

Scraping coralline off of back wall?

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 11:29pm CDT by matt165

I'm getting quite a lot of coralline growth on the rear wall of my nano. Looks kinda dirty :P Should I scrape it off or leave it be?

The only negative effect I can assume is that it uses up more calcium... Are there any positives?

Also what would I use to scrape it off?

Bubbles

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 11:04pm CDT by Len

Hi

I have water droplets falling of my light (sealed unit) that causes fine bubbles in the water that are then "pumped" through the tank.

Is this an issue for LPS and mushrooms?

The chicken or the egg (calcium or alkalinity) what is first

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 10:48pm CDT by Len

Hi

Very confused, got two opposing "instructions" on calcium supplement and alkalinity supplement additions

One says I should adjust the PH, then the alkalinity and only then the calcium levels.

The other PH, then calcium and only then the alkalinity level.

Which order is correct?
Does it matter?
Is influenced by the product I use?

Kenia tree - white tips

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:45pm CDT by Raven

Hi - My kenia tree got these white tips....
I know that bleaching is a option here, but that is only when water temp is to high...
What else can cause these white tips?

New tank, advise on what to put in 1st...

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:38pm CDT by Brendan Kelly

My 500ltr tank including sump is 1 week old. Will only start putting in live stock once cycled in 4 -6 weeks, Im in no rush. So far 20kg of rock in tank, only 10kg's is live rock. I will add about another 15kg's of rock once cycle is starting to level. I want to start planning what to put in the tank. Im wanting to start with a few hermits and a shrimp or 2. Then want to start adding a few pretty fish that are hardy. Ultimately I want a easy tank to handle(easy as possible) with a few clowns(think I'll get 2 hammer coral instead of anemoni's) + other hardy fish + soft coral. Please advise in detail what fish I should start with, and what soft coral. Please add pics if you can, or tell me where to look to see the fish and coral. Is there a site where I can print a poster type page with the most common fish and soft coral? All advise would be great as Im trying to not burn my fingers too badly in the start and I havent really got too much extra time to hunt for all this info by myself. Thanks for all the assistance so far.

Gawie's "Nano"

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:37pm CDT by Gawiedj

Here's my first attempt at a marine aquarium.

The tank is a AquaH20 (76cm L X 40cm W x 46cm H)

The Hardware

2 x Hopar T5 light units (54 w per unit)
1 x Seio M1100
1 x Boyu WM-2 wavemaker
1 x Octopus HOB Skimmer

40kg Kiddies Playsand

10kg Live Rock

It needs rock, anybody know where I can find some good quality LR in CPT?

I have no idea what fish I'll put in there so suggestion are welcome.
Any other comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

Kenia tree - white tips

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:34pm CDT by Raven

Hi - My kenia tree got these white tips....
I know that bleaching is a option here, but that is only when water temp is to high...
What else can cause these white tips?

Live Rock (LR) Wanted

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:24pm CDT by Sammy

Hi guys,

Just starting a new nano, is there anyone that can sell me some LR, im in cape town and will pick up anywhere ?

Cheers

Pics of my livestock so far...

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:10pm CDT by Tobes

Hi guys, here are some pics of my livestock. I still want to add some colourful corals if I can get. No one has and the people who have don't wanna sell. Just waiting for my Manderin then fish are done.

Hi everyone

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 8:47pm CDT by Andrec

Hi guys

My name is Andre. Some of you might know me from other forums or from meeting me in person. (For instance, I finally found out where Rory dissapeared to :) ).

I have been thinking about getting a marine tank for a few years now and actually have quite a few pieces of marine equipment at home that I gathered over the years. I have been working in and around the rest of Africa since November last year, and I am currently situated in Cameroon (Douala).

A few of my friends have recently started up reeftanks, so I decided to take the plunge as well when I get home.

For now I will be saving up some €€€€ and reading the threads on MASA.

Cheers

Andre

Sixline Wrasse and Yellow Clown Goby

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 8:46pm CDT by matt165

Are the following fish compatible:

Sixline Wrasse
Yellow Clown Goby
Purple Firefish

Shrimp

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 8:40pm CDT by lindsay pollard

Howzit all u gurus
ive just noticed a shrimp well at least i think its a shrimp on my kenian tree.Its almost transparent milky white in colour,its about 1 cm in length,it looks like its got one big arm but with hardley no pinser or should i say very small pinsers.Its cleaming all around the stem of the kenian.I tried to take pics but because of its colour u can hardley see it.Can anyone shed some light on this for me.Good or Bad :yeahdude:

Few questions regarding cycling tank

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 8:38pm CDT by Brendan Kelly

Howzit again.

Just to refresh, I bought a new 375ltr tank with 100ltr sump. Been running for a week and still hasnt started cycling. Got about 10 kg live rock in it. I was advised to put 2 cooked shrimp into a stocking in the sump to kick it off. Is the correct? Should I buy a blue damzel tomorrow for cycling? Also, Ive been doing topups with tap water this whole first week. Been told to stop. I'll get RO water, but is my normal water purifier (Brita) good enough for these top ups?

Nitrates and Nitrites 0 after a week. Tank looking really good, just doesnt seem to be doing much.

T5 54 Watt Ballasts - Where to get?

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 6:11pm CDT by highlander

Hi guys.

Im trying to source out 54W T5 ballast for a new tank. The pet shops usually go for more than R200 for a dual t5 ballast, but im sure one can get it cheaper elsewhere...

I went to lighting & builders warehouse and they have ballasts but I'm not 100% sure if they are correct as they guy said it was for wattages between 50 to 80.

Is there anything I should know b4 buying those?

Ricordea Florida, Blue mushroom and Green Mushroom for sale - on a 1kg piece of LR

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 5:46pm CDT by matt165

Ricordea Florida, Green mushroom (huge) and a smaller blue mushroom I just got attached a few weeks ago - all on a 1kg piece of LR - also growing some nice coralline.

Here's a pic:

R400 - Astrea snail sold seperately, batteries not included :lol:

Frogspawn frag wanted

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 5:45pm CDT by Franske

Hi guys can anyone tell me where can I get a small frogspawn frag at a reasonable price or anyone who has one?,does frogspawn need intense lighting or wil two t8s be enough if you place it near the top

New addition

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 3:32pm CDT by Gemma

I've been quiet lately. We are due to do extensions to our house in 4 weeks time so Ive been trying to find a cheapish, quality builder. I am still waiting for prices to come in. My latest addition to my 200l system has been a sand star fish of which I have yet to see. Hopefully its under the gravel. Otherwise my maroon clown and both yellow tail damsels are fine. Under my live rock appear to be white blobs with what looks like a "nipple" at the top of the blob.(not forgetting its upside down). I think they must be sea squirts that look like sponges, if this makes any sense. I cant take pics because my digital is broken. I also have noticed some small red fan/tube worms inside white "houses" (plse excuse the lack of proper jargon). This is the most fascinating part of having the system. Seeing all the little things making an appearance and then growing.
I Am looking for a small sailfin though. Don't know how often small specimens come along.

My word - check out this worm...

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 3:08pm CDT by Raven

guys - check this worm.... (and the tank)

Oregonreef.com

Water Surface Milky/oily layer

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 12:05pm CDT by RaveMan

Ladies/Gentlemen

I've noticed that a milky/oil layer develops on the surface of my water -- that the overflow does not seem to suck up.

I also notice that this disappears with a water change but returns a few days afer.

Any clues on what this is and how to rid the tank of it?

feed once a day --- dry food
2 x per week frozen food

Tank specs:
450 litre
ATi 160 skimmer
carbon/rowa - 24/7
150w MH
4 Ati T5 39w (2 superblue/2white)
2 Tunze 6045 nano streams
Resun chiller
Aquamedic kalkwasser stirrer running with auto top-up unit
Ph 8.2
Salinity 1025
Calcium 300-350ppm
Phosphates -- dont really test
kH -- 10

Sub's Evo 2

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 10:57am CDT by Submariner

I recently moved to randburg +-3 months so the tank had to be re-aquascaped and is just about settled in again.

So i will be updating this thread every now and then to show how the tank matures.

I am also starting a new cube 80 x 80x 60 with mainly sps and clams will show a complete start to finish set of pics with the progress from design to build ( will start a new thread)

The only thing i am unsure of is what fish to place in the cube(Reef safe fish only).

Anyway here is a basic breakdown of the existing tank.

Tank size 1.8 x .60 x .60
Sump size 1.2 x .50 x .40

Tank flow
2 x seio m2600 on controller
2 x seio m820
Main pump Aqua Medic OR6500

Tank Filtration

Aqua Medic shorty 5000 skimmer
Tunze bio reactors x 2
+- 180 kg mix live rock
Sump live rock and Cualerpa with +-5 cm fine sand.
Dophin 12 watt uv filter

Tank lighting

3 x 150 watt 14000 kelvin Metal halide
2 x 54 Watt T5 globes 1 pure actinic and 1 actinic

Tank cooling and heating

Hailie chiller HC1000B

Current Fish

1 x Naso male
1 x Blonde Naso female
1 x Maroon Clown
2 x African Clown
1 x splendid Psuedochromis
1 x Foxface
1 x Yellow Sailfin
1 x Goldie
1 x Humbug
1 x Sixline Wrasse
1 x Niger Trigger
1 x Zebra sailfin
1 x Gold tail Damsel

Inverts

1 x Fire shrimp
2 x Coral lobster (Breeding)
2 x Blue linkia
+- 25 Hermits
5 x blue leg hermits
+- 25 snails (Nerite)
+- 6 Snails (Bumblebee)
+- 4 Snails (Turban)
2 x bubbletip anemone 1 cream 1 rose
1 x pistol shrimp
1 x Tube Anemone Purple
12 x clams (Maxima,Crocea and Squamosa)

Will try update with corals soon.

Enjoy the pics.

Load shedded

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:44am CDT by lindsay pollard

Hi all reefers
yesterday i was shedded for 14 long hours,stressed me out totally.WE were down for 3 hours and i could see my aquarium waving goodbye in front of me when i realized or should i say i remembered my neibour has a small genny :thumbup: YES he lent it to me and i was able to run my return pump which kept us going for the day,needles to say we survived,thanks to my neibour.:yeahdude:

Nano Lighting Question

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 9:04am CDT by Sparky

Hey guys

I know this is a daft question, but what I know about lighting is dangerous.

I pulled out my nano over the weekend, the only markings on the tube say T58W.

Now I know the T5 part is the size/type of tube, but does the 8W mean its only 8 watts?

If so, can I change them without modifying the hood design?

Enough LR?

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 1:47am CDT by Sammy

Hi Experts,
This is my 1 day old tank ? Do you think I have sufficient LR????

New inhabitants

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 12:44am CDT by Sammy

hi there, still a newbie !!!

With time will I have any great surprisies ans see new inhabitants in my tank that will shock me ?? OR will i always expect the expected ? I'm not asking for a new species of fish to pop up but will i see anything interesting happening with my live rock ?

I started my tank yesterday ? What do i expect ?

Sammy

DSTV - ch 261

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 11:58pm CDT by viper357

On now from 23:00 - Norway's Hidden Secrets, a coral reef thriving in a world without sunlight.

Great nudibranch images

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 11:27pm CDT by matt165

NudibranchsâPhoto GalleryâNational Geographic Magazine

Advice please regarding my nano

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 11:11pm CDT by matt165

I've been rethinking my tank and how I can improve it. The one thing I noticed was I had a great deal of LR but it was not porous enough for my liking. I have since removed about 9kg of dense Kenyan live rock and replaced it with a single 4kg piece of Fiji live rock.

Here's how the tank currently looks (i've also been fragging some zoa's and mushrooms hence the tot glass frag holders ;)

Would you get 1 more piece of Figi rock or something similar and just get a bit of height? or leave it as is? I was thinking of possibly going for some Tonga branch should some become available? ;)

Finally Got Started

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 10:20pm CDT by shiks

:thumbup: :thumbup: Hey Guys ....I know it aint much but finally have my tank started...waiting for balance of LR to arrive, but have been up and running for abt 1 week now..... I got tired of staring at water so I took a chance and decieded to get 2 soft corals and man...what a difference...is so exciting

Updated pics of my new refugium setup

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 8:59pm CDT by Tobes

Because of space shortage, I had to build a high/deep refugium with a DSB. Here are some pics of how my setup looks now. Refugium is fairly new, 3 Seio M620 flow pumps and egg crate for live rock was put in 2 weeks ago.

Full setup

Refugium side view

Refugium top view of the lights

With lights on

Pic of my sump

:wave2: Will post pics of my main display later...;)

Marine Newbie

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 8:52pm CDT by highlander

Hi all!

I am a newbie in saltwater aquariums and want to start my first tank soon... I've been reading alot on the internet and this forum as well so hopefully you can help me out.

I have to keep costs to a minimum but so far my plans are for a 4 foot tank with a 3 foot sump.

any ideas on where to get cheap good tanks? or diy tanks cheapest option?

What a vast world and and exiting endevour, another infant bewbie

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 7:27pm CDT by Sammy

Hi guys,

This is an ultimate site and just what us newbies require, there are tonnes and tonnes of questions we need to ask and im sure we'll get it from your highly experienced communities ????

I've done my reading and started and boyd nana 140 L yesterday. Spent hours on this handy site and I hope I can educate myself to be an aspiring reefies like you all are.

I've always dreamed of having my own aquarium and now taken the plunge, a bit daunting for me as i've never even kept tropical fish and taking the plunge into the 'deep' end.

Thanks again for hosting this, all the forums are invaluable ....

Sammy

Purigen

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 2:43pm CDT by Warr7207

I have lost my Purigen pamphlet.

How do you re-new it ?

I remember you needed to use bleach.

SAGA Solenoid Valve help

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 10:26am CDT by Mekaeel

Hey crew.
i bought a second hand Saga regulator with solenoid valve.hooked it up but it appears that the relay (little black box) isnt working.the light is comming on,indicating that power is being sent to the unit but the relay isnt ticking and dosing.can somebody give me advice on how to repair this unit.from what i think,i gotta remove the relay and fit a new one.any idea from where i can get one of these.
thanks
Mekaeel

Xavier

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 9:18am CDT by xavier

Hi there , I recently had a cleair aquarium imported , its come with a skimmer and complete sump , only problem is all instructions are all in chinese , managed to have the pipe conduiting sorted but the sump appears to be a tad smaller as its suppose to house the skimmer & the pump , (Multi Skimmer AT 2300A Atinan) , the tank is finished in perspex , approximate capacity is 650 Ltr , has anybody installed one of these , pls Help !..

Rgds
Xavier.

Making your own food

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 8:42am CDT by Alfie

Here is a Link to a recipe. Maybe some of you have got a better one or improved.

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Tips for Growing or Making your Own Tank Food

Now this is a decent size tank

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 1:19am CDT by Warr7207

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Featured Aquarium: Atlantis Marine World

20,000 Gallons - 75,000L

Check the skimmer

You know it's big when you have to put the scuba gear on to do the daily cleaning

Moonlights too bright?

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 12:00am CDT by matt165

Is it possible to have moonlights that are too bright?? I've seen some wicked actinic shots of overseas tanks and its insane how many moonlights they've got.

Is there any negative effects this could have? Im thinking of upgrading mine but want to know more first...

New lamp looks promising

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 10:24pm CDT by Reef Maniac

Hi Everyone.

I have just stumbled onto an 'energy saver' lamp with interesting possibilities at a local electrical wholesaler, immediately bought myself one to play around with, and thought I would pass on the information for everyone's benefit.

The lamp is a 85W Eurolux G384BP 'energy saver' power compact fluorescent with a built-in ballast and E27 base. It is in essence just a larger version of the common household energy savers, measuring approximately 300mm in length, and 90mm in diameter. According to the information on the box, it emits the equivalent of 425W of incandescent lamps - that is 5100 lumens, or approximately half the intensity of a 150W metal halide. The color is only described as 'daylight', and I suspect it is in the order of 6000K.

Although it is bright enough to illuminate a 600mm x 300mm nano tank quite nicely (I think it would be bright enough for even SPS in this size tanks) I think it could be really useful in illuminating a sump (where the 6000K color won't bother anyone...).

The really nice thing about this lamp is it's cost - R130.41 for the bulb, and R203.00 for the luminair (lamp holder), complete with cover glass.

Here are some photos:

Hennie

Urgent Help !

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 6:22pm CDT by Warr7207

I have a Octo DNW 200

Urgent Help !

I have just taken my pump off and cleaned it out and re-connected it, but i seem to have a leak coming out of the pump itself.

Any suggestions

Octopus Turbine Pump - 3000L/h

:helpsmilie: :helpsmilie:

Tang Question

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 4:27pm CDT by Warr7207

My tangs have lumpy stomaches, is that normal?

Zoa's in CT

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 3:28pm CDT by tinusb

Hey all!

I'll be in CT first weekend of June --- does anybody know where I can get some Zoanthids? Looking for brightly coloured ones - specifically yellow, and bicolour :)

Thanx!

T :)

Sharks drowned.

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 2:51pm CDT by viper357

Man I am so hacked off, the damn Sharks lost against the Waratahs, I really thought they would have done better, the amount of mistakes they made were unbelievable. :(

Pincushion Question

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 2:48pm CDT by Warr7207

One of my pincushions has "fallen" over. The stalk is now growing sideways against the substrate and then upwards.

Is this OK or should I prop it up ?

Spare Parts

Posted: May 24th, 2008, 8:17am CDT by Brucemg

Please help, I was inquisitive and opened my new Hailea HX-6550 last night, I removed the impellor and then the porcelain shaft inside and that dropped and broke, where can I find spare parts in the Pretoria area.

Skylight

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 2:48am CDT by Warr7207

If one installed a skylight for your tank, would you still be able to run lights at night or would your livestock stress too much with such a long photo-period ?

Fire Clownfish

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 2:26am CDT by Warr7207

I am looking for a friend for my green anemone. The porclein crab ran away and join the other crag on the other side of the tank in the purple tip nemmie.

has anyone had experience with Fire clowns ?

Zoo's wanted

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 10:15pm CDT by Tobes

Where can I buy or beg for colourful zoanthids in KZN? I would like to get any colour except green or brown(too much green and brown corals already). Any advice?:notworthy:

Last page option

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 7:12pm CDT by gaboon

I'm lazy, Couldn't there be a last page option in the post thread title?

Urgent question

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 6:48pm CDT by gaboon

Just bought a regal tang an half an hour ago. Dripping at the moment. My question is: the fish-only tanks at the LFS are treated with copper, would the LFS be stupid enough to use that water in the bag?

Algae?

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 6:08pm CDT by HendrikKotze

What is this and how do I get rid of it?
There are also a brownish layer on the substrate. It is better if I direct the powerheads to flow over the substrate, but that moves the substrate around.
Phosphates is 0.
Nitrades is 25 ppm.

Is this a Bristle worm?

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 6:02pm CDT by HendrikKotze

Chaeto and what else

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 5:52pm CDT by Ocean

I have heard that if you put two plants or micro bactiria life form eg. choeto. That they will have chemical warfar how true is this, i want to put some other thing in ,please give some surgestions as to what

Convert from a Tropical tank to Marine tank

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 4:15pm CDT by Al

Hi Everyone,

Im new to this forum. Im interested in converting my Tropical tank to a marine tank. I dont have a big tank, approx 55l. What accessories do need to for a marine tank and how many fish can i keep in this size tank? :)

Hope to hear from you guy's!

Tank confused

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CDT by Mekaeel

Hey crew

im a bit lost as to what i should do with my 600*600*450 cube.
Should i make it a FOWLR system or transfer all my LPS from my big tank into the little cube and leave the big tank SPS dominated?
any input will be appreciated
thanks guys

Surface Skimmer?

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 10:52am CDT by matt165

The one thing I miss on my old JBJ 24 was the surface skimmer before the inlet chamber. Worked superbly and was such a simple design.

Has anyone bought these and used them on other brand of nano tank?

Sponsor Shops.

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 9:12am CDT by Neil H

Hi Guys.

Not sure if this is the right spot to post this,

I need to get some equipment for my new setup, and would like to support the sponsors of this site.

Which sponsors have shops in or close to Fourways or Centurion.

Thanks guys

Peppermint Angelfish - what a cutie

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 12:30am CDT by matt165

Common Name: Peppermint Angelfish
Species Name: Paracentropyge boylei (Pyle & Randall, 1992)
Range: Eastern Central Pacific Ocean: Rarotonga, Cook Island

Size: up to 3 inches (7 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabit rubble areas of steep seaward slopes in deep water, i.e., 150 to 300 feet (50 - 100 m)

General Husbandry: Has a temperature range of 77 - 82°F (25 - 28°C). Not much else is known about this species. Yet probably has the same requirements as others in its family, i.e., natural diet consists mainly of algae and accepts a wide variety of foods in the aquarium including fortified brine shrimp, mysis, flake food (especially Spirulina) and requires numerous feedings per day.

Royal Blue Pigmy Angel

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 10:53pm CDT by Alfie

I got one of these angels today. They feed on algae and.......detritus.

Caribsea seaflor special grade aragonite - wash before putting in the tank??

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 10:05pm CDT by matt165

I'm going to be doing a substrate change quite soon. Do I need to wash this
Aragonite before putting it into my tank???

New aditions

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 8:50pm CDT by lindsay pollard

hey guys thaught i should show some of my new inhabitants to my small ocean

Star polyp question

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 6:50pm CDT by gaboon

Whats this red hair-like mat smothering the polyps? I pulled a lot off but seems to grow back

Juices of pincusion coral toxic?

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 5:46pm CDT by Tobes

Can anyone tell me if the juices of a pincusion coral is toxic? I fragged mine yesterday and the smell was very strong, you even feel it in your throat and chest if you sniff your fingers. It was still smelling even after I washed my hands.

Looking for a Royal Gramma Basslet

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 3:09pm CDT by robski

I'm starting my search now for some royal gramma basslets.

My tank will only be ready for it in a month or so, but just seeing if anyone knows of some coming into a LFS near them, or someone wanting to sell theirs.

??:thumbup:

Pincusion frags to swop or give away

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 1:55pm CDT by Tobes

Hi guys, I fragged my pincusion coral yesterday and got 7 pieces to swop or give away.

The swop will be for a piece/pieces of live rock that you don't want/need anymore and the "give away" is to help newbies that don't have the budget right now to add that extra coral. Pincusions aren't that difficult to keep.

I stay in Pietermaritzburg, so all newbies from KZN are welcome to contact me if they want a frag. I'm not willing to ship, sorry guys. PM me if you're interested. We can discuss the transportation. ;)

What fish for 400L - 6ft

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 1:43pm CDT by ziyaadb

HI all

as you know i am still researching on converting the 6ft tank to marine what i would like to know is what species can i keep the tank dimensions are 1800*450W*500.

I am looking for fish that would have great personalities are hardy and easy to feed as i dont want them starving ;)

Alphachem iodine?

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 1:13pm CDT by lanzo

hey guys i think it was jacq that said he uses alphachem iodine.

think this is what he said:

+-50ml added to 250ml container
+- 200ml of ro water to the same container

dosage: he has a 870L tank and use +-25-30lml of that mixture 4 times a week.

if this is not jacq ,sorry but i think it is him.:whistling:

now i bought myself this bottle alphachem, is this it that you use?
or is it the bleached bottle?

Article in Australian Aquarium

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 9:39am CDT by sihaya

I don't know if any of you read Australian Aquarium magazine, but I'm having an article coming out in their next issue! It's on "Easy Corals." The article will be in Issue Seven...

Here's the magazine's homepage:
Welcome

(After the magazine runs it, I'll ask them if it's ok if I post it here, or somewhere for public viewing.)

Need help!!!!

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 9:26am CDT by 459b

A club in Durbanville has three fairly unimpressive fish tanks. Being me, i told the manager they could be a whole lot better. He agreed. So hes says i must come in next week and make them better. All tanks are freshwater but he is keen to make at least one salt water (depending on the cost). The tanks have alot of potential, they are approx 1.2m long and have varying heights. They are built into the same wall, with the lowest tank starting just above knee hieght, the middle one is at eye level and the top tank only really visible from the dance floor. the bottom tank is a nice chiclid tank, the middle on has red-bellied pacus, plecies, and some other small fish and the top tank has gold fish. I dont know too much about bathwater fish, so would really like some help on this. No payment has been discussed yet, but the manager has assured me that the bar will be overflowing with beer when i go. If anyone in the cape town/durbanville area would like to help out please let me know. If not in cape toen/durbanville any suggestions would also be greatly appreciated.

Automatic top up for the least amount of pennies

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 9:26am CDT by tinusb

Hey all!

Since we are busy with a hobby which requires a lot of time, and a lot of $$$, I was wondering whether we can see whose top up system is actually the cheapest :)

So anyone? :)

T :razz:

Prostitute

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 9:16am CDT by Warr7207

An Irish daughter had not been home for over 5 years. Upon her return, her Father cursed her.
'Where have ye been all this time? Why did ye not write to us, not even a line?
Why didn't ye call? Can ye not understand what ye put yer old Mother thru?'
The girl, crying, replied, 'Sniff, sniff....Dad....I became a prostitute...'
'Ye what!!?
Out of here, ye shameless harlot! Sinner!
You're a disgrace to this Catholic family.'

'OK, Dad-- as ye wish. I just came back to give mum this luxurious fur coat, title deed to a ten bedroom mansion plus a £5 million savings certificate. For me little brother, this gold Rolex. And for ye Daddy, the sparkling new Mercedes limited edition convertible that's parked outside plus a membership to the country club......................... (takes a breath).............. and an invitation for ye all to spend New Years Eve on board my new yacht in the Riviera and... ....'

'Now what was it ye said ye had become?' says Dad.
Girl, crying again, 'Sniff, sniff....a prostitute Daddy! Sniff, sniff.'

'Oh! Be Jesus! Ye scared me half to death, girl! I thought ye said a Protestant.
Come here and give yer old Dad a hug.'

Another newbie to the aquarium world

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 12:52am CDT by scruffels

hey guys well joined the forum hoping to learn alot more about marine fish tanks. started my tank in december last year only a little juwel tank, think its 100L not to sure.
i have 4X 24w t5's marine white and 2X 15w actinic. timed so that the actinic comes on hour before and goes off hour after main lights. main lights 7am-8pm, that ok?
got a red sea protein skimmer just 2weeks ago, dont really know if ive set it up right but its skimming and theres no bubbles in tank, so i guess its right.
the filter, is the one that came with the tank.
1 pump to have some current.
i do about a 40L water change every two weeks. good? bad?
evaporation is alot due to that i have to fans to extract the heat that the lights generate. replace about 6L every two days with RO water. was looking to get a automatic top up as doing this is very annoying. any suggestion?
i have a algae problem that the moment as i got no fish eats it. suggestion? is my tank to small for tangs? even small ones?
got 2x pink skunk clowns, was hoping they would become friends but the ones kinda aggressive, that wierd?
2x common clowns
2x firefish
banana wrasse.
anemone crab
coral banded, fire, cleaner shrimps
and a bit of corals and anemones.
and suggestions or comments?
sorry about all the questions! once you get me started its hard to stop. :)

Different ways people use eggcrate

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 12:09am CDT by matt165

Ok so the obvious thing is to make stands for your aquascaping. However i've found it very hard to do anything of the sort in a nano as it's always exposed...

I've seen some guys use it below their rocks (one layer flat on the glass), then add substrate. What would be the point of this?

Surely the blocks would actually trap detritus and cause problems?

What type of coral is this

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 10:47pm CDT by mike Bushie

what type of coral is this guys

Humbug? Damsel?

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 9:47pm CDT by Tobes

I thought I'd move this to a new thread, we were discussing it in my thread "I am mourning". We were talking about humbugs. Here are some pics of what I've been told is a humbug. Is it a humbug?

Wierd Worm

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 9:15pm CDT by lindsay pollard

What worm is this good or bad

Surge devices various methods

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 8:39pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

As you all well know, I have been looking into this type of natural "waterflow" devices for some time. So I thought of posting different "types" of what I could find on the net as to help others to make decisions regarding devices that'll work for them.(and hopefully it will help me understand it better)

Please feel free to post Original Methods as well as their Write ups in this thread.(maybe have some sort of Competition to see how many different ones, quiet ones, big ones, etc we can post on this thread....:thumbup:)

Oh, and before I forget, please accompany the posts with detailed pics irt assembly etc...

Zoanthids

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 2:43pm CDT by Mekaeel

Seeing that we have lots of our members who keep Zoas,i thought this might be of some help.

The Zoanthids: Sea Mats, Yellow Polyps, and Button Polyps

James W. Fatherree, M.Sc.

Zooanthids are relatively small "soft corals" that can come in a wide range of attractive colors and patterns. They tend to be easy to care for and very hardy, and many can grow quickly, making various sorts great additions to a reef aquarium. So, this month we'll take a look at some basic zoanthid information, the common varieties you'll see for sale, the differences between them, and how to take care of them, etc.
Name games:

To get started, let's look at some often confusing name game stuff. All of the types of zoanthids are members of the biological Order Zoanthidea, which is part of the Subclass Hexacorallia. These two names might not mean too much to you, but they do point out something odd about zoanthids if you know who their cousins are. Being hexacorallians means that zoanthids are much more closely related to stony corals than to the other soft corals, which actually belong to an entirely different group, the Subclass Octocorallia. So, technically the zoanthids aren't soft corals, but they're close enough for the name to stick anyway.
Then there's the commonly used name "colonial anemone", which is often generically used for any of these. Yes, they can look something like small sea anemones, but they aren't anemones either. Anemones are indeed hexacorallians, but they are in the Order Actiniaria, not Zoanthidea. But again, right or wrong, the name has stuck with them anyway...
The common name "xxxx polyp" is an odd one too, as the term "polyp" can apply to any soft or stony coral animal. We say a solitary coral is a single polyp, while a colonial coral is made of numerous polyps. Thus, it is also strange that names like button polyps and yellow polyps have been used forever by hobbyists for many varieties of zoanthids. But, I suppose there are LOTS of common names that don't really make great sense anyway, so this isn't too surprising. Just remember that if you are reading about corals and such, if the term "polyp" comes up, it doesn't necessarily mean the subject is a zoanthid.
Lastly, the Order Zoanthidea contains several genera, one of which is Zoanthus. Thus, the members of this particular genus are correctly called zoanthids, confusing folks from time to time. All the members of the Order Zoanthidea can correctly be called zoanthids, but then again, so can all the members of one sub-group of the order. This can make you wonder what someone is talking about - any type of zoanthid, or a specific type of zoanthid. Get it? Taking note of the context the term is used in is the only way to keep it straight really, unless you see it capitalized and in italics or underlined, which is always an indication that it refers to a genus.
Anyway, enough of that! Let's get on to the rest. All in all there are quite a few genera, but we'll stick with the four that you're most likely to find offered for sale, which are Zoanthus, Parazoanthus, Palythoa, and Protopalythoa. By common name these are the sea mats, yellow polyps, and button polyps, respectively. As you'll see, the palythoans and protopalythoans are both called button polyps.
Genus Zoanthus: the sea mats

Sea mats, which are the group of zoanthids most commonly called zoanthids are colonies of relatively small polyps that are usually something like a 1/2 inch or less in diameter. They are usually very short and tightly spaced (but not always), and they can form very large colonies, growing as encrusting mats from which the polyps emerge. They are all bound together by this mat, which is made of living tissue and called coenenchyme.
Each polyp in a colony is topped by several blunt tentacles and has an almost non-existent mouth, and they typically come in brown, green, blue, or gray with lighter-colored centers. There are also occasional specimens that may be bright red or orange, and a few especially nice specimens may have a half-dozen different colors mixed together, making these some of the most colorful things you can put in your tank. They are found encrusted over a wide-variety of surfaces, and may even grow over other corals at times, as well.
In an aquarium the sea mats are heavily dependent on good lighting and will need high-intensity illumination to thrive. They also do best when placed in an area where they are subjected to a moderate to strong current, which helps to prevent detritus from settling on a colony and collecting between the polyps. Keep in mind, though, that at times these little guys can over grow other corals. As a colony grows, it may come into contact with another coral and just keep on growing. This may have no adverse affect if they grow around the base of some corals, but in other cases it may indeed kill the overrun specimen. With that said, to the contrary, they may also be burned by the stings of more aggressive corals at times, which have no trouble defending their space.
Other than that, I should mention that sea mats aren't going to take any sorts of foods you may try to offer by hand, but they still may benefit from finer-sized plankton-type foods or a deep sand bed set-up that provides natural foods. Regardless, I've seen them multiply and watched colonies grow rapidly in some aquariums with no sort of food provided - when given sufficient lighting.
Genus Parazoanthus: the yellow polyps

There is more than one type of parazoanthan, but the only one you'll see with any regularity is the currently un-named species that used to be called Parazoanthus gracilis, better known as "yellow polyps". For whatever reason, it has been decided that the gracilis is wrong, yet no new name has been given to replace it (yet). Anyway, these are solitary zoanthids, although they do usually form colonies. What I mean is that the individual polyps don't neccessarily stay connected together like sea mat, as connecting tissues may or may not be present, but they typically live close together in groups anyway. Oftentimes they are only joined by thin strips of flesh called stolons, or are found in little patches with there bases growing together.
Yellow polyps have a taller body topped with much longer, thin tentacles that are indeed used for feeding. However, even though the polyps are taller than those of Zoanthus, they are typically smaller in diameter, usually being less than a 1/4 inch across. In addition to being found growing over hard substrates, some parazoanthans are also often found living on other organisms, such as sponges, too. And, while other varieties with other colors are occasionally offered, yellow polyps are, of course, yellow in color (or at least yellow-ish).
Yellow polyps can often thrive under a wider range of lighting conditions than the sea mats, but in general the brighter the lights the better. They are also "softer bodied" and will prefer a lower current, with low to moderate flow being best. They'll also greedily eat small meaty foods you may give by hand, and like so many other creatures, they will benefit from the use of plankton-type foods and/or a D.S.B. set-up, too. But, again, I've also seen them thrive in some aquariums when no food was provided at all.
As is the case with Zoanthus, you do need to be careful with these when it comes to where they are placed, though, as they can also kill other corals they come into contact with. They can multiply quickly under optimal conditions and will sometimes dispatch anything in their path as they spread, so watch out. But, then again, they are often susceptible to stings from more aggressive corals, too.
All in all, yellow polyps can be exceptionally hardy. However, many other parazoanthans you may see at some point may live in association with other organisms, and often rely on those organisms in some way. And unfortunately, these species of Parazoanthus will likely die if the organism they are living upon dies. In other words, if you jump on the opportunity to buy an unusual specimen that consists of some parazoanthans living in/on a sponge and let the sponge die - the polyps will follow suit. So, it's better to stick with other specimens that are less demanding. In addition, note that there are some species of Parazoanthus that are azooxanthellate (can't use light to produce food) and will rely on food. Thus, they would require some form of food, provided regularly, and be much more difficult to care for than other species, as well. These are uncommon in the hobby though.
Genus Palythoa: the button polyps

Of the four types of zoanthids covered, the palythoans are by far the least common. Still, you're very likely to see these at some point or another, so here's some info. You can identify members of this genus fairly easily, as they form a thick, encrusting clump-like coenenchyme base, which the polyps are deeply embedded in. Not much of the polyp sticks out of the base, which is typically clearly visible. They also incorporate sand or bits of shells, etc. in the coenenchyme. Conversely, when looking at Zoanthus, the polyps often obscure the coenenchyme so that it cannot be seen, and there is no sand incorporated in it either.
The colors aren't as bright as those of Zoanthus either, as most are mixtures of brown, red, and/or cream. Their tentacles are so short they look more like a ring of bumps around their margins, as well. In addition, palythoans will take meaty foods, while Zoanthus won't.
However, despite these differences, they will certainly benefit from the use of plankton-type foods and/or a D.S.B. set-up, and have similar care requirements. They need good lighting and will thrive under high-intensity illumination, and should also be placed in an area where they are subjected to a moderate to strong current.
Lastly, these are also well-known for their ability to overgrow other corals, killing them in the process. So, be mindful of where you place a specimen in your aquarium. Of course, they too can be stung by more aggressive corals, though.
Genus Protopalythoa: the other button polyps

Members of the genus Protopalythoa are also most commonly called button polyps, but they look quite different, really. As is the difference between Zoanthus and Parazoanthus, palythoans form a thick, encrusting coenenchyme base, but protopalythoans don't. Indeed, the polyps can be connected together by a small base at times (which may or may not have some sand/debris in it), or may only be connected by thin bits of flesh, but they are sometimes not connected at all.
Protopalythoans also have longer tentacles than palythoans, and the tentacles are often seen to alternate in an up and down fashion around the rim of the polyp. The tentacles are usually rather thin and taper out to a point, as well. Protopalythoan polyps are much taller (in part because there is no coenenchyme) and are usually anywhere from 1/2 to 1 inch across, too. But, there are a few that are even bigger, sometimes being nearly two inches across, as well. In addition, the common colors are solid brown and red, but many are also mottled with cream, white, and/or green, and/or have cream or white stalks and bases, making them quite attractive.
As far as care goes, you can probably guess that they'll prefer lower currents than the palythoans, low to moderate being best. However, everything else is the same. Bright lights are best, although, moderate lighting is okay. Meaty foods given by hand will be appreciated, while plankton-type foods and/or a D.S.B. set-up can help, too. And yes, they can overgrow some other corals, but be stung by others, as well.
A last note: Be Careful!

So, they are all hardy and easy to care for, but there is one more thing you need to be particularly mindful of when it comes to zoanthids. Many types are very poisonous.
There are several types of commonly available zoanthids, including all of the palythoans, that can produce a deadly toxin (appropriately called "palytoxin"). It is found is the mucous coat that they cover themselves with, and if you get enough of it in an open wound, or your eye, mouth, etc. - it just might kill you. Many hobbyists have reported cases of numbness, sickness, and/or hallucinations, but the stuff is actually strong enough to kill, as well.
Handling them when you have a wound is an obvious no-no, but when you touch a colony and get the slime on your fingers (which is unavoidable with these things), it is imperative that you don't rub your eyes, suck your fingers, or even pick your nose until you have washed your hands thoroughly. Really, you should never handle these without wearing protective gloves. Some hobbyists (including me) have handled zoanthids without gloves many, many times in the past, but it is now well-known that things can go very wrong when this is done, even if you have no wounds you know of and plan on washing your hands immediately after touching a specimen.
Wear the gloves!
References:

Borneman, E. 2001. Aquarium Corals - Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ. 464 pp.
Burnett, W. J., et. al. 1997. Zoanthids (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) from the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait, Australia: systematics, evolution, and a key to the species. Coral Reefs 16: 55-68.
Delbeek, J. C. and J. Sprung. 1997. The Reef Aquarium: Volume Two. Ricordea Publishing, Coconut Grove, FL. 546 pp

Saltcorner Guest Article: James Fatherree: The Zoanthids: Sea Mats, Yellow Polyps, and Button Polyps

How to use the Red Sea Reef Success Calk Alkalinity Pro test kit

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 12:42pm CDT by Len

Hi

I hope i am not transgressing rules by using brand names.

Bough a Red Sea Reef Success Calk 500g that comes provided with a Red Sea Reef Success Calk Alkalinity Pro test kit.

The only instruction on how to use it is a cryptic diagram at the back of the color chart. I can not figure out how to link the test kit result to the amount of powder to add.

Can anyone pls advise me?

Idiot of the month

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 11:52am CDT by lappiesreef

Hey Guys

I am voting myself idoit of the month!

I keep telling people I am not a technical person, but they don't get it.
My head is in deep molecular, I can do the bacterial "engine", but all other mechanical stuff is above me...

To put you in hte picture. I buy n nice pump, 6800l/h. No plug. So since i know I am no technical. Google plug change and do it. Do not trust all you see on google.
Brown is live, not round (as the site suggested). So I managed to trip my power three times my plugging in my new pump with newly attached plug. Only to find out later that Brown is live and yellow/green is ground. Luckily I had the blue one right :whistling:

So just to try my luck I corrtect my mistake and try my pump again. IT STILL WORKS. Yeah.

Then water dianmics seems to be my second short coming... If you put two big pumps on, make sure your drain can handle it... I put my 5000l/h and 6800l/h pumps on. All great. Plumbong doesn't leak. My U installed on the drain is nice an silent.
Then the house power thrips again. Oi vay!!

This time the water level kept climbing while I sat admeiring my handy work. Until it reached my lights. I few blue sparks and all power gone.

Luck on m side again. After drying the globes and modifying my drain to allow for the extra water flow I tried the light and all other equioment. All still in good working order :thumbup:

I think the angel on my shoulder has grey hair by now...and might not survive my Marine aquirium learning curve...

Thinking of converting need some answers please

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 11:40am CDT by ziyaadb

HI all

So i am Really tempted to start a fish only tank as i Know that there is no possibility of me going full reef on my current $$$ status, I have some questions that i need answered as i am going to be on a budget here and really cant afford to spend as much as i would like as i will always be on a strict budget. So before i do anything hasty i want all ducks in a row as to decide weather to start saving for the equipment or get the tropheus that the tank was originally purchased for.
so here are the specs of the tank at the moment:

1.8*0.5H*0.45 drilled for overflow has marine sump already total volume is around 500L with sump and i have 2 return pumps that can be used the original haleia 2880L/ph that came with the tank or a 7000LpH pump haleia as well, heater i have as well just need to pick that up,I have a friend who would be able to sort me out with RO water,
according to my knowledge what i would need to buy would be:
Live rock (what is the minimum amount that i can buy remember im on a strict budget here)
skimmer - what brand type ect(Second hand would be fine with me Remember the budget)
water movement equipment (can i use big power heads i know people are gona say get seios but remember the budget)
Lights (would t8 be ok as i have about 4 ballast and just need ok light to see the fish)
Testing equipment
Salt

My questions would be:

How much am i looking at spending to get the equipment above?
How often am i looking at doing water changes i like to keep the fish healthy and water clean?
what impact does load shedding have on the sytem in regards to water parimeters, i know that the bacetria die off in FW tanks what happens in SW tanks?
Can i use play sand in the dsb?
whats the purpose of water movement in the tank(reason for seios)?

I am looking at keeping some brightly coloured hardy fish which are easy to feed
any recommendations so i have have a look at what they look like?

I am not in a major rush to set it up

Thanks

Can I put I lid on the tank to reduce noice?

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 10:36am CDT by Brendan Kelly

Hi.
My tank is really loud. Should I put in more bioballs to reduce sound?
Can I put a lid on it (marine wood) with rubber on edges to reduce sound? My worry here is after my forst day I had to put 4ltr's of water back in through condensation. Is this going to cause trouble if I put a heavy lid on it? Perhaps I should put vents in the lid?

CTRC Meeting 2 Feedback

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 10:12am CDT by Muz

Good day ladies and gents

Thank you for allowing us a few days to put the feedback together for you, we have a write up and loads of pics.. enjoy.

CTRC :: View topic - Meeting 2 17th May.

Regards

Muz

Wanted any crabs for my mantis

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 1:52am CDT by lanzo

hey guys, plz plz plz, if you find any crabs, bad crabs good crabs, in your system.
plz send it to me, i want to feed my mantis some live crab.(nice and nutritious for them)

this thread will stay open for ever, so please guys if you now anyone with crabs:whistling:....no not that crabs:lol:

plz send them to me.

thanks allot guys.

New system up and running

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 11:06pm CDT by Brendan Kelly

Howzit. Just started my system on Sunday. +- 500ltr's including tank. Display about 375ltr's. I had about 10kg's of rock from my Malawi tank (which came from a marine tank), and bought 10kg's of live rock. Actually got 3 little corals that appeared a few hours after putting rocks in. Anyway, Im going to try and upload pics to show. Im needing to buy a few books on marine tanks, but here's what I understand for now. I got water from 2oceans, and Im not going to do any water changes for about a month, except putting a few littles of fresh water in daily due to evaporation. My tank needs to cycle, so Im leaving it as is for about a month. My skimmer is running and a turn the lights on for about 5 hours each evening. In about 3-4 weeks Im going to buy really expensive good live rock, +- 10 more kg's, and perhaps another 5kg's of average rock. When and what do I need to start testing for over the next few weeks. Ive tested the salinity and its good. Ive bought Nitrate and Nitrite testing kits, but havent tested anything yet. When should I start testing and whats the most NB? How soon can I add a few hemits, and what should I look for? Also, what shrimps can a get and when? Only after that will I look at getting fish, perhaps in 4 - 6weeks depending on how the tank settles. All advise will be helpful. What is that little coral and will it die dduring the cycle? all advise will be helpful!!

the

Box fish yes or no?

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 11:00pm CDT by mike Bushie

does anyone keep this fish are they hard to keep?
what are the parameters for this fish?

Something feeshi perhaps?

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 9:00pm CDT by robski

On inspection of my tank now, I have discovered tiny white things drifting around my tank, and then I saw some of these tiny white things chilling on the glass, MOVING!

Haha, what are these things?

Newby

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 8:52pm CDT by IvanCross

Hi All!

Just a quick introduction post. I don't have a tank yet - but plan on starting very soon with the help of some experienced friends. I am in the process of shopping around for an approx 1.5 x 60 x 60 tank and would appreciate any advice about where to get quotes from, who to avoid, who to favour etc.

Ivan

Visit to Durbs

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 8:07pm CDT by Franske

Hi guys is there anyone who can help me with a list of nice goodies you can get out of the rockpools at margate or durban and where to look,and if there is any nice fish you could catch there in the rockpools or liverock?

Green hair algea

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 7:23pm CDT by Pete

Hi all have just noticed some green hair algea growing on some of my rocks. How can I stop this before it gets out of hand dont want to pack the rock work out again the wife will kill me if I mess anymore water on her carpets.Have not changed feeding habits Phos between 0 and 0.25 nitrates on 20 what else you need to know just ask

Still in the setting up phase

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 4:34pm CDT by theoholder

Hi everyone, I have been reading and reading and reading... about the hobby and decided to start my first marine aquarium. I must say all of you here on MASA has helped me alot in setting up my aquarium.

I am using all of sera's products for my aquarium.
Now the question I have is: I bought the sera buff for marine aquariums, when I add this to the water and do a PH test after about 2 hours, the alkiny tests in the normal zone, but the PH drops from 8.4 to 7.4. Is this normal to happen, cause to me a sudden drop of that extend cannot be good.

Looking for Cheato in JHB

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 4:20pm CDT by theoholder

Hi everyone, I am new to MASA. Just started the hobby recently, you have helped me alot in setting up my marine tank.
I am looking for Cheato in the JHB. If anyone knows where I can buy, please let me know.

Will it eat my fish?

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 4:17pm CDT by HendrikKotze

I have spotted this crab recently in my tank. It probably came with new live rock 2 weeks ago. Will it eat any of my fish or corals?
Should I feed it (what will it eat) or get rid of it?
I have a yellow tang, 2 common clowns, a cleaner wrasse, a leather coral, a brown star polyps and a purple tip anemone.
I have also spotted this other creature that comes out at night and cleans the algae on the glass. What is it, and is it peacefull?

Moorish Idol. STAY AWAY!

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 3:17pm CDT by Mekaeel

Moorish idols Zanclus cornutus are notorious for being difficult to maintain in captivity. They require enormous tanks, often exceeding 200 gal (757 l), are voracious eaters, and are infamous for becoming incredibly destructive. Their captive survival rate is very low, most do not survive for a full year. Most that live past this mark typically die shortly thereafter. It is not recommended that any aquarist attempt to keep this species, because it is considered cruel by many and is nearly impossible (see diet). To avoid these shortfalls, some aquarists prefer to keep substitute species that look very similar to the Moorish Idol.

How deep should substrate be?

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 3:10pm CDT by matt165

Bought some Aragonite. How deep should I make my substrate in my nano?

Hosting clowns

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 3:09pm CDT by mike Bushie

Howzit guys.
i am looking at getting two clowns but i am worried about my torch coral. Matt"s have already started to host his torch and the coral is not as happy as it normally is.
I know you can't determine what your clowns will eventually host but i want to give them options.
I don't want to go the anemone root so what is a cool ( good looking) :) coral that will be happy with clowns hosting it?
ps been reading up and some guys have clowns hosting hammer coral good or bad idea?

Proper Acclimation

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 2:56pm CDT by Mekaeel

Hey guys,figured this article might help our newbies.
ACCLIMATION METHODS

Proper acclimation actually helps reduce the stress animals face after relocation. In fact, the acclimation procedure itself is fairly simplealthough it does vary slightly for different species of animals. Sensitive fish, corals and invertebrates, such as snails, crabs and shrimp take longer to acclimate than hardier fish, corals and inverts.

Temperature
The temperature inside the package or bag your livestock arrives in is undoubtedly different than the temperature inside your aquarium. Properly acclimating livestock helps to equalize the different water temperatures and can significantly reduce the stress on your new animal(s).

Salinity
It is also likely the water inside the bag/package your new livestock arrived in has a different salinity than the water inside your aquarium. Beware: sudden changes in salinity can shock fish and inverts and may leave them more susceptible to infection and/or disease.

Float Method
This method is most useful for most fish and invertebrates:

Switch off the quarantine tank or aquarium lighting and dim the lights in room.
Open the box and inspect the bags to ensure that all animals have arrived in good health and that all the bags have arrived intact.
Float the bags in aquarium for 20-25 minutes to allow the temperature to equilibrate. DO NOT open bag at this time.
Open the bags and roll down the edges 1-2 inches to make the bag stable, and to keep it afloat in the tank. You may also use a clip or a clothespin to anchor the bag firmly against the edge of the aquarium.
Add a quarter cup of aquarium water to the shipping bag. Make sure to keep water from the bag from spilling over into the aquarium. If you need to remove some of the water from the bag to aid in keeping the bag afloat you may do so. Do not dump the water from the bag into the tank; dump it into a bucket or down the drain.
Repeat Step 5 every 3-7 minutes until the bag is full of water. This should take about 30-45 minutes.
Discard half of the water and continue to repeat step 5 until the bag is full once again. This should take another 30-45 minutes.
Compare the salinity of the water in the bag to the water in the tank. If they are the same proceed to step 9. If they are different repeat step 5 until the salt levels are the same.
Remove the animal from bag and place them into the aquarium or quarantine tank (preferable). For hardy fish and motile invertebrates, use a soft net to do so. For tangs, or other sensitive animals, capture them with a cup, pouring as little of the bags water into your tank as possible. For sessile invertebrates, such as corals or anemones, you may remove them by hand. Be sure to use clean, sterile, and powder-free gloves.
Discard the remaining water.

Drip Method
This is the most desirable method to acclimate sensitive animals to the aquarium but can be used for any fish, coral or invertebrate (many people use this method for acclimating all their livestock). It should be noted that unless you are sure that the water contained in each bag is from the same source you will want a separate holding container for each bag (you can run multiple drip lines to each container). Also if you are going to be using this method, please be present during the entire procedure to prevent spillage.

Follow steps 1-3 from the Float Method above.
Remove the bags from the water and open them. Gently pour the specimen into a holding container. Sterile plastic tubs or buckets work well in this application.
Use airline tubing or the Pisces Pro Acclimator to set up a siphon from your main tank to the holding container . If you are using airline tubing you can tie a knot in the line to control the flow (see step 5 for flow rate).

Start siphon by sucking on the free end of the airline tubing, or by forcing water into the tube using any existing pump or powerhead in the aquarium.
Adjust flow to 1-3 drips/second. This will depend on water volume. You want the water volume to double in about 45-60 minutes.
Once the volume has doubled, discard half of the containers water, and resume dripping for another 45-60 minutes or until the water volume doubles once again.
Compare the salt levels in the container to the tank and if they are the same go on to step 8. If they are different go back and repeat step 6 until the salt levels are the same. You may also repeat step 6 for extra sensitive animals.
Remove the animal from container and place them into the aquarium or quarantine tank. For motile invertebrates, use a net to do so. For sessile invertebrates, such as corals or anemones, you may remove them by hand. Be sure to use clean, sterile, and powder-free gloves.
Discard the remaining water.

Other Tips

Take your time and be patient.
Keep plenty of new salt water on hand to maintain your water level in your quarantine tank or aquarium during the acclimation process.
If any animal is without water, introduce it immediately into the quarantine tank or aquarium. Many invertebrates are inter-tidal, and are accustomed to periods of little to no water.
If an animal arrives and looks dead, acclimate it anyway. Many animals will make a quick and dramatic recovery when properly acclimated.

Wanted Regal Angel

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 1:06pm CDT by Mekaeel

hey crew,im looking for a feeding Regal Angel.Anyone wanting to get rid of theirs or know of someone who has, please pm me.
cool

Seachem stability and kent phos sponge

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 12:20pm CDT by lanzo

hey guys i'm gatvol for cyano
i want to get me some seachem stability and kent phos sponge.
Does any sponsors have this?(i asked ferdie and he says no)
i need to get some at a cheap price(if i can)

What do you feed your nenny?

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 10:39am CDT by HenkHugo

Hey guys,

I am interested to see what you feed your nenny....

mmmm.... poll didnt make it into the post :P

I feed mine shrimps that i bought at P'nP....

Newbie Sump Setup Questions

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 9:43am CDT by Neil H

Hi Gurus of Marine Tanks,

As with many of the members of this forum, I begun with tropical fish but have recently bought my first marine tank, and before setting things up further, I would like your opinion on my planned setup.

The dimensions of the tank are 120cm by 60cm by 75cm (LWH)

I intend having a reef system, and I would like your comments on my sump design. The sump will be setup in a 3 foot tank below the display tank. When I purchased the tank, it came with a new reeftec TS2 protein Skimmer, this will go in the first sump compartment (with the heater). The next compartment is designed to reduce flow over the DSB which is compartment 3 , compartment 4 is the return water pump chamber.

Chamber 3 will also house the refugium.

So some questions

How many heaters will I require for this size tank? It is situated in the lounge and receives no direct sunlight.

For a beginner, this system seems rather complicated, but I suspect is too simple in the eyes of some of the members of this forum. If I wanted to add things like a calcium reactor etc in the future should my coral population grow to significant proportions, what changes should I make to the design now to be able to make those changes in the future, one of my thoughts was to enlarge the return water chamber ???? comments please.

At this stage I will leave it to those questions, questions on circulation, lighting and livestock will follow as I get my head around the sump design.

Below is my current sump design. (thats if I get the picture uploaded correctly)

cheers

N

Craigg's UK 400 gallons Tank

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 1:04am CDT by craigg

Well where to start, I suppose I could start from the beginning but in my case that is a long time ago and an adventure to say the least.

Basically to cut a long story VERY short this is the second incarnation of the same tank.

This also being my 3rd tank, going through the usual jumps from 4ft to 7ft. The 7ft was going great until a leak made my cabinet "blow"due to being made out of chipboard, anywaythis tank was replaced via Insurance to the current tank of 7.5ft * 3ft deep x 2.5ft high and now on a custom made 2inch box section steel powder coated frame.

This new tank ran great for a whole year until this was needed:-

The picture does not show me but my good friends Mark (owner of one of the best LFS's in the UK) and Paul his Store Manager. Mark built this tank that he is currently smashing up and the new one which is the current tank..Why you may ask.....

Well my 3 year old (at the time) son threw a set up pliers at the tank and created a very small "stone" chip, a stonechip I could not live with, with 3 young kids in the house....the tank was basically a disaster wating to happen, a disaster that was imminent not likely.

So via yet another hefty insurance payout, the tank had to be stripped (not going into that disaster and loss of tank life) and rebuilt.

So it went through these stages:-

Before any corals added but still the first incarnation

The frame to create the above built in look.

Oh and the tank / sump and stand prior to any frame being constructed.

To this, notice the difference....nope me neither, dont you just hate it when a rebuild gives you no perceived benefit!!!

Lots lots more to follow...please try to avoid posting in his thread for a few days to give me time to complete a write a nice start of thread lol.

Macro algae

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 12:40am CDT by lanzo

here is some of the macro algae growing in my tank

Spageti worm?

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 12:32am CDT by lanzo

hey guys saw this in my mantis tank this afternoon
is this a spagetti worm, it can walk really fast

House sale.

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 10:59pm CDT by Shogan

Location : PMB
Me and the girlfriend are moving overseas, so there are some odds and ends we would like to sell off.

1. Pleather lounge suite - 2 Seater, plus 2 x single seaters. Dark navy blue in colour. Can be seen in photo below. R800.00
2. Computer stand also in photo below. R200.00
3. Coolermaster CM690 windowed black ATX case, water cooling ready. 3 months old, R600.00
4. Teac digital photo frame. 7" display. Still has the protective film over LCD. Hardly used. 4 months old. Plays jpegs, movies, MP3, runs some kind of embedded linux. SD and USB slots. R600.00
5. Samsung WA80U3 top loading washing machine. 8.3 KG load. 4 Months old, all receipts etc included. White in colour. Perfect condition. R1300.00
6. Samsung 54cm colour TV. (Plano model with flat screen). About 1.5 years old. R750.00.
7. Chaintech Geforce 8800GT 512MB graphics card. R2100.00. 4 Months old. Warranty with Mach4 Distributors, Durban.
8. Toyota Conquest (Says tazz on side though?) 1996, 158 000km's. From Warmbaths, very dry area, so no rust at all. 4 Gears, Silver in colour Interior nice and clean, outside nice and clean, and the engine is VERY clean. Gearlock + Frontloading CD player. Girlfriends car - she wants R25 000.00 for it.

Couches, computer stand, tv, and case pictured below.

I will take some photos of any items if anyone shows interest.

Cheers,
Sean

shogan85@gmail.com
082 445 6370

3 foot tank plus larger stand and some accessories

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 10:40pm CDT by Shogan

Hey guys, I am going to be moving off to the UK, and have the following for sale soonish - i.e near the end of the week, or early next week.

First of all I need to see how much I can get for these items. I am not too clued up with tanks etc, and only have basic ideas as to what they are worth. I am currently using this setup as a fresh water aquarium, but anyway, I'm sure someone could find some use for these items.

Sorry photo isn't great quality.

1. 3 Foot tank, 380mm high, 330mm deep. Has a black plastic cover.
2. Pump - Resun internal power filter SP-2500L. 1400 liters per hour, very silent. Very overkill for this tank too I know! Price : R140.00 Only about 4 months old.
3. Red spectrum "plant enhancing" aquarium light (Just short of the tank's length). Has a red ambience to the light. Has the power unit too. (It's not the starter type power brick thing, just a direct connection to the mains).
4. 1 x albino coloured sychlid. If you don't want him with the tank, then I'm sure the toilet would. (Just kidding!!! :P) I'll take him to the pet shop to keep if he doesn't get a home.
5. Tubular steel fish tank stand. 100cm x 65cm x 50cm (Larger than the tank). It is very sturdy - 28mm tubular steel, and coated with hammerite, but could do with a new coat soon. Has cross supports too.
6. 300w heater unit. Never used, as it hasn't got cold enough yet. Also 4 months old, but has been sitting in the tank.

Let me know what offers you guys have, and I will consider :) Some of the items, I have already priced.

Location is PMB.

Thanks,

What is the extra leg ?

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 9:57pm CDT by Warr7207

Mt porcelain crab seems to have 2 extra legs, which he uses like body-wipers

Any idea what this is ? Sorry difficult to take a decent shot.

Kalk wasser

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 9:34pm CDT by Ocean

Please help me here i know what kalk was does but the thing i dont know is when you add it to the Dripping divice and u shack it, it goes cloudy then sits on the bottom how does that work?Is the CA already in water? Doyou need to keep it moving?

Light Reflectors

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 9:27pm CDT by tinusb

Hi all,

I was just wondering - why haven't anybody used mirrors as reflective media for lights in an aquarium??

Just pondering...

T :thumbup:

Wats up

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 9:09pm CDT by asmal

Hi to everybody

Closed Loop System

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 8:19pm CDT by Brucemg

Hi All

A topic of interest, Im still a junior in reefing and need to find outa little more how do all the reefers out there feel about CLS, yes or no.
What are the pros and cons regarding CLS, is it pratical or is power heads the answer.
Photos of reefers who do have CLS so as to see the diversity of designs etc.;)

Coraline algae on my chaetomorpha?

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 7:06pm CDT by Tobes

There are coraline algae growing on my ball of chaetomorpha!!!

Is this normal?

Cheers:wave2:

Nice jokes

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 5:32pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

A guy goes to the supermarket and notices an attractive woman waving at him. She says hello.

He's rather taken aback because he can't place where he knows her from. So he says, "Do you know me?"

To which she replies, "I think you're the father of one of my kids."

Now his mind travels back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says,
"My God ! are you the stripper from my bachelor party that i made love to on the pool table with all my buddies watching while your partner whipped my backside with wet celery???"

She looks into his eyes and says calmly,

"No, I'm your son's teacher

Drilling acrylic tank.. help?

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 4:35pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys, i'm drilling my acrylic tank to create an overflow,
just wandering what the best way is to attach the pvc piping to the tank after drilling?
i know acrylic is a type of plastic, so could i PVC weld it to the tank or should i just use the normal marine silicon?
superglue??

any other ideas are welcome!!
thanx!

Tank for sale 300l

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 11:44am CDT by wildbunny

1: 2x t5 lights one white and one blue
2: tank+atand+sump
3: 1000l needel skimmer
4: 2x clown fish
5: 1x cleaner shrimp
6: 1x blue goby
7: 2x hermit crabs
8: 2x turbo snails
9: 1x sea star
10: 1x spiked black sea urchen
11: 18 kg live rock

includes furter heater, wave maker pumps, live shrimp breader, arganite, crushed coral and some corals.
All for R5000 not negotiable and not selling seprate.

110l nano reef

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 10:26am CDT by nic3322

hi guys yesterday i bought a aqua h20 af 62 nano and stand i got a extra 700l pump for it i want to upgrade lights is this possible i have about 10kg live rock what fish and coral can i put in this tank i would like to put in a nenny and a mated pair of black percs.what else can i put in

4FT L started at last

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 9:18am CDT by lappiesreef

At last I have started my 4FT L shape tank up.

The tank ran with salt water for 2 days and on Saturday I added the live rock I got from Gali. Awesome stuff. Thanks Gali.

I added 25 l of old tank water from my nano to the tank to get the cycle going.
I;m sure the LR for Gali will help as well. Right? I also added 20 kg of live sand from Likesfish (or used to belive, but was kept in water) to the tank.

My first question is this:
My Nano is extremely over stocked and I would like to move everythign to the big tank.
I calculated the water volume to be between 460-500l.
If I move everything including the filtermedia and tank water to the big one, will it be safe?

I tested the water and all is zero except Nitrate at <10.

Or should I wait a few weeks to allow the DSB and bigger filters to cycle?

The potato test

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 9:04am CDT by lappiesreef

Hey Guys

After chatting to 459b in the aberlite thread I decided to test one of my additives that is supposed to have iodine in it for Iodine.

If you add iodine to a potato, the iodine and starch reacts to give a blue/purple colour.

I tried with a red sea product called Ca plus 3. It is a calcuim additive plus iodine,strontium and molybnium.

The test came up negative. There was no reactivity with the startch at all.

It could be that the level of iodine in the porduct is so low that you can't test it this way, but is it effective then?

Can a few guys please do the same test on one of the iodine additives so we can see if all the products have such low levels of iodine in?

Fishroom

Posted: May 19th, 2008, 8:32am CDT by HenkHugo

Hey guys!

Ysterday my fishroom equipment got delivered. man its so cool! i have 6X 1.2M tanks and 6X 50X50X50 cubes (125L). I want to setup 2 of the 1.2s and 2 of the cubes as holding tanks for the big tank i am setting up. Would i need to run skimmers on these or will sponge filters be ok?

Soft coral id plz

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 12:57am CDT by lanzo

hey guys this softie is in my mantis tank, going to upgrade light on the tank
whould love to know what it is, LFS told me sinularia, but i don't think so

Where can I get Joe's juice in JHB?

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 12:47am CDT by matt165

Got a few aiptasia sprout up in my nano. Wanna nuke these buggers as I see 'em.

Where can I get Joe's juice in SA?

Hello from the UK

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 11:33pm CDT by craigg

Hello.

My name is Craig, I'm a mod on a UK based forum

I currently run a 7.5ft Ref Tank, with 2 many fish and an ever increasing number of both SPS and LPS.

My LPS is my pation at the moment, Trachy's and Acans being the number one current obsession.

Any way here is some pics of my tank, I will also start tank thread. (tried posting pics but not allowed yet)

Please also check out my web site for hundreds and hundreds of pics etc.

Craig

Replace half of my substrate with Aragonite?

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 10:37pm CDT by matt165

I'm currently using extremely fine playsand as my substrate. I love the look of this, but can't help but wonder if i'd be better off with Aragonite (for its buffering capacity).

I've included a poll as not sure if I should leave it as is, remove half and top up with aragonite, or remove all and replace completely with aragonite.

Will my clowns host my torch coral to death?

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 10:00pm CDT by matt165

Just got a BEAUTIFUL torch coral from Midasblenny, and it took my clowns nearly a week to find it. But anyway they're hosting in it right now, and i've noticed its not as inflated as usual.

Will they host it to death? What should I do? I don't want to lose either :(

Zoanthid Help Please

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 9:07pm CDT by Reneshen

Hi Guys

I have a new system running for 3 months. I have both fish and coral.

The tank is 120l I also have a DSB with a protien skimmer.

The temp of the tank is 27dc and the Nitrites and Nitrates are 0. i dont have any other testers. i also do a 10% water change every 2 weeks

All my corals are doing well but the Zoa's.

My first set of Zoas lasted for a week then closed and never opened a month ago, at first i thought it could be due to my tank being new. I then purchased a second set of Zoanthid 10 days ago, they opened perfecty for a week and are now closed for 3 days.

Please tell me there is some hope that they will open up again.

I am mourning...

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 7:54pm CDT by Tobes

My cleaner shrimp died, had him for over a year. He was 75mm(3 inches) long - I know they're not expensive, but he was my friend...
Fish in the system for quite some time now: cleaner wrasse, sixline wrasse, fire goby, midas blenny, algae blenny, coral beauty, sailfin tang, tile fish, common clown, false grammar and 6 humbugs(hope it's right). Water parameters are excellent and temp constant at 26deg.

He looked fine the previous day and still took a piece of prawn from my fingers. What could've caused this? :(

Huge Wave Maker

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 7:46pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

I am looking for wavemakers. At least 02 of them, but, I have the Resun 15000lt wavers, and am looking for something much shorter as well as much wider.

The "outlet" must be much wider to be able to "disturb/turn" more water at once and it must be much shorter in lenght to minimise visibility inside the tank.

Can you buy something like that and if you can, where??

or

Can someone built something like that???

LA shop tour - sort of...

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 4:42pm CDT by Curvball

I've just returned from a quick 2 weeks in Los Angeles:cool: - and it was awesome!

My friend has an awesome little 50g system which I helped him connect to a frag tank etc. We were supposed to redo the aquascaping but we didn't get a chance.

He took me on a quick shop tour, well, we only went to 2 shops, but each was on each side of LA. Enough with the talk, here are the photos...

Vivid
This place blew my mind, I felt as if I was inside the 'internet' with the amazing collection of corals they had!

Ricordia and zoo tank

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 3:53pm CDT by matt165

:yes:

After a few months

Original thread: Finnex 30gl arrived - Saltwaterfish.com Message Boards

Finger leather pics needed

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 3:02pm CDT by Warr7207

please post any pics of finger leather corals - (Lobophytum) for Wiki article

Enjoy these... I am now tankless, just have memories left.

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 11:03am CDT by LikesFish

Feather duster worm @ night
[www.flickr.com]

Sleeping Foxface @ night
[www.flickr.com]

Angry Comet @ night
[www.flickr.com]

Two spent DI-resin beads
[www.flickr.com]

Sean's Concrete tank Pics only

Posted: May 18th, 2008, 9:53am CDT by sean_koekemoer

So I was really bored, and decided to copy all the pics in my thread and put them all in one thread to make it easier for me to go back and check out the progress, as I really have to many pics on my pc to search amongst them all.

This is really not for comments as it is just easier to find pics without turning pages due to comments, so please mods, try and help to keep the text outta this thread.....

First Equipment:

Reef Octopus with Needle wheel pumps

And the Kalkwasser

Unusual Fish

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 5:49am CDT by Warr7207

I think Obi-Wan has this fish for his avatar

Weird little critter, The tank it comes from is insanely BIG - 850g (3200L)

Source: Oregonreef.com

IP Locator

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 5:19am CDT by Warr7207

I noticed we have a new feature at the bottom of the home page. It shows where people are connecting to MASA from.

Check out the connection from Siberia :lol:

Algae problem

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 2:27am CDT by fatalerror

hey everyone. i just recently moved my aquarium tank and after the first couple of weeks hairy green algae has covered everything. so i checked phosphate n there isnt any, no nitrate, nitrite n 0.01 ammonia.. no idea wat to do???? please help.

Hi to all

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 2:20am CDT by fatalerror

hey everyone.

Giant Clam & Cleaner Shrimps

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 1:18am CDT by Warr7207

I acquired a giant calm today. Really nice species.

Acclimatised over 5 hours.

I noticed tonight that my cleaner shrimps are all over the clam. Looks like they are picking away at the clam.

Is this something to be concerned about ?

Overflow into sump

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 11:49pm CDT by snobee

Hi there,
Well after using various other filters I have decided to build a sump for my tank. I would like the water leading to the sump to overflow in some way, and not have to be pumped into the sump. The glass is about 9mm thick, and I have no idea if there is a way to cut the glass near the top so as to add a groove for water to overflow. If there is a way or some other option, I would really like to know, or is this suicide on an existing tank?

Thanks,
Kev.

Quinton's 130 litre Boyu Nano

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 10:29pm CDT by Quinton

Umm, I thought I'd started a thread about this tank, but apparently not. Must have been on "the other side". Here goes... Enjoy...

This is in roughly chronological order, starting around Nov 2007.

Another new creature spotted in tank - looks like a slug

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 9:10pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys,
Spotted this oke just now....
I've removed it, is currently in a bucket with water. Just want to know if this is reef safe or not...

Raven's tank

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 7:58pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys,
here are some pics of my tank...Not much, but it is my pride.;)

Any way to get zoo's off frag plug?

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 6:49pm CDT by matt165

Got some cool zoo's growing on a huge bulbous frag plug. Looks terrible in my nano. Is there any way to safely remove them so I can glue 'em to my liverock??

Or do I just get a sharp knife and scrape 'em off?

4 foot tank

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 6:35pm CDT by iz1b1zi

Hi guys, i have a 4 foot tank with stand, comes with a sump, external overflow, 2x jebo skimmers, heater, jebo aluminium light unit, Aquamedic carbon reactor and nitrate reducer (2 in 1), Crushed coral sand and everything you need to keep marine fish. perfect as a beginner tank.

Looking for R2000. If you interested pm me and ill arrange pictures.

Will ship at buyers expense.

Some sort of hard coral

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 6:12pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys - what is this, how to take care off?
It is a hard coral - sorry for the bad quality...

Some sort of soft coral

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 6:08pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys - any ideas what this is - what does it eat, and how to take care off?

Lanzo - this is how acropora's polyps look like

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 3:12pm CDT by LikesFish

(Not fully extended yet)

Staff Wanted

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 12:37pm CDT by Warr7207

My company is always looking for new staff.

At present I have the following existing and new positions available.

PM me if interested

Technical/Installation manager
Specialist Product manager (Grandview Projection Screens - www.grandview.co.za)
Installation Team leader
In-house sales person to run our on-line shop (AVShop - Online shop for all your Audio - Video Requirements) and process orders and keep website updated etc.

Company Info: www.avc.co.za

Zoa's care...

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 11:12am CDT by Raven

Hi guys, can you please give some tips regarding caring for Zoa's?
Like - feeding them, lights required, and what possible predators one must be on the lookout for.
For example i've noted that i have some bristle worms in the tank - should i be wary of these?

Sea slug got stuck in pump...

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 10:16am CDT by Raven

Hi guys,
My yellow sea slug got stuck in one of my powerheads grills....
I've tried to remove it without using any force, but no luck on that...
I'm not sure if it's still alive - I sure hope so...
I've switched of the pump, and lights - hopefully he will be able to get himself out of this mess (if he is still alive).

Any ideas - should i leave him there, or must i try to get him out?

Snowstorm

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 9:07am CDT by Mekaeel

Hey guys,woke up this morning and found my tank to be completley white.
my float switch got jamed and chucked about 30l of RO in via my kalk stirrer.
PH sitting at 9.30.havent tested Ca and alk as yet.
busy doing water changes at the moment,really worried :(

Salmon season canceled

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 6:19am CDT by HenkHugo

Salmon season canceled 1:55
Salmon fishing is banned for the entire West Coast for the first time ever.

I just saw this video on the CNN website... its scary! the ocean is in a shocking state! only 90 000 salmon went back upriver to spawn last year, compaired to 800 000 in 2001....

I'll try and find more text on this

Apologies for being a bit MIA

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 2:45am CDT by sihaya

I'm sorry for being a bit scarse lately... I've been really busy trying to keep up with WWM postings while BobF is in Eygpt/Red Sea. The daily routine for WWM (the dailies page) is a lot more work than you might think! Hopefully Bob will have sufficient internet access again soon and I'll be "free" again... :1: Oh, but then it's off to IMAC. I promise I'll take pics this time! :)

GMAA June 2008 Meeting at Adriaan

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 10:48pm CDT by Carl

Gauteng Reefers

Adriaan kindly invites all reefers to gather at his place from 11h00 to 13h00 on Sunday the 1st June 2008.

Reefers, this is most probable the top SPS tank in South Africa an a real inspiration and dream of many Reefers.

Reefers please bring a piece of Boerewors, your own refreshments and a camping chair. Adriaan will supply fire to braai on.

Regards

Carl

Waterboy R.O unit

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 9:31pm CDT by Ferdie Vorster

Hi guys

I bought myself one of The Waterboy special edition R.O units at IMACSA and I want to get rid of my old one. It's also a Waterboy one with the extra resin filter. I've replaced the sidement and the carbon filter. The TDS is currently on 1. I want R700 bucks for it, if you want a new membrane I will replace it and sell the unit for R1000

T5's 39w with ballast

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 8:03pm CDT by geoffrey

hey guys im looking for a 39w actanic t5 with ballast. please if anyone has give a shout...

Cool tank

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 3:18pm CDT by nic3322

Board Message

Clown Fry

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 12:51pm CDT by kiwikid_1

Well on Tuesday evening I called around to a fellow reefer's place and picked up a tile with clown eggs on it (a lot had hatched during the day Neutral ) never let the eggs leave the water while transferring from her tank to a smallish bucket.

Got them home to a small 20ltr glass tank filled with water from my tank and left to heat to approx 26 deg C for 24 hrs and with a small air pump (NO stone) pumping away into it.
Not a lot happened Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning much was the same :Rolling Eyes: , but when I go in from work :Very Happy: I had 2....YES 2 fry Cool by last night late there was 4 and when I got up this morning all apart from maybe 1 or 2 had hatched :Hail:
This evening I've feed the tank with rotifers (sp) and added a bit of Phytoplankton.
I had...or tried to have a count and I guess there might be 20 fry in there so we'll see how it goes over the next few days to see if they will make it

Am skimemrs for sale

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 11:50am CDT by iz1b1zi

Hi guys, i have 2 Aquamedic Multi Turboflotor skimmers for sale. Both come with Ph 2500 pumps and both still top notch.

Can be used internally or as an external hang on skimmer.

R900 each

(will ship at buyers expense)

Coco Worm for sale!

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 9:07am CDT by matt165

Selling my Coco worm, Want to put my new torch in his place. R250 (Cost R350 new) He's a really healthy specimen, grown about 3cm since I bought him ;)

and a pic of him in my old nano:

JHB only, first come first served. I'm out till lunchtime so can't check PM's yet so please just post on this thread.

:)

Poor mans moorish idol

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 7:42am CDT by Rax123

looking for banner fish/coachman, has anyone seen any at the LFS in the Durban area?Thanx

Pretty nice tank this...

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 2:26am CDT by Singularity

Tank of the Month - February 2006 - Reefkeeping.com

My nano 130L Boyu

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 12:31am CDT by robski

Curing Live Rock

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 10:09pm CDT by Andreas

Hi guys

I was wondering whether you could use normal tap water to cure rock and is it ok if no skimmer is used?

The reason for asking is that I have some rock that I want to put in a 250l drum and filling it with NSW is going to be a hassle?

New Nano? Want to know what fish are suitable for your tank??

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 9:45pm CDT by matt165

I think a large problem many people have when buying their nano is they don't know what to stock it with. Now that relatively "cheap" nano tanks are available, many more people are getting into this great hobby and I found it was quite hard knowing what is good and what is not suitable for smaller sized tanks.

I found an extensive forum post on Reefs.org that includes pictures and information of different species of fish. I think it will be really helpful for new reefers to learn and help them build a successful nano tank!

Here's the first list:
Angels, Anthias, Basslets, Bass, Clownfish, Dottybacks, Wrasses, Hawkfish, Blennies, Cardinals, Damsels

Second list of fish:
Dartfishes, Jawfishes, Gobies, Pipefish, Moray Eels, Frogfishes, Scorpionfishes, Clingfishes, and fish unsuitable for nanos

It's a really informative read and I think if most new reefers could see things like this then they would be more successful with their livestock!

Just a small extract from the article:

"The adult size of any nano candidate should be carefully considered. Although thumbnail sized juveniles of large fish like these Paracanthurus hepatus will fit in a nano, they will quickly outgrow it. Juveniles this small ship and adapt poorly to captivity as well." - Matt (site admin on Reefs.org)

Your Fav Web Video`s

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 8:49pm CDT by Singularity

ok i`ll start

Fluidized bed filter

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 8:19pm CDT by lindsay pollard

Hi all
Can anyone please tell me where i can get some substrate for a fluidized bed filter.

IT guys

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 8:12pm CDT by viper357

Rory in his element :p

Whats up with ZeoVit

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 7:40pm CDT by gaboon

People talk like its the miracle marine product. Geez, think I just came up with a great name for a new product:)

Anyways, whats so great about it?

The Korallen-Zutch skimmer

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 4:02pm CDT by Mekaeel

hey crew anyone here is SA using one of these skimmers?

Wood airstone

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 2:56pm CDT by 459b

Does anyone know where i can get hold of a Wooden airstone?

PH Meter

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 2:31pm CDT by Pete

Hi all am urgently looking for a hand held pocket ph meter does anybody know where I can get one.

New Tank

Posted: May 15th, 2008, 2:28pm CDT by Pierre Venter

Hi guys

Thanks for a great site and all the handy tips on the forums.

My tank is 2.5 months old. It is a 200l display and +-50l sump with skimmer, heater, etc. I've invested in quite a bit of live rock. (3 big rocks).

It cycled for 1.5 months before I added any livestock. I first started with a box shrimp, snail and Hermit Crab. I went on holiday for 10 days and luckily all of them survived. My tank had plenty of algae when I returned as expected and my water reading was perfect on my return. (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 25 mg). Then I bought 2 clown fishes (Nemo's for the children), yellow tail damsel, and camel back shrimp. They are all very happy in the tank and feeding well.

A week and a half ago I bought a Yellow Tang knowing that I am taking a risk as my tank is probably over stocked (any comments?). I put it in my quarantine tank first for a week but looked fine. It has been in my display tank for almost a week now and looks very happy and feeding well.

My only worry is that my NO3 (Nitrate) is pushing towards 50 Mg/l. I have done a 15% water change yesterday. Any comments or help to keep the Nitrate under control. My
Ammonium and Nitrite are both still 0.

I must say, I am totally addicted to this hobby and can't wait to get home from work to look after my tank.

I am looking forward hearing your comments.

:biggrin:

Noise Reduction

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 2:22am CDT by Warr7207

Any ideas on noise reduction

I find the return from my external skimmer and my return pump are the two noisiest items in my setup.

My skimmer outlet flows over LR.

Can you get quieter return pumps ?

Any ideas ?

Sand - composition and effect

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 9:50pm CDT by sunburst

For those using silica (playsand) or beachsand i found this a great explanation of the available substrate choices and the implications

Mods This is an exert from a article from REEFKEEPING.COM written by Tom Murphy. If there should be any copy right implications please delete.

Mr. Sandman, Bring Me a Dream
When using all live sand there is no problem setting up the tank, well, except the cost. Many reefkeepers feel it is a little too steep. The usual solution has been to use base sand (dead sand) and mix it with live sand. This method does work pretty well and, in years gone by, there was Southdown Tropical Play Sand to the rescue. Why Southdown? Well, true live sand is actually a mineral called aragonite. It is composed of calcium carbonate composed mainly of shells and skeletons of dying reef creatures over hundreds or thousands of years. The advantage of aragonite is that it not very dense (specific gravity ~2.94), lacks sharp edges and has buffering capability (can neutralize acids). Since it very abundant and natural to the reef environment, it is perfect as base sand. That was the wonder of Southdown; it was pure aragonite and available at the hardware store for under $10 for a 50 pound bag. It was perfect - and then they stopped marketing it. It is so rare today that threads continually pop up citing appearances that, like UFOs, are never confirmed.
You can still buy aragonite sand but usually only at the local fish store (LFS). It does cost a lot more than Southdown, but it is still true aragonite. Live sand in bags, also sold at the LFS, is something to avoid, however. It is just a bag of dead aragonite, with some nutrient solution added, and a few cultured bacteria. Its artificial from the word GO and lacks all those tiny, sand-shifting organisms so important to a great deep sand bed. It is rarely worth the extra money.
The question arises, If cheap aragonite is not available, can other sands be used? The answer is yes. While not as perfect for your tank as true aragonite, they too can be used as base sand. First off, it must have the proper size, in the range of 0.05-2.0 mm. The majority of the particles should fall in the range of 0.15 through 0.25 mm; about the same size as fine-grained, granular sugar. Some, not all, silica sands can be found that meet these criteria. Usually that will be found in silica play sand or sand box sand. The major drawback is they are denser and have relatively sharp edges. They also offer no buffering ability at all.
Let me talk a bit about buffering. Once oxygen is depleted in the bed, anaerobic organisms appear. These guys process the food they consume mainly by using fermentation - Cheers! Yes, they do make alcohol but carry it out too far. You end up with organic acids, like vinegar, a completed fermentation by-product. Now, pour some vinegar over aragonite and it fizzes like an Alka-Seltzer. This is because the acid, vinegar, reacts with the base, calcium carbonate, and produces a neutral salt - calcium acetate. The net result is that some sand dissolves but the acid is neutralized.
There is a side effect, however. The reaction also produces free carbon dioxide that, dissolved in water, produces a weak acid, carbonic. In a perfect world this would reduce the beds pH below 6.5 where the carbonic acid reacts with the calcium carbonate in the aragonite forming calcium bicarbonate; a very good thing as it adds calcium into the water column.
Alas, it is not a perfect world. In the days of yore it was claimed that having a deep sand bed was the way to go as it provided all the calcium a tank would need. Sadly, this is not the case and having a deep sand bed is not the road to having a calcium-dominated tank. Only a small extent of the sand bed meets these conditions and the amount of calcium dissolved will nowhere meet the calcium requirements of most hobbyists tank. Yet, Im always the optimist and, even though small in its contributions, every bit helps.
Notwithstanding, silica sand does work. It was once thought that silica sand would release untold amounts of silicates into the water column, thereby fostering a continual diatom outbreak. Sand is a major component of the glass in your tank, and if it dissolved, be prepared for a flood even Noah cant endure! Silica sand is inert.

Inflated plate coral

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 8:12pm CDT by gaboon

Is this normal for plates to inflate like this?

The exposed skeleton is courtesy of my clowns. It's been in my sump for the last few weeks and has fed.

MASA downtime

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 7:31pm CDT by viper357

The MASA database has gone for a ball of shit, we may have to backup from yesterdays backup, please do not make any posts as we will more than likely lose all of todays info.

We are waiting on our hosting company to hopefully resolve the issue.

Any idea what these are?

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 7:24pm CDT by gaboon

Anenome acting weird

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 6:29pm CDT by Ocean

This is the first time my anenome is doing this, what could be the couse?

Wtf, Wtf, Wtf, Wtf, Wtf,

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 5:45pm CDT by Warr7207

I can't go to any threads, I get the following:

No Thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Why can't I upload an image

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 4:08pm CDT by Warr7207

WTF, I keep getting - vBulletin Message Uploaded file is not an image

Does Management Know Who You Are?

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 3:41pm CDT by Warr7207

On walking into the factory, the MD noticed a young guy leaning against the wall, doing nothing. He approached the young man and calmly said to him, how much do you earn?" The young man was quite amazed that he was asked such a personal question, but he replied, none the less, "I earn R2 000.00 a month, Sir. Why?" Without answering, the MD took out his wallet and removed R6 000.00 cash and gave it to the young man and said, "Around here I pay people for working, not for standing around looking pretty! Here is 3 month's salary, now GET OUT and don't come back".

The young man turned around and was quickly out of sight. Noticing a few onlookers, the MD said in a very upset manner, "And that applies for everybody in this company". He approached one of the onlookers and asked him, "Who's the young man that I just fired?"

To which an amazing reply came of, "He was the pizza delivery man, Sir!"

:slayer::slayer::slayer:

Chaeto - How to make it thrive

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 2:55pm CDT by shrimp

Hi, I have a DSB with my ball of chaeto lying on top, lighting consists of 6,400 rated engery saver .. this is on reverse lighting with display, however mine struggle to grow .. end up dull and brittle ... any idea what I can do to correct this (Viper is kind enough to donate some to me so I want to solve before it arrives) .. oh yes, system 4 mths old ... thanks

Shrimp's Cube

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 2:19pm CDT by shrimp

A little background to my cube

Anyone out there ? - New MembersI will be posting updates soon ....

Looking for this clavularia

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 1:58pm CDT by mandarinman

hi there im looking for a couple of polyps of this or similar clavularia in ct area, wow2

South African Postal Stamps

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 1:47pm CDT by viper357

I know very few of us use postal stamps these days, especially me, but I was pleasantly surprised when I visited the Post Office today and saw these stamps....

Palette Surgeon (Paracanthurus hepatus) - 5c
Belongs to the family Acanthuridae and to the subfamily of surgeonfish. Widely distributed in tropical and subtropical seas, they occur from KwaZulu-Natal to the central Pacific and are generally found on reefs in clear water. They reach a length of up to 26 cm.

Blue-banded surgeon (Acanthurus lineatus) - 10c
Belongs to the family Acanthuridae and to the subfamily of surgeonfish. Occurs in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, south to Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. They are territorial and very aggressive and live at the outer edge of reefs exposed to wave action. Their long caudal spine is venomous. They grow to a length of 38 cm.

Royal angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus) - 20c
The royal angelfish belongs to the family Pomacanthidae and to the subspecies of angelfish. This vividly coloured species is widespread in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean, south to Sodwana Bay in KwaZulu-Natal. They are usually seen swimming from one coral crevice to another. Grow to about 25 cm.

Emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) - 30c
Belongs to the family Pomacanthidae and the subfamily of angelfish. They occur in the outer reefs of live coral in the Indo-West Pacific, south to KwaZulu-Natal. Juveniles occasionally reach East London. They grow to about 40 cm.

Blackbar triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) - 40c
Belongs to the family Balistidae and the subfamily of triggerfish. Common in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean, south to Algoa Bay, they are usually found in quiet waters of lagoon sandy areas and parts of seaward reefs. They grow to a length of about 30 cm.

Coral rock cod (Cephalopholis miniata) - 50c
Belongs to the family Serrandidae and the subfamily of rock cods and sea basses. This is a coral reef species which range from the Red Sea to KwaZulu-Natal, and east to the western Pacific. They attain a length of about 40 cm.

Powder blue surgeonfish (Acanthurus leucosternon) - 60c
Belongs to the family Achanthudiae and the subfamily of surgeonfish. Occurs from Sodwana Bay on the eastern KwaZulu-Natal coast to Indonesia. An in-shore species sometimes seen in large aggregations. They grow to about 23 cm.

Threadfin butterfly fish (Chaetodon auriga) - 70c
Belongs to the family Chaetodontiodae and the subfamily of butterfly fish. Occurs in the tropical Indo-Pacific seas from South Africa and the Red Sea to the Hawaiian Islands and Australia; its habitat extends south on the South African coast to Mossel Bay.

Longhorn cowfish (Lactoria cornuta) - 80c
Belongs to the family Ostraciidae and to the subfamily of "boxfish". A beautiful fish with colours varying from green and olive to orange with blue spots. Occurs in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, frequently thrown ashore westward to beyond Mossel Bay. They grow to about 46 cm.

Longnose butterfly fish (Forcipiger flavissimus) - 90c.
Belongs to the family Chaetoddontidae and to the subfamily of butterfly fish. Most widely distributed species of butterfly fish, extending from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal to the Red Sea, across the Indian and tropical Pacific Oceans to Easter Island and Baja, California. They reach a length of about 16 cm

Coral beauty (Centropyge bispinosus) - R1
Belongs to the family Serrandiae and the subfamily of rock cods and sea bass. They occur in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean, south to Sodwana Bay along the eastern KwaZulu-Natal coast, but are rare in Southern African waters.

Test ran skimmer

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 10:47am CDT by shane

hi,
I have a question regarding the skimmer that I have just completed.Will it be help to put this skimmer into a plastic container filled with NSW and test ran it? I have read that when a new skimmer is bought it requires a run in period,if by placing this skimmer into a container with sea water can I get it to start skimming?
Cheers

Hailea HX-6550 pump for sale

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 10:35pm CDT by Rory

Dimensions : 202×156×225mm

Max Head: 4m

Max Flow 5580 LPH

R400

This pump is BRAND NEW still in it's box. Reason for selling is I got it with some other stuff and I don't need it.

Supercharged algae

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 9:04pm CDT by herkie

I replaced my energy saver sump lights with a 150mh light and the algae is blooming. The tank does not really have algae left in it and the phosphate reading is almost nil. What is causing the strong algae growth then?

Help needed

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 8:45pm CDT by pch356

Hi,

These two fish were passed on to me from a friend.

When he bought them from the LFS a couple of months ago, they were not sure what fish these were and guessed that they were from the Damsel family.:whistling:

I am not so sure that this is true ......

When I feed them, they prefer meaty foods.

They are about 35mm long.

The always swim closely together and have teamed up with my Foxface to form a nice closeknit school, always flanking him.:)

Hope someone has an idea. I tried searching the Net but could not find anything.

Cheers

Lr Wanted..

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 6:53pm CDT by robski

Does anyone want to sell me some LR which they want to get rid of?

What carbon is the best for reactors?

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 5:53pm CDT by lanzo

hey guys, i have tried a few kinds of carbon in my reactor, but i don't really know which brand is the best to use.

Some or maybe all will leak phos into tank?
Is a finer partical size(0.2mm-0.5mm) better than a bigger particle size((1cm)?

What is the best carbon for the cheapest price( because one need to change it every 2-3 weeks, and R200-R400 per month for carbon is a bit steep for me)

Hope this will help everyone:thumbup:

Tinkering with my 550!

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 5:46pm CDT by matt165

Thought i'd make a barrier to stop fish jumping into my rear sump. It's not 100% fool proof obviously but better than nothing and fits perfectly! You can also see the filter floss holder I made with egg crate.

Spent a good part of today upgrading my lighting! (somewhat). I find the BOYU came out with quite poor lighting, so I spaced the original PC's out a bit and fitted another 24W PC in the middle. Running off a seperate ballast, fits nice and snug ;)

Upgrade from 48W PC to a total of 72W PC, i'm sure my corals will appreciate it ;)

Only problem was I had to remove my LED moonlights to install the new lights. I'm going to buy a waterproof LED strip and stick it directly on my splashguard when I get the chance ;)

What you guys think?

Tunze Pumps et. al.

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 4:45pm CDT by LikesFish

Guys - what's up? I have posted many times on these forums now asking for those who placed their names next to the items I have for sale, to please come collect it. Everything is available and can be collected.

There is not much time left, then I'll put everything in storage and it is the end of this little chapter. Please - if you want your stuff come pay me and pick it up.

I still have 280kg of sand I want to get rid of, Punk and Crispin are interested but if anyone else wants it let me know as I need to get it out ASAP. I am asking R2.50 per kg - it is almost nothing.

Tank wanted..

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 4:25pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys. i'm looking for a well priced tank to start off a new system.
somewhere between 100L to 250L
i am a student so a good price would be nice to! ;)
if anyone knows of anything worth while pls let me know...
thanx!

Urchin free to good home - pretoria

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 3:39pm CDT by Punk

urchin free to good home - collect in pretoria only

it's causing havoc in my tank - too small tank eish!

cheers
ant
xxxxxxxxx

Help. Will PC lights get too hot for a zip tie?

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 3:39pm CDT by matt165

Bought another 24W PC Light (smallest PC light you get) but cannot get hold of a clip to hold it in place! ;(

These lights don't really get too hot, could I just use a zip-tie as a makeshift clip? Or would it melt the plastic?

Diy skimmer

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 3:15pm CDT by shane

These last 2 pictures are of the collection cup. One from the side and one from the top.

Diy SKIMMER

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 3:12pm CDT by shane

This is the only piece of the skimmer that I did not make, I was lucky enough to have my brother in Australia to sent it to me.As you can see it is a beckett foam nozzle and came complete in this form

DIY skimmer

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 3:09pm CDT by shane

The sprcs are as follows
Total height: 700mm
Reaction chamber height: 495mm
Reaction diameter: 160mm
Inlet/outlet: 32mm
cigarette box for size comparision

DIY skimmer

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 3:06pm CDT by shane

Hi,
This thread is for all those people like myself that enjoy DIY stuff.
This is what I have been busy with for the last couple of months

Skimmer or no skimmer

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 2:20pm CDT by shiks

hey guys...been researching and reading all i can since i recieved all the great advice from the MASA massive and have stopped again with 1 question
Do I use a skimmer or not ???? have bought a Juwel setup from lfs

92x 41 x55, 180l with 2 x 35w T5s

I posed this question to lsf and he very confidently said not needed, reason because Juwel systems filter copes well with the FOWLR and 1 or 2 anemone that i want ....

i have no reason to doubt this advice except for nearly every MASA post i have read abt a basic tanks setup....I picked up as well that i do not have a sump((I can live with that and tank size cos it fits perfectly in the space i have))..SO on my OWN logic...was thinking

Should i use a protein skimmer anyway(side mount) with a pump?? Will it harm the system(FWLR) in anyway ? and lastly any thoughts abt the Weipro side mount skimmers?? anybody using them ???

This aint a serious prob...as tank arriving from jhb this week and am getting it on MON:thumbup: ...but have bought the reflectors,bulbs,aragonite,syth salt mix ..only short of Live rock and RO water....so i figured while i was prep shopping should i look at a Skimmer?.... Any thoughts ?

Sump design

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 1:41pm CDT by Rock pool

I am still quite new to this game and require some advice on Sumps. I have a couple small and very basic 4 foot systems with basic filtration and cannisters at the moment and have recently bought myself a big boy tank and am not sure in which direction to go towards. Could someone please help with some sump ideas and detailed descriptions?

Needed urgently please

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 11:37am CDT by lIghty

hi all,

I'm urgently looking for some Cheato for my sump, as much as I can get, if you can spare I will gr8ly appreciate it, I'm in PMB today (bump Viper) but will be back in pinetown later, thanks friends

Improve flow in my rear chambers - what pump to upgrade to?

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 10:15am CDT by matt165

I want to improve flow from display to rear chambers and through rear chambers. Stock pump is pretty wimpy.

What flowrate should I look to add? Already got 5000l/h in the display so a bit worried i'll be adding too much?

54w Dual fitting (not sold)

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 9:03am CDT by trad

54w Dual Fitting
Unit for sale Jhb only. R400

Skimmer Help,Urgent

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 10:24pm CDT by Franske

Guys I adjusted the height of my skimmer a bit and now it overskims completely,is this normal to happen after changes and it skims very uneaven,please help

The best synthetic salt to buy

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 10:20pm CDT by mike Bushie

Hows it guys long time. sorry varsity:006:
listen i buy ready made salt water but apparently coral like a little bit more then what the guy at the pet store makes.
i want everything to be at the best level it can be sooo
1) what is the best synthetic salt to buy?
2)what price we looking at ?
3)what is the very best level to have your salt? ps i have a refractometer to measure

Will torch coral be alright under my nano's PC lighting?

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 9:15pm CDT by matt165

Just want to know if a torch coral will be alright under the PC lighting in my 130L boyu nano?

its 2 x 24W PC's (I know, quite weak). All my softies are doing well as well as an open brain. Would a torch be alright under this lighting?

Starting new 375l marine tank for 1st time

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 8:49pm CDT by Brendan Kelly

Howzit.

Im new to MASA and been looking for a tank to buy. Im still not 100% decided, but Im leaning over to this setup: 1.2 wide 375L in really nice cupboard finish. protein skimmer is octopus - 1000 lph. Pumps and powerheads by astro. Uv unit is a 16w newa. T5 lights are hopar. T8 ia aquah2o. Heater is a 300w lifetech. Sump tank +- 100L. With the tank Im getting plenty of aragonite.

Questions?
1. What is best to use in the tank. Aragonite?
2. How much live rock should I start with?
3. Im considering using other rock as base, then covering it with LR. Bad idea?
4. Water? Im in Sea Point. Should I get water from 2 oceans, or should I make my own water? What salt should I use thats not too expensive.
5. Everything for the sump is supplied. What else am I leaving out for start-up?

Will be interesting to hear the different suggestions.

Then, I know I mustnt rush and I wont, but how long until I start adding more rock with a little life on it (ie:mushrooms), and how long until I can get a little blue lobster an some crawlies and fish. Hardy fish to start with. Im kken on getting an anenomia or 2 with some clowns and other hardy fish in the beginning, but obviously this will take time.

Shot
Brendan

Argh! Stupid sponges!

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 8:47pm CDT by matt165

Ok, I just discovered the probably source of my algae and diatom growth!

Anyway, I bought some eggcrate, so I thought i'd make a platform to hold filter floss entering the rear chambers, as well as a something to elevate the liverock rubble in the rear chamber.

Anyway, I found a 3rd sponge (*edit to avoid confusion - a factory made sponge, not the squeegee sea ones!) all the way at the bottom of the one rear chamber! So annoyed I didn't see it before. Pulled it out and it threw detritus up into the display :(

Would this have been the source of my algae and diatom woes?

Looking to get started...

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 7:22pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys!
i'm a friend of geoffreys, stay in the same commune and
help out with his tank whenever i can.
i must say this business of tanks has really gripped me!

at the moment i'm just looking to start off with a nice nano tank.
about 150l??
alas, as i am a student money is alway tight.
so a nice second hand tank will do me fine!

looking forward to getting started!
Furbz

Any free LR rubble?

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 6:08pm CDT by robski

Hi,

I was advised by matt165 to find some LR rubbble.

I am new to the game, and was wondering if there were any reefers who had spare rubble to give me, or sell me at a low price.

And i am looking for some larger piece's for my tank, which I will pay for of course.

Thanks.. :thumbup:

Anemone not doing very well

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 6:05pm CDT by lanzo

hey guys my anemone isn't doing very well for 2 months now.

i have him for almost two years now, i got him in a bleached state and nursed him back.

He is fully retracted for two months now, i thought i would leave him alone for a month or 2 to see weather he will get better or not, but he is still retracted.:(

i think he started when i got my cyano
All of my other corals and inverts is fine except for my anemone and my yellow polyps.

this is how my para ar looking today:

ph 8.2
alk 9
no2 0
no3 >1
ca 312
mg 940
phos 0.1
s.g 1.025

my lfs told me that he is a bta but don't think so
what can this be?
hear is how he should look.

I've got a Kenya tree frag i'd like to swop

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 6:04pm CDT by matt165

Was given a Kenya tree frag i'd like to swop - preferably for a softy. Anyone interested?

Blonde Logic

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 5:19pm CDT by Warr7207

CAR TROUBLE
A blonde pushes her BMW into a gas station. She tells
the mechanic it died.
After he works on it for a few minutes, it is idling
smoothly.
She says, "What's the story?"
He replies, "Just crap in the carburetor"
She asks, "How often do I have to do that?"

SPEEDING TICKET
A police officer stops a blonde for speeding and asks
her very nicely if he could see her license. She
replied in a huff, "I wish you guys would get your act
together. Just yesterday you take away my license and
then today you expect me to show it to you!"

RIVER WALK
There's this blonde out for a walk. She comes to a
river and sees another blonde on the opposite bank.
"Yoo-hoo!" she shouts, "How can I get to the other
side?"
The second blonde looks up the river then down the
river and shouts back, "You ARE on the other side."

AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE
A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office
and said that her body hurt wherever she touched it.
"Impossible!" says the doctor. "Show me."
The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left
shoulder and screamed, then she pushed her elbow and
screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed;
likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere
she touched made her scream.
The doctor said, "You're not really a redhead, are
you?
"Well, no" she said, "I'm actually a blonde."
"I thought so," the doctor said. "Your finger is
broken."

KNITTING
A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on
the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to
see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting!
Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing
lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his
window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, "PULL
OVER!"
"NO!" the blonde yelled back, "IT'S A SCARF!"

BLONDE ON THE SUN
A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one
day. The Russian said, "We were the first in space!"
The American said, "We were the first on the moon!"
The Blonde said, "So what? We're going to be the first
on the sun!"
The Russian and the American looked at each other and
shook their heads. "You can't land on the sun, you
idiot! You'll burn up!" said the Russian.
To which the Blonde replied, "We're not stupid, you
know. We're going at night!"

IN A VACUUM
A blonde was playing Trivial Pursuit one night. It was
her turn. She rolled the dice and she landed on
Science & Nature. Her question was, "If you are in a
vacuum and someone calls your name, can you hear it?"

She thought for a time and then asked, "Is it on or
off?"

FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES!
A girl was visiting her blonde friend, who had
acquired two new dogs, and asked her what their names
were. The blonde responded by saying that one was
named
Rolex and one was named Timex. Her friend said,
"Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?"
"HELLLOOOOOOO......," answered the blond. "They're
watch dogs!" :lol::lol::lol:

CTRC Meeting 2 reminder

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 5:12pm CDT by Muz

There was an earlier post with the date for the next CTRC meeting but the venue has only now been announced.

I will post the street names for the directions but for now I have posted a map. You haul up the N1 from CT, take the Durban Road turnoff like you are going to Tygervalley.

Cross over the robots, turn right down towards Voortrecker Road, at the next main intersection robots turn right ( before you get to the Spur )

From there you will see CTRC boards up.

Starting time 10:30 for 11:00, braai and wors rolls will be on sale or bring a choice cut. I will confirm but as far as I know there will be an open bar.

The meeting will consist of mainly IMACSA feedback to members. There are also an issue to get voted on but mainly reef talk. We have the venue for a few hours so feel free to bring the family and friends.

Here is the link, there will be more info posted tonight and tomorrow.

Just one last thing, there are still a few guys registering on the CTRC website under funny names like Doryfish101, please remember the CTRC website is a real name website and as we have no idea who you are we cannot contact you to change your name so you may not get registered. For everyone who has registered on the site but not as a CTRC member. There will be membership forms available at the next meeting.

See you there

CTRC :: Index

Muz

Borneman Surge Device - Flush Valve!!!

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 3:12pm CDT by Punk

hey guys! i finally managed to convince the importer of Fluidmaster to bring in some 507 flush valves for us with he's next container!

is there anybody that wants, i'm taking 4 'cause these things are almost impossible to get your hands on & they are the best!?

there isn't really a local solution besides the 507 valve that i've seen that's proven & can do the job...

the container will get here in 8 weeks but he needs to place the final order before this wednesday...

i don't want to ship so i'd prefer if jo'burg / pretoria reefers are interested, otherwise you can organize your shipper to pick up from me...

here's some links for your info:
the sole SA importer: Dutton Plastics
the valve: Fluidmaster | Products | Flush Valves - Flush Valve 507
an example of the device: http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...ge_device.html

shot!
ant
072-957-6406

How did Dorrie die?

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 1:44pm CDT by HendrikKotze

I found my Dorrie (regal tang) lying on the bottom of the tank this morning. It lost most of it's blue color and was breathing heavily. It kind of attacked me when I picked it up and then died. No very nice.
I have added 2 common clowns and an anemone with it to the tank on Friday and everyone was still very happy last night.
It's stomache was a little bit swolen, but that is all.
I also have a yellow tang and cleaner wrasse, leather coral and brown star pollyps.
Last time I measured the ammonium and nitirites were zero, pH 8, KH 9, nitrades 25 ppm, calcium 350 ppm (trying to raise it), magnesium 1250 ppm, phosphates 0.25.
Could the anemone have stung it?
I want to try and find out what could be the cause before I buy another one.

Salfin tang

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 12:16pm CDT by IMarine

Hi guys got a salfin tang for sale in a excellent condition,been with my friend for 1year and with me for 1 year, offers welcome its a beauty, dont ask for picks dont have a camera

Turbo's Wanted

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 11:34am CDT by Jason

Good Day Reefers

Anyone in CPT that got some Turbo Snails they want to sell... Looking for 4 of them...

Thanks
Jason

Ipod (4GB) Nano - Like New

Posted: May 12th, 2008, 9:19am CDT by shrimp

Silver Ipod (4gb) nano for sale, practically brand new .. includes software, cable , protective cover .. asking price is R1,000 (paid R1,700) ... perfect condition ...

Feather Dusters

Posted: May 11th, 2008, 12:51am CDT by Warr7207

Any idea what fish would eat feather duster - tube worm creatures ?

There is not one head left in my tank all gone, and this is from probably 100 different creatures.

Newly acquired fish (last 3 weeks) - Anthias, Copperband, Hawkfish

And should I even care, are the fish doing what they would normally do.

Lots of electrical stuff for sale

Posted: May 11th, 2008, 10:28pm CDT by LikesFish

Look under the Electrical Cables section in RED

Link is here

Juwel Lido 120

Posted: May 11th, 2008, 9:43pm CDT by Adi

I'm in the process of setting up a Nano (primarily due to space & budget constraints) & can get quite a good deal on a Juwel Lido 120. Has anyone used one as a nano & if so any advice? Alternatively, any suggestions as to a suitable option for a nano?

Thanks

Fish Question

Posted: May 11th, 2008, 1:23pm CDT by Warr7207

Why is it that my fish don't swim straight up if there is light entering the tank from one side only - side pane.

Soon as the main lights come on the fish all swim straight again.

Ozone reactor

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 1:13am CDT by TANK-O-HOLICS

How does an ozone reactor work and what does it do

Internet connection speed

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 12:52am CDT by Warr7207

cool site for checking your connection speed and compare it to others.

Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Cool Fish

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 12:04am CDT by Warr7207

Source: Reefs.org Forums :: View topic - What in Neptune's World?

Bubble Question

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 10:48pm CDT by Warr7207

What are the "tentacles" growing off the bubbles ?

Hermit Hijacking

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 9:45pm CDT by Warr7207

Ok the picture below, doesn't tell the whole story.

The hermit in the bigger shell below was investigating this shell as a possible home. While out of his existing shell, another hermit came along and hijacked it, leaving the smaller shell in the pic behind.

As you can see this hermit was battling to move this big shell and finally went back to where his old shell was and couldn't fit into the smaller shell, now he is crawling around with no shell

Weird creatures these crabs :lol:

Placement Question

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 9:36pm CDT by Warr7207

As you can see, this frag has the toothpick and elastic attachment method.

How long do I leave these attachments ?

Wanted: Lyretail Anthias

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 9:32pm CDT by Warr7207

Anyone know who has stock of this species of Anthias in the Joburg area.

Looking for at least 4.

Mushroom coral placement

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 6:08pm CDT by Warr7207

I want to hide my LR stand, and the easiest way seems to attached mushroom coral and let it spread.

I have a large piece of rock with mushrooms on it.

I need suggestions on attaching this to PVC piping

Eggcrate - should I go barebottom?

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 5:47pm CDT by matt165

Well I asked my dad for some egg crate to make a small filter floss holder for my rear chambers. He brought back a whole sheet! lol

Anyway, i'm wondering if I should put it all to use? Was thinking of going barebottom and putting eggcrate under my live rock.

What do those in the know recommend? Will it improve the water quality in my nano?

Worm like things?

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 10:09am CDT by Storm

Hello, some time ago i mentioned my nano had crashed. So I decided to just let the tank be for now while i set my 250L up.

Today I looked at the tank and i see all these funny looking (Living) worm like things floating about in the tank, way to small for a picture, like a few mm.

The have like a white/yellowish balled abdomen, ontop off that like a little stick pointing upwards its like a red neck, then right at the top its a tiny tiny mouth.

Anybody have any idea what this is as i got hundreds off them in the tank. And only livestock I have left are my inverts, 3 Hermits and 1 Sea Urchin.

Newbie

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 12:45am CDT by Brad76

Hi All

Being thinking of starting up a marine tank for sometime and have finally decided to turn thought into action.

Did some reading and managing the eco-env. seems extremely complicated! Hope the pro's have patience?

Fish, crabs, prawns and softies?

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 8:59pm CDT by robski

Hi everyone..

I starting out in this, and just put water and some LR into my tank today!

I have a 128 l BOYU nano (i think), like Quinton's old tank.

So i am looking for some softies, fish, crab, prawns for my tank..

what do you guys recommend for a tank of my size..

oh, im a student, so please dont rip me off, lol..

thanks

Who will collect Local KZN Zoa's 4 me

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 2:51pm CDT by Jason

Hi guys... Ok so i have seen some pics of local zoa's, wow stunning stuff... Well who got the time to collect for me and post it via over night postige from the postoffice...

Will be round about R50-R80 bucks to send over night... Will pay it into your bank acc and give you something ekstra for the trouble...

Thanks
Jason

How to use tropica marine test kits?

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 2:24pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys,
This is going to sound extremly dumb....

I've bought myself a CA test kit from tropic marine, but i don't really understand the instructions that well, I've asked 2 other guys - both with different answers....

Now for the part which I don't understand:
As you know you get that yellow tip thingies to put on the syringe.
Lets say i need to suck 5ml into the syringe, must the solution in syringe be to the 5ml mark, or only the bottom sucking part of the syringe - there are some air trap in the syringe,and the yellow tip thingy compensate for the air bubble in the syringe?

hope this makes sense....

Problems in sump and algea

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 2:14pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys,
While i was away on holiday someone looked after my tank.
Usually one only need to add about a half liter of fresh water per day in the tank.
My sump is outside, and the cover was blown off by strong winds - causing the water to evaporate extremely fast. My cheato and caulepra algea in the sump did not have enough water - luckely the rest of the sump is ok.
Now the problem is, is that i've noted this red slime on top of the surviving algea.
Should i remove this, or can i leave it as is?
Also - i've lost a Cr@p load of cheato and caulepra...damn!!!:( But i hope that it will grow back at a rapid speed...

Books?

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 12:24pm CDT by Rax123

has anyone got any suggestions/recommendations for any good marine books, possibly new editions.

Good Bye Everyone

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 11:42am CDT by viper357

This is the last straw for me, I'm outta here, by the end of the year I will be logging in from the UK.

Taken from our local newspaper www.witness.co.za

City to turn off home geysers

Load shedding is gone for now, but what other tricks has Eskom got up its sleeve to make consumers use less electricity?

Pietermaritzburg consumers should prepare to have their geysers switched off by the municipality from a central point, and have their ampere usage slashed in the same way, when extra electricity capacity is required.

Big buildings, business and industry will be given targets to achieve and maintain, or face punitive charges, and new builders should forget about installing an electric geyser.

Phil Mashoko, strategic executive manager of infrastructure, services and facilities at Msunduzi, said yesterday these are some of the strategies they have come up with to try to reduce the citys power consumption.

"We have no choice," said Mashoko.

He said a contract has been awarded to a company to install the remote switching technology on geysers. Mashoko said the project, funded by Eskom, will entail the contractor fitting each geyser with a ripple control switch to allow the municipality to switch off geysers by remote control at a central point. The implementation date has not yet been set.

According to eThekwini Metro, the devices to be used in KZN allow municipalities to also turn off air-conditioners and other appliances like pool pumps. "Personally I dont like that option," admitted Mashoko.

He said the method of saving power he prefers is current limiting, which means the municipality could reduce the amount of electricity supplied to consumers when necessary. He said a bid notice has already been placed for service providers to come up with suggestions on how this could be done. This contract will include reading water and light meters remotely as well.

Mashoko said that if a household has a 60-amp capacity, this could be charged to 30 amps from a central point, if required, to limit the amount of electricity customers could use.

Another energy-saving option being examined by the municipality is the mandatory installation of solar-powered geysers in all new buildings. Mashoko said they are looking at reviewing the bylaws in this regard.

He warned that public buildings will be targeted to lead the way in terms of energy efficiency.

"So government buildings and council buildings will be among the first to be given targets to stick to." He said the municipality is busy working out targets for buildings, businesses and industry.

"The large consumers will be given energy targets to achieve and will be monitored to see how they maintain them."

Mashoko said an open meeting is to be held within two weeks to discuss these energy-saving methods. He said that in the meantime, if load shedding is required by Eskom, the municipality will revert to the timetable that was last used.

He said that at a meeting between Eskom and the top 10 municipalities it was agreed that they all need common targets for energy saving.

A list of questions sent to Eskom asking them to provide feedback on this meeting and for them to quantify savings was returned with the comment that "the meeting was positive" and that details would be released to the media at a later stage.

Mashoko said while Msunduzi achieved a definite reduction for the March period, this still has to be analysed to see how much of this was due to load shedding, and how much was caused by people conserving energy.

"I know for sure that some of the big consumers have displayed significant cuts in terms of their energy consumption " he said.

But he warned that a saving of over 10% is needed, plus more to avoid future load shedding.

Triffid anemone?

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 11:11am CDT by HendrikKotze

My tank is 2 months old and I have seen these starting to grow on some of the base rock in my tank. Are they triffid anemones? Should I get rid of them?
What is the easiest way to do it?

Leather coral problem?

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 10:21am CDT by tinusb

Hi all,

I bought a leather pin cushion coral about a week ago, and it seemed normal, up to two days ago [well, today is the 3rd day]. It doesn't extend it's little arms any more - there's enough light in my tank [as my star polyps and xenias are fine]. There's no membrane or anything on the coral.

Attached a pic:

Can anybody give any advise?!
Thanx!
Tinus :)

Finding Nemo(s)!!!

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 9:42am CDT by tinusb

Hi everybody!

Ok, so the time has come for a nemo :)

I've taken a look at : the "False" Percula or Clown Anemonefish, or Ocellaris Clown : and want to know whether this is the peaceful one... I know the true nemo from the movie is apparently an aggressive little bugger...

Also, can I mix the clowns, ie. two false clowns and two tomato clowns?

Thinking about a Bubble Tip Anemone for the false clowns, but don't know what to get for the tomato clowns --- and should the tomato clowns also be kept in pairs?

Thanx for the help guys! :)

Tinus :thumbup:

PS. Have seen my first coralline algae growth on some of my dead rock yesterday morning!

Boyu Wave makers

Posted: May 9th, 2008, 9:36am CDT by HenkHugo

Hey guys,

Yesterday i got given a new toy... a boy wave maker. they come with a controller... seems really cool! any one tryed these? i see on the box they make a WM-3 model which is 4X28W units on one controller.

What would you guys say is a fair price for a powerhead with controller (rated at 40 to 260L tank)?

Where to get NSW in cape town??

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 12:31am CDT by robski

Where is the cleanest place to get water on the Atlantic seaboard, i was thinking bakoven, campsbay or oudekraal on the way to llundudno..

oh, andi just bought a buyo, good setup?:slayer:

Possible dumb question

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 11:43pm CDT by Fishy Steve

I have a canister running on my 140l tank and was wondering is it worth trying to convert it into a mini dsb? Taking the baskets out and somehow reducing the flow because I think if I put a whole lot of sand in the canister it will just create a sand storm and blow out.

Any input will help. wanting to do this because I really don't wanna empty the tank and drill for an overflow or buy one of those rediculously overpriced hang on overflows.

gotta use this guy cause he's tempting me :slayer: OK it's outta my system now.

Spare shells for snails required

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 11:38pm CDT by Wee-Man

I had to share this, a member of a forum in the UK just asked if you need to get spare shells for snails to grow into?

I have a broken rib, i am in so much pain from laughing it just isn't fair:lol: :lol: :lol:

Seawater From Aquariums

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 10:07pm CDT by Shanie

Is it advisable to use seawater from the aquarium (Two Oceans Aquarium,Waterfront,Cape Town) in my tank, when i do water changes ????) Or is it better to use Tropic marine salt and R/O water sa i am doing at the moment????

Elevtric Guitar

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 10:04pm CDT by Franske

Guy ive got an Ibanez rg470 electric guitar for sale,costs R7000 ne,want R2500 for it,pm me for more details

Hello and help!

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 9:39pm CDT by robski

hi guys,

Im new to this, and would appreciate some handy tips and advice..

Maybe some corals, liverock or fish for sale.

Thanks guys,

Robbie :slayer:

Local KZN coral pics

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 9:16pm CDT by lIghty

hi friends

So i'm wanting to go and scratch on the rocks this weekend for some softies, could you please post pics of softies that can be found on the KZN coast, need to have some sort of guide so I know what I'm taking, would hate to take something that not good or illegal.

just a pic and name would be gr8.

thx lighty

Wanted Full Marine Setup

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 8:58pm CDT by Brendan Kelly

Looking for either a complete system, either with live stock or without. Max budget about R4500, but not that keen on spending that. Depends what is on offer. Looking to buy ASAP so let me know, must be in Cape Town

Seio M250

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 7:38pm CDT by Galibore

Guys,

I'm looking for a Seio M250. New or second hand.

Would appreciate it if you can point me to a shop that sells them.

Kalk And Ro

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 2:52pm CDT by geoffrey

OK i was reading a thread now now about topping up with RO water and i think it was jacquesb that said one must add kalk to the RO?

firstly what is kalk?
secondly ive topped up with about 75 litres of R.O already and P.H is still 8.4
lastly is kalk expensive? cause this hobby is too much$$$ already

Main water parameters

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 12:56pm CDT by Franske

Hi guys can anyone help me with a list of the most important parameters for testing and a list of the less important ones,and what could be done to keep them in place

Advice Needed

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 11:31am CDT by Pete

Hi all dont know were to post this so im doing it here.
On of my fish have got white spot(ich) and kneed to know how to treat it

How do I help this zoo recover? Bleached?

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 12:01am CDT by matt165

I got some zoo's about 2 months back, one was completely white when i put it into my tank. I've read this is called coral bleaching.

Why did this particular zoo bleach, when the other ones were fine? All others are bright and fully opened and growing.

This guy has developed a slight bit of orange but nothing major, still very white:

Is there anything I can do to help it recover? Will it ever recover?

Need to go now!

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 10:15pm CDT by Jaco

HI ALL.
I AM VERY SAD TO PUT THIS ON THE WALL.
I STARTED AT A NEW JOB AND DONT HAVE MUCH TIME TO TAKE CARE OF MY TANK. I HAVE TO SEL.
360L TANK
WOOD CABINET
VERY GOOD LIGHTING
100L SUMPFILTER
SKIMMER
UV FILTER

INSIDE IS:
45KG LIFEROCK
CRUSHED CORREL
ANEMONE -WHITE & PURPLE(30cm)
50cm CHAINLINK MORAYA EAL

DWARF MUSHROOMS
BLUE BUTTON MUSHROOMS
YELLOW STAR BUTTON POLLIPS
GREEN POLLIPS
YELLOW POLLIPS
BROWN LARGE POLLIPS
1 LARGE BLUE/PURPLE CLAM

Octopus tank equipment list

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 8:15pm CDT by the fox

As you all know i hope to get an octopus at some point.

So i have been reading and researching all about them and the right water levels i need for them (i.e ph e.g). So now i was hoping to make a final shopping list for it.

So you guys are the pros, so please give me the names of the various brands and levels of equipment that i will need for a oct. Also don't worry im not getting a octopus strait away my plans are to first buying snowflake moray eel, a clown trigger and a picaso trigger in the tank until the oct is on its way.

Some things i know that can help you choose the exact equipment (if you can please include the rough price.

Aquarium sand, not crush coral
No under gravel filter
Big ass filter (im hoping a sump)
Fairly decant skimmer
No chiller for the specie im hoping to get
No special light is needed but im hoping for just something to simply light up the tank

I want a tank that has good and reliable equipment but well please not prices that are over the top.

Stuff like test kits etc im sure ocean will help me with so no need for stuff like that (not meaning that it is an unimportant aspect of SW tanks).

Thanks!

MH + 10k Globe 4 Sale

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 7:01pm CDT by Jason

Got this MH i want to sell... Still almost new, not even 3weeks old...

Reasson for selling: Got a new unit with build in T5's
Price: R500neg/ make me a offer
Location: CPT
Shipment: Will ship at buyers expence...

Answering the call to the darkside...

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 5:28pm CDT by Gawiedj

Hi Everybody

I am Gawie and have been keeping freshwater tropical tanks for quite some time, alwasy had an interest in Marine tanks.

For years I safely kept away from Marine tanks but unfortunately my business partner and (not sure if he is a good mate at the moment) friend Henk Hugo finally convinced me to join the darkside.
I have a 90cm tank, holds about 150l that's been earmarked as my first marine tank.
If my questions are iritating, stupid or offensive blame Henk;)

Goby (s) and or sand shifters

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 1:51pm CDT by crispin

hey guys,
i would like to get some smaller bottom dwelling sand shifters. Goby type fellas but do you have info on common species found in SA and or compatibility with two big fat blennies?

any suggestions as to what I could look at introducing would be greatly appreciated

Yellow Goat Fish

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 1:05pm CDT by crispin

hey guys I have a yellow goatie that feeds very very sporadically. I have had him 6 weeks and aside from going pale and not growing is looking brilliant. But thats not really good enough and I would greatly appreciate advice on feeding him.

web sites basically say " Carnivorous, feed a varied diet that includes frozen preparations for carnivores Young fish will need to be fed often ."

so what advuce can you give me to get this fella full and happy?

he also spends a while each day grooming at the shrimp cleaning palour, which i take as a bad sign!

T5 54W ballast needed

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 12:45pm CDT by Bayls

Hi
One of my ballasts has packed up. Anyone got one for me in the Bedfordview or Sandton area?

Plug in timers with backup

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 12:32pm CDT by RaveMan

People
does anyone know where one gets a decent plug in timer that does not lose time everytime the power's out?
Or is there another clever solution to switching halides/T5's like clockwork?

TS1 Pump Unhappy

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 12:22pm CDT by shrimp

My TS1 pump stopped working entirely 3 days ago .. this pump is only 4 mnths old and has ZERO power at the moment .. as NO power do not believe impellor / shaft problem .. any ideas please as cube has been without skimmer for days already .. thanks

Shane's tank progress

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 9:55am CDT by shane

Hi guys,
Just a few pics to show my slow progress i have made.

1.5m tank setup

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 9:53am CDT by Aziz

Tank 1.5m 750h 600w, sump 1.1m 450 450, steel stand, cabinet (mahogany), t5 tubes in a fitting, aragonite, a week old 5000l return, a month old jager heater, 4 x 2000l pumps, live rock and fish. Two rabbit fish, niger trigger, pakistani butterfly, 2 tomato clowns. R3800.

New Member

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 12:06am CDT by Charlie

hello everyone!
i am an tropical tank enthusiast and i want to start my own marine tank for a while now.

i hope that this is where i can get all the info i need!

thanx!
Charlie

Strontium vs red slime algae

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 11:48pm CDT by mandarinman

i had some red slime algae on some of my liverock and sand, turned sand over, next day it is back. as a separate exercise i dissolved 1 gram of strontium chloride hexahydrate crystals in 1.5l of ro and poured it into my 250 l tank, next day red algae gone! so now i have a bee in bonnet , if anyone else has red slime algae please dose strontium and let me know if it dissappears. i dont know if only the crystals do this or if it was the crystals at all.

Mantis and fish

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 11:31pm CDT by lanzo

hey guys i bought likesfish's mantis tank from him, but mantis died of heavy stress that day:((very very sad)

Nou i would like to know if i can have fish with a peacock mantis,from what i no is that the peacock mantis only like too eat mussels and kill crabs, snails ect, but not fish.

I want to buy a peacock mantis Thursday( green one or peacock)

plz help

New little crab in tank

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 11:09pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys,
I've spotted this little fellow in the tank between some of the "see weed"....
is a good fellow, or a bad guy?

Complete Tank for Sale

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 6:14pm CDT by PaulH

1M Acrylic Tank on Dark Wood Cabinet (+- 300L) with Hood
1M DAZS T5 Lighting System
TS1 Protein Skimmer
2 x SEIO M620
150W JAGER Heater
+- 20KG Live Rock

Livestock:
Brittle Star
+- 15 Hermit Crabs
2 Long Spine Urchins

There's also a home made sump, overflow, return pump, smaller pump, pipes, various chemicals, test kit, 2 x 25L Water Containers, and other goodies...

Looking for R5500 ono, and willing to collect in Edenvale/JHB area...

Selling because of costs and space...

Increasing Salinity

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 4:51pm CDT by tinusb

Hi Everybody,

My salinity in the tank is 1.023 at the moment, and I would like to increase it to 1.024. How do I go about increasing the salinity gently, without giving a 'salinity shock' to the livestock in my tank?

Thanx! :) T

To activate or not to activate (carbon)

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 2:20pm CDT by tinusb

Hi all!

What is the general take on Activated Carbon? Should it be used in a marine setup or not, and if, what's the advantages?

Tinus :)

Amberlite

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 2:19pm CDT by 459b

Does anyone use Amberlite IR-400 to remove phosphates?
I just came across a rather large bottle of it, and saw on the internet that it can be used to remove phosphate. It also looks alot like the phosphate media you buy at the LPS.
Does anyone know exactly what is in commercial phosphate media?

Just bought a tank scared shrimpless

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 1:46pm CDT by shiks

Hey there guys/gals ....just bougtht a juwel tank yest ...scared as hell.....that i am gonna make a mistake.....sourced it from Northland Pets here in Durbs....they seem friendly.....gonna take delivery in abt a week ....:thumbup: wanna take it slow....any advice ????

Tank, Skimmer, R.O

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 12:49pm CDT by Ridwaan

Hi guys..

I have the following for sale...

1.1500mm long X 600mm Wide X 600mm High tank with dual overflows on oak cabinet.
Tank is 10mm glass alround and drilled for closed loop, just gotta add a pool pump.
Tank and cabinet is 7months old and in good condition.

2. AquaMedic T5000 Shorty skimmer complete with pump.
Skimmer in good condition.Has crack on cup, but has been fixed..

3. Waterboy Plus R.O unit with DI unit in good condition.

This was gonna be my latest project, but need the money urgent on something else so thats why im selling.

I am based in JHB benoni.

Price: R7000neg for all

Would like to sell all at one go.Will sell seperatly if I get buyers for all.

Thanks
Ridwaan

NANO wanted

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 11:52am CDT by geoffrey

hey guys i have a mate who wants a +- 150L nano, if anyone can get hold of one give us a shout.

$Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2008/05/06/Refractometer_Wanted'$

Refractometer Wanted

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 9:38am CDT by shrimp

Hi, am looking for a refractometer .. thanks

Happy Birthday MASA

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 12:56am CDT by Warr7207

Wow, one year old already

3500 threads and 78000 posts later

Well done to the mods, admin. and most important the members that make this a great forum

:happybday:

:cheers2::cheers2::cheers2:

Off Topic: Any PC Junkies?

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 11:46pm CDT by tinusb

Hey all!

Are there any PC junkies out there - got a technical problem here with my machine, and don't know what to do anymore!

T :(

Guns

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 11:39pm CDT by Warr7207

OK, let us make Wee man jealous. What guns you guys have ?

My armament: Glock 26 9mm with Black Talion hollow point rounds (hot, hot rounds)

Bicarbonate of soda dilution and dosing

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 10:53pm CDT by Tobes

Howzit guys, been a bit scares lately. Work, work and work - u know?

My questions: 1) My kH buffer is finnished, and read that you can use bicarbonate of soda as a replacement. Aparently it must be baked for 2 hrs at 180deg to use in tanks with low ph and as is in tanks with high ph. With my ph sitting at 8.4 in the day and 8.2 at night, should I use baked or not?

2) How much powder do I mix with how much R/O water?

3) How much in ml do I dose per day/night on my 300l system? Currently my kH is 9 but need to know this to keep it constant in future.

Any help from the chemical engineers will help. Thanks

PS: I read the piece on kH buffer in one of the other forums, but it doesn't give all the figures like grams/litres of R/O and ml/day for dosing. I've got a dosing pump.Cheers for now. :wave2:

2 Legged Seastar

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 10:50pm CDT by Warr7207

Funny boy my Linkia

Is this a sea apple?

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 10:13pm CDT by Raven

Hi guys - is this a sea apple?
1. How safe is this for my tank, and what do i feed it...?

Zebra Hermits causing destruction!

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 8:15pm CDT by tinusb

Hey all!

I just got a couple of zebra hermits, and the little buggers are eating the red coralline algae off my live rock!!!!!! Is this normal?! And if not, how do I stop them? Tried telling them not to, and picking them up and throwing them on the substrate - didn't help! :lol::lol::lol:

T :)

Brine Shrimp Eggs

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 7:25pm CDT by Jason

Ok so i got me some Brine Shrimp eggs from the LFS... They told me to put them in a tank with seawater and airstone, will hatch in 24 hours, wel its 1 week later and only 5% hatched but this morning i didnt see any in the holder, they were small very small could only see them in sunlight...They hatched 2 days ago the 5%, the others are still eggs... Did i do something wrong...

Please help:(

Thanks

Taam Seio M820

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 6:04pm CDT by tinusb

Hey all! So where can I pick up one of those babies, and at what price?! PM is 100% :) T :):):):)

Copperband not eating aptaisia

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 5:15pm CDT by Hyron Anders

Hi guys,I need some help.How can I get my Copper Band to eat my APTACIA???????

New Member

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 2:51pm CDT by Adi

I'm looking at setting up a nano tank due to space constraints. I've got most of the necessary equipment e.g. skimmer, heater, etc so am undecided between getting a "all-in" tank e.g. Boyu or getting a tank built to suit the space available. Any advice regarding pro's & cons of each & if getting a tank built is a better option, any suggestions as to where I can get one of decent quality & reasonable price built in Durban or Pietermaritzburg? Thanks

Tank + Extras for sale

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 2:43pm CDT by Shrimpie

Hi Guys,

I have the following for sale:
1. Tank 1500mm L x 700mm w X 600 h - C2C With 2x50mm holes on the sides of the tank. 10mm Glass (Few very small scratches on the front) 630 litres
2. Tank Stand - Strong Metal stand built out of 25mmx25mm square tubing 2mm thick. Painted black.
3. Aqua Medic Arogonite as the display bed (About 20mm think)
4. Live Rock, will need to weigh, guessing about 50kgs
5. 2 x 54w T5 Ballasts
6. 300w Jager Heater
7. ATMAN Cannister filter 800 litres per hour
8. Lots of crushed coral. Not being used at the moment

JHB Only, located in Kempton Park.

Would prefer to sell everything to one person if possible. If not I would have to break the tank down as I get rid of the live stock.

If you are interested please let me know and make me an offer.

Cheers

New tank in planning phase

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 1:33pm CDT by cybervic

Hi, I am planning a new tank 2100mm x 1000mm (w) x 650mm (h)

I intend to stock the following fish.

20 x Talbot damsels
1 x yellow tang
1 x purple tang (If I can get hold of one)
1 x Naso Literatus
1 x Fire goby
1 x Purple or Magnificent Fire goby
1 x Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
1 x Powder Blue Surgeon
1 x snowflake moray

6 x cleaner shrimp
2 x pepperment shrimp
various snails and an urchin or two

The corals will mainly be sticks. I intend to do a 2.4 x 1m wide skylight, supplimented by 4 x 80w T5's (Actininc)

Flow will hopefully be 2 x 40 000lph Polario's

Will this fishlist work and what else do I need to consider.

Any comments and critique are welcome

Hermit Crab Shells

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 1:01pm CDT by Sparky

Hey guys

For the guys in JHB, where do you get more shells from? Want to put a few in the tank and see what my hermit does. Also, I remember seeing pics of glass ones somewhere. Any idea where and how much?

looks like i am going to enjoy this

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 11:17am CDT by issy001

Hi

call me Issy
have a lot to ask and to to find out anything and everything about keeping a marine aquarium

me
issy :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Mandarin Fish: Got extra male, want female

Posted: May 5th, 2008, 9:09am CDT by abgg118

Hi all,

A few months ago I bought a second Mandarin (got a 700+liter tank, so there's enough food), which I hoped was a female. It was in bad shape at the petshop, but I've been looking for a female for a long time, and I couldn't see any spiked fin on this one, so I rescued it.

Since then it has recovered successfully, but it has also grown a considerably spiky fin on its back. Now I've got two males.
Anyone wants to swop, wants a male, or have a female available? It's Synchiropus splendidus not the green spotted Synchiropus picturatus.

Thanks

Beat this frag farm

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 10:03pm CDT by Warr7207

This is one hell of a frag farmer

Source: Reef Central Online Community - Coral Maternity in Portugal

Got a tank! Finally!!

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 7:38pm CDT by geoffrey

found a tank:slayer: +- 340 l

got it from angel. pretty sweet setup. gonna set it up next weekend! some serious FUN.

few questions: 1) have an 8000l/h pump. would love to use it but im a bit scared it's too much as a return pump. was thinking about making the return pipe a "line" of powerheads at the bottom of the tank all blowing up onto the LR therefore no/few powerheads... make it out of PVC. what u think? oh and the tank has an overflow box in DT with a 50mm hole...

2) got a 9watt uv steralizer. says its good for 200l. should i then leave it on permanently?

Unread posts

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 7:16pm CDT by Zookeeper

I was thinking can`t we get a option on the home page that would enable us to see all unread posts since our last visit.I use that option alot on other forums ,very usefull.Helps to keep up to date when you have been away for a day or two.

T5 vs. MH

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 4:53pm CDT by Warr7207

What is the difference between a 10000K T5 and metal halide of the same Kelvin rating, other than the obvious power rating difference and globe type?

MAcro algae for DSB

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 2:46pm CDT by trad

Whats the best Macro algae for a DSB. What lighting do you need, and will anyone have any macro algae to spare next week? for my DSB. Will Macro algae survive cycling or should i only add it after.

Replace Substrate

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 2:23pm CDT by Sparky

Hi Guys

Currently I have crushed coral as a substrate and I suspect it is just making a huge nitrate farm. Should I replace it with playsand? I have some spare from the new tank I am setting up. If yes, how should I go about doing this? Will it be safe to add my fish straight back?

Crushed coral

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 1:28pm CDT by Franske

I have +- 10 kg of rough grain(4mm) crushed coral for sale or to swop for a small frag of anything or if youre really desperate for free

Live sand and cheato

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 1:25pm CDT by Franske

Hi guys are there any of you who has some livesand or cheato to give away or sell in the pretoria east area,is it possible to keep cheato in your display

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2008/05/04/Gaz'

Gaz

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 10:20am CDT by viper357

Aqau Medic Aquamedic Baseball Cap - New and very rare! on eBay, also, Men's Accessories, Clothes, Shoes Accessories (end time 11-May-08 20:36:31 BST)

Come on gaz, you know you want it :D

Latest post thingy

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 10:09am CDT by HenkHugo

yo dudes,

any chance of giving more threads on the front page? things move to quickly there that i cant always find the thread i am looking for... and i r lazy :thumbup:

My Nano

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 9:55pm CDT by Franske

Hi guys here are some pics of my setup,is about 3 weeks old after redoing it so may stil be going through its cycle

That is my tank with my sump,canister is only temporary until my dsb has started up

That is a picture of my dsb,need some help if you guys think it should work,have some aragonite balls mixed with sea sand at the botom and then a pure layer of playsand

Here is a random pic,need to know if you guys think that the liverock standing like that on the playsand is fine or do I need to put something underneath it
Aby help wil be very much appreciated,this is my first saltwater tank so im stil learning

New Member

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 9:47pm CDT by Franske

Hi guys im a new member on this forum,wil post some pics of my tank soon cause I need some help

Oceans Nano

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 8:59pm CDT by Ocean

I am setting up a new nano so fare it has a
Dophin UV250
2 250 seio power heads
20 reggies play sand(washed)
100watts heater
and a little LR

stock so far is only one Mollie

getting the lights in the week.
Will post pics when im in the mood.:razz:

What to feed a sun coral

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 8:32pm CDT by avdp

Hi all,

Need some adive please. We got a sun coral a week ago. Very nice looking specimen. Had lot of polyp extension at the LFS, and when we got home, but since, very little. We have tried Coral Frenzy, target feeding, but very little response, and some frozen microplankton, also not much response.

The guys at the LFS said they use a combo of ZoPlan, Marine Snow, and something else (I forget), want to get one of them tomorrow. What are the recommendations?

Thx

Pumps

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 6:25pm CDT by Storm

Hello people. Does anybody foresee any problems having a pump in the tank pushing water into the sump, and then one from the sump pushing water back? Coz overflow box and Drilled aint a option for me...

Only possible reason I can think off is the return pump brakes and pumps some water on my floor, but whats the chances off that happening? Also will have it in the top corner so wont be much.

Seeking help with CARX

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 4:43pm CDT by dendrosa

Does anyone have an operating manual for the Aqua-Excel calcium reactor?

Failing that, can anyone clear up which is the inlet and which is the outlet above? I assume 3 is the CO2 inlet, but looking at the design even that I can't be sure of.

Local durban zoo's

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 4:24pm CDT by gaz19

went to do some collecting to day.
any 1 anwt to see the zoo's i got?
pics coming in 10mins,:thumbup:

T5 Lighting

Posted: May 3rd, 2008, 1:00pm CDT by Fishy Steve

I have a Hagen Glo 2x24w lighting unit on a aqua h20 140L tank. I couldn't get the actual glo bulbs so I took aquamedic. I know they're not that good but they were the right price at the time.

My question is, would I be able to successfully keep what other people are keeping in their boyu 550's which have 2x24w PC lights? Are these types of lights basically the same? I know everybody says that PC lights are just T5's in a different shape but are there any performance differences?

Just a little more info before you answer. My tank is 45cm high I think and the boyu is 67cm high.

Thanx

Green bubble thing?

Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 9:14pm CDT by lIghty

Hi Friends

Was looking and my pearl bubble coral today and I noticed something funny. 2 little green bubbles, got my turkey baster and blew onto them, the pearl bubbles contracted but the green ones did not, touched them with the tip and they seem to be quite firm, any ideas as to what they are? I thought it mite have been a green bubble coral but now not too sure.

Rock Urchin

Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 9:11pm CDT by Warr7207

What are this little white balls coming out of the top of my urchin ? Are these some sort of droppings ? Sorry not so clear :whistling:

Clownfish breeding

Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 7:04pm CDT by Dolphinfriendly

I have a pair of common clowns that i think have paired off, that I would like to breed but I don't know where to start could anyone please give me some info on stuff like:

tank setup.
do they need a separate tank?
Do they need a host?
how big must they be?
and feeding the fry and adults to bring them in to breeding condition.

Trap for Unwanted Fish

Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 6:10pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

So I heard I am getting some nice fish soon (Including a Bangaii etc) and I need to get rid of some of the fish in the tank as some of them (Damsels) is really becoming too aggressive towards other inhabitants.
After using all the nets I have, bottles, fish traps, hooks with bait on, I gave up....

So I decided to do it the easy way- I walked to the sump, netted out my Baby and added him to the Main Display- Now I know that the unwanted fish will get caught, unfortunately also some fish I do not want to get rid off, but what the heck, I am getting new Fish (Dean;) )

And meet my fish trap (And Yes, it does work, did it before):

Marine Algae ID Help

Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 10:03am CDT by sihaya

At Bob's suggestion, I compiled these pics from all the Marine Algae ID FAQs on WWM and made this "chart"...
trial page, algae ID

What do y'all think?

Sara

Rare Fish

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 2:46am CDT by Warr7207

Why is the Black Tang and Crosshatch Trigger such rare fish in the Marine trade ?

The "Old Tank" Syndrome

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 2:32am CDT by Warr7207

Now this is an interesting read

"Fewer new additions are made to the tank due to space limitations and as a result the excitement that occurs when a new fish or coral is added no longer occurs. (As a side note we need to admit that this hobby is very addicting and adding something new is kind of like a fix for us that gets us all excited again and keeps us motivated to keep the tank at an optimum level)." :lol::lol:

Source: Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: The "Old Tank" Syndrome

Majano?

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 2:12am CDT by Warr7207

Jason's 1.2x500X600 tank

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 10:19pm CDT by Jason

Wel, so i have the 1.2m up and running, with out problems so far... Here are some pics... Its with the energy savers only, MH off will post pics tomorow with MH on...

Nothing big yet, but will get there soon i hope...

:1:

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2008/05/01/Hi_'

Hi!

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 8:10pm CDT by Hyron Anders

I just want to say Hi!!! Thanks for the cool forum:thumbup:

Giving Mugabe The Digitata

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 7:22pm CDT by sunburst

Mr Mugabe....Sir.....This digits for you Ta ta

Phosphate Reactor

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 6:51pm CDT by Warr7207

What pump is suggested for a phosphate reactor ?

I have a Resun FBF-500

Wanted - coral frags

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 6:25pm CDT by lIghty

I'm looking for some frags to buy at a fair price in the Durban area. If you have anything please let me know, I will collect.

Wanting to do this asap.

thanks

My new nennie:)

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 5:29pm CDT by crispin

whats the rule about possesion? 9/10 or something.... cant remeber, warr will u remind me???

Varnish or not.

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 5:00pm CDT by aslam

Sup guys,just finished staining the wood for my hood,which is just cladding around the tank top.I would like to varnish the wood on top of the stain,but the guy at the paint shop say's varnish contains traces of lead.What should I do.Any help would be appreciated.Shotto.

Corals & fish in red sea border of eilat in israel & taba in egypt

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 4:33pm CDT by malafrica

some eye candy after an unplanned visit to the red sea on the spur of the moment decision.
went looking for this ,but found evrything else instead.enjoy the pics

Frogspwan-brown jelly or light shock?

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 12:45pm CDT by gaz19

i hope im wrong but my frogspawn isnt looking great. i have two, each has 7 heads. my oldest 1 lost 2 heads to my angel fish but is still going strong. the new one, about a week old i think is doing hundreds. two of its heads are opening up fully but the others arent. in the pic below, their flesh went like half why done their branches. that flesh is starting to fall of and is leading up the heads. not sure what is happening. thought it was meybe brown jelly infection but not sure. is it maybe light shock?
please advise. all my sps,lps and softies are perfect except the new frogspwan.
btw the tank it was prevouisly, came from a LARGE colony, so i think the bottom parts of the branches didnt recieve to musch light.
note that the flesh extends quit a way down, but my other one only has flesh on it heads?

Any volunteers in PTA?

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 10:41am CDT by Gorgotha

Hi everyone,
I am a journalist for a community newspaper in Pretoria.
I realise you guys are having a real struggle with the power cuts vs damage tot your equipment due to surges and death of your stock...
I would like to ask two volunteers who have tanks in Pta if I could make appointments with them to come and listen to their stories and write it with a pic or two?
Anybody?
Cheers guys...

Hello everybody

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 10:34am CDT by Gorgotha

Hi everyone!:thumbup:

I have been following the different threads relentlesly on every pc I get to and even on my cell phone whenever I can. Congrats on a fantastic forum and community.
I have had fw fish for years, but had to sell them when I moved. Now i want to enter the realm of artificial reef eco systems, but am constrained by a lack of capex!
Will eventually get there though and thank you again!
:yeahdude: :slayer:

Reefkeeping South Africa » Marine Aquariums of South Africa » May 2008

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