Reefkeeping South Africa » Marine Aquariums of South Africa » January 2010

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Marine Aquariums of South Africa

• 

  Aqua Medic Mega Mag 2

  Posted: January 31st, 2010, 10:46pm CST by Hannesco

  I am looking for the Aqua Medic Mega Mag 2 glass cleaner.
  
  Maybe there is one somewhere doing nothing.
  
  It should be the Mag 2. Mag 1 will not work. Glass is 24mm.
  
  Thanks
  
  
  
• 

  DSB seeding help pls

  Posted: January 31st, 2010, 7:13pm CST by neo

  anyone willing to trade a cup of matured dsb sand for a cup of new sand to help seed my dsb ?
  pta/centurion area
  thx
• 

  7 t5 lights... Enough???

  Posted: January 31st, 2010, 7:03pm CST by dean

  Im not to sure but im running 5 white and 2 blue over my reef tank. It adds up to 168 watts of light and in addition to this im also running to t8's that was on the tank when i bought it. Everything seem fine as all the coral have colour!!
  
  Now the question i really want answered is this enough to keep Anemones. Ive have two. When i got them they were bleached but the one turned green over a span of a week with purple tips but a week ago turned brown and the other just turned brown from the start... I dont know if is the lighting or something else as all my parameters are perfect acording to what ive read in maybe thousands of post.
  
  I would really appreciate it if someone could help and tell me if this is enough lighting for my nems???
  
  Thanks
• 

  Green algae going brownish/yellow

  Posted: January 31st, 2010, 1:07pm CST by Googliebear

  Hi all,
  
  My tank has bee up and running for a week now and the green algae on the LR has started to go a brownish color... attached are photos.
  
  Day 2
  
  
  Day 9
  
  Any help would be appreciated
• 

  Urgent help needed Plz help my midas blenny

  Posted: January 31st, 2010, 10:59am CST by costa

  Hi Guys!
  
  Sorry about bugging you guys!
  
  I bought a midas blenny yesterday afternoon
  at +/- 3:00 pm.
  
  Had a look at the tank this morning and was shocked to find that he is not looking too hot. :(
  
  He is constantly in a corner in a vertical position with
  his mouth at the water surface.
  It seems as though he is struggling to breathe.
  
  Any suggestions? I do not want to lose my first fish!
  
  Had the water tested yesterday &
  everything seems to be fine, excepting the alkalinity which is low.
  
  Water parameters:
  Marine ph = 8.2
  Nitrite +/- 0
  Nitrate = 5
  Total & free ammonia +/- 0
  Salinity 1 025
  Temperature about 25 at the moment
  
  Total Alkalinity +/- 4 (too low for corals but
  o.k. for fish only at this stage!)???
  
  I am not sure if I should try and feed him because he looks stressed out!
  
  Help PLEEEAAAZZZEE!
  
  Cheers,
  Costa.
• 

  ph and kh

  Posted: January 31st, 2010, 10:43am CST by johanpm

  Hi guys,
  
  All still going very well with the tank.
  
  Latest water parms
  ph = 8
  kh = 5
  Nitrite = 0
  Nitrate = 0
  Ammonia = 0
  
  How do I raise the ph and the kh? I have been adding 4ml of Pure Reef Supplements kh buffer every day, but nothing seems to happen.
• 

  OLD T5's

  Posted: January 31st, 2010, 8:15am CST by ml

  Hi all,
  
  Just like to find out what can one do with old t5's that is still working but they are over a year old.
  
  I know this isn't the greatest question but i need to know i like to recical stuff.
  
  sorry about the spelling.
• 

  How to Remove video and audio DRM Protection such as iTunes M4P, M4V, M4A

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 3:44pm CST by AndrewE

  Question:"Is there a program that can remove the iTunes DRM protection from my purchased M4V files?Answer:Many online music stores employ DRM to restrict usage of music purchased and downloaded online such as the iTunes Store, Napster music store, Windows Media DRM, etc, so you can not share your movies and songs with others, even edit or upload, the step by step guide below to show how to remove DRM from iTunes purchased music and video files so that you can play them on non-Apple portable players like Zune, PSP, BlackBerry, Creative Zen, import them into your Windows Movie Maker project, etc.The only tool you need is Media Converter Pro, which supports most DRM video and audio files: WMA/WMV/M4A/ M4B/M4P/M4V/ASF... Step 1: Download and install Media Converter ProStep 2: Run the software and click "Add…" button to load WMA or M4A, M4B, AAC, WMV, M4P, M4V, ASF filesYou can import the files in three ways:a. Load files by clicking the "Add..." button. b. Directly drag and drop files to the left main window.c. Right click on the left main window, click "Add files".Step 3: Choose output formats By clicking the "Convert audio to:" or "Convert video to:" box, you can select the output format for the source M4P M4V files. For example, if you want to watch the DRM iTunes M4V on your PSP, you can choose "PSP, PS3" from the profile category list and choose "PSP Video MPEG-4(*.mp4) as the output format.Note: This DRM Removal Software also allows you to customize the video/audio parameters for the output files if you are not satisfied with the default settings or cannot find the most appropriate output format for your specific mobile player. Just click the "Settings..." button to make the settings. Step 4: Start to convert Start remove DRM and convert your DRM protected music and videos by click on "Start" button. Then, you can enjoy the iTunes music and video without any limitation.
• 

  Feeding spirulina to corals

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 3:38pm CST by Raven

  Good afternoon all!
  In a couple of threads I read the some is adding spirulina in the food mix for their fish.
  I've done some reading on spirulina - very good stuff!
  
  I've started to add spirulina to my frozen food mix about 2-3 weeks ago.
  I'm using 2 crushed tablets per feeding every second day.
  
  I've noted that some of the LPS corals started to open when I feed this. It even looks like the nemmies respond positively to it.
  
  Now - I'm interrested in buying the following:
  1. A clam
  2. sun coral
  3. Strawberry/Pink Cauliflower
  
  Will a frozen sea food mix (mussels, prawns, hake), mixed with spirulina be enough to feed these corals?
  I'm sure that the spirulina contains so much nutritional value, that it can replace some coral food, or not really?
  
  
  Below is an extract from wiki pedia:
  Spirulina (dietary supplement) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
  Protein
  
  Spirulina contains an unusually high amount of protein, between 55% and 77% by dry weight, depending upon the source. It is a complete protein,[4] containing all essential amino acids, though with reduced amounts of methionine, cysteine, and lysine when compared to the proteins of meat, eggs, and milk. It is, however, superior to typical plant protein, such as that from legumes.[5][6]
  [edit] Essential fatty acids
  
  Spirulina is rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), and also provides alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), stearidonic acid (SDA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA).[6][7]
  [edit] Vitamins
  
  Spirulina contains vitamin B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (nicotinamide), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folic acid), vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E.[6][7]
  [edit] B12
  
  The bioavailability of vitamin B12 in Spirulina is in dispute. Several biological assays have been used to test for the presence of vitamin B12.[8] The most popular is the US Pharmacopeia method using the Lactobacillus leichmannii assay. Studies using this method have shown Spirulina to be a minimal source of bioavailable vitamin B12.[9] However, this assay does not differentiate between true B12 (cobalamin) and similar compounds (corrinoids) that cannot be used in human metabolism. Cyanotech, a grower of spirulina, claims to have done a more recent assay, which has shown Spirulina to be a significant source of cobalamin. However, the assay is not published for scientific review and so the validity of this assay is in doubt.[10] The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada in their position paper on vegetarian diets state that spirulina can not be counted on as a reliable source of active vitamin B12. [11]
  [edit] Minerals
  
  Spirulina is a rich source of potassium, and also contains calcium, chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, sodium, and zinc.[6][7]
  [edit] Photosynthetic pigments
  
  Spirulina contains many pigments including chlorophyll-a, xanthophyll, beta-carotene, echinenone, myxoxanthophyll, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, diatoxanthin, 3'-hydroxyechinenone, beta-cryptoxanthin, oscillaxanthin, plus the phycobiliproteins c-phycocyanin and allophycocyanin.[1]
• 

  New shipment

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 1:27pm CST by wild on pets

  just to let you know marine shipment in from singapore
  
  sohal tang
  shoulder tang
  yellow tangs
  clams
  purple tang
  purple gamma
  sweetlips
  and selection of other marine fish and inverts
• 

  New Cube In The Making

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 12:48pm CST by Manic

  Hey everyone,
  
  The time has finally come to upgrade to a bigger tank. The design I have decided on is the following:
  
  Display Tank: 880mm x 880mm x 700mm (Height)
  
  All out of 10mm glass with a double 10mm base with black silicon. Do you think this glass is thick enough for a rimless tank.
  
  The reason for the weird sizes are that I already have a sump that is 800mm x 800mm x 350mm (Height) and this will fit perfectly under the tank if I make the stand out of 40mm square tube.
  
  In total the water volume should be around 650L+.
  
  The only thing I still have to decide on is the overflow method. Any ideas.
  I'm leaning towards a calfo style c2c overflow.
• 

  My Little 2ft in Switzerland

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 11:13am CST by Reptpunk

  Ok so i have just joined and decided to show my little tank.
  
  
• 

  Dorry Pets FEB 2010 Special

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 10:35am CST by lanzo

  Hi guys
  
  Time again to have some great specials for you
  
  Spend more than R1000 and receive a Dorry Pets towel...for free
  
  Spend more than R2000 and receive a MASA or CORAL calander....for free!!!
  
  Spend more than R2600 and receive the towel and calander....for free!!
  
  
  
  
  
  Happy reefing:thumbup:
• 

  Vaal reef meetings

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 10:29am CST by Raven

  Good morning all!
  I've noticed a couple of gentlemen and ladies from the Vaal area on masa.
  Everyone else is doing the reef club thing - so why not us?
  Nothing formal for now - just a nice get together?
  
  I know that there is a Gauteng reef club - but it is sometimes just a hassle to drive 100+ km to a meeting.
  
  Anyone keen?
  Oh - Johannesburg and near by guys are welcome as well (if you're willing to travel a bit.)
• 

  SPS coral bonanza

  Posted: January 30th, 2010, 9:05am CST by Tony

  Hi All. I've decided that SPS's arent for me and I'm going back to a softie/LPS system. I've got a whole lot of corals for sale.
  
  For collection only.
  
  Please bring a large container with sea water as they are quiet big.
  
  I also have a lot of frags and xenia lying at the bottom of my substrate which ypou can get when you come through but I've not shown.
  
  All bidding to be done on the public forum and not via PM. First dibs get first offer which will pass onto the next person if they dont want it.
  
  Here goes
  
  1. S Caliendrum. R350. 10cm across
  
  
  
  2. Unknown coral with purple tipms. Asking R600. 18cm across
  
  
  3. Acropora nana with purple tips. Asking R300. 8cm across
  
  
  4. Unknown with zenia. About 15cm across. Asking R400
  
  
  5. Green plating acro. 8cm across. Asking R300-00
  
  
  6. Unknown. 7cm across. Asking R300
  
• 

  Bicolor Angel

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 9:23pm CST by Jinx

  Hey guys I want to sell my Bicolor angel fish,please pm me with your offers thanks.
  [url=http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=21733]
• 

  thanks for the LNS forum

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 8:23pm CST by Neil H

  Thanks admin..... i assume it was you viper?:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
  
  the threads dont seem to show in the home page when they updated though
• 

  turbo snails

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 7:02pm CST by regis

  quick ques. Do turbo snails eat coraline algea
  Posted via Mobile Device
• 

  Wats up new here saying hi from Switzerland

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 6:35pm CST by Reptpunk

  Hi peeps new to the forum and saying hi from switzerland, i come from the south coast Kzn, and have been living here for 3 years now.
  i got back into the hobby shortly after moving to switzerland, started off with a 30cm nano cube and have advanced to a huge 2ft tank hahaha,,,
  well i will put pics up shortly, and cant wait to here from fellow SA marinists...
  :yeahdude::yeahdude::yeahdude::yeahdude::yeahdude: :yeahdude::yeahdude::yeahdude::yeahdude::yeahdude:
• 

  Fish Roe Making my skimmer go nuts!

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 4:30pm CST by durleo

  I bought some fresh fish roe from a fish shop and put a little in the display!
  It made my skimmer go mad - The fish enjoyed it and so did the coral.
  I was thinking of adding fish roe to my homemade mix but if its gonna affect the skimmer like this then i would have to switch the skimmer off and set it again after each feed. Will the roe be better if its frozen in the marine mix?
• 

  Ivan

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 3:37pm CST by Ivan Peake

  Hi we that is my brother and I have had tanks for the last 20y at the moment have 11 tanks with a total of 6000l of water:thumbup: we would like to start breeding cleener shrimps, goldies and blennies has anyone got advice.
• 

  Cheap alternative to lighting

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 3:35pm CST by Dane

  Hi everyone,
  
  I was just wondering if anyone uses compact flourescent tube lighting as a cheap alternative? I know a few freshwater guys use a few CFL's in their hood and get good plant growth etc out of them. Obviously you can't just use any bulb - aim for about 6500k or 10000k if you can find them. I am using a normal little tiny flourescent 4000k and a single 6500k cfl - I think 18watt in my little pico tank and my xenia is flourishing. Do you think that a few of these in a tank would be enough to support low light softies like xenia and mushrooms? Bear in mind that my tank is only 22cm deep! :-)
  
  Thank in advance for your advice,
  Dane
• 

  Decisions Decisions

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 2:53pm CST by keyaam

  Hey Guys
  
  Ive been scouting for a decent camera for a while now. My wife wants to start photography as a hobby and I need some advice. I have three choices.
  
  1) Canon 450D
  2) Nikon D60
  3) Sony @230
  
  We are keen on purchasing the Canon 450D but would like your personal experiences with the different cameras. I used Riyadhs 450D recently and its quite impressive. Is this ok for a starter camera?
  
  Cheers
  Keyaam
• 

  Coral Photographs from my little Tank.

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 1:57pm CST by Dean76

  Was playing around with my macro lens and took some pics of my corals.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  RC tanks of the world thread

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 12:38pm CST by dallasg

  Best tanks from around the world. - Reef Central Online Community
• 

  Another gem from down under

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 12:37pm CST by dallasg

  http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB2/viewto...er=asc&start=0
• 

  RSM 250 - And it starts!

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 12:27pm CST by dizzyg

  My Red Sea Max 250 has just been purchased and is on its way to its new home, my lounge!
  
  I'm so excited I could pee my pants!
  
  Thanks to my LFS (Northlands Pets) for the great deal on the tank!
• 

  Looking for mushrooms like this????

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 12:24pm CST by Dean76

  Does any know where one could get mushrooms like the following pic:
  
• 

  Now this is a great tank

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 12:09pm CST by dallasg

  I am noticing alot of USA tanks use wood for stands, our engineer here said wood is like steel depending on the type, eg a piece of pine 2x4 can support 750pounds psi
  
  well on to the beast
  Oregonreef.com
• 

  Fish Dying

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 10:42am CST by Slims

  Hi Guys
  
  I've lost my Naso and Powder blue in the last couple of days for no apparent reason. They were'nt feeding too well so i suspected that had something to do with it. Now my Regal , who has been feeding well is also showing signs of ill health. He's scratching his body against the rocks and is not as active as normal. I've noticed tiny pimples on the Regals body with a slight white spot. I've tried taking a picture but its not visible on the photos. Any Advice?
• 

  How to catch a shrimp

  Posted: January 29th, 2010, 8:07am CST by maj

  Hi ppl!
  
  I got 2 dancing shrimp as a gift,but only afterwards realised that they chowing my zoa's.
  I need to catch them and drop them in my bro tank or in my sump.
  Whats the best way or luring them out from the LR and catching them?
  best to do with lights off or on?
  Use the half plastic coke bottle with what kindv bait in it?but im worried the fish will swim for it and chow it all up
  
  Need to get them out today still:wave2:
  
  Thnks
• 

  Ok ok, its official i am hooked.

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 1:27am CST by Tony Ingram

  Guy's I have gone and got myself a much bigger tank and it's much bigger than the nano cube 24, about 5* bigger It' dimensions are 1,200 * 600* 600 with a sump just a little bit smaller than that. I have started putting it together today so I can check for leaks, 8 hours later and it has not leaked yet so I am holding thumbs. will post pic's
• 

  SARK offline

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 12:46am CST by poiromaniax

  Hey guys,
  
  is it just me or has SARK gone offline?
  
  I keep getting a page unavailable message!
  
  anybody else having issues?
  
  Thanks
• 

  Securing Propagated Corals

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 8:56pm CST by Jaak

  Found this nice article: Securing Propagated Corals: Methods of Fixing Live Coral to Hard Substrates by Anthony Calfo - Reefkeeping.com
  Maybe it should be a sticky?:)
• 

  pet shops in p.e & george

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 7:33pm CST by rugs

  Hi guys,i will be visiting port elizabeth and george tommorow and saturday.I just wanted to know if thier is any cool pet shops i can visit in these areas while im thier.I specialy interested in pet shops not necesarily marine shops.Thanks your feedback will be appreciated.;)
• 

  Shipment landed today 2010-01-28 - 166 specimens

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 5:44pm CST by Moolis

  Hi Reefers
  
  
  This is just a taste of what is coming in 2010
  
  This is what we landed today 2010-01-28 - all 166 specimens
  
  
  Fish - Bright Yellow Clarkii (Indian Ocean) - Amphiprion Clarkii
  Fish - Skunk-Striped Clown - Amphiprion Akalopisos
  Fish - Bicolor Angel - Centropyge Bicolor
  Fish - Whip Fin Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus Filamentosus
  Fish - Lubbock Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus Lubbocki
  Fish - Purple Queen (Female) - Mirolabrichthys Tuka
  Fish - Cardinal Fish - Pterapogon Kauderni
  Invert - Short-Spine Urchin (Colored) - Hemicentrotus Pulcherrimus
  Invert - Red Feather Duster Hardtube - Protula Spec. WOW
  Invert - Red Fan Sponge - Halichora Japonica
  Invert - Blue Leg Hermit Crab - Calcinus Elegans
  Invert - Turban/Turbo Snai - lTurbo Setosum
  Hard - Hammer Coral Green - Euphyllia Ancora M
  Hard - Hammer Coral Green - Euphyllia Ancora L
  Hard - Green Frog Spawn Coral - Euphyllia Cristata
  Hard - Green Metalic Grape Coral - Euphyllia Cristata
  Hard - Torch Coral Metalic Green - Euphyllia Glabrescens
  Hard - Elegant Coral - Catalaphyllia Jardinei
  Hard - Green Doughnut Coral - Scolymia Vitiensis
  Hard - Green Metalic Doughnut Coral - Scolymia Vitiensis
  Hard - Green Metallic Jewelpot - Goniopora Minor
  Hard - Lemon Coral Green Metalic - Goniopora Minor
  Hard - Yellow Lemon Coral - Goniopora Minor
  Hard - Green Bubble Coral - Plerogyra Sinuosa
  Hard - Red Flat Rose Brain Coral - Wellsophyllia Radiata XL
  Hard - Green Metalic Candycane Coral - Caulastraea Tumida
  Hard - Lettuce Coral Colored - Pectinia Lactuca
  Hard - Symphyllia (2 colors) Crl - Symphyllia Spp.
  Hard - Green Metalic Moon Coral - Favia Pallida
  Hard - Red Moon Coral - Favia Pallida
  Hard - Acanthastrea Coral Colored - Acanthastrea Echinata
  Soft - Red/Orange Carnation Soft Coral - Dendronephthya Divaricata M
  Soft - Red/Orange Carnation Soft Coral - Dendronephthya Divaricata L
  Soft - Pink Cladiella Soft Coral - Cladiella Colti
  Soft - Yellow Cladiella Soft Coral - Cladiella Colti
  Soft - Blue Octopus Cladiella - Cladiella Colti
  Soft - Scleractinia
  Soft - Star Polyps Green - Clavularia Viridis
  Soft - Blue Metalic Mushroom - Actinodiscus Coeruleus
  
  SPS - Colored Acropora - Acropora Spp.BRIGHT COLOURS!!!!:thumbup:
  
  
  Will post some photos tomorrow during the day of those that are left, if any;)
  
  
  Moolis - PET STOP
  012-329 8965
  10H00 to 18H00 weekdays
• 

  2010 - stocked up again

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 5:24pm CST by Moolis

  Hi Reefers
  
  Those of you i did not see & those I did see this year " may 2010 be your turn to ride on your own gravy train, by you & your family having a healthy year, a loving home, a stable and growing financial future & may your reef aquarium only bring you joy!!" ;)
  
  It is already the end of January!! That is the bad news :P
  
  The good news is that we @ Pet Stop are proud to announce that we have caught up on the stock sold out over the holiday season and now have
  full shelves straining under stock,
  corals climbing out of the holding aquariums :lol: and
  our fish stock are back in the green at last (@ one point we only had 79 fish - lowest in 11 months- in stock). I do not know long this will be:whistling: but at the moment we are 90% stocked again:thumbup:
  
  We landed a few shipments already but will only start to post from Feb. as we needed to ensure your trip to us are worth your time & effort :whistling:
  
  Just as an appetizer I will post the newest shipment later today:yeahdude:
  
  So we have picked up the slack and are ready to serve you in 2010:slayer:
  
  Looking forward to a great time!!!
  
  Moolis & Shawn & Pet Stop staff
• 

  Understanding the color of corals

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 2:52pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi guys, I have done this short quote from an article I have (on another thread too) but I thought to just make a new thread on it, so all nuubs can also understand the science behind coral color a bit better:
  
  I have more info for those who wants it: ;)
  
  Article by Don S. Johson
  
  Quote 1:
  
  "The name zooxanthellae means "little yellow creatures" in Greek because this was the color of the first symbiotic algae found (although it was first thought to be a parasite.) Brown and yellow are best suited to absorb the blue wavelengths of light, which penetrate deepest into water."
  
  This makes sense, as to why the deeper corals (NPS excluded) are then brown...
  
  Quote 2:
  
  "Coral polyps are naturally white or transparent, with color imparted by zooxanthellae. Color and intensity are determined by both the strain of zooxanthellae and the number of them in each polyp - determined by the polyp's needs and a result of environmental conditions such as light, temperature and water conditions...
  
  Zooxanthellae themselves are varying shades of green, brown, tan or gray, depending on the light they receive and also the color of the skin of the animal they inhabit. Shallow-water animals are usually green because they tend to receive the full spectrum and intensity of sunlight...
  
  Polyps may be yellow, orange, purple or blue, for example. These animals do not require photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and too bright a light (metal halids, for example) may even be harmful without a period of gradual acclimatization. The yellow and orange comes from carotenoids obtained from food. Examples include Tubastrea sp. (Sun Corals)
  
  The equisite blue color of Semperina sp. polyps likely comes from concentrations of blue carotenoprotein in this Indo-Pacific gorgonian. Such melanin, which makes things black, are known as biochromes.
  
  Previosly, I explained that greem zooxanthellae indicate animals from shallower water. This is true, but how green is green. Anchor Coral is tan on the reef flats, pale green on reef slopes and dark green on the upper reef.
  
  Gorgonians are colored by carotenoids stored in the calcareous spincules scattered in the flesh surrounding the horny skeleton.
  
  Soft Coral polyps with zooxanthellae tend to be some shade of brown - shallow water specimens may be some shade of gray. Soft Coral polyps that are colored otherwise contain no zooxanthellae.
  
  Xenia sp. a soft coral, has lost the ability to eat and depends on zooxanthellae for nourishment (Lange, 1997) and is usually some light shade of grey." - END QUOTE
  
  :biggrin:
• 

  Suggestions for the next JHB MASA meet

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 2:01pm CST by Neil H

  Hi All,
  
  Please put forward suggestions for the next MASA JHB Club meet....
  
  personally i would love to visit a new tank ..... suggest away all.....
• 

  Brightwell, ZEOvit or Probidio - LNS

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 1:58pm CST by Neil H

  Hi Guys and Gals
  
  I am interested to know who is running what additives in their so called "LNS" or "ULNS" tanks....
  
  please post here indicating what LNS additives you are using, if you are happy with them and the basics of your filtration setup.
  
  To my knowledge Brightwell is the easiest available, who is using this system and are you using it as per the instructions, i.e. with zeo reactor etc ?
• 

  inverts wanted

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 1:30pm CST by regis

  hi all
  
  I am looking for Asterea snails or micro seastars, in the cape town area,
  if anyone is will to sell a few.
  
  cheers
• 

  Books

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 12:32pm CST by Boegie

  Is there anyone that has any books for sale, especially on Corals. Looking for Eric Borneman's book on corals or any other. If you are living in East London, I will be there within seconds. Would be highly appreciated.
• 

  mounting ro unit and distance

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 12:01pm CST by neo

  hi,
  can i put my RO unit outside? what about sun/heat? and will the ro piping become brittle due to sun/heat/uv?
  can i have my RO unit far from collecting point, i.e. 10meter to drum?
• 

  Durso standpipes and air problems

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 11:50am CST by knut-ove

  I have a problem with lots of air in my DT:( I Bought the system used and had to redo the plumbing. The than is cycling, but has a lot of air that I so fare haven`been able to fix.
  
  I can se that the air is coming from my two dorso pipes.
  Tank has a central overflow with two dorso`s I have regulated the air intake of the dorso so the water level in the overflow box is about 2-3 cm lower then the tank.
  
  I can tell by looking at the pipe coming out again in my sump that the air is coming in cycles of about 2sec.
  
  My dorso is 40mm, but narrows down to 32mm going throw the bottom of the tank, then back to 40mm for the end stretch.
  
  Can water in the pipe have cavitation because of the reduction to 32 and back up again??
  
  Hope you understand what I am trying to say ...
• 

  Where to scan photos/negatives

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 11:37am CST by neo

  Hi,
  anybody know where i can go to have my old photos and negatives scanned, PTA/Centurion/MDRand area.
• 

  Anemone Swap

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 9:49am CST by Ghaydeen

  Guys,
  
  I have a magnifica anemone that i would like to swap if anyone is interested. Not looking for anything in particular but fish would be cool.
  
  Anyone have something nice to swap?
• 

  Another addict

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 9:05am CST by Boegie

  Hi, my name is Boegie and I am addicted to reefkeeping since September. I know there is no cure for this addiction and therefore I hope that you reefers will assist me when I need help in expanding my knowledge.
  
  I was kindly introduced by Kunhardt.
• 

  Mesophotic Corals ("Twilight zone")

  Posted: January 28th, 2010, 9:01am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Credit to FransSny on this. He sent me this link...
  
  Okey so we all know about Photosynthetic Corals (Light dependant) and Non-Photosynthetic Corals (Light Independant.) But has anybody ever heard about Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCE's)?????
  
  MCE's are defined as light-dependent coral communities (and associated communities of algal, sponge and fish species) that occur in the deepest half of the photic zone (starting at 30-40 m and extending to over 150 m) in tropical and subtropical regions.
  
  Also called the "twilight zone"
  
  The main definition of MCE's, is that it corresponds to the maximum depth at which there is enough light to sustain photosynthesis in zooxanthellate corals.
  
  Many of the the shallow water coral, fish and invert species are found in MCE's. The wonderful advantage of this, is that at these depths, recreational divers can not reach the life forms, thus it is a refuge for many species, that will never be harmed by man for harvesting etc.
  
  When I went through this, I could not help but as the same question I have asked so many times: "are we not missing the target when we light up our softies in the hobby?..."
  
  Below are some interesting images, and once you have gone through them, you might relook your 250W MH over those mushrooms...
  
  
  Here is sub used for sampling and photography, at these depths
  
  
  
  Tube anemone at 112m!!!!
  
  
  
  Plating Monti at 61m deep (where's the MH's????)
  
  
  
  Sub taking samples:
  
  
  
  
  
  Look at this!!! Zoa's, mushrooms and even LPS at 63 meters deep!!!
  
  
  
  Proof of this depth:
  
  
  
  
  Muricea sp. at 55m
  
  
  
  Swiftia sp. at 57meters
  
  
  
  Roughtoungue Bass at 86m
  
  
  
  
  Squirrelfish at 95m
  
  
  
  Then here is an article extract of new species of damsel that was found
  
  
  
  "The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University announced the top 10 new species list for 2008 which includes the discovery of a mesophotic damselfish, Chromis abyssus, by Rich Pyle. The list draws attention to the undiscovered biodiversity on this planet. Discovered off the Belau Islands (Palau) at 110 m, this “damsel in the deep blue sea” is dark gray with a large iridescent blue spot at the center of each scale. Direct observations and hand collections were accomplished while diving on mixed-gas closed-circuit rebreathers. Results indicate that C. abyssus prefers depths in excess of 115m and lives among boulders and rock outcroppings."
  
  Amazing what we still have to learn about the ocean, and trying to keep it in our livingrooms huh?
• 

  [FS] Hailea HC1000B Chiller for sale

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 7:23am CST by sean_koekemoer

  Guys, I have a Chiller for sale. This one is not going to handle the water capacity of my tank (more than 9000lt), and I do not want it to overwork itself.
  
  The Chiller is 01 year and 06 months old and have only worked for 10 months before I disconnected the tank.
  In Mint Condition.
  These Chillers go from R7000.00 upwards new
  
  This is the info from Hailea:
  
  
  
  Hailea HC chillers have strong metal chassis with a housing of contemporary design,ensuring the chiller does not look out of place in any surroundings and as with other cooling units,our chillers-the HC series use the environmental friendly refrigerant R134a. Lower noise design,whilst the digital temperature ontroller ensures that the selected temperature is maintained. The rate of flow is decided according to the max jet of the pump
  (immersible power filter) and the circulation equipment.
  
  HC-1000B 300~2500L
  1HP R22
  220~240V(110~120V) 1500~4000L/H
  50Hz(60Hz) 31.3kg
  4.2A(9.6A) 520×400×480mm
• 

  Lighting for Chaeto

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 12:02am CST by shane

  Hi Guys,I have been do some reading here on the forums about which light to use above my chaeto. I have noticed that some reefers are using the 12 volt 50 watt downlighters, I would just like to check if I have my facts straight and that this is the correct bulb.
  Is there any reason why I could not use the 220 volt light instead of the 12 volt version.Cheers
• 

  Advice please

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 10:02pm CST by Neef

  Hi there, I have been quite busy. Got myself a WAVE MAKER and just bought a 2x 150W metal halide and 2x 54w T5 lamp.
  
  Now i need to know what type of globes to fit into the MH 10000k,14000k or 20000k ?:wave2:
  
  O yes, and it lookes like i am starting to win the fight against the red cyano algae:yeahdude:
• 

  Juvenile Emperor Angel

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 9:39pm CST by timhar99

  Hi, I stay in Cape Town and the price increases within the last 3 months for Juvenile Emperor Angels is rediculous considering the R/$ is still the same.
  I am looking for a Juvenile (no colour change and round about 8 to 10cm) and am willing to pay between R400 - R500 or swop
  
  
• 

  1.8m tank and equipment for sale

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 9:28pm CST by Andreas

  I've decided to sell off some of my equipment and start up a new system.
  

  • 1.8m * 610mm * 610mm fully eurobraced tank in 10mm glass (20mm base) C2C Overflow- Front glass doesn't have a scratch on it;)1.2m * 450mm* 450mm sump. Stand covered with hammerite(no rust what so ever) and covered with Black woodwork. R4500
  • Aqua Medic Wave Controller/Maker - Controlled 5 seios and provided great random flow in the tank. R1300

  [www.aqua-medic.de]

  • Reef Octopus Zeo Reactor - Can handle tanks up to 2000l. I got about 1kg of Zeolites. R1300
  • Hailea 5600l return pump. I think it's got a 5m head. Used for 2 minutes in my tank but it was to powerful:PR800

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  My new site take 2

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 8:58pm CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  Just wanted to share a new site of mine
  
  http://sa reef keeping.co.za - remove the spaces - I have a gallery on there as well the pics I downloaded from the net the idea is to get all the pics we can in one places so new & old people can know what the stuff looks like :)
  
  so if you have a collection of pictures let me know
  
  thanks
  Mark
• 

  Newbie to Salt...

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 4:30pm CST by Slagter

  Hey guys...
  
  Some of you may know me from the freshwater forums, but it looks like I am set to convert... I have a 4ft planted tank in my lounge that had to be taken apart yesterday due to a reverse siphon, so now I'm thinking of converting.
  
  Need some advice on what to do and how to do it properly the first time.
  
  Thanks
  
  Sean
• 

  fish food golf ball

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 3:35pm CST by leslie hempel

  
  ECOBIOBALL: The Golf Ball That Becomes Fish Food
  
  "ECOBIOBALL makes the ocean, the sea, rivers, lakes and ponds perfect driving ranges, creates no pollution and brings a clear added value to marine life, allowing golfers to improve the sustainability and biodiversity of the marine environment while practicing their favourite sport."
  
  Source:
  Biodegradable golf ball feeds goldfish - CNN.com
  
  Albus Golf Web site:
  Albus Golf S.L., bolas de golf ecológicas y biodegradables
• 

  [FS] Aqua Medic Wave Controller

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 3:30pm CST by Andreas

  Hi Guys,
  
  I've got this Aqua Medic wave maker/controller. It has 4 individual powerhead outputs, one output can be used for return pump as it never switches off regardless of the mode setting.
  
  Built in light sensor for night mode (return and one alternating powerhead)
  
  8 different wave programmes.
  
  Each output can handle 100 watts, so I ran 5 seio powerheads and one return pump on this controller.
  
  [www.aqua-medic.de]
  
  It's still in excellent condition and provides very nice random flow in the tank;)
• 

  posting pics

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 1:31pm CST by dropzone newbee

  :wave2:hey guys
  
  battling to find the posting pic icon that i have used in the past ? has anything changed ?
  
  help ....... bored and wanna post some updated pics
• 

  Marine Grasses and Algaes

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 10:50am CST by dallasg

  Hi,
  
  i am looking for the following:
  Shaving Brush Plant
  (Penicillus sp.)
  
  Halimeda Plant
  (Halimeda sp.)
  
  Kelp on Rock, Smooth Leaf
  (Haliptilon sp.)
  
  Kelp on Rock, Grape
  (Botryocladia sp.)
  
  Maiden's Hair Plant
  (Chlorodesmis sp.)
  
  Mermaid's Fan Plant
  (Udotea sp.)
  
  Chaetomorpha Algae
  (Chaetomorpha sp.)
  
  Ulva Lettuce Algae
  (Ulva sp.)
• 

  my Setup

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 8:28am CST by Slims

  
• 

  Huge Grouper in Reeftank

  Posted: January 27th, 2010, 8:17am CST by sean_koekemoer

  Just found this video of mine on Youtube again. This was in the beginning stages of my tank when I wanted to add more fish, but had to remove some unwanted fish first. Well, the Rockod took care of that:lol::lol::lol:
  
  [www.youtube.com]
• 

  Concrete

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 7:42am CST by Ross

  Hey Guys
  
  Starting my Aquascaping (with very little luck so far) and want to build a few bases for rock. I assume concrete would be the best.
  
  Do I need anything special, or any precautions I must take?
  
  Ta,
  
  ROss
• 

  ??

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 7:37am CST by Tiger

  I'm being extremely blond, but can someone please help??
  
  Has MASA's website changed since Monday or did I reset settings or something.
  
  The menu bar ontop of the website has limited options. I also do not have the option to upload pics?
  
  How do I correct this??
• 

  Happy Birthday ben and brandon

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 7:06am CST by chikaboo

  :party: guys - may your'll see many many more - Enjoy the rest of the day
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  Client System 2 (L)

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 12:28am CST by ADVdiver

  
  
  
• 

  Client system 1 (MC)

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 11:41pm CST by ADVdiver

  
  
• 

  [FS] Complete Beardie set-up

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 8:00pm CST by Pete

  Hi All
  
  I Have a complete Beardie set-up with 1 Bearded dragon for sale. The Beardie is +/-1 year old. I will try and get a pic of the setup and post the price is R1500 Neg anybody interested can post here.
  
  Regards
  Pete
• 

  [FS] Hailea HC1000B Chiller for sale

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 7:12pm CST by sean_koekemoer

  Guys, I have a Chiller for sale. This one is not going to handle the water capacity of my tank (more than 9000lt), and I do not want it to overwork itself.
  
  The Chiller is 01 year and 06 months old and have only worked for 10 months before I disconnected the tank.
  In Mint Condition.
  These Chillers go from R7000.00 upwards new
  
  This is the info from Hailea:
  
  
  
  Hailea HC chillers have strong metal chassis with a housing of contemporary design,ensuring the chiller does not look out of place in any surroundings and as with other cooling units,our chillers-the HC series use the environmental friendly refrigerant R134a. Lower noise design,whilst the digital temperature ontroller ensures that the selected temperature is maintained. The rate of flow is decided according to the max jet of the pump
  (immersible power filter) and the circulation equipment.
  
  HC-1000B 300~2500L
  1HP R22
  220~240V(110~120V) 1500~4000L/H
  50Hz(60Hz) 31.3kg
  4.2A(9.6A) 520×400×480mm
• 

  D-D Personel & Expertiese

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 6:14pm CST by Nemos Janitor

  Hi D-D Guys. :wave2: News is that Simon Garratt has joined your team. Great asset guys. Hopefully he also joins MASA to part some of his experiences. So I preempt Welcome Simon.
  
  Stuart/Tony please advise us who all works for D-D (not the tea ladies etc) but those internationally, like Simon and Marvin Esq.
  
  Great knowledge base accumulating. Well done.
• 

  Fire angels

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 6:11pm CST by deang

  Anyone got a decent supply? prices?
• 

  Boxing Shrimps

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 4:49pm CST by deang

  Hi guys,
  Anyone got any thoughts on these chaps?
  
  I lost a fish this week - a beautiful Bicolour Angel. Could my boxer have nabbed him?
  He chases my other things around the tank - is he worth keeping or should i trade him in?
  :P
• 

  New to Marine Aquariums and Cape Town

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 4:14pm CST by lloyd18

  Hi All,
  
  I am new to the Cape Town area, as well as being new to Marine Aquariums, I have kept Cichlids for a number of years with great success but now find myself wanting to go over to Marine, I honestly have now clue where to start.
  I would need to purchase a complete new setup, so any help from there would be fantastic.
  
  Cheers for now
  Lloyd
• 

  Small Starfish

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 1:49pm CST by Ridwaan

  Howzit Guys...
  
  I have noticed that once the tank lights goes off, lots of little starfish start to go onto the glass...I have looked closely and found alot of them on the rocks aswell..
  
  Are they a nuisance or should I let them be..They like 5mm to 10mm in size and alll over the tank..they are like brown to gray in colour...
  
  Cool
  Ridwaan
• 

  [FS] Complete starter setup with inhabitants for sale.

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 9:54am CST by FDB

  2 Black, white and yellow clowns, 1 Watchman Goby, Brown Tang, Big yellow anemone, mated (not mating) pair harlequin shrimps, hermit crabs, live rock, 3 small powerheads on two filters, hang on protien skimmer, 90cm x 40cm tank, 60x30cm tank (Refrigium / DSB), 40cmx30cm tank (hospital or isolation), t5 lighting, etc.
  Worth in excess of R3500, will sell for R2000 to someone who knows how to look after the inhabitants.
• 

  Feeding - When & How much to Feed?

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 9:47am CST by vatso

  Peeps never got an answer to this question!
  
  I have no doubt I am over feeding - have food floating around the tank for minutes & then a few hours later I see lots of little bubbles in the algea!!
  
  Is it best to feed twice a day or once? I am worried the fish starve - also is it better to just target feed the corals & then 5 min later put the pumps back on & let the fish eat what's floating around?
  
  Thanks
  Mark
• 

  [FS] 250w MH luninarc (black dome) units incl balasts

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 9:31am CST by sweetnsour
• 

  Where to buy Cree XR-E LEDs in SA??

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 8:50am CST by Matt

  Does anyone know where I could buy some Cree XR-E LEDs in SA? I have googled but couldn't come up with anything.
• 

  [FS] Hailea HC1000B Chiller for sale

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 8:48am CST by sean_koekemoer

  Guys, I have a Chiller for sale. This one is not going to handle the water capacity of my tank (more than 9000lt), and I do not want it to overwork itself.
  
  The Chiller is 01 year and 06 months old and have only worked for 10 months before I disconnected the tank.
  In Mint Condition.
  These Chillers go from R7000.00 upwards new
  
  This is the info from Hailea:
  
  
  
  Hailea HC chillers have strong metal chassis with a housing of contemporary design,ensuring the chiller does not look out of place in any surroundings and as with other cooling units,our chillers-the HC series use the environmental friendly refrigerant R134a. Lower noise design,whilst the digital temperature ontroller ensures that the selected temperature is maintained. The rate of flow is decided according to the max jet of the pump
  (immersible power filter) and the circulation equipment.
  
  HC-1000B 300~2500L
  1HP R22
  220~240V(110~120V) 1500~4000L/H
  50Hz(60Hz) 31.3kg
  4.2A(9.6A) 520×400×480mm
• 

  Wanted: Old/2nd hand 250 watt DOUBLE ENDED metal halide globe - to test something

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 8:38am CST by jacquesb

  Hello all -
  
  I am looking for old (used) / 2nd hand 250 watt DOUBLE ENDED metal halide globe.
  
  I want to test something that I discovered this past weekend.
  
  It looks like my AquaMedic OceanLight Metal halide unit, can handly from 100 watt TO 250 watt globes.
  
  I also discovered that the starts/control gear in my unit, are ELECTRONIC named: "Tridonic Atco". I so CHUFFED with this!
  
  So - I don't want to go and spend a huge amount of money on a new 250 watt DE globe.
  
  So - if anyone has a globe (that is still working, even barely) that they want to chuck - please let me know.
  
  You can contact me via PM.
  
  Many thanks..
  Jacques
• 

  What I have Learnt about this hobby

  Posted: January 26th, 2010, 8:22am CST by vatso

  Right this is a once off deal!
  
  I have learnt you can't cheat nature & how she works!! "that does not mean we can't question & or try"
  
  Things take time & by that time that seems long for us is quick for nature! our fish & corals can die in a matter of hours & as such we want changes in out takes to be quick these same quick changes can cause all sorts of death!
  
  I have learnt there are many ways to get to the same results the one that works best for you - only you can decide.
  
  People only want to help & the help is never to harm the marine life they take the side of time - which is a good thing see above
  
  The balance is so fine we can only hope & pray we keep things that way for as long as possible - how mother nature does it I would love to know!
  
  brakes are sometimes more important then the accelerator :)
  
  People new & old on this site - thank you all for your input & advise I am learning slowly & I am changing how I see stuff but I am a lessons learned person myself.
  
  Mark
• 

  candy coral help

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 2:43am CST by notin2du

  hi im new to the site and i was wondering if any one here can help me with a candy cane coral i own. i have a 29 gallon biocube with a flame angle, maroon clown, skunk cleaner, fire red cleaner, a blue hammer coral, an electric green open brain,some mushrooms, a green star polyp colony, and a pulsing xenia colony.
  
  my tank has been up and running for over a year now and ive never had any losses. however a new candy cane coral i got does not seem to be doing well its receeding back into its skeleton. i had it up towards the top of the tank close to the lights and have just moved it into the sand 2day. im hopeing this will help but id like some second opinions.
  
  thanks in advance to every one who replies to this post.
• 

  nu fowlr?

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 11:49pm CST by fresfis

  hi,i plan on starting a 550L FOWLR tank with a 120L sump.My questions-what size overflow and what return rate pump?what size skimmer?how much live rock and live sand?what size powerheads for optimum water movement?if sum1 can answer these questions i greatly appreciate it.thanx.oh i 4got.what are lighting requirements?this is my first sw tank which i will run 4 a year b4 upgrading it to a reef tank.thanx again
• 

  Strange translucent worms in VERY new tank

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 9:03pm CST by Googliebear

  Hi All,
  
  I'm a noob when it comes to saltwater tanks, all my knowledge comes from books and forums. I've recently started my first tank, & yesterday added my LR.
  
  The reason for this thread is I've already started seeing small plants grow :thumbup: that's not my concern... If noticed sofar 3 very small translucent wormish things on the live rock and 2 tiny snails (also translucent)
  
  Is it normal, and more importantly is it harmful??
  Thanks in advance for any response.
• 

  Live Rocks with algea problems

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 7:50pm CST by vatso

  Hi there
  
  I have some live rocks with algea on them - the long grass type
  
  would it be okay if I took them out & scrubbed them in the old water from my next water change & then put them back?
  
  What I am worried about is if they have to re cycle? I don't want to take a chance I harm the fish in the tank
  
  whats the best way to do this? Clean the rocks?
  
  thanks Mark
• 

  Reefcleaners.org

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 6:00pm CST by LuckyFish

  Check this out. Good info about all that, what we really don´t want.
  
  http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?op...d=54&Itemid=81
• 

  Ap601

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 5:36pm CST by wukkie

  Hi
  
  I have an Ap601 skimmer, or at least I think it is. I woudl like to know is can I run it in my sump, I will still plumb the water direct from the tank into the skimmer, but I would like to put the full unit into my sump. So teh pump will be covered by water.
  
  Thanks
• 

  Cape Town soft coral donors?

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 5:34pm CST by Dane

  Hi there,
  
  Just wanted to know if anyone in the Cape Town area would be kind enough to consider donating a frag or two of any soft coral?
  
  I have just recently gotten into marines and my two tiny soft coral frags I got for it are doing so well I'm absolutely delighted!
  
  All I have at the moment is a little xenia, a few tiny baby zoo's and a third one I do not know. I would love to try some zooanthids, mushrooms - anything really!
  
  So, if you have any softies that are in need of a bit of a trim or a few frags that you don't mind donating I would really appreciative if you'd let me know!
  
  thanks in anticipation :-)
  Dane
• 

  New member

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 3:51pm CST by Slims

  Hi All.
  
  After several years of keeping Malawis , I've recently been bitten by the "Reef Bug".I've taken over a tank from a friend that was very neglected. Its a 1m x 1m
  corner bow front that was not built to be a saltwater tank. Nevertheless I've given a shot. I set the tank up 2 months ago and have since added a chiller , an overflow box and a sump plus a few powerheads for movement. In addition to the rocks that came with the set up , I've added about 15kg of new live rock.
  
  Much of what i've learnt has been from MASA - so great thanks & respect to all you guys out there that share your knowledge and experience with us Newbies. i will post pics of my set up once I've figured out how to do that.
  
  Slims.
• 

  January 2010 Meeting

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 3:25pm CST by durleo

  Hi Guys
  
  When is the next meeting for the East Coast Reef Club?
• 

  [FS] ( possible sale) Black luminarc style 250w MH units incl balast

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 10:56am CST by sweetnsour

  Hi guys
  
  im interested to find out how many of you may be interested in buying brand new units like this.
  
  Black dome luminarc style 250w MH units incl balast
  
  R2 K each
• 

  DIY Tank Controler

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 10:36am CST by Ross

  Hey Guys
  
  Been trying to find the post on a DIY tank computer that was about a few years ago. The person that designed it used to or might still be on the forum and eventually open sourced it.
  
  The only thread I found is this one : [opencoral.com]
  But I can not get to it from work (bloody firewall)
  
  Any info?
  
  Ta,
  
  Ross
• 

  Phosphate Binder

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 10:04am CST by Pads

  Hennie, quick question. I've been looking at doing a DIY Phosphate reactor but weighing up the costs and was wonder if it would not be cheaper to use a Phosphate binding solution instead of a reactor. Cost to make + Electricity + Reactor media VS. Chemical Solution + Top Water Top Ups.
  
  Do you know anything about Lanthanum Carbonate as a phosphate binder and whether it can be used in a solution and if its reef safe?
  
  Also mixing proportions and what quantity to add to our tanks. I can't seem to find anything on the web in relations to reef applications. Any advise? ;)
• 

  [FS] FREE Tomato Clownfish

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 8:56am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Guys, I have this fish in my sump, and it really just needs a home, other than my sump, as I feel it is a bit cruel.
  
  If you are willing to collect it, you can have it for MAHALA!!!! ;)
  
  It is quite large, and very nice fish.
• 

  [FS] Three month old ReefOcto TS1 skimmer

  Posted: January 25th, 2010, 8:52am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi
  
  I am running skimmerless in my NPS, and have no more need for this TS1 skimmer. Still original pump and impeller. Basically brand new, only three months old.;)
  
  R900.00 is the lowest will / can go.
  
  Thanks :thumbup:
• 

  Seio controller settings

  Posted: January 24th, 2010, 7:28am CST by ChrisNell

  All
  
  I have a seio controller with two seio pumps for water circulation in my display - around 450l. What would be the ultimate setting on the controller? You can set the timer to switch between Lo and Hi from a a few seconds to 30 minutes. I have MH lights, 4 x T5 actinics. A few smaller SPS's higher up in the tank, a few LPS's and quite a number of softies lower down.
  
  Thanks
  Chris
• 

  Low Alkalinity

  Posted: January 24th, 2010, 7:10am CST by Sentari

  Hi Hennie
  
  Was wondering if you could sum this all up for me.
  
  I decided to test my parameters again after some time not really worrying about anything. The reason for me testing my parameters is that my coraline started dissapearing all over and my Zoa's dont seem to colour up like they used to.
  
  Okay so my alkalinity is sitting at 5dkh. PH 8.2 and all other parameters are in check.
  
  Okay this is my dosing regime and maintainance regime.
  
  I dose 2 tablespoons of slaked lime whenever i fill my RO water. Which is usually once a week.
  I dose 1 cap of iodine tincature which is mixed with 400ml of RO water every 3 days.
  I do a water change every 2 weeks.
  I clean one of my screens on my algae scrubber every 2 weeks.
  
  What i did last night is mixed 4 teaspoons of baking soda with RO water and added that to the sump. my tank is 300L.
  
  I was just wondering if i'm doing the right thing there.
  
  Another 2 things. How do i keep everything in balance. Also is it a good idea to bake the baking soda in the oven if my PH is sitting at 8.2.
  
  Also how should i dose my calcium? I went and bought some brightwell aquatics Kalk+2.
  
  Sorry if its all over the place but 101 questions and FAR tooo much thinking :)
• 

  Live Rock, TS1, Jaeger Heater, Seio M620s: Jhb, Edenvale

  Posted: January 24th, 2010, 2:21am CST by PaulH

  Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

  Live Rock, TS1, Jaeger Heater, Seio M620s

  Location:

  Jhb, Edenvale

  Shipping or Collection only:

  Collection only

  Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Notes:

  25 - 30 kg Live Rock @ R1500
  ReefOcto TS1 Skimmer @ R800
  Jeager 150W Heater (up to 300l) @ R300
  2 x Seio M620 @ R120 each

• 

  Greeting fellow aqaurists :-)

  Posted: January 24th, 2010, 6:15pm CST by Dane

  Hi there everyone,
  
  I have been a freshwater fishkeeper for about a year now, with a South American community tank that is a constant source of pleasure :-) And have just recently ventured into marine. I always do a vast amount of research online before any move I make with my tanks.
  
  My best mate works at the V&A aquarium, and recently all their clownfish spawned and of course no one wanted to euthanise them! So a pair was going for grabs. I had just set up a second fwater nano tank for some puffers - but i rather rapidly converted it to saltwater. He has been keeping his clowns in a small low tech set up with great success - so I sought to emulate this.
  
  My tank is small! 46x22x22cm :-) But the clownies are babies, and once they get a little bigger I will move them to a 70L. The tank cycled for about two weeks, and I use actual seawater - not premix. There is a piece of live rock in, and I just got given two tiny frags of anthelia, and one other soft coral. The soft corals are fully open and seem happy despite my fairly average lighting setup. I DO NOT have a protein skimmer, and am using a powerhead internal filter with a sponge & activated charcoal (I will switch the sponge for coral chips soon).
  
  There are also two tiny clips of marine plant - I think the one is called kerper and the other is like a fine hair algae. There are also two little cushion stars and a tiny snail which looks like a miniature perlemon :-)
  
  Using a little 50w set to 22, but my tank seems to hang around 25...
  
  I absolutely love my clownfish, not out of any obscure film reference or association - just because they are such great characters :-) As they are like 2nd generation and a little inbred they have unusual patterns... Broken stripes on the ones tail makes it easier to tell them apart! They seem to have settled in very well, and are extremely active! Always zooming around, although I have given them plenty of hidy holes - including a shady terracotta pot.
  
  Thanks in advance for all the assistance I know I will get from this community. TASA members has been extremely accomodating and generous and I am sure MASA will be the same,
  
  Kind Regards
  Dane
• 

  Dosing in ro top up water

  Posted: January 24th, 2010, 5:29pm CST by vatso

  I want to dose using my ro top up water I use every day
  
  What can I put together & what can't I?
  
  I want to put in my KH buffer 10ml & CA 5ml & MG 5ml in my RO water & let the dosing happen when I top up which is 5lt every day some in the morning & some at night
  
  can I do it this way?
  
  Remember I don't have a sump
• 

  For those interested in endangered species

  Posted: January 24th, 2010, 10:31am CST by FransSny

  [www.iucnredlist.org]
• 

  Wicked LED light Unit

  Posted: January 24th, 2010, 9:50am CST by FransSny

  Any one seen these ?
  
  Looks awesome...except for the price :P
  
  Pacific Sun LED Modular Lamp Phobos - 2x100W + 2x39W T5 - €1,510.00 : AquariumLed.eu!, Powerfull light for you reef aquarium!
• 

  [FS] JBJ 24 G + Liverock and Fish

  Posted: January 23rd, 2010, 11:22pm CST by ReefMaster_SA

  Hi guys I am selling a JBJ 24 G nano with stand
  
  X 8 kg Live rock
  X1 true Clown fish
  X1 Seio prop 2000lp
  X1 Skimmer Moded Boyu Gw-310
  X 2 39 watt PL lights
  X 1 Return Pump
  X 1 heater
  Figi pink sand 6.kg
  Live contain Mushrooms red /green
  
  Clips on hood broke,Leds dont work
  
  Good deal , Stopping Fish Tank
• 

  BTA / Rose BTA advice

  Posted: January 23rd, 2010, 11:17pm CST by Megalodon

  Hi guys,
  I was wondering if some anemone guru's could give me their input on the following.
  
  I am looking to get a Rose BTA or a GBTA for my 600x600x600 cube - with sump, DSB, ATS, Skimmer etc + lots of live rock.
  
  Tank has been established for approx 4 years. Everything is very healthy and growing well. Back pane is COMPLETELY covered in coraline, as are the rocks etc. I haven't had anything die in the tank for over 2 years (and then it was a few mushrooms due to a dodgy batch of a certain cheap salt brand which I no longer use).
  
  What I was wondering is would a BTA be suitable for my system? I keep mainly multiple colour mushrooms, ricordreas a few LPS such as green galaxea (3 years old), and euphyllia divisia (9 years old+ but very small frags of main colony). Also small green sarcophyton, blue xenia, some zoas, trindacna crocea clam etc.
  
  lighting is 150w BLV 14k halide with supplemental actinics.
  flow is by 1x seio M820, 1x seio M620, 1X mini resun wavemaker (4000LPH), and return pump. Obviously I would anemone proof all pumps with mesh as per Karensroseanemone.com method.
  
  I was wondering, would the RBTA be harmed by my mushrooms if it was to move against them? I would obviously place it in an open area of the tank far from anything, but I know they are known to move while acclimating. Also, would the anemone kill my clam if it was to move toward it? I would obviously place them very far apart but accidents do happen.
  
  Also, given the large amounts of mushrooms etc in my tank, would there be problems for the anemone due to allelopathics in the water? given that I skim, have an ATS and run carbon + regular waterchanges. I would obviously place them far away from each other in any event.
  
  I obviously don't want to rush into getting something I can't keep alive, so I would appreciate your input. I am not in a hurry and would rather be sure before I make a decision. Also, if the consensus is that it is a feasible proposition, where would I find a decent RBTA/ GBTA specimen? at a reasonable price? thanks guys.
• 

  Mozambique Her We Come! Looking for suggestions.

  Posted: January 23rd, 2010, 9:22pm CST by Quinton

  I noticed last week that I have a bunch of frequent flyer miles about to expire, so in a heady frenzy, I booked two tickets to Maputo in March.
  
  I've never been there, and have no idea what I'm gonna do. Any suggestions welcome. I'm keen to do some snorkeling, beer drinking and general lazing around.
• 

  Urgent Advice - DSB disturbed

  Posted: January 23rd, 2010, 8:20pm CST by danimal

  Hey guys
  
  Some of you followed my thread on my tank which was about to burst a few weeks ago; I had a temporary tank setup while I waited for my new build. Tonigh I am doing the cross over, and I discovered that the substrate (CaribSea Aragonite) from my old tank (which was stored in a bucket in the sump in the interim) had become a DSB of sorts and when I started scooping it out I noticed a sulphuric smell. Question is now what to do with this sand - the smell is not pungent but definitely noticeable. If I put it in my new system will it be dodgy? (for lack of a suitable scientific term ;) ) I'm worried that if I leave it out for now it will dry and there will be a die-off of the bacteria within the sand anyway.
  
  I could always buy a new bag tomorrow, but that's R500 I'm not that keen to spend right now...
  
  Any help is much appreciated.
• 

  Photography tutorials - post your links

  Posted: January 23rd, 2010, 4:49pm CST by Reef Maniac

  Hi all,
  
  I've just come across some excellent "how to" articles, and thought that it would be a good idea if we all shared our favorite "links".
  
  To start with...
  
  Macro photography:
  
  dalantech's Gallery
  
  MACRO SHOOTING - Tips & Tutorials - Digital Grin Photography Forum
  
  Hennie
• 

  Urgent Advice - Rust in the tank

  Posted: January 23rd, 2010, 9:00am CST by Raven

  Ok,
  I'm not sure how serious this is, but I'd rather start the thread here and get an answer ASAP.
  
  My Colts/kenia (I have 4 of them) trees are not opening - this is going on for two weeks now.
  The same with my sarcophyton is not opening.
  I know that they do sulk, but for this long? Not so sure....
  Every now and again I'll note that two of the 4 will open SLIGHTLY, just to close again.
  And sometimes I do note the slime mucus on them - so it looks like something is bothering them.
  
  I've changed the flow on them (first a bit more, then a bit less), increased light period - but so far nothing worked.
  I've even moved it to new locations...
  
  This morning when I've cleanded my algea scrubber I've noted that the screws that I've used to bolt my fans on to the algea box were rusted (I did put some sylicone on, but obviously not enough). It looks like some of this rust is dripping into the tank. I'm not sure how much did dripped into the tank. (and for how long)
  
  Now -
  1. can one test for rust in the tank?
  2. Why is all my other inmates happy (candy cane, galaxy, zoa's, nemmies, fish, snail) All are feeding and doesn't look stressed.
  3. If it is indeed the rust - how long will the effects be in the tank? (I must do a water change obviously)
  
  The rest of the water parameters:
  Kh - 8
  Ca - 370
  salt - 1.023
  Nitrates - 0
  Ph - 8.4
  Temperature - 26.5 - 27 degrees
• 

  Slow international internet access

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 6:27pm CST by Reef Maniac

  FYI, just received from Hetzner:
  
  Quote:

  Loss of international connectivity attributed to SAT-3 cable Hetzner customers, together with most SA Internet users, are currently experiencing severe international connectivity problems since Wednesday, 20 January 2010. This means that browsing to international websites and receiving email from international sources has proven problematic. This issue is a result of a SAT-3 cable break on the London-Bellville link which continues to cause slow international connectivity. Hetzner is not able to anticipate or prevent issues relating to international connectivity accessed via the SAT-3 cable. Your local access partner or ISP (e.g. M-Web) gives you access to international bandwidth and it is this connectivity path that has been compromised by the SAT-3 cable break. Telkom SA is conducting major maintenance on the fault, with the maintenance window running from 20-22 January and again from 29 January to 1 February. During this maintenance window, most South African Internet users will experience intermittent high latency to international locations.

  I noticed that my email is very slow...
  
  Hennie
• 

  There I fixed it....

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 6:27pm CST by chikaboo

  See if you DIY guys can beat these DIY's .....
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  Application for coral and fish classifications

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 6:00pm CST by Marlin Fischer

  Theres a cool application that one can download that gives various fish and corals names, pics and reef compatibility. Have a look if you need ideas for fish to add to your tank.
  
  Coral Identification and information at Coralidea.com
  
  Download the fish and coral applications.
  
  Enjoy!
• 

  [FS] Holding, Breeding Setup

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 5:07pm CST by Singularity

  I have 3 stands left, each stand include:
  
  2x 1250(L)x600(H)x450(W) tanks
  1x 1250x450x450 sump
  2x Jager 300W heaters
  1x Eheim compact 3000+ return pump
  1x Resun sp-2000 powerhead for algea screen
  3x Osram t5 54w dual ballast and 6x t5 tubes, 2 marine blue and 4 daylights
  All plumbing
  
  Seperate sale i have a JoJo 2500L storage tank and stand for R1500
  
  Please contact me on amdied(at)telkomsa.net for pricing or to make an offer or to get some more pics, i have loads.
• 

  Cooling the system in a different way

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 4:57pm CST by LuckyFish

  Hi guys, I posted this in a other thread (Smoking section and reef tank). Maybe not a lot of people will read this thread, so I decided to made a new one.
  
  The idea is to use the earth to cool the system in summer.
  The air that gets sucked from the skimmer can be pre cooled from the earth/soil.
  Depending on the amount of air is needed, the pipe should be 40 or 50 mm in diameter (or even bigger). The pipe should be at least 1 m deep and 10 metres long. The inlet above the ground should have an air filter ( active carbon to dry the air and to avoid mould in the pipe).
  The temperature in 1,2 metre depth should be stable all year around 12 to 14 degrees.
  The air gets sucked or pumped into the skimmer, after the fresh air went through the pipe and is cooled down in summer and heated up in winter (if fresh air is needed in winter).
  The slower the air travels through the ground, the closer it will reach 12 to 14 degrees.
  
  This system is used for a kind of air condition systems. Crispin should know it too, because over there, all the wooden framed houses got such a system.
  
  That´s how it works:
  
  
  FRISCHLUFT = fresh air
  FRISCHLUFTFILTER = take a guess;)
  
  ERDWÄRMETAUSCHER = difficult to translate, earth heat exchanger
  ZULUFT = incoming air into the room
  ABLUFT = outgoing air out of the rooms
  FORTLUFT = air goes out of the building
  
  That box, where all the nice colours meet, is used to withdraw the energy from the outgoing air, to use that energy to heat up the incoming air.
  The earth heat exchanger provides in winter pre heated air and in summer pre cooled air. The most important thing is an airfilter on the inlet.
  
  The discussion can begin!
• 

  Equipment Info

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 4:34pm CST by Ross

  Hey Guys,
  
  Could I ask that if you post pics in the forum to be be commented on, please could you post the details of the shot. I am talking about a little line listing the camera, the lens, if you used flash, the f-stop, shutter speed, ISO etc.
  
  Hennie has started doing this with a neat little line under his shots like so:
  
  EXIF: Canon 5D mkII; EF 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm; 1/320 sec @ f/3.5; ISO 1600
  
  This can be a great help when commenting and can also be very useful for other members to see and maybe try themselves.
• 

  Rio Mini Sun - how many watts are these units?

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 3:34pm CST by Matt

  Anyone here have a Rio Mini Sun clip on LED light unit? Can you tell me how many watts it is?
  
  Cheers
  Matt
• 

  Does Soft Corals Detox?

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 2:33pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hey members
  
  I have been wondering about something. We all know that Leathers, musrhooms, pincushions etc close up for a few days, then they shed "skin" and then open up once more.
  
  Well, I have had this same behavior from my Menella Gorgonian. It closed for almost a week, and I really thought by now I lost it, but I saw this morning it had started extending it's polyps once more.
  
  Does the coral do a type of detox do you think?
• 

  Help wanted

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 1:36pm CST by ZeroCool

  Hi guys, i am interested in buying a stunning tank from someone.
  
  the specs are:
  
  250 L 1220(L) X 450 (W) 500 (H) -4 ft
  
  1x tunze 1073.030 35-55w 400-3000L/h recirculation pump.
  
  Another tunze pump same as above going through phosphate reactor and Hailia HC 300 1/4 HP chiller 400L rating.
  
  +/- 100 L sump with live rock and 10cm Deep sand Bed 24 hour lighting and caulerpa.
  
  Reeftek skimmer external and plumbed into system.
  
  2 x Aquarium Depot black hanging MH lights 250W single end screw in bulbs.
  
  3 x seio circulating pumps.
  
  Reeftek calcium reactor also new pump, with new digital ph probe, co2 regulator with guages and solenoid valve, 2kg co2 bottle.
  Not connected a watson marlow peristaltic pump (R 6-7000 new) best pump on market.
  
  Reef octopus kalk reactor over rated for tank also with new pump and auto top up peristaltic pump, +/- 28L top up tank.
  
  Reverse osmosis 5 stage water filter, +/- 40L tank with power head, heater, and TDS meter.
  
  Now, we both stay within 5km of each other, in the edenvale/lombardy east area.
  
  Someone quoted me a price, which i am still considering, but i want to know if there are more options available.
  
  So, if someone moved a tank like the description above, and would give some tips / advice, or even help, give me a shout !
  
  :thumbup:
• 

  Reeflo pumps

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 12:43pm CST by lanzo

  Hi guys introducing the new pumps from the U.S
  
  Reeflow pumps
  
  This is one of the most power effective External pumps on the market, one very nice feature about these pumps are that you cant put back pressure on the pump.
  
  By placing a ball valve on the outlet...one not only restrict the flow...it also then lowers the power that it consumes:thumbup:
  
  The babie of the pack:
  
  SUPER DART GOLD 13450l/h EXTERNAL PUMP (3m max 116w)=R4600
  
  
  
  
  
  
  BARRACUDA GOLD 14600l/h 166w EXTERNAL PUMP 4.7mmax
  R7000
  
  
  HAMMERHEAD GOLD 17400l/h 191w EXTERNAL PUMP 5.3m max
  R7000
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  I'm a GRANDPA

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 9:46am CST by mandarin

  Hi to all the MASA members. I would like to share my joy with everybody.
  Yesterday 21 January 2010 my son Goby became the proud father of a beautifull baby girl, she is so sweet.This is our first grandchild and i hope not the last.
  Nou moet ek nog saam 'n ouma slaap.;)
• 

  Dusi Crocs

  Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 8:50am CST by Warr7207

  Wow, Crocs back in the Umgeni River :)
  
  Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon - Croc caught on video
• 

  Happy Birthday Dale6

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 3:15am CST by chikaboo

  Dude - Have a great day and and may you see many many more:thumbup:
• 

  Awesome underwater pics....

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 7:05pm CST by chikaboo

  Eat your hearts out .....
  Attached Files

  FOTOS-BAJOELAGUA.pps (1.76 MB)

• 

  Really enjoy Photography

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 5:46pm CST by Dean76

  Hope you don’t mind me posting these photographs here. I just see that you have a photograph section and I really enjoy photography and just wanted to share some of my photographs with the website. If this is not allowed please remove. Hope you enjoy the pics.
  
  
  
  
• 

  what's up with my candy cane?

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 2:41pm CST by Raven

  Hi,
  What is going on with my candy cane?
  
  I have 4 frags in my tank (have it for over a year).
  About two days ago I've noticed two of the buds on this one frag have some white marks on it...
  
  
  
  Ok - it's not so clear on this pic.
  When I feed they still extend polips - so they're still feeding...
  
  This coral is moved to a new location about a week or two ago...
• 

  EcoSystem

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 2:20pm CST by Congo

  New to Marines last kept marines in 1996 the world has changed
  Currently running a 250lt tank with UGF 4 No. powerheads 50mm coral sand Air powered Counterflow Skimmer with powerhead old habits die hard
  I still have 3 more 1200mm tanks in the gararage empty wife hopes the bug doesn't bite hard
  Anyone out there who has a miracle mud system in SA need to find suppliers caulerpa etc
• 

  [FS] PHOSBAN 150 REACTOR

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 12:31pm CST by mahan

  PHOSBAN REACTOR FOR SALE PH150 NO PUMP NO MEDIA WHAT OFFERS
• 

  my question!!!

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 12:03pm CST by ablord

  hello friends,
  I have a question that do fishes like very cold water?
  thank you.
  AB LORD:razz:
• 

  How to straighten a bent fish tank stand

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 11:52am CST by Brandon WJ

  Hi everyone
  
  Hope you are al keeping well?
  
  I have recently got my new stand for my new setup I am doing, but unfortunately the stand is bent :(.
  Does anyone know of an expert in Cape Town that can maybe fix this problem?
  
  Your help would be greatly appreciated.
• 

  [FS] Carx and Dosing pumps for sale

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 11:23am CST by Ridwaan

  Howzit Guys...
  
  Ive got the following for sale and all are in excellent condition.
  
  1. AquaMedic Carx 1000 with CO2 bottle..You would just need a solenoid and PH controller and media for the reactor.The reactor is in excellent condition
  
  Price: R1550
  
  2. AquaMedic Quad Reef Doser in excellent condition.
  Has 4 dosing pumps and built in computer to control each pump seperatly.Excellent for those who wants to do the balling method..
  
  Price: R3000
  
  Will ship at buyers expense...
  
  Will post pics tomorrow
• 

  Looking to build a SPS frag tank

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 11:12am CST by gaboon

  Would like to start fragging some of my corals but I don't have space to plumb a frag tank to my display tank so it will have to go in another room. Nothing too big, about 800 x 300 x 400mm. I've got a T5 unit with 3 24w globes. I plan on having some LR in for filtration but will I need a skimmer as well? I can't even pay attention so budget is pretty tight at the mo. I'll hook up a PC fan to keep temp in check. Am I missing anything?
  
  Thanks:peroni:
• 

  Why Sunscreen is important

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 10:52am CST by FransSny

  
• 

  Phenomenal video footage of a Midas Blenny!!!

  Posted: January 21st, 2010, 9:31am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi guys.
  
  Here are some really amazing and wonderful footage my Dad got from his Midas Blenny laying eggs. This must have been an amazing thing to have watched in person.
  
  What flips our boat completely though, is that there is no other Midas Blenny in the tank. My dad had this fish for over three months now, so it did not arrive "pregnant." The only other Blenny is a scooter blenny.
  
  Anyway, here you will note the fish turning itself vertical, and then spray eggs wildly into the water column. The other fish thinks it is Christmas, and I have other footage of the Blenny lying the eggs on the front glass and then eating it.
  
  I can not imagine that these eggs are fertilized, but this is interesting none the less. Spoke to Frans about and he says he has never heard of this. We know birds do it, but fish? Has anybody ever seen or heard of this, and how does this happen?
  
  PS: Well done on the footage dad, this is worth an Academy Award, or a National Geographic Award or something!!! :thumbup:
  
  [www.youtube.com]
• 

  Energy Efficient Systems

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 7:03am CST by bluefronted

  Hi Guys,
  
  With the cost of Electricity to go up by almost 100% within the next 36 months and further increases thereafter most of us will need to consider more energy efficient systems.
  
  I'm busy planning a new setup and was surprised to find out how much energy (watts) some of the items consume such a MH Lights, Chillers, etc.
  
  With regards to MH Lights can flourescents do the same trick ?
  
  Any idea what the average skimmers and return pumps are rated at ?
• 

  article in reef photography

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 9:46pm CST by crispin

  its a long but very worth while read...
  
  Photographing Your Aquarium: A Few Tips And A Brief Description Of How A Camera Works by Greg Rothschild - Reefkeeping.com
• 

  Happy birthday Dean, Quinton and Squire

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 8:37pm CST by chikaboo

  Sorry guys I'm starting to get slack - usually I'm starting this threads but my chest was troubling me today and on some medication ... but better late than never - OK to make me look good I was saving your wishes for like a surprise - ah never mind hope you guys had a great day and enjoy whats left of it.... I hope we don't all get banned for not wishing viper:lol:
• 

  A General Question on Corals

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 8:09pm CST by vatso

  My Water is testing fine
  
  is it normal for a coral to close up even if it's not night time??
  
  Could it be a fish or just a change in water temp or water movement for them to do this?
  
  My colt coral is small now like he is asleep was fine when I got home?
  
  Thanks
  Mark
• 

  Brightwells Alkalin 8.3 Help

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 6:06pm CST by Kunhardt

  I have just bought myself some Brightwells Alkalin 8.3 KH Buffer Powder after using normal Bicarb for months now and find the instructions very confusing...wondering if anyone who has used it can let me know if I have worked out my quantities correct.
  
  The instructions are as follows :
  
  Create a stock solution by disolving 20 grams of Alk 8.3 in 236ml of fresh water, each ml of this solution will increase the alk in 3.785L of water by 0.36dkh.
  
  
  Now my Alk is sitting at just over 6dKh, I want to raise it by 1dkh am I correct in my workings as follows :
  
  to round it down 1ml of the solution will increase the Dkh of 1L of water by 0.95dkh.
  Therefore if my water volume is roughly 500L after displacement I will need to double the stock solution in the instructions to 40g in 472ml of water.
  
  This will then increase my Dkh in my tank by just under 1dkh if I add the total solution to my tank.
  
  Sound correct? I am just trying to figure out a base to work from for now and the future and if I am correct in getting 1dkh it will be simple to work out how much I will need from there.
• 

  I got a Crab

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 5:12pm CST by Tony Ingram

  Hi everyone hope all is well.
  
  I have a crab (hitch-hiker on the live rock) what do i do? Do i get rid of him or do i try identify him and keep him? what if he is a good crab (emerald crab) or is it just a bad idea to keep it?
  
  Then if its a bad idea and i need to get rid of him how do i catch him? and what do i do with him?
• 

  Smoking section and reef tank

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 5:08pm CST by Marlin Fischer

  Hi guys
  
  Could there be significant negative effects on a reef tank that is positioned in a reasonably well ventilated smoking section?
  
  A friend of mine that owns a restaurant was thinking of putting a 2m x 1m x 0.7m display in his restaurant but the best place for it to be would be btw the smoking section (pub/bar) and the non smoking section.
  
  The smoking section size is approx 15m x 5m
• 

  New arrivals

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 4:23pm CST by Naiema

  Stunning Shipment at Sams Aquarium...ie Regal ,Flamingi Unicorn And Sailfin Tangs, Clown Trigger, Navarchus and 3 spot Angels, Racoon, Kleinii &Threadfin Butterflies, Banggai (R198)&Pyjama(R59) Cardinals,Clowns,Selaris Blennies, Stars,Lions Green Chromis&Yellow tail Damsels(R59), Yellow Foxface and Foxface Magnificas, Bubble tip Anemones,Corals...etc. Please call us on : 0217122534/0826368990..Looking forward to your call re any queries.
• 

  How forward is this !

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 4:08pm CST by FransSny

  Just received this e-mail
  
  Hello
  I am writing you in a tensed mood, I had travelled to Wales to visit a new researchers complex in Swansea (Imperial College, Gallery Section, Wales) and unfortunately for me the hotel i lodged got razed by fire. I am so confused right now, I don't know what to do or where to go. I didnt bring my phones here and the hotel telephone lines were disconnected during the incident. So I have access to only emails.
  
  Please can you lend me £960 ($1,557.54 USD for me to go over to the Embassy and also pay up bills at the hotel As soon as I get home I would refund it immediately.Please I need you to get back to me as soon as possible.
  
  I am looking forward to hearing from you.
  Thanks and Regards,
  
  Harrison
• 

  Pincushion

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 3:42pm CST by Dean76

  I would like to know if there is anyway one could attach a pincushion to a piece of rock?
• 

  LS for my 800L system, please advice

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 3:21pm CST by knut-ove

  I am relatively new to marines. Have a nano (120l) that have been running for one year now. My new tank that is cycling now is 800L and I am aiming for a LS that is suitable for me as a beginner, relative easy to care for (don`t want fish that needs feeding 4 times a day) and go nicely together.
  
  Here is a list of fish I have been looking at, please advise:P
  
  Emperor Angelfish
  Queen Angelfish
  Longnose Hawkfish
  Yellow Tang
  Blue Eye Tang
  Naso Tang
  Blonde Naso Tang
  Tri-Color Anthias
  Geometric Pygmy Hawk
  Marine Beta
  Teira Batfish
  Scrawled Cowfish
  Copperband Butterflyfish <-- Know I have to wait with this one
  Tahitian Butterflyfish
  Golden Butterflyfish
  Black & White Heniochos
  Firefish
  Fantail Filefish
  Bicolor Goatfish
  Yellow Watchman Goby
  Banded Sleeper Goby
  Blue Spot Jawfish
  Splendid Dottyback
  Foxface Rabbitfish
  Crosshatch Triggerfish
  Yellow Coris Wrasse
  McCosker's Flasher Wrasse <-- one male and two female
  Pineconefish
  
  How many fish is normal to keep in a system of this size????
  Will be a mixed reef, lots of hiding places :biggrin:
• 

  Sump help???????

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 3:03pm CST by KATHIE

  I have a 3ft sump in my malawi tank. It has been running for about 5 months. I December I made a cabinet wrap. Recently I started getting a earthy smell. Do you marine guys ever have this. I was thinking of venting the doors with 4 holes on each at the top & 4 on the left of the wrap.
• 

  Blood veins

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 2:26pm CST by Nsteyn

  Anyone has an idea what these weird "veins" are?
  
  
  
  Tnx
  
  Niel
• 

  New Stock at Idol Marine

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 1:55pm CST by Bob the (reef)builder

  :thumbup: HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL :thumbup:
  ALL THE BEST IN SALT AND SOCCER FOR 2010
  
  NEW STOCK FROM INDONESIA
  various euphyllia varients,red and blue mushrooms,sun and black corals,heliofungia and fungia,various macroalgae,green and red brains,bubble corals,acropora,galaxea and softies.
  
  fish include naso,brevirostrus,orange spotted tang,powder blues(large and healthy),cardinals,occelaris,percula and clarki clowns,blue faced angel,various wrasse and gobies.
  
  As always please come visit, even to pick our brains,we love informed customers:lol:
  
  Be well,cheers for now.
  IDOL MARINE CREW.
  

• 

  DIY Skimmer plans/links

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 1:35pm CST by leslie hempel

  This seems to be one of the more popular items that are often DIY'ed so here are plans for a few skimmers, if you have plans or links please add to the list.
  
  
  Skimming Basics 101: Understanding Your Skimmer
  http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-0...ture/index.php
  
  Air Stone Protein Skimmer
  OZ REEF - Air Stone Protein Skimmer
  
  Protein Skimmer - Counter Current - Air Stone
  [w3page.com]
  
  Larry Jackson's Foam Fractionator Counter Current - Air Stone
  [www2.hawaii.edu]
  
  How To Build a Protein Skimmer
  Page Not Found
  
  Equipment Skimmer
  http://camelreef.free.fr/equipment/e...t.html#skimmer
  
  DIY Downdraft Skimmer
  [www.aqualink.com]
  
  BUILD AN EXCELLENT SKIMMER: THE Compact SUPER SKIMMER
  http://mars.reefkeepers.net/USHomePa...erSkimmer.html
  
  Downdraft Skimmer
  [w3page.com]
  
  A Small Downdraft Skimmer
  http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/skim..._dd/index.html
  
  Joseph S. Sellinger's Skimmer Design 5 - Venturi
  [fins.actwin.com]
  
  Venturi triple pass skimmer
  [themantledmonster.thereeftank.com]
  
  Mazzei Venturi Skimmer
  [w3page.com]
  
  Copy of a Euro-reef skimmer
  A Reefer in Dubai !
  
  Medium Sized Needle Wheel
  http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/...ead.php?t=8028
• 

  [FS] 3 month old Reef Octo TS1 Skimmer

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 12:14pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  My specific system is better off skimmerless. I bought and ran this skimmer for three months only, and stopped using it about two weeks ago completely.
  
  It is still brand new, and still orginal pump and impeller.
• 

  [FS] Medium sized Tomato Clown

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 12:09pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi guys
  
  I forgot I also have this fish in my sump. I already have a percula clown, so dont wanna mix the species. Fishie looking for good home!!!;)
• 

  green torch problem

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 11:54am CST by marcel

  Hi All
  .
  I am still trying to find some answers for my green torch problem. My green torch started loosing heads about a month age. The coral looked healthy but the heads kept on coming of. I placed some of the heads in the sump and they are all still alive and looking healthy. I increased the light in the main tank but that doesn’t seem to help. What could be the cause of this, as all the other corals seem fine?
  What should I do with the heads in the sump? Will they grow a new hard body?
  I broke the hard bodies without heads on off. I now only have a few small pieces with heads on, but I am afraid those heads will also come off. If a head came off the hard body, is the body then still alive? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.
  
  Marcel
• 

  Sixline wrasse/ chromis

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 11:44am CST by LRS

  Hi guys!
  
  Two Q's...
  
  1.) Can I keep a green chromis by itself?
  
  2.) Will a sixline cause problems with my cleaner shrip?
  
  Tnx!
• 

  [FS] Reeftek CR-100 Calcium reactor - Offers?

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 10:55am CST by lIghty

  Hi All
  
  I have a Reeftek CR-100 reactor laying around which I bought s/hand and have never got to using it, so I thought I might sell it if I get any reasonable offers. It is the the same as the one in the pic EXCEPT it has the King pump.
  
  It also has medium in it, Tunze and I can't recall the other make...
  
  Willing to sell or exchange for a towbar for a 07' Hilux DC (neg)
• 

  Corals not to be kept by LFS

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 10:47am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  *WITHOUT PREJUDICE*
  
  Hi guys. Before I go further, I would like to state this is not aimed to badmouth ANY LFS, sponsor or not. This is more of a request to us, the consumer and buyers:
  
  I have been keeping an eye out for NPS Corals specifically over the last few months, these include Gorgonians, Chili Coral, Sun Coral, Cauliflower corals etc. It made me sick to see in what condition they were in LFS tanks. The problem I have with this specific type of coral, is that they do not have any symbiotic algae to help feed them, as all other corals have, thus they require "manual" feeding.
  
  Understandably, the LFS can not comply with this feeding requirements to these coral, as it would be too costly and time consuming. So, the corals are just kept, with normal feeding - if any.
  
  Without food in the water, and because light is of no concern, most of these corals only open up at night (being nocternal) thus they are closed in daytime, when the LFS runs their business hours, so no-one finds the coral attractive and no one buys them.
  
  Those who does buy them, like myself, then buy a coral that already has "7polyp tentacles in the grave" and we must try and save. Then, becuase most other reefers aren't dedicated NPS keepers, they cant save the animal.
  
  My solution to this is twofold:
  
  1) The LFS should NOT buy / import these corals, unless they have a dedicated tank to meet feeding etc. The only time they do buy them, is when they have an order from a customer, and the coral is kept for a minimal timeframe in the tanks.
  
  2) The consumer needs to (ONCE AGAIN) research coral species before buying them. You need to know that keeping a Sun Coral is not a matter of just feeding once a week. yes, the coral would live, but it would not do as well as it could.
  
  Having these corals in a "non specialist" tank, is really the same as keeping a human in a room but just giving him 20% oxygen to live from.:P
  
  
  Please feel free to add to this list of corals, that you also feel needs to be kept or purchased on an "order from supplier" manner.
  
  My list of "ordered corals" are:
  
  Sun Coral
  Non Photosynthetic Gorgonian
  Chili Coral
  Tube Anemone's
  Cualiflower Coral
  Goniopora
  
  PS: Sad thing is, I am now trying to get (save) as much NPS as I can, but when my tank is full, I will have to endure the death of these animals as they are wrongfully kept, sold, and fed.
• 

  Amazing Generosity! Thanks Marco (The Waterboy)!

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 10:40am CST by Matt

  Just wanted to post so everyone knows what a great guy Marco is! My doorbell rang this morning, and what was there? My new Nano RO unit from Marco!! I didn't buy this unit, no he gave it to me free of charge! Stuff like that does not happen much these days.
  
  I would just like to say thanks once again and I wish you the greatest success :thumbup:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  How corals feed

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 10:17am CST by FransSny

  found this interesting article I thought i would share
  
  How corals feed
• 

  My Tank

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 10:06am CST by dumbo

  My tank is made from 12 thk glass and the back panel from "smoked glass" so i don't need to paint the back.
  sizes are 1500 * 450 * 800
  
  
  
  i'm redesigning my sump, as soon as i have that i will show you.
• 

  Crazy Idea - No Sump Required!!

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 9:42am CST by vatso

  Hi All
  
  I want a lager tank & am thinking about a sump & then :slayer:
  
  My idea is as follows take my current tank & make it a "Sump"
  
  So connect both tanks & have the "Sump" as a display tank of sorts
  
  with a large DSB & put in cleaning critters that help remove stuff from the water.
  
  Who says the workers can't be on display?
  
  The sump tank in my mind would be as follows
  
  1 X Skimmer
  1 X DSB Base
  1 X Tons of Live Rock
  Shrimps
  Hermits
  
  
  What do you guys think?
• 

  (W) Larger Tank 500Lt - 750Lt

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 9:31am CST by vatso

  Hi all I am looking for a larger tank - 500Lt - 750Lt Please
  
  Would like a more square tank.
  
  Thanks
  Mark
• 

  2 more ID’s please

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 8:37am CST by Dean76

  Must apologies for the quality of the photographs in ID number 3 it looks like a worm that come out between the rock and only at night. Number 4 look like a snail with a long nose like an Elephant. Would like to know if they are safe to leave in the tank of should they be taken out? Again thanks for the help in I.D.ing the anaimals for me.
  ID no: 3
  
  ID no: 4
  
• 

  Ponder this

  Posted: January 20th, 2010, 8:04am CST by FransSny

  1. If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?
  
  2. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes?
  
  3. If a convenience store is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the door?
  
  4. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
  
  5. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
  
  6. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
  
  7. When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?
  
  8. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a racing car not called a racist?
  
  9. Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?
  
  10. Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?
  
  11. Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?
  
  12. 'I am' is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language.
  Could it be that 'I do' is the longest sentence?
  
  13. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow
  that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged,
  models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?
  
  14. What hair colour do they put on the driver' licences of bald men?
  
  15. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little
  spoons and forks so I wondered if Chinese mothers use toothpicks?
  
  16. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them?
  Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the postmen can look for them while they deliver the post?
  
  17. You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.
  
  18. No one ever says, 'It's only a game' when their team is winning.
  
  19. Ever wonder about those people who spend two pound a piece on those little bottles of Evian water?
  Try spelling Evian backwards...
  
  20. Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?
  
  22. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhoea, does that mean that 1 enjoys it?
  
  23. Why if you send something by road it is called a shipment, but when you send it by sea it is called cargo?
• 

  Sargassum Triggerfish

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 1:35am CST by Marlin Fischer

  Hi guys
  
  Would anyone be able to get hold of one of these for me?
  
  I know they difficult to find and quite expensive but i'm willing to take a gamble if the price doesn't kill me!
  
  It's a Sargassum Trigger
  
  Quite rare and quite beautiful. It's supposed to be as well behaved and reef safe as a Crosshatch Trigger
  
  Anyone have some contacts?
  
  Thanks
  
  
• 

  joined the site and i have found my mecca

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 12:49am CST by deadmeat2016

  Hi, i am a bit new to the marine aquaria, have been running my tank for 4 months now and i have made many, many and many mistakes due to my LFS. Im studing Bsc earth science and water chemistry has become fascinating for me this last year, being able to apply my knowledge to my aquarium, learning about marine bilogy and supporting the creation of life in my own tank. On another note, everyone in this site is moer nice and i thank you all. Will be adding pics soon but its a bit late and will resize and post on thurs.
• 

  My First Setup

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 10:10pm CST by johanboshoff

  Hi Guys
  
  I finally got most of the bits and bobs together and started on my first tank.
  
  Im busy rebuilding the tank and have taken it apart already. It was pretty difficult because the silicone joints were almost non existent and I battled to get any sort of thing through there. Eventually thin fishing braid turned out to work the best and this struggled to go through the joints of less than 0.25mm and some places its glas to glass. ( good thing i decided to strip it)
  
  I have one big problem now. Alot of the silicone is still sticking to the glass after i scraped it off with a carpet blade. There is still a very fine layer of silicone stuck on the glass and acetone nor spirits wanna get rid of it.
  
  Does someone maybe know how to get this last little bit of silicone of the glass, cause it will make that the new silicone wont bond nicely with the glass.
  
  I will post some pics next week of the build and how Im planning my tank.
• 

  Einstein bright idea

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 10:04pm CST by Einstein

  Hi. Well, this is my tank thread. Ill start with some specs, but if you want to know more, feel free to ask.
  
  100cm X 35cm X 45cm (LXBXH)
  4 X 39w t5's (2 actinic)
  2 Seio prop 3800l/h
  600l/h powerhead
  Fluval 205 canister (due to space restrictions no sump:whistling:)
  Erwin sander skimmer
  18kg LR
  10kg medium crushed coral/aragonite
  Jager 300w heater
  
  Livestock:
  
  1 Scopas, 4 chromis, 1 bicolour blenny, 1 lawnmower blenny, 2 Clarkii's, 1 fire goby, 1 manderan
  
  Inverts:
  
  2 blue knuckle hermits, 2 cleaner shrimp
  
  Corals:
  
  green button polyps, orange/brown zoas, yellow zoas, finger leather, green star polyps, pink star polyps, purple/green moon coral, pulsing zenia, kenya tree, christman tree, monti frag.
  
  Tank has been running for just more than a year.
  
  Used to use 2oceans water, but switched to salt about two weeks ago. Here is a pic of the finger leather so long. More pics will follow soon.
  
  Cheers
  
  
• 

  Monti going spotty

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 9:57pm CST by lIghty

  Hi All
  
  I've recently added 3 pieces of Monti, a big green one and 2 small red ones, the green one seems fine but the 2 red ones have got "white" spots about 5-10mm in diameter.
  
  Water parameter all seam fine.
  
  PO4 = >0.05
  Ca = 400-450
  Alk = 7dkh
  ph = 8.3
  temp stable @ 26.C
  
  The only think I can think of is nudi's?
• 

  What photo editing software do you use

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 9:43pm CST by Reef Maniac

  I have been spending some time doing research on the various photo editing software available (both commercial and free), and would appreciate your comments and advise on this topic.
  
  I'm currently using the software which were bundled with my camera, that being Canon's Zoom Browser, and (mainly) DPP. I also have a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 2, which was bundled with a scanner that I bought many years ago, as well as the free Picasa 3, which I use for photo filing and sorting.
  
  So far, I have been getting along pretty well with this software, doing all the post-processing in DPP, except for file cropping and resizing, and the infrequent cloning/painting out of dust marks, etc which is done in the old Elements 2. I've recently started to convince myself that I need a software upgrade, but I'm not totally convinced that paying R9 000.00 for the latest Adobe CS4 is the answer either :whistling:
  
  I have just downloaded the latest version of Gimp, the GNU freeware graphics program, and after playing around with it for the last hours or so I'm rather impressed with it. I've also downloaded a very nifty little program called BorderMaker (another freeware program), which makes resizing photos (and adding borders, if wanted) a breeze :thumbup:
  
  The biggest weakness of these freeware programs (from my limited research) is that they are not supported with many tutorials, whereas there are numerous books on the various versions of Photoshop, and I'm pretty sure that CS4 can do a hell of a lot more than Gimp (but do I need it...).
  
  So, please, let rip with your opinions and advise...
  
  Hennie
• 

  wet / dry skimming explanation pls.

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 9:12pm CST by neo

  Howdy,
  could someone pls explain wet / dry skimming to me and how to achieve it,
  thx.
• 

  Bling bling....

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 8:37pm CST by chikaboo

  
• 

  Can I run my tank at 24C?

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 8:07pm CST by Matt

  My new PICO tank is lit by bright LED lights that emit almost no heat at all. As a result even in summer I need a heater else the tank will sit at 22-23C. I have set the heater to 25C but I was wondering, can I run it at a constant 24C? That way there will be slighltly less evaporation (so I only need to refill bunny waterbottle ATO once every 5 days) ;)
• 

  T8 Lights

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 7:33pm CST by charlv

  Hi Guys
  
  I want to know if 3 x t8 Extra Day Hi Glow and 3 x t8 Coral Moons be okay for keeping Soft and LPS corals
• 

  Dorry Pets Cape Town

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 7:21pm CST by FransSny

  OK , for the non believers out there Dorry Pets CPT will be there from 1 Feb 2010. Initially Live stock will have to wait (I also need to cycle) but any hardware , additives etc can be accomodated.
  
  I would also like to thank maj for being the first official customer of DP CPT (thanx for the support), any suggestions ito what you would like to have/ see is most welcome.
  
  Looking forward to meeting all you oakes :thumbup:
• 

  Another ID please?

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 6:31pm CST by Dean76

  Please could I get and I ID of what has been circled in blue?
  Also you can see the one coral has been a bit injured, is there something I should do or should I just leave it (will it heal by itself).
  Thanks for the help with this.
  
• 

  water boy ro unit replacement filters

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 6:23pm CST by johnathan

  howzit water boy
  bought this from you about two years ago.
  i need to replace the filters,do you have them
  and how much would it cost? i'm in cape town.
  
  pic below cheers.
  
• 

  Red Elegance

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 6:08pm CST by Kunhardt

  Anyone ever seen or heard of a Red Elegance?
  
  My LFS is supposed to be getting one in tomorrow, I have been wanting to try my hand at an elegance for a while, but have never seen or heard of a red one.
• 

  Water Changes

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 5:44pm CST by GKirk

  Hi Guys
  
  How often do you need to do partial water changes and how many liters do you need to change. I have a 300L tank.
  
  If you can point me to any articles I would appreciate it.
  
  What other option are there to top up my tank if I do not have a RO unit?
• 

  How to frag

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 4:20pm CST by kukkieb

  Hi
  
  This is my dads leather coral
  
  
  
  It getting really big but I will frag it only when it is moved to his bigger tank
  
  But...
  
  Meanwhile I got permission to cut off a small piece for my nano.
  
  How do I go about it
  
  Should I dip it in seachem reefdip afterward and how long
  
  Thanks
  
  also could you please tell me the scientific name of this leather
• 

  hermit crab,foxface, copperband

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 3:38pm CST by dropzone newbee

  hey guys and gals
  please lemme know where i can get these dudes in my title ?
  im in the joburg area
  
  thanks in advance :thumbup:
• 

  MASA frag swop / sale get-togethers??

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 3:26pm CST by FDB

  Hi guys.
  When is the next frag swop or frag sale get together??
  Have you guys ever arranged such events on the site?
  I see other sites mention these events where fraggers get together and display thier frags, swop with others and have some fraggies for sale to those of us who do not frag..
  
  Me thinks it would be cool to buy some stock from fellow MASA members and chat about these things.....
• 

  Sea Clam - Info Please

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 3:20pm CST by vatso

  Hi All
  
  I would love to keep a sea clam what do I need to know?
  
  Mark
• 

  flatworms

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 2:47pm CST by Kunhardt

  It appears I have a flatworm problem in my tank :(
  
  Noticed one a little while back on my Fox Coral, but since its a similar colour to the Fox i thought it was just a pigment abnormality and thought nothing of it, but yesterday noticed a few more on it and then started checking my other corals an found the same things on my mushrooms.
  
  Leslie suggested it may be flatworms this morning when I spoke to him, so when I got home I inspected closer and they are indeed flatworms.
  
  So now, what is the solution to this problem? I have ehard fresh water dips...not something I really want to try, scared of losing the corals, also read some wrasses like the 6 line and Bipartitus eat them as well as certain Mandarins. I take it my std mandarin is not the right type else he would eat them? Although I am infact a fan of both the above mentioned wrasses I am not sure its a good idea to put one in my tank with me having a Mandarin and a CBB, the Wrasse I am sure will out compete them for food and I would hate them to starve.
  
  I have read Salifert has a product Flatworm Exit, do we get it in SA, does it work, and is it a route to actually think of using to erradicate this pest?
• 

  Non marine related photo crit thread

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 2:44pm CST by Johan van Aardt

  First i just want to say there was none photoshop done by me in any of these pics except the one i cropped.
  
  first i'll going to start with a pic that ross asked for a bigger one off.
  
  
  
  
  
  next is how ross advised i should cropp it and just look at the diffrence it gives
  
  
  
  these were the crit that ross and crispin gave me
  
  this was what ross had to say
  Quote:

  I would like to see a bigger version of this, but from this one I have a few comments. The first thing I notice is the tail is cut off. In a image like this, either have the whole creature or concentrate on less of it for more detail. I would crop this jsut below the branch on the right below the back leg and leave as much of the left hand side in the image. If that makes sense. So you would be concentrating on the neck and head area and the little guy would be very much on the right of the frame. Cropping in this way would also eliminate the branch in the right hand foreground, although it is out of focus, it is very distracting. Your focus and focal point (the eye) are very nicely done. The eye is very sharp and I like the catchlight that you can see in it. I also like images where you can see the subject is checking you out so to speak. This guy look mad at you for disturbing him but it adds character. Colours are great and the detail in the skin is nice and crisp. Basically a very nice pic, just could have been outstanding if you had shot it to get the frame I have suggested with the cropping. I hope that makes sense. If not I will try and crop the image quickly to show you what I mean. __________________

  
  this is what crispin had to say
  
  Quote:

  ok here are my thoughts on what is a very good shot :) the subject is great but you either arent in close enough, or you are too close in. Simply what i mean is that your composition is slightly out. Youve cut the tail which is pity so the focus of the shot is on the eye but we arent really in close enough for it to be a full focal point. You could look to crop it. but next time getting in closer to the subject, if he would allow you, and getting the eye in focus like u have here would have given a great image, or zooming out slightly and given the same type shot of the whole body. Your exposure looks great for this shot. but i dont think you are looking ' through and around' your subject. the blown out green backdrop is great and i would have tried to get the head and more of the chams body against that backdrop. IE if you moved yourself slightly right and maybe stood on tip toes slightly you would loose some of the distracting flowers in the back ground. i would also have tried a slightly smaller app setting and a greater 'portrait effect' on the subject, although youve done pretty well to get it to stand out fairly crisp. another thought with the angled stem like that is it might have been worth a try with a 45 degree camera angle (IF you have a tripod that can do that....hand held approx 45 never really works and can be very irratating), but having an angled camera might have given a good effect with the line of that stem and the chameleons body. i must say the shot over all is great and the 'weary' look he gives as he takes the next careful slow step is beautiful. as are the colours in this shot

• 

  Feeding Ritteri (Maroon) anemone

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 1:23pm CST by FDB

  Hi all.
  I now have one of these in my clown tank, and they love thier new home.
  I tried to feed it some hake (like i feed most my other anemonies like teh jewel for example) and it seems not to like it.
  I read that you should try shrimp and even squid.
  Will do that.
  Any tips would be appreciated (Feeding cycle times, etc)
  
  I came across this cool article from
  [www.nhm.ku.edu]
  
  CHAPTER 3
  BIOLOGY OF SEA ANEMONES
  NUTRITION
  Sea anemones that are host to clownfishes, like many tropical actinians and some temperate ones, harbour unicellular algae within the cells of their tentacles and oral disc (see Introduction). A portion of the sugars produced by these plants through photosynthesis are "leaked" to their host. This may be the anemone's major source of energy. The widely flared oral disc of many host actinians serves not only to accommodate fish, but its large surface area is well adapted for intercepting sunlight.
  However, actinians, like all coelenterates, capture and digest animal prey with their nematocysts. We have found small fish, sea urchins, and a variety of crustaceans (shrimps and crabs) in the coelenteron of host anemones. They also appear to feed on planktonic items conveyed by the currents. Although the energy they derive from photosynthesis may be sufficient to live, the anemones need sulfur, nitrogen, and other elements in order to grow and reproduce. These animals are not voracious predators: their prey probably consists of animals that bump into them (e.g. a fish fleeing a more active predator) or stumble over them (e.g. a sea urchin, which has no eyes). Therefore, the supply is probably small and irregular. A more predictable source of these nutrients may be from wastes of their symbiotic fish. This issue deserves to be studied scientifically. Anemones of some species are capable of absorbing nutrients directly from seawater through their thin tissues, and that may be another source of nutrition for these animals as well.
  SURVIVAL
  It is impossible to determine age of a sea anemone, except for one that has been raised in an aquarium or tracked continuously in the wild from first settlement. A small one is not necessarily young, for coelenterates grow only if well fed and shrink if starved. Individuals of species that harbour anemonefishes have been monitored for several years with no apparent change in size (although that is difficult to measure, due to the absence of a skeleton). However, studies on other species, in field and laboratory, have led to estimated ages on the order of many decades and even several centuries. There are scattered records of temperate anemones surviving many decades in commercial aquaria, and the life-span of a small sea anemone in New Zealand has been calculated, based on actuarial tables, to be over 300 years! From such data, it is likely that most individuals of the "gigantic" sea anemones we have encountered during our field work exceed a century in age. This is also consistent with the generalization that large animals of all kinds typically are long-lived.
  Coelenterates are protected quite well by their nematocysts, but some predators have developed means of evading their effect. Small tropical anemones may be eaten by butterflyfishes (see chapter 5), but large ones appear to have few enemies, and we do not know what might ultimately kill them.
  REPRODUCTION
  All coelenterates reproduce sexually. An individual of some species may produce both eggs and sperm; host anemones appear to have separate sexes, with an individual being either male or female its entire life. The typical coelenterate pattern is that of most marine animals, one that is fraught with dangers and uncertainty -- release of eggs and sperm into the sea, where fertilisation occurs and a larva (a tiny animal looking nothing like its parent that drifts in the sea) develops for several days or weeks before settling in an appropriate habitat. Many species spawn in response to an environmental cue such as a full moon or low tide so that eggs and sperm are in the same place at the same time. Typically, marine animals produce millions of tiny larvae, but the world is not overrun with them, proving that very few survive -- usually just enough to maintain a stable population. The rest of the larvae serve as food for a sea full of potential predators. Finally, the surviving larvae must find an appropriate habitat (how anemonefishes might do this is discussed in chapter 4).
  We do not know if host actinians follow this pattern. There is a bit of evidence that in at least some species, the eggs are not released, but are fertilised inside the mother (this is not especially rare in corals and anemones; sperm enter the mother with water that is constantly being pumped in and out, and which carries food and oxygen also), where they grow to be released as tiny sea anemones. What is certain is that we seldom see small individuals of most host actinians in nature. However, it is not unusual to find large ones with ripe eggs and sperm. Therefore, we believe that successful recruitment must be rare. Very few eggs may be fertilised, or few larvae may survive, or larval settlement may be difficult, or young anemones may have high mortality (perhaps especially when they are too small to harbour fish). The apparent rarity of successful reproduction is also biologically consistent with long life.
  In addition to sexual reproduction, some coelenterates undergo asexual reproduction. Entacmaea quadricolor is one of these. A polyp can divide longitudinally, resulting in two, somewhat smaller individuals, probably within the space of a few days. Each then grows to an appropriate size, divides, and so on. All descendants of the original anemone (the result of sexual reproduction) form a clone, a group of genetically identical individuals. In this species, each polyp is relatively small, but clonemates remain next to one another so their tentacles are confluent, and the associated anemonefish apparently regard them as a single large anemone.
  This is so mainly for shallow-water individuals; those in deeper water grow large, and do not divide (see chapter 1). Several other species of actinians also have two different reproductive modes: small animals that clone and large ones that do not. This appears true of Heteractis magnifica, too. In the center of its range (i.e. in eastern Indonesia, on the Great Barrier Reef, in New Guinea), it occurs as single, large individuals. To the east and west (i.e. in western Indonesia and Malaysia, and in Tahiti), several to very many small individuals of identical colouration are typically clustered together, appearing to be a single large (or huge!) anemone. Based on their shared colour and their proximity, we infer that they are clonemates.
  LOCOMOTION
  Once they settle from the plankton, most anemones seldom move from place to place. Although they are usually damaged when people try to collect them, actinians do have the ability to detach from the substratum, partly or entirely. Small, temperate anemones can do this in response to predators or unfavorable physical factors. Indeed, those of a few species can "swim," awkwardly launching themselves into the water briefly, a motion that often puts them beyond reach of the predator that provoked the activity. More typically, an individual glides on its pedal disc, covering a few millimeters in a day, or it may detach entirely, and roll or be carried quite a distance. That this is not terribly rare is attested by large animals suddenly appearing in well studied areas.
• 

  Estimation of Setup

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 12:35pm CST by bluefronted

  Hi Guys,
  
  I'm looking for a rough estimation on a 2000 x 600 x 500mm tank.
  
  I'm looking at a complete setup up for coral and fish tank. The estimation should exclude corals and fish but should incl all other items tank,frame,skimmers,pumps,lights. I am looking for good quality equipment but no Rolls Royce stuff.
  
  Chow !
• 

  i need fishes

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 12:14pm CST by ablord

  hello,
  which kind of fishes are good for home decoration.;)
• 

  help measuring water

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 12:02pm CST by neo

  Hi,
  I want to measure and mark the 50l level in my container for mixing salt water.
  So i started with a 1l container measuring up a 5l container wich in turn I will use to fill the 50l.
  I then wanted to check if the 1l container is actually = 1l.
  so i used 3 different 1l containers we have in the house and none of them measured the same.
  I then used the 1l tupper to fill a 2l tupper and this at least work, then decided to weigh the 2l and it was 1950g.
  So:
  does 1l water weigh 1kg or not?
  how to know which 1l container is actually = 1l?
• 

  SunSun Pumps - Magnets where can I get?

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 11:08am CST by vatso

  I bought a sunsun pump & did not think how important magnets would be.
  
  where can I get a magnet for the pump?
  
  thanks
  Mark
• 

  Some Questions

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 10:34am CST by vatso

  Hi All
  
  Been reading some interesting stuff
  
  1) Water Changes by skimming wet? how many of you do this? & what advantages would there be?
  
  2) Salt loss through skimming?
  
  3) Feeding fish at Day Break? or just before the light come on? good idea or not?
  
  Would like just to hear your idea's & thoughts
  
  Mark
• 

  Auto feeders

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 9:54am CST by Tim S

  Hi all, I'm looking to get an auto feeder for my system, but have some reservations. My fish don't like the pellets but love the flakes. The issue I see hapening is that the flakes float and will be down the overflow before anyone see it. My goldies dont eat off the surface either so the flakes need to be below the water surface. Has anyone got some comment or advice on this ?
  
  Thanks.
• 

  problem with salt mix

  Posted: January 19th, 2010, 8:35am CST by gaboon

  I mixed 100L salt water on Saturday and has been circulating since, when I got home last night to do the water change there was a white flaky film on top, the walls of the container and on the pump. What is this and is the water usable?
• 

  Mushrooms question

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 7:59am CST by Tim S

  Hi, I hade a few diffirent colour mushrooms on various rocks and all were growing and looking good. I fragged them and place the diffirent colours in fairly close proximity to each other on the same rock (a few cm's apart). They took well and now look small and lost their nice colours. Could this be because they don't like being close to diffirent species or some other reason?
  
  Can someone assist please.
• 

  A web site I run

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 7:55am CST by vatso

  A site a run for fun :)
  
  http://www.dearjesus.co.za
• 

  new member

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 7:41am CST by Einstein

  Hallo,i live in Paarl -afrikaans -and is in saltwater for one and a half years.Still learning day by day.
  
  Will tray to post some foto's of my tank later as soon as i become more familiar with all.
  
  :biggrin:
• 

  Ricordia Yuma

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 1:06am CST by Marlin Fischer

  Anyone had experience propagating these and getting them 2 thrive?
  
  I have had some reasonable success with floridas and other various strains however some of the yumas keep letting me down.
  
  Basics i do understand is requirements such as med lighting, moderate to slowish flow and occasional target feeding.
  
  Are there any secrets to growing these and anyone that has had success, can u pls specify your water parameters.
  
  shot!
• 

  Fire Goby - alone or in a group

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 11:16pm CST by kukkieb

  Hi
  
  I been thinking of keeping fire gobies again (decorated dartfish)
  
  Can I keep them in a group (if yes how big must the group be minimum)
  
  Or must the be kept singly
  
  also.. I have seen people keep them with purple firefish, is it possible to keep them together with lots of fighting
  
  Brandon
• 

  hello

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 10:06pm CST by ablord

  hello friends,
  I am new in this forum.:razz:
• 

  Wrasse

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 10:05pm CST by marinenoob

  Hi,
  
  I used to have a yellow wrasse a while back which sadly passed on, and have now gotten an african wrasse. truly beautiful fish with one flaw. they only are around from 8am till 5pm and then they pack up and go to bed. Is this normal for them, cos this means i never get to see them on sat and sun and when the lights are off.
  
  thnx
• 

  Corals

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 10:02pm CST by kukkieb

  Hi
  
  I am looking for the following frags
  
  Blue center, Green, and Brown Edge Zoanthids
  
  Pulsing Xenia
  
  Brandon
• 

  Midas and Lawnmower Blennies ??

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 9:46pm CST by kukkieb

  hey
  
  would like to know if I could keep a midas and a lawnmower blenny together. I am ugrading soon to a 1.8 meter, will they be fine in there
  
  Brandon
• 

  Can I keep this Coral

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 9:43pm CST by kukkieb

  Hi
  
  I would like to know if I can keep any Euphyllia - Torch, Hammer, or Frogspawn
  in my Boyu TL 550, it has Double 50/50 2x24W power compact lighting.
  
  Thanks
• 

  Urgent Help - Temporary Accommodation for my Corals and Fish

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 9:20pm CST by Quinton

  As per my previous thread, I had to move my livestock into temporary accommodation, but sadly I discovered the hard way today that it is less than adequate (see below for the gory details).
  
  If anyone near-ish Newlands, Cape Town can offer a stable environment for some of my corals (and perhaps a few fish), I would be much obliged - please call 082 378 2800 urgently.
  
  For the record (weep!) today I lost:
  
  1 x Acanthurus Japonicus
  1 x Flame Angel
  1 x Sailfin Tang
  1 x Nomu Trigger
  1 x Goldie
  1 x Lawnmower Blenny
  1 x Chorris (sp?) Wrasse
  1 x Fire Shrimp
  
  and a few others - too distraught to remember ;-).
  Pretty sure some of my SPS will bite the dust soon too if I don't make a plan fast.
  
  Cause of death is probably a combination of poor temperature control, inadequate flow, and general lack of oxygen in one of my three holding tanks.
  Setting up temporary accommodation proved to be more challenging than I had hoped, partly because I have:
  
  1 partially built 2,5m tank which needs to be moved so that the stand can be straightened.
  
  1 broken 2m AquaH2O tank and stand which currently houses my sump, and chiller feed, which is difficult to replumb, but also needs to be removed.
  
  1 loaned 1,5m tank which needs to be evacuated ASAP
  
  1 very small house
  
  Not a lot of spare time ;-)
  
  A sad reefer...
  
  Q
• 

  Some fish pics

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 9:18pm CST by vatso

  Naso
  
  
  Clown
  
  
  Cute little other
  
  
• 

  Laptop

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 8:24pm CST by Ross

  Sorry if I missed anything over the last week or so, especially in the Photo Forum but my Laptop bag got nicked last week. I had my life in there and am only just getting back on my feet now.
  
  Will try catch up ASAP.
  
  Ross
  
  PS: double check your laptop is covered completely by your insurance sharks.
• 

  Just for fun

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 7:55pm CST by FransSny

  Tried the reverse lens thing...here is first try
  
  
• 

  jeep Wrangler

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 7:31pm CST by FransSny

  Time to trade the missus's good 'ol Ford Ranger, been thinking of getting a Jeep Wrangler. Anybody have experience thoughts about them
• 

  What is this?

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 7:15pm CST by Dean76

  It is very small only about 3mm to 5mm big. Any idea on what it is to me it look like a tiny star. Help in identifying it would be greatly appreciated.
  
• 

  Natural Viagra

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 5:17pm CST by FransSny

  Was listing to the TV in the background & heard this weird but useless fact which I thought I should share.
  
  If bitten by a brazilian wandering spider the following could happen:
  
  Intense pain
  Erections resulting from the bite are uncomfortable, can last for many hours and can lead to impotence
  The venom is being studied for use in erectile dysfunction treatments.
• 

  Nudi Tank

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 5:10pm CST by FransSny

  Hi Sara,
  
  please have a look at my idea of keeping predatory nudi sp ( Gymnodoris sp.) your thoughts would be highly appreciated
  
  Nudi Tank - General Discussions
• 

  SA Broadband

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 4:41pm CST by FransSny

  Was sent this by a client..quite interesting
  
  The Broadband Bible
• 

  Nudi Tank

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 4:22pm CST by FransSny

  Been toying with this idea, has anyone kept a nudi only tank. I am thinking Gymnodoris sp. as it is predatory by nature as far as I know
• 

  [FS] Reef Octopus Zeo Reactor

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 4:08pm CST by Andreas

  Reef Octopus Zeo Reactor for tanks rated up to 2000l. Very nice piece of equipment;)There are scratches on the inside from flushing the zeolith stones but that is what the reactor is made for.
  
  I've also got about 1kg of zeolites included:)
  
  
• 

  [FS] 1.8m Tank for sale

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 3:53pm CST by Andreas

  Hi guys,
  
  I've decided to sell the tank and get a different one that will suit our place better;)
  
  It's a 1.8m * 610mm * 610mm euro-braced tank covered in black wood. Glass thickness 10mm with a 20mm base.
  
  The stand has been covered with about 6 coats of silver hamerite and doesn't have any rust:)
  
  The sump is about 1.2 * 450mm. All plumbing included
  
  The tank has a corner coast 2 coast overflow.I can assist with transport in the Durban area.
  
  Cheers
  Andreas
  
  
• 

  [FS] Koran Angel

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 2:59pm CST by Zuna

  Hey Guys
  Got this Guy for a few months now and what a awesome fish. Sadlly his getting too big for my tank.Make me a offer.
  ill give you a sea urchin 4 free
  
  
• 

  Leafy seadragon

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 1:52pm CST by neo

  hi,
  saw a national geographic program last night on sabc3 on 'Leafy Seadragon'.
  This is an amazing creature, only occurs on australian south coast.
  have a look at
  [www.reefwatch.asn.au]
• 

  NO site, No emails- hacked!!

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 1:22pm CST by lanzo

  Hi Guys
  
  Our server is being hacked at the moment....no emails or DP site will be active until we sorted out the problem.
  
  Sorry for the inconvenience
  
  Regards
  Lanzo
• 

  Brand new member!

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 1:15pm CST by varknek

  Ok! it is more for my 9 year old boy, but dad needs too help him.
  
  First question: Is this Forum for Tropical tank junkies too? :)
  
  Ok We have put the sand, filter, heater, plants, decoration, "thermostat" and all drops in too the tank, the water is nice and clean, we even have a light, we did all this on Saturday (16/01/2010).
  
  Ok now from here on we need advice: I know the temp/ must be 25/26deg.C.
  when can we buy the fish? What type of fish? what else do we need? Do we need more air in the water.
  
  What's the deference between Mariner and Tropical tank's? I think Mariner Salt tropical 26 deg.C water, not cold water, cold water is for goldfish??????:whistling:
  
  And if this fish tank looks good....................
  dad may have too buy him a Big Tank. :yeahdude:
  
  Advice please people,....i will appreciate all the help i can get.
  
  So by the way i stay in the "East Rand". I bought my stuff from i think it is called Exotic pets in Boksburg. Trichard Road.
• 

  Copperband wanted

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 12:43pm CST by Raven

  Howzit,
  Do any of you sponsors have a copperband in stock?
  It will be nice if you know that it def eats aptiasia, and other food....
  A tall order for a copperband, but I don't want to take a gamble again with copperbands....
• 

  check this out

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 12:21pm CST by leslie hempel

  SharkBreak&trade; Relax. Take a Shark Break!&trade; Online Aquarium
• 

  [FS] Various Mushrooms and Large GSP colony for sale

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 11:51am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi people
  
  I have decided to rather go full NPS, as these photosynthetic softies are not getting the lighting they need.:P I am thus selling all my softies, and this is what I still have available:
  
  1) Green hairy Mushroom @ R80.00 (SINGLE MUSHROOM ON ROCK)
  
  2) Pulse coral and mushroom @ R150.00 (This rock has two mushrooms, and about 4 colonies of pulsating xenia - very nice rock)
  
  3) Metallic Green Star Polyps @ R200.00 (A huge colony with nice growth and polyp extension. Nice big rock, a little bigger than a saucer)
  
  4) Metallic Red Mushrooms @ R200 (This is a beaut!!! :biggrin: It has about 10 red mushrooms, ranging from babies to the mother which is much bigger than a squashball. There are also tow other mushrooms on it, and other life like a sponge, tubeworm etc. The rock is also a nice shape.)
  
  5) Striped Mushrooms @ R150.00 (Four green striped mushrooms. The largest one is bigger than a squashball.)
  
  
  They are available immediately, and only to be picked up in person.
  
  Thank you!!! :1:
• 

  Frag Expert

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 11:33am CST by vatso

  Who is fraging? I would love to come watch how it's done
  
  the best way to learn is to watch someone else
  
  If anyone is fraging I would not mind teaching please let me know
  
  thanks
  
  Mark
• 

  Urgent Advice - plz help for my blue tang

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 11:30am CST by wringo

  why my
  Blue
  
  tang fish in Continuously on the move and Continuing Worry and Do not see it disappear behind the rocks, even sleeping and do not eat.
  
  no thing change in that body or color
  i bought it from 10 Months
  
  before that days ate a lot of lettuce
• 

  Wanted - Leather

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 10:59am CST by Tim S

  I'm looking for a leather coral with bright colour. I want to provide a "home" for my clown. Can only collect in Cape Town. Let me know.
  
  Tim
• 

  Does this have any application

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 10:29am CST by Nsteyn

  Was listening to the radio omw to work, and heard about this.
  
  What is Clinobrite?
  
  Was wondering if it would have any application in a Marine tank.
  
  Thinking probably not, but why not throw it out there...
  
  I liked the Amonia reducing property...
• 

  New Critter

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 10:11am CST by Titanse

  Morning Guys...
  
  I have a new critter that I picked up from the LFS for gratis...
  
  
  Reason being it is a Mantis Shrimp... and before you say.... WHAT!!!!????
  
  Let me explain....
  
  My mate and I have been looking at these guys for awhile with fascination. They are truly unique creatures. Also has a lot of potential if you like to keep the wierd and wonderful.
  
  At the moment he is in the sump and rather skittish... since we did find him in a tank after the LR was put in and then we proceeded to catch him and take him home.
  
  He already ate a guppie, and we are guessing it is a basher due to the knocking he made on the poly box...
  
  I have some pics but they are LOW quality due to lighting and it being a phone camera.
  
  I have given him some LR to play with and now will be looking at making him a tank of his own. :)
  
  He is about 4cm big and is bloody quick. Also he does look rather cute as he keeps rolling round on his back then in a ball.
  
  let me know your thoughts. Will try train him to eat fish bits... hopefully :)
• 

  Tiger Shark

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 9:56am CST by FransSny

  
• 

  auto topup

  Posted: January 18th, 2010, 8:08am CST by Slummies

  hey there.
  
  Could you give me a price on the top up switch.
  
  thanks
• 

  refractometer gone wonky

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 7:55am CST by gaboon

  even after calibrating it's totally wrong, only realised something was wrong when I checked it against my trusty R80 hydrometer:whistling:.
  
  What could cause this and how can I fix it?
• 

  SA 's Got Talent

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 7:41am CST by FransSny

  
• 

  Please help selecting "right" CLS pump

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 7:26am CST by RiaanP

  I got the holes, so I just as well can setup the CLS...
  
  I'm setting up a tank, 1.5,0.75,0.75
  I bought the tank, looks brand new. But it is secondhand.
  It have the CLS outlet in the back, in the bottom of the back glass and slightly off center. 50mm hole. And there are 2 return holes (32mm) in each bottom corner in the back glass.
  
  On the outlet, inside the tank I installed a T-piece, with 50mm pipes either way with 200 little 6mm holes to suck water in. That is completed.
  
  Returns, So far my idea is to have a 32mm pipe enter straight into the tank, about 400mm, with a T piece at 200mm and a 90 elbow at the end. Same both sides. So that I have 4 streams of water blowing from the sides into and up to the rocks.
  OR
  I should opt for only one exit per side with a 45 elbow and halve the pump needed.
  
  So each outlet should be at least 2000L/h to be of some use. So my minimum requirement for 4 exits are 2 pumps of 4000L/h. Or one central pump with at least 8000L/h. On 2 exits, everthing halves.
  
  But the pumps available for CLS systems are actually crap, if you compare the water delivery against the wattage used.
  
  And as my rich uncle died many moons ago, PRICE is also an issue.
  
  So what do you guys think is the best option?
  One bigger central pump, or 2 "smaller" pumps - one a side and less return plumbing and less back pressure. And if one fail, the other is still going.
  
  And which pump/s. Please keep in mind the water delivery against wattage used.
  
  And must be external. Must be able to mount it upside down (under tank) or sideways. (sideways - less return plumbing)
  
  And should be realistic in price.
• 

  How many fish??

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 12:01am CST by dean

  I was just wondering how many fish can i keep in a 150litre tank!?!? Thanks
• 

  [FS] Jebo R3100 Tank for sale

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 10:11pm CST by kukkieb

  1000(L)X450(W)X620(H)MM
  
  Capacity: 280 l
  
  Has 2 Jebo White Super lights + One blue Coral Light
  
  Two Spare White Super lights
  
  Live stock in the pic not included only the tank, stand, pump, lights, filter(on top), and spare lights included
  
  Bought the tank with a crack in the bottom, siliconed on it and havent had any problems.:thumbup:
  
  Had this tank for 17 months now and my reasons for selling is:
  
  1st - need this space for my marine upgrade
  2nd - really need the money...:(
  
  It is quite an urgent sell
  
  Thanks
• 

  My tank thus far

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 10:05pm CST by marinenoob

  Hi,
  
  Thought i'd post pics of my tank thus far. Let me know what you guys think.
  
  thanks,
  
  
  
• 

  Pet shop directory

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 8:40pm CST by Annoying

  Hey after surfing the web a little and seeing allot of people want to know where pet shops are in SA I thaught that this website is ideal. I'm not sure about what type of pet shops are these but as far as I can read most of them sell marine. Hope it helps
  Local Fish Shop Directory in South Africa
• 

  kalkwasser

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 7:35pm CST by Jinx

  Hey guys I bought myself Seachem's kalkwasser today.I bought a small 4.7l container and a very small pump to stir the solution all the time.Is this o.k?
  
  How do I go about to determine what my drip rate should be????
  My ph is at 8.4
  alk 1.7 milli equaivalents p/l
  calcium is 350 ppm
• 

  [FS] awesum fish and coral

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 6:56pm CST by Atilla

  hi everyone
  
  im selling some of my fish cause im going away for awile and going to start over when i return. (maybe)
  
  i have the following for sale:
  
  3 x yellow tangs (R550 each)
  1 x tomato tang (R50)
  1x yellow tail damsel (R30)
  1 x mated pair of maroon clowns (R300)
  1 x sohal tang (R1200)
  1 x majestic angelfish (R950)
  1 x wimplefish (R200)
  1 x regal tang (12cm) - (R400)
  sea urchins
  huge sarcophytons (20cm mushroom)
  huge sinularia (30cm)
  green acroporas
  brown hydnophoras
  ALOT of liverock!! think kenia
  2 x mangroves about 40 cm
  hundreds of mushrooms and zoas on all the live rock.
  
  
  regards,
  
  JC
• 

  [FS] Odds and ends for sale

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 6:14pm CST by martin

  
  Moon light R150
  
  Atman 11watt U/V (new buld in box R200) R350
  
  Cascade external gr8 for carbon/phos etc R200
  
  ORP Redox meter R200
  
  Collecton Pretoria
• 

  [FS] AQUA MEDIC TITAN 1500 CHILLER

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 4:03pm CST by martin

  I have a Aqua Medic Chiller for sale.
  
  Quite capable of running and maintaining the temp on a large tank.
  [www.aqua-medic.de]
  
  New price R9300+.
  R5000 collection only - please guys/gals no dibs etc you want it -pay for it and it's yours.
  Cheers
  Martin
• 

  how to get rid of aptaisia effective and cheap

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 1:07pm CST by omer

  hi i know that much has been said on ways to get rid of apastia but i would like to share my experience .
  the best and cheapest way that i found after a long research oln the web and the books is with vinegar.
  
  its very easy all you need is an insulin syringe with needle and vinegar.
  
  i identify exactly where the apastia is and then i inject into the root 0.5ml of vinegar.
  that's all,
  i never had that apastia coming back.
  i will try to post photos since i never photoed the process but it works magic.
  i hope you will find it helpful.
• 

  12cm 220V fan wanted

  Posted: January 17th, 2010, 12:51pm CST by martinhal

  Hi my chillers fan packed up. It is a 12cm 220V fan . Does anyone know where one can a replacement ?
• 

  Anyone know what this is?

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 3:08am CST by LifeAquatic

  Found this a few weeks ago; it was small then and seems to be growing. Looks like frogspawn coral (I have a green one in the tank) ... but it's red. ??? It's growing on a long-dead coral skeleton that I bought when I set up the tank more than 3 years ago.
  
  
• 

  How to sterilize sea water

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 11:39pm CST by LuckyFish

  That´s a quick and easy thread, but I want to keep this separate, so it will be easy to find if needed.
  
  If we don´t use artificial salt and RO water to make a sterile sea water, we have to sterilize the sea water we want to use for our phytoplankton and rotifer cultures.
  
  Why? I think that should be clear. With growing algae in unsterilised sea water, we grow also some species of zooplankton. The chance to get green water is next to zero. Even for the rotifer culture, we have to sterilize the water, because any other zooplankton is unwanted in the rotifer culture, except brine shrimp (see note below). Rotifer cultures have to be rotifers only, because any other zooplankton will go into competition with food and habitat. Rotifer will grow with other zooplankton, but in low density. We want high density.
  
  To sterilize 1 litre seawater, use 1 ml regular, unflavoured bleach.
  
  Example: Add 20ml bleach into 20 litre seawater. Stir it, let it stand for a few(3 to 4) hours, stir it again, let it stand for another few (3 or 4) hours.
  
  Now the water is sterile, but we have to get the bleach out. Strong aeration for a long time will work, but it takes time and we feel not so safe with it.
  Better is the use of sodiumthiosulphate. It is used as a dechlorinator.
  
  
  
  
  These diamonds are the breeders best friends! :slayer:
  
  
  How to make a stock solution?
  
  250 g sodiumthiosulphate diluted in 1 litre water
  
  or
  
  25 g sodiumthiosulphate diluted in 100 ml water.
  
  To neutralize 4 ml of bleach, we need 1 ml of the stock solution.
  With 100 ml stock solution we can neutralize 400 litre sea water!
  
  Example: We used 20 ml bleach to sterilize 20 litre sea water.
  To neutralize 20 ml bleach, we need to add 5 ml stock solution of sodiumthiosulphate.
  4ml bleach, use 1ml stock solution
  20ml bleach, use 5ml stock solution
  
  After adding the right amount stock solution, put a airline in the water to aerate the water. Let it bubble for another few hours. If you can´t smell the bleach any more, the water is ready to use.
  
  
  Note: Why did I write, any other zooplankton is unwanted in the rotifer culture, except brine shrimp.
  
  In every single rotifer culture you should keep also a few (5 to 10) brine shrimps, depending on the volume of your rotifer culture.
  
  Why?
  
  The brine shrimp will grow out in your rotifer culture. That will take roughly 2 weeks.
  
  So you can see your bigger brine shrimps easily in your rotifer culture. If your brine shrimp disappears, you have to make a big water change.
  Your rotifer culture is going to crash! Brine shrimp means, rotifers gone in the next few days. If you rotifer culture crashed, no need to panic.
  Make sure to have always 5 litre phytoplankton for the worse case.
  If your rotifer culture crashed, stop the aeration, let the water settle and syphon out the sediment. Put the sediment in your 5 litre emergency phytoplankton bottle.
  Wait a few days until water turns clear. Now you got enough rotifer to start a new culture.
  Rotifer knows before you, when the culture is going to crash. They will produce cysts instead of babies. Nature is good, hey? You will have plenty of cysts in the sediment of a crashed rotifer culture.
  
  More about rotifer in a new thread.
  
• 

  A few tank pics

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 10:24pm CST by Tovanco

  
• 

  Looking for yellow clown goby or green clown goby

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 5:50pm CST by Matt

  I'm looking for a yellow clown goby or a green clown goby. In JHB region. Anyone know of any LFS's that have stock of one of these little guys??
  
  Many thanks!
  Matt
• 

  URGENT: Cape Town: Need 1.2-1.6m tank: borrow, steal or buy

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 2:32pm CST by Quinton

  I have to vacate the tank that NAAC so kindly lent me when mine burst a while back. Unfortunately my new tank is not yet up and running.
  
  Does anyone have a spare tank knocking around that I could borrow for a few months?
  My livestock is currently crammed into a 1.4m, so ideally something like 1.6m, but any offers kindly entertained.
  
  Please call me urgently on 082 378 2800 if you can help.
  
  Q
• 

  fo verses reef tank

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 1:54pm CST by naughtydragons

  I have a tank at work that I have permission to revamp. Will I require as many "attatchments" with a fish only tank? Do I need a sump and dsb, skimmer and such? It has a canister filter (with just sintered glass) and 3kg live rock. Do I NEED a pskimmer and dsb? I just want to put in fish, no corals, and a crab or two and a shrimp. It has been running for 4 years with 2 monos, two blue yellow tail damsels and two perculas. I know it needs more LR and have it on order and will start to cure it asap.
• 

  Maxijet wave pump

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 12:15pm CST by shane

  aHi Guys,
  Check out this web site: Sure Grip Magnetic Power Head Holders Aquarium Algae Cleaning Magnets - Algae Free, LLC
  The guys have come up with an attachment for a maxijet pump to convert it into a prop flow pump.
  Brilliant.
  Cheers
• 

  Thermo Moulding Perspex

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 10:20am CST by shane

  Hi Guys,
  Does anyone know of companies that are able to thermo mould perspex sheet into tubes or cones to enable us to diy a cone skimmer.
  After looking at a web site this morning with the ATB cone skimmer, it got me thinking it would make an interesting DIY project.
  Cheers
• 

  Need help in setting up tank

  Posted: January 16th, 2010, 8:39am CST by Orchard

  Hi There guys. My name ia Jacques. I am an new menber to the forum and to the marine aquariums. I have a 2m tank that i want to set up , but i have no knowledge of equipment or sistems that i would need to set up my tank. Please if anyone can help me in deciding what to get i would be very gratefull. I stay in Durbanville Cape Town so if there is anyone that wants to sell equipment that i can use please let me know . Look forward to hearing from you.
  Cheers
• 

  Acclimatising Fish Video

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 5:42am CST by FransSny

  Found this coll little vid while surfing the net this morning. Thought it might help new guys out there.
  
  http://www.liveaquaria.com/media/pla...cfm?videoid=28
• 

  Practical growing of pyhtoplankton

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 1:15am CST by LuckyFish

  Phytoplankton or algae culture.
  
  We need algae cultures for our fry. The fry won´t see the rotifer in the raising tank easily without algae. The fry can estimate the strike distance of the prey (rotifer) better in phytoplankton.
  Phytoplankton takes nutrients and waste products out of the raising tank.
  It produces oxygen, which becomes lacking, if no phytoplankton is added.
  Many larvae and many rotifer are swimming in a not circulated system. Every larvae and every rotifer is using the oxygen and produces carbon dioxide.
  Phytoplankton provides a constant food source for the larvae´s prey. So we keep the nutrition value of the rotifer steady.
  The most used algae is nannochloropsis (nanno).
  Why?
  Easy to grow, easy (more or less) available.
  The nutrition value or better the fatty acid profile of nannochloropsis is really not ideal for fish larvae, but it works.
  A mix of Isochrysis and Tetraselmis would be perfect, but both are not that easy to grow.
  Many people are growing nanno in bottles. I don´t understand why. What can we do with that little amount of nanno?
  
  I found this very practical. 20 litre, 60 bucks and it has got a tap.
  
  
  
  I use skywhite (Osram) for light and mounted a mirror behind the tube. Photoperiod is 24/7. The fastest way to grow algae.
  
  
  The biggest problem is contamination. That´s why this cannister is so useful.
  Two holes in the lid, one for the airline and one to release the air we put in via airpump.
  
  
  I put a few times the same dirty towel over the cannisters to make the room more dark. Two of my three algae cultures got eaten up by rotifer in no time. That always happens if you need algae the most. A rotifer egg must have fallen out of the towel, through the small hole into the cannister. But even via the air, that we pump into the cannister, many unwanted things can get in there. Ciliates, is a tiny zooplankton and comes through the air to eat your algae culture. Rotifer eggs as well.
  That is the only way to go.
  
  
  A 60ml syringe used as airfilter. The inlet and outlet is protected inside the syringe with a piece of foam. In between these two pieces of foam, I put activated charcoal. The cheapest charcoal I could find, because it has to keep the air dry. Nothing else.
  
  That airpumps are really good. Two outlets, each of them connect to a syringe air filter and each feeds one cannister with air.
  
  
  I use them same cannisters for rotifer. I will write more about it in new thread.
  To feed 20 litre rotifer, you need 40 litre algae. Rotifer eats algae faster, than the algae can grow. I always use one algae culture until it´s finished. The rest algae, which you can´t get through the tap, I use as a start culture.
  
  I have to write more about sterilization of sea water and the things I use at a later stage.
  Also about how to feed the algae culture, etc.:wave2:
• 

  excellent comparitive article for skimmers

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 1:03am CST by Achilles

  Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance
  
  good article with good testing for various models of skimmers
• 

  Why I do share my experiences of breeding marine ornamentals?

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 12:28am CST by LuckyFish

  Now after all, I had to go through, I am sure, I will teach the hobbyist. Maybe a few part time breeders. But nobody will ever do it on a commercial base.
  Why? To much money to spend, to little money to earn, to much time to spend, to little time with your partner. Trouble is coming all the way, diseases, etc.
  It is not worth to do this full time.
  I want to encourage the people to breed, because it is a nice experience to see the first fry, to see them going through the metamorphosis, to see them cuddling at night, etc. Be aware, it is not only joy and pride you are going to feel.
  
  You have to deal with this as well.
  
  
  I was planning to do breeding as a job for a living. I would give it up, because of the mentioned above. But I was very lucky, the LuckyFish, to get the worlds first marine albino strain in the worlds most popular marine ornamental fish. NEMO
  My albinos are going to be exported and I will get good prices overseas. That puts me, or better forced me into the position to give up plumbing after 25 years.
  To breed marine ornamentals commercially, you have to apply at the Marine and Coastal Managment for an Agriculture Permit. Permit Fee, almost 9000 Rand.
  My next set up, for around 20 broodstock pairs and for around 30.000 juveniles in the grow out, will cost me roughly 150.000 Rand. I have to build the building on my property, which will cost also quite a lot.
  Now I am in the position to breed normal clowns for the local market.
  Why? I will earn much more with my albinos. Yes, but my monopoly for the albinos will expire after two years and my released albinos will reproduce themselves.
  I have to plan ahead. I am planning to have a 150 square metre hatchery and a 20 square metre R+D centre. Research and development. It is already planned, that a friend of mine, will join me in a few years time. He is a marine biologist and was in charge of the hatchery at Rhodes. I am looking very forward to this, because the two of us, can make a real impact. I think, we will be unbeatable.
  We are targeting to breed dwarf angels and many other interesting species.
  
  Right now, I am sorting out my permits, growing my albinos and hoping to sell them in April/May. That will give me the cash flow I need to build the new hatchery.
  
  Even if somebody want to breed commercially, it is already to late. Because of my foreigner status, I have to employ 5 south africans. So I have to have a big and good running hatchery. I guess, the SA market is to small, for more then one breeder.
  
  To all the people, who want to breed clowns, etc.
  Shops will pay peanuts for your offspring. The retail prices for clowns are already peanuts compare to Europe and America.
  But I want to encourage every reefer, to breed banggai cardinals. The demand is much higher, than we are able to breed. I bred them in 1997, a few hundred.
  I also bred them here, but I only had problems. I will give it a try as soon as I got more space. Right now I am running out of space.
  
  Looking forward to help you guys, but be gentle with me, time is very limited.
  With around +1000 fish, I spend around 4 to 5 hours every day in my breeding room.
• 

  Decapsulating of brine shrimp eggs

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 11:40pm CST by LuckyFish

  Decapsulating of brine shrimp eggs is easy to write, but difficult to do. I try to make it as easy to understand as possible. Feel free to ask, if something is not clear enough to understand.
  Why decapsulating eggs?
  
  Many people say, the fry will eat egg shells or unhatched eggs and they can´t digest the hard shells and eggs. That is actually right, but in my experience, fry only eat the shells or eggs by mistake. So if you feed newly hatched brines, which includes also a few shells and eggs, you might loose a few. I really fed on purpose newly hatched brines with plenty of eggs and shells, to see what will happen. The only problem I had was, the mess on the water surface and at the bottom of the tank. Syphoning the raising tank is a daily needed maintenance. Better twice a day.
  
  The big benefit for decapsulating the eggs is, the eggs gets desinfected and the eggs are hatching much quicker. Usually, depending on the water temperature, brine shrimp eggs hatching within 24 to 36 hours. Decapsuled eggs hatch between 10 and 24 hours, depending on the water temperature. So if you run out of brines, the fastest way to get new brines, is to decapsule the eggs. The majority of the larvae will survive without food for 12 to 24 hours.
  I really can´t say, like others do, decapsuled eggs got a better hatch rate.
  
  To decapsule eggs, we use unflavoured bleach.
  
  
  The eggs have to be hydrated in sea water (from your DT) for one to two hours.
  
  
  Strain the eggs. To make a strainer, I use a 1kg margarine pot, cut a hole in the bottom and glue a 100 micron mesh in it. I use a second pot, where I put the strainer in.
  
  
  Make sure after you put the strainer into the other pot, the eggs will be submerged.
  
  
  Now add 60 ml or more bleach and shake it gently. The more bleach, the faster the decapsulating process. I recommend, for the first time use 60 ml to see, how the eggs are changing the colour. It will take about 5 to 10 minutes to decapsule them.
  You will find records on the internet, the eggs have to be bright orange. I can´t second that at all. I did it many times now and I rather have a few thin egg shells, instead of a very poor hatch rate, because the majority of the eggs were destroyed from the bleach. I assume, it has to do with the different thickness of the eggs shells.
  The eggs vary in size and the naupli vary in size, too. I had many naupli, they went through a 200 micron strainer. So it also depends, where the eggs are coming from.
  As I mentioned before, shake gently above the sink.
  
  Now watch the eggs. They change colour to light grey. Be careful, if you don´t shake slightly, the top will stay grey, but the eggs underneath will be destroyed.
  
  
  After grey, the orange will be more and more visible. You have to look between the grey. Don´t expect everything will be orange. If it is, it is to late. Eggs tend to get stuck along the edge in the hatching bottle, but if they were to long in bleach, almost all of them get stuck along the edge and the hatch rate is very low. They stick together like glue. The eggs should have still their thin membrane around it after decapsulating them. Just like the thin membrane in the chicken eggs.
  This picture is a close up. Take note of the orange eggs in between the grey. You will get a feeling how to it, after you did it a few times. Nobody can tell you exactly how to do it, to get the perfect result. You have to try it.
  
  
  Now you have to rinse very well, until no bleach smell is noticed.
  
  
  Put the decapsulated eggs with a bit of water into a jar and keep it in the fridge.
  Use only what you need for the day and let them hatch.
  Or...
  That´s what I do, use the amount of eggs you need to feed for 3 or 4 days.
  Put them in a bottle under strong aeration and check if the majority hatched after 15 hours. If not, give it another 2 hours and check again.
  After the majority is hatched, strain them, put them into new sea water from your DT and feed the amount you need.
  The rest, fill into a glass jar and put the newly hatched brines in the fridge. Their metabolism will slow down and they won´t grow. I think, they loose around 5 percent nutrition value per day, while kept in the fridge.
  Everytime you open the fridge for :peroni:, shake the jar to get some oxygen back into the water. Once or twice a day, open the jar to get some fresh air in. I kept them for a week in the fridge, without any aeration, just to see, how long they will survive.
  
  Brine shrimp naupli has to go through 15 molts. These larvae stages are called INSTAR. Instar 1 is the first after hatch. Very rich in protein and very small. Things change within 6 hours after hatch. They reach instar 2, loose a lot of energy, grow a lot and the body is getting harder. But on the other hand, only from instar 2 onwards, the naupli is able to eat. So enriching the brine shrimp works only from instar 2. At the latest, 10 days after the fry hatched, the fry has to get enriched naupli instar 2 as food. Otherwise, the lack in fatty acids, vitamins, etc. will cause deformities (stubby fish), misbarring and they can die very quick of SFS.
  SFS is the sudden fright syndrome. If the larvaes food is lacking in fatty acids, they will die as soon as the get a fright. That means, adding food, syphoning the tank, changing water, etc. will kill them.
  
  SFS is very popular for young banggai cardinals!
  
  If I forgot something, I will add it later or ask me.
• 

  How to catch newly hatched fish larvae

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 10:07pm CST by LuckyFish

  If you want to catch your newly hatched babies, there are many ways to do it.
  When you know, when your larvae will hatch, you have to switch off all pumps.
  All lights have to be off. Larvae usually hatch within the first two hours after darkness. Any disturbance will stop the hatching and the remaining larvae will hatch in the following night.
  Many people recommend to put a spotlight onto the bracing after hatching and the larvae will be attracted to the light. They can be scooped out easily.
  I tried it many times, because I thought, so many people can´t be mistaken.
  They are mistaken. Yes, the larvae will swim into the light. Maybe a few. They are all over the show. If they hatch in your display tank, the light should be close to the front screen. The larvae will be around the light and stay in the water column, instead of hiding into the reef. They will not swim to the surface, close to each other and waiting to be caught. Fish larvae are fast swimmers, so scooping them out is almost impossible.
  The best thing to do is to take a fine net. Move the net slowly and gentle through the water column until all the larvae are in the net. Don´t take the net out of the water. Move the net slowly to the surface and scoop the larvae out of the net. Transfer them into a bowl or something. Make sure they are always in water, when they get transferred.
  
  If possible, to set up a larvae snagger above the eggs, that´s the best way to do.
  Depending on where the eggs are laid, you have to build the snagger in a way, that you can mount the snagger as close as possible above the eggs. Protect the snagger against movement and make sure, there are no sharp edges.
  The parents will try to move the snagger away from the eggs and the can hurt themselves very badly. After a few times, they will get use to the snagger and except the presence of the snagger without any aggressions.
  To get an idea, how easy it can be to build a snagger, here are a few pictures of mine. For sure, my one is big and I catch close to 100 percent of the larvae.
  But I keep my broodstock in plain tanks without any decoration.
  All you need is your imagination, when you buy the main parts at places like plastics for africa. You will need a small pump, a few fittings and a plankton mesh, around 200 micron mesh size. Oh, a small light would be not so bad. I really don´t need the light, because they get caught in any way. If you set up a small and not a very bright light, the larvae will see the "moonshine" and will swim directly into the up streaming current of the snagger. And you got at least the chance to peep into the snagger, if they are already hatched or not. The first time is very exciting to see them coming up.
  
  That´s, my snagger.
  
  
  This is the snagger from the bottom
  
  
  I can adjust the height of the pump with a cable tie to make sure, the small bucket with the pump is fully submerged.
  
  
  Here you can see the small bucket, with the plankton mesh. After the larvae is caught in the snagger, I put in the standpipe.
  
  
  When I take the snagger out of the water, I put it into a big bucket, because the rubber seal around the standpipe seals not very perfect.
  
  
  
  The tricky part is to get the larvae out of the snagger. The first lot can be scooped out, but the majority will stay at the bottom. I pour them out of the snagger into the raising tank. The last lot has to be flushed out with pouring same water into the snagger, while pouring the larvae into the raising tank.
• 

  collecting spots

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 9:37pm CST by toppdogg

  Hey to all east london guys
  i am coming to E.L soon for a day or 2 just wanted to know if there are any cool collecting spots in or around E.L but not as far as T.K
• 

  Hermit Crab & My Colt Coral

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 8:37pm CST by vatso

  Why would my hermit crab climb over my colt coral?
  
  It seems to be "Cleaning" it??
  
  
  Thanks
  
  Mark
• 

  new growth

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 8:00pm CST by omer

  there is a new growth in lavender color, i suspect it is a sponge but i never seen this kind of color. does sombody has an idea?
  
  
• 

  incredible underwater photography site

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 6:30pm CST by crispin

  here is a really beautiful site of underwater photography. Fun simply to see the images, this guy is really good:)
  
  [www.ryanphotographic.com]
• 

  Iodine

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 5:31pm CST by clown

  :thumbup:HI,
  
  IM looking for any one that have extra iodine left or want to sell theres or if any one knows where you can by iodine in a big volume.
  
  
  Clown - Cape Town area :wave2:
• 

  Urgent Advice - found something

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 5:07pm CST by Daniella

  hay everyone
  
  i am in need of some urgent help. my fish had white spot so i got them medicine. today i found a tint, round, sort of transparent creature. it has a small tail fin and little legs. it has markings on its back. i had also noticed that one of my fish had been hurt on just the surface. can anyone plz help me tell me what this is and what i can do. so far i have taken the thing out
  
  thanks
• 

  Zoa's, Paly's and soft corals

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 4:36pm CST by dallasg

  Hi All,
  
  i got tons of $$$ from dec and would like to stock my 5ft with Zoa's, Paly's and soft coral frags!
  
  let me know what u got
• 

  Ant Hills

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 3:44pm CST by Nsteyn

  I have no better way to explain this than to say I see little ant hills with tentacles in my DSB - +- 6 Anthills.
  
  Any Idea what these are - I presume they are good, since I noticed most life in the DSB is good.
  
  I have also notices what looks like a little red worm (bristle worm?)
  
  Tnx!
  
  Niel
• 

  I dont get it.... Yet....

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 3:02pm CST by Garethmur

  Hi All,
  
  really sorry if this is a stupid Q...
  I got as stated in the new members forum, a Jebo thingy...
  I thought that it was supposed to suck air in with the water pump....
  
  I connected the water pump to B and let D flow to my DSB chamber... I assume that C is to set the thing...
  It came with a pipe i assume goes on A, and from the pictures i have seen of other skimmers its kept up high("to suck in air right") mine is blowing water out ?What did I do wrong oaks? :cursing:
  
  NO BUBBLES .... JUST WATER....:(
  
  
• 

  Sea Cucumber Advice?

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 2:21pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi Guys
  
  I am getting this baby from my dad tomorrow. Have done all my research I can but is there anything else I might wanna know about introduction etc?
  
  I would appreciate it if you dont tell me they are nuke bombs in powerheads, as I know this and I have no powerheads (CLS;)) so I need positive advice please...
  
  Anyone that can ID this sea cucumber?
  
  Thanks
  
  Here's a pic, I will post better pics on Monday
  
  
• 

  Sfiligoi Xenus Wavemaker

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 2:14pm CST by butcherman

  Hey guys. I was surfing the net and came across this. Wondered what your opinions on it was.
  
  its seems like a cool little wave maker.
  Sfiligoi | Xenus Wavemaker Review | glassbox-design.com
  
  regards
  
  Steven
• 

  FO tank with butterflies?

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 1:34pm CST by Singularity

  Hi, i am looking to put a fish only tank with live rock together, approx 350L tank and 200L sump. Now, wanna try some of the "easy to keep" butterflies like:
  
  Bannerfish
  
  
  Raccoon
  
  
  Auriga
  
  
  Yello Longnose
  
  
  And then maybe a dwarf angel.
  either a bicolor
  
  
  or a flame angel
  
  
  and cinamon clown
  
  So do any of you guys have a problem with the fish list etc ? :)
• 

  training fish

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 1:05pm CST by omer

  i know its not salt water fish but maby we can try also with salt water fish?
  
  watch the link:
  http://www.dekhona.com/nature-wild-l...eos/ehhdfrpsoo
  
  enjoy
• 

  white spot

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 12:46pm CST by inflames

  Hi Guys,
  
  Compliments of the season!
  
  I have a question about white spot... Is it carried only by fish? Or also coral, live rock, Inverts, snails?!? Have a friend that wants to get rid of some stock... hermits and snails...trying to save a few of his fish.
  
  Questions is, will the hermit and snails infect my tank if added?
  
  Thanks in advance!!
• 

  [FS] tank for sale 1.8m x 600wide x 650 high

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 12:40pm CST by preshan

  Hi I’m selling my tank 1.8m x 600mm wide 650mm high
  
  10mm glass full euro bracing
  with internal over flow
  4ft sump with 3 partitions
  galvanised stand
  ply wood cabinet and hood
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  unusual fish

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 12:23pm CST by omer

  i came across this photos and to be honest its almost unreal.
  
  
  
• 

  [FS] Hailea Aqua Medic Chiller HL 1200CB

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 11:49am CST by preshan

  Hi guys im selling this chiller its currently running very well on my system
  Hailea Aqua Medic HL-1200CB
  1 1/4 Hp its rated for a 1500 Liter system
  Its very energy efficient i have tested the current draw of this unit when running and it uses just 2amps
  
  Reason I’m letting this go cos im adding 3 frags tanks to my system which will push the volume up by +- 800L
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  How Cool is this tank!!!

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 11:47am CST by shauno

  Hey Guys
  
  Found this on the Net...
  
  How sweet is this tank....Looks like it belongs in the future???
  
  :thumbup:
• 

  Suggestions on Width and Heights

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 11:31am CST by bluefronted

  Hi Guys,
  
  I plan to build a 1.8 to 2m long tank. Any suggestions on some dimensions for h and w.
  I plan to keep a mix of fish and coral. With regards to the fish , nothing large just the Tangs, Clowns,etc and if I can through in a star fish why not.
  
  Do you know of any tank builders in JHB/PTA areas.
  
  Thanks
• 

  fixing corals to existing rockwork

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 11:14am CST by sweetnsour

  Hi everyone
  
  Ive been using pretleys std and quick set to fix my sps coral to existing rockwork but i find it to not either hold or really look crap.
  
  id like some other suggestion on how to (glue) them to existing rockwork that cannot be taken out of the tank?
  
  any and all advise is greatlyy aprreciated.
• 

  Another backup question

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 11:03am CST by mariusmeyer

  Would it be sufficient if I ran 1 airstone in the main tank with a powerhead to circulate the water and another airstone and powerhead above the DSB? Could the system run for say 12 hours with just the flow pumps and airstones? I would only run this for when I am on holiday. For normal powercuts I will run my return pump off it.
• 

  [FS] BOYU TL 450 for sale

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 10:02am CST by shauno

  Hi Guys
  
  Selling my TL450- just taking up space
  
  okay it has a stand
  
  WG308 skimmer included
  
  Uv filter included
  
  Heater NOT included
  
  1 x moonlight needs attention...
  
  Otherwise the tank is perfect
  
  Tank is Empty and Ready for Collection
  
  
  
  [www.marineaquariumsa.com]
• 

  Surprised kitty

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 9:55am CST by viper357

  This is too funny :lol:
  
  [www.youtube.com]
• 

  full system for sale: vereeniging

  Posted: January 15th, 2010, 9:24am CST by frankie fish

  Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

  full system for sale

  Location:

  vereeniging

  Shipping or Collection only:

  collection

  Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

  I'm selling my tank, it's a 1.8*700*700,with sump 1.5*500*400,with filter material,skimmer(small),heaters,dsb(still maturing),lights( 4*54w T5),Live rock(about 40-50kg),fish( regal tang,2*clowns,2*pajama cardinals,coral beauty,bicolour angel),a boxing shrimp,some corals(zoa's,mushrooms,star polyps). I will post pics when i get there again. Any offers?

  Notes:

  -

• 

  What lens for my 450D?

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 9:59pm CST by danimal

  Hey guys
  
  I recently acquired a Canon 450D and I cant put it down! It came with the kit lens and I am looking at getting some more lenses - well just one for now, will expand my quiver as cash flow (and management!) deem suitable.
  
  I've been looking all over the net at the different options but it just leaves me confused as ever. The two aspects of photography that interest me are macro (specifically marine stuf... lol :P) and landscape. What experience with what lenses do you guys have? What is recommended for a beginner like me?
  
  Cheers
• 

  LM Radio - Its back!

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 9:48pm CST by lIghty

  Hi
  
  For all those "matured" :011: folk out there that grew up listining to LM Radio, ITS BACK!
  
  With Peter De Nobrega and Reg De Beer, who where with the LM Radio in 1975
  
  
  It can be listened over your normal DSTV decoder with a quick additional setting.
  
  Talk about "OLD SCHOOL", but must say, they play some good classics!
• 

  chaetomorpha Needed in Vaal

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 9:24pm CST by Nsteyn

  Anyone in the Vaal area have some piece of macro algae that you do not need?
  If you do Please, Ill take it off your hands.
  
  On that - What Lighting does these guys require?
  
  
  Tnx!
  
  Niel
• 

  Att: Martin

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 5:21pm CST by vatso

  Hey Martin
  
  Have a look at the corals you sold me they really starting to look good
  
  
• 

  Any PHP experts out there ?

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 5:13pm CST by Warr7207

  I am having a problem with one of my websites, and I have no PHP knowledge. The site runs oscommerce, and since a recent PHP5.0 update a small glitch has developed.
  
  Anyone willing to help ?
• 

  BlackBerry Bold 9000

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 5:11pm CST by Warr7207

  Need to get a new phone.
  
  Anyone have experience of the BlackBerry Bold 9000
  
  
• 

  newbee

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 3:36pm CST by AA123

  Hi all, am relatively new to this. Found the forum very interesting and detailed. Don't really have a tank as such, but a outdoor koi pond. Still will pop now and then check out the fascinating fish some members have in their tanks.
  
  Ally
• 

  Scaping and placement of corals

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 3:29pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  A lot aquariums I have seen, and even the one I had previously seemed to have looked unnatural to me. I could never really find the answer why, and then one day it dawned on me.
  
  1) We are not looking at the bigger picture
  and
  2) Our coral placement are right, but SO wrong.
  
  I hope this thread might put some light on what to look at when planning scaping, and how to place your corals.
  
  1) Not looking at the bigger picture
  
  When we plan our scaping, we often think inside the box, and not out of it. THis leads to us trying to build bonsai reefs, which really does not look natural. What I suggest you do, is think of the bigger picture, and imagine that your tank, is like a screen shot of a huge reef, then scape accordingly. Imagine that there is a reef beyond your tank, an ultimately look at the bigger picture.
  
  Here is what I mean:
  
  
  
  The area inside the blue frame, will represent your tank. So basically do your scaping around this. This gives it a more natural look. Yes, this picture lacks a substrate etc. but this will all follow. This is just to get an idea.
  
  If you think about drop offs, caves, arches etc. looking at the bigger picture is what is going to make or break your scaping.
  
  If you are, for example, planning the "island" look, you need to remember that in the ocean, you are basically building a part where a piece of rock fell off a cliff, onto the sand. Do not think that you are building a huge reef, as this is the out of scale, like adding those plastic shipwrecks. :P
  
  Once you have mastered this "big picture" you can start thinking about where you will place corals, what fish will look nice on this reef "frame" of yours etc.
  
  2) Our coral placement are right, but SO wrong.
  
  Long before finding a spot to put that nice Acropora on your reef, you must have already done lots and lots of research of what the needs are of this coral. This is often a huge mistake we make, as we neglect to do our homework. The very first thing we must remember when we think about placement, is what does the coral want, and where does one find this coral in the ocean. Again, to have it look natural, one must know where to find it in the ocean.
  
  An example of this, is you will not find, unless it broke off, a sun coral on the bare sand on a reef. They are found in caves and drop-offs etc. so find a spot for it in your tank.
  
  This last point shows the importance of knowing what you want to keep even long before you started scaping, as you need to cater for the needs of the coral.
  
  Now that you have found a nice spot for it, you start adding those corals. After a year, you look back and think to yourself, it looks nice, but still unnatural. Why?
  
  The answer is simple; we think too lateral.
  
  Because of the price of coral, and the fact that we want to see everything, we tend to place them in a military parade style, just like the placement in the LFS. Nothing is placed in front of or behind soemthing else. Corals doesn't touch, or lean over others. Everything is made like a stickman drawing. This is where we miss the point.
  
  Truth is, the reef is quite untidy, where it really is survival of the fittest. Everything growing wildly, and using the space it has to flourish. I am not saying keep a firecoral next to a soft coral, as there is the little matter of sweeper tentacles, chemical warfare and stinging, but with a little care, zoa's can be place nice and comfy under a torch coral colony. Let mushrooms grow inbetween cracks and crevises, let star polyps grow onto other adjacent rocks, and under kenya trees, acropora etc.
  
  Another thing we do "wrong" when placing, is to put everything facing to the front, and mostly at an 45deg angle. I can understand this, as we want to view most of our expensive new addition, but reality is, this does not always look natural if everything sits at a 45deg angle.
  
  Dont be afraid put larger corals at the front of the tank, like acro's, and then have a zoa colony behind it. This will make viewing the zoa's a bit more difficult yes, but this gives a great "depth" feel to the tank, and gives you an alomst mystical fairy type of feel, as there are some "hidden" things that the viewer must look for. Sounds weird, but try it, and see what great results you get from it.
  
  I really hope this might help some of the nuubs who struggles to find placement and scaping a challenge. And just remember, that even maybe with our best attempts, we might still never get it right, but we can sure try...
  
  Enjoy
• 

  Rimless 24mm starfire tank 4 sale (2m L x 1m W x 700mm H): Waverley, Johannesburg

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 2:55pm CST by Punk

  Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

  Rimless 24mm starfire tank 4 sale (2m L x 1m W x 700mm H)

  Location:

  Waverley, Johannesburg

  Shipping or Collection only:

  Collection only

  Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

  hey guys!
  
  i'm looking at renting out my flat and buying a bigger place, but my tank is too big to be moved
  
  would anybody be interested in buying only the tank, stand and sump?
  
  i want to setup a small cube at my new place so i'll keep my equipment
  
  the tank is too big to be moved out of my garden gate (and breaking down the garden wall is not an option - the body corporate would kill me! )
  
  sooo... if someone would like to take it they'll have to cut out the silicone and remove reach panel separately and rebuild the tank at your place (or get adriaan to do it for you)
  
  this is what i paid back in the day, i'm sure it will be a lot more expensive now:
  tank glass: about R10,000
  stand: about R2900
  sump: about R2500
  
  any offers would be considered and i know that it'll cost you some $$$ to rebuild the tank
  
  i'll obviously also throw in all plumbing parts involved
  
  here's details on the tank etc. ---> Punk's Rimless Reef - Supersized Tanks
  
  i'll see what the interest is, if i can't get a serious buyer i'll probably just cut it up and put it in storage - but i thought hey let's try give a fellow reefer the chance at getting an awesome tank at a bargain price first
  
  cheers
  ant
  

  Notes:

  -

• 

  Heaters - how do they work?

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 2:34pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hey guys. Just a stupid question I have been having, and this just shows that even those who think they know it all doesn't know much... :lol::lol::lol:
  
  How does a heater work, or how do you set the temp? My heaters never really ran on any of my tanks (my current heater isn't even plugged in), but I think this winter will be a cold one.
  
  Basically this is what I wanna know:
  
  If I want a water temp of 24deg, do I set the heater at 24deg, or must I set it at like 22deg? When does the heater kick in? Is it when the water drops one or two or three degrees below the set temp? And then when does it switch off, is it when water is back up to 24 or like 26?
  
  Please help me out:P
• 

  [FS] brown tang

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 1:54pm CST by omer

  hi I've got a 1 brown tang that is to big for my set up and must go.
• 

  Height or Width ??

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 12:59pm CST by bluefronted

  Hi Guys,
  
  I'm planning a tank. What would you consider more beneficial , increasing height or width ? , given the assumption that the height and width are initially the same.
  
  
  Regards
• 

  Chevron tang

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 12:37pm CST by Slummies

  hey guys.
  
  looking for a chevy tang.
  
  iv been given some hectic prices which is waaay over priced.
  
  thank you
• 

  Motion in my ocean

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 11:51am CST by reefcraze

  Hi guys. My name is Patrick, been in the hobby for about 8 years, first with a 2m x 700 x 800 tank, which lasted 4 years. Noticed a small chip, and the rest is history.
  
  I then decided to build a more practical tank, 3000 x 500 x 500. This tank ran for 3 years. Due to unforeseen circumstances I had to relocate and lost ALL... Needless to say once one has an ocean in your living room, YOU HOOKED. So about a year ago I started it up again. And must admit, this time I took my time. It was painful but very well worth it. Today my little ocean is in perfect health.
  
  Still got tons of work on it, but ya, patients............
• 

  Talk about being right place right time with a camera'

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 10:12am CST by chikaboo

  Do not regret the past, do not fear the future, just enjoy the present. Here his soul mate is injured and the condition is very appalling
  
  
  Here he brings her food and attend to her with love and compassion...true love
  
  Then he tries to move her.....
  But she is dead and will not come to him again, his cries of love can not wake her.
  
  Sitting beside her he call's out... saddened by her death..
  
  
  Finally aware that she would not return to him, He sit's beside her his body filled with sadness and sorrow !!
  
  
  Photos of two birds said to have pictured in the Republic of Ukraine where this bird is interested quickly to save his wife. Millions of people cried after watching these pictures in America and Europe even in India!!
  It is said that the photographer sold these picture for a nominal price to the most famous news paper in France. And all the copies of that news paper were sold out on the day of publishing these pictures.
• 

  New Fish - When do they start eating

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 10:08am CST by vatso

  Hello All
  
  Right how do we know if our new fish are eating when they hide all the time?
  
  What's the best way to get them to eat & or not hide & how often do you feed?
  
  Twice or once a day? & what time?
  
  I have a naso tang who is hiding under the rocks.
  
  thanks
  Mark
• 

  Urgent Help - Ammonia off the charts

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 10:06am CST by Lemar

  Hi - PLEASE HELP WITH ADVICE
  
  This morning I noticed that the fish and corals weren't looking happy. I tested parameters and with shock got the following:
  
  
  Ammonia = 3mg (it's off the chart)
  Nitrate = 50mg
  Nitrite = 0.05
  Salinity = 1,025
  Temp = 26.5
  PH = 8.3
  Alkalinity = 9
  
  I have a 500l DT with 100l sump. My tank has been running smoothly now for 6 months. Started the tank in September 2008. no problems whatsoever in the last 6 months. I only test calcium and magnesium now and again as everthing is happy, corals look great.
  
  I decided to test mg and ca 6 days ago and this is what I got:
  
  Alk = 8
  Nitrate = 10
  Nitrite = 0.05
  Ammonia = 0.05
  PH = 8.3
  Salinity = 1,023
  Calcium = 350 (low)
  Magnesium = 950 (low)
  
  I dosed tropica marin bio-calcium 13.8 scoops which will in my tank lift calcium with 28ppm
  
  Last night I dosed 500g of espom salt for magnesium. I've done this before when i had problems with mg, and never experienced any sudden changes
  
  That's the only changes I did in the last week. And now suddenly my parameters has gone haywire
  
  What I've done so far:
  I've put in 3 air pump for extra oxgygen.
  I've dosed 25ml of seachem Am Guard that removes ammonia.
  I've just prepared 100l of salt to do a 20% waterchange. R/O is now finished, will have more for another 50l waterchange this afternoon.
  Skimmer is skimming wet
  
  What else can I do?
  +
  What might have caused this?
• 

  Frag sale

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 9:24am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi guys
  
  Those of you wanting frags, please check the classifieds section. Sorry to do it this way, and I know that this is not normally the way to use the classifieds.
  
  The problem is this, as you know I have a NPS system, and cause my dad comes from Mpumalange, it will need to stay in my tank until sold, and this can not take too long, as most of these coral wouldn't survive my tank long term.
  
  Mods and admins, please forgive me on this, but it is for the health of the coral, not cause I wanna jump the gun and sell the goods ;)
• 

  [FS] Urgent Frag Sale

  Posted: January 14th, 2010, 9:02am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi guys... my dad is bringing a few frags from Mpumalanga to JHB this weekend. The reason for the urgency is that I might not be able to keep them healthy long term, seeing that I run a NPS tank.
  
  Price are as follows:
  
  Kenya Tree frag : R100
  Zoa frag: R100
  Ricordia: R70
  Pulse Corals: R70 each (four colonys available)
  Torch Coral: R120 (it has four heads, and tentacles are about 5-10cm long)
• 

  Newby

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 8:53pm CST by DesmondG

  Hi All, saw the post and liked it quite a lot, so I decided to join. I am a newby to the whole marine aquarium setup, but am willing to learn (hey this does`nt mean I know nothing, at least I know a fish needs water like a man needs beer:peroni::peroni::peroni::peroni:...) I know the basics though, but one can never have enough info! So, ja, here I am and if there is anything you think I should know, let me know.....
  
  My tank= an empty 200L rectangular....
  Hopefully soon to be filled with my dreams.....
• 

  anything wrong with this sump design?

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 8:26pm CST by Johan van Aardt

  
  
  from back left to right bottem is inlet and skimmer, two is dsb and chaeto and last is return and auto topup.
  
  the chamberin the far back is ro water chamber.
• 

  Yellot tail damsel

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 6:31pm CST by racerchic

  Hi just added my first 2 fish, yellow tail damsel. after a day the one is behaving quite aggressively towards the other. I am thinking of taking one back to the shop. Is this the norm for these fish.
  
  K
• 

  Check My Tank Out - WebCam Feed

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 5:06pm CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  My webcam running have it in picture mode
  
  Yawcam
  
  :)
• 

  My Dad's 4ft Reef

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 3:42pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hi guys, as some of you saw, I am posting on my dad's behalf. He is a MASA member (Freek) but he doesnt really have time to post much.
  
  This is some photos of his system. This is quite a unique system, as according to all known laws of reefing, it shouldn't work...
  
  Why? Well, firstly, he has no skimmer. He had one DIY, that didn't work. Then he got two small commercial ones, and those never worked at all. Then, he doesnt have any form of testing kit, only a hydrometer for SG, and thermometers for themp. He has a mixture of 54W T5, 24W T5 and a DIY MH on the tank. The other thing, is he is running only his return pump, and two 3000l/h (I think) powerheads on his tank for flow (reminding this is a 1.2 meter tank...) He does not dose anything at all, and doesn't even run carbon. Water changes, only gets done every second week, and that is only a 10% wc.
  
  This is supposed to be a total disaster, but is just SOOOO is not!!! :biggrin:
  
  What he does have though, is a DSB about 80% footprint, and he runs two algae scrubbers. His system consists of FOUR tanks. One being the DT, and three refuge / DSB's...
  
  I take my hat off to him, as this tank hasn't been running for one month, but actually a few. He doesn't really know himself what he is doing right, so his motto is to just do what he is doing now.
  
  His big success, and he always tells me this, is balance.
  
  But, without further ado, here she is...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Well done from me!!! :1:
• 

  Hunt for shark after attack

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 2:49pm CST by leslie hempel

  By Bronwynne Jooste, Murray Williams and Kowthar Solomons
  Staff Reporters
  
  The shark alarm was sounded along the False Bay coast soon after 9am today and authorities closed beaches from Strandfontein to Glencairn after a man was killed in a shark attack yesterday.
  
  The attack, believed to have been by a great white shark, has added urgency to talks already under way between shark researchers and the City of Cape Town over a proposal to introduce real-time monitoring of the activity of tagged sharks in False Bay.
  
  Meanwhile, shark researchers took to the water this morning to try to find the shark that attacked Lloyd Skinner, 37.
  
  Several bathers at Fish Hoek beach ignored the flags alerting them to sharks in the area, enjoying their usual early morning swim. Lifeguards and city law enforcement officials were kept busy asking people to get out of the water.
  
  The lifeguards came on duty at 7am today instead of their usual 10am start and will remain on duty until 6pm.
  
  Fish Hoek resident Duncan Temple-Forbes said today that the incident had made him wary, but added that he would continue to swim at the beach.
  
  Another, Jo Cullingworth, said residents were still in shock.
  
  A lifeguard, who declined to be named, described yesterday's attack.
  
  "I saw the fin. I stood up and saw it do a 360 and then it spun around. It took the guy under.
  
  "The shark's tail came out of the water. It was a big animal."
  
  He alerted the other lifeguards by shouting "Shark, shark!" and then frantically ran from his tower on the beach into the surf.
  
  "I was shouting: 'Shark,shark!' These bathers were about 15m away and not seeing what was happening.
  
  "Then it was over. There was this pool of blood in the water."
  
  Police spokesman November Filander said Skinner, a Zimbabwean on holiday, was swimming 100m from shore at 3.15pm when he was attacked by the shark.
  
  Yesterday witnesses said the shark had attacked from a bend near the shore, a spot where they are regularly sighted.
  
  Low visibility in the water had made it impossible for Skinner to react until it was too late.
  
  After the initial attack, the shark had appeared to head back into deeper water, only to attack for a second time, lifeguards and other witnesses said.
  
  Witness Kathy Geldenhuys said she had seen "what looked like a 5m shark rising from the water" and biting Skinner.
  
  She described the water at the site of attack as "stained with blood".
  
  Geldenhuys said she had started screaming "Shark!" and other swimmers had immediately got out of the water.
  
  National Sea Rescue Institute's Ian Klopper led a team of lifeguards, three small vessels and a helicopter as they searched the shallows for the body.
  
  The search continued at first light today.
  
  "We have cancelled the air and sea search as it is no longer a search but a recovery.
  
  "We are patrolling the beach," Klopper said.
  
  Alison Kock, the white shark project leader with the Save Our Seas Foundation and Shark Spotters, said: "The Fish Hoek area is a home to the sharks so it wouldn't be uncommon for a shark sighting, especially during this season.
  
  "Over the past weekend alone, we recorded 19 shark sighting between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay.
  
  "Only one of those sightings was reported in Fish Hoek."
  
  The poor visibility in the water had prevented the shark spotters from seeing the animal.
  
  The last fatal shark attack in Fish Hoek was in November 2004 when Tyna Webb, 77, was killed by a shark after swimming 60m off Jagger Walk.
  
  Professor Evan Gilbert, a former senior lecturer in finance at UCT's Graduate School of Business, said Skinner, an MBA student in 2003, had been a quiet, dedicated person.
  
  Meanwhile, sophisticated monitoring equipment is to be discussed again soon in earnest between shark experts and the City of Cape Town. - Additional reporting by Jade Witten
  
  
  

  • • This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on January 13, 2010
• 

  MASA Reef Club meeting - Sat 23rd Jan 2010

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 2:48pm CST by dallasg

  Hi All,
  
  a small meet and greet for all the new members and us old folk...
  
  bring other halves, better halves etc we there to get the year started!!!
  :1:
  
  Venue:
  DROS
  Northriding Square
  Cnr Bellair Drive and Blandford Drive
  
  3pm till 5pm
  
  
  please reply to this thread no later than Thurs 21st Jan so we can get tables etc
• 

  1st Marine Tanks

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 2:09pm CST by nick_fraser

  Good day and Hello To All
  
  I have just started to setup my 1st Marine tank and must commend everyone on this forum for the information they share and willingness to assist people.
  
  Some info on my tank.
  Bought 2nd hand and will one day build my own one,
  LXBXH 1.8X60X60
  it has sump area each side
  I am very big in to the DIY thing so I am busy building the sump and Skimmer (skimmer has worked well but just want to upgrade to a needle wheel to make the bubbles a bit finer).
  
  Sump will be 80X50X40
  Inlet and outlet chambers either side 10cm wide which leaves 60X50 for DSB.
  water will be pumped from inlet chamber to skimmer, for skimmer to algae scrubber box, then from algae scrubber box to BDS.
  
  
  Current I have my tank busy cycling and not going through the sump.
  I was lucky enough to get live rock that was fully cured (bought it at exotic Boksburg, some guys tank had bust after a few months so it was a good buy) my ammonia leaves went down to 0 within a week and a half and nitrites down to 0 a week later. I have added a Maroon clown and a two yellow tail damsels (one damsel died within a hour). They are doing and eating well. live rock has lots of little white feather worms on them and they always seem to be out and I have two small pink rock anemones. (that’s what I have been told they are)
  I have about 20kg of live rock with about 25kg of Volcanic rock. I have used crushed coral as the base (volcanic rock and crushed coral came with tank.)
  Question: is the volcanic rock ok and is the crushed coral ok or should I replace it with play sand?
  
  I am getting my upgraded lights today (currently T8 globes) 4 T5 with hood. 2 12000k white and 2 20000k blue.
• 

  Wanting..

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 1:01pm CST by Tiger

  Hi Guys,
  
  I'm looking for small pieces of live rock and true peppermint shrimp. I've tried the LFS's around my place to no avail. Please also confirm for how much peppermint shrimp sell for??;)
  
  Thanks!!
• 

  Phosphate reactor

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 12:33pm CST by Johan van Aardt

  Hi guys im looking for a phosphate reactor for a 400 liter tank.
• 

  My CLS and Egg Crate

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 12:27pm CST by Ross

  Hey Gang
  
  I managed to get some egg crate and have about 50Kg of base rock so want to get started on my scaping.
  
  My system has a CLS running off a 6500L Aqua Medic OceanRunner.
  
  I am not sure how to build an egg crate platform for my rock. I obviously want to have a platform under my rock so that the CLS can blow all the gung out from under there. That is quite simple.
  
  What I am not sure of is around the rock, what to do so the sand does not get blown all over the place. I have thought about BB but I want a natural looking reef. The other idea I had was to either let the rocks around the edge of my 'island' drop over the edge of the egg crate to form a wall between the CLS and the sand, or to put a solid side on the base out of perspex or something similar. In both cases it is basically the same thing.
  
  If I go the rocks as a wall, this will not cause to much trouble with debris I am sure as there will not be that much rock in the sand.
  
  Ta,
  
  Ross
• 

  Free fish food

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 12:12pm CST by FransSny

  Not sure where to post this..mods please move if needed.
  
  I dropped a box of hake fillets on the floor so not allowed to sell. Been using it for my preds (chopped) but still have a lot left. If anyone feeds this and want some for free pm me as I cant move it down to CT as well !
  
  Sorry you would have to collect, everyone attending PTA meet I can bring
• 

  Blood worms

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 10:10am CST by dumbo

  hi guys
  i'm in the process of crossing to the other side ( Marine)
  
  i had malawis before, and i have alot of blood worms left, i bought in bulk.
  
  can one use this for marine?
  
  thanks
  Dumbo
• 

  Sunken Ship

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 10:07am CST by dumbo

  hi guys,
  
  on this forum i read that someone wanted ( asked if it was ok) to use their sunken ship in there new marine tank, the responce was no from the few that replied,
  
  i would like to know the reason why not or if it is ok to use.
  
  thanks
  Dumbo
• 

  scuba photos from eilat red sea

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 9:48am CST by omer

  been diving in Eilat here are some photos.
  
• 

  UV Filtration for RO

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 9:33am CST by Titanse

  Hey chaps..
  
  Just a question I have been thinking bout for a while now.
  
  I would like to put a UV filter on an RO unit. Will this help with water quality?
  
  Marco, also would like to know if you have the attachments for this?
  
  Thansk in advance
• 

  [FS] Pulsating Xenia and orange zoa's

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 8:52am CST by Loki

  Hi guys
  
  Don't have much space for these 2 guys.
  
  Pulsating Xenia : 20 heads
  Orange Zoas : 8x4cm patch mounted
  
  Make an offer..:thumbup:
• 

  Pool Floaters for dosing???

  Posted: January 13th, 2010, 8:22am CST by brentv

  Hi guys,
  I was thinking wouldn't a hth pool floater cleaned out work to dose your tank with say kalk or something, if it was floating in your sump???
• 

  Boyu manual

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 8:52pm CST by Wetty

  Anyone got an instruction manual for a Boyu TL450. Boyu doesnt seem to provide an electronic version on their site
• 

  Coral Placement

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 8:32pm CST by marinenoob

  Hi Guys,
  
  I have a 260l tank with reasonably good flow. I have 2 54w t5 and 2x39w t5 lights. I would like to know what the ideal placement would be for my few corals. I will attach a few pics. The tank is running since August.
  
  thanks
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  Exotic colour'd zoa's

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 8:02pm CST by Johan van Aardt

  Hi guys
  
  have nothing to swap but willing to buy, especially if its in cape town. Post pic or direct e to pic if its possible
• 

  NeWave prop style pump

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 8:02pm CST by viper357

  These look quite nice, gotta love the low wattage.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Lots of pics of the stripped pump here - http://reefbuilders.com/2009/10/21/h...arium-systems/
• 

  Some more things in my tank

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 7:12pm CST by vatso

  Hi all just wanted to share
  
  can you please tell me what they are.
  
  You will see that SPS I have been talking about it still looks okay
  
  thanks
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  ID please

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 3:55pm CST by irshaad

  Looks like a pufferfish, anyone got an id?
  Caught a few at Muizenberg footpath, largest one was about 15cm long.
  
  
  
  
• 

  Another newbee

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 2:22pm CST by dumbo

  hi guys.
  
  my display tank is not running at present, the dimensions are 1500h*450w*800h.
  the water level will not exceed 700.
  
  My aim is a reef tank with fishy.
  
  Question 1. the flow in the tank, what volumetric displacement pumps do you suggest i get?
  
  Question 2. the ligthing, what, who and why?
  
  thanks
• 

  What angelfish

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 1:36pm CST by kukkieb

  After reading through a few forums I am not so sure if the angel I have is a Semi or Old lady
  
  Arent Old Lady fish more black than the Semis
  
  Anyway here is a pic of him can someone please ID him
  
  
  
  Sorry about the bad quality pic but he is new in the tank and is still hiding
  
  Brandon
• 

  Newbie

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 1:14pm CST by Collie

  Hi All
  
  Geat website.
  
  Started a Boyu 550, is busy cycling for 3rd week now, only live rock and dsb in tank.
  Did a 10 percent waterchang last night only to find out that you are not suppose to.
  
  Does this increace the cycle?
  
  Thanks
• 

  Racoon face & vaggie butterflies for sale: Durbanville, CT

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 12:07pm CST by Tim S

  Fish for saleCommon Name:

  Racoon face & vaggie butterflies

  Scientific Name:

  Cheatadon Linula & Vagabundis

  Size of fish

  Juvinile

  How long have you had the fish?

  1 week

  Is the fish eating?

  yes

  Shipping or Collection only:

  collection

  Your location.

  Durbanville, CT

  Price:

  Free

  Photo's:

  

  Notes:

  I captured these two in the T'kei in the holidays, and as expected,these fellas are pecking on the softies. I'm looking for a "fish only" home for them (no charge).
  
  Tim

• 

  T5 Lighting

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 11:31am CST by mandarin

  Need some advise please, my previous system had 4 x 54w tubes, 2 x white and 2 x actinics. The specs on the switch boxes are 36w and voltage 220v/50Hz.
  The lenght of the tubes 1200mm.
  I want to go to 80w tubes x 1400mm lenght, would the starters be able to handle the watts or will it blowup on the long run. Each light has it's own starter with builtin switch.
• 

  What shrimp ???

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 10:09am CST by kukkieb

  Hi found this in my tank last night
  
  It seems to dig a hole under the rock.
  
  Dont know how long its been in the tank but I have seen sand flying out from under the rock with no explanation ?? lol
  
  Sorry about the bad pic but this morning I could not seen him anymore because there was a pile of sand between the glass and his hole.
  
  Could it be some kind of pistol shrimp
  
  PS he has one big claw and one smaller one?
  
  
  
  Thank you
  Brandon
• 

  Sump overflow buffer volume

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 9:02am CST by RiaanP

  How much does your water level in display drop when the power goes?
  
  To work out the buffer area needed in the sump to be able to handle the extra overflow from display tank in case of a power outage.
  
  How do you do it?
  
  Is my logic right: take 2cm * length and width of water inside tank. That will give you the maximum liters that should or could drain to the tank when return pump stops. (Obviously it depends on your syphon break design.)
  
  So your sump must be able to handle that volume.
  
  To take it further, Take that water volume divide by (length * width) and that should give you the height the water in the sump will rise when the return stops.
  
  I was suggested 2cm drop in display tank. Is that a good guideline.
• 

  sump lighting

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 8:58am CST by naughtydragons

  Hi guys, im using (just because i had it) a 18w blue flores + a 14w energy saver in my sump, is this sufficient
• 

  Sound Vibration

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 8:48am CST by keyaam

  Hey Guys
  
  Last night I noticed that my torch coral closed completely in a couple of minutes. I was trying to figure out for quite a while now why this coral closes everytime I am in the room. It only hit me this morning that the Vibration of sound from the home theatre causes it to close. Anyone else experience this?
• 

  Green star polops bleached

  Posted: January 12th, 2010, 8:12am CST by ml

  HI all,
  I just like to find out what can I do with a bleached colony of GSP and what I need to do to make the colour come back
  
  This had nothing to do with high levels of PO4 (Fosfate).
  
  Thanks in advansed for your advise.
  
  Morne
• 

  MY Shopping List

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 7:38am CST by bluefronted

  Hi Guys,
  
  I've introduced myself under the "New Members" forum.
  
  I have a well made stand made from timber , base,top,etc. This stand used to hold 3 individual fresh watertanks , with a total dimension of 1800x 450 x 450mm.
  
  I will now build one big tank to the above size. Please check the list I have below and advise if I've missed anything , please do recommended brands, specs , ,etc.
  being doing some reading !!
  
  My Shopping List - Fish & Coral Setup
  Tank - 1800x 450x 450mm , glass thickness ??
  Live Rock - How much ??
  Sand , Rocks - How much , what kind ??
  Lights - 2 x 10000K White + 1 x 20000K Blue ??
  Skimmer - type, size , brand ??
  Filter - type, size , brand
  Heater - size ( kW's)
  Air Pump - ??
  Thermometer - ??
  Hydrometer - is this required ??
  Sea Salt - what brand , how much ??
  Test Kits - suggestions
  Sump - How big
  
  *** I would like to have a tank with most items hidden
  
  Your assistance will be appreciated.
• 

  Makro RO Unit

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 12:54am CST by vatso

  FYI
  
  I have just tested my Macro RO unit
  
  WATERWELL Reverse Osmosis 6 Stage Water Purifier and more Cold Beverage Makers at Makro
  
  the TDS is 3 all I did was remove the 6th stage & did not connect the storage tank been reading lots about using none marine RO units but seems I got a luck here?
  
  I was thinking about putting a resin filter on but I don't think it's needed
  
  my tap water TDS is 90
  
  Mark
• 

  Skimmer air pump...

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 10:20pm CST by Annoying

  OK I was a bit bored tonight and thaught maybe I can modify my skimmer a bit... I had an battery air pump and thaught this could be interesting, but first here is the pic of the skimmer without an airpump...
  
  
  And now with the airpump...
  
  
  
  Ok I know it's not a big suprise but the suprise came to me when I turned of the air pump! There was almost no difference in the amount of bubbles. The only difference was the speed of the rotation of the water in the skimmer.But as soon as I unplug the airpump the bubble level goes bak to the old level. For some reason the air pump lets in more air then if the air pipe was hanging freely!
  Any comments on how this could be...
• 

  Chaotic water movement

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 9:34pm CST by Reef Maniac

  Here is a short video (not very good quality, I must admit...) showing what I consider to be "chaotic" water movement in my tank. This chaotic water flow is achieved by combining three power heads, my sump return via an over-head manifold, and a Polario 22ML set to alternate at 15 second intervals. The leather coral shown in the video is pretty huge, measuring about 450mm in diameter, and standing about 500mm high. It is placed about 300mm from the right edge of the tank, but the water flow is pretty much the same throughout the tank (obviously higher close to the Polario).
  
  Anyway, this is my first video link, so I hope it works...
  
  Hennie
  
• 

  marleyi / double sash butterfly

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 7:06pm CST by toppdogg

  heyguys
  just woundering if anybody has kept any of these fish as i was donated 4 juviniles
  and have them in smaller tank for about 3 weeks now all doing well
  just wanted to know if they are reef safe ?
  
• 

  Mouldy Corals?

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 6:39pm CST by Easy Tiger

  Hi All - sorry I could not get a clear picture of this , I know it would help a lot. I've seen a grey substance has grown over a section of my Zoa colony - it's not algae, it looks like grey mould ( resembles a thick grey cobweb ). The polyps in the general area of the mould remain closed ( the other areas open and close as normal ). I wanted to just scrape it off but not sure what it is - I might just spread it around the tank. But it's getting bigger ...
  
  Any ideas?
  
  Will try and get a better set of pictures tonight.
• 

  Uploading and viewing video

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 5:25pm CST by Reef Maniac

  Hi Everyone,
  
  I have recently tried my hand at taking some video clips of my tank (nice yuppie feature on the Canon 5D Mk. II :biggrin:) - I would love to post these videos somewhere, to allow our members to see what a decent surge should look like :whistling:
  
  Can anyone please explain what/where/how I should go about doing this.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Hennie
• 

  Coraline Algae

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 3:49pm CST by Tim S

  Hi chaps,
  
  I have a young system with some base (bare) and live rock (with coraline algae). Is there a method to encourage or speed up the growth of coraline algae? I've heard someone say "use Purple up".
  
  Any suggestions.
• 

  Featured System for January 2010

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 3:36pm CST by dallasg

  Our Featured System for January 2010 belongs to Leslie Hempel!
  Congratulations on a great 4ft system!
  
  
  
  Click on the photo to see the full feature.
• 

  How Much Tank Time do You Spend??!

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 2:44pm CST by Tiger

  I still remember a LFS telling me one day after I asked: How much time do I have to spend on maintaining and cleaning this tank? LFS awnser: The tank basically maintains itself!!
  
  I think it will be quite interesting to know how much time per week you spend, cleaning, feeding and maintaining your marine system. If for excample you do more work on your system every second week, just avarage it out.;)
  
  Lets see what the results say about self maintanance!!!:whistling:
• 

  Copperband and banners

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 2:05pm CST by Annoying

  Hey
  
  Was just wondering is it possible to keep copperbands and longfin banners (Heniochus dephreutes) together...
• 

  Dummies guide to Beginners

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 1:37pm CST by bronwen_H

  hi all
  
  I am totally new to marine tanks. I have had freshwater tanks all my life and am looking at starting a marine one. I have no equipment and no idea where to start. Would love to learn all I can before starting this journey. All help and advise is greatly appreciated!!
  ciao
  Bron :thumbup:
• 

  Totally new beginner

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 12:20pm CST by iggy

  Hi all
  
  compliments for the new year.
  I have got an empty 240l tank which i am turning in to a marine tank got my sump and protein-skimmer.
  
  can you please help me to start my tank?
  
  my biggest problem at this point in time is my overflow (non existent at this point and time). i tried drilling holes but ja... that did work so lekka.
  
  got any advice for me?
  
  Peace be your journeys.
• 

  gemmatum tang for sale: durban

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 11:34am CST by Marco

  Fish for saleCommon Name:

  gemmatum tang
  

  Scientific Name:

  zebrasoma gemmatum
  

  Size of fish

  +- 4 - 5 cm now........ picture below taken a few months ago it is significantly bigger now
  

  How long have you had the fish?

  1 year
  

  Is the fish eating?

  yes ....like a pig
  

  Shipping or Collection only:

  both...shipping at buyers expense
  

  Your location.

  durban
  

  Price:

  resonable offers will be considered
  

  Photo's:

  
  
  Zebrasoma gemmatum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  

  Notes:

  as you may or maynot know....we have moved and sold our extreme nano....this fish has been in a holding facility for 3 months and it looks like our 3000 litres tank will only be built in june.....therefore if we get a resonable offer it may be considered otherwise we may just hold it until june
  pm me me any resonable offers along with contact details and we will call you if succesfull
  no chancers please
  

• 

  New Setup

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 9:30am CST by JAJA

  Hi everyone
  
  I have been keeping fresh water tanks for many years now with a keen interest in discus keeping. I live in CT in the southern suburbs.
  
  After reading up on all the info on the site I eventually got round to converting one of my existing tanks for marines. Tank dimensions are 1.6x0.56x0.6 high (used to fit into a cabinet in my office) and holds approx. 500litres.
  
  To start with I had the tank drilled 50mm and installed a corner overflow chamber with a 32mm durso pipe system which is working fine with no noise. The durso pipe slots loose into a socket in the base and can be swopped with larger diameter systems to accommodate various return pump flow rates.
  
  I completed initial the setup over the past weekend and the basic setup includes a 70litre refugium tank that I made using an old 0.9x0.3x0.3 tank. This houses a reeftek ts2 skimmer, 300w heater, live rock section and in sump return pump (4500L/HR).
  
  I am using my previous lighting system of 8 x T5 lights (2 blue, 2 red/pink, 4 white) for now. As the system progresses I will add MH and moonlight LED's.
  
  The tank has two SunSun 5000L/HR pumps with 30kg of bali live rock and 10kg of fiji. After landscaping I am going to need another 20kg of rock to complete the setup which I will add over the next week or two.
  
  I plan to let the tank cycle for 6-8 weeks before adding livestock.
  
  At this stage my questions are;
  
  1. Is there any preferred sequence to adding livestock such as snails, hermit crabs, shrimps, etc, first before fish?
  2. I am looking for a quiet return pump and wave pumps as I find my current equipment very noisy- any suggestions?
  
  Will add pics later.
  Alan
• 

  Sand bed

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 9:28am CST by Titanse

  Hi Ppl
  
  Just out of curiousity, I have a mix sand bed in DT. It is about 3-5cms deep, want it for gobies to hide in, and is a mix between crushed coral and sand.
  
  I was wondering if I should only have sand and a little crushed coral (requires me removing some to Sump) or leave it as is...
  
  Sorry no pics at the moment - at work...
  
  Thanks
• 

  green torch problem

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 9:09am CST by marcel

  Hi All,
  
  I have a problem with a green torch coral. I’ve had it for about two months, about three weeks ago it lost one of its heads (that’s the soft finger part) it then started loosing more heads and they were floating round in my tank. I removed the heads and placed them in my sump, if I shine a light on them the fingers start growing up so they are not dead. First I thought my water movement was to strong so I moved the coral, it did not seem to help.
  My tank is more of a test tank for testing my led lights and to see how well the corals grow under it. The light I have now give each coral the right PAR lighting for two hours every day, all the other corals seem fine so I don’t know if its a light problem. Have any of you had a similar problem? And what do I do with those heads in my sump? They don’t have any hard body they are just laying on the sand. I broke up the coral to remove the hard pieces without heads not sure if they were dead they were more white than those with heads on. Any help will be appreciated
  Marcel.
• 

  Very 1st Attampt... It Starts!

  Posted: January 11th, 2010, 8:13am CST by Garethmur

  Howzit,
  
  We got our tank about 2 years ago, 1.2M X 0.5M and a sump we were told take a few fiter thingys... including Bio Balls.... which we have purchased... we also got the skimmer and 5 pumps, 3 for circulation in the DT, and one as the return pump and 1 for the skimmer...
  
  Duno all the specs and types of equipment but ill get it and add tho the thread...
  
  anyway, after 2 years with the above equipment, we finally starting to put it to gether...
  
  From what we could gather reading up on the subject again... theres one big change since we first wanted to do this thing.... Deep sand bed and no to bio balls.... if we understood correctly that is...
  
  This weekend we modified the sump which was split into 5 partitions to 3 partition sump so that we could add the deep sand bed... and we filled the tanks with tap water to test the equipment, my plumbing and check for leaks - all good so far. Ill post the images later... we have questions that we will post as we go...
• 

  breeding advice

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 3:22am CST by aminyassien

  hi everybody happy new year
  
  my black tomato clown is breeding , the other fish eating babies
  
  what should i do in order to breed the pair safely
  
  advise me please for what should i do cause i want the babies
  
  best regards
• 

  Tank Stocking

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 10:54pm CST by GKirk

  Hi Guys, my 300L tank has been running for 5 weeks now and I need some advise on 2 points.
  
  Can I have a cleaner shrimp, boxer shrimp and a fire shrimp in the same tank, if not what do you suggest would be the best combination, bearing in mind that I do want to add corals at a later stage?
  
  What are the alternatives to RO water? Would bottled or boiled water work. I live in Abu Dhabi where our tap water is de-salinated water.
  
  Much appreciated
  
  Grant
• 

  spawny cleaner shrimps

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 10:39pm CST by Orson

  Howdy all, best wishes for the new year.
  
  My cleaner shrimps recently 'got busy' and yesterday I noticed one was full of eggs. :thumbup:
  I see the eggs were gone this morning.:( I assume the clowns, regal tang, coral beauty, and damsiles had a yummy treat last night/early this morning. Still I must be doing something right.:)
  
  Wondering who's had success in breeding and raising baby shrimps. I haven't had a chance to hit the literature yet but I was wondering if someones "been there, and done that" in SA.
  
  How long does it take to raise them?
  Feeding? What foods are available in SA, how often did you feed,....
  Any advice would be appreciated.
• 

  Matt's 7L Pico tank

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 10:24pm CST by Matt

  Here Warr7207, I started a thread! hehe.
  
  Here's my 7L (1.8gal) PICO tank. It's an IQ3 by Dymax
  
  2 LED lights - Dimmable lights, each clip on comes with 28 LED's (Tank comes with one unit but thought i'd upgrade and go "all out" haha)
  50W dymax heater - i'm not very impressed with this
  200L/hour return pump - gives me 28X flow in the tank
  "Bunny drinking bottle" ATO - 500ml
  
  FTS hehe
  
  
  
  
  Haven't scaped the rocks or anything, just chucked in a few pieces Warr gave me
  
  
  Top down. Run filter floss as well as activated charcoal in the rear. If anyone has like a tablespoon of chemipure elite/purigen to donate i'd appreciate it (else i'll be buying like 10 years worth lol)
  
  
  Here's a closeup of my bunny drinking bottle ATO. Works like a bomb as soon as water level is below the tube it lets in air release some RO water until tube end is submerged, restoring the vacuum. I attached it to the wall via double sided velcro - super strong stuff - 500ml RO water so hoping it will last about a week.
  
  
  Blurry pic but just to give an indication of size
  
  
  Do you rate I can fit a hippo and possibly a yellow tang in there :whistling: :razz:
  
  Planning on just stocking it with softies, and perhaps getting a couple sexy shrimp
• 

  Rogue Chiller

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 7:53pm CST by Simmo

  I have a six foot tank which I am gradually converting to a reef. At the moment I have a dilemma. My chiller has gone rogue. It worked great for a few months, but now permanently displays 40 degrees ( the max it can display), even though the water running through it is at 25. So it has become a manual process, eye-balling the tank temp and switching on the chiller. Then off again when it reaches target. If I don't switch it off, it just keeps on cooling, still showing 40. I spoke to the supplier and he is trying to get a new controller for me (no joy yet ). I am hoping that some of your more savvy members may understand the problem and be able to tell me where to kick it. I'm no electronics genius. Thank in anticipation.
• 

  When has a tank gone through it's cycle?

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 7:39pm CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  I have not found any info on how one knows when a tank has completed is cycle
  
  lets have it for the pro's
  
  when do we know the cycle is done?
  
  My tank is just over 3 weeks old
  
  Mark
  
  
• 

  Vintage Cars

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 7:34pm CST by lIghty

  Hi all
  
  Was just wondering if any of you have or are connected to the vintage car scene?
  
  My father has just bought a 1951 (E494A - I think) Ford Anglia and I was just wondering how many of you out there have similar type cars?
  
  My neighbour is also building up a Ford Popular +- 1953 (same as the Anglia), but not stock, he's got a Rover 3.5l V8 with a Jag rear diff and suspension, should be pretty quick when finnish;)
  
  So I can feel myself becoming very interest and concidering finding a car too:whistling:
• 

  Disaster

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 5:00pm CST by Asti

  Hi Everyone
  
  Have not been online or in touch for so long because we have had a serious catastrophe with our marine tank.
  
  All our fish have died, all we have left is live rock and a hermit crab !:yeahdude:
  
  Our water tested perfect in every aspect and the experts we called in could not understand why this has happened.
  
  For now, as we are both working, we have decided to change to tropical fish but once we are more at home, will definitely go the marine tank route again !
  
  Wishing you all the very best for 2010 !:slayer:
  
  Tom and Asti:)
• 

  Extreme enthusioust

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 4:58pm CST by Neef

  Greetings to all,
  Started my 4ft marine tank about 4 years ago. Still learning all the "tricks of the trade". I am now looking at upgrading to a bigger tank and more into a coral reef type and would accept any advice with open arms.:)
• 

  [FS] Seachem Basic Marine Test Kit, Reef Octopus Refractometer

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 1:33pm CST by Caleb

  Brand New Reefmaster refractometer - R600
  
  Brand New Seachem Basic Marine Test Kit - R300
• 

  cool website I found

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 1:30pm CST by vatso

  [www.fishbase.org]
• 

  [FS] Brand New Reef Octopus Orca 80

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 1:26pm CST by Caleb

  Brand New Reef Octopus Orca 80 (new cone type) for sale. Box only opened for inspection. R1500
• 

  PTA RC New Years Meet

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 10:45am CST by FransSny

  Hi all,
  
  Its time for our first meet of the year...and a sad goodbye for me to the reefers I have met through an awesome club.
  
  A real big :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: to all for their support.
  
  Can we have suggestions for dates & venue please (Pete I know you had ideas last time around) unfortunately my place is out of the question...unless you want to sit on a box :P
  
  Please also PM me with any ideas of who is going to take this forward
• 

  Newbie from PE

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 10:24am CST by ChrisG

  Hi Everyone,
  Been reading the posts religiously the last few weeks trying to sponge up as much info as possible!
  I'm VERY new to marine and would appreciate suggestions/concerns etc about my setup and proposed plans.
  
  Well, i decided to go for a plywood tank and have just finished initial construction. The reasons for plywood are low cost and I am a BIG DIY-er, and love working with wood.
  The design is a corner unit measuring 1.7 across (front), 1.2 sides and 80 depth. The front viewing (glass) is 1.44 x 0.7m.
  Actually i still need to buy the glass, and maybe that could be my first question! What thickness should i use? After researching I decided on 12mm, but I was hoping that 10 would be ok, as it is half the price of 12.
  
  I'll keep my first post short, so will leave it here for now. I still have many questions eg what skimmer should i get (looking at T2 reef octopus), can i use rock from the beach for a base, etc.
  
  oh, btw, my volume is about 500l. Here is a pic of my work in progress... gotta start sanding now and then 6 coats of epoxy resin.
  
  Chris
• 

  Urgent Advice - cleaner shrimps died/pest control

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 9:44am CST by PeteEd

  I need some urgent advice.
  
  I started my tank 7 weeks ago (1000L), I have put 2 fish (cardinal, foxface) and 2 cleaner shrimps in so far to see how things go. Everything was going rosy, until 2 days ago when I found both my shrimps belly up! I tested me water and everything seems to be ok. The only issue is my nitrates are about 15ppm, which I am told isnt a problem. I dont understand what could have gone wrong, the only thing I can think of is we had pest control in the house, but they assured me the tank wouldnt be affected. My fish,my mushroom anemones and tube worms all are fine.
  
  Any help would be great!
  
  Thanks, Pete
• 

  I'm going diving in June.

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 9:33am CST by Nemos Janitor

  :1:Booked spots for ADVDiver and myself on Friday.:slayer::slayer::slayer::jiggy::jiggy::jigg y:
  
  
  :mbounce:
  
  We have to pay deposits to Egypt Air by no later than 13 January to finalise the seats!
  R1500.00 pp secures your seat on Egypt Air.
  Departure 26 June 2010.
  6 Nights Luxury Liveaboard
  Sharm El Sheik, Cairo and Dahab Excursions!
  R18950.00 excl taxes (approx R2000)
• 

  Bristle Worm Pics

  Posted: January 10th, 2010, 8:24am CST by flipwhip

  Its the first time ive ever seen my bristle worm out and about like this, i was quite
  suprised to see how big he really is ( i would say +- 200mm)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  Urgent Advice - Juvenile Semi and Jumping Bean

  Posted: January 9th, 2010, 7:46am CST by kukkieb

  Hi I got a Jumping Bean on Wednesday and a Juvenile Semi from a friend yesterday (late christmas present). They are both in a Boyu 550 (130 litres), it has no sump, only those back compartments. My dad has also has a 1.2 meter reef tank.
  
  The problem is that the jumping bean is chasing around the Semi juvenile, I did not think that dwarf and regular angels also fought... I dont want to stress the Juvenile more than it already is since I just got it yesterday:(
  
  Does anyone know what to do
  Plz hurry
  :(
• 

  How do you know you getting old

  Posted: January 9th, 2010, 10:46pm CST by vatso

  When we remember things like the A-Team, Airwolf!!
  
  the old SABC Test Pattern!!!
  
  some old arcade games!!
  
  Track & Field, Bomber Man, Frog!!!
  
  the good old days
• 

  1.2M Scaping

  Posted: January 9th, 2010, 8:03pm CST by keyaam

  Thanks to Dean for opening up the section for aquascaping. This is only to be used as a reference so that members could post a FTS of there aquascaping. Ill start the thread off with one but its not mine.
  
  
• 

  Nudibranch safe?

  Posted: January 9th, 2010, 5:02pm CST by kukkieb

  Hi found this in my fathers 1.2 meter
  
  Saw it few times but only caught it now
  
  Anyone know what it is and is it safe???
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Thanks
• 

  How long to know if SPS will die?

  Posted: January 9th, 2010, 3:55pm CST by vatso

  I just added a small piece of SPS to my tank how long before I know if it will die or live?
  
  it's been in the tank 3 days now & looks okay has not started going white
• 

  Welcome to Wild on Pets

  Posted: January 9th, 2010, 11:39am CST by viper357

  Please welcome our newest sponsor - Wild on Pets, stockists of marine livestock and hardware, located in Edenvale.
  
  You can find them here:
  
  Shop 3
  Greenstone Crescent
  Cnr Stoneridge Drive and Greenstone Place
  Edenvale
  1610
  
  or give them a ring on 011 452 4870
  
  Welcome to the forum :)
• 

  Just Some Fun Pics

  Posted: January 9th, 2010, 9:08am CST by Jinx

  
• 

  Zero (something) ..... from Verimark

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 8:52pm CST by chikaboo

  Hi anyone seen this verimark product for R699 - I think it was called ZeroWater - Kind of like a jug with a filter - apparently gives you 0 TDS and in the deal they give you tds meter to prove it - cheaper alternative to our hobby?
• 

  Premixed SW, how long will it last?

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 4:09pm CST by Matt

  How long will premixed salt water last in a container thats not exposed to sunlight?
  
  If i'm running a small nano that only requires maybe 5L changes weekly, can I purchase 20L per month and just use it as I need it?
• 

  Bubble Magus Skimmer

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 4:08pm CST by shane

  Hi,
  I know that there are a few reefers out there that are using the Bubble magus skimmer. Does anyone have any feedback about their cone skimmers
  
• 

  Where to buy stock in Cape Town

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 3:27pm CST by racerchic

  Hi all
  
  We new to this game and would like to know where to buy stock in Cape Town. We purchased our tank and live rock at Sams Aquarium but feel they force one to buy unnecessary items. Any advice so we dont get bullied around.
  
  Racerchic
• 

  Need 8mm diameter tubing. Anyone know where I can pick this up?

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 3:19pm CST by Matt

  I'm needing some 8mm diameter tubing. Anyone know where I can get? I only need a bit
• 

  Law

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 2:22pm CST by zerger

  hi guys, newbie here..
  aniways, firstly. HELLO WAKKAWAKKA! :slayer:
  
  now that thats done, i need some advice.
  im plannin on climbin in my car, goin down to belito or somewhere around durban and collecting live rock, ananome's, a few snails, plants.. you get the idea.
  
  can anyone tell me if there is some law against this?
  (not deep water reef destruction style, just collectin stuff not to deep in the sea)
• 

  300 000

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 12:26pm CST by viper357

  Well done everyone, we've just hit 300 000 posts :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
  
  We're well on our way to being a contender with some of the international boards, look out Reef Central, here we come :p
• 

  Boyu HS 60

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 12:19pm CST by MikeR

  Hey all,
  
  Not sure if at 180L its still classified as a nano? but anyway as anyone seen this tank / setup ?
  
  any comments/feedback or reviews on the tank would be appreciated.
• 

  Developing the digital negative (how much is just enough...)

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 11:54am CST by Reef Maniac

  Let me start off by stating that I'm NOT a digital photography boffin, and that I'm trying to advance my digital skills, especially with post-processing.
  
  We had some discussion on this topic on another thread, and I thought that it might be a good idea to post some photos showing what I do to "process" my digital "negatives" - the RAW files as recorded by the camera.
  
  I really would appreciate comments on the following processes - how far is enough, what is too much... (Please just bear in mind that most of us have uncalibrated computer monitors, so what looks more green on my monitor might just look more yellow or blue on yours... Looks like I will have to get myself a Spyder calibrator real soon, if I want to be serious about post-processing...)
  
  Anyway, here are the photos, each with a short description on what I've done to that particular photo. All post-processing was done using Canon's DPP software, supplied with the camera, and the images were then captured to my computer with the "print screen" function on the keyboard, converted to .jpg using Microsoft's Paint program, so the over-all quality is not so good...
  
  1: This is the original RAW image, without any corrections/adjustments. As can be seen from the histogram graph on the right, the photo was somewhat over-exposed
  
  
  
  
  2: My first step in processing the "negative" was to adjust the left-hand "slider" of the histogram until it was close to the start of the graph. This shifts the exposure, removing that portion of the image where there is no "dark" information. this results in the image becoming darker, but showing more detail in the darker (shadows) parts of the photo.
  
  
  
  
  3: The second step is to move the left-hand "slider" to remove the lack of data on the bright side of the image, resulting in the image becoming brighter, and revealing more info in the highlights.
  
  
  
  
  4: The next step involved a slight adjustment of the contrast slider (increasing contract by "2", as well as a slight reduction in the over-all brightness, by moving the "brightness slider" to -0.33
  
  
  
  
  5: The next step involved the adjustment of the "color tone" and "saturation" sliders, until the colors looked more vibrant and natural. (I probably over-did this a trifle...)
  
  
  
  
  6: The final step was to tweak the "S-curve levels" in the RGB tab slightly to enhance the green color of the anemone, to make it look closer to what it looks like when viewed with the naked eye. To achieve this, I slightly increased the green (G) curve, and slightly reduced the red (R) curve.
  
  
  
  
  And here is the final crop, reduced to 800x700:
  
  
  
  Hennie
• 

  maizey's

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 11:20am CST by Ross

  Hey guys
  
  I am looking for eggcreat and have been trying to get hold of Maizeys on 011 672-0872
  Anybody able to confirm that for me as there is never any answer.
  
  Ta,
  
  Ross
• 

  Peppermint Shrimp

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 10:09am CST by johanpm

  Hi all,
  
  I am looking for a peppermint shrimp. I have tried lots of LFS and nobody has any.
• 

  Please Help - White Dots on my Glass

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 10:01am CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  I found this morning I some white dots on my tank - the glass part that is
  
  they small dots what would this be?
  
  thanks Mark
• 

  DT life selection ?

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 9:55am CST by neo

  Hello,
  as i am new to this hobby i'd like to get your input on my planned tank inmates.
  
  I would like to keep a tank with mostly sps, softies and invertibr and minimum fish.
  
  Tips/suggestions/comments pls.
  I'm planning on using T5's only, will this be enought?
  Does this require lots of rock?
  Feeding?
  How 'natural' is this ?
• 

  Starfire vs ordinary glass

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 9:07am CST by Mo_G

  those that have used both, is there a big difference in coral colour ( sps, lps, clams, etc) between starfire and ordinary clear glass?
  
  does anyone have before and after pics or a site that does?
  
  thanks
• 

  20k 250w MH vs 10k 250MH

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 8:48am CST by Ridwaan

  Howzit guys...
  
  I am in the process of thinking of changing over to 250w MH with some confusion...
  
  Im a guy that likes the blue effect and Ive heard that some guys are using 250w MH 20k and getting good growth and colouration out of their SPS???
  
  The ive heard that 20k wont cut it and i need 10k for growth....
  
  The 20k has a nice effect...:yeahdude:
  
  Eish, I dunno what to do...Your help will be appreciated..:thumbup:
• 

  Guesthouses in CT

  Posted: January 8th, 2010, 8:32am CST by FransSny

  Hi guys,
  
  does anyone know of a decent guesthouse in claremont area ? The missus is starting work on monday & we can only move into our new home on 1 Feb
• 

  Thank you

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 8:20pm CST by vatso

  I would like to thank all the people on this site & at the shops that have helped me with my marine tank
  
  I am very glad to be part of this group of fine people & promise to do my bit to help new people as well
  
  thanks again
  
  Mark
• 

  Need Plastic buckets

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 8:16pm CST by vatso

  Hi All
  
  I am going to start water changes this weekend & need some plastic buckets - where can I get near midrand?
  
  I need 20 Lt buckets for now - does anyone have old buckets they get when buying salt?
  
  
  thanks
  Mark
• 

  Feeding Copperband Butterflies

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 8:15pm CST by Kunhardt

  I bought a CBB about 1 and a half months ago, still healthy and going strong. I was lucky to get one that was already eating, it devours blood worm like there is no tomorrow, physically attacking the syringe when it hits the water.
  
  I have seen quite a few CBB's in members tanks on the forum and was wondering what they feed theirs and how often do they feed them as I have heard that Blood worm is not good enough to sustain a fish long term, is this true?
  
  I do dose the blood worm with vitamins and leave it to soak for a few hours before feeding so he should be getting his vitimin fix right, and like Achilles mine too seems to nibble at nori now and again, obviously figured its a food source from the tangs?
  
  I have tried getting him onto flakes but mixing it in with the blood worm in the syringe, but he takes the flakes and spits them out afterwards...little teaser he is!
• 

  [FS] 80w T5 ballasts and globes

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 7:46pm CST by Warr7207

  Single Ballast - R 100
  
  Dual Ballast - R150
  
  T5 80w Geisemann Globes (4 months old) - 15000K and Actinic - R 120 each
• 

  Some things I got new in my tank

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 5:53pm CST by vatso

  Hi all see the pics I took of some of the things in my tank - Thank you Martin
  
  Oh and my fish is stupid keeps attacking it's self!!
  
  what's up with that??
  
  Please can some one give me the names of the stuff - I like my grass it's just started coming out when I look the pic
  
  thanks Mark
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  White Balance - a simple explination

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 5:51pm CST by Ross

  I thought a quick rundown on White Balance might be appropriate:
  
  White Balance (WB) is the term that we use to refer to the color temperature of a light source, and is measured in Kelvin.
  
  All light sources are not pure white. This is actually easier to explain to you guys as you know there is a huge colour difference between you MH or T5s in your tank. The colour difference is actually the colour temperature of those lights. I actually like to think of MH vs Actinics here... the MH get super hot, but they are almost pure white when you look at them (um, no don't go look directly into them) whereas the nice Actinics are cool blue.
  
  If we start to look at WB as far as digital photography is concerned, mid-day sun is almost pure white at 5500K and Sunrise and Sunset are very yellow at 3500K. Your eyes adjust for this change in colour temperature and colours always look much the same to you. The digital sensor in your camera however is not so clever and can not adjust for this. This is where WB comes in.
  
  Your digital camera needs a reference point which represents white to it, and from this reference point it can now calculate all the other colours. As an example, if you shine a powerful halogen light on a white wall, the wall will look yellow. With the right setting in your camera, the sensor will know that wall should be white and will adjust all other colours to that reference point.
  
  Most digital cameras have a auto WB feature and this is what most people will use. This works by taking an overall view of the scene and then letting the software calculate what it thinks is the right WB reference point. This works most times but it really is a hit and miss situation that can leave you with some rather undesirable results.
  
  Most if not all DSLR cameras today will allow you to choose a preset WB or set a custom one. This will produce a much better result then auto WB but you need to get it right, and you need to remember to change it to suit the shooting situation.
  
  One way to overcome this problem is to shoot in RAW mode on your camera. Then when it comes to post processing of this RAW file on the computer, you are able to play with the preset WB setting or even put in custom ones. I personally never use presets on the camera or on the computer. To me the colour is always to cold and I prefer to make my images a lot warmer. This of course is a personal preference.
  
  Here is a quick table of colour temperature in Kelvin
  
  Color Temp Light Source
  1000-2000 K Candlelight
  2500-3500 K Tungsten Bulb (household variety)
  3000-4000 K Sunrise/Sunset (clear sky)
  4000-5000 K Fluorescent Lamps
  5000-5500 K Electronic Flash
  5000-6500 K Daylight with Clear Sky (sun overhead)
  6500-8000 K Moderately Overcast Sky
  9000-10000 K Shade or Heavily Overcast Sky
  
  Just a little more info from my personal experiences (you can stop reading here if your head is spinning)
  
  There are many ways to find the ideal WB when actually shooting but probably the most fool proof and believe it or not in this hobby, the cheapest, is to get your hands on a 18% Grey card. This is a cardboard or plastic card that is 18% grey. When you want to find the WB for your scene, you shoot an image with this card in the center of the image. The next step is dependent on your camera and you would have to look it up in the manual, but the low down is you would then tell the camera to use this grey image as a custom WB ref point and it will use this setting until you decided to change it. I am not sure if it would work or even if I would try it (certainly not with cardboard) in a marine aquarium. Something I have done on location a few times is get the card in the scene, don't bother with the custom setting at all and just shoot. As long as you don't change setting to much and the shooting conditions remain fairly constant, when you get these images onto your puter, you are able to select the grey card as your white point and then process all your RAW images with these WB settings. (I am sorry if this sounds way complicated, but I could go on about WB and RAW images for days and each subject could take up huge streams of data.)
  
  The one great thing with our tanks, is once we have found the right WB, it should always be the same until light units or types of lights are changed. Play around with you camera and see what works best for you, then try work with that till you get the image you want.
• 

  Quick Question ??

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 4:53pm CST by Warr7207

  Where would this coral prefer to be mounted ? If I leave it on the substrate will it grow on to the sand ?
  
  
• 

  Aiptasia killer?

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 4:49pm CST by Nsteyn

  Here is a nice link if you are struggling with some aiptasia.
  
  aiptasia control
  
  What do you guys think about the Sodium Hydroxide method??
• 

  Water Visibility on Vetchis Pier

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 4:27pm CST by chrisb

  Could someone please tell me what the visibility on Vetchi's is like at the moment as im thinking of coming down from Pmb tomorrow? Will it be worth my while. Thanks
• 

  Newbee

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 3:10pm CST by bluefronted

  Hi All, :wave2:
  
  I am from Centurion Pretoria and would like to know where can I find reputable dealers of marine equipment in and around Pretoria. I'm also willing to travel anywhere in Gauteng to dealers.
  
  I was in Durban over Xmas and visited Northland Pets and that's where the bug bit me.
  
  Bluefronted
• 

  chaeto is.... what exactly?

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 2:57pm CST by Garethmur

  Hi can someone please tell me what chaeto is and also coraline, ive seen them brought a crap load of times in the threads but cant find an image of it in google images.....
  
  Oh wait, this time its spelled correctly... not cheato but chaeto.... ooohhhhh...:whistling:
  
  
  
  but still cant find colaline, only brings up images of the coraline movie... :confused1:
  
  
  
  Thanks
• 

  the huge nanoreefblog giveaway

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 1:36pm CST by Curvball

  
  Grab all the details over here: nanoreefblog.com
  
  
  Good luck!
  
  (Mods, couldn't find a general reef news section:whistling:, so placed this here - if not suitable, please move the thread or delete it if need be. Thanks)
• 

  January photo comp- Clowns hosting and annenome's (OPEN THREAD)

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 11:52am CST by crispin

  Ok guys,
  here is the open thread to post pics for the January photo comp. I have changed the theme slightly so that we can include pics of clowns hosting in all the strange corals which they use as well as in nennies, and also of nennies themeslves. this includes all annenomies (sand, tube and true nennies!!!)
  
  Use this thread to post your pics, and the forum can chat and discuss them, perhaps give additional pointers that can improve the pic. Then use the STICKY thread for your top three submissions. NOTE ONLY THREE PICS WILL BE ACCEPTED PER MONTH AND THAT WILL BE YOUR FIRST THREE SUBMISSIONS INTO THE STICKY THREAD. choose them carefully!
• 

  Divers help stop voracious lionfish Fishy invaders

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 11:42am CST by flipwhip

  Dont no if any of you saw this in the Daily News yesterday: Quite interesting.
  
  Daily News: Divers help stop voracious lionfish Fishy invaders
• 

  January Photo Competition

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 11:21am CST by viper357

  Happy 2010 greetings everyone. :)
  
  Welcome to our first photo competition of the year.
  
  Following the enjoyment and quality of the photos MASA got for the 2010 calendar competition we will be running a small monthly competition. Leslie, Tobes, and Crispin are going to be the selection panel with some invited help from some of the professional photographers we have on MASA. The competition will run from January to June and each month we will choose 2 winning photo's to go into the calendar for 2011.
  
  We will also try to get the ‘pro panel’ to do some constructive criticism of the three best so that we can all learn what makes for a good picture.
  
  IT IS OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE THAT WE GET THE HIGH DEFINITION PHOTO FOR PRINTING. WITHOUT THAT THE PHOTO WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. Please don’t submit a photo unless you have the high definition stored as well.
  
  Each month will be themed with a wild card entry for each month. That means if you have a really good pic of something marine related that is not themed then by all means submit it and the ‘wild card’ entry will allow for that.
  
  We are looking for great pics. So if you are good with post shoot editing then by all means use it. If you don’t have a big macro lens or a fancy pants camera, don’t worry, take the shots and submit them pics, they will be judged on context of subject as much as on clarity and focus points. This isn’t a photo comp for pro photographers, it’s a fun way to submit the pics you’ve taken, it will help if the pic is in focus so those iphone cameras aren’t likely to cut it though! Do what you can to make the best possible pics, but the judging will be done by the panel each month and the decisions are final.
  
  Have fun guys. :)
  
  The rules:

  • Each member may only submit 3 photo's each month
  • All photo's must be your own
  • You must keep the original full sized photo to be emailed to us if you win
  • NO date/time stamps on the photo's
  • You may make minor adjustments to your photo's using photoshop or other editing software, as long as the photo still looks natural

  As an added bonus this year we would like to thank Henk Hugo from Peckoltia Enterprises - Importers of OmegaOne in South Africa who has very generously offered to be the official sponsor of this competition and has offered up a prize for each winner comprising of 3 tubs of Omega One food.
  
  
• 

  Members My Tank Posts

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 10:32am CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  The people that do my Tanks Posts
  
  Please can you put pictures of your completed tanks / stage in the first post you start as when I try looking at your tanks I have to try work out which post has the final pictures.
  
  Just an idea
  
  Mark
• 

  [FS] new 18inch mags and tyres

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 10:26am CST by preshan

  Hi i have a new set of 18inch mags and tyres
  5x112 pcd to fit vw golf 5 & 6 gti seat leon cupra and audi
  225 x40 x18 inch brigstone re05 tyres
  
  
  Preshan
• 

  Moving LR

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 10:05am CST by FransSny

  Hi guys,
  
  havent been on the forum really but belated HAPPY NEW YEAR to all !
  
  As some know already I will be moving to CT end of the month and would like some thoughts on a few things:
  
  I have sold most LS (what's left will probably be braught up at a later stage when my system can handle it). I am however sitting with 200 + KG's of LR, with still the odd mushroom growing on it..really one or two, and the balance of my aptasia farm :P.
  
  Having to travel over two days, would it be worth the effort in attempting to keep the LR alive in containers with heaters & airstones (how much die off will there be), or do I kill whatever life is inside and start over, or sell it off (not keen on this option). The same goes for about 120 kg's DSB ?
  
  I am worried as the containerss will be on the back of my bakkie
• 

  Hermit Crabs

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 10:01am CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  Do hermit crabs fight one another?
  
  Riaanp your big ass hermit is fighting one of my smaller hermits.
  
  is this normal?
  
  Mark
• 

  foxcoral been damaged

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 9:33am CST by Lorri

  My foxcoral was damaged during a water change and now it has started receding. The skeleton has begun to show. Help!
  What can I do to stop the damage from spreading and save the coral.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  The Additives Poll

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 9:32am CST by Neil H

  Please vote for which of the following you use at least once a month...
  
  
  Calcium (dry)
  Calcium (wet)
  Calcium (reactor)
  Magnesium
  Strontium
  Iodene
  Stability
  Microbactor
  probidio
  Alkalinity Builder & Ph Buffer
  Trace elements
  Carbon
  zeolites
  Iron
  Potassium
  Amino Acids
• 

  Additives Poll

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 9:03am CST by Neil H

  I am interested in seeing who uses what additives on a regular basis, lets say at least once a month.............obviously choosing multiple answers is acceptable
  
  Mods can you please create a poll with the following and any additional additives you think is relevant
  
  Calcium (dry)
  Calcium (wet)
  Calcium (reactor)
  Magnesium
  Strontium
  Iodene
  Stability
  Microbactor
  probidio
  Alkalinity Builder & Ph Buffer
  Trace elements
  Carbon
  zeolites
  Iron
  Potassium
  Amino Acids
  
  Please add more to the list if required
• 

  [FS] [FS] RC Monster Truck

  Posted: January 7th, 2010, 8:25am CST by vatso

  RC Truck for sale or to trade for aquarium equipment.
• 

  Urgent Advice - No Power - No Air Stone

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 10:08pm CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  I have no power - I have connected my airpump from my UPS none sine wave but I don't have an air stone it's just pumping large bubbles will that be okay??
  
  Thanks
  
  Mark
• 

  PlayStation 3

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 10:06pm CST by RiaanP

  Oh well, it was bound to happen.
  
  I WANT TO UPGRADE
  
  After a lot of thought, designing my future tank or setup. I designed a nice 800mm cube, but NonReefer says I mess to much water and so she do not want it in the house. Designed a 3 tier tank, almost like Lanzo one display, with middle tank only 20cm deep to be a frag tank. But I do not have the time to build it.
  
  I also looked around to see if I could not found a affordable second hand tank that I could use. Just to keep my options open. What crap I found. Tanks that is scratched, chipped, bracing loose, internal filter chambers that must come out. Must be drilled.
  
  Then I found this
  
  
  
  
  1.5*.75*.75
  New Starfire glass front
  CLS holes drilled
  Thin long overflow box. (not mounted yet)
  Tank completely stripped and redone - by the professionals - Idol Marines.
  20mm euro bracing
  10mm glass
  20mm bottom
  Black silicone
  
  Problems
  Back panel paint is ugly so this photo's was taken almost done removing it.
  Little bit deep, but I like softies leathers and LPS. Needs some baserock.
  
  Biggest problem, need the time to work on this project.:(
• 

  Urgent Advice - Bubble Anemone shrinking away

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 9:18pm CST by Drk

  My bubble tip anemone is shrinking and do not want to eat what can I do?
• 

  Mushrooms and Hammer Problem

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 9:12pm CST by charlv

  Hi All
  
  I need some help here mushrooms very small and my hammer losing the green tips what i can see can anyone advice me what to do
• 

  Crazy Nemo?

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 6:25pm CST by JDgr8

  Hi All
  
  It seems I always have to post these crazy questions...b but, I've just finished a 10% water change and suddenly Nemo (my clown fish) started acting crazy.
  
  I've had Nemo and his missus for more than a year now and never observed his crazy behaviour. He is suddenly "burrowing" his belly in the sand and every now and then he looks like he's having a fit. Don't laugh! His body goes through these jerky movements for a second or two and then he's normal for a few minutes, before doing these crazy things.
  
  Could it have something to do with the water change? Water parameters are all fine.
  
  Please help!
• 

  Urgent Advice - Tank about to break

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 1:10pm CST by danimal

  Hey guys
  
  I noticed the other day some bubbles appearing in the silicone between the front and side glass panes. Was pretty sure they hadn't been there before, and so monitored them for a few days... they are increasing in size noticeably, therefore it is simply a matter of time before my lounge becomes a pool and I become single!
  
  My plan is to drain the tank tomorrow; I am organising a standby tank from a mate this evening to keep livestock in for the few days this will take to remedy. I will then remove the front panel and re-silicone it in place, adding more bracing. Holding thumbs the livestock all make it though...
  
  Any advice? Anyone else been through something similar?
• 

  strontium

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 12:26pm CST by frankie fish

  just a quick question,,whats the alternative for buying strontium 4rom the lfs? Nowadays i luv visiting the pharmacy,i save a hell lot of money on supplements.
• 

  R95 per hermit at lifestyle!!

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 11:57am CST by Furbz

  bwa haha ho ho ho hahaha!!
  
  wait...
  
  wait....
  
  ah hahahaha!!
• 

  Urgent Advice - Chromis with Bulging white eye

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 10:26am CST by Titanse

  Hi Guys
  
  My one bi-colour chromis (have 5) has a white bulging eye. Don;t think he can see out of it at all.. and it seems to be staying the same. Started out as a white eye then over night bulged out.
  
  Know how to try fix this?? And what could have happened?
  
  Thanks
• 

  Starfish

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 9:45am CST by Dean76

  I would like to find out if starfish are hard to keep? Was looking at a red starfish. Is there any important info that one should know that the LFS would not tell you?
• 

  split fin or fin rott

  Posted: January 6th, 2010, 8:29am CST by toppdogg

  hey guys
  
  i need your help about a week ago i got an empror angel and put him in tank i did notice that that some of his where split and looked like another fish had bullied him
  then he got spot and treated for that. i see that his fins are looking worse than ever
  he is not battling to swim at the mo but i am scared that it is going to get worse and i am going to loose him as he may not be able to swim
  
  so my question is has anyone else had this problem and what can i use to treat it ?
  please help i really love to see him become an adult
• 

  New Guy

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 10:50pm CST by Tony Ingram

  Hi all i am very new to all this i just got a nano cube 24 and i would like to know how to get it going properley
• 

  N _e _w _b _y

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 3:15pm CST by nemo_jhb

  Hi there guys! :wave2:
  Hmm... 1st impressions last, so where would be a good start...
  
  Well ever since I can remember, I've always wanted a Marine tank!
  I was 1st introduced to marine tanks when I was about 7 years old. I was down in Durban on holiday visiting some distant family & this guy (let’s call him Uncle Mohamed - 'cos every Muslim has an Uncle Mo) :razz:, Uncle Mo, had probably the most magnificent & inspiring tanks a 7year old could ever lay eyes on (for that matter even an adult). It was probably about 2meters long, had tons of live rock, coral, & fish. It was placed in the dining room & I remember staring at it for hours & having a cold lunch & dinner... Since then I have always been intrigued...
  
  Anyways enough of my aimless reminiscing, I have finally gotten around to buying my 1st tank!
  It was actually quite pre-mature due to my recent purchase of my 1st home & I figured it would’ve taken me at least six months to save-up enough again for a decent system. Long story short I came across an ad, made an offer, & then purchased my 1st tank!
  
  BOYU TL-550 (128l) – Used but in good condition
  RedSea Prizm Skimmer – Practically new, about 3months old
  10/12kg Bio Rock
  Small test Kit (Ammonia)
  1kg Charcoal
  2kg Crushed Coral
  Kalkwasser
  Calcium Supplement
  Some tubing
  Boyu Heater
  Boyu Air Pump
  
  All this for R1600 (I think it was a bargain from the little knowledge I have picked up from the forums thus far)
  
  I want to do as much as possible with regards to mods/upgrades now, over the next 3/4months so that when I do start-up the tank I want the least amount of issues. I don’t mind spending, but due to the new house my current financial constraints means lotsa patience! (Funnily enough I heard that’s key to a healthy tank)
  I have searched the net and found some decent mods/upgrades that are possible for this tank.
  Since I have a decent skimmer for now (I think), figured I’d upgrade the lighting this month.
  PLANS: (BTW i wanna keep LR, fish & corals)
  Skimmer – RedSea Prizm
  Upgrade lighting - 4.5Watts per Gallon (Currently 3Watts per Gallon – using PC’s, 50/50, 24Watts)
  Upgrade Cooling - Add 1 more exhaust fan in lid & make more ventilation holes
  Upgrade Heater - 200Watt
  Upgrade Air Pump - not sure suggestions pls
  Wave Maker - not sure suggestions pls
  Substrate - DSB (10cm), heard Aragonite is really good...?
  LR - About 10kg Cured (Kenyan/Fiji)
  Filteration – not sure suggestions pls (I have 4 compartments at the rear of the tank)
  
  Any suggestions on the filtration...? Been to a few LFS and most said pieces of LR & a deep sand bed, a few said good quality ceramic rings, bio-balls, etc...
  Have I missed anything out...?
  If any of u have comments or further suggestions I can only learn... Thanks! :biggrin:
• 

  CLS pump Options

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 1:39pm CST by Neil H

  guys I am looking for advice on pumps for a CLS....;)
  
  ideally i am looking for something in the region of 30 000Lph to 40 000Lph .....
  
  any suggestions
  
  the only thing i have found that comes close is a pool pump but the electricity usage would be prohibitive i think
• 

  From dad, to dad... a late Christmas present

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 12:56pm CST by Reef Maniac

  It's taken many years of hard work, but Farther Christmas has FINALLY brought me my first white lens - a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS :thumbup: :yeahdude: :slayer: I suppose that I can't blame him for only delivering it on the 5th of January - that lens is BIG and HEAVY :biggrin:
  
  
  
  
  
  Now all I need to do is to learn how to take decent photos :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
  
  Hennie
• 

  Seio M820

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 11:45am CST by aslam

  Hi,looking for a m820,with or with out magnet mount.Thanks
• 

  Tyres, which should I go for?

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 11:29am CST by lIghty

  Hi
  
  I'm need to replace the tyres on my 2.7VVT-i Hilux 2x4, I'm currently running on BF Goodrich A/T 30x9.5-15. They have proven themselves to be good, strong, reliable tyres, and with about 55 000Km and never a puncture, they seem fair wearing, although I do ride with a very heavy foot. A really good feature of them is that they have a 3 ply sidewall, helping eliminate any sidewall damage. I do a fair amount of "offroad" driving as I'm in the construction field, although its not like climbing Everest (but I did go up Sani Pass;)) it does sometime get a little nasty.
  
  I'm also considering the "new" Goodyear Wrangler "AT/SA" 265/75-15 (All terrain / silent Armour) which has a Kevlar composite strip for protection, but after reading up on them some say they have had problems with balancing.
  
  Any comment or thoughts would be appreciated.
  
  Thanks
• 

  Changing Mindset

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 11:16am CST by Tiger

  This is my first day back at the office and I would like to wish all of you happy reefing for 2010!
  
  As we enter this year I would like to share the following with you:
  
  In this hobby it is strange that just when you think you have mastered or got to grips with something, the carpet gets pulled from underneath your feat.
  
  Over my time with MASA I came to learn allot and then had to re-learn things as they change and more research blew old theories out of the water.
  
  I would like to share the following thoughts/questions with you and hope that by doing this we will brake more boundaries and expand our horizons even more during 2010 by opening our mindsets to new and crazy ideas on how to plan and keep the ultimate marine systems.
  
  · Why is it when we first started this hobby with under gravel and canister filters, some coral species where "Easy" to keep while those "Easy" corals are now classified as "Difficult" to keep. And "difficult" corals then, are now "easy" to keep. Have we really moved forward or have we just shifted our focus to cater for corals we could not keep in early days?
  · Why is every reefer so focused on maintaining constant water temperature, when in fact the water temperature for some parts of the ocean change from day to day, week to week and month to month pending, seasons, weather, currents and climate. This water temperature change also change the behavior of the fish and corals, meaning cooler water will require less activity and more activity with warmer waters. Should we implement these principles in our systems?
  · Are we keeping trend with the amount of corals being removed from our oceans. In my research over the past couple of days I have found loads of evidence stating that due to the amount of corals being removed from licensed areas, divers have to dive deeper and deeper to find the exact same corals that could be found on top of swallow reefs in earlier years. Are corals adapting faster to the change in food, flow and light conditions that originally anticipated? Meaning the deeper the coral was found under water, the less light it requires, the more food it needs and different water movements requirements.
  · Are we basing all of our research on real live reef systems in the oceans or the farms or even licensed areas they were grown or harvested, which can be very different from almost un-touched reef systems?
  · Are we as humans getting so caught up in technology that we forget about the basic things that keep the ocean clean and healthy?
  · Are we creating eco systems in our aquariums or are we just buying all the pretty corals and fish and then individually try and keep them alive?
  
  
  For now this is what I have on my mind... There are many, many more theories, myths and questions so please share them with us.
  
  Let’s challenge ourselves this year to change our mindsets and think out of the box more often.. .
  
  Let’s try and make people with questions find the answers themselves, and see how they challenge the people that think they know the answers!!:razz:
• 

  Bullet proof Reef tank

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 11:01am CST by sean_koekemoer

  Check out this link, and read thru, especially the sentence regarding the no skimmer stage:
  
  [www.garf.org]
• 

  Gorgonian / Menella ID please

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 10:34am CST by Jaco Schoeman

  Hey guys...
  
  I have searched google from pillar to post, and I just can not find any ID on the two gorgonians I have in my tank. Can anyone assist me please? They are both in excellent shape and they are growing, but I would just like to put a name to them:
  
  
  
  
  
  And then this baby, it has VERY small polyps, about 0.5-1mm max. It has a pinkish purplish color under whiter light, yet here it looks blue from the actinics. This is a VERY petite and fragile, and when the polyps are extended it looks like snow or wool on the gorgonian:
  
  
  
  
  
  Thanks in advance...
• 

  Reef Books which ones?

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 10:09am CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  I am wanting to get reading more about our hobby which books are best to read & are they in any PDF / Ebook format?
  
  Thanks
  Mark
• 

  top up water

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 9:21am CST by vatso

  hi there i am using around 10tlr a day of ro top up water??
  
  on a 250 ltr tank that is like 5% per day is that normal or 2 much?
  
  Mark
• 

  TOTM for 2010!

  Posted: January 5th, 2010, 8:39am CST by dallasg

  Happy new year to all!!!
  
  just an update, i am going to start the TOTM today and hopefully have it done in a day or so.
  
  This year i will try not be too late with them!
  
  to all those that won in 2009! congratulations again
• 

  Sandstone ???

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 11:50pm CST by naughtydragons

  Hi guys, my friend brought me a piece of very porous, light coloured, rock from mosselbay, on the beach, some say its sandstone, can i use sandstone in marine tank, what is the way to cure it, does anybody have some info please
• 

  My Zoas not opening

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 11:13pm CST by kukkieb

  Hi I got these Zoas on Wednesday and they still havent opened up, I am getting worried :(
  
  
  
  Does anyone knw why they wont open up, its been 6 days. My GSP are growing like crazy and my parameters are good. Could Someone plz advise me what to do
  
  Brandon
• 

  Quarantine Existing Reef Tank

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 9:31pm CST by Andreas

  Hi Guys,
  
  I've just about had it with whitespot and want to give my inmates the best living conditions possible.
  
  I've been battling with WS for a couple of months now after adding a Blond Naso that didn't eat and eventually died. My problem is that I already have a small collection of fish that would need adequate space so that no fighting/aggression takes place.
  
  What size quarantine setup would suffice for 2 X Yellow Tangs, Sailfin Tang, Regal Tang,Naso Queen Angel, Emperor Angel, Midas Blenny, Bi-Color Angel, Coral Beauty, Flame Angel, 2 Common Clowns and a maroon clown.
  
  Any other advice would be greatly appreciated:)
• 

  T5's reflectors DIY

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 8:11pm CST by kgem

  Hi, Where can I buy T5 reflectors, prefer 1 sheet if possible.
• 

  fish food and it's nutrition

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 4:43pm CST by magman

  what is the fish food to feed with regards to it's nutrion or advantages.
  
  I know bloodworm is not too nutrional, but I have found for new caught fish it gets them taking to frozen the best, when they on frozen and know the feeding regime, then I change.
  Then there is brine that is only nutritional in the first 24 hours of hatching, then howcome artemia is so popular with all of us. Is it because of what the artemia was fed prior to freezing
  
  I feed a big mix, flakes, pacific krill, artemia, live brine, red plankton, bloodworm, nori, muscles, grated crayfish, My fish are all active and very fat with good flow in the tank, but I want to improve their nutrition and maybe feed smaller portions. Whats your view on food and it's nutrition.
• 

  Skimmer Sizing

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 4:35pm CST by shane

  Hi Guys,
  I have encountered a problem with my DIY skimmer and now I am looking into getting another skimmer. I would prefer an in sump skimmer to fit into the first compartment of my sump. This compartment is 270 mm wide by 500 mm long.
  Are there any skimmers out there that once assembled with pump and plumbing that would fit into this space?
  I would also be interested in a second hand skimmer, so if anyone has one that they would be selling and it would fit this space please let me know.
  Cheers
• 

  boxies,

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 4:12pm CST by magman

  how safe are boxies in a mixed reef with inverts, softies, lps, anenomes etc, I could of caught a few the otherday but left them? I know they release a poisen if stressed, but will be in 700l system
• 

  Re scaping

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 4:09pm CST by maj

  My tank has been running for 3 months now,got some livestock,but iv decided that my LR needs to be moved around/rescuplted.(ned to allow more flow thru LR)
  would this cause a mini cycle to occur??(im not intending to remove the LR,just move it about inside the tank)
  
  Should i take out my Livestock,as its quite abit of moving around im gona do,or leave them in?
  
  Livestock
  2 dancing shrimp
  Cleaner wrasse
  Foxface
  African Clown
  
  various soft corals
• 

  Copepod eating Flat Worm... ?

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 3:02pm CST by wors143

  
  
  I saw on the net that these guys are classified as coped eating flatworms.. Looks alien to me and only come out when lights go out at night.... Anyone have any experience with these guys? Are the good or bad?
• 

  Synyster's Updated Pics

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 2:15pm CST by SynysterGates

  Hey All
  
  Here are a few updated pics of my livestock, enjoy:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  Rock Scaping on eggcrate help?

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 1:52pm CST by neo

  Hello,
  I've been advised to put my rock on eggcrate to counter point-loading, how do I actually go about doing this? anyone with pics?
  The scaping I've looked at so far has the substrate right up to the rocks so i cant see any eggcrate.
  Thx.
• 

  Looking for chiller and other equip for a 1400L

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 1:41pm CST by brentv

  Hey guys,
  I'm asking if anyone out there has a chiller, skimmer, calcium reactor to run a 1400L tank... the new prices are crazy!!!
• 

  Minimalist Aquascaping Idea's

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 1:40pm CST by Neil H

  I thought i would post some pics i have saved over the last while while looking at many of the international forums..... there is a similar thread on reefcentral which many of the pics come from (hope no-one is too grumpy about me posting here)
  
  I am interested in MASA opinions of minimalistic aquascaping and any pics of this sort of scaping ....
  
  
  The original Bonsai inspired tank .... stunning
  
  
  Love the combination of sps and NPS, but must be a nightmare to work under those monti's
  
  
  
  A FW example of taking it to the extreme...
  
  
  
  cyrstal white sand would look spectacular here
  
  
  A room divider tank ...... absolutley amazing
  
  
  
  the beginnings of something that could be awesome
  
  
  Not sure how i feel about this one.....
  
  
  would be spectacular with some NPS under the cave......
  
  
  from Japan.... notice the different lighting for the deep water corals (40K)
  
  the acro's on the left
  
  
  by its very nature minimal is not always natural, but this imo seems too unnatural
  
  
  would love to see this one when it is mature
  
  
  seems like a lot of wasted space under the arch .....
  
  
  i think this has a lot of potential
  
  
  I dont like this spiderweb look but love the black sand ..... mask :nono:
• 

  Return pump and one way valves for power cuts.

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 12:52pm CST by magman

  Hey all,
  
  I am keen on going closed loop, but want to run it from my return, I have been thinking of a high return system using the closed loop. but will those one way valves work in case of power cuts?
• 

  solar panel to power lighting?

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 12:04pm CST by mandarinman

  does anyone have info, contacts, pricing, plans on how to go solar on marine tank lighting, maybe starting with one panel and sizing up when finances allow?
• 

  Irrigation Fittings Beware

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 11:13am CST by keyaam

  Hi guys
  
  Over the weekend I had to assist a buddy whos tank sprung a leak on the plumbing. He used the normal irrigation fittings and they corroded. I didnt get a chance to take pics but please rather stick to using the regular PVC fittings and ensure that these are properly bonded together with PVC weld. Here is a sample of the fitting
  
• 

  Bid or Buy

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 11:07am CST by sean_koekemoer

  Read here (Copied from the Outdoor Photo Site- sure they would not mind):
  
  Bid or Buy, school fees or just stupid?
  Sometimes a bargain might just be more expensive than you thought.
  
  This is a warning to anyone wanting to buy something on Bid or Buy and I just want to share my experience.
  
  Seller by the name of "shooters" advertise a Canon 450D, twin lense kit. Looking at the rating (at that stage 98%) with almost no complaints I though this could be a bargain. Looking for a decent DSLR for my daughter and a package for less than R10000-00, this could just be saving me some money. Well to make the story short, I won the auction for R4950-00. With postage the amount paid over was R5150-00.
  What a bargain!!!!
  http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/jsp/item/I...adeId=17367011
  
  E-mail send with proof of payment, got confirmation from Lizelle (owner), 10 days and I will have the 450D. My daughter was over the moon.
  
  I thought let me make a plan to get it quicker. Contacted the seller again, my question: Cant I come through to collect the item? (Heidelberg) No response. Tried to phone, No response. Things started to look bleak. After 5 days I notified the Bid or Buy complaints department. Looked in the forum and see BOB response, just wait, good rating, spoke to them, items will be send.
  
  Since then the scam was uncovered and ME and a lot of others lost the amount of +- R1.2 million. There were people spending up to R25000-00.
  
  A few of us immediately open cases at the SAPS and "Shooters", Lizelle and her partner have been arrested, appeared in court, got bail and will be back in court on the 14 Feb 2010. My R5150 are most likely down the drain as we all know how it works.
  
  Sites like BOB have almost no protection for the buyer and bluntly refused to act when alerted about the problem. A few of us that got scammed got hold of each other and within a day we had the adress and details of Lizelle. This was past on to other victims but got deleted immediately. BOB policy, no private details on forum. After several other complaints they waited for Shooters first to pay their commision before blacklisting them. On their forum they delete post if its not in their favour and only reacted almost 2 weeks later.
  
  Be warned, learn from my stupidity. Rather buy from a recognised dealer with proper after sale service and good communication.
  
  Read more here.....
  http://forum.bidorbuy.co.za/forum-co...-shooters.html
• 

  Hey

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 10:15am CST by Lockes

  I am new to posting but been browsing the forums for a while but thought it was time to say Hi........
  
  A brief Reefing history
  
  Started with a 35l Nano, then a 1,2 m serious DIY with plastic Sump, then a 1.5 m and now finally the 1.8m reef tank which keeps me too busy
  
  I still have more plans but that will come eventually
• 

  Nano Equipment

  Posted: January 4th, 2010, 10:13am CST by Lockes

  Can anyone help me with sourcing the following in SA??
  
  1. 29gal HQI nanocube
  2. Sunpod HQI Metal Halide
  3. K-2 Viper Deluxe HQI Lamp
• 

  Brand new 24G JBJ NanoCube + CaribSea Figi Pink Aragonite: Johannesburg - Blairgowrie

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 3:37am CST by Matt

  Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

  Brand new 24G JBJ NanoCube + CaribSea Figi Pink Aragonite

  Location:

  Johannesburg - Blairgowrie

  Shipping or Collection only:

  Collection only

  Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

  Tank and aragonite is BRAND NEW. Has never seen water - i'm selling this as i have decided to do something a little different.
  
  R1700 for everything
  
  
  
  24G JBJ Nanocube (90L) - great nano cube. Here's some info off the website:
  The Nano Cube DX elegant system offers panoramic viewing with smooth rounded glass corners, built-in 3 stage filtration system, and a powercompact lights.
  The 24 gallon Deluxe nanocube system has a heavy duty ABS top that can be flipped back and held in place for tank cleaning and feeding.
  Aquarium Measures 18” (L) x 19.6” (W) x 19.7” (H).
  Great For Freshwater and saltwateruse
  The Deluxe Nano Cube comes standard with two 60 x 60 mm cooling fans, 2 x 36 watt combo bulbs and remote ballast, 290 GPH submersible pump.
  BLUE LED LIGHTS for nightime viewing
  Surface skimmer included
  
  
  Lit by 2 x 36W PC lights (total 72 W) hood has built in fans to remove heat, and unlike BOYU units the ballast is seperate from the hood so it does not create extra heat!
  
  
  6kg CaribSea Aragonite - Figi Pink
  

  Notes:

  -

• 

  Cheap fluorescent starter diy

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 10:34pm CST by herkie

  I have been using this diy for more than a year now and it is cheap, easy and works very well. You will need a energy saver globe the same or preferably slightly higher wattage than the tube you would like to start, a knife,soldering iron and a fluorescent tube of course.
  
  
  Then use a knife and split at the joint.
  
  
  Cut the tube connecting wires off.
  
  
  Next you cut the wires that goes to the mains supply.
  
  The two left hand side wires that was cut off where it feeds tube is now routed to the two connectors on one side of your t8 or t5 tube. The temainding two wires goes to the other side of the tube.
  Then the red and black wires is routed to the 230 volt light supply and your tube will start without blincking.
  I suggest you feed the power to the starter through a plug if you do not have adequate electrical skills.
  Please ensure good soldering connections and insulation of all open wiring is done to avoid electrical shocks.
  I use a short piece of 40 mm PVC pipe to mount the starter in.
  I also keep the dead energy savar globes and use their starters again.
  Other fluorescent types of globes can be started in the same way with different connections.
• 

  snail help needed

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 6:56pm CST by vatso

  Hi there
  
  I just added 2 snails & 2 hermit crabs yesterday afternoon the one snail is happy on the glass of the tank eating as well as the hermits. the one snail is not moving much even when put next to the glass it is doing nothing? maybe it died?
• 

  scuba gear needed

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 6:53pm CST by martinkeyser

  hi all
  
  we saw the maurituis pics, and are now really excited to start scuba diving, can anyone help with what all is needed to start off, best places to buy the gear at the best prices?
  
  Can anyone help
• 

  Softie dying, what to do?

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 5:11pm CST by lIghty

  Hi All,
  
  My one softies has been slowly dying over the last couple weeks, can't understand why, all water parameters are ok, other softies are ok too. I've tried changing positions in the tank, high/low light areas, different flows, but it just doesn't seem to be getting any better. today I had noticed it had actually fallen off the rock, the tissue there it connected to the rock has gone hardish and is flaky, and seems like it splintering of like crystals, doesn't make sense I know but the best description I can make!
  
  I do the regular dosing, inc. strontium, magnesium.
  
  Any ideas?
  
  
  
  
• 

  Ideal reef temperature

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 3:54pm CST by herkie

  When the power cuts started a few years ago I changed my chiller setting to 23 degrees in an attempt to prevent the water temp go higher than 28 degrees when the power is off. My tank temperature went up to 31 degrees once after a long power outage. The chiller can handle much more water than my system capacity so I am not worried that the chiller will be taking strain.
  
  The power is much more reliable lately and I now wonder if I should not up the temperature a bit. The tank gets a lot of condensation on the very hot and humid days and I suspect having the temp higher will limit the condensation.
• 

  Rowaphos?

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 11:21am CST by maj

  Hi,
  
  Where can i purchase this in cape town?Or can i order it via you(D-D)
  
  Also,must this be used in a reactor or can it be used in a filter bag?
• 

  Cyanobacteria (red slime algae) poll

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 10:30am CST by Warr7207

  Just a quick poll to get info on Cyano sufferers and not.
• 

  [FS] Staffies for sale

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 10:04am CST by Drk

  2 staffie puppies for sale one male and one female.
  
  small to medium breed.
  
  Dark brown almost black.
  
  5 weeks old ready to go.
• 

  Too funny!

  Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 9:15am CST by softiegirl

  On the big (4" coral branch) hitching post tonite... 1 acro crab, 1 emerald crab, 3 seahorses, 1 cleaner shrimp and 3 snails. Pretty tight sleeping quarters tonite! lol
• 

  Starter diy for tube lights

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 11:36pm CST by herkie

  I had to do some work on my wife's tank recently and then found starters for 20 watt and smaller tubes are not always easy to find. The other thing that I did not like is paying the same money for a tiny tube's starter as for big tubes. I can understand the cost to build the different size starters must be almost the same but we probably pay en extra on the tube for development and research anyway.
  
  After thinking this over I thought about the standard household energy savers and the way they start. I still had an dead energy saver with about 4 watt stronger output than the tubes I wanted to use and opened it to see how it works. Well it has a tiny printed circuit inside to start it. I used this and connected it to the small tubes I intended to use on the wife's tank and it fired up at the first try!
  
  This was about 8 months ago and I modified 6 energy savers to run the tubes for her tank. Well all of them is still working and it they are quite a lot cheaper on top of it.
  
  I later fitted the little starters inside a PVC pipe to neaten it up and sealed it with some silicone. I will post pics soon.
• 

  My 'new' tank

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 11:11pm CST by herkie

  Hi all, and allow me to wish all of you a fabulous 2010 before I continue!
  
  It is SOOO NICE to do a post after being away for almost two years after I had to break my tank down for a move, then my holding tank cracked and the next try was a failure.
  
  This time around I took 6 months to build and start a 80 l tank that Sean Koekemoer gave to me after he moved his Oscars to his first marine tank.
  
  It is very small and I did not really have great expectations of the tank until it was started up.
  
  Basic specs: Tank 380 x 380 x 540 deep
  Back of tank sump/dsb 380 x 180 x 360 deep
  Main sump 455 x 320 x 310 deep
  Lighting 1 x 150 MH 20000k
  1 x 10 w actinic t8
  Skimmer Reeftek TS2
  
  
  
  
  I will post more detail later
• 

  macro tricks for those without a macro lense

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 9:37pm CST by crispin

  i was bouncing through utube and here is a good demonstration and description of a technique thats often spoken about on masa.
  
  [www.youtube.com]
• 

  black stuff in dsb

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 7:25pm CST by naughtydragons

  Hi guys
  My new dsb was running for about 3 days, then this black stuff appeared, al the way from the top to bottom of dsb, what is it
• 

  Type of macroalgae? Does anyone have some of this in JHB??

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 6:59pm CST by Matt

  What type of macro-algae is this, and does anyone have some for me in JHB
  
  Pic stolen off of kryo's thread from way back when
  
• 

  I present myself:

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 6:40pm CST by khimaira

  I wish you good and happy year 2010..:peroni:.
  
  hello, with all and all .je am will khimaira, with the retirement soon.
  I do not have a fish vat of sea, for lack of place in my apartment.
  But I am impassioned as much by fresh water as of sea water. I start to familiarize me with certain fish like the chirugiens and I want to continue for the corals, as well as the gorgones…. and animals undesirable in a sea water vat. I hope as you to go to learn to me as well full with thing on the material as on fauna with a vat.
  I am sorry if my English is not perfect
  friendship
• 

  Feed Mosquito Larvae

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 5:21pm CST by kukkieb

  Hi I just found some mosquito larvae in a pond outside, I would like to know if I could feed them to my fish ...are they any good
  
  They water they were in was rainwater ...
  
  Thank you
• 

  refungium light

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 3:46pm CST by jimboPE

  Could anyone please give me some advice.
  What is the minimum watts (light) that u can use in a refungium?
  I added a refungium a couple of days ago and im currently just using a plain 100w light bulb.
  I have found a eveready cool daylight energy saver light that 6400k and is 11w but they say it is equavalent to a normal 65w light bulb.
  Do you guys think this bulb would be sufficient?
• 

  Nudi found at Ballito, Reef safe?

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 3:27pm CST by RiaanP

  My son dived this one out. Is it reef safe as he really wants me to take it home.
  
  
  
  Orange with black rim marking around foot. Black plumage and greenish dots at sides.
• 

  [FS] BARGAIN! Brand new 24G JBJ Nano Cube + 6kg Figi Pink Aragonite

  Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 2:19pm CST by Matt

  Tank and aragonite is BRAND NEW. Has never seen water - i'm selling this as i have decided to do something a little different.
  
  24G JBJ Nanocube - great nano cube. Here's some info off the website:
  
  The Nano Cube DX elegant system offers panoramic viewing with smooth rounded glass corners, built-in 3 stage filtration system, and a powercompact lights.
  The 24 gallon Deluxe nanocube system has a heavy duty ABS top that can be flipped back and held in place for tank cleaning and feeding.
  Aquarium Measures 18” (L) x 19.6” (W) x 19.7” (H).
  Great For Freshwater and saltwateruse
  The Deluxe Nano Cube comes standard with two 60 x 60 mm cooling fans, (2) 36 watt combo bulbs and remote ballast, 290 GPH submersible pump.
  BLUE LED LIGHTS for nightime viewing
  Surface skimmer included
  
  
  6kg CaribSea Aragonite - Figi Pink
  
  
  Selling for R1700 - First come first served!
• 

  Planning in progress

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 7:51pm CST by Creep

  This is it. I want to have my own piece of ocean in my house for the last 5 years.
  I’ve worked and studied through a few books. And everyone has their own methods and opinions about setting up a tank. It seems to get more complicated the more research I do.
  I want to start off with a Fish-Only and then move on to a Reef Tank.
  All I want, is to do it right the first time. I want to start this puppy say end of February 2010 so I’ve still got some time to start.
  So far I’ve got.
  A 600L Tank with overflow.
  A sump not sure how many Liters.
  A Deltec In-sump Protein skimmer.APF 600
  A Deltec Kalkwasser.KM500
  A Hailea Return Pump.
  Bio-balls.
  A Top-up System. That is going to be connected to the Deltec Kalkwasser and to flow into the sump.
  1) Now on opinions, the guys at Exotic Aquariums told me to use Bio-balls for filtration. I’ve Read to rather use Activated Carbon. What do I use?
  2) I asked the guys if I can buy a Canister Filter with Activated carbon. And said I don’t need it on the Reef tank. Is this true or false?
  3) Do I put my heater in the sump or in the main display tank?
  4) Another question how do I go about mixing the water? Do I buy a separate water tank fill it with RO water and chuck in some salt-mix and mix?
  5) Do I put the Deltec kalkwasser inside the sump or outside the sump? I want to put it outside the sump for easy access and I don’t think it will fit in the sump with the all pumps, heater if it goes in there, the skimmer and all the filter material.
  6) Do I need a Calcium reactor from the start? If not why?
  7) Where can I buy a good RO unit to fill my 600l tank without all the waste water and the price tag? If there is such a thing.
  The tank is going to have a DSB and LR in the main display tank.
  I still need to buy all the lighting, phosphate reactor, wave makers.
• 

  [W] Live Rock in JHB, any sponsors have good quality?

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 5:03pm CST by Matt

  Do any sponsors have good quality live rock for sale in JHB????
  
  Pls PM me
• 

  Has anyone seen this magazine locally ?

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 2:51pm CST by Warr7207

  Has anyone seen this magazine locally ?
  
  TFH Magazine :: The World's Aquarium Magazine Since 1952
• 

  Sme New Years pics I took

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 1:45pm CST by sean_koekemoer

  Thought I'll share some pics I took last night:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  Difference in calcium supplements

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 1:36pm CST by jimboPE

  Hey guys I some help would be appreciated.
  I just bought some insta-cal by aquapharm.I thought it was actually the one I bought last time (kalkwasser). This product u only have to dissolve in water and add it straight to your tank.They say u can actually add it straight to your sump.
  The question is what is the difference between this and the normal kalkwasser which you have to let stand for a while and then decant the top of.
• 

  Things I got from Ballito Beach

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 1:08pm CST by RiaanP

  I spending the festive season walking distance from Willards Beach.
  
  Things I collected so far.
  
  Nerita Snails (including 2 white nerita's)
  Turbo Coronatus snails
  Normal green Turbo snails
  3 Yellow ring cowrie
  
  Normal Green Zoa's and normal purple Zoa's. And one small 5 polyp luminous green zoa group. And a few button polyps.
  
  4 different types of urchins. All small, long spine, purple short spine, one green banded urchin, reddish short spine.
  
  Halimedia macro algae, bubble caulerpa, green long leave type.
  
  Small dwarf cushion stars,
  
  Large brittle starfish.
  
  Small sea hare
  
  different colour rock anemones.
  
  only 2 hermits.
  
  Nice all sorts collection.
  
  Will try to get a blennie the day before I leave.
• 

  Ammonia & Nitrite Levels at 0 - Now whats next?

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 10:47am CST by vatso

  Hi all
  
  My ammonia & nitrite level are now at 0 after 2 weeks of my tank running
  
  Now what? whats next? do i still wait or can i start adding some live stock?
  
  Thanks
  
  Mark
• 

  Regulated Water Flow

  Posted: January 1st, 2010, 9:35am CST by ted.vanh

  Hi Guys,
  
  Happy 2010 to you all.
  My tank is 1500mm in length and I have 4 powerheads in the tank generating 24000 lph. These powerheads are situated as follows 1 x 6000lph SunSun double barrel & 1 x 6000 lph Seio on both the left and right hand sides of the tank (which is 700mm wide). These run for 24/7 except for the half hour target feed of corals per day, (and I must add that there are no flow problems).
  
  I have been toying with the idea of regulating the flow as follows :
  LHS only - +/- one & half hours
  Both LHS & RHS - -ditto-
  RHS only - -ditto-
  Both LHS & RHS - -ditto-
  Repeating the cycle
  Do you guys think that this will be a good idea?
  Any advice will be welcome.