Reefkeeping South Africa » Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Happy Birthday Floh

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 6:51am CDT by chikaboo

:happybday: FLOH! Have a great day dude and may you see many many more:party:

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2009/08/31/DIY_Nitrate_reductor'

I was browsing some of the DIY threads the other day and saw this one.

DIY denitrifier? - Anything DIY Related

Now i have a tank that uses an old canister filter as a anaerobic filter. This contraption was put together in Malaysia and found it's way here. It works very well so if one has and old canister filter kicking around you might consider.

This is what the contraption looks like.

All you need is a working canister filter filled with ceramic rings/bio balls or sintered glass. Two 25mm PVC T joints. Two 25mm PVC elbows. An old undergravel filter stem. A bit of air tubing and an air adjuster valve.

How it works is that the canister circulates the water through the two T pieces. So the suction pulls the water pumped out of the canister.
Water is dripped into the clear drip counter at a rate of 1 drip per second. When the water drips into the circulating water flow it overfills the device and it drips back into the tank.

Feel free to ask questions.

Wanted: 2 seio m820's.

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 8:45pm CDT by aslam

Hi guy's,looking for 2 m820's,cool.

RO Water Blaster Pump - L/h Increase

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 6:09pm CDT by Marlin Fischer

Hi peeps

I ordered some RO Water Blaster Pumps (x3) for my closed loop (x2) and return (x1) of my new (2m x0.8m x 0.8m) Reef tank.

I wanted the 7000L/h pumps (88W) however the supplier said that there were none available.
Instead i was sold the 5000L/h (60W) pumps with a larger/better impeller that apparently would increase the flow to the required 7000L/h??

Anyone know if this sounds plausable? I dont understand why R Octopus would sell the 7000L as a 88W pump if they could make it 60W. (apparently the only difference btw the 2 pumps other than the wattage is the impeller type?

Secondly if this is possible, and i am using these pumps for my closed loop, would this not increase the pressure on the pump being a lower wattage and a larger water pumping volume and impeller?

Any advice would be appreciated

Shot... Fischer

Regular water changes?

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 1:51pm CDT by inflames

Hi Guys and Gals,

Please could I have some light shed on the Question "the need for regular water changes". I understand the reasoning behind using RO water for top up's. I personally only top up with Kalkwasser mixed in RO, I have yet to 100% satisfy myself on the reasoning behind water changes. If we are regulary dosing our tanks with calcium, magnesium and all the other trace elements, using carbon, Phos removers, growing cheato,skimming, ect... In other words only "adding" the required "good stuff" that gets consumed by what ever in our tanks, and "removing" the "bad stuff/by products" what is the reasoning behind the regular water changes?

Has the whole water change regime just become a seldom questioned standard? I just want some reasoning behind why we do regular water changes and what (if any) benefits exist because of regular water changes, and what are the negatives of not doing any water changes?

Any thoughts and scientific reasonings are welcome...please help me understand this better!

Thanks

Furbz 500l Cube

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 1:32pm CDT by Furbz

Bought myself a new tank!

it arrived on saturday and looks awesome!!

for those wondering...
its a 800 x 800 x 600 cube!

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Custom Tank

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 12:19pm CDT by theoholder

Hi, is there someone who builds custom tanks? I am looking for a tank with the following dimensions. L X W X H 710 X 420 X 450 with 6mm glass, 2 holes drilled in the back corners of the tank for 20mm pipe and a wier at the back over 1 of the holes. If anyone can help I will be very happy.

My DT - your comments, advice?

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 11:06am CDT by neo

Howdy,
after my initial newby msgs I've been gone earning some income which took me out of the marine loop a while.
I had some time last week and done a drawing of my thoughts on the tank I want to build.
The pic is of the rear.
Tank sz: 1000x600x600
Water level 50mm below top, with overflow box being 200mm deep.
I want to have 3 closed loops running at different times. Each CL will have 2 returns - one at back and one in bottom.

My q's:
1) Is this to much?
2) Will all the holes weaken the panes to much?
Comment/advice?

Water changes after modifications

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 11:02am CDT by magman

Two weeks ago I converted my sump to a DSB, thanks to the advice learnt on the forum. Now I wanted to ask, should I be increasing my water changes for the next six weeks, or continue as usual? I did also add about 10% new LR at the time

Piping

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 9:28am CDT by Antolo

Does anyone know where I get that blue PVC pipe and fittings from?I work in the Jacobs area in durban. Anywhere in or near Jacobs is perfect.

Happy Birthday Mahan

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 5:53am CDT by chikaboo

:party:Happy birthday dude :happybday: Have a great one :thumbup: Enjoy the rest of the day and may you see many many more!:)

I need help finding people with scrubbers on a 29g JBJ nano.

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 9:46pm CDT by King_Neptune

Id like to install a scrubber in my 29G JBJ nano, but I dont see a way past the central chamber filling with water all the way. Is there a way around this problem?

Any links to people who have scrubber sin their JBJ nano would be greatly appreciated. THX

RTN in process

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 9:00pm CDT by Nemos Janitor

Got RTN in process wiping out acros, monties and some closed brains. Doing all i know. Any suggestions appreciated.

All water prams ok.

Tunze Wavebox

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 8:24pm CDT by Mathewis

Im looking for a Tunze Wavebox in any condition.

metal stand

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 6:14pm CDT by werner5

hey guys what can i put on my metal stand so that it doesnt rust in the long run thanx in advance :thumbup:

Never use tap water

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 5:33pm CDT by riyadhessa

Never use tap water
If you're thinking about setting up a marine aquarium you will no doubt be encountering no end of questions and plenty of decisions that need making. One of those questions may be, Can i use tap water in my tank? Hopefully reading on will answer that question for you...

What's so important about water then?

Marine fish have a reputation for being temperamental in comparison to other types of fish. The sea is the most stable Eco-system on the planet and is able to keep its water parameters perfect for the creatures that live there. Your tank will become a mini Eco-system of its own, so it is only fair to replicate the environment as closely as possible by using only the best quality water you can. After all, why spend hundreds if not thousands of rands on setting up your tank, to use water which falls far short of the natural properties of sea water.

Natural Sea Water (NSW) contains hundreds of elements that are suspended throughout the water column and are essential to the well being of the animals that live there. Elements such as Iodine, Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Strontium, Boron, Potassium etc. These levels rarely change by substantial amounts meaning these creatures are used to specific consistent water parameters day in day out.

What does tap water contain that's so bad?

You may think that ordinary tap water is quite ok to use as we drink and bathe in it every day, but in reality you will find no end of un-desirables that, while not harmful to us in the doses that are present, they simply aren't suited to a reef tank..

Whilst the water is being piped through to your home its likely to pick up other elements from the pipes its travelling through as well such as copper, a metal which has catastrophic effects in a reef tank, fatal to invertebrates it kills anything living within an exoskeleton. The quality of your water will also vary dependant upon the time of the year meaning it would be very difficult to make consistent batches of saltwater for your water changes.

All this means is that the fish, coral and inverts you're planning on keeping, put simply, are not used to having these unnecessarily added elements present. this means they're not good elements to be adding to your tank. For example ammonia, nitrites and nitrate are all toxic to marine life in varying degrees and most invertebrates are incredibly sensitive to copper. The tiniest amount in your tank is enough to kill them. Algae feeds on phosphates and nitrates, the higher these levels are, the worse your algae situation can be (see pictures) which has a knock on result and will make your PH levels unstable.

The manufacturers of the major brand salt labels we commonly use, design the salt to be used with RO water. The reason they do this, is because our tap water supply is so inconsistent, it would be impossible for them to know how much of each of the trace elements to put in to the salt so that when we mix our water, the results would have the same properties as natural sea water. You would never be able to keep your water parameters stable, which is your No.1 objective really. This leads us to Reverse Osmosis......

So what about Reverse Osmosis (RO)?

Reverse osmosis is basically when water is passed under pressure through a series of prefilters, to remove particles and chlorine, and finally a membrane designed to allow water molecules through but trap everything else present. An RO unit on average, will remove 92 - 97% of the dissolved solids that your water contains. To remove the remaining dissolved solids, most quality RO units will have a DI (De-Ionization) pod at the end. This will then, as previously mentioned, give you pure water for mixing your chosen salt with. The DI filter is capable of polishing 100% of the dissolved solids out of your water on its own, but it's costly, hence the reason a mixture of filters are used.

How do we measure the quality of our water?

To monitor the quality of our water we use a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter. TDS meters measure the amount of organic or in-organic substances that are present in water. The higher the TDS reading you get, the more unwanted properties your water contains.
There are 2 main types of TDS meters that are used by marine keepers, 'hand held' and 'in-line',. The in-line meters are preferable if you have your own RO unit. These meters normally have a before and after reading, meaning you can see what the TDS is of your water before the filtration process and the end result allowing you to replenish your DI resin in plenty of time, and check your membrane is working ok.
Hand held meters can be used when you're buying your RO water from your local fish shop, or producing your own.

How much will it cost me to produce my own RO water?

The most cost effective way to use RO water is to buy your own unit.
.
Most LFS will sell RO water as well, but the quality of the water will vary from shop to shop, most LFS wont filter the water through a DI unit meaning the water will more than likely be of a lesser quality than if you owned your own unit.
So you can see after a year of buying water from your LFS, you will have probably spent more money than if you were to buy your own RO unit, for water that's of a poorer quality.
There are running costs to a RO unit, the prefilters which protect the membrane have to be changed at regular intervals, recommended every 6 months dependant on use. But these very occasional costs still add up to being much cheaper than buying your water. .

Would it not be cheaper to just use tap water???

At this stage is may appear that tap water is the cheaper option over buying or producing your own RO water, but in the long run this will not be the case. To counter-act the poor quality water being used, more equipment will likely be needed to reverse the effects of your tap water, such as a phosphate reactor. Add to that the monthly if not fortnightly renewal costs of the phosphate removal media, and the fact you will need certain additives to balance your water parameters it is not a cheap option. In the long run, RO water is cheaper, and the better option for your tanks inhabitants.

Happy Birthday TurboSnail

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 9:06am CDT by chikaboo

Happy birthday dude - Nice to see you "speeding" your way to old age - Snails in Turbo mode! enjoy the rest of the day and may you see many many more:party:

Twin arc metal halides

Posted: August 29th, 2009, 7:54am CDT by Tony

I got this off Advance Aquarist. What do you guys think of this technology

Twin Arc Metal Halide Lamps from Advanced Lighting Solutions

The Twin Arc metal halide lamp is one of those game-changing products that no one could have seen coming. The Twin Arc bulbs are a standard metal halide bulb which contains two separate inner envelopes. When the Twin Arc bulb is fired, a component within the bulb remembers which envelope was last fired and it directs the current towards the other envelope. The bulb fires the inner envelopes in alternation and in it's most basic application the Twin Arc uses two envelopes of a single color either in 10K, 14K or 20K. In it's most exciting form, the Twin Arc comes with in a dual colored bulb with one envelope pushing 10K colored lighting and the other envelope pushing 20K colored lighting. So each time the dual colored Twin Arc is fired it alternates between pushing "full spectrum" 10K colroed light which is most conducive for growth and 20K colored light which is most conducive to showing off and encouraging coral colors.

Coral farmers have long tossed around the idea of growing corals under full spectrum light and then coloring them up under bluer light for producing more colorful and desirable corals. The concept of growing corals under lights of multiple colors is not a new one, reefers have been using separate lamps of different colors as long as they've been available. Now the multi colored approach togrowing corals is easier than ever; if an aquarist is using a dual colored Twin Arc bulb they can easily switch between the best of both worlds using a simple timer to turn the lights on and off twice a day. We'll have to see how these bulbs hold up in real world applications but we'll be happy even if we just get a single colored Twin Arc lamp which lasts twice as long.

Word Doc

Posted: August 29th, 2009, 12:10am CDT by riyadhessa

Please can someone tell me if it is possible to load a Word Doc...if yes can you tell me how to upload it...

FF News: The Presidential Box--July 2009

Posted: August 29th, 2009, 8:31pm CDT by footprints

Footprints Filmworks--FF News--The Presidential Box--July 2009
by http://www.footprintsfilmworks.com
Page 1
This is a F O U R Page FF News Brief Bulletin so the footprints team suggests that you be nice and relaxed when viewing this bulletin. This is an Exclusive Interview with dictator President who lead Cuba for 50 years Mr. Fidel Ruz Catro.
Mr. Fidel Castro has been President of Cuba since 1959 and retired in 2006 due to a severe illness that lead to reports that he died. Mr. Fidel Castro has been known as one of the Worlds Greatest Leaders according to Voters on Today's Times Magazine. Mr. Fidel Castro is leader of the communist lead country Cuba and lead the Cuban Communist Party for more than 30 years. Mr. Fidel Castro has lead Cuba with Staunch belief systems about the country including free education, free health care, free public transportation and free advertising in all major newspapers in Cuba.

XXX President Fidel Ruz Castro XXX
Cuba in reality in an island just off the coast of Mexico and occupies S P A C E off one quarter that of South Africa with a population of 15 million Cubans. Cuba has a mixed culture of Spanish, Brazilians, Mexicans and Americans. Cuba is known as "The Honeymoon Haven" hosting tourists who choose to escape for a little while once they get married. Cuba is a Caribbean island with strong investments into Sugar cane plantations, development of fighter jets , media communications and tourism.
When the footprints team arrived in Cuba in July 2009 scheduled to inteview Mr. Fidel Castro, his brother Raul stopped the footprints team and said that Mr. Fidel Castro is too ill to accept any interviews. However, when the footprints team met with Castro at Havana Radio Offices in Cuba, he seemed frail and bleak and asked Abdulla to bring "Le Peso Montier" with.
"Le Peso Montier" was a history book that contained all the information about world leaders that Cuba has, including past, present, future and beyond. Among the names in this so- called"Le Peso Montier" was Batista, General Ruz Castro, Pedro De Niz, Sussanah De Silva, Omar Abdulla, Sakeena Joosub, Raul Castro and Liama Kells.
When the footprints team researched these so-called Cuban leaders, we discovered that the major community centre's in Cuba including Haina, Havana, San Tiago and San Mariana were experiencing waste dumping and electricity cuts in the community due to the neglect from the current Raul Castro government.
When Managing Director for Footprints Filmworks Omar Abdulla met with the bearded Castro at Havana Radio Offices in Cuba, Castro said that the interview should be quick and spotty and discuss issues not only of Cuban Culture, but of American Culture.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--The Footprints Filmworks Foundation--
http://www.footprintsfilmworks.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footprints Filmworks--FF News--The Presidential Box--July 2009
Page 2
When the footprints team spoke to the 81 year old Castro he coughed and sneezed and constantly asked for his medical prescriptions. Castro who said that his 50 years investment into Cuba paid off because the community at large realized his efforts of growth aimed at the right people in government and everyday citizens.
A local listener on Havana Radio, Nicholas West, asked Castro what his involvement is in the Cuban government currently stating that Cubans have lost interest in the current Raul Castro government and stating that the current government will probably be overthrown by U. S or U.S.S.R allies.
Castro responded to the callers remarks by saying that the current Cuban government is lead well, amiss, the constant hurricanes and floods.
"We can control our thoughts, we can control our energies, we can control our power, but we cannot control the call of mother nature." Castro said.

XXX Cuba XXX
After taking a few more calls on Radio Havana, a few business advertisements including Pepsi, Coke, FF News and Ferrari rocked Radio Havana.
Off air, Castro told Abdulla that he did not like the limelight and that we should visit him at home once we done with the interview. Castro who told Abdulla that his speech notes, key note addresses, post cards from American Presidents and other Cuban reading material was available at his home in Havana.
After the advertisements on Radio Havana, Abdulla questioned Castro about the history of Cuban lead government and the challenges that future presidents face.
"I knew Barack Obama would be the first African American to uphold the American Flag. The day I saw him on CNBC chanting American dreams to the greater American people convinced me that he would be the future president. It is unfortunate that Barack Obama has forgotten what the American dream is all about. Obama has gotten too involved in the glitter and glamour affairs of the presidency, that he has forgotten what the American Dream is all about" Castro added.

After the radio interview with Abdulla on Radio Havana, Castro told Abdulla to meet him at home in two hours as he was going to buy a few Cuban Cigars and continue discussions on the current Cuban government and its history.
When the footprints team met with Castro at his Havana Home in Havana, Castro showed the footprints team a list of community projects that he was involved in including, Newspaper Clippings, Trophies of Achievements, Presidential Minutes and Recent email certificates. Castro who said that the current Cuban government was in "Safe Hands" of his brother Raul.

XXX Cuban Cigars XXX
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Footprints Filmworks Foundation-http://www.footprintsfilmworks.com

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Footprints Filmworks--FF News--The Presidential Box--July 2009
Page 3
Castro continues by saying that the Cuban government lead by himself was lead with a profile of keeping to key policies in the government and keeping to key profiles of government members.
"When your key community people do not support you, you have a problem. When I overthrew Batista at the Battle of the Barracks in 1976, Cubans learnt, that my policies and profiles always pan out."

Cuban Flag Sussanah De Silva Omar Abdulla
Although Castro spent several years in Exile in Mexico, he says that the step away from Cuba, broadened his landscape of vision and creation.
"When I stepped away from Cuba, I got to realize how many changes can take place for the better of our country, for the better of our people, for the better of our foes and for the better of our international leaders." Castro said.
Whilst I was offered a cup of traditional Cuban Coffee at Mr. Fidel Castro's home, he continued our conversation by saying that the current Cuban government is well organized and lead, amid, the constant bullying from the United States regarding forced links of exports from the United States to Cuba.
"Cuba has remained an underdog in the world economy and support from other countries is always welcome. A few years back, the Cuban government lead a stokveld initiative aimed at growing the country beyond our borders." Castro added.
Castro added by saying that the stokveld initiative was an initiative that aimed at bringing Super Power countries together and creating leaders amongst worldwide governments. According to Castro the stokveld initiative was a campaign lead by President George Bush and sixteen other nations that included a yearly deposit of 100 million dollars in a Swiss Banking account used for the empowerment and growth of the countries of first, second, third and fourth world countries.
The stokveld initiative which was a yearly payout of 1.5 billion dollars to the country that was chosen in the magic hat of governments. Once a year, this balloon stokveld amount would be awarded to the country that required the most assistance and leadership.
Castro elaborated the importance of current governments around the world including France, South Africa, Britain and Australia to aid poorer countries in terms of education, military financing, development of transportation and health services.
When asked by Abdulla who Castro admires and "looks up to" he comments by saying that people around the world and people who live in villages and societies should "look up to" their own local community leaders for empowerment and growth.
"When I visited South Africa in 1984, the current government was lead well, and impressed me. P W Botha and his team lead a combined effort of keeping the country in bay. In my opinion the South African apartheid government was far more superior and organized as compared to the current South African government" Castro adds.
Castro concluded our meeting by saying that when he met the footprints team earlier in the day he was not interested in sharing his ideas about the future governments because he felt that current governments lead by Politian's was not in his hands.
"We as older or senior leaders have had our hay day, and our share of the piece of the pie. Now it's time for leaders including, Barack Obama, Hosni Mubarak, Omar Abdulla and Nicholas Sarkozy to lead from the front" Castro concluded.

The Great Drain - From Fresh to Reef

Posted: August 29th, 2009, 3:40pm CDT by Felcon

Hi Hennie

I read the stack of info on your website and the links to some of the technical articles posted there. Thank you for put so much time into your site for this hobby.

I am just starting and would like to solicit your guidance on revamping a 550L Fresh water tank. The tank is well braced and has a big gap behind it for plumbing. I am really interested in going the for the "Modified Berlin System".

I can see LR is accessible...but where would I find Live Sediment? Also the cleanup of the tank ... is there special chemicals I need to use. I am really keen to do this the Old fashion way... with lots of patience and as much DIY as Possible. There are also two skylight directly above the tank and it gets allot of natural light!

I am attaching some pick's of the tank and would like you guidance or comment.

Regards Felcon

Children's play area - Safety Hazard !!!!..boy dies

Posted: August 29th, 2009, 8:46am CDT by chikaboo

McDonalds, Burger king, Time Zone etc... All places with ball pits in the children's play area.
One of my sons lost his watch, and was very upset. We dug and dug in those balls, trying to find his watch.
Instead, we found vomit, food, faeces, and other stuff I do not want to discuss.

I went to the manager and raised hell. Come to find out, the ball pit is only cleaned out once a month. I have doubts that it is even done that often.
My kids will never play in another ball pit.

Some of you might not be parents, but you may have nieces, nephews, grandchildren, or friends with children.

This will pertain to you too. As I read the following, my heart sank.

I urge each and every one of you to pass this on to as many people as you can. I cannot stress how important this is!

Hi. My name is Lauren Archer, my son Kevin and I lived in Melbourne , Australia ..
I took my only son to McDonald's for his 3rd birthday.

After he finished lunch, I allowed him to play in the ball pit. When he started whining later on, I asked him what was wrong, he pointed to the back of his pull-up and simply said 'Mommy, it hurts.' I couldn't find anything wrong with him at that time. I bathed him when we got home, and it was at that point when I found a welt on his left buttock.

Upon investigating, it seemed as if there was something like a splinter under
the welt. I made an appointment to see the doctor the next day, but soon he started vomiting and shaking, then his eyes rolled back into his head.. From there, we went to the emergency room. He died later that night.

It turned out that the welt on his buttock was the tip of a hypodermic needle that had broken off inside.

The autopsy revealed that Kevin had died from a heroine overdose. The next week, the police removed the balls from the ball pit. There was rotten food, several hypodermic needles: some full, some used; knives, half-eaten candy, diapers, faeces, and the stench of urine.

Don't think it's just McDonald's either. A little boy had been playing in a ball pit @ a Burger King & started complaining of his legs hurting. He later died too. He was found to have snake bites all over his legs & buttocks. When they cleaned the ball pit they found that there was a snake's nest in the ball pit. He had suffered numerous bites from a very poisonous snake.

Repost this if it scares you!! Repost this if you care about kids!! Please forward this to all loving mothers, fathers and anyone who loves and cares for children!! What has this world come to?? If a child is not safe in a child's play area then where??

woke up to no power

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 7:09am CDT by FransSny

Trust tswane to give me a nice wake up no power! This after adding new ls jast night

Happy Birthday Grant

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 3:06am CDT by chikaboo

Happy birthday Grant - may you see many many more and enjoy the rest of the day:mbounce::happybday:

What is your preferred method for fragging a colt?

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 9:16pm CDT by ronaldgv

I cut some pieces of a colt coral that was getting too big, I attached the bigger piece to a piece of LR with a rubber band, it ended up splitting in two parts. I also tried super glue, but it doesn´t work, too much slime. I have the pieces in a box with coral rubble, but none seem to be attaching.

What method would you recommend?

GRACIAS!

High Quality LR for sale

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 6:40pm CDT by lanzo

Hi guys

We landed 100kg of high quality LR...this rock falls in the same class as figi

At an amazing price of......R150/kg

The pieces are extremely light....very pours:thumbup:

i'll let the pics talk for itself

oja...hectic coraline:biggrin:

Leather Falling Apart?

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 1:57pm CDT by scubaninja

Hi guys, my long polyp pin cushion has been closed for a while and i've seen it shedding so i thought nothing of it as my other leather happened to be shedding at the same time. But doing some maintenance in the tank i happened to notice a line on the leather, and i took it out the tank and i saw on the back it was falling apart (best description i can give). The other side seems fine even though i wasnt getting any polyp extension cause i thought it was still shedding. I have pulled a few slugs out a few weeks back, not nudis i think, but slugs type things. I havent seen one in ages because i took the chance to eradicate all of them i could find when i moved the rocks over but i suppose there could still be some hiding in the rocks. Now do i cut this bad bit off? What could have caused this?

where to get stuff... in P.E

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 12:12pm CDT by dv8

hi guys, i kinda stole this idee from rory. thing is JHB is a wee bit far for me to get stuff from so i thought it a good plan to copy what he has done and just modify it for peeps in P.E i will do my best to maintain things as well as what rory is doing(realisticaly at least ones a week), but not sure if i will be able to do so without the help of mods. but anyway, here is what i have so far.

aubrey sacks
anything plumbing, i meen anything and good servace. and good prices comparatively.

spar
nori, marina mix.

voltex
anything electrical, they are the guys who suply the suplyers. i even get my floresint tubes from them( osram 72 ) servace is average but them being so much cheaper makes it o k.

builders warehouse
pumps, or any "normal" d.i.y. stuff.

greenacres nursery
bonzaai plant food(for those with phyto plancton this is the best)this is the only place i know has this stuff.

ultimate aquatics
the only LFS in P.E prices are a bit high but they definately sell quality stock. i also get my R O water from them at R15 for 25L

fruit and veg city
don't be fooled by the name. fresh and frozen seafoods, muscle, shrimp,crab,prawn,squid,hake, garlic. just about anything you may need for making your own fish food mix

Women... always thinks the worst!

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 11:37am CDT by Tobes

Which Skimmer

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 10:08am CDT by jaquesdp08

ok,need a new skimmer for my Setup.. Total Volume around 1000 litres...

Tunze
Bubble King 250
Reefocto BubbleBlaster
H&S (2xeheim pumps)
Deltec
Aqua Excel
Aqua Medic Shorty

The Idol Marine show tank.

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 10:02am CDT by Bob the (reef)builder

So, we have finally got our display tank just about up and running.

And its pretty cool.

Its rimless, and it has a full wave system.

The wave goes up and down by at least 100mm and you should see the turbulence caused by the movent.

We also have two of the new Aqua medic Ocean prop 15000l pumps moving water. Its about 1200l total so the circulation and movement in the tank is fantastic.:thumbup:

I'll try post a video today.

led lights

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 9:58am CDT by marcel

Hi all
I am marcel and new to this hobby

A lot has been said about led lamps on forums like this worldwide.
One of the things I do for a living is manufacture led lamps. I want to use only leds for lighting on my first system. I believe the led lights thats available now is too expensive and also not the right type for this application.

Below you will see three led lamps the big lamp use 220 high bright leds, how much this lamp will cost depends on what you put in it. You can get high bright leds that costs anything from R1.50 up to R12.00 each.
Its about finding a balance between an affordable led and sufficient light output.

The small lamp on the top use a high power (1w led) with an optical lens, what the lens does it changes the light in to a torch like beam. The lights that are commercially available use many such lamps as a unit, hi power leds have a heat sink making it imposable to place them close together to create a single beam.

The third lamp use a high power led without the optical lends, not impressive, I put three of them in my sump.

I use all kinds of leds for different applications and I think the lamp for this application is the big lamp using 220 leds. I think three of these lamps should be sufficient for a tank of 1500 x 500 x 500.
My tanks full of led lamps at the moment for testing.

My tanks full of led lamps at the moment for testing.

The other things I do for a living is design and build automation equipment. Will post more on a controller.

Time travel is a reality

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 8:04am CDT by FransSny

It turns out that there's a scientific and logical explanation for why people (mostly men) spend so much time in pubs and only get home in the early hours of the morning.

The reason for this odd behaviour is based on Einstein's famous Relativity Theory. It works like this: it is a well known fact that the more you drink, the faster you move. After about 8 beers (or 4 double brandies & coke, etc), you're moving at close to the speed of light, and this is where Einstein enters the picture. According to his Relativity Theory, any body moving at, or close to the speed of light, undergoes Time Dilation, i.e. time for you in the pub passes slower than for an observer outside the pub.

Complicated calculations have shown that the pub becomes a type of time machine:- for every half-hour spent inside the pub, something like two hours pass outside the pub. A typical situation is: "OK guys, it's 8 O'clock, I'm gonna surprise the family and get home early!!" However, the moment this person steps outside the pub, the time travel effect is
negated by negative radiation from the environment, and he/she then goes:
"WTF??!!?? - why is it so quiet?? Holy sh!t!!! It's half past one!! WHAT HAPPENED???!!??" .and the answer, of course, is Time Dilation!!

I've tried to explain this to outside observers, but so far nobody (except fellow time travellers) has been able or willing to understand the sound scientific basis of this phenomenon.

ph levels

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 12:02am CDT by WAYNE HEATHCOTE

hi guys
I recently bought a ph test kit (nutrifin by hagen ) i think?
anyway i tested the water and the ph level was approx 7.9
I am worried about the level being to low as ive seen that the ph in saltwater tanks should never go below 8 ??
Are these testkits anygood???

toppdoggs new 1.6m build

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 10:51pm CDT by toppdogg

hey guys
so been planning an new tank build for a while now and here goes

DT 1600mm(L) x 600mm (H) x 700mm (D)
sump 1200mm (L) x 450mm (H) x 450 (D)
giving total water volume of around 900ltrs
lighting 2 x venture 150w DE MH 20k
2 x 900mm T8 attanics (planning to upgrade to T% soon)
2 x 600mm T8 attanics (planning to upgrade to T5 soon)
2 x blue led downlights for moonlights
1 x D.I.Y skimmer with lifetech AP3500 pump with needle wheel mod
1 x resun CL300 chiller with resun 2500 pump
1 x jagar 300w heater
6 x sun sun 3000ltr pumps for circulation
also going to run DSB in sump
will be setting up at new house as i am moving soon owner is a friend
going to let cycle for 3 months before i do the change over
let me know what you guys think
here are some pics

waiting for silicone to dry

overflow

overflow box being built

some live stock

overflow box installed

bracing

FTS with fresh water no leaks:yeahdude:

just another FTS

New cell phone???

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 7:32pm CDT by chikaboo

OK all you cellphone techno freaks! Time for me to cash in one of my employees talking points - all 2000 of them - since I subsidize his airtime I get to keep the new phone - some suggestions please?

Canon Camera Lens

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 6:06pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

Guys, please help- and yes, this is all Hennie's fault :P. I am looking for a better lens, and found one in Boksburg. The problem is, I need to pay the lady, but do not know her. Is there anyone (trustworthy:whistling:) that can pick up the lens for me and send it down to me. Obviously, once the lens is in your posession, I'll do the eft.

Any one????

Dusty Water

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 5:03pm CDT by Junz

Hi guys,

iv noticed recently that my tank water looks really dusty ( for a lack of a better word) and iv changed/added carbon and put some filter floss, but it doesnt seems to clear up the water....

is it possible that my sand may be causing this ? im using caribsea sugar fine aragonite.

how can i fix this, its driving me mad coz i cant take decent pics now

Controller ruined?

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 3:38pm CDT by gaboon

During my tank crash my aquatronica controller lay in salt water. Battery acid was visible. At that point I should have opened it up but I didn't care. Is it repairable or should I bin it?

Edit. Starting my tank again

Spot the Chitons..

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 3:16pm CDT by flipwhip

Just wanted to share some pics of what im pretty sure are Chitons.

Still busy trying to do some research on these guys, if anyone has anything to share
it would be much appreciated.

Cleaning Reflectors

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 2:22pm CDT by Pugsly

Hi guys - I have notices that over time my aluminium tube reflectors build up almost like a rusty bits here and there - how can one clean then up again? What can you use for it? Or does one just go buy new ones?

What Is This

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 2:16pm CDT by clown

hI ,

I SAW THIS STARFISH IN hERMANUS BEACH - WHAT TYPE IS THIS?
WHAT TYPE OF SNAIL IS THIS (IN HERMANUS)?KAN YOU KEEP IT IN YOU'RE TANK?

BEST REGARDS CLOWN

[FS] Pool Table

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 12:43pm CDT by Kunhardt

I have one of those Game Saloon Pool Tables along with cues, triangle and balls sitting in my garage collecting dust...
Will sell it for R1000 (neg) or trade it for some live rock, frags or equipment I may need for my new tank.

Shipping can be negotiated ;)

Evolution Man vs TV

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:21am CDT by chikaboo

Mangroves

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:16am CDT by Kunhardt

I am looking for a legal source of Mangrove shoots for my new tank. Does anyone have any or know where I can find them? I believe the Natal guys can get.

[FS] Cabin Boat

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:16am CDT by fleur

Its an awesome boat 16ft loads of space for fishing, skiing and crusing the sea/rivers it does not have a motor but can take anything from a 20hp to 130hp all depending on what you what to do.
The in side of the cabin folds out in to a bed for two great for a weekend on the river or lagoon with plenty of space for bages ect, the boat is on a lic trailer with good tyers.
The boat has got all gauges and steering with lots of stainless steel finishing.
Good offers will be looked at.
Ression for selling :) setting up my new fish tank and need all the cash i can get and i also have another boat so dont really need 2.

Cheers

Mounting waterproof end caps

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:05am CDT by FransSny

Guys any ideas on mounting T5 end caps without having to cut holes into the canopy / reflector ?

Please help me read the PH

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 10:53am CDT by Mudshark

I got the Sal;ifert test kit(exp 11/2010) to verify my cheap kit which always gives me a reading of 8.3. But this colour doesn't even seem to be in the same ball-park?????

New MPAs

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 8:12am CDT by jrwdive

It's not common knowledge, but there is an intention to have more MPAs on the KZN coast. Central Government has set a target of 20% of each marine biozone, with about 15% in no take sanctuaries. A workshop was held on 12th August, but user groups were not well represented. Only scuba divers, spearfishermen and rock and surf anglers had reps there.

A big consideration is protection of the intertidal zone, so it will affect collection for marine tanks. KZN Wildlife have created a new program which indicates where reserves should be placed, but it needs input from people who get their gills wet. There is another meeting in about 3 months and it might be advisable to have someone representing Marine Aquariasts.

Happy Birthday Tovanco

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 3:48am CDT by chikaboo

Happy Birthday dude! Here have a few from my fridge since its your BIG 50!;)

AfricanDive.com

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 12:43am CDT by Nemos Janitor

Met the guys from www.AfricanDiver.com to night at a social. They did a presentation on there free online mag and some amazing photography. Mods look this one up. We have synergy with maybe our mag????? . Link to this post sent AD.Com. Lets see what they an we have to offer.

Just to say Thanks

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 10:44pm CDT by Renannchen

Hi Just want to Thank Hennie, aka reef maniac and Eddy, aka Ed for the awsome reefkeepers they are for suporting and helping out fellow reefers like myself with a frag here and there and a quick answer on whatever whenever and always taking time on stupid questions and doing what they can to help. Just want to thank Hennie for the Tests he did for me aswell as the frags he gave me, wanna thank Ed for the Frags and the skimmer i got from him, Thanks guys for being gr8 reefers

getting depressed

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 10:03pm CDT by crispin

Reef wise this has been a hellishly tough year for me. I really enjoyed my tank through 2008 and with moving to Norway I always knew it was going to be tough to keep a tank here. But with all my equipment on the seas and taking longer than expected to arrive it was a long hard wait. I managed with the help of warr to buy a tank for knut ove in JHB and as I had crated and packed my 1.8m and taught a team of guys how to do it, I organised for knut-oves tank to come with my container. That delayed things and complicated it, but both tanks arrived in good condition and its been an agonising wait.

In the mean time knutove gave me a small 60l nano to look after. This has been the hardest tank I have ever had to keep. With no equipment at all as mines was still expected and the closest RO water over 290km away (one way) the nano has been a challenge to keep. Ive managed well though and other than being under stocked its doing well. Even when I did get my RO unit, it took me 5 days to find a solution to attaché the thing to the mains!

On Monday I went to Oslo to see about prices on LR and some fire Gobys for the nano, plus salt to start mine up when I am ready in around 3 weeks. Simply put ive had the wind taken out my sails and I seriously doubt that I can keep a tank in Norway. LR for bulk orders goes for 165krkg (R180kg) at its cheapest and as I want around 100kg through the system its just not affordable when I am not earning a salary. LS is a killer too, R220 per head for Euphillia (R1000 for a frag smaller than the one hennie gave me in SA) a piece of lr with 8 zoas on it was being sold for kr400! Its just hellishly expensive

If I dont find a solution to the LS prices (R1900 per yellow tang!) I will have to sell the tankL

Diy Phosphate Filter/Reactor

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:58pm CDT by Renannchen

Hey every1 just some pics on my Phophate filter i made from perspex with this super cool laser cutter at fablab here in Bloem, its called an Epilog laser it does engravings on about anything and you can cut whatever you want with it. The reason for me building it is because i have some Phosphate problems and found out about a month ago about this place so gave it a try its not a reactor but will do the job, still want to try this1 and see what changes i can make to it, got some phosphate remover from AquaMedic this wkend going to use a 1400lph pump to push the water through the filter from the one side and out the other and the phosphate in the middle so hopfully it will work..If it works im going to do the same thing with my carbon filter..So please every1 give me your thoughts on it and maybe we can make it work better.

Macro photography advise needed

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:18pm CDT by Reef Maniac

Hi everyone,

I'm planning on buying a macro lens for the new 5DmkII, and I would appreciate any advise / input from photographers who have used such lenses. The options are:

Canon EF 50mm f2.5 Macro (R5 195.00)

This lens is reported to be quite sharp, and is very useful as a general purpose "normal" prime lens as well, but is restricted to a 1:2 enlargement ratio. It would (I assume...) have the best depth of field of the three lenses I'm considering.

Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro (R5 995.00)

This lens has a true 1:1 enlargement ratio, and is reported to be very good. It is apparently a very good portrait lens as well. Most people I have spoken to advises me to buy this lens.

Canon EF 180mm f3.5L Macro (R15 995.00)

This is the only "L" macro lens from Canon, and as such will be top-notch quality (at a price, though...). It can also be used as a medium-power telephoto, but in macro mode it would (I assume) have the lowest depth of field of the three lenses, and is also the "slowest" lens at f3.5.

Questions:

The longer focal length lenses will allow me to be further away from the subjects being photographed (moving fish...). How will this affect the quality of the photos, especially comparing the 100mm and 180mm lenses?

Would the longer focal length lenses allow me to focus deeper into the tank at a high (1:1) enlargement ratio, thus allowing for more versatility, or am I understanding this wrongly?

Which lens would you advise me to buy, and why (assuming that I can afford any of the three...).

Are there any other make of lens (with a Canon mount, and capable of "talking" to the camera) that you would recommend - and why?

Thanks

Hennie

Project : School Fees

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 6:40pm CDT by FO7

Hi all MASA members. Thank you for all the advice and guidance on my newbie QA thread. As from the thread title, the newbie status is here to stay for a while with a lot silly questions, but part of attempting the project is not just to enjoyment and entertainment, but to know the why and how and more import is the DIY. This build is dedicated to my 5 year son, as he is interested in my tropical setup, but he wants his own marine and no nano will not do. Hope it is true never to young or to old to start ...

Anyway here is where we at ....

1. Got a tank : 1210mm (L) x 450 (W) x 490 (H) -old school with 3 chamber buildin filter. Will not be using it for filtration, but that is another discusion for later.

2. The stand and basic cosmetics. This will be build within the next weekend or so.

2.1 Legs : 50x50 angle iron 1000mm (H)
2.2 Base and top frame with supports : 20x20 angle iron
2.3 Malimine finish

Wave Makers and tank strenght.

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 4:15pm CDT by martin

Don't know if this has been discussed as yet??

Say a 2m x 700mm x 700mm is built in 12mm glass and this is a comfortable thickness glass for that size.

But now I add a wave maker surely that comfort zone of 12mm glass diminishes drastically - surely one would start thinking of thicker glass?? - expecially if the wave is pushing huge amounts of water to and frow.

Comments or a referal to the previous thread please.

canary wrasse vs royal grammar

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 2:52pm CDT by Loki

Hi guys

Just curious ...
Would a canary wrasse and a royal gramma have any issues in the same tank..
I already have a pair of clowns in the tank as well..
:)

Sponser Shops

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 11:13am CDT by Marjolein

Hi
I Am From Vanderbijlpark, And I Want To Go To Jhb This Weekend And I Want To Know Where Is All The Sponser Shops And If They Have Regal Tangs And Copperbands?

Transporting fish

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:42am CDT by jaquesdp08

hey, i need to transport fish over the weekend.. can i put the fish about 6 of them in a rubbermaid container the night before the move with an air pump and heater and then travel the next day for 4 hours ??

do i need oxygen while i transport the fish in the car ? or will the waves casued by the road supply enough oxygen.

thanks...

Putty - which type to use?

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:39am CDT by Fishfood

I've read some posts here about guys usings Pratleys.
Does it have to be a specific type of Pratley's i.e. Quickset?
Are people finding it easier to stick than the type you buy from LFS?

hair algae taking over my boyu tl550

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 8:58am CDT by Marjolein

Hi
I Have A Problem Please Help. Hair Algae Is Taking Over My Tank. What Can I Do? I Dont Have Water Paremeters Because I Dont Have A Test Kit. And It Is Quite Exspensive. Can You Please Help Me? What Causes It? And What Will Take It Away??
Thank You!!!:(

whats happening with the beaches

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 8:52am CDT by magman

Over the weekend I went with my wife and frags to vidal, and was a bit dissapointed at how the sand has taken over everything, it has almost covered the reef. Now the one thing I wanted to know, what causes this, and will it recover?

28000lt wave pump

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 1:14am CDT by IMarine

Hi guys i was at sams today and found a new toy he is bringing in its a 28000lt wave pump it does everything tunze does and comes with a wave controller and a mag that holds up to 22mm and a moon light and is smaller than the seio 2600 and one pump on the 3mt tank **** it moves water selling for R6500.00 +- now guys i now for pump thats made in the east it might be much to pay, but i can say this that it has a bit of vortex and tunze put into one pump as you can master one and slave upto 4 pumps

Rotifiers and green water in JHB

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 10:52pm CDT by Neil H

OK so i know its a far fetched chance but does anyone have rotifiers and green water in the JHB area.....

even better is there anyone in JHB who is breeding clown fish successfully ???

Help!!

[FS] Great Deal

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 8:40pm CDT by RUAN

Hi to all,

Tank :
The tank size is 76 x 40 x 46 Aqua H2O
with diy overflow
with black cabinet
Equipment :
1 Heater
1 dazs super light 3x39wT5 with 2 globes
1 box full of spares ,silicone, salt meter and tubing
1 Medium Powerhead
TS1 Protien Skimmer with brand new pump
1 Return Pump (2500l/per hour)
1 Sump with dsb
1 sump light with 2 tubes
1 hagen master test kit ,PO4
ca
NO3
NH3
ph
kh
gh
NO2
fe

my tank no live stock for sale

price neg
Regards,

the tank is still for sale needs to go fast;)

Algae Wanted... Willing To Pay!!!

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 8:09pm CDT by wors143

Now that I have ytour attention... found some pics on the net whille searching coralline algae and came across some pics.... Would not mind this algae growing in my tank..... better than the green struff... better than some of the corals that I have seen....

Check it out

I am a DAD !!

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 7:05pm CDT by Neil H

Hi All,

GREAT news...... today my clowns laid their first batch of eggs while under my care !! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I know the chances of any surviving are dismal at best, but now that they are laying eggs my marine priority has now shifted to learning as much as possible about this process and getting all the right odds and sods for the care of future batches..... ANY advice will be well recieved ..... and anyone in JHB who is breeding... please let me know !!!!:thumbup:

On a personal note it was most appropriate that i was on the phone with Dallas when the discovery was made !!!

[FS] MH globes for sale

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 5:11pm CDT by lanzo

I have 3x 250w mh 20'k globes for sale it is brand new...i used them for a week and then changed to 14'k

R400 per globe

And then i have on aqua medic 20'k 150w mh globe...i bought it for R1100 2-3 years back and discovered it last week again(thought i lost it:P)

R400

Aquamedic Turbofloter 1000

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 2:10pm CDT by Suhayl

Im looking for a Aquamedic Turbofloter 1000 skimmer with Oceanrunner 3000 pump. Must be in good working condition.

Urgent Need Of 6ft Tank

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 11:08am CDT by mahan

Hi Guys I Need To Get A 6ft Tank Urgently Even If It Is Cracked Or Damged At A Reasonable Pricethnks

[FS] Reeftek 150W DE 14000K Bulb ( One month old )or swop for 20000K bulb

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 9:27am CDT by martinhal

Hi want to sell or swop for a 20000K bulb

Blocked Starfish

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 8:38am CDT by jrwdive

I collected a Blocked Starfish up at Mission Rocks on Sunday. Has anyone ever kept one or have any info on what its diet is?

New Tank, will I be skimming enough?

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 11:16pm CDT by Hermanus

This is the Tank , skimmer reeftec TS1 and another rated I think for L

Sump Flow

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 10:43pm CDT by charlv

Hi all

Okay here we go what must the flow be over dsb tank size 918x600x620 sump size 800x450x400 and return pump Otto ph2000/2000l/h so the question will the pump work for return on my system:whistling:

how far is cycle in 1,8m

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 9:37pm CDT by Hermanus

Hi all ,my 1,8m is running for a week now, and before that I runned the sump for a week on its one while the Tank was busy filling up with RO. In the sump is n protein skimmer 20-25kg LR and a DSB. The DSB is seeded with some live sand from Ernst (Die vis dam in V- town, Thank Ernst). In The DT is about 15kg LR and 25kg bio rock and aragonite, seeded with aragonite from my old tank. Bought a small fish and it survived it's first 24hr. The first week the water from the sump smelled bad and the protein skimmer took out a lot of crap! Know there is no smell and the protein skimmer is not taking out anything, the fish is looking good after 24hr, I need to put over all my corrals and LR from the old 1,2m do u think I can start potting over or is the cycle still on it's way or did it cycle that first week? There is a couple of turbo snails also doing fine at this stage.

How much flow

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 8:29pm CDT by brentnorm

I am sure I have seen a thread discussing this topic but cant seem to find it so here goes. How much flow should I have in my tank. My system is 200l and I currently have 2 x 3800l/h Seio prop P1000, 1 x 2000l/h Seio prop P530 and 1 x (4000l/h) Boyu WM1 and of course my return Which I have dialed right down so not that much flow from that. Is there a formula to work out if I have sufficient flow or perhaps too much ?

The Cube tank thread!

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 7:42pm CDT by Furbz

after much searching i have decided to make a dedicated forum for cube owners to show off their stuff!!

its rather difficult to find pictures on the web of scaping and actual tanks and sumps.
i am hoping this thread will help people with cubes to better their own cubes by seeing others!

any cube, or cube-like tanks are welcome!
(with the exception of nanos, they deserve their own catagory)

so guys, feel free to post pictures and tell members about your tank!!

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

[FS] 5x25l water drums for sale

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 6:36pm CDT by RUAN

Hi

i have 5 extra 25l drums for sale good for transporting salt water

Sixline wrass and DSB

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 6:13pm CDT by Fishy Steve

I have found a really nice little sixline but i have an intank DSB. Will he kill all my little critters making the DSB pointless?

27th August 08

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 4:48pm CDT by scubaninja

Good afternoon fellow reefers! i am glad to announce that this months meeting will be joined by Glynn Foreman. He will be giving us a talk on his massive 17000 litre system. so make a space in your diary and come through. same place same time. Also if you have any frags you are willing to trade or give away please post here so we can organise a swap.Posted via Mobile Device

How to

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 4:22pm CDT by Antolo

I Have recently bought a tank and will begin starting it up this week. I want to get water from the sea and put it in. Is this alright? How long must I wait till I add my fish?What do I put in each of the compartments of the sump?

Sweetnsour's 200l cube

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 3:56pm CDT by sweetnsour

Hi everyone
Ok so ya how do I say this I bought a third tank on sat and I'm going to say this , this is the last tank I will buy and setup for a long long time!

I am very very happy this will be my first plumbed tank with sump!

So here's the specs 60 x 55 x 60 (LxWxH)

Built in over flow with two holes drilled at a 5cm diameter.

I collected it on saterday and gave it a cleaning that afternoon.

This afternoon I did the cutting of the steel for the stand , it is 4x2.5 tubing and will stand 100cm high.

I still need to buy all the plumbing fittings and pipes ( tons of help needed) aswell as buy and build a sump. ( I'm thinking going DIY here so all help much appreciated)

Any and all sugestions are welcome please.

I'm hoping for a total vol of water around the 350l mark buy not fazed should I come in more or less.

Also what skimmer should look at buying for this setup?

As for lighting I'm thinking 1x 150w MH ? Any suggestions?

This tank will be saddly be replacing the boyu nano I'm my room but still undecided if I will sell the nano or maybe just move it elsewhere in the house.

Help Needed

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 3:38pm CDT by mahan

Hi Guys I Need Urgent Help As I Am Moving My 6ft Tank To A New Location Due To Renovations So Am Thinking Of Buying A New 6ft So That I Can Do The Mods And Then Transfer My Tank Inmates At The Same Time So I Would Like To Know If I Can Stick 2* 6mm Pieces Of Glass Together As I Have New Pieces However They Are 6mm Is It Safe To Use For The Back And Side As This Will Not Be Visible Or Does Anybodyhave A Broken 6ft Tank Or A Good Tank Taht I Can Buy For A Reasonable Price So That I Can Midifythnking You Very Much

Tricks to get that corker photo!

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 12:25pm CDT by Mudshark

I thought of starting a thread to share tricks to get those pesky little fish to sit still while we compose that supreme shot. So I've heard that it's not cool to use elecro shock therapy to do this. Any other ideas? I had a fair amount of success with nori on the front glass this weekend, which I'm gonna shamelessly flaunt here, but I'd love to be able to get the shot without seaweed in the foreground.

Help with light setup

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 11:47am CDT by charlv

Hi all

Finished my sump this weekend. But need advice on the light story. I want to keep lps and soft corals please help if i'm wrong okay here we go 1x 250w 10000K metal halide 2x T5 blues. O sorry tank size 918 x 600 x 620

Thanks Guys;)

T5 individual reflectors VS One big one

Posted: August 24th, 2009, 10:44am CDT by RiaanP

Is there any difference on T5 lights if you use individual reflectors for each globe or one big reflector behind the bank of globes.

Most T5 pendants, be it 4, 6 or 8 globe setups, only have one combined flat reflector behind all the globes.

Does it affect globe lifespan?

Do pendants use one for compactness? Because an individual reflector is about 6cm wide.

Also the pendants mostly do not have fancy bended like a W reflectors. I saw one reflector that boost the fact that it got 29 bends in it. Are they really that much better? If Yes why do pendants not have them?

Reverse Osmosis Unit

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 12:09am CDT by HAMMY

Set up my R/O unit today only to find it pushing out way more "waste" water than R/O water is this correct?

aandtsociety reef species collecting for show tanks

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 11:37pm CDT by pkc

This was a catch from a little while back from Kens boat and also Daves boat,this was mainly for some display fish for the clubs beenleigh show display and than all the latz went to the guys breeding programs,that leaves us with none,so we are getting some akyndinos clowns now instead,the latz are to hard to get that often,they are a lot of work,most are in 35 to 55 feet that we can just reach.
There were two more pairs and a single found last time,but they were left,we never need to go above the legal limit for collection and some really have to be left for the times when some one really wants one in the club even if we were aloud to get some more.
The groups we chased last time are not known by the commercial guys and that is the way it will stay as the latz are very valuable to them for the overseas Aus indemic market.
There has been quite a few anemone crabs around of late,more than usual and in shallow water as well,a bit strange!
The video that is in this thread is of one of the pairs left behind of the latz in a bubble anemone and a single in a bright red bubble anemone near by,the camera only works to 40 to 45 feet and they were in nearly 60 feet,so it was a case of snorkel down quite a few times until the max depth of the camera was known,than the buttons would not work,any more and the camera shuts off and thats fair enough,it is supposed to be only safe to 3 metres.
There were 10 or 15 videos taken to diffferent depths to see what the camera could do,until the camera would shut off so after that we got one of the guys on scuba to go down slowly and this is as close as it would go before switching it self off.

These were for the show????

Drk 4ft tank

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 10:42pm CDT by Drk

In my first thread a lot of you cafe me advice on how to get rid of all the Hair algea in my tank.

Thanks everyone!!!!

I have redo my sump took out the liferock rubble and left the bioballs clean then daily they catch all the hair algea. they will go when the hair algea starts to get less.

I've build a scrubber and put it in today hope it will work.

Going to get a better skimmer.

Where can i get a RO unit from as the supplier i have can only get one mid sept.

Mayby in the near future i can see my life rock and not a carpet of grass (algea)

Newbie - planning phase and questions

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 10:31pm CDT by FO7

Hi everyone,

I am planning my first reef setup. I have a 4ft (246L) tank with a side (3 chamber) bio filter. Been reading all the do's and don'ts. Just a few questions any further advice will be appriciated:

1. Substrate : Crushed Coral (CC) vs Aragonite vs Playsand.

2. Filter media : most advice is not to use bio balls and rings.

3. Powerhead vs submersible pump

4. Lights - 4 or 6 T5 configuration (600mm, 900mm or 1200mm)

Pelidaba rock

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 10:13pm CDT by wors143

Ok so this is my question? about live rock base rock and pelindaba rock... All advice will be welcome.... and critics please have a field day... shout if you must and big an bold and red if you like.

I hit a couple of snags and will be posting pics in the next 2 weeks or so with my whole adventure so far... All i can say it has been an adventure but loving every moment so far.... Cracked and broke some glass... almost destroyed my RO unit when I dropped it.... and a new tank and sump with leaks and problems.... but that is my fault supporting the small home based business who turns out to be a snake...

OK to get to my question.... I have 40 to 50 kg of live rock taking up all of the space in my 100 litre tank while i am in the process of getting my new tank up and running... I git a few pieces of Lava rock that is being seeded by the live rock as we speak...

I am looking for something special "rock" as a feature for my tank that will give me balance and height? I am not able to source such a piece "Rock" look at a box of small base rocks at over R1000 and it is nothing to write home about.... I have managed to find some Pelindaba rocks that are amazing in terms of shapes and crevices and holes through the rock etc.... When I saw these rocks I knew these where the pieces I was looking for..... I am thinking of building my tank around these rocks.... The LFS guy advised that I indeed can use the rocks but with the rocks not being Poureous the will never be live rock.... FYI did not buy from LFS... Phoned hime for advice
???? Can I use the pelindaba rock in the tank and have live rock at a ratio of 50/50 in the dt and and house LR in the sump as well.... HELP Please guys???:wave2:

Another nudi noo-noo

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 9:19pm CDT by Stressed Eric

Heya all,

I've decided to bite the bullet and do some major tank changes - currently I have one of those nasty looking centre braces on the tank, and that's going to cause much chaos with the lighting system I have planned, that is a centre 20 000K 250w halide with T5's supplying the fill in spectrum and dusk/dawn fade-in's - so off with it, and I'm going to go full euro bracing around the top.... Yes, that means water out, and a day or two to cure, then water back. Luckily there's no livestock to worry about so now's a good time to do it.....

Anyways, I know photo's are always needed in posts, so here's a pic of a nudi I found roaming around in my sump, dunno what he is, where he came from, what he eats or whether he's a he or she - but for certain it's one of the most beautiful noo-noo's I've ever seen, tell me if you agree ....

Urgent Advice - Newborn seahorses

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 8:24pm CDT by AlbertMaree

got my first 4 seahorses on Friday, now I have 40 or so in my quarantine tank.
What do I do and what do I feed them? Help! I live in Centurion.

New member

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 6:13pm CDT by DerekWilkes

Hi there

My Name is Derek I currently have a marine aquarium at work which has been my pride and joy for approximately 20 years now.

It is a approx 400L setup which consists of 3 linked tanks with the same water circulation. The main tank has soft corals, moray eel, 2 nemos, 2 electric blue damsels, 1 blue cheak gobey, convict tang and a sea cucumber (filter feeder). The middle tank I have a baby octopus just resently brought back from the ocean and is becoming quite tame (he is the main attraction in the office).

My nemos have just spawned for the 10th time and up to now I have not managed to raise 1 young. I have tried all available food in my area but nothing seems to work. Fresh water rotifers, frozen rotifers, coral foods e.t.c. has anyone got any advice for me.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Derek

Achilles Tang

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 5:45pm CDT by Atilla

im really looking into getting a achilles tangs. this is such a awesum fish and my favourite tang.

so can anybody give me some personal advice regarding these fish???how many of you have these fish?? i know they are aggro and expensive and finicky...

Serious Problem - Tomini tang eye

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 1:51pm CDT by Annoying

Hey

I added my tomini tang to my tank 3 days ago with my spotted foxface. The powder blue didn't like the new comers and chased them for a day or so but now they're ok and know their place. The problem is that for that day the pb was so agressive the tomini and foxface hid together under a rock. Now when I see the tomini swim around his one eye is like coted with little bubbles... It's not like normal bubbles more of a slime that covers it that looks like bubbles. I can't take a pic because he is still very shy and when I move he's gone so what I want to ask is that is it possible that the eye could have been caused by the foxface that could have pricked him or is it a disease...

Thanks

Wanted Acropora frags

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 1:30pm CDT by martinhal

Hi

I am looking for one or two Acropora frags. Not sure of the correct name , the ones with round shorter branches.

Qaiser's Tank

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 1:27pm CDT by Qaiser

i currently have a 910*325*325 display tank with a 75l sump.i purchased my return pump according to riaan 1800l/h, a vibration pump (5000l/h), and hydrometer.i need to no what protein skimmer would be best internal or external.i want to go 4 external as my space is limited.i know u guyz replied already but posting in one thread would make it easier 4 u guzy to help me.thanks again nemo:thumbup:it makes sence.

Are wimples reefsafe?

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 1:26pm CDT by irshaad

Are wimples (moorish idol lookalike) reefsafe? Dont want a moorish but wouldnt mind a replica ;)

[FS] Marin Tank For Sale

Posted: August 23rd, 2009, 12:59pm CDT by corylyle1

Hey, I am selling my 7 month old Boyu TL-550 Marine tank!!

Below is a list of what is included in the price!!: I am asking R3500neg for everything!! Email me on corylyle1@hotmail.com or leave an offer below.
1. Boyu TL-550 (includes protein skimmer, return pump, , built in lights and fans)
2. Coral Chips (enough to cover the bottom in an 8cm layer)
3. 5kg Live Rock
4. 2,5kg Lava Rock
5. Seio M620 Internal Circulation Pump
6. Brand New Heater
7. Air Stone, Pump and Piping
8. Reef Suppliments (ph and kh buffer)
9. Original TL-550 Stand
10. Filter Media (sponges, ceramic rings, bio balls)
11. PO4 Test Kit
12. 1/4 Bucket of Instan Marine Salt
13. Extras include (siphon, AquaSafe, large net, magnetic cleaner, sponges, 25 litre drum)

Thanks

Sump help

Posted: August 22nd, 2009, 12:55am CDT by Qaiser

i only have a 75L sump with 3 chambers was wondering if u guyz hav any ideas on how to go about setting it up.external or internal protein skimmer

External Skimmer pump suggestions

Posted: August 22nd, 2009, 8:54pm CDT by mookz

Hi guys.
I have a Boyu G-2524 , with a DIY pin wheel 2000l/h power head.
The thing is it works like a bomb, but does give intermittent issues as i don't think i have made the intakes 100% and i believe it can do a lot better as a skimmer.

So what i want to do is buy a pump, the thing is i have no idea witch one to go for, or witch are the best or would be the best for my skimmer.

PSK-2500 pumps
AquaBee 2000/I recirculating pumps
PENTAIR 2200 55w, 2200lph
OTP-2000 38W
Sedra Pump Assembly

any suggestions?
i was thinking OTP-2000 but its a bit big.

Chemicals needed

Posted: August 22nd, 2009, 6:27pm CDT by Qaiser

besides salt and buffer what ohter chems do i need for a FOWLV when starting up

[FS] cybertrac. for the people. car tracking systems/fleet management syatems.

Posted: August 22nd, 2009, 9:35am CDT by wilsontravy

i have my own business here in durban. this is the new tracking sytems for cars/fleets, which was imported from the uk. it is the best in the market, as well as one of the cheapest.

2008
14201 Carjacking1245 Truck Hijackings80226 Theft of vehicles14481 House RobberiesMost result in car theft as wellThis is a National Trend

Its a World First !

Early warning function features in all units.

Active tag for arming and disarming of units.

Remote panic buttons available. (Final development stages)

The unit will test itself every 12 hours.

Remote firmware update.

Fitment standards are monitored during and after each installation.

Up to 10 days back-up battery live. (recharges in only 3 hours)

Circuit breaker type fuse, resets itself.

Intelligent vehicle battery monitoring.

Violation notification via e-mail and or SMS.

Variable no use times.

True speed violation.

Features currently being developed

Ultra-sonic motion detector.

Impact notification in case of accident.

The Managing Director
Cybergraphy Technology (Pty) LtdP/Bag X7297Witbank103530th September 2008
Testing Cyber Tracking unit
Dear Martin, The above unit was tested on 23rd and 24th September 2008 and can we announce that the unit passed the practical bench test as well as the road test.
The bench test was performed in the presence of an independent engineer, Mr. N Sliep who was satisfied that the tests were done on a high standard.
During the road test the control room was able the track the vehicles position within 60 seconds.
The control room was able to identify when the external power supply and antennae were disconnected.
Even the fact that the GPS antenna was covered with foil did not prevent the control room to keep track of the vehicle.
With a cell phone blocker switched on the vehicle was parked under a concrete roof and the blocker was switched off.It took the control room 3 minutes to locate the vehicle.
The control room was a bit confused with the procedure but after a while Robby managed to keep track of all the procedures and we want to thank him for his assistance during the test.
We want to congratulate you on a well planned system and a control room and wish you well with the marketing of your product.
This letter may be used to confirm the outcome of the tests conducted...
The system will be introduced at the underwriting meeting on 2nd October 2008

Chris Bezuidenhout

Cost benefit is calculated based on dead kilometres and excessive idling on an 14 litre 6 axle Arctic Commercial Vehicle

Monthly average distance traveled by a 6 Axle Commercial Vehicle : 20 000 kmDead kms 5-10% - assume 2% 400 km/monthAverage cost per km R 10.85/kmCost of dead kms R 4341/month14 Liter vehicle idling for two hours per day [1.4L X 2 =2.8L/day] 2.8L/dayDiesel Fuel @ R7.40/Liter R 20.79/dayCost of excessive idling per 24 working days: R 457.00/monthTotal wastage: R 4799-00/monthMonthly cost of Netstar system based on an all inclusive rental: R 538/monthSavings per month per vehicle R 4260/monthAnnual saving per vehicle @ R3156-00/Month = R51 127-00Annual saving on fleet @ 25 vehicles =R 1278180-00for more information contact travis at wilsontravy@gmail.com

Urgent Help - Need a heater mine dead

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 11:29pm CDT by Jcc

Any body in cape town can help me out with a spare heater. Mine dead and my tank at 21 degrees

Urgent Help - Need a heater

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 11:28pm CDT by Jcc

Any body in cape town can help me out with a spare heater. Mine dead and my tank at 21 degrees

Ramadan

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 11:22pm CDT by IMarine

Slmz to all our muslim reefers all the best over the fast,and Ramadan Mubarak

sketchup desighns

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 9:06pm CDT by Johan van Aardt

so i was asked to post pics of my desighns, it started with only a jellyfish tank desighn and became my study for one day.

id also like if other people posted their desighns especially if its about fishtanks.

will post more now have to resize more

Is a DIY tank this easy????

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 4:33pm CDT by emteey

Hi there,

I am toying with the idea of making my own DT.

It sounds quite difficult. I have been doing a bit of research ... then I came across this:

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/..._Aquarium.html

Is building a tank this easy??? :confused1:

Skimmer pump

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 3:44pm CDT by Tim S

Hi all, I am in the process of acquiring a Reek Octopus DNW 200 with recirculation pump. The skimmer is rated at 1500 litres. Can anyone who might have one, comment on what the best feed pump would be for it? If I interpret it correctly, it should be 1,5 times the volume of my system. Should it not rather be rated in relation to my return pump? ie Attempt to skim about half of what flows through the sump. Any advice...

Thanks

Live Rock Wanted

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 3:11pm CDT by Tim S

Hi all members, I am looking for LR in about 3 to 4 weeks time. (Capte Town)

Anybody have some to part with?

Phosphate reactor

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 2:16pm CDT by wors143

Ok So here goes... How much for a phosphate reactor and pump? and what to put inside the reactor chamber?

Transport needed!

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 2:10pm CDT by Atilla

hy everyone

i purchased a fish or 2 from someone in Cpt.

is there anybody heading in the direction of George from CPT today?

or will be able to assist me to get the fish to the airport!? the flight departs at 16h20.

PLEASE HELP

DT background Types

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 11:17am CDT by Drk

Which back grounds is the best? I've seen some using a plain colour background (blue, Black) either a board or painted. Moulded fibre glass have also been used.

I've made a background of cement and is looks greate. My current tank at this moment is full of hair algea but some places the background is started to be colonised by cualerpa. When viewed from the front it look like a Drop off or a rockpool.

What back ground is the best?

Speed services at it again

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 11:05am CDT by Junz

Hi Guys

it is with great frustration and heartache that im writing this... we are all to fimilair with the service delivery in this country and in times of the economic downturn i dont see how people can expect to have there way ( salary increases ) by stricking or burning buildings and so on

I recently accuired a beautiful SPS coral( thanks Triton) which was sent with speed services yesterday, i headed off this morning to pick it up and find out that they are stricking....i mean for crying in a bucket people, we are paying for a service, they could have just said before it was sent that "we are stricking and your parcel wont arrive on time". this really pisses me off because noboday gives a :001_shappy: about there customers anymore... and God willing that the strike will be over before the coral actually dies.

now i can definetly say that i will not be using them anymore, this will be the second time this has happened to me and enough is enough.

these so called "strickers" dont realize that at least they have jobs, there are thousands of people who are unemployed and would never resort to such measures.

i think if enough people stand up and stop using Speed services they might realize that customers want what they pay for.

adding LR an established system.

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 10:04am CDT by magman

Any idea of what % more LR i can add to an established system with out having to cycle again?

Also would I want to increase my water changes slighty after the first week for say 6 weeks?

Lights too strong??

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 9:28am CDT by sean_koekemoer

Hennie, Alan mentioned that my lights might be too strong, as well as a couple of other guys who phoned me.

My tank depth is now 1.3m and the lights will be another 400mm above the water, so in total I will have about 1.7m from bottom to lights.

Thing is, I had 02 x 250 w Mh, 02 x 150w Mh as well as 08 T5x54w in, that totalled about 1300w and I really had a lot of dark areas in the tank- you can see it on the pics I took, not using a flash.

Where can I get a guru on lights in this hobby that can measure/tell me precisely what I need???

This is the thread:

400 Watt Metal Halides - Page 2 - ► Sponsor Request Forum

SPS STN WTD(what to do?)

Posted: August 21st, 2009, 9:22am CDT by Mudshark

I've recently had some calcium issues in my tank. It shot up to 600 ppm as I reduced my alk levels. I want to try to keep them closer to 7-8 dkh for the very reason that high levels seem to demand higher calcium dosing. Before anyone asks, yes I have ordered another Ca test kit and will compare when I get it. Would tis fluctuation bring on STN, or should I be looking for other causes? If so, what?

Here is the affected acropora. It has bleached and has STN around the base. What can I do?

Brown Moray eel give away

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 9:40pm CDT by Drk

I have a brown moray eel to give away +- 30 cm started with smaller fish now he thinks its food

FLOTEK pumps

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 6:06pm CDT by lanzo

FLOTEK "for the professional"

Comes in 5 different pump models:

x3 of them totally reef safe
x2 fresh water and ponds

low power consumption
Silent operation
Multi-purpose
Durale
Ceramic shaft

It come with a RSA 3 point plug:thumbup:

S-1200
30w
1.5m pvc cable
1200l/h
5.4ft of lift

S-2100
45w
1.5m pvc cable
2100L/h
2.9Max lift

S-3100
85w
1.5m pvc calbe
3100 L/H
3.2Max Lift

Wait for it..........

PRICE:
S-1200=R200
S-2100=R340
S-3100=R600

Reefvideos

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 5:03pm CDT by keyaam

Reef Videos

Hey all

Some nice videos. Just thought id share. Enjoy

Graphite

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 3:12pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

It may look as if this thread is in the wrong Forum, but in time you'll understand.

I need to ask a question (or more) for the guys who knows something about Graphite.

1.) Will Graphite perish if submerged under water?

2.) Can Graphite be underwater for long periods of time?

3.)Where can I buy Graphite sheets or pieces (about 400mm x 400mm)?

4.)Is there different sheet thickness available, eg 5mm etc?

5.)Will Graphite give off a chemical of some sort, influencing the water parameters??

New camera

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 2:10pm CDT by Reef Maniac

I've been planning to upgrade my camera for some time now, and have finally done the deed :whistling:

Pretty exited at the moment - have just made an EFT payment for this little jobby...

I hope to receive it before tomorrow afternoon, so that I can play with it over the weekend. The shop I bought it from (ORMS, in Cape Town) promised to send it by overnight courier as soon as they've received proof of payment, so hold thumbs for me.

:biggrin: :slayer: :biggrin:

Hennie

Nemo

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 2:07pm CDT by Neesa

Hi Everybody

I have always been an avid bird lover, but since my 3 year old has a great interest in Fish and recently an obsession with the movie "Finding Nemo" - i have embarked on a mini project for myself to learn everything about starting to prepare the fishtank for "our Nemo" and to taking care of the fish. If there is anybody out there that has had the same experience and i am sure that with people that have toddlers they have had the same experience as me - please can you advise where can i start - what do i need to do.

thanks

Acanthastrea Echinata - Does anyone have these ?

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 1:31pm CDT by Apollo

Hi to all,

Do any of you currently have this coral , and is the care for this specific species more difficult/different to general Acan care ?

(Acanthastrea Echinata)

And more importantly ..... Any ideas where I could find one ? :P

odd shaped tanks, joining query

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 11:45am CDT by Neil H

Hi DIY people

if i were to build a tank with an odd shape.... a corner tank or a hexagonal tank .... how would i join the glas panes

What worries me is the surface to surface joint, in a traditional 90 degree joint, we have 100% of each surface in the join, see first sketch, however as we move from this scenario to a corner tank join and on to a hexagonal tank join the contact area gets progressively worse

how do we deal with this.... simply add more silicone? If so how does this impact the structural strength of the join, especially in large systems??

do we get the edge cut at a specific angle so as to achieve the same join as in a 90 degree join? if so where the hell do we get this done..... coz i promise builder warehouse will chase me out the shop if i come with yet another strange glass request, the okes know me by name there !!!

Joke video from Nemo's Janitor - difference between men's and woman's brains

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 11:31am CDT by jacquesb

A wee bit big - hope this works:
Enjoy! :thumbup: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:[www.phunkiphish.zar.cc]

Coraline Theory

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 11:27am CDT by shiks

hey all....so ive been pondering and trying an experiment....

My friend Dennis(another masa member) has very low levels of coraline in his tank....even though the system is over 1.5years old.....

My tank has relatively med/high level of coraline growth cos i was lucky with some good rock in the inital startup......my experiment was :

I took a fliter sponge relatively large in size(6x6x6cm) and placed in inside my sump opposite an exit pipe of high flow exitiing from my 2nd skimmer.....it took abt 2 months but with daily dosing i have managed to grow coraline on the sponge and allow it to spread over most of and inside the sponge......

Now my theory is if coraline : is a bigger algae than hair algae (cos coraline can grow over hair algae but hair algae cant grow over coraline) then in theory if i give Dennis this sponge to place in his tanks sump in a med flow area returning back to DT then in a month or two he should see more coraline attaching to his rock provided he doses a similar level of Kalk to maintain his calcium levels .......

How off is my theory..?????? will this work ...i am curious to try ;)

backing for back of DT

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 11:10am CDT by magman

My Dt is against the back wall, but where there is no LR, it does look a bit grubby having to look at the wall behind through the tank, and I think I definatly have to put a backdrop against it. I was thinking maybe a dark blue. What is the best to use, what colour and where do you get it? I can only really think of wrapping paper or something like that in a book store.

Please help or comment.

Zoa eating pellet?

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 8:49am CDT by wiesnerm

I have noticed a few times when feeding the fish in my tank that my giant Zoa (not sure if that is what it is called) closes completley and after a while opens up again. This morning I noticed a pellet (Hikari Marine-S) falls on top of the Zoa and then it closes. When it opens again the pellet is gone.

I never knew that Zoa's will take pellets to supplement their diet. :) Have anyone else had a similar experience?

chaeto in scrubber?

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 10:31pm CDT by Dale6

hi guys i have just built an ats its in a drum like mudsharks ,in the drum i have about 6cm of water wud it b wise to grow chaeto in der ?just a thought ur input would b appreciated:thumbup:

Light Choices - Which to choose?

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 8:43pm CDT by lIghty

Hi Friends

I have 2 400W MH to put on my tank, When I bought them they came with Veture "designer blue" bulbs, not rated but recommended by Hennie, unfortunately 1 of the bulbs the outer shield has broken, so I need to replace it/them?

What should I get? Thinking of BLV's but worried about the colour..... the 20 000K are quite cheap and I'm thinking they might burn with the colour equivilent to say 14-16 000K ? Is there anyone who runs 20 000K BLV that could advise?

building a tank

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 8:31pm CDT by RUAN

hi guys

want to build me a new tank want to know how much is it going to cost,+-
the tank size i am looking at is 50cm Hx60cm Lx60cm W with a overflow and steel stand:thumbup:

thanks

Pencil tang(Acanthurus dussumieri)

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 6:22pm CDT by lanzo

Here is the awsome pic's crispen took of a pencil tang

question that i would like to ask is:

What tang do i have then? mine looks like this one with the stripe on its tail:

Marks New 6ft Tank

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 6:18pm CDT by Kunhardt

Well its 9 months down the line and my current tank is full and getting cramped. So that means time for a new tank!! Hopefully this one will last for years to come :)

Anyway Leslie has had a stand, and glass sitting in his garage for ages taking up space and has finally convinced my to take it off his hands. Leslie of course will be doing the building of the tank, the talented tank builder that he is.

Some info.Tank is going to be 1800x500x500 giving me a display volume of 450L, and will be made out of 10mm glass and done in black silicone. I want to go bigger but not so big that it takes up all my time and it becomes a job not a hobby. 450L therefore seems a fair compromise.

The sump we are still discussing, there is a 1800x350x350 sump already made which I can use but am unsure if its going to meet all my needs. I am wanting to have a first chamber big enough to house a TS4, nice size refugium which will then go onto a big DSB, I recently read its best for the DSB to be 10% of total water volume in weight, so need to look at a DSB that will accomodate 65kg of sand. a built in RO resevoir is also a must plus my return chamber. I would like to have an algae scrubber plumbed in over the refugium as well. Any help and info on the sump will be appreciated. :)

I am undecided as what to do about my lighting. I currently have a 8x39w T5 unit which I would like to keep, but obviously this will be too small for this size tank. So am thinking of maybe building a canopy to house the unit centrally and fitting a MH on either side of it. Not sure if this will work or what it will look like. Any suggestions?

I still want to have a mixed reef, but mainly focusing on LPS with some SPS taking up the upper portion of the tank and softies to full the gaps. So flow will have to be worked out accordingly...need to try and work it that I have dedicated high flow and low flow areas of the tank for the desired corals. Flow will be by My current Seio's and some added Sunsuns, there was talk of CLS, but I think we scrapped it :P

Think thats it for now, I am sure Leslie will post lots of pics as the project moves ahead.

Mushrooms New Growth?

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 5:18pm CDT by Pugsly

Hi there,

I noticed for a few weeks now that on the LR that has plenty of mushrooms growing on it that there are these white "ball" like growths on it.

Last night when having a look it appears the bigger one of them all is almost resembling a new mushroom. (has the shape of a mushroom but snow white and puffy like) is this a new mushroom that is growing?

How do they multiply anyway?

Grotech

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 4:54pm CDT by lanzo

Hi guys Dorry Pets are now stocking Grotech products(made in germany)....but mainly its best seller over sea's

Growtech A,B,C,M

One of the most important tasks of marine water aquaristic is to build an optimal surrounding, which is adapted to the demands of the invertebrates which have to be taken care of.
This comprises besides light, filtering and water quality also a refill of the trace-elements which have been absorbed by the invertebrates in an optimal quantity and composition.
Corall A, B and C are 3 trace-element mixtures which have to be dosed separately and which fulfill all requirements of the invertebrates in every respect.
The composition of Corall A,B and C has been optimized in cooperation with experienced marine water aquarists and during longterm tests in different aquariums, so that with the combined use of Corall A,B and C an equal excellent growing rate and colouring of soft, leather as well as hard corals will be achieved.
Corall A contains Strontium, Magnesium, Barium, Lithium ...
Corall B contains Magnesium, Iron, Chrome, Mangan, Nickel, Kobalt, Copper ...
Corall C contains Fluor, Iodine, Bor, Molybdenum ...

Vitamines and Amino acids

Consisting of 11 Vitamines and 20 Amino acids. Vitamines and Amino acids are essential for fishes and invertebrates. Amino acids cannot be built by an organism itself, but have to be continuously fed from outside.

I have been using these 4 products on my system and 3 other clients of mine...and the effects it has on soft corals and LPS's are outstanding, the colors are more intense and they inflate much much more.

I saw a couple amazing overseas tanks on the net...thats uses grotech in conjunction with prodibio bio tim and bo digest...and thats the only additives & bacteria they add.

If you want to use them in a sps system(in conjunction with prodibio or zeolith) one should dose half of the recommended dosage:thumbup:

500ml bottles each....and one doses 10ml per 100L every week (it is really concentrated stuff);)

Grotech A =R260
Grotech B =R260
Grotech C =R260
Grotech M(Vito Mino) =R260

By the whole range for only R880

You save R160!!!

Aragonite

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 3:10pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

To all Sponsors

I am looking for 50kg of Fine (superfine) aragonite as well as 50kg of medium crushed aragonite - could be more. Please pm/e-mail me your prices.

Thank you

400 Watt Metal Halides

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 3:04pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

To all Sponsors:

Please pm/e-mail a price for the following:

I am looking for 4 x 400 Watt Metal Halides Units - the sealed ones with a bracket on the side- need to mount it on a wall- Complete WITH THEIR BUILT IN BALLASTS.
As well as 4 x 400Watt by 20 000 Kalvin Globes

Thank you, and yes, I am asking for your best price...;)

Our incredible journey TAKE 1

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 11:34am CDT by Goby

Helooooooo MASA members!!

Me and my Dad finally got started on our incredible marine journey. :thumbup:

A few weeks back we bought a full marine setup from one of the masa members.
Very Happy with our purchase and ja let me give you some details.

Tank
Aqua H2O : 1500mm(l) x 500mm(w) x 750mm(h) Water height = 650mm

Sump
1000mm(l) x 300mm(w) x 400mm(h)

Sump divided in 3 chambers (Modded the original sump)
The original sump had 5 chambers. They were filled with ceramic rings and sponges.
We removed all that. Don't want any problems with ditrus build up in the long run.

Chamber 1: Overflow & Weipro SA2015 Skimmer (2700l/h Pump)
I know that this skimmer is not the best and will upgrade when i fix the hole in my pocket:)
Chamber 2: DSB - 100mm Reggies playsand topped with 30mm Aragonite (Total height 130mm) DSB = 400mm x 300mm
Chamber 3: Buyo 10000l/h return pump (Water return to closed loop system)

My concern is that the flow over the DSB might be to fast? Please advice on this and suggestion will be greatly appreciated!

Lightning:
4x T5 54W (2x white and 2x actinics) Don't know the kelvin ratings as the details are not on the bulps anymore.

FLOW:
1x Buyo SP2500 (2000l/h Powerhead)
1x 10000l/h return pump into closed loop system

We still have to ad a few more power heads for optimal flow.

HEATERS:
2x 300w Jager Heaters

In the DT we have regggies playsand as substrate. We still have to add the live rock later this week. Its a mission to get egg crates.

The DT and sump is filled and now running. the only parameters i can give you now is.

Salanity = 1.026

I'll post some pics soon!

Aqua-Excel Skimmer

Posted: August 19th, 2009, 9:41am CDT by Redhawk10

Hi there, im looking at buying a new skimmer for my tank(800L).Ive had a look at an aqua-excel skimmer and its very well priced, has anyone had any experiance with one.
The skimmer specs are:
41cm*23cm*60cm(L*W*H),
Reaction pipe diameter:200mm
Outlet port inner diameter:50mm
Match 2 Aqua Bee 2000I needle wheel pump
Power supply: 220V/50Hz 33w*2

Hammer -Why does this hapen?

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 1:30am CDT by ronaldgv

I´ve had this coral for a couple of months, no signs of disease or anything abnormal, last Friday I added some aragonite to the DT and some fell over the coral, moved it a bit and no problem. I don´t know if it was concindence or not, but this head started to retract and today started to melt.

Any suggestions?

Hi all

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 10:47pm CDT by Drk

Hi im new to this site and like to share and get help from other marine junky's

Soft coral

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 9:33pm CDT by ml

Hi
I was just wondering if any of you have any large softies you would like to swap or sell. Frags are also welcome. Anyone in the Roodepoort or krugersdorp area or even JNB area is fine. Will pay cash and if to far I will pay for dilivery to my house aswell.

Hope to hear from all of you soon

Mornè

Lighting And Pump!!!!

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 8:47pm CDT by Qaiser

hi

Im i have a 910*325*325 with 75l sump jst wana know how much L/h pump i need and also what lighting its for a FOWLR system.

Thanx in advance

Info on via aqua in sump skimmer 2 sk-388NW

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 8:29pm CDT by Johan van Aardt

So i will be setting up my 310 liter cube sometime over the next two months, and i need a skimmer. I could get this via aqua for about a thousend rand and its rated too 250 galons, not sure how much liter that is. I know the ts2 would be much better but how does this skimmer compare to the ts2 or other skimmers of the same fame.

if anyone has any experience with this skimmer could you please tell me what u think about it.

thanx in advance

Storage shed

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 5:32pm CDT by shiks

Hey guys...with the No2 babys arrival looming ahead in 3 weeks or so ....storage has been such an issue.......does anyone know abt these outdoor storage sheds avail.....i found a company called mega huts in Pretoria but that dosnt help me in durban.......biulders has options but for like 10k ......anyone ideas???????

Hannes

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 2:08pm CDT by Hannes Smith

Hi, as you can see, I am new to this web, trying my utmost best to keep my tanks alive. I have two tanks a 50 and 60 gal. The 50 gal tank is going for about one year. The second tank, one week. I have a lot of questions and will fisit you soon. But firstly I want to congratulate you on a great web.

Pistol Shrimp & crab

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 1:25pm CDT by ReefMaster_SA

Hey guys

I have recently notice that I have a pistol shrimp and a red crab on my big SPS , I was awake till 11 last night figuring a way to get the creatures out

I now figured out that my Angel fish was killed because of the pistol shrimp
&
The gobie got attacked by it.

Also found a star fish , looks like brittel star only comes out at night.
+
A crab red with black spots on the big SPS

Need you guys info on what to do ?

The Homeless Hermit (Pg13 VN)

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 1:09pm CDT by Mudshark

Once in a while we're reminded that all of the inhabitants of our reefs are part of the food chain, and their sole purpose is not to look pretty in our tanks and be our pets.

I don't know if this hermit was ripped from his home or if he was attacked whilst changing shells, but without his protection he was ripped into by all and sundry.

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2009/08/18/Hi'

Hi

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 12:13pm CDT by charlv

Hi All

New to the site. I started marine in 1997. And then scrap the tank when we moved to a new house. But now i am ready to start again. I must say allot change with this hobby so please excuse if i ask realy dum questions. I got a 3ft 600 x 620 x 914 tank and so far nothing else. Need sump,lights and wave pumps and and and again. I've done some reading on forums and must say you are realy great thanks that's why i desided to regiter on the site.

Cheers All

Adam and Eve

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 11:01am CDT by Neil H

A priest is presiding over a wedding and tells the following story to the congregation.

In the garden of Eden, God was chatting to Adam and Eve.

God was trying to explain the concept of marriage and decided to explain how to go about kissing your partner.

After some lengthy discussion on the subject, God left Adam and Eve alone for the evening.

The next day they met and God asked them how it went.. Both Adam and Even responded enthusiastically saying how wonderful it was.

God then decided to explain to Adam and Eve the act of intimacy, he explained the inns and outs of the act so to speak and left them alone for the evening.

The next morning he met with both of them and asked how the evening went, to which Adam enquired God, what is a headache?

Morning sun on the tank - good/bad?

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 9:51am CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Hi

I have a possible postition to place my new tank in. It would be nicely tucked into a corner, right next to my favorite chair in the house, so I would be able to spend hours enjoying the two things I like most (except spending time with the kids of course...;))

Anyway, I have sat on that same chair this weekend, from early morning (thanx to those same kids I mentioned earlier:lol:), and wathced then watched the sun rise.

I realised I would be getting about an hours direct sunlight each morning on the tank, over the entire length of the tank. I think this is good but just want to run it by you guys first.

My photosynthesis periods are planned as follows:

Suppl Lights on at 11h00 (Actinics basically)
Main lights on at 13h00 (MH or T5 whites)
Main lights off at 17h00
LED moonlights on at 18h00
Suppl Lights off at 21h00
LED moonlights on through the night (varying some nights)

Would this work or must the photo-period be shorter if I have direct sunlight. Also, how would direct sunlight affect the heat if it was shining on the tank for about an hour in the morning. I saw it is from about 6:45 to 7:45

Why must skimmer be in 1st chamber?

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 9:45am CDT by RiaanP

Something that always bothered me.

Why must the skimmer be in the first chamber? Especially an In sump skimmer?
Is there any proven rules for this type of setup?

Or does this order originates out of the old sump designs where you had skimmer chamber, bio-balls and ceramic rings chamber then your return chamber. So that you can remove hopefully enough solids before being trapped in the bio-balls and ceramic rings.

How does this "traditional" design fits in with more recent use of scrubbers / ATS and DSB's?

Aragonite Questions

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 9:39am CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Hi guys and girls

I just have a few q's regarding aragonite, that I need your help with. Bare in mind I am setting up a brand new tank here...;)

1) Firstly, is it better to have the aragonite in your DSB or DT? Where would it serve the best purpose? I was planning to have playsand in my DSB, and crushed coral in my DT, but now I want to rather invest in aragonite, shere should it be?

2) I read one gets wet and dry aragonite, and also in different colors. Which one is best (new tank)?

3) I see Carib Sea also has mineral mud. Is it any good? Should one seed your new DSB with that?

Please help me here. I know that Aragonite is very beneficial to the system. If I have Arag in my DSB, then crushed coral would go into DT. If I have the Arag in my DT, then playsand for my DSB.

Which option is best here? :P

Little Sh#%

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 9:01am CDT by FransSny

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that the bed
was nicely made, and everything picked up. Then, he saw an envelope
propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, "Dad". With
the worst possible premonition, he opened the envelope with trembling
> > hands.
> >
> > .....The letter read:
> >
> > Dear Dad,
> >
> > It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to
> elope
> > with my new girlfriend, because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom
> and
> > you. I've been finding real passion with Stacy, and she is so nice,
> but
> > I knew you would not approve of her, because of all her piercings,
> > tattoos, her tight motorcycle clothes, and because she is so much
> older
> > than I am.
> >
> > But it's not only the passion, Dad. She's pregnant. Stacy said that
> we
> > will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods, and has a stack
>
> > of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many
> more
> > children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana
> doesn't
> > really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves, and trading
> it
> > with the other people in the commune, for all the cocaine and
> ecstasy
> > we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure
> for
> > AIDS, so Stacy can get better. She sure deserves it!! Don't worry,
> Dad,
> > I know I'm only 15, but I know how to take care of myself. Someday,
> I'm
> > sure we'll be back to visit, so you can get to know your
> grandchildren.
> >
> > Love,
> >
> > Your son, John.
> >
> > P.S.--Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I
> just
> > wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the
> > report card that's in my center desk drawer.
> >
> > I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home.....

Pics of Yellow Colony Polyp

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 11:58pm CDT by Fishfood

Hi Guys,
Was just in the posting mood and decided to post some pics of something I really like in my tank.
Got these Colony polyps a short while back - one was dead and covered in fungus (if u still remember the post) and I was quite worried about them.
Anyway I just thought I'd share my pics (seeing as though you guys love pics) and experiences and maybe get to see some pics of different types if you have.
Was just a few on the rock to start - now they cover the rock completely - some have really long tentacles (the bottom one has tentacles about 4cm diameter) and they look beautiful waving in the current.Spread like wild fire so this may be a problem down the line - moved them and noticed they had left two behind which two days later are now 6!
Anyway here's the pics and looking forward to any you may want to share:
(sorry bout the quality - I have a crappy camera)

Replenishing pod population

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 11:23pm CDT by sweetnsour

Hi guys
Ok so I've got a leopard spotted wrasse in my nano and I've had him now for about 2 months and I really thinking there aint my left for my oki to eat anymore,
How does one increase the pod poputaion in the tank and what can it try?
Help appreciated thanks in advance

lights for sale

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 8:43pm CDT by Esmond

Howzit Guys..

i have a 1,2M MH unit for sale..

It has 2 X 150w MH and 2 X 4ft T8s
Unit is brand new incl bulbs
Unit is Silver in colour

Price: R2300(this is a bargain)

Light PAR meter

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 7:44pm CDT by Nemos Janitor

Looking at getting a par meter. Has anyone used or compared both of these par meters. Yes i have seen the comparison elsewhere on the net but those were the old models.

http://www.csafrica.co.za/Lists/Prod...orm.aspx?ID=62

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/cat.../Q%20Meter.pdf

Now CS Africa have or can get both. But the huge price difference Hmmm...

@Bob the(reef)builder what make have you. And maybe a mini review please.

Macro Algae pH Question

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 6:42pm CDT by Warr7207

I understand the effect macro algae has on the water column's pH.

Is it possible to run Sump (with cheato), ATS and Refuge, on totally different lighting cycles through a 24 hour period, to maximise the pH effect of the macro algae, or must there be non-photosynthetic period for the entire system including DT ?

If I am able to overlap all four systems, I should never have a drop in pH due to increased CO² levels ??

Tangs

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 5:40pm CDT by Hermanus

Hi I have a 1,2m aquarium and is setting up a 1,8m just so that I can keep more tangs with my corals.In the 1,2 m there is a regal tang and it killed al the other tangs i.v put in, can I now put the regal in the 1.8m or must I first buy the other fish I want and then put in the regal last? Will the space be sufficient so that the regal will leave the other tangs alone, if I put it in know (first)

ALL NEWBIES: On new tanks!!!

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 5:28pm CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Not to be mean or not that it has anything to do with me, but I would like to bring budget under the attention of all newbies planning their reef tanks...

This is more directed to newbies as well, so please consider my opinions;

A lot of time newbies sees these great looking tanks in LFS and desides they also want a 10% share in the ocean, then they quickly dish out R7000 on a tank, thinking from here it will be smooth sailing... Well, you are wrong!!! :nono:

In this hobby, bigger is much more stable and does allow for more "mistakes" by the hobbiest, but bigger means more expensive - MUCH MORE!!! Not only on initial cost, but long term too...

Just to remind you, that the bigger the tank:

the bigger the skimmer
the bigger the lights
the bigger the water column
the more liverock is needed
the bigger DSB is needed
the bigger water changes needs to be done...

Can I go on? ;)

My point is just that before you buy a tank, you need to determine what initial budget you have to start up, but in this hobby unfortunately it does not end there... :P

Research I have done on tank sizes and cost totals to set up are as follows:

(bare in mind this is no real DIY, and not the best of the best, but averages...)

A nano cube system: Total Cost: R6000 max
A 1meter tank: R13000
A 1.2 meter tank: R20000
A 1.6 meter tank: R30000

and so on.

This total cost is taking into consideration especially the amount of liverock you need, the increase in skimming volume, the increase in lighting required etc...

So just to summarize, please newbies, make sure you budget right no only to start up with, but to run the system long term too... :thumbup:

Clean up Crew Alternatives

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 5:13pm CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Hey guys. I have asked this question on two threads as a post, but no one could answer. So i'm giving the question a bit more advertising...;)

We read recently and had a poll on CUC's that irritate our soft corals. Expert members like Reef Maniac and Anemone mentioned they do not keep any shrimp, hermits etc due to this reason.

My question is this then: If you take out cleaner shrimp, boxer shrimp, hermit crabs etc. what can you use in their place to do the same important and effective job that they do on the reef?

Who will dispose of all the excess meaty foods that gets stuck behind LR etc? Won't this become an issue if nothing is there to eat it?

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Clean up crew for DSB

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 4:00pm CDT by magman

I am keen on putting a few differant clean up crew in the DSB,

I currently have a few hermits (5 or 6) and prawns/shrimp (about 5), surface area of it is +/- 100cm x 45cm. Without trying to have more LS in my sump than DT, I am keen to throw in a few little wrasse, and one two sea lice. Just to confirm though that you do want a few googas to turn over the top of the dsb?

Masa members database of fish

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 2:09pm CDT by magman

If I am keen on a new fish that I have no experience with, it would be lakka if I can look it up on a database, even ask the members that have had experience with it.

Lets get a database going of all fish that members have their own experience with, eg. compatability with other fish, tank size requirements, feeding etc.
We keep it to the same format, and then collate all the info and maybe make the mod squad can make this a sticky.

I will start off with an example, and the abbreviations. Please try and stick to the same format and abbreviations, as it will make the copying easy. Even if someone has posted about the same fish, if there is any small differances, list yours and we can combine them.

Fish: Yellow tail damsel (no latin names, or lantin names in brackets after)
Food needs: all- frozen (eg- tangs list nori etc)
fish size:25mm-35mm
Tank Size:S (list S-small, M- medium, L- large)
Reef safe: G (G-green safe, O-orange 50/50, R-Red no)
RRP: R90-R150 (price from LFS-don't want members getting ripped off)
Hardiness: 1 (1=begginer, 2= needs more care 3= only for experienced like moorish idols)
Looks: Electric blue with yellow tail
Pros: cheap, hardy, small, easy to feed.
Cons:can be dominant over a small area or towards other fish, especially other damsels
Tips/notes: should dominance occur, move rocks around a bit.
Members with past experience: Magman

new 1.5m reef tank

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 2:06pm CDT by S2

hey guys gonna be starting a new reef tank and need advice the ds is 1500 long, 800 high, 600 wide. the sump 1200 long, 460 high, 500 wide. Went window shopping for a good skimmer and wanted to get a deltec but way too much for my budget any recommendations i have seen reeftec range to but really want a deltec and gonna have to save big time, would like to know which deltec skimmer would work best for my tank and any opinions on which reeftec skimmer would equal the performance of the deltec. And secondly could i use beach sand in my dsb and dt ,i wanted to 2cm in the dt and 15cm in the dsb is this correct and if i cannot use the beach sand whats the best alternative thanks guys.:wave2:

[FS] tank etc

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 11:55am CDT by floh

Guys i have 4x 250W Aquamedic pendants for sale. (R2000)

A Korralin Biodentirator reactor with eheim pump.(R1000)

And a 2000x1100x900 tank with oak cabinet, the tank will come with the tunze stream pump as the clip is stuck onto the tank. (R7000 neg)

Ideal DSB SIZE or footprint

Posted: August 17th, 2009, 9:43am CDT by RiaanP

We all agree DSB's are good, and everybody wants one.

A lot are said about

depth (around 12-15cm)
particle size ( finer the better)

But what about the most important part - the square size of the DSB, basically the length multiplied by the width

Summarizing all 3 sticky threads on DSB's

Sihaya - Quote:

9 to 16 sq cm of sand bed surface per liter of water

Ok, I'm taking middle point of 12.
Galibore - Quote:

The generally recommended surface area of the DSB is considered to be about 3/4 the surface area of your main tank
Dallasg / Ron Shimek - More about the L*W*h multiplied by the particle size to calculate total surface area for bacteria to live on.

Using Sihaya and Galibore suggestions on a 1.5 by 600mm by 600mm tank gives us

Sihaya - 1.5*.6*.6 - 540L (using 12cm square) as middle point - 6480cm2. Providing sump is also .6 wide that gives me that the DSB must be 108cm long.
Galibare - 1.5*.6*3/4 = 6750. same .6 wide sump and that gives a sump that must be 112.5 long.
Dallasg / Ron Shimek - Unless I missed it he does not go into the width by length option but more into the particle size in a certain area. So let us exclude this option. His result, the finer the better. So we will only keep that info.

So both Sihaya and Galibore recommendations are in this setup the same (ok 4.5cm difference - so what?). I think Sihaya option is better as it allows for deeper and shallower tanks.

Conclusion:
On a 1.5m tank, a DSB of 30*45cm will not work. It will work, but not as effective as a 110*60cm DSB

Interesting note: On Ron Shimek page, He mention adding Nasarius snails (or any sand burrowing snail in my opinion) at a ratio of 2 to 5 per square foot (929cm2).
That will be as in above example 1.1*0.6m = 6600 / 929 = 7.1, multiplied by 2-5 snails, between 14 and 35 snails!

brisbane aquarium society scuba/snorkelling and collecting gear pages

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 5:35am CDT by pkc

If this is of any help to any one thinking of hiting our shores for some holiday snorkelling or scube than we have a page for our area with all sites for the south east on that page for a dive/travel guide sought of thing.
Us it or not it is up to you.

South East Queensland snorkelling & scuba diving sites

And a little info on collecting gear needed.

marine aquarium fish and invert collecting

My "Complex" system plans

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 12:26am CDT by lIghty

Hi all

So got my A into G this weekend and started to setup my reef tank after moving about 8 weeks ago:nono:, but as some of you may know I'm a lazy @ss and love feddling with electronics systems, mechanics and taking long walks on the beach....... I find a decent rock pool ofcause:lol:

So I'll be setting up my system as follows, sorry for the bad scetch:whistling:

Basically its a normal setup with a extra 1000L flow bin (plastic container) outside, Making total Vol. about 1600L. The flow bin's maximum water level will be above the the water level of the DT inside, so that water will be pumped up from the sump inside to the flow bin and OVERFLOW back into the DT, the reason: so that all the amphipods, copepods etc won't be shreaded by going through a pump. Water will still be pumped directly from the sump the the DT as well, as in a "normal" system.......

You may've also noticed the "NSW Storage bin", this it where I will store my NSW and will let my controller to the water changes, which raises a bunch of questions....

So I here is where I could use your advise / inside / crits.

Notes:

There will be syphon breaks where required.
The controller will check levels as to not increase the SG by replacing evapouration with SW.
Bins will be insulated using about 120mm thick polystyrene sheets

Questions:

If I had to store NSW in a realitively dark spot area with a small skimmer, would this be ok?
How much water should I change and how often, was thinging of about 50 - 70 ltrs a day, everyday?
Temperature - I will be monitoring the temps of the water on all the tanks and will shut down the circulation if the temp is out of spec, preventing it to cause the DT temp to swing. would a 1 deg C be ok for the limits or is this to much?
The "overflow" pipe from Flow bin to the DT will be a 50mm pipe, what sort of flow do you thing I will require going through the flow bin, bearing in mind I'm probably going to place a power head in the the bin to increase circulation within the bin.
As the bin will be insulated using polystyrene, there will be little light, I was thinking of using a 45W energy saver to provide some light for the cheato?

If you have any comments please post. :wave2:

My tank

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 10:03pm CDT by cpc_h

Howzit guys?
so my tank has been running for 29 days now and so far so good! i added a pair of clowns yesterday and they seem to be happy. ive got a sunsun 3000l/h power head in the dt and just wondering if this is sufficient/too much? i started a small algae scrubber about 5 days ago and algae is growing already :) it might not be needed but its quite fun to "fiddle". my identified livestock :) consists of 2 blue legged hermits, 1 turbo snail and 2 clowns. my unidentified livestock so far is a small brown crab with a white spot on it and also a small black and white striped snail, any ideas?

how deep does dsb need to be?

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 9:54pm CDT by Hermanus

Hi,
I have decided to put up a 1,8m tank and want to make sure that the filter system is right from the start. My DSB is 39cmX37cm and between 11 - 12cm deep. First compartment will have a protein skimmer with live rock and the second compartment will be the DSB and 3rd compartment the return pump. Is DSB deep enough? I've used arragonite sand for the DSB.

minimum light for acropora

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 9:12pm CDT by Atilla

hey guys

this thread is not intended to keep corals with minimum light.

about a month ago i placed 4 very small acropora frags in a refugium under normal T8 and they are starting to encrust. There are just 4 tubes (2 blue and 2 white).

Now my question is this...what would be the absolute minimum light to keep acroporas alive and well. these frags are alive and encrust very slowly and are obviously not growing fast.

Revenge of the Zoa

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 7:47pm CDT by jrwdive

I went down to Isipingo last Monday with my kids as the water was not so good for deeper diving. Caught a couple of Convict tangs and then decided to collect a few Zoas to see how they would do in the tank.

I should have kept my diving mask on. The second batch squirted directly into my eye. Even though I immediately rinsed it in a rock pool, I have spent a week feeling like I had blinked over a pinch of ground glass. School fees I suppose.

got the bells.... now what about the whistles?

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 2:50pm CDT by wors143

Ok so i have the power heads and the skimmers, vibration pumps, sump, tank and lights....

So my question is what else to get?
picked up my RO unit yesterday so it seems like I have most basic equipment....

Phosphate reactor? is it essential? what are the benefits? is it a must?
Carbon reactor? is it essential? what are the benefits? is it a must?

What else will you guys suggest?

Planning on Fish, live rock and some lps a nenny or two and some clams.

I would like to say thank you to all so far for all the advice and help.... It is great to hear all the views and opinions much better than going to a LFS and getting a sales pitch and buying for the simple reason becoz I can....:yeahdude:

Bullet's marine tank

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 2:34pm CDT by Tobes

Bullet asked me to post his pics on his behalf - I also took the liberty to start a thread on his tank. If you want to change the name of the thread, ask one of the mods to help ;)

This was his message:

"Hi Tobes,

Herewith the pictures showing where I stand with my first marine tank. I would appreciate your comments on the setup. I am busy making the cover under which I will have four T5 tubes.

I am hoping to get it up and running during the course of next week.

Really appreciate you helping me to get the pictures posted.

Cheers,keep well.

Bullett"

[FS] Great Deal

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 12:31pm CDT by RUAN

price neg
Regards,

Using the correct colour Bulb for cheato

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 10:18am CDT by ziyaadb

Hi all

Just thought i would share what i experienced recently with my cheato growth. I was using a cool white 20W energy saver - 4000K and my cheato was not really growing. I changed the bulb to a daylight 26W energy saver - 6400K bulb and the cheato really took off and started growing at a phenomenal rate.

On that same note i had a ton of cyano and green algae growing in my sump with the 4000k bulb. So i am sure that the 4000k bulb will work awesome for an algae scrubber.

Coralline algae

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 9:26am CDT by Annoying

Hey everyone:wave2:

I just want to ask the question if it's possible that you can get green caroline algae?.. The reason why I ask is that there is this green algae growing in my tank and I have a red slime bloom (still in cycle) and it doesn't cover the green algae but covers everything else. The algae is also very hard.

Thanks:thumbup:

[FS] Green star Polops for sale

Posted: August 16th, 2009, 9:16am CDT by ml

:wave2:HI

I have 10 GSP frags for sale and they are on spesial buy any 2 and get 1 free!!

Morne
Here is the fraggs

Here is the mother

brisbane aquarium society 26th july collecting trip pics & video

Posted: August 15th, 2009, 6:57am CDT by pkc

this trip down the coast is to big a file to fit,here it is on our site.
collecting trip down the coast,26th of july, pics and videos

sand lice on dsb

Posted: August 15th, 2009, 11:13pm CDT by martinkeyser

hey there
i have recntly started my dsb and got some sea sand from a friend who visited mozambique. he said to me that something bit him while he was busy getting the sand.
never the less i added the sand to my dsb and later that day i noticed what looked like small sand lice. small black specks that climbes onto the sides.
can it be and can this be good or bad.
help will be appreciated
thanx

Tazz' Boyu TL-450

Posted: August 15th, 2009, 11:08pm CDT by Tazz

Hi Guys,

Attached three random photos of what I purchased today I actually asked for two green chromis and two damsels, but I got the fish shown in the last pic instead of the other green damsel, they oke must of thought they looked alike, I'm actually a bit cheesed. I know damsels are very territorial and that they wont easily accept new fish in the tank, although I'm happy with the fish now, will rather add more corals. I have also attached a pic of the polyps I bought.

Sweetnsour's 114L Hex nano bank breaker

Posted: August 15th, 2009, 10:52pm CDT by sweetnsour

Hi everyone

So the bug i guess has bitten harder than expected, today i flushed out my freshwater hex tank and have decided that its time to convert it to Marine.

tank specs are : 114L
60cm (h) x 25cm (w) panels on each side x6 obviously

i have removed the top as it was mirror and the shiny bit have come off which looks terrible.

i also painted the mirrors on each panel at the top as they were also peeling so to say.

i used normal suede pva as i think it will look much much better once dry.

im pretty sure its not aquarium safe but hey it on the outside and i not too worried should it peel off ill just paint it again.

here are the two pics i took about an hour ago.

Jellyfish in an aqaurium or jellyfish tank

Posted: August 15th, 2009, 5:02pm CDT by Johan van Aardt

Has anyone ever had a jellyfish tank tried to keep them? Or had any succes, my reason for asking is because here close to were i stay there is alot of small jellyfish and i think it would be a awesome experience having a aqauruim with them in

New Cummer!!

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 12:51am CDT by Qaiser

Jst popin in to say hi.Im new to the hobbie and need help.hope u guyz can assist me as to the equipment i require and wher to start

tank base thickness

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 9:36pm CDT by Neil H

Hi Hennie,

Could you give me some sort of indication as to why we double up on the base thickness of a tank?

My gut feel is that this is because we pile a whole bunch of rock on the bottom of the tank and the extra sheet helps if there is a rock fall of some sort??? given these sheets are usually joined with silicone, is there additional strength in the double base??

Ammonia Problem

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 7:24pm CDT by Fishfood

Please someone help me out here.
I have never had a problem with Ammonia b4 so this is really frustrating.
For those that don't know we had a power failure about 4 weeks ago.
Luckily everything survived.My water quality seemed perfect before hand and everything I put it seemed to thrive
Then the power failure and ever since I have struggled with £"£$$"£ ammonia!
I was half expecting a mini cycle but I mean come on this is 4 weeks later already.
I have obviously been doing lots of water changes but honestly if the ammonia isn't getting converted you will have high ammonia by the very next day.
Obviously I cannot do water changes every day until who knows when.
I also started to wonder if I wasn't prolonging this mini cycle by doing the water changes just as you would if you did water changes at start up.
Recently I started using Prime to get rid of the ammonia (apparently it converts it to a less toxic form that gets used easier by the biological filter.
Perhaps this is the better way to go.
Surely if I do water changes every day then sufficient bacteria to convert the ammonia will never grow because I am always taking out it's food source.
Checked my ammonia again today.Got a reading between 0 and 0.25 (not good seeing as though even 0.1 can be toxic)
Fish are all doing fine - as if nothing is wrong
Corals - some (softies unsurprisingly) and birds nest (surprisingly) doing fine but things like frog spawn (which I know can be sensitive) don't look sick but don't look happy like they used to.
No recession which is a plus but for e.g. frogspawn used to eat pieces of squid in minutes - now it hasn't eaten since the incident.
It's definitely not overfeeding - which I've never done before - I've cut back to feeding the fish once a day.
I haven't really been feeding the corals much at all - the only thing I have which needs regular feeding is my sun coral but lately he has been eating less than in the past so it's not that.
So what is this? - is this a mini cycle?
If so why am I still getting ammonia readings after 4 weeks - surely by now I would be getting high nitrite reading (zero!)? as the next stage.
Four weeks into my original cycle ammonia and nitrite were already at zero.
Perhaps some sponges etc are dying in the live rock from the outtage?
Could things like a leather coral release toxins that show up on ammonia readings (far fetched maybe but I have to consider everything)?
Apart from that I have stuck to all the advice given to me - I have done water changes,added ammonia absorbers,I have an abundance of macro algae growing in the hopes of absorbing nutrients,put in an airstone etc)
Only plus side is it has seemed to come down slightly (shrimps weren't even moving or eating at one stage)
Also have used different test kits to same result.
Parameters
Ammonia - 0.1 (approximately)
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
P.H - 8.3
S.G. - 1.025
Temp - 28
KH - 8
Calcium - +-420
Phosphate - 0

All I want is my tank back how it was -
so please if you have some explanations or advice it will be most appreciated

remove siliconed glass panes??

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 6:55pm CDT by Furbz

hi guys
i have a unique problem.
i bought tobes old nano for my boet to get into the hobby.
great tank this!

however, the CLS holes were closed off by siliconing a small pane of glass to over the holes.
now my problem is i want to remove these panes and plumb in a CLS. how can i remove these panes without cracking the back glass??

here is a pic. you can see the holes that have been sealed. i only want to remove the back 2 panes. but i am scared of cracking the back glass.
please help!!

Display tank gravel

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 6:39pm CDT by caddy

Quick question. Is it better to have gravel or just a bare bottom tank?

Cleaning of 1000L flow bins

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 5:57pm CDT by Pete

Hi all need some quick advice. Got myself 1000L flow bins. Just need to know what I can throw in then to clean them out as they had balsamic vinager in and some of it has dried on the sides and the bottom. Have got a hard broom and water but not all comming of. Would it be safe to put pool acid in them and once cleen rinse them out a couple of times with water?

Fat Albert

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 4:20pm CDT by Easy Tiger

Thought you guys might enjoy these pictures of "Fat Albert", the Frankenstein of my tank. :yeahdude:

Yes, I do feed him. Yes, that cigarette was smoked shortly afterwards.

Also, have an excuse for the algae - rugby the last 3 Saturdays!

Enjoy!

Live Rock turning white

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 4:19pm CDT by Zuna

Hey Guys

my live rock is turning white from being red and purple.
is that normal or is something wrong

Message to MJ fans

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 3:18pm CDT by Tobes

Powerful Message from Stevie Wonderto Michael Jackson Fans

..... . .. . . . ...
.. . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. .. . . ..
... ... .. ... ... ... ... ... ...... ... ... ... .... ..... .. .
.. . . . .. . . . ..
... . .... ... .... .... ...
...... .... .... .... ..... .... ..... .. . . .... ....
. .. .
. . .. . . . ...
....... ... ... ... .. ... ...... ... .. .... ... ... .... ....
. .. .. .
.. ....
.. . . . . . .. .. . ..
.. .... .. ... ... ....... ..... .....

Beautiful hey?
It really touched my heart where he said: ". .. .... .. ..."

[FS] berlin skimmer

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 3:04pm CDT by mahan

HI GUYS BERLIN SKIMMER FOR SALE RATED 1200L BOUGHT AQUA MEDIC SO NO USE FOR IT COMES WITH 4000L PUMP GOOD CONDITION OLD PICTURE SO LOOKS MUCH NEATER

Softies touching SPS ?

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 1:50pm CDT by Apollo

Hi to all,

I have a small pink Pocillopora frag which I acquired about 2 weeks ago. From what I can see the frag is doing well and the coral exhibits full polyp extension at night.

Close to the Pocillopora I have a pulsing Xenia. I noticed about 2 days ago that the Xenia is expanding in such a way that certain "branches" are touching the Pocillopora.

Will this cause a problem for the Pocillopora and should I perhaps move the Xenia ?

Reef Meeting

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 1:42pm CDT by Midasblenny

Reefers interested in attending a meeting this weekend (Sunday 16th) in Greenside, JHB, please pm me for more info.
The tank is an Idol Marine masterpiece and look forward to catching up with you all!

Q's on building my sump

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 12:40pm CDT by Pads

Hey guys, I'm doing my sketches for my sump before I start putting it together.
I was wonder what spacing would you suggest between the compartments, baffles and what other than the skimmer/DSB/Return chamber should I try incorporate? The dimensions are 1200 x 400 x 400. Thx

20K Venture and 14K BLV

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 12:30pm CDT by Andreas

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking of changing my MH bulbs and was wondering what the best kelving rating bulbs would be.

How would 2 X 14K BLV on either side with a 20K Venture look?I know the 14K BLV bulbs are quite yellow so was thinking off off-setting it with the 20k venture bulb in the centre.

Or should I just get 20K BLV bulbs?:whistling:

Thanks

[FS] TUSA IQ-400 dive computer

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 10:56am CDT by gecco

Hi fellow marine addicts, I need to sell this in order to get myself a RO unit (hopefully a Waterboy special):) Please help so I can get going on my tank :thumbup:

This dive computer is brand new still in the box and never seen a dive. They retail at $316. Here are some specs:

The TUSA IQ-400 dive computer features:
· Built-in calendar clock
· Decompression capabilities
· Personal adjustment
· Adjustment for altitude
· Four step ascent rate indicator
· Reverse no-decompression time bar graph
· Battery power indicator and low battery warning
· Complete logbook memory capabilities including 9 most recent dives with average depth and minimum no-decompression time or maximum ascent time
· History memory up to 999 dives and 999 dive time hours + maximum depth ever recorded
· Visual alarms
· Color-coded graphics
· Phosphorescent LCD display
· Easily replaceable protective shield
· Wrist and console models

SPS Polyp extension

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 9:35am CDT by Boendoe

Hi all I hope some of the SPS guru's can help me, my SPS frags only extend their polyps about 30% during the day when the lights are on:(. But when I have a look in the morning before I go to work the light are still off and they are fully extended. Most of my frags are about 3 to 4 weeks old.

I tested my water last night and it was as follows:

PH 8.3
Cal 430
Phosphates 0.5
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
Temp 27
Sal 1.025

I do a 15% water change every weekend using Instant Ocean salt. My lighting is a 2x 150Watt 10000K MH plus 2x 54watt 6400K t5' and one 34 watt T8.

The T8 goes on at 10:00 am then the t5's at 11:00 and lastly the MH at 12:00, then the lights goes off form 21:00 the MH 21:30 the t5's and 22:00 the t8. I have also started feeing "Coral Frenzy", normally during lights on but in the last week during lights out when the polyps where extended.

All my SPS frags is placed high up in the the system to give them ample light, so please let me know if you see anything that I'm doing wrong so that I can sort it out. Thanks for the help.

Tank update

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 9:07am CDT by Snappy

Just a few quick pix to update on the new tank I set up in Jan 09.
FTS

Mandarins spawning

one of my 7 clams

chromis school

How many Bangaii Cardinals?

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 9:04am CDT by Mudshark

I've just bought 3 Bangaii Cardinals. One has been attacking another to the point that it is nearly dead. I've separated them now and hope that it recovers, but would love to know what the hell happened here??? I thought that they were totally peacefull, docile fish?

Blood Red Fire Shrimp

Posted: August 14th, 2009, 8:33am CDT by ZeroCool

Good morning everyone ...

Last week i bought a "Blood Red Fire Shrimp".

My question for the guy mentioned, is he "hermit" safe.

Reason for asking ... I had 3 hermits ... last night, checking the tank out, I saw just 2, and 1 empty shell.

:(

Mekaeel's Boyu TL 450

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 10:20pm CDT by Mekaeel

Hey guys.
I just bought a brand spanking new Boyu TL450 today for my office as it goes with the colour of the office. I really wanted to play around with something small as the 1100l SPS reef is almost zero maintanance. Already filled with water, Caribbsea Aragonite, Zeolites and a few kg's of LR. I will post pics soon (my birthday tomorrow so please dont put pressure on me for pics :p ) and give more info regarding filteration and livestock etc.... :)

43000lph or 25000+2*3000lph for softies and lps

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 7:32pm CDT by ziyaadb

I want to have predominantly softies and LPS and i need to buy pumps as the seios are sold (thank u to chikaboo for allowing me to carry on using them until my new pumps come) My tank is 100*60*60.
The tank is BB as well.

Would it be better if i get 4*3000LPH sun suns or 2*5000lph+2*3000lph taking into consideration the livestock that i intend keeping?

LED lighting possibility

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 6:37pm CDT by Tony

I can get a floodlight made form LED's which is the equivalent of 350-400watts of normal power. It comes in pure white or they can special order what they call a GBR (green, blue, red) and a controller can have the colour/kelvin specified to your requirements. Now a lot of guys Have gone the LED route on reef central and If I supplement these lights with blue LED fluorescents would this work? Does anyone on Joburg have a meter that reads the PAR rating of one of these lights.

This light only uses about 20Watts and can be either 12V or 220V. It has a lighting spectrum between 520-530nm and only costs R2300-00 bucks. Tghe company is called Tytan and they're base din Honeydew.

What do you guys think
__________________

BIG A$$ rock

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 4:49pm CDT by wors143

Howdy all... I was wondering about aquascaping and toiling around with the idea of using egg crate and sticking lava roack onto the structure off egg crate by means of glue, silicone and cable ties. Has any ony tried this? I am looking at making the rock I cant find .... Good or bad idea? :whistling:

Mandarin & Bipartitus

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 4:18pm CDT by Kunhardt

Looking for a new fish for my tank since I returned my Henniochus. I really like the Bipartitus and think it would make a nice addition. However I do have one concern and that is I have a Mandarin in my tank thats been doing well for the past 4 or 5 months now, he's fat and healthy and the pod population is still blooming, do you think that the addition of another pod eater will maybe curb the population too much and thus cause the Mandarin to go hungry? I have heard though that Bipartitus' can get lazy and may not even go after too many pods after some time...true or false?

Info that may help - tank is 50 gallons, has about a 5cm deep sand bed in tank, small refugium over DSB (Les is busy designing a new bigger one to go over the sump at this moment) and plenty of live rock and tank has been running just over 8 months now.

Various frags for sale: durbanville cape town

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 2:29pm CDT by Jcc

Various frags for saleCommon Names:

Pulsing zenia, zoas, ect

Scientific Names:

-

Size of frags

Small medium large

How long have you had the frags?

mother colony for year plus

Are the frags mounted?

No

Shipping or Collection only:

collection

Your location.

durbanville cape town

Price:

60

Photo's:

See below

Notes:

All frags made to needed size. raising money for another project so selling a few frags.

Power to be suspended in Cape Town

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 2:09pm CDT by Al

Hi Everyone. Just a heads up. Looks like power will be out on the 20 Aug '09 from 8am -5pm in certain areas.

News - South Africa: Power to be suspended in Cape Town

RO Water TDS

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 1:12pm CDT by Goby

Hi Guys,

Want to start to fill the tank this weekend. Took RO water for testing this morning and the TDS is 4. Will it be ok?

external skimmer internal?

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 12:22pm CDT by Furbz

is it possible to place a skimmer designed to be external into the sump like an internal skimmer? such as a reef octo orca 80?

Happy birthday Andreas

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 12:20pm CDT by Mekaeel

Happy birthday dude!! Have a great one :):slayer::slayer:

250 and 25 liter drums

Posted: August 13th, 2009, 10:39am CDT by Johan van Aardt

Does anyone know were in cape town i can get a 250 liter plastic that is fine for keeping water in and so forth, and also were in cape town i can get 25 liter water drums, i know plastics for africa but those cost 75 bucks one a bit pricey if u ask me, any help appreciated

Little Baby Chiller

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 11:08pm CDT by Kanga

Here is a little unit we run at work for a few trials. The covers are off for polishing at the moment

And here is the end result, brine at -4C, it normally runs around 800 litres of brine down to this

Anemones and Shrimp

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 8:57pm CDT by scubaninja

Hi brenda, i was reading on another thread about a shrimp irritating an anemone. In future i want to keep both. Shrimp and the Anemone. An RBTA or a magnifica to be precise. I am thinking in terms of Cleaner shrimp, Peppermint shrimp and Boxer shrimp. I know of a couple of tanks where there are both in there with no problems, so i would like to know if there are any special cases or anything? how to possibly avoid the shrimp irritating the anemone when feeding?

For other people reading this who have anemones please help with the poll on your experiences

2 Oceans Aquarium Pics

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 8:32pm CDT by flipwhip

Hey guys went to 2 Oceans Aquarium took some pics thought I would share
some

spider crabs really scary looking creatures these.

some anemone pics.

mantis shrimp

Anenome irritation

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 7:05pm CDT by freek

I've got a rose bubble tip anenome which was in a good condition. My cleaner shrimp is irritating the anenome the past 2 days. It will sit in the anenome until it closes. Now the anenome is closed in a ball shape from about 14:30. I couldn't feed the anenome last night for the same reason.

Must I take the cleaner shrimp to my DSB? I'm worried that I will loose the anenome.

Glass strength and double laminate

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 6:14pm CDT by dallasg

Hi,

just a quick Q about glass, 24mm laminate glass is made from 2 12mm sheets bonded together, this is done to make the glass stronger for bullet proofing etc, but is the strength of the pane still not the same as a single 12mm sheet in the sense that what if one of the panes in the laminate crack, surely then the pressure will be to great for the uncracked 12mm piece?

i might be totally off here, but just something i am curious about, or does the laminate "weld" the glass into "1" piece?

thanks

water chiller-wanted

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 5:23pm CDT by magman

I am looking for a chiller to chill about 700-800ls, anyone got one they want to sell before I buy new in the next month?

DIY chiller

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 5:06pm CDT by magman

I have to get a chiller towards the end of the month, early next month, but before I splash money on a chiller, has anyone had sucess in a DIY chiller. I am looking at cooling about 700-800l's in a Richards Bay summer where it gets real hot. I have heard of boer-maak-n-plaan with ice makers, anything else besides 10 aircons running 24/7

Or any good second hand chillers going cheap?

Used tank

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 3:51pm CDT by Antolo

I have just bought a 760l tank that has been standing empty for about 3 years in a garage and under cover. Do I need to trip it down and rebuid it?

Philippines shipment

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 3:10pm CDT by Moolis

Hi All
Our Philippines shipment for today.

Remember there is a 20% discount for today only on this shipment.

CORAL BEAUTY ANGEL
CENTROPYGE BISPINOSUS
ORIOLE ANGEL
CENTROPYGE BICOLOR
YELLOW ANGEL
CENTROPYGE HERALDI
GREEN CHROMIS
CHROMI VIRIDIS
ANEMONE CRAB
NEOPETROLISTHES MACULATUS
LEMON DAMSEL
ABUDEFDUF AUREOUS
YELLOW WATCHMAN GOBY
CRYPTOCENTRUS CINCTUS
BLUE - FIN DWARF LION
DENDROCHIRUS ZEBRA
FLAME SCALLOP
LIMA HIANS
COL. SPIRAL FINGERTUBE
SABELLASTARTE INDICA
COLORED TUBEWORM
CERIANTHUS MEMBRANICUS
BLUE TANG (S)
PARACANTHURUS HEPATUS
YELLOW TANG
ACANTHURUS PYROFERUS
MULTICOLOR WRASSE
PSEUDOJULOIDES SEVERNSI

:thumbup:

combo of T5s

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 2:30pm CDT by Dale6

hi guys i have a 3ft tank with 1 10000k and 1 coral blue t5,both are reefteks i am adding 2 more this weekend ,what would b the best combo should i add another 10000k with an actinic or a coral blue,your input would be greatly appreciated!

Confused over Tangs

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 2:11pm CDT by riyadhessa

Okay...I've done quite a bit of reading and looking at most of the tanks of members here...

People say that Tangs need space to swim...In one post that i read this person said that tangs in the ocean have space of an Olympic swimming pool...I cant remember what thread it was but could the person who posted that please tell me if i am wrong...

Then there is people with their two mtr setups which has three to four tang in their system...is this not misleading...

I have a 1200 setup and i was told that i cannot even keep one tang...

People got mad over certain members having a tang in a nano...Yes this is not right for the health of the fish...and i agree...

But why can certain people keep tangs in a small setup and nothing is said about it...

Whats happening here...aren't we here to learn from one another...

Well what i can say, as a newbie am very confused seeing what is happening and the Guru's, Advisors, etc is doing nothing to the members that has three to four tangs in their systems...

But let us, the newbies slip up and have a tang in their system then all hell breaks loose...

Sweetnsour's Boyu nano TL-450

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 2:08pm CDT by sweetnsour

Sup reefers

thought id start a thread for my Boyu TL450 that i have.

here's some pics

requirments for a hospital tank,

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 2:06pm CDT by magman

I have a 500l plastic drum, and am going to cut the top off, and use as a hospital tank, what is needed? Rock, substrate, a skimmer, or just lots of flow with somewhere for them to hide?

I want ideas, and will do a pic step by step project

buyo skimmers

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 1:58pm CDT by ZeroCool

hi everyone, does buyo skimmers actually work ?

i had a 308 ... bought a 310 version last week, but it doesn't seem to get junk out of the system ...

mm, what am i doing wrong ?

I confired the skimmer to only bubble up to half of the top cup ... what else am i missing ?

[FS] t5 8 x 39 watt pendant with hanger kit

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 1:24pm CDT by Submariner

All aluminium housing with hanger cable kit

4 x 39 watt 20000kelvin
4 x 39 watt 10000 kelvin

light new only used for about 6 days.

Fish with character!

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 12:05pm CDT by LRS

Guys how about posting some pics of your fish that have some character?

Here is my Midas blennie:yeahdude:Cute little fella!

Sea Water

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 11:12am CDT by Zuna

Hey Guys

A friend of mine is going down to the coast and is going to bring back 4 drums of Ocean water.

cant i be mixed with my synthetic water
how do i clean or sterilze it
is it advisable to use the ocean water rather then the synthetic water

Skin peeling

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 10:15am CDT by Phyrannus

I have a few question. Two of my fish died recently, a Clarkii clownfish and Black spot Tang.(Clown about a month old in my tank and the tang just recently acquired) Both died with the same manifestation, "SKIN PEELING".
Q: is this a cause of a poor water quality or is this some common fish disease?

TIA..

SHOKOY

Lights for an ATS

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 9:19am CDT by Kevin

I know this has been discussed before, but what lights are the best for an ATS. I am building one this weekend, it is going to be small as space is tight.

Probably 150mm X 250 mm.

Are grow lux lights the best and do they come in small sizes?

Happy Birthday Sims

Posted: August 12th, 2009, 8:15am CDT by sean_koekemoer

Happy Birthday Dude. May your day be blessed with good luck and positive things.
Now, go and have some Cake on behalf of all of us:thumbup: :happybday:

Greetings from Costa Rica

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 6:17am CDT by ronaldgv

A few days ago I found this forum by accident, I read a few of the posts and decided that it is a good "place" to belong.

I live in Costa Rica and have kept marine acuariums for almost 3 years. I have a 24 gal nano cube and a 50 gal, nothing fancy, begginer stuff.

A couple of bad pictures (I do not own a good camera):

Pecera_50g_junio09 - Galería Costa Rica

Goniopora extendida 1 pm 6/7/09 - Galería Costa Rica

And a pretty one from my BTA:

Close up de BTA - Galería Costa Rica

I am also starting to keep dwarf seahorses, but the project isn't picture ready yet...

I belong to another forum in Costa Rica, in case you want to check it out and practice Spanish! acuarios.desdecostarica.com

Nitrate reductor

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 12:38am CDT by SchyffS

What alternative carbon food sources are available to feed the nitrate reductor. The reductor runs on bio balls and Aquamedic Denimar balls. I am aware that denimar powder should be used but want to know if there is alternatives?

T5 Ballasts Wanted

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 11:08pm CDT by Dale6

Hey does anyone have dual ballasts for sale?

Live rock issues

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 11:00pm CDT by marinenoob

Hi Guys,

I have just put in my live rock today. I bought Fiji live rock and upon putting them in the tank they just looked like normal rock. After a few hours lots of little flowers started appearing and dissappeared. Is this good or bad? I am not sure but i must say very exciting.

regards,

Invertebrate wish list for new tank

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 9:57pm CDT by emteey

Hi :wave2:

I am getting closer to eventually starting my system. As I have heard somewhere on this forum: Only bad things happen fast :lol:

Anyway, I have compiled a list of corals that I would like to have in my tank.

Please take a look at the list and post your comments and suggestions.

Also if some gurus could add their views, also what about a sponsor or two (I want to know about the availability, affordability)??

Corals:
Clavularia (clove polyps)
Alcyonium (colt/finger leather coral)
Capnella imbricata (kenya tree coral)
Xenia (xenia coral)
Entacmaea quadricolor (bubble-tip anemone)
Zoanthus (zoanthids)
Discosoma (mushroom polyps)
Ricordea (ricordea)
Acropora (staghorn)
Acropora Yongei (bali green acropora)
Favites (brain coral)
Plerogyra Sinuosa (bubble coral)
Montipora Confusa (montipora finger coral)

My idea around the coral selection is a bit of everything, by that I mean structure, texture, colour, size ... ... ... a bit of everything ...

Other invertebrates:
Clams: What type?
Protula Magnifica (coco worm/ feather duster)
Shrimps: Peppermint, Scarlet?? or Fire shrimp?? How many?
Hermit crabs: How many & what types??
Brittle stars: How many & what types??

My tank size will be a meduim one (until I move), around 1m x 0.6m x 0.7m.

Thanks!!!
:thumbup:

Sale/giveaway: Norwood

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 8:25pm CDT by Rory

Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

Sale/giveaway

Location:

Norwood

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection

Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

Hey guys

Did some spring cleaning yesterday. Got a bunch of stuff sitting in boxes etc.

I live in JHB in Norwood and would prefer collection. I can't really get to the post office except for saturday mornings.

Seio bits - free

The 2 pump bodies sometimes vaguely work, impellers/shafts are fine. Figured someone might want to use them as spares or mod their current pumps or something.

"Wave" pumps. These pumps have an outlet that moves from side to side. Pretty cool for varied flow but quite large pumps by today's standards. free. TAKEN

Resun sp-6600 (2800lph) pumps. They work but are a bit too noisy to live with on a tank permanently. R50

Resun p-1500 (1500lph) powerheads. They have covers on them to make them have 2 outlets, also the original single outlet covers. free.

Bits for the above pumps etc.

Daro twin airpump. One outlet doesn't seem to work. free.

Dolphin H-200 hang on filter. free.

Hailea HC-500 pump bits. I had one of these pumps burn out so these are the spares. free.

ReefStatus Calcium
and
ReefStatus Magnesium (includes carbonate/borate alkalinity).

I've used around 5-10 (if that) of the 150 calcium tests.
The alkalinity I've probably used around half of the 75 total alkalinity tests and 5 or so of the 75 borate alkalinity tests.
Magnesium I've used less than 5 of the 75 tests.

These kits sell new for R700+ each so I'd like to get R200 each.

Refractometer R300

The black plastic bit that holds on the clear plastic broke so it's superglued back, rest of it is fine, includes original carrying case, dropper and calibration screwdriver.

Notes:

-

[FS] Boyu TL 550 For Sale

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 8:25pm CDT by corylyle1

Hey, I am finally selling my Boyu TL-550 Marine Tank!!

The tank is 130 litres!! It comes with a stand and all accessories which includes skimmer, heater, return pump and filter floss.

It also comes with an internal circulation pump, about 8kgs of live and lava rock, substrate, sea salt, fish food, ph buffer and anything else I can find for the tank. You will also get a 25 litre drum for water changes!

All this for R4000neg!! Pls email me on corylyle1@hotmail.com or reply to this ad alongside!!

Hope to hear from you soon!! Price is negotiable!!
Cory!

Boyu TL-550: Cape Town (Tokai)

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 7:49pm CDT by corylyle1

Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

Boyu TL-550

Location:

Cape Town (Tokai)

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection

Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

I cant seem to upload proper photos so ive done them in a word doc!!

Attachment 582

Notes:

Hey, I am finally selling my Boyu TL-550 Marine Tank!!

The tank is 130 litres!! It comes with a stand and all accessories which includes skimmer, heater, return pump and filter medium.

It also comes with an internal circulation pump, about 8-10kgs of live and lava rock, substrate, sea salt, fish food, ph buffer and anything else I can find for the tank. You will also get a 25 litre drum for water changes!

All this for R4500neg!! Pls email me on corylyle1@hotmail.com or send me a pm!!

Hope to hear from you soon!! Price is negotiable!!
Cory!

Attached Files

Accessories Included.doc (207.0 KB)

Two stands I welded from scrap.

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 7:47pm CDT by superscenic

(Unpainted)
I recently got a new welder and self-tinting welding mask. I went to a scrap yard to get nice straight pieces of steel and got some nice undamaged square tubing and some thick beams with a rectangular profile.

Danie's stand features an industrial rectangular beam top for extra load bearing strength which eliminated the need for a middle vertical support. Also the railing the legs are made from already had some decorative crosses which now support the bottom.
1380 by 400 by 85 high

The second stand is for a 2m long 31 cm high by 50cm wide tank. This stand is designed for easy access to the 1.2m sump which comes underneath. I added diagonal corner braces to support the sturdy 2m beams. Again eliminating the need for a vertical support in the middle. The chunky welding is from steel rods I melted into the seam to strengthen the joins.

Falcon's Kitchen Nano Reef,taking it slow....

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 5:44pm CDT by Falcon

ok just some pics will update once a year after this lol...
oh yes and the date on my cam is wrong this was only set-up six months ago not last year.

this was in the very begining only fish a tomato clown and a royal dotty back.no corals snails or hermits...

ok now added two sps frags and the live rock starting to bloom(taken from my big reef where the wrasses and tangs raped it lol amazing how much was waiting to come out from deep inside after four years!

metal halide mounted high, temporary test after i installed the hang on back protein skimmer,i've now dropped it to +-10cms again

YO PE neighbours!!! Places to GO?

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 4:43pm CDT by Prodigy

Hey PE reefkeepers
Im Driving down to PE on Friday (Selborne taking on Grey!!! missing TRI varsity:1:.....:(:(:() and i am wondering which pet shops to visit
Plz help out i need names and street addresses plz and i dont wanna go to a pet store without marines lets get real :P
Keen to see how your pet stores are compared to ours
Thanks for the help
Cheers

LR vs DSB

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 1:15pm CDT by magman

Since joining the forum, I am considering converting to a DSB.

Currently I have +/-100kgs broken lr in the sump, in the middle 3 sections, sump is 1220x450x450.
1st section is a 15% bio balls, basically on the surface,
sections 2,3,4 are live rock,
section 5 holds the return pump and my skimmer (unfortunatly it cannot fit anywhere else, as I had bought it prior to fitting the tank onto the stand, and is unfortunatly stuck in there now, I will get an external skimmer later).

I am thinking of braking the rock as small as possible, about 20mm to 50mm piecies, placing it in the 1st and second compartment, and then 3 and 4 DSB with live beach sand as well as cupfuls from here and there.

Will start slowly at first moving bit by bit, but otherwise you agree?

Black urchin eating my corals

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 12:47pm CDT by irshaad

Anyone ever experience this?
I've noticed my kenia tree frag (from my main tree) slowly dwindling away. Yesterday i caught my urchin on it, munching away! My sinularia frag also went the same way.
First they shrink after being disturbed by my Urchin, then he gets on them, and moves off after a while. I've read on some other sites of ppl having this prob, just wanted to make sure before i take any further steps.
Would be a shame to get rid of my urchin as he did a great job keeping my rocks and glass algae-free, but for the past few months, i have no sign of any algae, and im guessing his getting hungry...

Cleaner shrimp and Zoa's

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 11:50am CDT by wiesnerm

I bought a cleaner shrimp a few weeks ago and it was living nicely in an opening between the live rock for about a week. Then it decided it likes my Zoa's and he moved to his new location. With him sitting on the Zoa's for most of the day, they are closed up and are only open for limited period of times when the cleaner shrimp decides to go for a walk.

Is this bad for the Zoa's not be open most of the day? How can I get the cleaner to move back to the LR again?

Muricidae Snail - Warning

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 11:23am CDT by RiaanP

Just a warning,

These are local snail as well. And I did see a couple at a LFS.
I got my a couple and later got more info. Anyway, mine are now all sumped.

They are "reef safe" as in they will not attack your corals, zoa and other softies.

I got the photo from Morula (Morula) musiva

And from Wikipedia
Quote:

Most species of muricids are carnivorous, active predators that feed on other gastropods, on bivalves, and on barnacles. The access to the soft parts of the prey is typically obtained by boring a hole through the shell by means of a softening secretion and the scrapping action of the radula. Because of their carnivorous way of life, some especies may be considered pests, as they may cause considerable destruction in exploited natural beds, and also in areas of culture of commercial bivalves.

I found a small mussel looking shell on my substrate, and it had a little hole in the shell.

Tunze 6125 Stream

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 11:00am CDT by Alan

Introduction
When a new pump is released to the reef keeping community few will create as much stir world wide as a new model Tunze stream. When visiting any board or talking to any reef keeper, the one thing that is synonymous with the Tunze brand is Quality.

My History with Tunze
Well my experience with Tunze was off to a rocky start. A bit of back ground here for those that dont know I had always heard about and seen Tunze pumps in action and had always been told about the quality of the pump, but was never able to afford these pumps in the past. Finally I was lucky enough to acquire 4 of the Nano streams [used] when they were first launched. To cut a long story short, they didnt last too long and as fast as George replaced/repaired them, so they broke again, eventually I gave up and just tossed all 4 out. I later learned that Tunze had a problem with the plastic they were molded from. Anyway it was 4 pumps down the drain, so now you can understand my reluctance to getting another stream.
One thing I must mention here, hats off to George for trying to help me with the Nanos even though they were not purchased from him.
Well after much selling on Georges behalf I finally relented and purchased another stream.

Specs
One of the main attractions for aquarists world wide is how little power the streams consume. However this has never been a factor that I have ever considered when purchasing a pump, that is up until the last few Eskom price hikes and a R1700.00 electricity bill last month. It is something I am going to be paying close attention to in the future.
The pump is rated at 12000L per hour with a power consumption of 24w, now that is fairly impressive in anybodies books. Less power also means less heat that I have to chill in summer again savings on electricity.

Assembly, Mounting and Size
The assembly of these pumps must be one of the easiest I have ever experienced. Simply stick on the four rubber feet to each magnet, mount your magnet in place, clip in the pump and plug it in. Not more than 3 min tops.
As I said the mounting is by magnets supplied with the pump and because of the unique way in which the Tunze is mounted the versatility of the pump can only be described as awesome. You can literally point this pump in any direction you want, from straight up, to straight down, far left to far right or anywhere in between. It actually revolves 360 deg so you can point the water flow in any direction that suits your needs. A warning hereplease be careful when working with these magnets as they are extremely powerful and if skin is caught between them, a painful blood blister will be the result.
The size of the pump is just bigger than a tennis ball, not bad for the amount of water it moves.

Noise
Well there is not much to say here as there are no noise levels to speak of, not even a chatter on start up, defiantly the quietest pump I have ever owned.

Price
As I said before, I could not afford the streams up until fairly recently, when Tunze changed their design. Although not the cheapest brand on the market, it defiantly has become far more competitive with some of the other top name brands.
The pump retails for around R2400.00, please note this model is not controllable.

Backup Service
Personally I have never had a problem with getting any help from Tunze SA. The only gripe one might have is that not all spares are always in stock and may have to be ordered. This is understandable and George more often than not is able to make a plan.

Conclusion
Well Tunze SA and myself have always had a bit of a up and down relationship and when I told George I was thinking of doing a review on the stream I think his heart may have skipped a beat. No problems George
I must say I have been pleasantly surprised by this pump and all the improvements since my last streams, although it has only been running for 3 months I would defiantly give this pump a thumbs up and would recommend it to fellow hobbyists.

Night Light (or not)

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 9:41am CDT by wiesnerm

I have a Buyo TL-550 which comes equipped with 2 blue LED's for night lighting. My question is do we need to provide night light to our tanks or not?

I have a clown that seems to be still active (although a lot subdued) when the night light is on.

clowns fighting

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 9:33am CDT by magman

I have a problem with the clarkes fighting after having to move the nemmie. I got 1 pair oscerlaris, and a pair of clarkes, the clarkes have taken to the carpet nemmie for about a month now, but the oscerlaris were pretty much lurking in the corner cause the clarkes were too dominant around the nemmies. Two days ago I moved the carpet to the left, and the bta to the right of the tank, both nemmies are now about 5 foot apart from each other now. The problem is the clarks have taken to klaaping each other, really bad. It looks like what I thought was the male, has become the more of an aggressor. For the time being now, I have the male in the sump, and was thinking of re-intoducing him in about a week.

Of intrest though, the little dominos have really also taken to the carpet, they go absolutly maal in there in the evenings, have a few shots from the phone camera and will post later.

otherwise though, any one than can advise on the clowns boxing? I really had thought they had paired up.

Baaienaar's bad luck with his 2nd tank

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 9:25am CDT by jacquesb

Baaienaar - I have moved your post to it's own thread.

Now you can tell us all about this. Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And then it cracked as well!!!!!!!

Yes, believe it or not. I got a frantic phonecall from my son telling me the bottom had cracked ( all I can think of is that there must have been a flaw or some stress in the glass- and yes it had a floating bottom and everything) and eventually all the weight of the water and LR had resulted in the latter ending up on the floor underneath the tank with my sand spread out across the floor of my lapa. Fortunately it was too soon to start stocking yet (blessing in disguise- my stock was still at Pet and Outdoors {thanks Oom Nick ens Nico for your patience})

So there was nothing else to do but sweep up the sand and start all over. I had a new floating bottom inserted as well as extra bracing for the base of my as a precaution. I moved my 300 liter three chamber sump outside to a little nook I had no other use for, and built up front and rear walls and fitted a removable roof.

The total volume of my system, incl. the sump, is just on 2000 liters. It has an elongated octagonal shape- two 2m long sides and one short side of 650 mm and at the other end a point created by two 650 mm panels meeting one another at about a 15 degree angle. My weir sits spreadeagle across this point where they meet to re-inforce it.

The tank is mounted in a 2 m wide x 1 m high hole I have cut into the wall separating the familyroom from my lapa, offering viewing from the family room and the lapa. Because of this I have opted for a central reef stacked up and around the weir tapering down at roughly 45 degrees to sandlevel in the centre/middle of the tank. The other half of the tank is stacked to create a 300 mm high irregular swimaround submerged little island. What this does is give me ample reef space for corals as well as creating a huge swimspace for the fish- an idea I got from Crispin.

Underneath the reef at the wide weir-end I have placed two 2500 l/h Seio's to flush detritus out from under the reef continuously. These are the only two in-tank pumps. The return pump in my sump is a 2500 l/h Mianyang, and flow is suplemented by a 12000 l/h Speck pump, a 6500 liter Magnet pump (both external), a 6550 l/h Hailea powerhead, and a 2500 l/h pump all feeding into an overhead ringmain which creates flow by injecting water into the tank through twelve offset 12 mm nozzles injecting water into the tank at 45 degrees.

I am currently manipulating these pumps manually to experiment, but will eventually fit solenoid valves on timers to hopefully mimick churning currents and eddies. I also still have my old cracked tank which I am thinking of repairing and utilizing (amongst other things) as a reservoir to create a waterdump to cause wave-like surges. It will also house a refugium and mangrove, a turf scrubber, and an ICU cum quarantine area in a seperate compartment. All this will be managed by a Profilux management system.

My lighting consists of an 1,8 m pendant housing 3 x 250 watt Metal halides, 4 x fluorescents (2 actinics) and 3 x moonlights on a timer. I have also just mounted 2 x 400 watt Metal halides above the wide weir-side of the tank for when I eventually start stocking SPS's. I have ordered 14000 Kelvin globes for these to ensure I have the correct light quality. Again, the Profilux will be used to create near natural dawn-dusk effects and transisions, lightning and lunar effects if possible.

My sump holds approximately 300 liters in 3 compartments (first = receptacle, middle = DSB and third = return). I have some LR in each compartment and because it is outdoors I have 2 x 300 watt heaters, 1 each in the first and last chamber, to suplement the 2 x 200 watt heaters in my tank and the 1 x 200 watt heater in the RO drum for the auto top-up. The skimmer is a Reef Octopus rated for 3000 liters per hour. I am running a phosphate reactor with carbon and UV, and a Hailea HC- 300 chiller and my calsium is maintained by manually adding 1 teaspoon of settled-out Kalkwasser in a liter of RO to the sump every week until such time as I can add a Kalkstirrer.

Thats's it for now. Photos and more to follow.

Redoing my nano

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 8:52am CDT by Johan van Aardt

I have one of these small 48 liter nano and recently became gatvol of trying to keep water paramaters correct and decided to start highly modifying the tank, this includes taking the filter compartments completely out and replacing it with only one overflow. in the sump i want to have a dsb and an algae scrubber and maybe a skimmer if those dont help sufeciantly

Speed of the water flow from RO Unit

Posted: August 11th, 2009, 8:07am CDT by Sentari

Hi Marco

Could you let me know if my Reefmaster is taking a bit long to fill my tank or is that the correct speed.

Basically i started filling up my tank on sunday night. And its 3/4 full. Its been running non stop. My tank dimensions are as follows. 1200 x 450 x 450. So its 243L.

Deep sand bed bio diversification

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 7:21am CDT by SchyffS

I would like to obtain the maximum benefits from my deep sand bed(DSB) by tackling issues such as, dsb depth, sand types, feeding, water flow rate over the dsb and most importantly seeding and increasing the bio diversity.
My current dsb has the following specs:
1. Sand depth - 170mm
2. Sand type - seachem aragonite (various grain sizes)
3. Feeding - none, except from whateva food overflows from the display tank.
4. Water flow rate - the flow rate over the dsb is isolated from the main flow by means of a t-off from the sump overflow return. Its is estimated to be 1000 L/hour. A slower flow rate over the dsb was adopted to ensure that food settles on the dsb for the critters to feed on.

I am more interested in increasinng the bio diversity, what can be done?

The new guy

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 1:40am CDT by S2

Hey every1 bein in the hobby 4 bout 2years nw spent alota money with lil results mainly due 2 bad info from lfs n otha ppl n also learnt alot wit the few ppl who gave gud info n wit ther help goten beta results wit out damagin my pockets. That said i gt a 1.2m reef tank wit a 90cm sump, gt 6 white lites n 2 blue lites t5, weipro skimmer, via aqua uv, 3 sun sun powerheads, fine aragonite in my display tank n in the sump, bout 25kg of live rock, return pump pushes 3500l a hour. In the sump is the aragonite, heater, sum bioballs, bout 10kg live rock , filter matt n bag of carbon. I dnt hv the most xpensive equipment but it works realy wel n wud lyk 2 improve my overal system. N hapi say im glad 2 b part of the MASA community.

Eurolux MH Bulbs

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 11:53pm CDT by Loki

Hi Guys

Anyone have any experience with the Eurolux 150W SE MH bulbs?:peroni:

Lafishguys

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 10:12pm CDT by SCOOBY

Who has seen The LA FISH GUYS?Well meet him.Very GOOD.:thumbup:
LA Fishguy Aquarium Maintenance Marine Fish Reef Service Installation Reality Video Los Angeles

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2009/08/10/Uv'

Uv

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 9:42pm CDT by S2

Hi ther i gt a via aqua uv sterilizer in my 1.2m reef tank n wantd 2 knw how often n 4 how long shud it b on 4

A potential problem with my Vortechs

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 9:18pm CDT by Tony

Hi guys. I have a set of MP40W gen two. The master pump is now flashing red and I don't know what's causing this. I reset both pumps and assigned them again as master and slave but the problem persists. Does anyone know what the heck is going on?

air exchange

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 9:13pm CDT by Tim S

Hi guys

One of the important issues to keeping marines way back was the need get oxygen into the water. To do this one had to break the water up as small as possible to give it greater surface area for most efficient air exchage. What was done is to drop the overflow water over plastic "hair curler" like objects and then into the sump. I do not see anyone talking about oxygenation of the water. Is it assumed that the skimmer does this adequately?

Your thoughts,

wanted; powerheads/pumps

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 9:01pm CDT by hiralall

Hi guys My tank is up and running thanks to all the advice given by you all. I need to improve the water movment in the tank so i am looking for used pumps or powerheads that would not cost me an arm or leg. If u have any please pm me
Many thanks

Live rock issues

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 8:04pm CDT by Tim S

Hi all, my tank is complete and on the stand. Plumbing and electrics to be done in the week or so. I am looking at the next steps and would like to know how much live rock is needed for my tank (600 l plus 250 l sump)? Does anyone in the CT area collet water from the ocean, and if so where is a good spot where the water wont be filled with contaminents?

Later....

New Member

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 6:27pm CDT by Sooz

:thumbup:

please ID this

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 4:13pm CDT by brettb2020

found this at kelso beach, quite a few of them. its got purple tips :-)

aandtsociety recent marine species collecting trips

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 3:48pm CDT by pkc

We have had 4 trips since the last post from us here so i will just put on a nice pic from each trip.
The first pic is of some marine species collected on a trip to mainly get 4 thousand litres of water for one of the clubbies with a very large marine set up.
While we were there we had a three hour snorkel for some fish and inverts for our tanks.
The water was nice and clear and this pic is one of the five pics of the catch for the day and there was also several pics of the area we were at,over all a very nice club day out collecting.

This is an underwater pic of a clown trigger from a trip to frazer island and the day was very calm and the water very clear,this is one of nine photos from the day and it was a boat trip to a reef off frazer very few have been to because of it's extreme openness as it is 2 hours of open ocean north of frazer isl,it is one metre deep on top and a hundred and thirty feet deep around it.

The reef in this photo has one of the most concentrated amounts of corals and reef life in queensland and is just over an hours trip in the boat from home.The life here is rediculasly spectacular.There were nineteen pics from that day.

we know this section of reef that the commercial guys do not know of and the latezonatus clown fish there are in serious abundance.
The depth is just resonable for snorkelling at just under sixty feet at the deepest and twenty feet deep on top.
All these clowns were for a display but some of the guys wanted some breeding stock so we have to use akydinos clowns now as they are like flies around here and we don't want to touch that reef of latz until the other adults there have a chance to do some more breeding before we collect any more,if in the near future any of the clubbies want any.if you take to many latz,other species of clowns may take over and the latz will loose their foot hold on the area.
They are a hard fish to catch as they will run from their anemone and they are always in water that is a little deep.

tangs,Tangs,TANGS!!!

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 3:20pm CDT by Annoying

Hey everybody. I'm busy with my 1.8 meter system and I'm thinking of getting a few tangs but not the same species, so instead of thinking of what kind of tangs would people like, I thaught I'd rather ask them!

Please can you list me you're favourite 3 tangs...:yeahdude:

Thanks!!!

Slime algae

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 3:11pm CDT by S2

Hey im new to the community n hv had a brown slime problem for the pas 2months since i moved my tank n changd my substrate to fine aragonite hv dun numerous water changes n used slime remover.the slime is much less nw but stil growin in my aragonite n sticking to my powerheads any advice would b appreciated

Baaienaar- Third time lucky

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 2:21pm CDT by baaienaar

First I bought a 1200 liter 2 m imported tank that cracked on one of its rounded corners. So all my stock was moved to an LFS who were great and very patient in allowing me to have a new tank built and run in.

And then it cracked as well!!!!!!!

Yes, believe it or not. I got a frantic phonecall from my son telling me the bottom had cracked ( all I can think of is that there must have been a flaw or some stress in the glass- and yes it had a floating bottom and everything) and eventually all the weight of the water and LR had resulted in the latter ending up on the floor underneath the tank with my sand spread out across the floor of my lapa. Fortunately it was too soon to start stocking yet (blessing in disguise- my stock was still at Pet and Outdoors {thanks Oom Nick ens Nico for your patience})

So there was nothing else to do but sweep up the sand and start all over. I had a new floating bottom inserted as well as extra bracing for the base as a precaution. I moved my 300 liter three chamber sump outside to a little nook I had no other use for, and built up front and rear walls and fitted a removable roof.

The total volume of my system, incl. the sump, is just on 2000 liters. It has an elongated pentagonal shape- two 2m long sides and one short side of 650 mm and at the other end a point created by two 650 mm panels meeting one another at about a 15 degree angle. My weir sits spreadeagle across this point where they meet to re-inforce it.

The tank is mounted in a 2 m wide x 1 m high hole I have cut into the wall separating the familyroom from my lapa, offering viewing from the family room and the lapa. Because of this I have opted for a central reef stacked up and around the weir tapering down at roughly 45 degrees to sandlevel in the centre/middle of the tank. The other half of the tank is stacked to create a 300 mm high irregular swimaround submerged little island. What this does is give me ample reef space for corals as well as creating a huge swimspace for the fish- an idea I got from Crispin.

Underneath the reef at the wide weir-end I have placed two 2500 l/h Seio's to flush detritus out from under the reef continuously. These are the only two in-tank pumps. The return pump in my sump is a 2500 l/h Mianyang, and flow is suplemented by a 12000 l/h Speck pump, a 6500 liter Magnet pump (both external), a 6550 l/h Hailea powerhead, and a 2500 l/h pump all feeding into an overhead ringmain which creates flow by injecting water into the tank through twelve offset 12 mm nozzles injecting water into the tank at 45 degrees.

I am currently manipulating these pumps manually to experiment, but will eventually fit solenoid valves on timers to hopefully mimick churning currents and eddies. I also still have my old cracked tank which I am thinking of repairing and utilizing (amongst other things) as a reservoir to create a waterdump to cause wave-like surges. It will also house a refugium and mangrove, a turf scrubber, and an ICU cum quarantine area in a seperate compartment. All this will be managed by a Profilux management system.

My lighting consists of an 1,8 m pendant housing 3 x 250 watt Metal halides, 4 x fluorescents (2 actinics) and 3 x moonlights on a timer. I have also just mounted 2 x 400 watt Metal halides above the wide weir-side of the tank for when I eventually start stocking SPS's. I have ordered 14000 Kelvin globes for these to ensure I have the correct light quality. Again, the Profilux will be used to create near natural dawn-dusk effects and transisions, lightning and lunar effects if possible.

My sump holds approximately 300 liters in 3 compartments (first = receptacle, middle = DSB and third = return). I have some LR in each compartment and because it is outdoors I have 2 x 300 watt heaters, 1 each in the first and last chamber, to suplement the 2 x 200 watt heaters in my tank and the 1 x 200 watt heater in the RO drum for the auto top-up. The skimmer is a Reef Octopus rated for 3000 liters per hour. I am running a phosphate reactor with carbon and UV, and a Hailea HC- 300 chiller and my calsium is maintained by manually adding 1 teaspoon of settled-out Kalkwasser in a liter of RO to the sump every week until such time as I can add a Kalkstirrer.

Thats's it for now. Photos and more to follow.

It's been a while but I'm back !

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 11:16am CDT by Bullett

Hi all,

Yip,I last visited this site in December 2008,can't believe it was that long ago.

Apart from getting information from the internet regarding setting up my first marine tank,I was fortunate enough to meet up with a guy who has been involved in setting up such tanks for over 18 years! What a wealth of information he has been.

I have decided to let him guide me through the process of setting up and maintaining a successful marine tank.

As with most of the people I have spoken to regarding my first tank,he also told me not to cut any corners and do it right the first time!

At the moment I have the 1.2 x 500 x500 tank on the stand I have built to hold it.

We are going to start setting up the sump with the piping today.

I will let you all know how it goes.

Regards

Bullett

Copper

Posted: August 10th, 2009, 9:08am CDT by vzyla

Hi guys.
Maybe someone can give me advise. I have a tropial tank that i wana drill and convert into a marine tank. My question is this, i had the tropical for some time and had to add copper based midicine a few times.

Will there be any copper left and an i do a reef setup or should i go for a FOWLR system?

red growth

Posted: August 9th, 2009, 11:05pm CDT by Esmond

what is this dark red growth on the rock please(i am noticing it on other pieces of rock as well) is it good or bad

foxface sick need advice plz

Posted: August 9th, 2009, 6:07pm CDT by JayMeister

hey everybody my foxface doesnt look good but i dont know whats wrong with him can someone plz help ID the problem

Bought my gennie today

Posted: August 9th, 2009, 5:16pm CDT by Tony

Well now I can rest easy as I have finally taken the plunge and bought a generator and frankly the thought of eskom going on strike sends shivers down my spine. All I need now is a petrol strike at the same time.

It's a beast of a machine with 5.5KVA, AVR, auto start, unleaded petrol and all the bells and whistles. This should power my tank in the event of a major outage.

shrooms, blue and pink zoa's

Posted: August 9th, 2009, 4:03pm CDT by sweetnsour

hi fellow reefers
im looking for frags of the following:
shrooms (orange an basically what ever you have available)
blue zoa's
pink zoa's
totally green zoa's

thanks in advance and please if possible kindly post a pic and price for what you have available

ID please

Posted: August 9th, 2009, 3:46pm CDT by mookz

I think they are some kind of saltwater barble?

Eish A Dof Question Here Guys

Posted: August 9th, 2009, 1:26pm CDT by wors143

Ok Guys searched hi and low and now posts i can reference. so her goes paiting the back of the tank..... what paint to use? pva. gloss. oilbased... any make in particular what colour is best... sky blue, baby blue, ford cortina blue? ha ha ha.... do you paint the inside or the outside..... pretty sure it's outside just checking.... thanx for all the support so far guys

[FS] Tank in Oak cabinet

Posted: August 9th, 2009, 9:16am CDT by floh

Hi Guys,

Ive still got left a 1800x1000x800 Tank, done in Perspex and Fibreglass with a 12mm Front panel. Tank is very light and easy to carry.

Tank comes with all plumbing and sump and a beautiful Full (covers the whole tank from top to bottom) oak cabinet. As mention before the cabinet is the prize here, it alone cost over R24000.

The system belonged to a guy called Kevin, but he has since then left for Capetown. Looking for R5000 for the complete unit.

I have various bits and pieces of LR and hardware which i will give to whoever buys the tank at a good price.

I dont have a picture of the complete unit, i can however take a pic of the tank and of the cabinet seperately.

Thanks

Can I put this in my tank?

Posted: August 8th, 2009, 10:57pm CDT by WAYNE HEATHCOTE

hi guys
i posted pics a few days ago ,but i have"nt had a reply yet ,so here are the pics again.

Can i add these pieces to my tank? i intend sticking the pieces together with pratleys and create some more nooks and crannies for the emperor to hide in when he gets a bit stressed.
I have tried to persuade the owner to let me get some live rock ,but i"ve now given up ,so when i went to j-bay last weekend i found a whole lot of these .
I would like to know if i would need to cure them first or can i just boil the hell out of them and add it to the tank without affecting the water parameters and harming my babies ??
The reason for posting again is because i stop working at the restaurant on friday and i want to leave the tank looking as good as possible,so i don"t have much time left.
Please can anyone tell me the best way to go about this.
thanx

T5 waterproof end caps

Posted: August 8th, 2009, 3:48pm CDT by B&K

I need help in installing my waterproof end caps onto my t5's. i forgot to ask my lfs, silly me, searched google but cant get an idea. any help will be majorly appreciated

Reef Octopus NW-110 Modification

Posted: August 8th, 2009, 2:20pm CDT by Manic

Hey Everyone,

I got the NW-110 skimmer on thursday from Idol Marine. It is rated for a volume of water of 500L. It comes with the Octopus OTP 1000 needle wheel pump. Today I got the replacement pin wheel impeller and some enkamat. I'm going to do the mesh mod and post some performance pics of the skimmer with the needle wheel, pin wheel and mesh wheel. Then everyone can decide which one works better and if it is worth changing the impeller or doing the modifications.

okay i'm down to these two skimmer's now which one?

Posted: August 8th, 2009, 12:03pm CDT by fleur

hello all i'm busy buying all the bits for my new tank and i'm stuck on which skimmer i can get the bubble magus 260 for R5500 or i can get the new reef octopus bubble blaster in sump for R6100 so which one do i take, i know both are kick ass but i dig both. Help from who has one or used them. Thanks

Damsels for sale: Cape Town

Posted: August 8th, 2009, 12:03pm CDT by corylyle1

Fish for saleCommon Name:

Damsels

Scientific Name:

-

Size of fish

5cm

How long have you had the fish?

2 months

Is the fish eating?

Yes (very well)

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection only

Your location.

Cape Town

Price:

R200 for all three

Photo's:

Will post pics later.

Notes:

Three damsels (1 domino and two unknown)

Very healthy and eating like crazy

Price: R200 for all

Reason: Giving up marine tank!

Ritteri Anemone (spelling)

Posted: August 8th, 2009, 10:49am CDT by Afsal

A mate of mine bought this anemone without doing any research on it. Atfer 2 weeks , he researched it and realised that they need strong lighting. He has 4 T5s in a tank 450mm deep. anyways he sold it to and me should have better but decided that id give it a chance since i have 4xT5s with reflectors and a 150w metal halide. The anemone is directly under the halide and have 2 occelaris hosting in it.

question is this , its "mouth" is open quite big ??? why is this ??? sorry no chance of pics ....

My Mini Overflow Sump Before Main Sump

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 9:15pm CDT by shaun70922

Che:thumbup:ck this out guys !!!

High nitrites low Amonia

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 6:24pm CDT by KevinR

Hi All

My nitrites are very high, 0,2 and my amonia is undetactable. I have a 4 foot tank. All the other parameters are normal it is just the no2. I am using tropic marin test kits. What can I do it get it back to normal. I have 40kg live rock and every thing has been normal till now??

Upgrade from 100l setup

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 6:12pm CDT by wors143

Hello all. Currently I am running a 100litre setup been in marin for about 2 to 3 months now.... and the bug has bitten me big time:thumbup:. was running a small little corner unit 100 litres no sump. AS you all know we all want to go bigger and I just receieved my new 4 foot tank. dimensions are 1220x750x800 stand and canopy done in wood.... gee its scary just looking at it...... but i cant wait to see what it looks like and evolve over time. So will update fotos as I go along and kit it out over the next couple of weeks:yeahdude:

Shaun's New Tank

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 5:42pm CDT by shaun70922

Hi Guys,

Here are some pics of my :void(0)" target="_blank">

tank.:thumbup:

Frag tank setup for sale: Vereeniging

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 5:30pm CDT by Raven

Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

Frag tank setup for sale

Location:

Vereeniging

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection Only

Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

Notes:

I'm selling my Frag setup.
It consists of:
4 frag tanks.
2 "Sump" tanks.
3 200w heaters
2 hailea pumps (I've I'm not mistaken it's 2500 lph pumps)

The total water volume of this system is +- 1000l.

The system is currently running for about 9 months now, but due to time constraints I have to sell.

I stay in Vereeniging, and work in JHB. So time is a bit limited.
I've started to neglect my main tank in the house, and would like to focus on it again.

Please ignore the glass panes on top of the tanks - It's a temp solution during the colder winter evenings...
It's not really part of the sale....

Total Price: R. 6000 neg.

Eeek! I think I have a Mantis!

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 4:41pm CDT by Kunhardt

As the title suggests I think I see a Mantis shrimp in my tank. I have noticed these little feelers sticking out of the rocks at night every now ans then over a few months, but could never place their source, thought maybe it was even a worm of some kind...however this afternoon while looking at my tank I noticed those feelers and a pair of what looks like bobbly eyes attached to them, and what looked like a pair of lumo blue legs. Tried to take a pic, but its just too small and I dont have a good enough camera for zooming to that rate.

How do I know for sure? How do I entice it to come out? If it is a Mantis how on earth am I going to get rid of it? Its got its hidey hole in the biggest piece of base rock in my tank and removing that rock would mean taking the whole tank apart.

Seems like one delema after the other lately!

PET STOP OPEN Monday

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 2:46pm CDT by Moolis

;)Hi Reefers

All those reefers that always complain - Pet Stop are not open on Sundays!

We will be open on Monday from 09H00 to 14H00!!!:slayer:

AND;)

We will have specials for you!!!!:yeahdude:

So do not complain again:nono: we will be there for you:wave2:

20% Sale. Pretty SPS for pretty lady's day.

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 1:46pm CDT by Bob the (reef)builder

Gals, and Guys.;)

For this Saturday and Monday (Public Holiday) we are having a 20% sale on our SPS stocks.

All are very healthy and happy.

Come and take advantage.:)

Cheers

Rob, Adriaan and the Idol Marine crew.

Waterproof Camera Olympus Stylus Tough 8000

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 12:58pm CDT by Marlin Fischer

Hi everyone

I know that there are a couple of avid photographers here and was wondering if anyone had any advice on this camera or possible alternatives.

There was another thread posted on an older model before on MASA....

anyone used one yet or heard anything about it?

Ciao

Michel Jackson is alive

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 10:04am CDT by FransSny

Pink Pocillopora Damicornis frag for sale: Jhb Linmeyer Sth

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 9:19am CDT by trad

Single frag for saleCommon Name:

Pink Pocillopora Damicornis

Scientific Name:

-

Size of coral

1cm or 4cm option yours

How long have you had the coral?

2weeks / 6 months

Shipping or Collection only:

Collect only

Your location.

Jhb Linmeyer Sth

Price:

Swop for something i dont have

Photo's:

Small one or (its the small frag in the front of the photo)

This photo makes the colour look bad but its the same colour as the one in the top shot. (You can see it in the back of the first photo)

Notes:

Option of two, It a duplicate which i thought was a difference coral when I took it.

Rehousing Nennies

Posted: August 7th, 2009, 8:27am CDT by FransSny

Hi guys as i am busy with a tank upgrade i will have to move my 2 nennies over to their new and hopefully improved house.

i will be using most of my current DT 's water to fill the new tank. My question is however what would the impact be on the nennies as the new tank would obviously not be as "stable" as the one they are currently in

Any advice please..I am really attached to the guys and haved worked hard to slowly start getting them back to health (they were ash white when i got them and has finally started showing coulor)

Off cut fibreglass roof sheeting

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 7:13am CDT by chikaboo

Hi guys I used to buy offcut fibreglass roofing from Pinetown/westville area before from a house just off the freeway very very cheap - problem is I dont remember exactly where anybody know anywhere near Durban I can try Name and/or number would be appreciated Thanx alot!

temperature

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 10:57pm CDT by Esmond

My temp stays on 25 Celsius even though everything is turned off except the skimmer & return pump.I am using 3 thermostats & all three is on 25.Can it be that the return pump is faulty(chinese make 4800li p/h)

Adee's Algae scrubber v2

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 10:26pm CDT by Adee

So here is my improved model which uses glass as the medium onto which the algae will grow. I'm 80% convinced it will work better than the previous model.

So being my second take, I wanted something that would use up all the empty space I had availble in my tank cupboard. And let me say this unit fits in with a few millimetres to spare.

The main problem I had in building this, was to get a 750mm high by 570mm wide 10mm slab of glass to stand at a perfect 90 degrees. Enter my ever faithfull use of silver duct tape and voila...sorted. Mounted bracing on the sides as well for added support. Once the silcone dried no more fear of the whole thing toppling over.

I drilled two 50mm drainage holes on either side of the base glass and both joined underneath to a single outflow pipe that end up draining into my DT overflow box. The pump that drives this unit is also housed there (4000 LPH, Sicce pump).

Spray Bar
So the top part which forms the business end, that will create the waterfall, I put in some 8mm holes. I was not sure what sort of pressure my pump would deliver as the more holes/or bigger...would cause the less spray pressure onto the glass. Also not the piece of glass positioned below the water spout areas.....that there to prevent your globes from getting wet at startup or stoping of the pumps. If I had to redo I would get the lower bit more close to the centre glass and have a 5mm gap. Also would suggest covering up that "spray bar drip protector" with tape so that light does not punch thru...I ended up getting hair algae growing out of the spouts!

It's important to test the water pressure of the unit so that u don't get have too much pressure or too little for that matter. The Sicce pump has a variable intake setting, I actually had to restrict the water intake as it ended up splashing too much pressure on the glass.

So once the spray bar hole size it corrected and u have the pump doing it's thing at the right head pressure you have that waterfall feature effect going should look something like this:

The only other thing left, was to now "rough up" the glass to create a scratched surface for the the algae to take hold on. So using my trusty Dremmel I scored both sides properly that ended up with a frosty looking slab of glass.

Id please guys

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 10:09pm CDT by Prodigy

Hey chaps
Got this crab out my DT is he good or bad can i leave him in or put him in the sump or what

and then these lil guys are starting to grow everywhere what are they?

and then this is this aptasia?(dunno how to spell) its in my sump

Thanx in advance
Cheers

help with purple tang

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 8:00pm CDT by Yuri

my purple has got a cut on him what can i give him

Adee's Algae Scrubber v1

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 7:09pm CDT by Adee

My 1st scrubber basically started out as a glass housing that was 10cm wide. Shown here the glass "tank" upside down with two 25mm drain pipes fitted.

The idea is to hang the "curtain rail" pipe that will bring the flow thru to the flyscreen gauze on top and then drain back to the DT.

The finished product shown installed with flow pipe and fly screen mesh.

The total actual 'waterfall' mearsured 34cm across and a drop of 30cm.

On both sides 3 x 24w T5 Sylvania GrowLux (plant lamps) provided the required lighting. Lamps coverd with my own DIY reflectors (Alanod)

Cleaning was weekly alternating sides.

1st Harvest...

tank decorations

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 6:16pm CDT by WAYNE HEATHCOTE

hi guys.I went to j-bay for 3days and collected alot of oyster shells and what looks like white bleached rocks but I found it to be shells covered in a white calcium?
i was wondering if i could stick it together with pratleys and decorate the tank ?
It resembles pieces of rock with little holes in it.
Would i have to cure it to avoid a ammonia spike etc..or could i just treat it another way and put it into the tank?
please advise me on this as i dont want to do anything that would put the fish at risk,but these pieces would look cool in the tank .
thanx:biggrin:

Please help with my setup!

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 4:25pm CDT by gecco

Okay it's time to start things of as I'm tired of planning in my head. This is my design I need to fine tune before I start. I've got a 1500x500x500 main tank, the sump will be 750x400x500 due to space issues. As can be seen above I'm thinking of running a fat :lol: scrubber with the sump. The pipping will be 50mm. The whole engin will be in a room behind the DT so the pipes will go thru the wall in to this back room.

What pumps for the return to the DT and to the scrubber will be needed.

So am I on the right path here???

:thumbup:

Hi from the new guy

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 4:19pm CDT by TVoid

Hi everyone.

I have never built a marine tank b4.
I have played around with tropical tanks but they only go so far.

So I have embarked on a virgin voyage of building a marine tank.

I am very exited about it and I think it will be rather interresting as I know zip about marine tanks, fish or corals.

Its totally new to me. :)

But we aint afraid of no crocodile :D

150w or 70w metal halide?

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 4:03pm CDT by G55C

Hi there everyone

I was planning a 1200*600*600 tank but unfortunately moved into an apartment and just dont have the space,bit of a pity. Im now planning a 600* 450*450 or round about that size.There are two light units that I'm interested in but would just like some advice from you guys.

I don't know the brand name but they are metal halide HQI ( dont know what that actually means) and the LFS has a 150w and a 70w. The 150w has a 14000K or 20000K bulb (cant remember:biggrin:) and the 70w is a 10000K bulb.

I want to mainly keep soft corals or LPS. Actually mainly like zoa's, mushrooms etc...
What would you guys suggest? I will be building this tank up slowly.

sea lice

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 3:32pm CDT by magman

I want to try and feed my nennie only live food from now on, I have been keeping some shrimps and prawns in the filter as food, some have got over into the LR and have been there for months and grown. But sea lice, would they survive for upto a month, and even one or two small ones in the tank, are they safe?

When to run Kalk Stirrer

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 1:56pm CDT by trad

I have a KR-140 Reef otctopus kalk stirrer, Question is shoudl i run the pump all day or only once or twice a day. Even if i left if running it would never add kalk directly to the tank but the pump may get warn out.

Just a few Questions...

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 12:29pm CDT by dan2381

1. Im moving my tank about 10metres across to a bigger space and during that time i will b modifying my sump for a DSB (finally), i was just wondering how long i could run my tank without a filter and just powerheads, im rating it will b without filter for a day and a half, has anyone done this?

2. I've heard about Algea scrubbers and am very interested to find out how they work and what they look like, as well as if mayb i could install one into my sump, so i would need 2 know the size of the scrubber, my sump is 700 x 450 x 450, as well im leaving 250mm for my TS2 skimmer, and as much space for DSB as possible, or mayb i dont need a scrubber with the DSB?

3. A question on NSW, The 2 oceans aquarium is down the raod from me and id like 2 know if their water is high quality and if anyone has tested for nitrates phosphates etc to see? anyone know what the membership pricing is as well?

Any help will b great.

When to replace RO Filters??

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 11:59am CDT by trad

Hi guys

When should you replace your RO filter and membrane cartridges, My TDS is still at 1 and my RO membrane is a year old and cartridges are 5 months old. If the TDS is one is there any reason to change them.

At what TDS would you change your filters.

My tap waters TDS is 100 so the machine is working.

[FS] MATURE MARINE WATER WANTED

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 11:17am CDT by clown

Hi,

Im looking for 25lt of mature marine water from an exsisting tank (+ 1year old) with healthy ph,salinity (2.5),calsuim.

I stay in Winsorpark,Kraaifontein.

Please let me know if any one can help me.

Best Regards Clown

Return Pump From Sump Noisy

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 10:57am CDT by Pugsly

Hey there fellow reefers!

Question - what can I place my return pump on in the sump - it seems to "rattle" a bit and make allot of noise. If I lift it off the bottom then it quiet!

any ideas from you guys?

Thanks

What you call it and were to get it.

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 10:14am CDT by nico.m.ferreira@gmail.com

Good day to all.

I saw that some people use something that looks like plastic mesh but only thicker and more ridget to construct platforms in there aquariums to plase the live rock.
It is normaly white in collour.
Makes for a nice clean and easy way to stack live rock with enough water flow.
I was looking for the threat were I saw it but could not find it.

Can any body please help me, were I can find it (in Pretoria region)and what it is called.

Regards Nico Ferreira.

banana wrasse and six line wrasse compatible?

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 9:57am CDT by inflames

Hi Guys,

I currently have a six line wrasse and the LFS has a nice size Banana wrasse for a fair price. Would I have any issues between the 2? The Banana wrasse is a little bigger than my six line currently...dont wanna have 3rd world war in my tank! Have a standard 4 foot tank with 5 other fish. I also have fine substrate and have heard that the banana wrasee like to bury themselves!

Any advise or comments please?!?! Thanks:yeahdude:

Brilliant service from Aquarium Depot

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 8:55am CDT by Tony

I know they're not a sponsor on the forum but I would like to convey some good service from them:thumbup:. One of my Vortech's wet side bombed out on me and the part was replaced with no quibble, complaint or hassle by Scott. Those pumps may be expensive but they have the service to warrant the price. NOw they must just do something about the traffic in Midrand:razz:

clown trigger

Posted: August 6th, 2009, 8:46am CDT by Atilla

hy everyone

can someone please tell me where i can get a small clown trigger? ive searched for a while now, but its really difficult cause i stay in George. so please can someone advise me...

thanks:thumbup:

A Womans Points Reward System

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 6:51am CDT by FransSny

In the world of romance, one single rule applies:

Make the woman happy. Do something she likes, and you get points. Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted.

You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played.

Here is a guide to the point system:

SIMPLE DUTIES

You make the bed (+1)

You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow(0)

You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1) You go out to buy her what she wants (+5) In the rain (+8) But return with Beer (-5)

You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)

You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing(0)

You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)

You pummel it with iron rod (+10)

It's her pet (-10)

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS

You stay by her side the entire party (0)

You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college
buddy(-2)

Named Tina (-4)

Tina is a dancer (-6)

Tina has silicon implants (-80)

HER BIRTHDAY

You take her out to dinner (0)

You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+1)

Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)

And it's all-you-can-eat night(-3)

It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can-eat night, and your face is painted the colors of your favorite team (-10)

A NIGHT OUT

You take her to a movie (+2)

You take her to a movie she likes (+4)

You take her to a movie you hate (+6)

You take her to a movie you like (-2)

It's called 'DeathCop' (-3)

You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)

ENJOY THE 'BIG' QUESTION

She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5) [Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT]

You hesitate in responding (-10)

You reply, "Where?" (-35)

Any other response (-20)

COMMUNICATION

When she wants to talk about a problem , you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned expression (0)

You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)

You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)

She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep (-10000)

Adee's tank

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 12:47am CDT by Adee

Ok...so in the beginning way back some 6 years ago, I started with a fish only tank.

that was then...

This is what is looks like today...more or less.

Tank is all 10mm glass. 2m x 60cm wide. Total system volume is about 1200L's

DT Lighting consists of 4 x SE 250 BLV (20k's) Nepturion's

In the DT, I have about 80x flow (4 x 10 000lph Seios & 2 x 12000lph Sun Sun's).

Tech stuff:
Skimmer TS3, Haliea Ozonizer, Haliea 1000b Chiller, 2 heaters, Phosban - Carbon reactor.

Filtration:
About 60 kilos LR in sump, 80kg's playsand DSB.

DIY (all glass) Algae Scrubber.
Powered by 8 x Sylvania GrowLux T5 lamps @ 23w each.

Dosing:
Daily with TM Iodine, every 4 days Seachem Stroti and same with Seachmen Reefbuilder
Twice a week Prodibio (just started)
Alk and Ca (self mix home brew) - I use the Balling method, Profilux Controller 2 pump Auto Doser.
Auto top up system with linked to an external 120L bin which fed by an RO Unit

Water changes weekly using Tetra Marine Salt, 120L water change. Change carbon every 2 weeks, I use Waterboy's stuff.

Plumbed in frag tank 60cm x 60cm x 25cm. Lit by 2 x DE 150W mh's. One is a 10k Venture the other a 20k BLV.

Alk 9dkh (test once a week, TM Kit)
Ca 420ppm (test once a month, TM Kit and Elos)
Salinity 1.026
PH ranges 8.1-8.4
Nitrates and Phosphates are un-detectable (Elos Kits)
water temp,I try and maintain at 26 degrees

Fish:
8 anthias
4 pyjama cardinals
Powderblue
Sailfin
Regal
Foxface
Cleanerwrasse
Copperband
2 Yellow tangs
blue yellow tail damsel

2 cleaner shrimp (mated pair - witnessed spawned hatchlings)
2 serpent brittle stars
About 80 snails and hermits

Corals...mostly SPS's...need to get down to ID'ing them all sometime.

That's it for now.

Later
Adee

would this work?

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 9:57pm CDT by martinkeyser

hello all.
i eventually have everything for my new tank.
will be moving into our new place in about 3 weeks or so and decided no to start the tank untill then.
couldn`t wait though. decided to set up a remote system with about 220lt of water to get the water cycled in the mean time. it consists of a 150lt tank that runs into a compartment that houses the skimmer and then over my sand bed of about 50cm by 45cm and then gets pumped back again.
Will this help to get the water cycled in the mean time or am i waisting my time?
oh ja, got a live rock from a friend today and also placed it on the sand bed:thumbup:

my flame scallop is a hotel

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 9:34pm CDT by NICOLENE

hi there ,

i got a few coral as a present this weekend , among them a flame scalop. at first i put him ontop of some live rock hoping to get a better view of him. the next morning he was missing. found him at the back of all the live rock.

today i took him out and put him right in front for all to see. after keeping my eyes locked on him for a while after i saw the lightning strikes he makes i noticed something funny inside him. a small 1cm white crab.is that normal?

did he eat the crab? is the crab living there? hopefully the crab is not eating him from the inside.

can anybody please tell me some more on them, at the petshop they said that they eat plankton.:eek: are they easy to keep , do they like flow , any special light needs?

An In depth approach to Lighting

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 4:26pm CDT by Falcon

So you got everything in your tank sorted out right besides your lighting. The thing is everyone is using different kinds of light. BIG SPS freaks swear MH (Metal Halide is the only way to go), while others insist T5 is the way to go and yet you see some outdated Marine dude running his marine tank of normal T8 that he buys from the hardware down the road and his corals are also living and his tank looks nice too so who do you believe and what do you choose? Then wait you still on a budget????

Now you must be thinking ok I’m just going to copy what everyone else is doing as it seems right…bad decision as everyone’s lighting requirements are different and energy is too valuable to be wasted.

1.What do you want to keep?
The average lumens per 4ft tank with a depth of not more than 600mm will be around 28000lm.This amount would sustain most corals even those with high lighting needs. If you are only going to get softies and LPS then maybe you could get away with a bit less.heres how to relate your tank:
- 3ft tank needs at least 15000lm up to around 20000lm for sps.
- 4ft tank needs at least 28000lm.
- any bigger than this then rather stick to metal halides 250w-400w or quite a few 150w.

1.METAL HALIDE-almost every brand puts out between 85/100lm per watt so not much diff in BRAND etc.colours easily available 20000k(blue) and 6500k(sunlight-yellowish white) from electrical wholesalers and other colours like 10000k(white) and 14000k(white with blue tint) from LFS.MH has the highest initial cost but globes have to be replaced only every 12-18months on average.

2.T5-this can be a bit more tricky as some brands are weak. Stick to trusted brands like geisemann, ATI, AQUA MEDIC and Reeftek range between 60/100lm per watt output. Globes like the OSRAM 880 skywhite t5 offer exceptional white light lm per watt and value for money at the low cost of like around R70 a tube.
Other colours can be purchased from LFS but at much higher costs. T5’s need to be replaced every 6months to a year max.

3.T8-this is generally low lm per watt output.Use only for fish only or soft corals tanks.
However certain globes like a PHILLIPS actinic and the range of tubes from Zoo med can hold their own against almost any T5! T8 translates into lower costs for those on a budget as globes are much much cheaper.Bear in mind though you’ll have to use more tubes than a similar t5 set-up!
ALL serious SPS keepers will not use these ONLY even though sps can survive under them. Some do however use them for supplement lighting. Replace as per t5's

The reason I posted about the Phillips 865 is because it does not fall into what I’ve just written about T8.they retain 90% of light output for three years so replace only every two years. Also they have 90lm per watt output and a ridiculously low price of like R20-00 a globe. Which means that a 36w Phillips could be used instead of white 54w t5's for those wanting to save a few bucks rather than using cheap t5 Sylvania globes.

One more thing, just to point out the lighting on say a 4ft tank that needs 28000lm.

THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR NEWBIES TO UNDERSTAND MY ENTIRE POST.

1. 2 X 150W VENTURE 6500K METAL HALIDE(14000lm each) = 300W
2. 6 X OSRAM 880 SKYWHITE 54W T5(4700lm each) = 324W
3. 12.2 X OSRAM BIOLUX 36W T8 (2300lm each) = 438W
4. 8,5 x Phillips T8 865 36w(3240lm each) = 306 W

All four examples above achieve the required lumens needed of 28000lm but as can be seen above the metal halide uses the least power and globes, which is $$$ in the long run. While in the long run the normal t8 uses the most power and globes to achieve the lumens. T5 is not far at all from the metal halide in efficiency and the Phillips 865's are also right at the top with the t5's and metal halides.

STANDARD T8 is clearly the looser here...too much power consumption and globes needed.
;)

Featured System for August 2009 - Mudshark

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 1:47pm CDT by dallasg

Our Featured System for August 2009 belongs to Mudshark!
Congratulations on a Super system.

Click on the photo to see the full feature.

New to MASA

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 1:44pm CDT by Adee

Hi,
My name is Adrian and I am a self confessed acroholic.
I am new to this forum although not new to the hobby. I have been keeping the salty stuff for the better part of 6 years.
To sum up my life experience in this hobby, I have written the book called How to stuff things up royally! followed closely by the second one called 101 things that can go wrong ask me Ive done it! The latter is still in draft as the list is much longer and the number in the title may have to be redone.
Seriously, my objective in this hobby is to keep the most challenging specimens and hopefully succeed in creating a near perfect environment where my coral selection will eventually thrive. At the same time I fully endorse home cultured corals, and look forward to trade with other members.
I will start a thread of my own setup under the members set-up, feel free to post comments to help make me a better reefer.
Till later.
Adee

Something amazing

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 1:20pm CDT by ZeroCool

Hi there everyone ...

So, last night i did some water tests, cleaned the inside of the tank etc (removing algae on the glass), and then i saw a very small snail without any "home" on its back.

It was amazing.

Question, must i get shells into tank for him to find a suitable home ?

Zerocool

Jakkie

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 12:48pm CDT by Jakkie

Hi

I am setting up a new tank with 411l of water. Can anyone tell we what is the minimum light needed for this tank. At this moment I have bought a 150w Metal Helite complete unit with 2night lights an 2 xt5 lights in the unit. Will this me enough.

The new Aquamedic OceanProp pump is here.

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 11:17am CDT by Bob the (reef)builder

Its here and its very cool.

It's microprocessor controlled pump will pump 15000l per hour at 20w and goes down to 5000l per hour at 9w.

Its run with low voltage for safety.

Dead quiet.

9 different program settings and night mode.

Due to very good windings it does not heat water much, and will last longer.

Has newly designed suction cup to attach it to glass. Also a ball mounted positioner to aim water flow.

And its price is rediculous. About R2400 For a really solid, properly tested German product. Wow!

newbie

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 11:17am CDT by Esmond1

Hi guys will be posting some pics of critters in my tank & hopefully someone can id it for me.

Magmans ocean in the lounge

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 11:07am CDT by magman

Canon or Nikon?

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 10:51am CDT by Mudshark

There are 2 specials at the moment, both for about 6k. One is the canon 1000d and the other the nikon D60. I'll reseach on the web as well but I actually trust your opinions more.

my new challenge

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 9:44am CDT by magman

The other day I was having my bakkie serviced, and while waiting to collect in the waiting room, I was reading an old national geographic, from 1999. Basically it was how the coral reefs are being stuffed up, half of it by divers who dive for the aqurium industry, and how they use chemicals to catch the fish, but chemicals that wipeout the reefs.

Another problem I feel I have found, is that lots of imported fish come in and may appear fine, but are internally damaged. I feel they are damaged internally by the chemicals they are caught with. Remember some imported fish may be come in, sent around the country without being unpacked, and be in the lfs within 36 hours of leaving some poor asian country.

I have decided now not to buy a single fish or coral from any lfs, but to rather catch my own. It is also illegal to sell localy caught fish, but I think I can still swop some of the fish I catch for others or corals. I know I sound a bit hypocritical still willing to swop imported fish, but I feel it as a challenge also. We do love diving as a family for the tank, even our kids who are between 7-10yrs old. We have travelled all along the east coast, and have caught some wonderful fish and shrimp etc for the tank.

I cannot remember losing one fish though that was self caught through disease or sickness, except through maybe fighting (eg 2 cleaner wrasse in a tank).

So if any of you want goldies, chromis etc, let me know what you will swop em for. Also if I want to swop 15 fish for a nennie, understand why!!!!!!!

My DIY T5 hood

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 9:29am CDT by Loki

Hi people..

My dad had some spare glass so i commandeered it to make a new T5 hood for my 3ft.
Here's a pic with one of the two tube rails placed..

So far my dad has helped me big time with the lid.. (pics coming soon)
All the ballasts will be going in their own box relocated below the tank.
:peroni:

Which is the better???? SKIMMER!!!!

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 9:28am CDT by fleur

Okay guys i need a new skimmer for my new set up but i'm stuck i dig both but which would you chose or advise on.....
Bubble magus 260
OCTX 200 EXT
:lol:

cleaning substrate,

Posted: August 5th, 2009, 9:19am CDT by magman

I was thinking of getting one of the siphon vacuum pipes to clean my substrate in the DT, but am more worried about taking more good bacteria out of the tank than detrus. Is it a good idea, or what can I put in to clean the base. I am use crushed coral as the substrate.

Any suggestions?

How long can a tank run for without filteration

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 11:52pm CDT by Dohn

I want to redo my sump area and was wondering how long my tank could stand for without the sumps and pumps.

I have emptied the bottom sump of all live rock and sand, so there is just 2 pumps in there. 1 pump pumps to the display tank at 4000l an hour and the other to my top sump at 5000l an hour with a head of about 2.5m My piping is all 25mm.

In my DSP i have a wavebox and a resun wavemaker for circulation with substrate level of about 8cm.

In my top sump i have my algae scrubbers and a DSB with a compartment full of liverock.

I want to move the bottom sump all the way to the left, remove all the baffles except for the middle one. The left side will be for equipment and the right side for a auto topup resovoir.

I want to bring my overflow pipe ( 50mm )out across the top of the sump compartment with a couple of T pieces in it that will feed ball valves. These balls valves will then feed water to the various equipment. Ie skimmer inlet, a canister water filter for Activated carbon and phosphate remover. The overflow pipe will run across the top of the sump and then go back up next to the display tank, making a bend just before the top of the display tank and come back down to the sump. (In case my surge overwelms the Ball valves and to prevent floods.)
Im hoping that this will also make the overflow less noisy.

While i do this i will have the display tank circulating with my Tunze wavebox and resun wavemaker.

The top sump will be circulating by my algae scrubber pump.

shrooms wanted!!

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 10:49pm CDT by Dale6

hey guys anyone have shrooms for sale,looking for any type really rare ones 2 thanks.:thumbup:

what is a protein skimmer

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 9:31pm CDT by becca

hi i'm becca and you guessed it i'm new to this site. i'm just setting up a small marine tank so can anyone tell me what a protein skimmer does and do i need one.:razz:

Rock pool anenome

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 7:28pm CDT by durleo

Hi guys jus wanted to find out why the anenome's from the rock pools are bad.
I saw a red one and a purple one at umhloti today.

Pictures of sps growth rate

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 6:28pm CDT by Manic

Hey everyone,

Here is a side by side picture of the growth rate of my caliendrum. The picture on the left was taken on the 10 July 2009 and the one on the right is today (4 August 2009) so it's just under a months worth of growth. At first I was using 20 000K 150W MH's but have switched to 6500K 150W MH's. So far growth rate is looking good and colouration as well. It might look a lot more dull now but that is just the colour of the light, when placed under 20 000K globes is looks a lot more colourfull than when I got it.

Rics spurting stuff

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 5:24pm CDT by Kevin

My rics throw out this cloud of mucus stuff into the tank every now and then.

What could it be? Are they trying to reproduce or are they expelling waste.

These guys are getting quite big, some are more than 120mm across when fully expanded.

White fan worms

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 4:34pm CDT by Kevin

My live rock is getting covered in little white fan worms, which seem to be reproducing at a rate. What will chow these things as they are getting out of hand?

Live Rock Stripped

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 3:23pm CDT by Zuna

Hey guys

bought some awesome looking rock on Saturday from Idol.
had lots of green, white, red and purple.
I put it in the tank and Sunday when i woke up there was no green left on it.
look like my blennie and hermmies stripped it clean. :nono:
Did they do a good thing or bad thing?

Calcium Hydroxide

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 2:49pm CDT by shane

Hi all,
I have recently come across a bag of calcium hydroxide and would like the chemical guru's to give me some advise please.
Firstly on the front of the bag it is called limbux lime and is supplied by:
TARMAC BUXTON LIME @ CEMENT
TUNSTEAD HOUSE BUXTON
DERBYSHIRE SK17 8TG
On the back of the bag it has the following info:
PRODUCT IS CLASSFIED AS A:
BS EN 459 - 1 -CL 90-S
BUILDING LIME AND BS EN 12518
CLASS 1 TYPE A LIME FOR TREATMENT OF DRINKING WATER
TYPICAL ASSAY: 95 - 97% calcium hydroxide

Any info on what this means or if it would be safe for use in a aquarium would be great.
Cheers

Pet shops to be placed on "no-no" list

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 2:17pm CDT by frankie fish

How many lfs are in your area that you think are a total waste of time to visit,and that you would not recommend buying from it? In the vaal it's a kinda kinda bad situation,the only lfs having marines are kinda monopolising the hobby now,and the prices are sky-high. i was there again today,really a lot of potential for the place,but take corals for example, there is not one below R300, and now i'm talking about a normal leather,some xenias,star polyps,mushrooms,zoa's ect. And the coral tank is full of Red algae(cyno) and full of aptasia. If you look at the fish dept,just as bad, purple tangs,"vrot" of white spot,R1500. Now if you ask about the prices in relation with the health of the fish,the general attitude is, it's my shop,my prices,buy it or leave it. What is your opinion on such shops, and what else to do than shake your head in disbelief?:nono::nono::nono:

Cutting 50mm hole through Glass?????

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 1:29pm CDT by Pugsly

Hi guys - I want/need to cut an additional 50mm hole though the one glass side panel of my sump to add and extra overflow. How can I do this? Besides the actual drill what bit does one get and can one get it from builders w/h?

ID please

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 11:57am CDT by CashMoney

Hey guys i dunno what this is could some1 please help me out....
Is it good or bad must i get rid of it?
I dont really like it in the tank anyways....

Please any help advise would be great
Shot Cheers

[FS] CALCIUM REACTOR

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 11:17am CDT by mahan

HI GUYS I HAVE AN AQUAMEDIC CALCIUM REACTOR FOR SALE RATED FOR 400L 2KG CO2 BOTTLE FILLED ABOUT 1MTH BACK AND AQUA MEDIC REGULATOR ALL MANUALS AND BUBBLE COUNTER URGENT SALE

Marine tank for sale.

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 10:59am CDT by Julian

Hi all

I want to sell my tank, complete with live rock,pumps,sand,cruched coral, uv filter, lights,fish, everything! It's a Aqua H2O corner tank, about 600L for R6000-00. Urgent i'm moving and cannot take it with, to big. I'm in Bloem and my number is 083 703 1309. Thank you.

$Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2009/08/04/_FS__FS___Skimmer___refractometer'$

[FS] FS - Skimmer - refractometer

Posted: August 4th, 2009, 10:29am CDT by Wolve

hi Guys got a Aqua excel skimmer rated for a 400l system. it has brand new OTP 1000 oumo with pin wheel impeller - R 1000. refractor meter with carry case (new) with ATC - R 450

My first marine tank

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:51pm CDT by marinenoob

Hi,

I have just emptied my Juwel rio 240 tropical tank to make it into a marine. I am new to the whole marine setup. I have just yesterday emptied my tropical tank and using the std filtration added crushed coral and marine salt. How long should this run before i can add live rock and fish and no coral for the meantime? Do i need a protein skimmer and powerflow heads if i only intend on putting like two fish and maybe a crab or two? if so what is the best fit skimmer for a juwel rio 240?

New member

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:49pm CDT by marinenoob

george's tank

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:35pm CDT by brettb2020

stuart and I went to view george's tank today and wow, really impressed. some really happy coral, clams and fish. it also looks good and some amazing equipment too. took some pics so everyone else can also have a good squiz. :thumbup:

check the wave!!! :-)

redbait for emperor

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:24pm CDT by WAYNE HEATHCOTE

hi guys
quick question!
I want to know if i can feed my emperor angel some redbait ?
I researched it and it seems to be a kind of sponge or food source that emperors would come across in the wild.
Would i be able to mix it into my food mix without it affecting my water quality etc...

thanx:)

[FS] Selling everything

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:05pm CDT by chris

Everything must go

Here is the price list of everything or take it all for R10 000 or just make me an offer.

Tank,sump,cabinet and hood R3750

Hailea chiller model HC-250A 6mnths old R3750

Hailea immersible pump R200

VIA aqua power head R200

Seio controller R1350

Seio m1500 with magnet R400

Seio m1500 R300

Seio m1100 R200

3xAssorted electronic ballasts R300

T8 starters,wproof end caps R200

T8 tubes 10000k 36W and 30W 6mnths old R50
Asst T5 tubes 6mnths old R200
5kg tropic marin salt R150

Asst ornaments R150

Timers and contactor R200

Wanted : Nudibranchs

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 8:16pm CDT by ZeroCool

Hi everyone, do anyone maybe know where i can buy a few nudibranchs maybe ? I got a marine book and boy, they look stunning.

If any pet shop owners read this, please comment please.

thanks
Regards
Zerocool

Is this Cup Dyed?

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 8:02pm CDT by Kunhardt

After a few days of debate by myself and Falcon as to whether my cup coral is dyed or not I have decided to take the debate to the masses.

As you can see from the pic below my cup coral is Yellow in colour. A fact that Falcon informed me is not a good sign as it is more than likely dyed. I went on to say that it cant be dyed as I was told that you do infact get Yellow cups but that they are quite rare...looking up on liveaquaria also stated that cups come in yellow. After being shown a thread about another yellow cup on this site, I did some more reading up and found that yes it is common for ppl to dye cups and infact in bright yellow...yikes! However after reading an article by Anthony Calpho on dyed corals I found out that there are infact different species of Turbinaria, mainly the T. reniformis which has widely spaced larger polyps and the T. peltata which has tiny close together polyps. The T.peltata according to Calpho does infact come in yellow.

So here are the questions... is this infact a T. peltata and even if it is is it infact naturally coloured or is it dyed?

After extensive reading now, I am undecided whether it is or isnt, where as before I was sure it was not dyed.

New member

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 7:41pm CDT by tsa

Hi just call me "TSA" from Malaysia, hope to share information among member

New Member

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 7:24pm CDT by tinus

Hi all ,
I am a new member that do not even have my own tank.....soon to follow. I spend the day at the beach aqnd want to start the right way ....any help will do. Hope to become a active member and have a tank to remind me of God's creation in my livingroom!!! Thank for making me part of the group.!! Tinus:wave2:

A lot to blame on a marine aquarium

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 7:17pm CDT by jrwdive

I'm just starting a tank after a 33 year break. Not at the point of stocking it yet, but aiming at soft corals and fish.

I have a lot to blame on marine aquariums. First started at school where we had a tank in the wildlife club. We used to go out at weekends and collect fish that died during the week! From there I got into spearfishing, met my wife through a dive buddy and finally ended up manufacturing spearfishing gear and owning a dive shop. Like I said - a lot to blame on a fishtank!

Since I started on the project I am amazed at the fish I now see while spearfishing. It's easy to get so distracted in deep water that it is a push to make the surface.

Upgrade ideas for TL-550

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 7:00pm CDT by Manic

Hey everyone,

So been thinking about some upgrades for my boyu, I've already changed the whole filtration at the back and done the lighting upgrade. I've had the 3 globes in now for about 6 months, so going to replace with new ones. At the moment I've got those combination tubes, so one side of the tube is white and the other blue. I was thinking of replacing the tubes with one that is the combination white-blue tube, then one that is just white and then one that is just blue. That way I can turn the tube that is just blue on an hour before and an hour after the main lights come on. Anyone think this is a good idea? The other thing I need to decide on is the kelvin rating of the white tube, it comes in 6500K or 7200K.

Also I've heard about the other protein skimmer that can be purchased, the wg-310. What skimmer does the standard TL-550 come with?

Very New

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 5:55pm CDT by MavrickFDT

Hey Guys. :wave2:

I am really new to the whole Marine Aquarium idiea really interested although I am still in the research phase, I currently have 2 Tropical tanks and I want to convert the one to Marine but I obviously have no idiea what basic equipment I might need( can anybody give me some advice? )

Anyway I am sure I will learn what ever I need on the Net and on the forum but as you all know the more advice the better.

Lastly high all and thanks guys for a really cool forum as I have been doing a lot of reading and there is a lot of knowledge here.

Cant wait to start.
Thanks

This Is Very Sad, We Need To Do Something About This, We Cant Let This Happen Again

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 5:49pm CDT by Warr7207

Help stop this heartlessness!

Please don't cry

Mikes First Set up

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 5:47pm CDT by CashMoney

Hey guys
Here is my set up:P
I have about 3 very basic corals and 5 fish namely
2x common clowns
1x yellow Wrasse
1x Fire Gogy
1x Anthias
12Kg live rock (Keynan) and 10Kg Bio Rock
In the sump i have 3x compartments 2nd chamber is a DSB and First chamber has my Protein Skimmer last chamber is return pump.
FTS

Fish

Cleaner Shrimp

Coral

Could some1 plz ID this for me?????

Cheers Money;)

Fragged Red Acan

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 5:47pm CDT by Real Life

Well... I've just fragged my treasured Red Acan. I read an articel over the weekend by Eric B. that said that they were very tuff and you could basically hack them and they would be fine. With their high prices I was a bit nervous but hey... If he said it ...I belive it. I let my 4 yr old boy take the meeat shears and cut where ever he like. I still have a mother colony and not have 3 frags ranging in size from 3-5 polyps. I will post some after pics later. I did not take any pics during as I was to busy watching my fingers and my son. Sould be ready to sell or swap in about 3-4 weeks according to Mr. Eric B. Let's see?;):thumbup::w00t::baffled:

What Bulbs for T5 Unit

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 5:45pm CDT by ziyaadb

I bought a 8*39W T5 unit. It comes with 4*10K and 4*actinic bulbs in theory i should get better light then the 150W+(2*39W) fitting it replaced. It does not seem that way. Could it be because of the bulbs in the fitting? I have 2*12k as well as 4*8800 bulbs that i could put in and take out some of the other bulbs in the unit? Which would be the best combination for growth and aesthetics?

Diffs between your Home R.O. system and a marine R.O. system???

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 5:31pm CDT by emteey

Hi there,

Could someone explain the difference between your Home R.O. system and a marine R.O. system. Could you use your home system? How would you attach/use a marine R.O. system to yur setup??? :wtf:

Hello everyone!

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 5:14pm CDT by Scott_Rob

Hi,

My name is Scott, I'm 16, and I live in Durban. I've recently become quite interested in keeping a marine aquarium. I'm still in the research phase, trying to gather as much information as possible before I decide to actually begin my own marine aquarium. It'll probably take me a few months to start an aquarium if I go ahead, due to time and budget constraints. I don't want to rush into anything either.

I've previously kept freshwater fish, and I have a 1200 litre tank which I'm considering trying to convert to saltwater.

I'd really like to commend you all on an excellent forum. Most of the sites I've come across on the net haven't been nearly as informative or friendly. Keep it up!

Lastly, if you guys have any advice you think I could use, please don't be shy. I'd really appreciate any tips etc. from the more experienced aquarists in the forum.

Looking forward to getting involved!
-Scott

Cleaner wrasse food

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 4:42pm CDT by Stressed Eric

Ok, i'm going to risk getting flamed by the tree huggers here, but I'm really keen on getting a cleaner wrasse when my tank's ready. Now i understand they don't do well in our tanks because their nature and genetic makeup is to clean parasites off other fish and the typical food we feed just doesn't cut it somehow. Is there a cultivatable parasite that can safely be introduced to our systems, and one that can be controlled enough to maintain a wrasse yet not harm the rest of the ecosystem and the fish that will play host ?

Flatworm exit

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 4:34pm CDT by Stressed Eric

Hey all, i've realised i'm fighting a losing battle with flatworms - time to nuke the suckers has arrived before they get out of hand . . . Please forward pricing and postage costs of flatworm exit to pmb :) thanks all

Scooter Blenny Babies?

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 3:33pm CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Hi guysOn behalf of my dad, please can you enlighten us on how Scooters reproduce? Yes, I know about the birds and the bees, but here is the story...My dad bought a Scooter Blenny about a month ago at most, only one. This weekend we spotted small little fish swimming around the liverock. They are really tiny, but definetly fish. He only has one Clownfish in there too, so unless we are sitting with a "scoolown" I don't know how the babies got there.Also, IF you confirm this could be babies, what can dad feed them? Sorry, no photos, they are too small and move to fast to see, they are only about 2 - 5mm large.

Blv venture 250w 14000k?

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 2:24pm CDT by Renannchen

Does any1 knw anything about these bulbs? What they cost? Got 2 from a friend, just want to knw if the are also a nice blue colour or should i buy reeftek?

[FS] sole Water R.O. Unit

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 2:03pm CDT by schaun

This thing makes water like crazy.
It does 50L in 1 hour.

diving this weekend, Durban-Zululand Northcoast

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 1:32pm CDT by magman

Any of you Durban boys feel like a dive this weekend, tides are perfect and it is a long weekend.

Rbay harbour is too contaminated, even the butterflies have horns, so would suggest either heading north, or we meet in between Durbs and Rbay.

Arduino Aquarium Controller

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 1:13pm CDT by Ross

Just saw this and thought it might interest some of u DIY types.

Arduino Forum - My Arduino Aquarium Controller

Hello MASA

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 1:04pm CDT by Blue

Hi All.

It's on a rather sad note that I join the forum.
I've had a marine tank for 4 years now but I'm leaving the country in a few weeks and unfortunately marine tanks is not something shipping companies will move ;)

I hope to one day start up a tank again as both my husband and I have really enjoyed our tank.

Anyway, the person who was supposed to buy our tank has dropped us and no longer wants the tank.

If there is anyone who would be interested in buying the tank or perhaps know of anyone please pm me. We would entertain any offers. The tank has to be moved this weekend. If we don't get any offers then we will be forced to break up the tank and sell what we can. :(

Here are the specs:
It a 800l AquaH20 tank with the curved front corners.
There is about 13Kg of live rock in the tank.
The fish are:
1 x Powder Blue Tang
1 x Yellow Tang
1 x Dragonette Blenny
1 x Jumping Bean
1 x Pecular clown

Filtration consists of:
Sump with Scentered glass rings (two chambers)
One chamber with crushed coral
One chamber with Aragonite for PH stability
UV filter
Skimmer
8000l/h pond pump on sump
Squidy wave maker
One 2500l/h power head

Heaters:
2 x Jaeger 750w heaters

Lighting:
4 x T5 lights with 45w ballasts and gullwing reflectors

The deal includes one 5 stage Reverse Osmosis system.

Serious Problem - Overdose of Iodine

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 12:19pm CDT by ml

Hi all
I ones again made a terabaal mistake and overdosed my tank with jodium and now I have slime algea. Dont worry my Fraggs is not coverd by algea. Please help me, and give me more and more advise.

Thanks in advanse
Morne

August Specials!!!

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 11:41am CDT by The Waterboy

HELLO ALL!

please feel free to take a look at our august specials for masa members.
take a few minutes to go through the list below.......im sure you will agree it will be worth your time;)

THE WATERBOY REEFMASTER R.O.UNITS................................R 1250.00 plus vat
bonus: including a free set of pre-filters valued at R250.
first 5 units sold will also include a free tropic marine elimiaptasia, or a free 250 ml brightwell calcion supplement, or a free 250 ml liquid po4 remover or a tropic marine coral cure coral dip

THE WATERBOY REEFMASTER EVOLUTION PLUS R.O. UNITS...............R 1480.00 plus vat
unit includes maxi-resin di-chamber, membrane flush valve etc
bonus: including a free set of pre-filters valued at R 250 and a resin repack valued at R 125
first 5 units sold recieve either a free tropic marine elimiaptasia, or a brightwell 250ml calcion supplement, or a free 250 ml
liquid po4 remover or a free tropic marine coral cure coral dip

waterboy 2 in 1 reactor - carbon & po4 reactor with pump and carbon charge............R 850.00plus vat

any from the lists below, to the end of this page valued at more than R1000.00 will get an extra 10% dicount

spares:

50gpd filmtech r.o.membrane...........................R 350.00 plus vat
evolution series cartridge set...........................R 220.00 plus vat
maxi-resin repack.......................................... R110.00 plus vat

the waterboy maxi-zorb carbon 3kg buckets........R 150.00 plus vat

electric float valve and 12v solinoid for auto inline tank top up for r.o.unit...........................R 450.00 plus vat

seachem 250ml reef carbonate liquid alkalinity buffer..................R 64.00 plus vat

all carribsea substrate.........................less 15% including aragalive and new hawaii black, fiji pink etc etc

carribsea purple up 473ml............R 235.00 plus vat
carribsea aragamilk 473ml............R 220.00 plus vat

brightwell 250 ml calcion calcium supplement............R 85.00 plus vat

less 10% on all reeftek t5 tubes and mh globes

less 10% on all reefoctopus skimmers and reactors

less 10% on all seio and halliea pumps

less 5% on all ocean nutrition flakes and pellets

DELTEC SALT 23kg buckets...............R 850.00 plus vat

seachem marine salt 6.3 kg bags...........R 220.00 plus vat

reefoctopus zeo-reactors......................R 1280.00 plus vat

Help with my leather

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 11:27am CDT by dogstar

Bought a leather yesterday, its doing great in the tank. Was all closed up and small in the bag, but has since opened up very nicely in the tank.

The problem is it came on a piece of rock the seems to be in pieces (the actual leather seems to be holding it together) and which are quite small.

This is making it a bit tricky for me to mount it. Because of this, the angle at which i could mount it is wierd, and not quite upright, and part of it seems a bit crammed for space.

Without a pic, any suggestions? Can i remove the small pieces and remount? Will it grow straight and a bit more upright?

How do you guys mount when the piece of rock the coral comes on, just wont work with the space you got?

Noisy overflow

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 11:26am CDT by mariusmeyer

Hi guys

My name is Marius (as in my username) and is busy converting my freshwater setupo into marine.

I drilled 2 50mm holes in the back panel for the external durso overflows. The overflow on the inside of the tank is just a 90 degree elbow facing up. And you can see what the back of the tank looks like. On my return I have an Lifetech AP4660 pumping at 4800LPH so I would imagine it would be around 3000-3500LPH after headloss.

No my problem is that the overflows are extremely noisy. It sucks air from the inside of the tank as it creates a vortex and causes a running water noise on the inside of the pipes. I have installed 2 ball valves to try and reduce the water speed but it did not help.

So I really need help in quieting these pipes down. Would it help if I change the back side of the pipes to straight down as in the next pic?

I have even tried shoving a thinner pipe into the overflows to try and slow the water down but that did not help either.

I want to explore all possible options with using it this way but if it will not work then I will consider building 2 overflow boxes on the inside of the tank with the 90 degree elbow facing down.

I would really appreciate your opinions.

Thanks
Marius

Plumbing fittings

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:48am CDT by Kevin

Hi guys,

I am almost finished buliding my sump for my TL550, but I cannot find the correct plumbing fittings for the back of the display tank. I want to have a 32mm overflow and a 12mm return with black rigid pipes. I have seen that plumbing suppliers have screw in fittings for water tanks that are leak proof but they only come in very large sizes.

If you guys know of any suppliers in the JHB west rand area, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Hermit crab breeding

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:33am CDT by frankie fish

This is a question that i have been wondering about for a while, how do Hermit crabs breed,do they need some type of dry/wet sand, or do they just deposit eggs/larvae in the substrate?

help on am wave maker

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 10:09am CDT by mahan

hi guys i bought a aqua medic wave maker which says that i can put 100w on each output however when i connected two pumps per output it blew the fuse can i plz have some advise if anyone has had this problem plz help thnks

Skimmer

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 9:48am CDT by Real Life

Looking for a TS1 skimmer or anything similar. I am quite desperate as my tank has been skimmerles now for 3 months. Any options? Thanks!

Salinity Rising

Posted: August 3rd, 2009, 9:12am CDT by sean_koekemoer

Dunno what is happening as it is the first time I have ever experienced this- and yes, I was sober when all these tests was done.

When I tested the salinity last week, it tested at 1024, on Wednesday it tested 1026, and when we tested yesterday, it was testing at 1029. How can this be , as I still use the same auto top up I always used and have not added any new saltwater for the last month.

Surely there is something not going well here. I use a refractometer and I wash it after every test. I also test it with Freshwater and it seems to test right.

Any ideas????

Happy Birthday NaasB and kylestanley

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 5:45am CDT by chikaboo

Hey dudes :happybday: enjoy the rest of the day :party::clap:may you see many many more :cheers2:

Where's the Birthday Tab?

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 5:35am CDT by chikaboo

Hey where's the "who's birthday today" window - How we gonna check who's birthday it is and wish them?

I need to seed my DSB in durbs

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 11:26pm CDT by durleo

Hi Guys

I have just started my cycle and need to seed the DSB.

Anyone in durbs that will be willing to help with a cup of Bacteria:)

Regards
Duran

New Deltec TC skimmers

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 10:37pm CDT by Nemos Janitor

I heard that these skimmers will be with us shortly. Just check out the air volume. 1500Lt's hour. WOW that is the best i have heard of. Can't wait to get my mitts on one and try it out.

Deltec introduce new range of protein skimmers | The Aquarium Solution

Stupid SEIO's

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 10:12pm CDT by Manic

I've had two SEIO prop 320's in my nano for about 6 months now. Recently algae started growing on the glass, a bit more than usual. So tonight I checked my pumps and the two SEIO were running in reverse. So sucking in water instead of pushing it out. So I cleaned them and then started them up again and all was perfect. 5 mins later I checked them again and they were going in reverse again. Took them apart and everything seems perfect and all is clean but everytime I turn them on they go into reverse after about 5 mins. I've got a SEIO prop 530 on the same multiplug and that one works perfectly so it isn't an electrical problem. Anyone got any ideas...

Looking for Sea Hare

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 9:47pm CDT by SCOOBY

I am looking for sea hares ...

Shaun's New Tank

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 9:44pm CDT by shaun70922

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Pic of my sump.

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 9:05pm CDT by shaun70922

Hope u guys can see it

What's next?

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 7:57pm CDT by Hennie

Hi Guys,
I have had this tank going now for a week. It's a 1.2m x 0.6m x 0.45m tank with a sump the same size but 450mm high divided into 3 compartments - one with the skimmer (Reeftek TS2), one with a DSB 550mm x 450mm x 300mm high with Play pen sand 150mm deep and last the return pump (Aqua One 3200l/hr).
Now - is the sand deep enough? Why is the water still murky? When do I install the heaters (temperature now 14°C)? When can I put in the live rock? And when do I put in the lights?

Cocoon ?

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 7:45pm CDT by Stressed Eric

Eish,

I'm getting a complex, I feel terrible that it seems most of my posts are about things I've found and needing ID ....

Ok, I'm over it ...

Here's another one for ya with experience/thick books/etc ....

When I first saw it I thought I'd been taken for a ride and that this piece of live rock had been kept out of the water and had a moth or something make a cocoon on the rock .... thing is it opens and closes .... So bang goes that theory .... It's hard, about 25-30mm long, cylindrical like an, uhm, mussle I guess, has a wierd pattern on it ....

Whatcha think, excuse the curry flavoured lighting again .....

My New 6ft tank

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 7:09pm CDT by durleo

Hi guys I have just purchased a beautiful secondhand tank -
It is 6ft long and 750lts to fill:)
It has always been a dream to own a marine tank and it has finally come true.

It was quiet unfortunate why the old owner sold it.
His house was fumigated and all his fish and coral died.
He converted it to a freshwater tank and had an oscar in it.

The tank came with 2 x Metal Halide 150w
4 x marineglo
4 x powerglo bulbs.
2 x Jebo skimmers which I have since replaced with a Reef Octopus Orca 100 skimmer
He gave me alot of rock and coral heads
Bio Balls
3 x atlas powerheads

I have begun setting up the tank and cycling it 3 days ago.
I have put an aragonite base
playsand for the DSB (15cm)
18kg Live Rock to supplement the old dead rock
I am gonna need alotta help as I go along guys
I have already read alot of useful tips from the forums and its nice to see how you guys help each other out.

Here are some pics I have taken.
Regards
Duran

Cleaning an empty tank

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 6:58pm CDT by Fishy Steve

I have a tank I'm wanting to sell but I wanna give it a good cleaning first. It has a load of coralline algae on the back and sides. How do I get it off without scratching the tank? Is there something I can use to make it come off easy? Don't just wanna just scrape it off with a razor blade and mess the tank up.

Thanks

LPS ID Needed

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 6:41pm CDT by Fishy Steve

I got this coral a while back and would like an ID. It was sold to me as a Rice Coral(Definitely not) but research has lead me to think Pearl Bubble Coral, but with less bubbly look.

Just after being put in tank

It has grown a bit but still looks like this and extends quite a bit more

It has some nasty sweeper tentacles

After Lights out

Anyone out there know what it is?

Question about putty

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 4:51pm CDT by Fishfood

How safe is the putty you get from the LFS to stick coral?
Was swearing and cursing a few minutes ago.
Had a frag stuck to a piece of rock few minutes before.
Thought I'd be clever and detach it from the rock and stick it to my LR - except the "£$%ing putty broke apart and started dissolving.
So my water turned pink and theres little bits of putty all over the show!
Plus the poor SPS received far too much bad handling than he should have.
Is the putty safe in my water (will it be removed by the filter) and will my SPS be OK or is it cause for a bit of concern?

Freestate Reefmeeting

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 4:31pm CDT by ed

There will be a Reefmeeting on the 8th Aug at 15H00. the reefmeeting will start at my place and then we will visit 2 other reefers setups. any one welcome

for more info contact me

regards
Ed

Shrimp, back from the dead ...

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 4:24pm CDT by Stressed Eric

Heya all,

After a 14 hour power cut I found something else interesting in my cycling tank (somehow my neutral connection came off the overhead pole outside) - my tanks temperature plumeted to just over 16 degrees *bad news*, and yoh, no backup power yet ..... Time to budget for a genny before I get any livestock methinks ....

Anyways, when I finally got the electricity back this noo noo had crawled out of some new live rock I got and was on death's doorstep, completely motionless on the substrate - I pulled him out and sumped him where I knew the oxygen and heat would start normalising first.

Now to figure out what he is .... He's tiny, about 30mm long, black, definately a shrimp of some sort and very camera shy!

Great Barrier Reef Dying

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 4:20pm CDT by viper357

Great Barrier Reef will be gone in 20 years, says Charlie Veron - Times Online

ID needed

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 2:48pm CDT by B&K

[img]http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/imagehosting/20314a757c0cbea04.jpg" border="0" alt="" onload="NcodeImageResizer.createOn(this);" />[/IMG]hi there, just a few things i have in my tank that i would like to know the correct names of in lay man terms....

Scoobys frag tanks..

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 1:35pm CDT by SCOOBY

Ok,so here I go.I have two 4 ft tanks and one sump.From the sump it goes into the two 4fts and back to the sump.The sump is full of only live rock.
1.SKIMMER - Turboflotor - A/M

2.Calcium reactor is the A/M - KR 1000 with 5kg CO 2

3.Kalk stirrer A/M

4.Pump from sump to tanks - Oceanrunner OR 6500

5.Cooling is A/M for up too 1500 L

6.2 X Aquasunlight with 2 MH - 250W and four t5 54w in each Aquasunlights.

7.For flow I have four Seios M 1100.

So that is my frag tanks.

Flame gobys

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 2:02am CDT by Prodigy

Hey guys
Um first of all can flame gobys pair up???If yes how long does this take whats the whole procedure with these fish?
Please help me out here guys shot
Cheers

Full system for sale (feeler): Cape town durbanville

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 10:25pm CDT by Jcc

Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

Full system for sale (feeler)

Location:

Cape town durbanville

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection

Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

Photos wil follow when i get acces to pc during next week
Sad day but want must sell my system. Dont really want to sell seperate. Entire setup must go

1m by 50cm by 50cm aqua h2o amazon tank with sump.
7 t5 with reflectors, balasts ect
60cm 150w mh unit with 2t5s
2 sun sun pumps, 2 buyo wavemakers and controller, 3 timers, extractor fan.
3 return pumps, seio m650, auto top up unit, phosphate diy reactor.
Sump lights, test kits, additives, food.
Reeftek ts2 skimmer
Fish list:
Pajama cardinal
Midas blenny
2 occelaris clowns
Picasso trigger
Cream angel
Scopa tang
Long nosed hawk
Corals:
About 20 to 30 sps from frags to colonies
About 15 soft corals
Mix of different corals
2 green carpet anenomies
25 to 30kg of mixed live rock.
Like i said dont want to sell seperate. Lots of small odds and ends
R16000

Notes:

-

Sad Angel fish

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 8:29pm CDT by ReefMaster_SA

Hey Guys
After a long 2days trying to help me Angel(jumping bean ) to recover.It died , Dont know wat caused the problem, It was only swimming in circles and not eating

Very Sad and dont feel like adding a Angel fish again

Looking for colourful zoas

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 7:25pm CDT by Tony

Does anyone have nice zoanthids for sale in Joburg? I live in honeydew and I will collect.

Dogs

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 6:37pm CDT by chikaboo

Not to burst anybodies bubble guys but German Sheppherd's are awesome awesome pets and watchdogs - unfortunately only if you dont have young ones around the house that you gonna pay alot of attention to - They magnificent dogs cant handle the green eyed monster very well but I'm sure the guys here are into dogs as well (I think Tobes) pm him and ask to make double sure!

Help with Tropic Marin Calcium Test Kit

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 5:40pm CDT by shaun70922

Hi Guys,I'v misplaced my red lettered 1ml dosing syring,please can someone help me and tell me how many ml of reagent A must i put into my 5ml test vail??:(

My clowns laid eggs

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 4:47pm CDT by lanzo

HI guys

I almost made a back flip when i saw the eggs

My tomato clown laid eggs...i have had her for almost 4 years now, and i paired them up two years ago and today is the first batch of eggs:slayer:

pics will follow if i can get my damn charger for my battery:(

[FS] 2 Nano tanks for sale...

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 2:50pm CDT by SCOOBY

2 NANO tanks for sale.The 2 tanks need sumps that i will inc with the tanks.The big one will go for R 4 500 and the small one will go for R 3 000.The big is 45 - h,45 - w and 60 - l.The small is 35 - h,40 - w and 64 - l.

$Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2009/08/01/_FS__WANTED__Refractometer'$

[FS] WANTED: Refractometer

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 12:49pm CDT by Mudshark

I'm looking for a refractometer, preferably in East London.

newby

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 12:29pm CDT by davidfr7

Hi my name is David

i'm doing "research"on marine tank. It's 2 m long .600 wide and high. 10mm glass and base
20mm. over flow 50mm tank fitting on the base. Sump 1.7 m .6 wide hight i will get to it. sump will have 6 compartments 2 will be for bio filter rest will be protein skimmer heaters and external pump not sure on size .35kw or .45kw 200Lpm or 250Lpm. 50mm pipe t piece from motor back to heaters and 2nd pipe reduced to 32mm back to tank might split it into 2 or 3. ball valve on 50 mm to regulate flow to tank. Lights 2 metal h 150 W 4 T5 and a blue light. i would like to keep coral and fish.
when to comes to water its all about filtration and water chemistry.
as for the inhabitants they seem to be specialise so before buying one i need to know there needs.
Thats me. Yes this is my first.:wave2:

Lowering pH

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 11:56am CDT by Stressed Eric

Help guru's, I've just checked my pH and it's sitting around 8.6 . . . . What do i use to lower it ? I've been dosing bicarb to increase my alk, and I think that's thrown me out of balance . . .

Specials/New Arrivals

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 11:37am CDT by Naiema

We had lotsa new arrivals this week ie: Yellow tangs, Flame Angels, Neon Gobies, Pepperment Shrimps,Royal Grammas, Japonicus ,Dwarf Angels,Scooter blennies and tons more. Special for Week-end only: Stunning Clowns(Sebae, Tomotoe & Occelaris) only.. R49!! For any querries, please call us on 0217122534/0826368990.

[FS] Anthias for sale

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 11:11am CDT by Max

Not the orange, but the pinkish ones. 3 off.

[FS] Dominoes for sale

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 10:57am CDT by Max

3 x Damsels for sale. Very healthy. R80 each

ID please and is it toxic?

Posted: August 1st, 2009, 10:37am CDT by Fishfood

I recently got this coral (the one in the middle).
I know a lot of ppl call this a pincushion but is it a sarcophyton (hope I spelled that right) leather and if so should I get rid of it?
I have a mixed tank (softies,LPS and SPS).
I have read on some sites that it can be toxic to some tank inhabitants.
What exactly they mean by can and some I don't know?

Reefkeeping South Africa » Marine Aquariums of South Africa » August 2009

Feeds

Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 6:51am CDT by chikaboo

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 11:12pm CDT by Nemos Janitor

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 8:45pm CDT by aslam

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 6:09pm CDT by Marlin Fischer

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 1:51pm CDT by inflames

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 1:32pm CDT by Furbz

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 12:19pm CDT by theoholder

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 11:06am CDT by neo

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 11:02am CDT by magman

Posted: August 31st, 2009, 9:28am CDT by Antolo

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 5:53am CDT by chikaboo

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 9:46pm CDT by King_Neptune

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 9:00pm CDT by Nemos Janitor

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 8:24pm CDT by Mathewis

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 6:14pm CDT by werner5

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 5:33pm CDT by riyadhessa

Posted: August 30th, 2009, 9:06am CDT by chikaboo

Posted: August 29th, 2009, 7:54am CDT by Tony

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Posted: August 28th, 2009, 3:06am CDT by chikaboo

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Posted: August 28th, 2009, 6:40pm CDT by lanzo

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Posted: August 28th, 2009, 12:12pm CDT by dv8

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 11:37am CDT by Tobes

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 10:08am CDT by jaquesdp08

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 10:02am CDT by Bob the (reef)builder

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 9:58am CDT by marcel

Posted: August 28th, 2009, 8:04am CDT by FransSny

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 12:02am CDT by WAYNE HEATHCOTE

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Posted: August 27th, 2009, 12:43pm CDT by Kunhardt

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:21am CDT by chikaboo

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:16am CDT by Kunhardt

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:16am CDT by fleur

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 11:05am CDT by FransSny

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 10:53am CDT by Mudshark

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 8:12am CDT by jrwdive

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 3:48am CDT by chikaboo

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 12:43am CDT by Nemos Janitor

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 10:44pm CDT by Renannchen

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 10:03pm CDT by crispin

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:58pm CDT by Renannchen

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:18pm CDT by Reef Maniac

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 6:40pm CDT by FO7

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 4:15pm CDT by martin

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 2:52pm CDT by Loki

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 11:13am CDT by Marjolein

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:42am CDT by jaquesdp08

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 9:39am CDT by Fishfood

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 8:58am CDT by Marjolein

Posted: August 26th, 2009, 8:52am CDT by magman

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 1:14am CDT by IMarine

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 10:52pm CDT by Neil H

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 8:40pm CDT by RUAN

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 8:09pm CDT by wors143

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 7:05pm CDT by Neil H

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 5:11pm CDT by lanzo

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 2:10pm CDT by Suhayl

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 11:08am CDT by mahan

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 9:27am CDT by martinhal

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 8:38am CDT by jrwdive