Reefkeeping South Africa » Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Startup tank - 4ft

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 11:47pm CDT by zombie clam

Let us run a scenario and see what people have to offer...

Lets say I am starting a 4ft tank, I want both hard and soft corals and some fish, I have the tank standing on a frame, it has a 100mm section as a side mounted filter, the tank has no overflow holes drilled so my first impression is going with an overflow sytem of sorts - so - other than asking 1000's of questions and getting nowhere fast, what do I do other than stare and this empty glass box which I am invisiging as the creation of art in who knows how long from now.:P

New and Tankless

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 11:02pm CDT by tekkengal

Hello all,

As you can all see, another newbie has joined :biggrin:

I was referred here by my brother-in-law (shiks) who will be helping me set up a marine tank in about 2 months time (thanks dude!!!). The tank is a Boyu TL550 and currently not in the same province as I, hence me being tankless, lol!

Currently reading up in the last two days as much as I can so that my first tank will not be a complete disaster! It is an information overload but I'm getting to grips with the accronyms, tank cycles and all that good stuff ;)

And I know from some past reading on this forum that everyone here loves pictures so here is one of my bike (yes I know this is not a bike forum but hopefully it will hold it's own until I get my tank up and running):

my best catch yet

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 8:54pm CDT by crispin

i have two sets of anthias in my tank, with two developed males. They have been together as seperate shaols for a while (around 2 months) in 800l system and while one shoal was more retiring that the lyretails there was lots of interaction. Ive watched them closely.

today i missed the smaller male at early morning feed, which isnt that unusual as they are often in the reef and feed on flakes going past. when he missed the afternoon feed i looked carefully but didnt spot him.

ive just seen it lying at the back with battered fins and i assume its been due to inter-male fighting. How to catch a single fish (i am just worried about getting him out as he would not last the night in there I dont think, the other male would finish the job, i fear) in 800l system with 150kg reef and lots of hiding spaces.

i turned off all pumps, lowered a seio 1500 gently behind him, placed a net 5cm infront and tuned the pump on. with some fast net work after he was blown forward by the pump and he went straight in and is now dripping aclimatisating into my small tank untill i can house the whole shoal.

it does mean i have 4 females to catch and i think thats far harder with the reef going to be taken out, but i have time to plan that now i am just pleased to have the male out and into recovery. he does look beaten hard though :(

Old tank = New beginnings

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 8:43pm CDT by FransSny

Ok, my client gave me an ok to start a thread on his tank, so here goes specs so long

DT 2000 x 600 x 600 h (rough measurements)
Sump 1500 x 400 x 470 h
LR is a combination of what I guess is collected locally & Kenia / Fiji mix ( a hell of a lot !)
DT substrate is a mixture of crushed coral & seasand

Sump is essentially a 2 1/2 chamber setup :
Chamber 1 = Inlet from tank and shallow sand bed
Chamber 2 = Ceramic rings & Large Crushed coral
Chamber 3 = Ceramic Rings, Hair curlers and scouring spunges (hugh ??)

Skimmer = I have no @#$%%^& idea what make ...no pump though..

Will post some pics at a later stage

ID please!

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 3:38pm CDT by deadmeat2016

I bought this poor thing at my lfs, they had it in terrible water conditions, but they couldnt tell me what it was

Marine Aquarium dialysis

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 2:28pm CDT by amalick

Got about R30k to through away ? Want to put your aquarium on Dialysis much like a patient that suffers from Kidney failure ? - Look no further:P

Check this out

[www.seavisions.com]

And then a review kind of concluding that it actually works
[reefkeeping.com]

Isn't it crazy how far the hobbyists are trying to take things:razz:.

PS : I doubt that I would be upsetting any sponsors with this, since its just intended for informative reading. I doubt any of us would go this route even if we had the money :wave2:

Boyu TL550

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 2:23pm CDT by deepblue

Hey Reefers,

Got a Boyu TL550 two months ago (5 Weeks into cycle). This is one of three tanks that I have will start a thread on the other next week. Got my BH-1000 HOB skimmer this morning. Thanks for the advice Sweet&Sour (Wade). Will install it tonight but will leave it off over the easter weekend. Not much happening inside, algae is already starting to disappear without the skimmer. I also chucked out all the stuff at the back will add some purigen and phos remover next week.

Now this is the best part off all............. I can't decide what to do with it in terms of livestock........... Mantis........... Shrooms........... Some LPS ....................
With the BH-1000 skimmer bio load shoudln't be to much of a problem. I've read JacquesB's thread on seahorses and as much as I love them my work hours won't allow my to look after them they way I should so that's out...........

Any idea's would be appreciated

O before I get hammered for a pic............;) here's the FTS

Snail trap

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 1:30pm CDT by Kevin

I have a problem with hundreds of small snails. They dont seem to do anything bad, but the tank looks gross when they all decide to inhabit the glass.

Is there a way to catch them, instead of picking them up one at a time?

:-) short introduction of myself

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 12:17pm CDT by Ziggy

Hi everyone just a brief introduction of myself im 22 staying in Johannesburg self employed.I have been in the fish hobby 4rm the age of 9 wht cn i say i just love them.I have started marine tank recently its been running for 7 months.I have 4 false perculas 3 yellow tail damsel 3 blue damsel 1 skunk shrimp a star fish.reef wise got 2 anemones and honestly not gona lie a few small plants everywhere.and i must say im enjoying everybit of it

When do hermits relocate ?

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 9:33am CDT by neo

Howdy,
my big hermit called 'Herman', seems to be popping out of his shell - so it looks as if he is to big for the shell.
How does one know when a hermit require a new shell?
And what shells do i give him to choose from ?
Pics of shells if possible pls.

Buyo night light replacements ...?

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 8:24am CDT by ZeroCool

Good morning, hope i am posting the question in the right section ...

I have a Buyo TL550, and in the last week, i notice that the one night light doesnt work any more. Is that lights replaceable ?

Hope to get feedback soon !

regards

Skimmer Installation Issue

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 6:13am CDT by FransSny

Ideas please ?

Need to install internal ReefOcto 250 Extreme into an existing sump. This should be easy BUT clearance between sump & bottom of stand is not wide enough (170 mm, i need 260 mm)

This leaves me with 3 options (me thinks):

Option 1
Drain the sump...need to do this anyway to change the internal chamber setup, pull the sump out of the stand, install skimmer and return sump to original position. I will have enough clearance to empty / clean skimmer cup but should I (or my client) ever have to remove the skimmer...repeat the whole process.

Option 2
Drain first chamber, remove side panel and "shorten / lower" it by about 100 mm and refit. This would make removing the skimmer body possible, but water level inside the sump could be tricky in case of power failure.

Option 3

Drain first chamber, drill 2 holes and have the skimmer pumps inside & body outside. Problem is the pumps are set at an angle to the skimmer body making plumbing tricky ?

My gut is going with option 1 as should one have to clean inside the skimmer body, the skimmer chamber can be drained and in sump maintenance performed. Should a pump fail it can be unscrewed

Comments please DIY gurus

Seahorse birth today!

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 5:47am CDT by Anemone

A few days ago, I suspected one of my male seahorses may be pregnant. I figured Id know for sure in about a week. WRONG! I turn on the light this morning and there are the babies. Not many, I only collected between 25 30. Im not sure how many got caught in the filter, or were eaten.

I was definitely not prepared. All of my fry equipment was 30 minutes away, and I didnt have a sitter to stay with grandma. I collected the fry, put them in a water bottle filled to the top so they didnt get air in their bellies. Finally found a sitter for grandma, left my 90 year old grandma in charge of the water bottle holding my baby seahorses (she loved that)! Off to collect my equipment and food 10 hours later equipment is set up, brine has been decapsulated, hatchery has been set up, I hurt everywhere, and Im pretty convinced, the female got another horse pregnant today!

I was really shocked to find that he gave birth so soon, he barely looked pregnant. This was his first time and the batch was super small. Hopefully next time, the batch will be bigger, and Ill be a little more prepared.

Address?

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 10:43pm CDT by andries

HI People

This might be a dumb question but anyway I found the address of the shop 266 27th Ave Villiera Pretoria on the website but when i went to this address today I found nothing but residential houses? is this the real address or didn't i see a sign?:please:

Address?

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 10:43pm CDT by andries

Dropping temp safely

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 10:27pm CDT by Munky82

I'll be installing a chiller in the near future and would like to know how quickly I can drop the temp without stressing my system too much.
Currently running a toasty 31-28 degrees.

Dropping temp safely

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 10:27pm CDT by Munky82

I'll be installing a chiller in the near future and would like to know how quickly I can drop the temp without stressing my system too much.
Currently running a toasty 31-28 degrees.

Transkei trip December - possible?

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 7:12pm CDT by Tim S

Hi all,

It's doubtfull my wife can get leave this December so I'm thinking of a quick trip to the transkei in December / January at the end of this year. I'm from CT and would like to know if anyone (from CT) would be interested in joining me if I do go. My idea is to drive there and camp somewhere for about a week or so. My son and daughter will probably come with which leaves space for 1 to 2 people in my vehicle. We could share some costs (petrol etc) and a second vehicle is also an option but nothing more. I have a 4x4 trailer which sorts the kitchen and sleeping requirements. The problem is we need to book shortly and if it works out we can have a cool collection trip.

Clearly this is just talk and also not for 100 people. I hope by asking I don't start an invasion. So lets see.

I'm almost affraid to ask, but is anyone interested....

Candy Cane Coral - is it OK?

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 6:45pm CDT by zombie clam

I have this Coral, it doesn't seem to "blow out" any more than this. Other pics and info I have investigated sugests that it should be doing better than this - it has been like this for about 2 weeks. What special care should I be giving it to ensure it does well?

my tank

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 6:43pm CDT by deadmeat2016

just posting pics to see what people think of my tank. I am hoping to upgrade the lighting asap but I am a poor student :(

Anthias and Midas Blenny

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 6:06pm CDT by Manic

Hey Everyone,

Just thought I would share something interesting. Yesterday I got 4 anthias (3 females and 1 male) and a midas blenny. This morning the midas blenny was schooling with the anthias, all of a sudden my 6 line wrasse came out of nowhere and attacked the midas blenny. The male anthia didn't like this at all and chased the 6 line around the tank for like 10 minutes. Needless to say the 6 line hasn't come near the midas again. Sometimes it is hard to see the midas because it is swimming in a group with the anthias. I though this was cool...

Perfect Anemone Home

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 4:35pm CDT by deepblue

Hi Brenda :wave2:

1. What would be your idea of a perfect home for nennies? I know that the first thought that comes to mind is the OCEAN :P

2. And what type of anemone would be the prime candidate best suited for a aquarium?

Tank Size? (Minimum)
Lightning?
Flow?
etc etc

Thanking you in advance!

ID help please - "Clear Critters on sand"

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 1:58pm CDT by vatso

Hi there

I have what look like little clear "ants" all over my sand in my old tank.

what would they be? I have seen pics of pods & they don't look the same

thanks

water quality for hard corals

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 12:34pm CDT by Ash

Hi all.

Whats the best pH for hard corals (an exclusively acropora tank)
I've been keeping it at 8.1 to 8.4 but have been told thats too high and should lower it to around 7.8.
Any ideas which is right?
Thanks

What is It

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 12:33pm CDT by nick_fraser

Hi Gents

I noticed this little critter swimming around my tank. it is about a 1cm long and the fish seem to want to chow it but change their minds in the last sec.

anyone know what it is and what should i do with it?

thanks

Keeping RO unit under presure ?

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 11:27am CDT by neo

A couple of times I forgot to shut the tap while making RO with my RO drum then overflowing, luckely this is outside but it is still a waste.
I want to automate my RO by installing a float VALVE (not switch) inside my RO drum and having the RO unit outlet connected to the float valve.
This implies the RO unit will be under constant presure when the valve is closed.
Can I do this or will the RO unit be damaged/burst ?

Banded Pipefish

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 11:09am CDT by dan2381

Bad idea, stupid very stupid of me to buy these, but it would b great to get them onto frozen brine shrimp and mysis, so far they have not eaten anything except for the tiniest pods floating at the surface of the water once the pump has been turned off, doubtful that it would ever be enough 2 keep them going, sure i can breed some brine shrimp eggs, but that would still not b enough of a food source to sustain them, what to do? take them back? I would love 2 b able 2 keep them, i just wish there was an easier way 2 feed them, does anyone have any information on how 2 get them onto frozen foods? Are there any special tricks i could try 2 get them 2 eat without having 2 go through the endless process of breeding brine shrimp? mayb tie a single mysis to a string and dangle it infront of them? LOL, really id b willing to do that if it would work. Im very interested in breeding them, if i could breed them in captivity on frozen foods i will b able 2 supply others with these wonderful creatures.

Auto Top up for Multiple Tanks

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 10:32am CDT by FransSny

Being the lazy bugger that I am , I hate topping up manually. Does anyone have an idea how I can connect 1 auto top up unit to 3 different tanks , being fed from centralised RO cannister ?

worms

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 9:20am CDT by ziyaadb

Anyone wants a few come and collect as i am breaking the tank down. Just need to know how do i go about catching them.

My sump now and what it will look like after mod.

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 9:13am CDT by Lobster

T5 Lighting -80Watts wiring

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 9:07am CDT by mandarin

Good day every one, please give some advise, must the wire between the fluorescent tube and the ballast be a certain lenght, the canopy at the moment is to heavy and a hassle to remove it every time. I'm busy building a new one and i don't want to fit the ballasters inside the new canopy (to make it as light as possible) I would rather fit them some place else, about 3mtrs away.
Any ideas welcome.

env. awareness

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 3:02am CDT by Dane

Nice call for awareness vid from the phillipines...

YouTube - Never Too Small

Nice design for a sump.

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 12:08am CDT by Singularity

YouTube - DIY High-Tech Aquarium Sump

I woulnd necessarily do it like this but thought i would share :P The water change while tank is running idea seems interesting.

Blue Spong coral - now white

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 11:20pm CDT by zombie clam

I got blue sponge coral, about the size of the average hand, this particular one is white (been so sice I got it, actually bought it white). I notice close to where it is attached to the rock ther is a slight change in shade towrad blue but nothing to write home about, maybe the size of a R5 coin. Will this ever recover and completely blue out, or is this actually meant to be white, or is it dead??

tangs

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 11:07pm CDT by Triven

hi all i need some advice i want to add a powder brown tang , got a yellow tang in already

introduction

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 10:33pm CDT by Renny Chetty

Hi Guy's,

I am Renny, just joined on. I am running a basic marine tank for the last 7 years, i think it time for me to upgrade my set up so i am hoping to learn a lot from you.

Buddies

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 10:18pm CDT by SalmonAfrica

Hey all

Yeah, it's been a while since I was last on here... if I recall, the last time I posted I was only considering even starting a marine tank.

Now I have a FOWLR tank with just some morays that enjoy chilling together, as well as going at my fingers.

Enjoy
SA

The Volcano Tank - Konolua

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 9:49pm CDT by Konolua

Hello everyone...

I was asked to join your forum here and I must say, I was impressed to see the size of this forum! Wow!

I have recently posted on a different site, so I thought I would get that post up here as well...so it may sound a little bit in the "past." Hope that is okay for everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konolua (Post 16855588)
I will post a couple of pictures and a link to my website, but will try to get some information up here soon. In the meantime, feel free to give some feedback! If you like it, awesome! If you don't, stay cordial in your comments!

Thanks to all for looking!

Some videos....
Volcano Time-Lapse Video -- Volcano Tank Videos -- Volcano Tank 3.26.10 Video

Better than a Chiller

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 9:46pm CDT by RiaanP

I stumbled upon something new and interesting in the new CORAL magazine (March/April). To cool a 2000L system, you only use 88W - AWESOME :thumbup:

inlet / outlet
Ø 40mm / Ø 40mm

technical data dimensions (l/w/h) app. for aquaria up to power consumption
Eco-Cooler 320/2 (S) 390x370x360mm 2 fans 600 ltr. 44 Watt
Eco-Cooler 420/2 (M) 490x490x360mm 2 fans 1000 ltr. 44 Watt
Eco-Cooler 420/4 (L) 770x490x470mm 4 fans 2000 ltr. 88 Watt

More Info
[www.theaquariumsolution.com]
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/a.../t-193794.html
http://www.3reef.com/forums/3reef-ra...ler-43798.html

food! lol

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 8:40pm CDT by Tremayn

Hi, does anyone know about breeding crabs, prawns or even common edible fish? My family owns a fishery and I was thinking of new ideas and breeding our own stock came to mind, because if you think of how our oceans are being raped, soon we wont have anything left. Seriously someone has to start a fish farm (some other guy lol)... and also where would i get such live stock from? Dont thing the LPS keeps hake haha

Aggresive trigger

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 8:18pm CDT by crispin

YouTube - When fish go bad

coral spots

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 7:59pm CDT by Jinx

Hey I bought a Sinularia coral a while back.I'f noticed some small black spots on the coral tissue....by closer investigation it seems like they these spots are entering into the tissue of the coral.

Can you please advise me on this matter.

Thanks.;)

coral spots...

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 7:54pm CDT by Jinx

Hey Hennie I bought a Sinularia coral a while back.I'f noticed some small black spots on the coral tissue....by closer investigation it seems like they these spots are entering into the tissue of the coral.

Can you please advise me on this matter.

Thanks.

newbie

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 5:28pm CDT by desertfox

hi all
i have just started my very first marine tank got a 4ft tank cost me small fortune
been running for a while now
honestly i dont have a clue what all these abreviations are so it will take me some time lol..
i have always loved marine fish and finaly my dream has come true

im stil experimenting with fish rocks plants and stuff
what i have now is

1 lunula butterfly
3 lion fish
3 squirell fish
2 convicnt surgeons
3 hermit crabs
1 file fish
2 very odd looking snails
2 extremly odd looking floating things i dont have a clue to what they are
got them yesterday will take pic off all of my fish

and the fst pic

Silicone curing time

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 4:31pm CDT by sandlewood

I have just increased the height of one of the baffles in my sump by siliconing in a wedge of glass on top of the existing one. The has obviously required a shut down of my return pump.

What is the min curing time for the silicone? I would obviously like to keen "down time" to a minimum. The glass wedge is 480mm long and 60mm high.

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2010/03/29/ov'

ov

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 3:40pm CDT by ziyaadb

After the conv i had with MJM(on the other forum he has a 2m tank with like 10 tangs) i got thinking that the BB5000 that i have would be too big for my 455L system. I intend on having SPS only and with a BB5000 i would like to believe i could have a HUGE fish load in order to get it to work. Like maybe 10 anthias and 10 green chromis with like maybe 3 zebosomas and a bluethroat trigger

your thoughts?

oh yes and multiple feedings a day

wood vs steel

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 3:36pm CDT by ziyaadb

Hi all

When looking at the reefs from across the world i have noticed that very few people use steel to build their stands but rather wood. Its very rare to have a wooden stand here in SA. What are the reason that we prefer to use steal over wood?

Introduction...

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 3:35pm CDT by shams

Hi All

I'm 31 yr old female from cpt. i adore the marine world and love beautiful pics.
;):clap:
i'm at work currently and feel like doing this to my boss!
:kangakiller:

noob

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 3:29pm CDT by puffer

hey guys i just wanna know if a 3ft tank wiil be good for a marine tank ?

This is my Project

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 3:13pm CDT by Schalkdk

Ok this is my Project. I bought this tank not to long ago. It was laying in the back of this blokes garden with refuse in it. Now i use it for storage, The sump is inside the main tank so is some of my lights and Pipe fitings and so on.

I'm working on a shoestring budget. So Im doing the work my self. (My 1st DIY thing)

I started to sand down the steel frame, painted it about 4 coatings.

I'm building the cabinet from old solid pine I had laying around my garage. (A LOT of sanding LOLLOLOLO):lol:.

This is where I'm now. I still need to add 2 more coatings to get it nice and glossy.

Ill try to add Pix as I go along to keep you up to speed.

Titan's Mini 4ftr

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 12:29pm CDT by Titanse

Hi guys...

Been on the forum for a little while now and my tank has been going for bout 6 months now... so time to post the pics... :)

This is how it started... a tank with some LR and a newly built cabinate...

This was just as I had set up... finished building the cabinate...

Now... I added my first fish... this was after 2 months of cycling...

They are called Fried and Green... These two are my babies... been hidden away in my mates sump until it was time to transfere them...

Pick's of my tank

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 12:24pm CDT by Lobster

Hi all
Here are some pick's of my tank.

Thanks
Lobster

New tank

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 11:26am CDT by Alwyn Coetsee

I am new to marine fish keeping, has some experiance in tropical fresh water fish keeping. I received a new tank as a present from someone. he told me it is a "brakwater" tank. Only one fish in it - no idea what it is called. I feed this with blood worms.

My question is; is there a differance between marine and a "brakwater" tank? Can I convert this tank into a marine tank?

Sorry for the basic questions, but I know nothing about this, and is keen to learn.

Skimmer EPIC Fail!!!

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 11:11am CDT by Jaco Schoeman

I have had a Reef Octo TS1 before, but it never really worked well for me, and I could honestly not see what everyone was going on about them doing so well etc. Not long ago I sold it, and this weekend I bought another TS1 from Lanzo. Again, I put it in, and after a day nothing happened, and I got huge bubble blobbing up.

Tried to tilt the pump to let out any trapped air etc etc etc.

Then, after sitting and staring at it, a huge blush fell over my face!!! :blush:

I had the cone inside the skimmer upside down the entire time I've used TS1's (almost a year)

I can not think of any bigger EPIC Fail than that!!! :stupid: Feel so stupid, but now that baby is grafting!!!

How to rip DVD and convert video for iPod, transfer files between iPod, iTunes and PC

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 4:47am CDT by AnitaAyshford

This guide provides four parts will show you how to rip DVD, convert video and audio to iPod compatible video/audio, transfer video, music, photo, playlist from iPod to iPod, iPod to PC, PC to iPod, make iPhone ringtone from your own movie and music by using iPod Mate.

Part One: How to rip DVD to iPod
Part Two: How to convert video/audio to iPod
Part Three: How to transfer iPod to iPod, iPod to PC/iTunes, PC to iPod
Part Four: How to create iPhone M4R ringtone from your own video/music

Make Preparations: Download iPod Mate.

Part One: How to rip DVD to iPod

First, click "DVD to iPod Converter" on the main interface to run DVD to iPod Converter.

Step 1. Open your DVD Drive and put your DVD in it, then click "Load DVD" and choose "Load DVD" to load your DVD into this program.
Step 2. Choose your output format from the "profile" drop-down list.
After you choose your output format, you can adjust your output video's settings, such as "Resolution", "Frame Rate", "Bitrate", "Sample Rate" and so on.
Step 3. Click "Start" now to begin your conversion and you will get your video soon.

Part Two: How to convert video/audio to iPod

First, click "iPod Video Converter" on the main interface to run iPod Video Converter

Step 1. Click "Add File" to load the video you want to convert.
Step 2. Choose output format by clicking "profile" and customize your own output video by clicking "settings" to adjust the Resolution, Frame Rate, Bitrate and so on.

Before you click "Start" to begin your conversion, you can do some editing works, such as pick up a part of your video to convert(trim), choose your own play region(crop) and put two or more files into one.(merge into one file).

Step 3. OK, now you can begin your conversion by clicking "Start" button.

Part Three: How to transfer iPod to iPod, iPod to PC/iTunes, PC to iPod

First, Click "iPod Manager" to run iPod Transfer software

* Click "PC to iPod" button, it will allow you to transfer songs and videos from your computer to iPod easily.
* Click "iPod to PC" button, it will allow you to backup your songs and videos from iPod to your computer.
* Click "iPod to iPod" button, it will allow you to transfer songs and videos from one iPod to another iPod dirrectly.

Part Four: How to create iPhone M4R ringtone from your own video/music

First, Click "iPhone Ringtone Maker" to run iPhone Ringtone Maker software

Step 1: Click "Browse" on the right side of "Input File" to import the file that you want to make ringtone from it.

Step 2: Play it and listen the music to find the segment that you want to use it as ringtone. Then drag and click the start & end slider to set your wanted segment, or type the start & end time in the corresponding text box directly to get the exact segment. You also can pre-listen the converted audio before generate.

Step 3: Click "Browse" on the right side of "Local Output Folder" to choose the output destination.

Step 4: Check "Export to iPhone" option, the converted ringtone will be load to your iPhone directly.

Step 5: After all the settings are finished, click "Generate" to begin making your own iPhone ringtone.

Here I also recommend you some iPod softwares: DVD to iPod Converter, iPod Video Converter, Flash to iPod Converter, iPod to Computer Transfer, iPod to iPod Transfer, DVD to iPod Converter for Mac.

Seahorse Plan - Please comment

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 12:04am CDT by abgg118

Hi again all,

After my Freshwater (Malawi) tank's base got a small crack in it, I had to empty it out and this presented the opportunity to re-plan what to do with it once the base is patched - don't we all just love planning a tank!?

Now, I've had this 620Wx450Dx500H tank for which I've built in an overflow and made a small sump that I've been wanting to keep seahorses in for quite a while. It would be a small enough volume so that they could find the live food easily, and the sump would double as a small refugium with small DSB. However, the drawback would be smaller water volume, the refugium being below the display (causing live food mutilation from the 'fuge on the way up).

So, I started thinking about this bigger Malawi tank and the possibilities of keeping seahorses in them. I'd like to run my plans by you and get some feedback and thoughts (especially from the people with seahorse experience), to see whether it's feasible and what else I need to cater for from the start.

The biggest positive I see (if it actually does work sufficiently well) is being able to bring the 'fuge to the same level as the display, so that the live critters can flow into the main tank by normal "gravity feed".

But let's start with the tank dimensions and build. It's 1500Wx590Dx600H, with a built-in overflow in the right-rear corner, a small, closed sump, and a wooden canopy (where T5's can be DIY-fitted - I actually started with this just before the tank cracked) and stand. It also has 2 sliding covers.
The plan is to add a pane of glass across the width of the tank, from the overflow on the right to the left-hand side, splitting the display into a front and a back part. See the following crude diagram:

Now, from the sump, the water is pumped into the back compartment, where there'll be a pretty big DSB, and live rock and macro algae as a refugium (and nutrient export) for the critters, then proceed over the added glass pane into the front display (either across the length of the pane or only a part of it to have stronger flow which will "suck" through critters more easily). This - with strong enough return pump(s) - will probably provide enough flow in the display, since weak flow is required, which means no extra unsightly circulation pumps in the display.

In the sump (which is too small for a proper DSB), I'd still be able to keep a skimmer, since most critter activity is in the 'fuge just after the skimmer and return pump, and also in the main tank, and only whatever flows over to the sump may be shredded.

Current planned livestock (if anything clashes with the seahorses, they're out, of course):
2x Seahorse Pairs (preferably tank-bred and the hardier species)
Placid clownfish pair and anemone (which can be placed right under the water inflow for more flow than the rest of the tank). If anemone/clowns are not a problem.
2x Cleaner Shrimps
Some appropriate corals/invertabrates/whatever else, but not too much - suggestions?

Aquascaping across the pane of glass, with seahorse requirements specfically in mind, and I'll also have to find a way of making the glass look good instead of seeing through it into the 'fuge. The actual volume in which the livestock occur is still "small enough" for "targeted feedings" if required, and the viewable-width is still 1.5m, with a 46cm deep right-hand-side and around a 25cm deep left-hand-side.

I will be culturing greenwater and rotifers (for seahorses and breeding clownfish) soon, so I can always add that to the system as required, but I would like them to have a continuous source of live food from the 'fuge, as far as (if) possible.

So, please comment on:
1) Any general comments, ideas and advice?
2) What can I do on the glass pane to make it look good and hide the 'fuge?
3) Will the critters in this setup continuously provide a fair amount of live food to the seahorses?
4) Any specific critters that need to be cultivated in there, or will a "natural mix" ( I can seed from my 2m established tank) suffice?
5) Livestock ideas and comments?
6) Will this work for seahorses - suppling enough live food so that 4x a day "manual" feedings are not required?
7) Any tips for a greater number of more specific "areas" in the 'fuge (should I split it up also) for some practical uses?

Thanks,
Gideon

Dutch

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 8:44pm CDT by dutch

Hi every one glad to be part of your community. My name is dutch and i am running a 6ft marine tank with corals and a couple of fish . My tank is running on a basic mini reef system with a turbo skimmer ,3x150watt metal halides ,6 x 4ft blue flourecent tubes and heater

Help needed please

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 5:44pm CDT by colbar

We have had a BTA for 5/6 months and all has been fine. Two weeks ago we introduced two clowns, who immediately took up residence in the nennie. Now the nennie seems to be very unsettled, moving down to the bottom and also to one side (although foot is still attached). I did see the clown nipping at the mouth of the nennie (only once) there was no food there at the time, so I dont know what the clown was doing. Do you think the clowns are aggravating the nennie? What should I do? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Marine Virgin

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 5:07pm CDT by Savage

Hi all, I have decided to convert from fresh water to marine. I will be converting my 2,150 x 600 x 600 with internal bio filter from the middle of next month. I want to keep the internal bio as a pre filter and then have a 1,2m sump made up.

I think i will start with a FO tank, but want to set up for a reef tank from the begining :)

any comments and views welcome.

Savage

Port Elizabeth

black stuff

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 4:50pm CDT by Blackrat

Anyone know what this is and how to rid it ?

ta

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2010/03/28/Dbn'

Dbn

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 3:37pm CDT by brendanpre

Hi guys,

I have always wanted to start a marine tank and not known how. I have read a lot on this site and I think I am ready. Where would be the best place in Durban to buy from.

Any info good or bad would be apreciated.

Thanks

help needed alvapora

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 3:20pm CDT by Triven

hi all,i got this coral for 2 months now it used to open very well n 1 evening i came home n it wasent opend @ all now for abt 2 weeks its opening very little ....got my water tested @ northlands pets n all is well...... wats up with this coral?

My New 4ft

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 2:44pm CDT by marinenoob

Hi Guys,

I finally got tired of my juwel no-sump setup. So went out and bought a 4ft +- 280l tank with a +-60l sump. I started having problems hard algae on my glass again so i tried my hand at adding an algae scrubber. Please let me know what u think.

Coming Soon

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 2:14pm CDT by ziyaadb

This is a Mates tank a long time in the making, ALL DIY

70*70*60
150W MH as he is going for softies and some lps for now
2*seio prop 1500

DNW 150 with pin wheel and mesh and enlarged venturi
Algae scrubber
Auto topup with 3 float switches.

More to come as he completes

star fish

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 1:14pm CDT by iggy

Good morning all

hope you are having a super Sunday..

so my tank have been running now for almost 3 months just cycling (about 22kg of live rock, dsb, and my protein skimmer. )

the other day i got nice Indonesian polyp live rock and on one rock there was a bristol starfish.

question 1: what does the starfish need to survive?

question 2: will it always be in hiding and only show part of him self?

question 3: (might sound stupid but know some invertebrates do) one of its legs broke of during the transport process, it is in my tank a still alive (almost 5 days) will it grow into another starfish or will it stay just the one leg?

included is a pic of my tank ( so far a 1 year project.) and stuff is finally growing.... whoooo hooooo:slayer:

What can I do about low nightime ph?

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 10:56am CDT by gaboon

My nightime ph drops to 7.92 which I'm sure is causing unecessary stress. Daytiime ph gets to 8.3. I use a kalkstirrer and calcium reactor, calcium reactor is turned off at night. Sump is on a reverse cycle but that is not helping. I don't have any macro algae as I'm getting good results with carbon dosing (only dose in the morning). Do I need a ph buffer?

Astore Pipe & Fittings???

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 8:57am CDT by AfricaOffroad

Seems like they have shut their shop down in Peter Rd, Springfield.
Any idea what their new address is?

Do fish NARC

Posted: March 27th, 2010, 4:30am CDT by Nemos Janitor

Well do fish NARC? Any info on the subject someone? Importers of LS how do you overcome Nitrogen narcosis in your imports. Hmmm...Ideas..

Hey guys

Posted: March 27th, 2010, 1:16am CDT by MistaOrange

Howzit I'm a newbie to this site as a member but have read many articles which have helped me many times & have a bit of a problem with a two fish with a seriously bad attitude & on a killing rampage. Well both the coris formosa & hawkfish have teamed up & I think they hate it when I put a new tank mate in because two days later I can't find the new fish as they end up being hermit chow. I had them when I started my 1st saltwater tank & now they are getting too much & costing me a fortune. I was stupid not to do some research on the two fish before I bought them, but I have been checking the compatibility with the other fish to add to my aquarium & even though they were compatible these two would torment the poor fish after lights out. I've tried to catch them but they are too quick & coris dives into the sand between the rocks & I've even made a diy fish trap which they ignore but the poor scooter mandarin keeps on falling for it. The only option I can think of is to empty out the tank to catch them but I don't want to stress any of the fish out & end up loosing them. If anyone can suggest something else to catch then, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanx & Peace Be Thy Journey

My boyu 12 gal

Posted: March 27th, 2010, 11:07pm CDT by Franske

Hi guys,got myself a new nano this week,its a boyu 12 gal
For filtration:
Chamber 1: Heater,cheato
Chamber 2: liverock
Chamber 3: return pump,filter floss and purigen
Used playsand as substrate and also added a seio m250 for flow.

Some qeustions:
-Will that one lstandard light be good enough to keep any softie and some lps?
-The temp outside is currently 26 and inside its 29,the lights are off and its night time,what could be the cause of this high temp and could it possibly be the heat from the seio and return pump?
-Will 10 % water change every two weeks be sufficient

Built this light unit for back of tank for cheato

Upgraded the return to a 900l/h boyu

Here is some tank pics

Reef catfish?

Posted: March 27th, 2010, 8:49pm CDT by Titanse

Hi ppl.

Today I acquired 4 of these babies. THey not much bigger than 10 cm's each. I know they do get bigger at would like to find out if anyone has these or had and if they ok or not?

Currently I have 2 tomato clowns, 4 bi colour chromis , 2 cardinals, 2 cleaner shrimp's, 2 dancing shrimp's and 2 hermits.

Question is will they fight with any one?

just saying hi

Posted: March 27th, 2010, 5:16pm CDT by smiffy

Hi everyone just a quick hello i'm new to this site and am joining for advice on converting my 125L tank from tropical to marine setup i live in norwich in the uk i am a 35 year old man my partner is called michelle and i have 3 children lewis 18y georgia 11y and maddison 10y thats it for now hope to chat and see you all later.

Who Said algea dont like high flow ???

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 12:19am CDT by Sammy

Hi guys, i'm about 2 years into reefing and have a real crappy algea prob, i've read countless forums that said hair algea dont like flow, mine must be a hybrid ?

Because where ever I direct flow they seem to flourish ? Where ever there is a high a high water flow these guys love it and grow out of control ? please help ???

Hope some of you having the same problems?

Herr u. Frau Triessl

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 9:44pm CDT by williunderika

Ein ganz grosses Hallo aus Germany, dem Ostseebad-Kuehlungsborn
Wir sind die Eltern von dem Fisch-Zuechter " Marcel Triessl ( Luckyfish )
( Anemonen-Fisch - Albinos )
Unser Sohn lebt seit September 2006 in Kapstadt , ( Bothasig )
Ihr Internet-Link hat uns unser Sohn per Email zugeschickt.
Daher unser grosses Interesse an Ihre Web-Seite.
Wir verfolgen Ihr Forum nur passiv.:thumbup:
Mit freundlichen Gruessen
Willi und Erika Triessl

Hi all

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 8:40pm CDT by Slug

Hi all

I started a 4 foot tank a while ago.Today I caught a Moorish Idol in a tidal pool!!
I have obviously heard its very difficuilt to keep.Does anyone know any tricks to get it to eat.I will try for a few days and if it does not eat I will release it back to mother nature.I have a few butterflies,semi,striatus,cleaner wrasseand 2 clowns.Cheers

Removing Powerheads

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 5:42pm CDT by JD167

Hi guys

I'm thinking of removing all my powerheads for 1.) Heat reduction 2.) Saving power and 3) Be Nennie safe.

I want to replace the powerheads with returns similar to a CLS system, except the water will be returned from the sump's last chamber. Still normal route of water down overflow, through sump and back up again, but I'll add more return pipes with ballvalves to control and direct water flow.

What return pump do I use? I currently have a 3000L/hour pump but that is not enough for what I want to do here. So the question is do I use one larger pump(5000L/hour or more maybe?) or two smaller ones (3000L/hour)??

I have a 1500mmx600x600, 540L DT and I suppose another 150L in sump. Overflow pipe is 50mm.

Any ideas?

New Member

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 2:23pm CDT by Lobster

I just like to say hi to all of you.:wave2:
Tank specs.1160x500x450
Tank have about 20kg of live rock.
Sump specs.900x300x300
Berlin skimmer + sand filter + 1x300w heater
Space for DSB
Lights 1x150w M/H and 2 x unknown 36w tubes
home made overflow box
2 x powerheads in tank
Busy maturing the tank at the moment. :whistling:

GOOD Base or Live rock

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 1:09pm CDT by Schalkdk

Hi boys and girls.
I'm not to sure where I should post this but I suppose here is as good as any.:helpsmilie:
Im starting a new tank soon and I was wondering if someone in the Durban area have some GOOD Base or Live rock that I can score :support:from them. Its only a 220l tank so I dont need a lot but the LFS is a complete rip-off. :cursing:

Tube Anemones in DSB

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 12:01pm CDT by RiaanP

In my new big DSB, one halve is will house my cheato ball. The other side I want to put some tube anemones in. I know they do not need light. So they should be OK as far as lightning goes. Also once "planted" you should not bother them, they prefer that. So once in DSB they should be OK. Kind of filter feeders. but I will target feed them.

Anybody know of reasons why I should not do this.

I like them, but their "root" needs to be planted in a deep substrate. So it should be a perfect home for them.

Fish SPECIAL for this week 2010-03-26

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 10:50am CDT by Moolis

Hi Reefers :wave2:

Yet another shipment landing today. This time it is mainly fish, all 180+ :yeahdude:of them PLUS some inverts.

This is the packing document PLUS SPECIALS on them!!!

SPECIAL - Fire fish - only 20 @ R60-00 each
SPECIAL - Orange spotted goby - Only 20 @ R60-00
SPECIAL - Yellow tail damsel - Only 20 @ R40-00

Angel - Coral beauty
Angel - Half black
Clown - African brown clown
Damsel - Green chromis
Damsel - Yellow tail damsel
Fish - Green manderin
Fish - Harlequin tusk
Goby - Fire fish
Goby - Orange spotted goby
Goldie - Sun burst anthias
Goldie - Yellow anthias
Invert - Glass shrimp
Invert - Hard tube anemone
Invert - Monkey shrimp
Invert - Red&Blue crab
Tang - Brown tang
Tang - Powder brown tang
Tang - Sailfin tang
Tang - Yellow fin tang
Wrasse - Dragon wrasse
Wrasse - Purple wrasse
Wrasse - Red wrasse

So this weekend are going to be absolutely worth your time and effort to drive to PET STOP!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Coral Glue

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 10:38am CDT by deepblue

Hey Reefers,

What type of glue can be used for coral placement? I know about the Two Little Fishies glue or epoxy but that is +- R300 for a small tube. Any other stuff available?

Urgent help needed Can a sump height be increased with glass

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 10:36am CDT by durleo

Hi Guys I redid my sump and added a second sump outside with my chiller and skimmer. The level for my return pump is a bit low and i cant add anymore water cos if there is a power failure the sump inside my house will overflow. I wanted to increase the height by 50mm by siliconing new glass all the way round and maybe brace it aswell. If there is a power failure will the water pressure be a problem?

foam bucket!!

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 10:25am CDT by brentv

Hey Guys,
This is my skimmer, I bought it second hand.

:void(0)" target="_blank">

...problem is the foam that is going into the cup is staying very foamy and taking very long to turn to liquid!!! the skimmer is 1.2m tall and is running on an ocean runner 3500, is this pump too small?????, you can see where I have extended the pipes on the left to increase height of the water level coz old level was too low?

Ashes in DSB???

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 10:24am CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Okey guys, I have a weird question, but YES, I am actually serious. :)

Because I work with this every day of my life, I needed to think about what to do with my ashes when I die. So, I told my wife I am going to specify in my will that my ashes be mixed into my tank DSB. In that way, I can still do something for the tank...

Hahahaha... :lol: How funny is that? But seriously, do you guys think it would have a negative impact on the tank should one do that? Would it cause a bio load, or act as a nice bacteria medium?

MH Height question

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 9:19am CDT by FransSny

Hi guy , need to finally suspend my 250 W MH pendant over the coral display tank (600 mm deep), and would like some input from the lighting gurus.

I built eggcrate stands inside the tank to increase the amount of corals I can place inside the tank, with the highest "shelf" being about 250 mm from top water level.

I am planning to suspend the MH 300 mm from water level, would this be ok ?

O yes, top shelves will be keeping SPS & lower, LPS , Softies

Has anyone picked this up to ?

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 9:14am CDT by ZeroCool

Hi everyone, i have my nano (Buyo TL550) for almost a year now, and seen how it grown inside, and wow, what an adventure.

Something that i want to ask, I have some pulsing xenia, and hairy green mushrooms, and it seems, when they "made babies" or multiply, the mother one slowly dies.

Anyone seen the same reaction within their tanks ?

regards

Dosing Alkaline8.3-P advice needed

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 7:43am CDT by Pete

Hi All

Just a quick question for those that are useing the Brightwell Alkalin8.3-P PH buffer and KH builder, when you have mixed your solution do you just add it to the sump or should you drip it slowly, as on the bottle it does not tell you how to add it and have been to there web site aswell no luck there either.

Urgent help needed Cracked Base

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 10:28pm CDT by abgg118

Hi all,

Got an SMS that I should check the tank, it's leaking ... hmm ...

Got home and saw that it wasn't too urgent, but about 2-4 liters had already spread itself around the tank. Overflow was fine, return was fine, and it was dripping from the top of the stand just under tank - it could only mean a cracked base.

Now I don't know if you can get a thing as a "small crack in the base" (any crack is too huge), but it seems this is indeed a small one. It even stopped leaking when I had taken out about 75% of the water (reduced pressure) ...

Now, luckily this is a freshwater tank - 5ft, 7 malawi's and 2 plecs. Apologies for bringing the bathwater here, but please still hear me out ;)

Removed the water, rocks, fish, plants and placed everything (except about 250liters of water) in new containers - all in all a nice way to spend the evening. I removed about 50% of the gravel and used it in a spare 2foot tank for planting all the plants. By chance, in the corner out of which I took the last bit of gravel that I was going to need, and out of which I was siphoning, I saw the base glass and a small crack across the corner:

It's about 6cm and 8cm from the corner. So, the question is: what can I do about this (and don't say change it into a marine tank) - would it be feasible to cut a thick corner piece of glass and silicone it into the corner? It would then be as high as the "braces" at the front and against the side (where there are no current braces).

Any advice from the experienced tank-builders will be appreciated.

Thanks
Gideon

Vodka Dosing??

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 10:15pm CDT by Evo R

Hi All:

I know this must have been covered a million times before but,what is Vodka dosing and what is its purpose?

Thanks in advane :thumbup:

2010-03-25 photos of corals that landed

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 8:48pm CDT by Moolis

Will have to see what these mushroom are going to loo like when open:P

This one sold - but I expect 3 more within a week !!!:thumbup:

Still not open, will have to wait :(

How did I miss this one- we had 1 and I sold it, now I discovered this one:thumbup:

New member

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 6:59pm CDT by mark m

Hi

My name is mark m and i have just started a new marine aquarium,i am situated in alberton ( gauteng South Africa )

Earth Hour 2010

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 4:38pm CDT by Junz

Hi Guys,

Please have a look at this link regarding earth Hour 2010
[www.earthhour.org.za]

lets all try to be part of this , since we are one big Reef Family with a heart for saving our oceans and planet.

How it works
Turn off all your applicances and lights for 1hr on Saturday @ 20:30. we can make a difference

Junz

Wire length between balast and T5 ?

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 4:23pm CDT by neo

I want to mount t5 39w ballasts at back of my stand, same level as sump, with the wires then running up into the canopy to each T5.

Is there a maximum length for the wires between the balast and t5 tube ?

Dorry Pets CT Closed 27 & 28 March

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 4:14pm CDT by FransSny

I am visiting the town of Hartenbos pn Saturday & Sunday and thus will not be open. Please give me a shout if you need to collect anything before then.

Marcel, we have spoken on the phone already, Robert your impeller is coming via Postnet , being sent today

Tunze Specials

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 3:52pm CDT by George

Take advantage of the strong Rand on The whole Tunze range Skimmers, pumps,etc.
PM George for specials on what ever you want. You will be pleasantly surprised:slayer:
Now is the time to have top of the range equipment at lowest prices ever.

Anthony

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 3:13pm CDT by Anthony

Hi All, My name is Anthony and I have just joined up. Most of my Life I have had Tropical Fish and now I want to start up a Marine Tank. I Live in Dana Bay and have a Fishing Tackle Shop in Mossel Bay. Can anybody help with names of good books on Marine Tanks and also contacts of Pet Shops that I can contact for starting up a Tank. Cape Town is also OK for the Pet Shops.

Thanks, Anthony

Pistol Shrimp ID

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 2:55pm CDT by Manic

Hey Everyone,

I've got two of these guys, they about 1.5 cm long. I think they are pistol shrimp but not sure what kind. Anyone got any idea:

where to get meranti board ?

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 2:47pm CDT by neo

Hi,
anyone know where I can get a meranti board (or have it made)?
want to use it for the top of my canopy but places like Chamberlains/Builders only have planks going up to 300mm wide and i need 650mm and i dont have the skill/tools to join two 300mm planks.

HD Wallpapers

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 2:45pm CDT by Sentari

Hi All

Thought i would share these with you.

I found a link to awesome HD Marine Wallpapers.

Hope you enjoy it

http://rapidshare.com/files/16924704...600_X_1200.rar

2010-03-25 coral shipment with estimated prices

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 1:58pm CDT by Moolis

Hi Reefers

Photos tomorrow, this is a MASSIVE shipment, we landed R80 000-00 PLUS corals today - so their health are more important than photos now;)

Polyps, we received 56 of them - the frags came but polyps are still closed so will only sell tomorrow when open and we can ID them. But pricing would range from R80 to R120 with R95 as average:thumbup:
Will do the photo thing tomorrow morning (I will come to work early:( to make sure I have time to take photos before customers arrive:wave2:)

The SPS guys

Following posts is just a few general photos of the SPS that landed. If you do not see one you can not go without, you are a liar:lol:

The colours are OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!

New Memeber

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 1:51pm CDT by Pietkas

Hi all

My nameis Pieter,

I was intuduced to this site by a few of my mates and hope I can learn a lot from it aswell.
I live in the best part of the world wich is Margate KZN.
I love this hobby and got new insparation from seeing some new aquariums.

Thanks guys
Pieter

someone new

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 1:19pm CDT by andries

Hi:wave2:

I'm also interested in starting a Saltwater tank.

I've only got a tank(60l) from my previous freshwater experience and I would like a list of all the things you need to get up running apart from the fish and the approx. cost involved.:thumbup:

mandarin fish

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 10:47am CDT by clown

Hi,

Do any one know some one that is selling a tank bread or a Mandarin that is traned to eat flakes and Frozen?

Clown

Fireworms

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 12:00am CDT by Dikdaan

Hi all, i have about 20kg of LR in my sump and discovered some fireworms or actually a lot of them in the LR and sump...Are they dangerous, beneficial to the tank or do i need to get rid of them? If so how do I go about it?

Thx

LED streetlight feasible?

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 11:48pm CDT by Megalodon

Hey guys, I was browsing this site and noticed that there are 180w LED streetlights available... they are obviously waterproof (good for our tanks) & include a 5 year warranty. Also at 80lumens/ W they are at least equivalent to a 150w halide etc.

The downsides potentially... apparently 6800K colour temp. However, as with most white LED's this they tend to look closer to 10000k/ 12000k.

Price....who knows what they cost(could be the earth)... however, if they are even 3 or so times more than an equivalent halide/ t5 system the long-term replacement costs should balance it out - 5 year warranty + 40000hour lifespan.

http://www.electroniclights.co.za/en...tem.asp?ID=783

Here are some pics:

I also noticed another light which may have potential for nano systems = apparently use Cree Led's which are known to be good for marine systems.

Downside...only 1 watt Cree Leds (20 watt in total)... & white & warm white colour temp - would actually have to see a pic of the light on & a spectral plot etc to know if it would be useful or not...but maybe it is a way forward for ppl looking to beat the electricity price & low availability of PL nano tubes in SA.

http://www.electroniclights.co.za/en...tem.asp?ID=820

some pics

Well these are just some possibilities for us all to look into...they may or may not be feasible currently, however perhaps if they are feasible from a spec perspective, and enough reefers are interested they could all email the company expressing interest and asking for possible group discounts etc - let the company know there is a potential market out there for them to court. :thumbup:

Lime Green Wrasse recently added - dead or alive?

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 11:33pm CDT by zombie clam

I have added a Lime Green Wrasse to my tank on Sunday morning (21st March), as I got it into the tank it did the usual Wrasse thing and shot straight under the gravel. It hasn't come out and it is Wednesday evening already - do I dig around and disrupt my gravel in an almost futile excersize in hope to lure it out in hope that it is still alive or could it be dead under the gravel? How long do I leave it alone before I start "hunting" for it? The other fish in my tank are 2 Chromies, 2 Blue Damsels, 1 Violet Angel and 1 Maroon Clown. All of these fish swim about actively and don't seems disturb one another - that ruled out my theory of them being overbearing and keeping the Wrasse underground - but am I mistaken? This is an awesome fish and was 100% healthy when I put it in, my tank is running seemigly OK so there isn't any reason I understand for it to be gone for this long as general reviews talk of it being and easy fish to keep...HELP!!!!

Where to get Hydor pumps?

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 8:04pm CDT by lIghty

Hi all

Does anyone know where I can get Hydor powerheads, the Koralia or Magnum... plesse help!
Posted via Mobile Device

Changing DI resin

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 6:09pm CDT by poiromaniax

Hey Marco,

hope you are well

How do I know when its time to change the DI resin?
Is it when the beads turn black?

Help identify Algea

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 5:33pm CDT by 8inch

Hi all,
I've been meaning to get advice on this for a while now but just haven't got around to it.
This Algea - or at least I think it is algea - started growing about three months back. There are also 4 - almost luminous - tubes growing around this algea.
My anemone moved over to sit almost on top of the three tubes so I had to bother him to take the pics.
Please let me know if i should be concerned about these and also what they are.
I must say though - they look quite unique and rather appealing.

thanks
Dan.
Apologies for the poor images

Bengai Cardinal feeding

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 4:49pm CDT by JDgr8

Hi All

I finally bought 3 Bangai Cardinal fish on Saturday and acclimatised for nearly 2 hours, following the advice on MASA. They seem fine and healthy, however, I am concerned about their feeding.

I alternate feeding between brine shrimp, fine mussels (frozen) and granulated fish food (Dr Bassleer's Biofish food). More regulary the mussels, as my Naso does not eat brine shrimp at all. From Saturday morning when I inserted these 3 fish, they were "hiding" around the urchin. On Saturday evening one of these seemed quite eager to feed on the mussels, however, the other 2 hardly moved, nor seemed interested. On Sunday evening I noticed, feeding brine shrimp that one again fed actively and the other 2 were sort of grabbing food, but spitting it out. The same has happened every night.

I am concerned that these guys may not feeding sufficiently. Is there any other food I should try? Are they maybe just still trying to adapt to their new surroundings and tank? Since Monday they haven't used the Urchin as a "shelter". I also noticed that 2 of them always stick together and from time to time the third Cardinal will join them. Is this natural?

Thanks in advance for advice / feedback.

New marine member

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 3:26pm CDT by Jac Troskie

Hi

I am walking around the local pet shop and looking to buy a new marine tank for the last month. I am getting more and more confused about the right size and filter systems. Any good advise to start and not pay to much schoolfees?

Frags+SPS+LPS+Fish+Soft shipment 2010-03-25

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 2:58pm CDT by Moolis

Hi Reefers

Just received packing lists from the 2 coral shipments tomorrow:slayer::slayer:

We expect to receive 50+ SPS coral
PLUS
70+ Hard Corals
PLUS
40+ Soft corals
PLUS
70+ Polyp frags:yeahdude:
PLUS
30+ fish

A sum total of more than 250 specimens:thumbup::thumbup:

As you will see, posting photos are going to be very difficult!!!! Please understand that tomorrow are going to be hectic, with 250+ specimens to be sorted, dripped and placed. That is without helping you guys that come to buy out of the box;)

This is the actual species list:thumbup:

FISH
Angel - Bicolor Angel - Centropyge Bicolor
Angel - Grey Orange-Striped Angel - Centropyge Eibli
Angel - Majestic Angel - Euxiphipops Navarchus - M/L
Angel - Regal Angel - Pygoplites Diacanthus - M/L
Angel - Zebra Angel - Genicanthus Lamarck
Fish - Knife Fish - Aeoliscus Strigatus - S/M
Fish - Knife Fish - Aeoliscus Strigatus - M/L
Goby - Black Combtooth Blenny - Ecsenius Namiyei
Goby - Two Spot Goby - Signigobius Biocellatus
Tang - Foxface fish - Lo Vulpinus - M/L
Tang - Foxface fish - Lo Vulpinus - S
Tang - Foxface fish - Lo Vulpinus - Medium
Tang - Golden Rabbit fish - Siganus Tetrazonus

SPS
Colored Acropora - Acropora Spp - .S
Colored Acropora - Acropora Spp. - M
Colored Acropora special - Acropora Spp. - S
Colored Acropora special - Acropora Spp. - M
Colored Seriatopora - Seriatopora Hystrix
Horn Coral Colored - Hydnophora Microconos
Millepora Coral (Color) - Millepora Spp.
Montipora Coral (Colored) - Montipora spp
Pocillopora Crl (Colored) - Pocillopora Verrucosa - M
Purple Colored Montipora - Montipora spp

Hard coral
2 Colors Meat Coral - Lobophyllia Corymbosa
2 Colors Moon Coral - Favites Abdita - M
2 Colors Moon Coral - Favites Abdita - L
Acanthastrea Coral Colored - Acanthastrea Maxima - S
B. Hammer Coral Green Metallic - Euphyllia Parancora - M
Brain Coral Green Metalic - Trachyphyllia Geoffroyi
Colored Echinophora 2 Colors - Echinophora Lamellosa
Encrusting Coral (Color) - Blastomussa Wellsi - L
Encrusting Coral 2 COLORS - Blastomussa Wellsi - M
Green Metalic Candycane Coral - Caulastraea Echinulata
Green Metalic Moon Coral - Favia Pallida
Green Metallic Moon Coral - Favites Abdita
Hammer Coral Green Metalic - Euphyllia Ancora - S
Modern Coral (Red) - Cynarina Lacrymalis
Red Doughnut Coral - Scolymia Vitiensis
Red Flat Rose Brain Coral - Wellsophyllia Radiata - M
Red Flat Rose Brain Coral - Wellsophyllia Radiata - L
Red Lemon Coral - Goniopora Lobata
Red Rose Brain Coral - Trachyphyllia Geoffroyi - M
Red Rose Brain Coral - Trachyphyllia Geoffroyi - L
Symphyllia (2 colors) Crl - Symphyllia Spp. - M
Symphyllia (2 colors) Crl - Symphyllia Spp. - L
Torch Coral Metalic Green - Euphyllia Glabrescens

Anemone
Carpet Anemone Colored - Stichodactyla Haddoni
Long Tentacle Anemone - Actinia Tenebrosa
Purple Long Ttcl Anemone - Radianthus Malu

Soft corals + inverts
Red Feather Duster Hard tube - Protula Spec. - M/L
Red Feather Duster Hard tube - Protula Spec. - S/M
Assorted Green Mushroom - Actinodiscus Mutabilis - M
Cauliflower (Orange) on Rock - Dendronephthya Divaricata
Colored Button Polyps - Zoanthus Propalythoa
Colored Button Polyps - Zoanthus Propalythoa - L
Colored Ringed Mushroom - Discosoma Sp. - S
Colored Ringed Mushroom - Discosoma Sp. - M
Pink Cladiella Soft Coral - Cladiella Colti - S
Sea Mats Green Metalic - Zoanthus Palythoa
Star Polyps Metallic Green - Clavularia Viridis
Yellow Cladiella Soft Coral - Cladiella Colti - M/L

Frags
Colored Button Polyps - Frag small special colour LOTS:)
Colored Button Polyps - Frag medium special colour LOTS:lol:

So see you ASAP for these hand picked corals :yeahdude::yeahdude:

cycling with a skimmer

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 12:47pm CDT by nathen

:yeahdude:hi all new Question is it true , that when cycling a new tank and you run the skimmer it cycles faster, than without the skimmer turned on.

Cannister & Nitrates

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 12:37pm CDT by sandlewood

Dear Hennie

I have read a comment you made somewhere else on the forum about cannister filters and nitrates and need some advice.
I have an eheim cannister filter running in line working as a phosphate reactor. I have phosphate remover and carbon in two baskets and some of the original eheim "gravel" filter media in the botto basket with the usual floss and nylon pads covering the first and third baskets.
I have noticed a slow build up of nitrates lately and am wondering if this cannister could be the cause?
My tank is 480 l with a 150l sump with skimmer DSB (50cm x 30cm).

Perhaps I should remove the "gravel" and sponges and just leave the carbon and phosphate remover in the baskets?

I would appreciate your comments.

Coral extravaganza

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 12:07pm CDT by Bob the (reef)builder

Hi all,

coral extravaganza at idol marine:)

an amazing array of corals in our reef beds.
colour,variety,rarity,size and speciality.

please come and visit,we will post a few pics.
later to show our coral candy.

cheers for now,
idol marine crew.

Need your co-operation

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 11:30am CDT by JIT

Hi Everybody,

This is 'JIT' from india. I have decided to start marine fish keeping. Henceforth, i want to know 'how to start?'

Please suggest me about the essential equipments to start. I need all of your support and guidence.

Regards

-Jit

Waste out, SW in, automated?

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 11:01am CDT by RiaanP

How do you automate this? Or how far can you go to automate it?

Got two 90L drums. One for RO and one for SW. This part is easy. Pump water from full RO drum to empty SW drum. Stop pump.
To automate, install RO drum above SW, open valve and let it drain.
Advantage, I do not forget to switch the pump off. Using gravity that is for free.
Problem, if SW drum was not empty, I could flood it. (if outside- not big issue)

TO circulate SW drum for day or two before water change, just dump smaller return pump in there, 300 to 600L/h should do it.
Problem, if I empty the SW drum, I have to remember to switch this pump off.

OK, now the final one. How do you remove exactly the right amount of waste water. Then there after dump or pump new SW water back in. I need to drain 80L water, if it reach that, it should stop. Do not want the sump to run dry. Can if needed to, switch return pump off, and drain from display. Then need to open SW ballvalve, or switch that pump on. When SW drum empty, (baby sit it with beer in hand), switch sw pump off, switch return pump back on. Here you need a bigger pump as you do not want to wait forever. You can not use gravity to drain to the sump, as the sump return pump might be faster than the SW inflow. Thereby draining the return chamber and causing another dry running pump.

Already got you confused with what to switch on and off when? Must re-read the paragraph to try and understand the sequence?

Switch this off, that on, open this, close that... Nope. how do you guys make it easier so that even your Non-Reefer can do it.

Also, keep in mind that RO and SW tanks will be remote / next door / out door to the tank. And I do not want to run back and forth checking, switching, closing stuff.

Interesting Article in NY Times

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 3:53am CDT by FransSny

Thought i would share this. Interesting points being made

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/sc...felike?&st=cse

Second Hand Nano

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 10:19pm CDT by AntS

Hi Guys

(My second attempt at posting)

I've recently decided to get into keeping a marine aquarium as a hobby. I've kept a tropical tank in the past, and have had two koi ponds over the last 15 years - so I'm not so new to fish keeping general.

I'm looking to start with a nano reef, mainly because of budget, but I also find them to be more attractive than larger tanks.

As such, I'm looking at the Boyu TL-450 and 550, but I'd I prefer to buy a second hand kit (in good working condition) if possible.

If anybody has any leads, or knows of anything similar for sale, please let me.

waterboy unit - changing prefilters and membrane

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 8:53pm CDT by dogstar

Guys,

I just got my new membrane and pre-filters from the waterboy for my waterboy ro unit.

I cannot for the life of me open the pre-filter parts to put in the new cartridges. How do you do this?

I have tried turning anti-clock wise to open, but they will not budge? Do i have to pull them off? Or do i have to open the water inlets first?

At a complete loss here.

Managed to open the membrane compartment, but how to you get the actual membrane out, i tried pulling, not luck, do i turn that anti clockwise?

Please help.

Live rock

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 5:49pm CDT by Moolis

As I stated in [www.marineaquariumsa.com] we expect to receive a lot of interesting things this week!!!

Look at these photo's - this is what we expect to receive this week

What do you think?

Lighting Sugestions

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 5:46pm CDT by Christo

Lighting sugestions on custom 4 footer!

Hi everyone! One of my frends is starting a custom
4 footer 550mm high!

He will start of with a FOWL Tank but would like to
add a nemmy at a later stage! Told him tp wait sometime
first with the nemmy!

Any sugestions on what lighting and how many
e should use! preferable T5's!

Tanx!

Live Rock in DSB

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 3:08pm CDT by deepblue

Hey Guys, I'm planning on re-doing my rock work and due to this I placed some live rock on my DSB which is close to one year old (Whoohoo:yeahdude:). Before adding the live rock there was some debris of some kind but since I added the live rock there are a lot of "goggas" (copepods and other funny shrimpy things) running around and eating the debris now my DSB looks quiet neat. Should I leave some of the live rovk when re-doing the rock work in my DT?

Will take pics 2 night.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 2:45pm CDT by Amoré

This new beginning was the end of my tropical fishkeeping days.....

Need a new stand made in Durban

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 2:27pm CDT by danimal

Hey guys

I have just moved house and need to get a new stand made up because my current one won't fit in the intended spot for the tank....

In my student days this would not be a problem, my first stand I built myself with the help of a friend. Nowadays I don't really have that luxury of time, and need to get one made up. The cabinet to fit onto the stand, not being urgent, I can do piece by piece on weekends etc.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to get one made up?

Thanks

New to all this

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 1:58pm CDT by Dune13

Hi there

I am still uncertain how I got into all this, but I ended up with a 1000 litre tank. Got all the basic equipment I hope to believe. Been told how to connect it all together and the basic function of each.
Furthermore ... I selected a beautiful location to put the tank and spend the past three week-ends preparing.
Now i am at the point to do the sump filter and the water ect .... And now I am uncertain how to go about everything.

Greetings

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 12:45pm CDT by Benjamin

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and relatively new to the hobby. This is just a short note to say hi to all. If it's okay, I will be looking to tap into your collective wisdom in the near future as I've been experiencing quite a few problems recently with stabilising my reef setup. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to avoid taking down the entire system and starting from scratch. More later.

Stock list 2010-03-23

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 12:19pm CDT by Moolis

Hi reefers

This is the fish and invert I have in stock today!!:thumbup:

Check it out:slayer::yeahdude:

Angel - Blue ring
Angel - Eibli angel
Angel - Jumping bean
Angel - Koran / semi angel juv
Angel - Koran / semi angel adult
Angel - Regal angel
Angel - Rusty angel
Butterfly - Moorish idol
Butterfly - White banner
Cardinal - Bangai cardinal
Cardinal - Striped cardinal
Cardinal - Yellow striped cardinals
clown - African brown and white clowns
clown - Clarks clown
clown - Maroon clowns
clown - Saddle back clowns
clown - Tomato clowns
Damsel - Blue damsel
Damsel - Blue/green chromis
Damsel - Orange line chromis
Damsel - Yellowtail damsel
Eel - Leopard eel (Zebra eel)
Eel - Zebra eel
Fish - Bamboo shark egg
Fish - Bluehead tile fish
Fish - Bluelined snapper
Fish - Chalk basslet
Fish - Coral hopper pigmy
Fish - Frogfish
Fish - Green mandarin
Fish - lionfish
Fish - Lyretail hogfish
Goby - Bicolor blenny
Goby - Black combtooth blenny
Goby - blue barred goby
Goby - Blue spot tail goby
Goby - Blue head / yellow tail blenny
Goby - Citrus goby
Goby - Diamond goby
Goby - Dragon goby
Goby - Fire goby
Goby - Forktail blenny
Goby - Pink bar goby
Goby - Red spotted shrimp goby
Goby - Salarias goby
Goby - Sand goby
Goby - Signal/ocellated goby
Goby - Sneyder's sand perch
Goby - Tiger goby
Goby - Valencia goby
Goby - Violet fire goby
Goby - Viva goby
Goby - White sand sifter goby
Goby - Yellow blenny
Goby - Yellow tail blenny
Goby - Yellow watchman goby
Goby - Yellowhead Goby
Goldie - Squimampinnis goldie
Goldie - Sunburst goldie
tang - Barred rabbit fish
Tang - Black tang
Tang - Blue Tang
tang - Brittle tooth tang
Tang - Brown scopas tang large
Tang - Brown scopas tang small
Tang - Fox face yellow
Tang - Goldspot rabbit
Tang - Magnificent fox face
Tang - Powder Blue Tang
Tang - Virgate rabbit
Tang - Yellow eyes tang
Tang - Yellow Tang
Trigger - Black trigger
Trigger - Bursa trigger
Trigger - Undulated trigger
Wrasse - 6 Line wrasse
Wrasse - Blue spotted wrasse
Wrasse - Carpenters wrasse
Wrasse - Cleaner wrasse
Wrasse - Dusky wrasse
Wrasse - Filament fin wrasse
Wrasse - Flasher wrasse
Wrasse - Red breasted maori wrasse
Wrasse - Twisti wrasse
Wrasse - Yellow Wrasse

Invert - Algae eater snail
Invert - Anemone shrimp
Invert - Camel shrimp
Invert - Cleaner shrimp
Invert - Fire shrimp
Invert - Hermit crabs
Invert - Porcelain crabs
Invert - Red star fish
Invert - Sea urchins
Invert - Sexy shrimp
Invert - Starfish Blue
Invert - Starfish Brown
Invert - Starfish mottled
Invert - Turbo snail

Good Price for Glass?

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 11:26am CDT by AfricaOffroad

What's a good price for 12mm glass???
I've been quoted R1200/sq m.

While we are on the subject, what should I be paying for 10mm and 6mm glass?

Trying to finalise my budget here.
thks

Newbie

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 11:21am CDT by Johan008

Hi all

My name is Johan and I am considering it to start a marine setup (so none up to date) I have been keeping freshwater tanks for a few years now and been loving it but want to try my hand at marine

Cheers Johan :thumbup:

Howdie

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 10:40am CDT by robertkukla

Hi all

I have just started a Marine tank i will probably need lots of advice in the near future

I need some good advice

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 11:41pm CDT by LuckyFish

Guys,

I was not sure where to post this and I thought Oom Hennie is very popular, so you might find my post easily.

I am a bit in trouble right now. I am looking for a temporary solution, roughly 4 to 6 months.
When I build my small hatchery, I had not a clue what huge bioload I will produce in there. I mean, I am not so worried about my grow out system, but my broodstock system is giving me a head ache. 50 mg nitrate per litre is a bit to much. And it will climb higher, because I added a few more fish.
I have no gravel or liverock and my skimmer is also working on his limit. BM 250 Bubble magus in sump skimmer. The whole system got 1.400 litre and 8 big pairs swimming in there. The main problem is probably the larval rearing plumbed together with the broodstock system. I keep the fry in there until they are weaned and move them then into the grow out system.
I was thinking of using an denitrator with ORP controller. That might be probably the best option, but not the cheapest. Water changes are becoming a problem, because space is an issue and my sumps are keeping only 10% of the total volume.

I also dont want to use vodka, because bacteria population in the larvae rearing tanks are a big problem.

That´s a really tricky task and the whole system has got nothing to do with a reef tank. At least I learned a lot and my next big hatchery will be planned much better and space won´t be an issue.

Any suggestions???

Sps+lps+soft corals & fish

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 10:45pm CDT by Moolis

Hi reefers

This week is going to have something for all of you.

We just received confirmation that 140+ corals have been specially selected for us!!! :slayer: This was done out of a special photo order we placed last month!!!!
and it is coming this week!!:yeahdude:

THAT IS NOT ALL:P

We are also receiving some fish that are not normally available

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE:lol:

We have received a photo list of special frags that we might be able to get with this shipment! I will place photos of frags that are confirmed to be shipped to PET STOP:slayer:

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL FOLKS - there is still more:whistling:

We are also receiving 200+ small fish (like clowns, goby's, cardinals, blennies etc. that will go on special:yeahdude:

Lots of reasons to visit PET STOP this week:1:

plumbing 101 contin.....

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 7:35pm CDT by nathen

hey guys posted some pics as well as
a diagram of what i have planned for the plumbing , input welcome , as what i should
or shouldnt do with regards to plumbing

dimensions : reef tank

1500.600.600mm main tank one over flow wier
return pump :2880lph Hailea
two: sunsun powerheads 6000lph (for some circulation for now)
two :300w heaters

plumbing specs:im thinking on using
50mm plumbing for the overflow
and 32mm on the return

Hello

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 5:15pm CDT by Edmond

I want to start with my very first tank but I am new at this and I don't really know what to buy and how to set everything up....

internal to external ???

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 1:17pm CDT by Annoying

Hey

I'm going to have to redesign my filtration in my tank. I just have one problem I need my TS3 skimmer to be converted to external... Is this possible?

Urgent help needed Nennie hotel needed please

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 11:53am CDT by FransSny

Guys, just had a customer in the shop whio has bee taken for a bit of a ride. He has a new system with a nennie (2 weeks). He is going to start to feed now.

I will be seeing him tomorrow again but i need someone to B & B this nennie until we can sort his tank. Any takers ...my tanks are still too new

Trading UP!!

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 1:34am CDT by LifeAquatic

Okay, so I'm thinking about upsizing from 55 gal (208 lt not including sump) to maybe 265 gal (1000 lt). I have a bit of coral and want to eventually keep an anemone. I haven't purchased the tank yet so, what say you? What do you suggest?

One fish at a time or Pairs?

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 12:35am CDT by zombie clam

I have single Clown in my tank, 2 anemones and this little guy still apreas misserable. Do I add a 2nd or just leave him for a while? He has also only been in for about a day or so but seems unhappy in that he just sits in a corner and doesn't explore at all. I don't know if this is normal behavior for a clown newly introduced or should it be more active?

To Air Or Not To Air??

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 12:05am CDT by zombie clam

I have conflicting information and need help, both myself and a friend have 4ft tanks running for a few weeks, recently introduced fish but we are puzzled...Do you put air in the tank or not? I have heard from 2 different places, one says you should have air flow in the tank it's self and the other sayd you shouldn't so I am at a loss at to what the correct thing is to do. Please help!!

reef video

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 8:25pm CDT by toppdogg

hey guys just going through youtube vids and found this
hope its not a repost

YouTube - ReefVideos - Carl Swaby's 150 Gallon Aquarium[/URL]

love the tangs

Urgent help needed ca test problem

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 8:18pm CDT by Dale6

hey guys just got the new elos expert line ca test kit and already misplaced my instructions, can anyone help me out pleeeeaaaaassssse?if thethe wrong place mods please move thanks.

Shops please??

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 7:46pm CDT by Tremayn

Hi, does anyone know of any good shops in JHB??? So far I only saw marine stuff in the pet store in the oriental plaza, however they only had a few things :(

Hello people!

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 4:28pm CDT by Tremayn

Hi all! My name is Tremayn, although I do not have a marine tank, it is my ultimate goal! Im fairly new to the game and was advised to start with a fresh water tank, so i have a freshwater tank stocked with chiclids and its going pretty well:thumbup: .. As I am a student, and as students are known to be poor haha I am interested in a cheap set up to just keep fish. I think later on I will like to upgrade and keep coral etc... Also I just cant find big aquarium shops :( ..So I just go to small shops which are quite expensive and they dont know that much about marine stuff. Would appreciate of someone could let me know of good shops in Gauteng please:yeahdude: ... Yes a dancing banana! :slayer: .. look at it go! haha

Pet Stop open on Monday

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 3:32pm CDT by Moolis

Hi guys

We will be open on Monday 2010-03-22

From 09H00 to 14H00

We are busy making space for this weeks shipment of corals, so some specials will be up for grabs!

See the species list of last week PLUS the shipment list of this week and you know we have LOTS in stock!!!:thumbup:

We @ Pet Stop always go out of our way to please you!:slayer:

Chilling

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 11:27am CDT by Munky82

Hi guys.
I'm looking to get a chiller for a 1000l system.

I can get a 2nd hand hailea hc1000hb.
Question... is it a good idea to buy 2nd hand ? anything i should be wary of?

Hi All from a new member

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 11:03am CDT by grantn

Hi All

I have just joined the forum with the hope of learning about marine aquariums, I am a keen scuba diver (PADI divemaster) and really love reef fish. We have recently bought a new house and I have a perfect spot to install a tank as a hobby and for show.............so thats a little about me and why I have joined.

I really hope to learn about this interesting hobby and use this knowledge to teach my son about reef fish.

Grant

ID needed LS

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 10:19am CDT by wors143

Good morning all Ok so i got this specimen and it has grown about 5 times the original the size in the last 2 months.... not sure can this be a torch or is this a plate coral.... on closer look it has a fleshy foot that is attaching it to the rock almost like a nemmie but it looks like boney growths amongst the tenticales that is pointing me in the direction of this being a LPS. and then last but not least..... i bought this frogspawn and got these tubes on my frogspawn that discharges this mucus in the water column... look like a snail of some sort living in the tubes .... are they good or bad

How many fish can be introduced simultaneously safely?

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 9:12pm CDT by LikesFish

In my 90gallon with about 80lbs of live rock - assuming water parameters are good and you have a powerful skimmer (Bubbleking 180) how many fish can be introduced at the same time without negatively affecting either the tank or the fish? Asking since it is sometimes better to add certain fish at the same time due to territorial issues.

In specific I want to add a Fire Goby, Ocelaris Clown and a small Foxface at the same time. Is this ok? I never had a tank this small before so I am unsure...

Larvae development of Lion/Scorpion Fish

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 7:22pm CDT by LuckyFish

Hi guys,

it is not easter yet, but I got the chance to play around with some real tricky eggs.
I collected the eggs today and study the development over the weekend. Lets see how far it goes.

The pictures were taken around 3 to 4 hours posthatch. The amazing part is, I took these pictures with my old Nokia N95 in macro mode. The lens from this phone is small enough to take a picture through the microscope. I dont know how to explain it better. Maybe like that...
I got a stereo microscope, so two things to peep through. Through the one side, I peeped through and through the other I took the pictures.

Raising Seahorses

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 7:02pm CDT by viper357

For the budding breeders out there

Part 1 - http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/...ditioning.html

Part 2 - http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/...s-part-ii.html

Photographing Fluorescence in Aquarium Corals

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 7:01pm CDT by viper357

A different aspect to photographing corals, who's going to give it a try? :)

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/...um-corals.html

SPS recipe for success

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 6:59pm CDT by viper357

Nice article with tips on how to keep SPS.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/...e-success.html

New shipment landed

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 4:32pm CDT by Phuture Lab - Daniel

Phuture Lab Shipment Landed

Soft Coral:

Super green rodactis mushrooms - R395
Purple tonga mushrooms - R395
Green Monti - R495
Orange/green zoo - R195
Brown/green zoo - R145
Brown/green zoo - R245
Orange/green zoo - R295
Nepthia/leather rock small- R195
Orange Coco worm xxl - R495
Super green mushroom single - R295
Nepthia small - R125
Pink/purple tonga mushroom with rodactis - R195
Blue Mushroom on tile rock - R125
Electric blue mushroom - R125
Pink/purple mushroom - R225
Super red mushroom - R265
Orange and green zoos -R225
Orange starfish - R195
Leather and mushroom rock - R265
Green lobo - R395
Supergreen trumpet - R325
Pink Dendro - R295
Blue spotted red mushroom - R295
Green birds nest - R495
Tabletop abro - R395
Hammers - R395
Tonga blue mushroom x large - R395
Green polyp rock - R295
lemnalia - R265
Purple mushroom with leather on liverock - R495
Red spotted mushroom - R295
Marble green mushroom - R365
Rodactis mushroom - R365
Orange and green zoo - R395
Polyp colonies x 2 on rock - R495
Tonga branch with 2 x Flame mushrooms - R395
Purple gorgonian - R395
Super green trumpet - R495
Lobo leather - R395

Fish prices will be up soon
Sebae clowns
Maroon clowns
African clowns
Tomato clowns
Aroura Goby
Blue damsel
Humbugs
Fairy wrasse
Threadfin butterfly
Sunburst butterfly
hawkfish
Convict Tang
Regal Tang
Koran angel
Pajama Cardinal
Lionfish
Red squirrel

Boxing Shrimp - R145
Cleaner Shrimp - R165
Portwine Shrimp - R225

Liverock:
kenyan R95/kg
Premium tongan
Fiji

Fragging a pincushion- how to?

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 2:51pm CDT by Dikdaan

Hi all, can anyone tell me how to frag a massive pin cushion and what do i need to dose with before and after fragging?

New to Masa

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 12:53pm CDT by Dikdaan

Ola all

My name is Dikdaan aka Danie.
I have a 400liter setup, 30Kg LR, 1 massive pin cushion (soon to be more), 2 big leather corals, 1 colt, 20 mushrooms, star polyps, some zoa's. Then on the fish side I have 4 tomato clowns, 1 yellow tip damsel, 1 white spot damsel, lots of hermits and snails, 1 sea urchin and one thing they called a sand shifter, but doubt its the real name...

Hope to enjoy my stay on the forum...:)

New Stocks!

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 10:38am CDT by Naiema

New Arrivals at Sams Aquarium ie Purple Tangs,Powder Blues,Sailfin and Lipstick tangs,Butterflies,Goldhead gobies and more. For prices and instore specials phone 0217122534/0826368990

Hello

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 3:27am CDT by zombie clam

Hi all

Diy Canister Filter

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 11:58pm CDT by nakoma

not sure if anyone can find use for this check out the video it seems nice for maybe i dont know you tell me i am pretty sure some one wil like it

YouTube - Nano tank Canister filter

Best DIY Chiller

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 11:23pm CDT by nakoma

I think this is the best option if you want to do the DIY thing for chilling check out the link and tell us what you think

http://www.jonolavsakvarium.com/eng_...r/chiller.html

if you dont like keep quite and move on

plumbing 101

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 10:26pm CDT by nathen

hey guys need some insight on the complexities on marine aquarium plumbing ,such as layout, size of plumbing would appreciate any input ,or links to diagrams ,size of my tank 1500.650.600 one over flow wier and 3 chamber sump

Need help on new build tank

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 8:37pm CDT by xtreme

Ok guys

One of my friends gave me a tank that he build. Still brand new, but I trust only my silicone work

Tank size 110cmL x 60cmH (water level at 55cm) x50cmW
6mm glass, had to fit a rim at top to support it, he did it wrong!

Ok this was all last year, then saw the thread of rim less wave tank, that inspired me, ok this is Namibia, not all of the special goods is here like wave makers and if I make a tank with to expensive stuff no body would be interested in marines here in Swakop, this is all new to the public.

Ok now going to try it, if it works then:1: but if it doesn't, well redo it
got some pics too, planing of making it 3 sides visible and close off the none side (50cm) will call that the back, made 2 overflow boxes that is 10cmx10cm in each corner, will be bottom drain, between them I want to make a plunger with 12V wiper motor on top, (will be sealed)(saw this on you tube) going to use the 2 return pipes as a plunger guide and drilled holes in the glass for wave effect at bottom.
Now all this was finished last year and now standing in the entrance of my house.

Hope you think it might work :whistling:

Now I want to do it right, want to use this as my coral tank at the shop and must be closed at the top, due to few customers that think all the beautiful marines is fresh water and even a common clown fish, they stick their dirty finger in my tank and taste the water:nono:, that is why I want to fit hood on it and due to the east wind some times.
How much watt MH will I need for this tank?
Please advise and if this tank will work I'll will make a big sticker and stick it on the side of the hood that will say ( Proudly forum build by MASA members) if I may, just away to say thanks back
Ok some pics

This will be my first occupant, hiding it at home, tried to order anemones sins last year from August and never receive them, so desperate I gave Manie a Blue Hippo Tang for it

Ok, just to show you guys one of the similar tanks that is fresh water how it will look, there is no hood on this tank when I took the pic, will make it look cool before I will put the sticker on it (mentioned above in the thread) Oh and just a cement background in it, was bored:P

Will appreciate all your input and ideas to make this work.
thanks guys.:thumbup:

How much sand??

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 2:37pm CDT by Schalkdk

Hi. I was just wondering, how much sand I should use in my display tank. And why? I have noticed some people barley cover the base of their tanks. Would it not be a better idea for biological filtration if o use a thicker layer of sand?

Where to get LED's

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 1:43pm CDT by Johan van Aardt

hi guys could anyone maybe help me with were to get led's in or around capetown, imlooking for high powered ones, to be used as lighting for a pico one of these days.

Sourcing DIY Stuff - JHB Only

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 1:34pm CDT by Neil H

As per a suggestion this thread is for information on where to source DIY equipment in JHB specifically. I will periodically update this post so that all the information is present in one spot for the JHB reefers. Guys in Durbs, CT etc feel free to start a similar thread !

General Supplies

Builders Warehouse

Suggest Away Lads

who switches off thier skimmers when doing thier weeky clean?

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 1:20pm CDT by sweetnsour

sup reefers

So heres a funny one, i have noticed that when i used to do my weekly clean on the tank i never switched the skimmer off and obviously it stopped skimming for a few hours, since i have been switching it first and putting it back on only after the cleaning, i find it starts skimming straight away?

so who else does this?

just out of curiosity,

the waterboys new r.o upgrade patents approved

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 11:44am CDT by The Waterboy

hello.
just to let you guys know we have finished assembling our new r.o units with our own patent approved design flush valve.
we revolutionised the marine r.o. unit trade with the flush valve but were subsequently "robbed" as others began to copy every aspect of our machine design, both locally and abroad.
we then sat with a legal team and followed the steps required to patent anything new we add to the reefmaster range.
we designed a new improved membrane flush valve that ensures the membrane runs at optimum working pressure and flow both during the production and flush process.
the design was sent overseas to be manufactured and arrived in january.
the patent was approved last week and we got the patent no's and have the go ahead to assemble our units now with the new additions to enhance performance.
the beauty of these new upgrades is that thay are available to anyone who has a reefmaster unit aswell as a upgrade.

we will post pics of one of the new patent parts shortly. (they are a few others to):thumbup:

in the mean time heres the new flyers for the reefmaster evolution plus and the limited edition reemaster evolution revolution with inline T.D.S

Your most sort after corals,inverts and fish?

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 10:23am CDT by dallasg

Hi,

so if u could choose 3 corals, inverts and fish, what would be the top 3 in each of your lists be?

Corals:
Pipe Organ
Purple Porites
Galaxea

Inverts:
Clams
Arrow Crabs
Anemone Crabs

Fish:
Purple Tang
Platinum Clowns
Cowfish

Hi All

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 9:36am CDT by Donovan

Hi Guys

I'm New to Your Fantastic Forum
i have A small tank 1mtr x 40 x 60 deep
built in filter some live rock
skimmer nothing serious yet

livestock
Two false clowns
magenta Dottyback
Two Bangai Cardinals
Blue Damsel
Fire Goby
Boxer Shrimp
Some funnny red shrimp
Hermit
Brittle star

Green BTA

i Am still ongoing in my quest for my Bigger System
Money and Time ?

if Someone can Help me i am looking for A strand or two of
Feather Caulerpa??

once again Hello to All

Monthly Article

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 11:16pm CDT by vatso

Hi Admins

can we please have a monthly Article section?

I have learnt so much with the one post about my new tank & how to store RO water.

Can't the Guru Guys post & give some advise

Hennie & Nemo's Janitor, Jaco, alan and the others have some great advise.

maybe we have a list of what we want answered & then have one of the topics replied to every week or month?

Seastars

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 11:12pm CDT by Warr7207

Species Info

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Subphylum: Asterozoa or Stelleroidea
Class: Astroidea & Ophiuroidea

Echinodermata consists of Echinoderms which are made up of species of starfish, brittlestars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and sand dollars.
Asterozoa/Stelloidae is a super class that consists of true sea stars (Astroidea), brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) and an extinct subclass called Somasteroidea.

Types of Seastars
Seastars are divided into the two following groups:

Astroidea: True sea stars, have no shape demarcation between their legs and main body. Movement is done via their numerous tube feet in each leg.

Attachment 672

Ophiuroidea: Brittle stars have long arms clearly demarcated from the disc shaped body. Movement is accomplished by use of it's entire arm/s. Brittle stars are far more mobile than their true sea star cousins. There are over 1500 species of Brittle stars.

Attachment 673

Seastars are quite strange creatures in the sense as they do not have a brain, eyes or a spine. Seastars have a complex nervous system which is able to interpret - light, temperature, touch and water parameters. They have no specific sensory organs (eyes, ears etc.) for these functions.

Feeding
Seastars are one of the most fascinating creatures in the marine trade/hobby and in turn collected extensively, most of the time to their own demise.
Seastars have two stomachs, one for normal digestion and the other is used to actually engulf and "digest" prey live.

Seastars have very specific dietary requirements and not all marine tanks can provide this.
Target feeding is required for the majority of species available in the marine hobby trade. The best way to target feed is place the feed next to the star and allow the creature to crawl on to the food. Handling seastars to target feed is not suggested, as the star will want to flee and won't be interested in feeding.
Seastars will slowly starve to death, so make sure you know what food they require !!

Stocking / Acclimation
Seastars require good acclimation. Sudden changes in water pH, Gravity or temperature can be fatal for these creatures. Best to make sure what water parameters the creature has come from and slowly (6-8hours) acclimatise the seastar to it's new home's parameters.
Generally the rule of thumb is one Asteroid per 100g (378 liters) of marine water. Ophiuroids can be kept in density of one per 50 liters but regular feeding will be required !

Aquarium requirements
Seastars available in the marine hobby/industry are generally scavengers. They feed off the leftovers from fishfood and detritus.
Due to this reason owners need to make sure they either target feed or have a big enough tank for these creatures to survive.
It is suggested that Live rock, caves and overhangs are provided for "quiet time" and totally necessary for reefgrazer stars like Brittlestars.
Seastars do not require any specific substrate conditions other than burrowing seastars, which will require a substrate to live in.

Attachment 674

Lighting
Seastars have no specific lighting requirements and will thrive under any lighting provided.

Water Quality
Due to Seastars using their surrounding water in a pump-like system (at a molecular level) for movement and feeding, they are very sensitive to changes in water parameters.
It is known that Aquarists have lost seastars even from changing synthetic salt brands.
As like acclimation, If water parameters need to be changed, do it slowly.

What star ?
Stay away from the knobbly varieties of seatsars they tend to be predators or coral grazers.
The smooth armed Asteroids and Ophiuroid brittle stars are generally easier to keep and don't present risk to the tank's other inhabitants.
Species that are "easy" to keep:
Common Ophiurids - Serpent or Brittle Starfish, (excluding the Green Brittle Starfish due to it being a fish predator !) - great reef inhabitants that will keep the tank's live rock detritus free. Burrowing Sand Star - great for keeping your tank's substrate clean and tidy.

Attachment 675

Attachment 676

Species that are difficult to keep:
Linckia, Leiaster, Fromia - make sure you know exactly what these species dietary requirements are. Also when selecting these creatures, check for injuries and any areas of discolouration.

Attachment 677

If you can see any parasites on the seastar's body, stay away from these. It is almost impossible to rid a star of these parasites.

Attachment 678

Check the star's movement and activity. Get the seller to move the star in a undesirable area (for the selected star).they not the quickest creatures around but you will see movement and the tube-feet extending.

Attachment 679

Attachment 680

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Urgent help needed ID on crab???

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 10:15pm CDT by butcherman

need to know what this is? i assume its bad. Its a Hich hiker on some LR seems aggresive. dosent like the lights, its living in a nice tunnel its made for itself in a lager piece of live rock.

Fresh fish.

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 9:10pm CDT by Krulle

Hi there to all the marine aquarists. Thanks for this great site, already have learned alot!
Just to introduce myself, here is a few things about me.
I am living in Hermanus for all my life now and really diggs the sea. Hobbies is bodyboarding, kite surfing RC cars and anything with engines.

I have been keeping busy with a 100l tropical tank for quite a wile now but finally switched over to a marine tank. I am very exited about the change and defenitely need to work at patience. Something I never had but still going strong.

I have got myself a 250l tank with 120l sump with all the extras eg. skimmer, lights, power heads heaters and updraft pump. The tank is now in the cycling process for about a week and have introduced the tank with 1.5kg of live rock.... hehe and obviously sand with carbon activated particles. (Whatever that does) As I sed, I am new to marine.

Would like to find out if its a good idea to introduce live rock in the cycling process and what the best ways are in cycling the tank.

Thanks again for this great site and looking forward in chatting with all the other aquarists.

Regards,
Jaco

H20+ salt wins best in test

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 9:03pm CDT by TonyDD

Hi peeps

Just to let you know that here in the U.K H20+ has been found to be the best in test reef salt in a recent independant test by the popular U.K aquatic magazine Practical fish keeping.

More information can be found on our website and the full article can be found in April issue of PFK if its available to you in SA.

http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/h2ocean-given-practical-fish-keeping-magazines-best-test

Regards Tony

Weekly shipment 18-03-2010

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 8:49pm CDT by Moolis

Hi Reefers

I just finished unpacking this weeks shipment!:1:

Thanks to the guys that worked late with me I ow you a :peroni:;)

This shipment include Adult and semi adult ANGELS & Banner fish
Juvenile ANGELS
Lots of GOBY'S & BLENNIES
Some TANGS, wrasses & Starfish.

Now I am going to shower (Today was stressfully and LOOOOONG) then if I have the energy left I will post list.

Prices only tomorrow :( as I might be able to charge you R1000 for each of the Pomacanthus annularis - ADULT Blue ring angel:lol:

Some updated pics of my cube tank

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 8:26pm CDT by Jimbo

Hi Guys,

Thought I would post some updated pics of my tank.

Lights & growth during cycling ?

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 5:13pm CDT by neo

Yo,
been cycling since beginning of Feb but with no lights,
have LR in tank with all the red corraline it came with,
BUT nothing much happening with the base rock I have, the base rock is slightly brownish compared to the white it was when starting out.
So my question, the fact that I dont have lights on the tank, does this hinder the progress of my cycle ?

Second Q.
I've read in other posts about the live in the DSB but I dont' see any in my DSB, am I suppose to see anything?

New hardware and fish at idol

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 5:12pm CDT by Bob the (reef)builder

HI ALL,

NEW AQUAMEDIC STOCK IN STORE:thumbup:

THE WORLDS BEST MAGNET AND SCRAPPER CLEANERS,
METAL HALIDE GLOBES,T5 GLOBES,ARAGONITE,PUMPS,ADDITIVES ,20KG SALT,AND CHEMICAL SUPPORT.:)

OUR FISH SYSTEMS ARE BURSTING WITH COLOUR AND VARIETY.CLEANER AND BOXING SHRIMPS AT EXCELLENT PRICES.:)

STUNNING SOFT AND LPS CORALS IN OUR REEF BEDS.

WE ARE OPEN THIS AND NEXT SATURDAY FROM 8:00AM TO 4:00PM.
CLOSED GOOD FRIDAY,OPEN MONDAY(22ND) AND MONDAY(27TH) FROM
9:00AM TO 1:00PM.

CHEERS FOR NOW,
IDOL MARINE CREW.

sneaky skimmer previews ....

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 3:37pm CDT by Phuture Lab - Zayn

Hi guys , i snuck these pics out of the Lab . Not ment to b showing off units until official launch but dying to get ur responsess. I got shots of new H1 and H2 .

Scuba or free diving????

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 3:30pm CDT by Schalkdk

Hi, this might seem to be a stupid question but I will ask it anyway.
Am I allowed collecting aquarium specimens with the use of SCUBA equipment or not.
I have asked the local Parks board guys, but as you know they will employ just about any idiot to do this job now a days, So they either look at you like your asking for a piece of moon rock or its outright NO. Without any explanation.
I have search the forums and came across the rules for 2007 that clearly said that you could not use artificial berating apparatus for any recreational fishing except for collecting of aquarium fish for own use.
"http://www.environment.gov.za/Branches/MarineCoastal/AreasWork/recreational_fishing/fishing.html'The holder of a recreational fishing permit, shall not use any artificial respiratory equipment, with the exception of a snorkel, except in the case of marine aquarium fishing.
"
I cannot find an updated one.

Dorry Pets Cpt - Address?

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 2:51pm CDT by Atilla

Can anybody give me the address please?

and Frans' number...:thumbup:

Newbee

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 1:50pm CDT by Yveline

Hi All
Its Yveline here from The Reef & River pet store in kloof. The Marine side has always been my other half's passion, however the more time i spend in our shop listing to the hobbists chatting the more interested i have become so i hope by joining i will learn alot more look forward to being more involved;)

Fish Trap

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 11:48am CDT by vatso

Ello with the new tank & such I need a fish trap

I don't see any at the stores? how hard is it to make one?

what do you guys use?

Filter media

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 11:41am CDT by nakoma

Can i add ceramic broken up tiels to my biological filter as media ????

FTs Photo Gallery

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 11:26am CDT by brentv

Hey Mods,
Whenever I show friends this website, they often ask to see Full Tank Shots, I have to go here and there to look, what about a gallery dedicated to just FTS only??? (makes for great viewing!!!!):thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::1:

howzit

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 11:25am CDT by trublue

Hi All, i have decided join the awesom world of reefers.

My buddy suggested i check out Idol Marine for assistance , does anyone have a tank from them, could i see pic's ?

look forward to hearing from you all

later

Nitrate reducers

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 10:47am CDT by Adee

Howdy,

Please let me know where I can get my hands on either one locally....not sure if u can give local costing as well.

Sulphur Vs Alcohol Nitrate Filters | The Aquarium Solution

Planning for my new 2000L system, would also need to know the spec capabilites for each. System will be SPS dominated with a high bio load.

thanks
Adrian

Nominations for April

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 9:45am CDT by dallasg

Hi All,

please nominate a person here, just the name for now, and try and keep the comments down :)

Microbelift Herbtana - Personal Experience

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 8:59am CDT by FransSny

OK been pondering if I should post this, (everything in my tanks should be 1000 %) unfortunatley that is not the way life works.

After introducing the new fish, the bonzai regals picked up some White Spot so I thought as I am stocking the product, let me give it a try. ALL I can say is wow .

4 doses later, no WS. Being a herbal based product, it is reef safe, helps with de - stressing fish, immune stimulant etc.

I would really reccomend this , especially if adding new fish to a system

Anyone know if this is true?

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 7:56am CDT by chikaboo

Earthquake waiting to happen in KZN

Attached Files

Sharpscan@transnet.net_20100309_074953.pdf (193.6 KB)

RO water & Top Off's

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 8:57pm CDT by Nemos Janitor

The use of low TDS RO water is often recommended as top off water for salt water aquariums. The thinking is that only the water evaporates leaving behind the salts and TDS. Not 100% true. A simple TDS test of the evaporated tank water will prove. However the salts evaporated are so small it is not worth the argument. The reduction in aquarium water volume necessitating top off is not only evaporation. We have skimmers that remove skim mate, Overflows that splash, Algae scrubbers that are harvested etc. These forms of water removal also remove salts and TDS (trace elements/minerals).

RO water should periodically be checked. If the output from the RO unit is high then the unit needs to be serviced. (waterboy will best advise here) However good RO water that is made needs to be stored in an inert sealed container. Pure RO water is very susceptible to contaminants and will absorb these from the air or any surface it contacts. Also while RO water is believed to have a pH of 7 it could in fact be as low as 5 due to excess dissolved CO2.

Considering the above, the top off of pure RO water into a tank has a few concerns. Whilst the addition of RO water via a level switch and solenoid connected directly to ones RO unit will have very little impact on the aquarium chemistry i caution this approach. All it takes is for the solenoid or level switch to malfunction and a flood and washed out aquarium is the prize. Naturally salinity needs to be monitored and salts and additives dosed as required.

Top off systems that replenish on a max min basis, manual or automatic, best require the RO water to be treated first especially when 20 odd liters are added. This is to replace the used salts Ca etc. Products are available for this.

Another way of top off is to drip Kalkwasser/RO water at the rate of water usage. A simple saline drip available from most pharmacies attached to a container will do the job. This method only adds calcium. But it does limit pH and Kh swings.

Another method is the bailing system. Very similar to the above. But a very efficient way of adding a balanced calcium. I will not go into the details of the bailing system as that is another thread on it's own.

I think i have covered my view on the subject and please feel free to add or comment.

Hope Not In Trouble

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 8:49pm CDT by xtreme

Hallo MASA members

I hope not that I will be in trouble but told one client of mine to join MASA and Manie from Pet Mart Windhoek Namibia, I know we are on the other side ,lol

Thanks

Lightning ideas please

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 8:36pm CDT by RiaanP

Before I finally commit, let me ask all of you for suggestions and opinions.

Tank is 1.5 * .75 * .75
Yes a bit deep.
The opening on top, after the euro bracing is 1.227 * .520m So the light unit must fit in there. Now the problem. The beam of the Lapa is 135mm above the tank right in the middle. And water level another 50mm down as measured from top of euro brace.

My own preference is softies, Zoa, Leathers and some LPS like hammer, frogspawn. Personally I do not like SPS. For some reason it does not do it for me. (Well not yet) And anemones, nope, had one, not successful. And I doubt that in this tank feeding anemones will work anyway.

Original, my plan was 2 T5 units. 54W. 4 tubes in one and 6 in the other. If space a problem then the 6 must be downgraded to 4. The light unit will be DIY. Front unit must be able to move up, to allow access to the tank. All with individual reflectors.

But now, I'm reconsidering all my option. Metal Halides, those of Radiant Lightning part number BG42. Size is 230*140 by 122 high. so it can be mounted against the beam. Either 3 units of 150W or 2 units of 250W. Using 14000K globes
Tank access is then not a problem.

Or what options do you guys suggest.

Urgent help needed alge

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 7:49pm CDT by Reef E

Must I worry .There is a brown alge growing on my sand beds and agianst the window

aragonite

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 7:13pm CDT by regis

what will the effect be if i add more aragonite on top of my existing. Any advice would be appreciated.

Urgent help needed Green Stars No Opening

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 6:49pm CDT by Tiger

Maybe Im worried for nothing... My green star polyps have not opened/extended at all today. Usually when I switch on the T5's in the morning they immediately extend and open up.

Even now with my MH burning they are closed up completely.. Do I have anything to worry about or is this normal. Ive had them for almost 2months now already and this is the first time they have done this??

All my other corals, mushrooms, Zoa's, fish are perfectly normal and healthy.

ID please?

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 4:34pm CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Hi people

Found this strolling around (yes people, it moves) inside my NPS tank.

Could it be a type of starfish? Note the two tube worms on the body...

Weird...

local fish and invertebrates Photo Identification KZN Coast

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 4:30pm CDT by Schalkdk

Okay Cool I went out to see what I could get straight from the sea to put in to my tank (Which is still far from seeing any water by the way?) I have the permit and I am an avid snorkeler.
Sometime during my escapades in the rock pools, I started thinking will this fish be fine in my size tank? Will they eat soft corals? Will they be over aggressive? And so on and so on.......
Therefore, my question is where, can I fine a good list of local fish and invertebrates.
Preferably with ID pictures, I don't know the fancy names yet?

My Ricordea

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 4:30pm CDT by Jaco Schoeman

Here's a pic of my Ricordea. At first I thought it to be a Florida, but now I am not sure, could it be Yuma?

PS: This is NOT in my NPS tank...;)

for the Seachem seagel guys

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 4:22pm CDT by sweetnsour

sup reefers

ok so i got me some seachem seagel this weekend as Rowaphos was just too expensive. (which i have run out of thus the change)

ok so heres my question a rather easy one i hope.

im running it in my twolittle fishies reactor and would like to know from others experiance, does your media actually bubble ( ie show movement inside the reactor?)

reason for my quiestion is when i was using rowaphos it did , but with the seagel it doesnt seem to????

maybe i have put the sponge in the wrong place?

i put the sponge first then the plate with the inlet pipe then the media.

any advise?

Topping Up

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 4:18pm CDT by Kanga

Topping Up your tank

Due to evaporation marine tank's require topping up with Reverse Osmosis(R/O)water. As evaporation takes place salinity in the aquarium rises as only moisture is lost and no minerals thus topping-up is done with pure water. This can be done manually on a daily basis, or via an Auto top up unit designed for the purpose.

Auto Top Up Units

Auto top up units are a very effective way to replace water that has evaporated from your system, generally a float switch sensor is attached in the return pump chamber of the sump and if the water level drops it activates the top up pump to fill R/O water into the system.
It is also possible to use a stockman valve to replenish evaporation however the R/O container will have to be higher than the valve.

Kalkwasser

Kalkwasser can be added to the top up/ R/O water to maintain the calcium level of the system.

Heaters

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 4:10pm CDT by Kanga

Aquarium Heaters

Heaters are used to keep temperatures stable above ambient temperature. Heaters are considered a cheap addition in general. Most used are glass immersion heaters and they have a temperature range of about 20-30 degrees celcius.

Power

A heaters strength is determined by its wattage, the larger the tank, and the colder ambient temperature the higher the wattage needed to heat the aquarium. Heaters generally come in the following wattages - 50w, 75w, 100w, 150w, 200w, 250w, 300w.

Control

New Heaters have a control to set the required temperature at, an internal thermostat keeps the water at a constant level. Heaters can also be connected to some chillers. This offers excellent temperature control.
hysteresis : its basically the difference in the ON and OFF temp of the thermostat. Eg: Heater may be set to 26C, but will only turn ON at say 25.5C and turn OFF at 26.5C. therefore the hyteresis is 1C. As far as I know most cheep heaters can have a hysteresis of up to 2-3C, so don't always but the cheapest, think that the Jager claim a 0.5C which is pretty good.

Titanium Heater

Some more expensive heaters, such as Aqua Medic, have a titanium sleeve as opposed to glass which is resistant to corrosion and and breakage.

Heater Guards

An inexpensive heater guard made of plastic can be used to protect the heater from possible breakage.

Placement

Generally the heater is placed in the sump to avoid being seen in the display tank. Care must be taken not to place the unit in an area with too low a flow or an area that is affected by evaporation. i.e. an area in which the level drops when water evaporates such as the return chamber.

Tank Temperature

Generally tropical marine tank temperature is considered to be ideal between 25 and 27 degrees celcius.

Chillers

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 3:27pm CDT by Kanga

Aquarium Chillers

Chillers are used to keep an aquarium's temperature below ambient temperature.
Chillers usually have a built in temperature controller and switch on when they detect the temperature of the water is higher than what you have set it to.
They are basically a compressor (makes one side cold and the other really hot) and a radiator (cools down the hot side of the compressor by having a fan blow over metal fins).
Chillers need to be well ventilated as they blow out a lot of hot air and function better with cold air. Because of this if you have them with the tank in an unventilated room the room can get extremely hot.

Size
In South Africa we usually need to use a chiller rated for slightly more than our tank size as they are mostly designed for slightly cooler environments.

Maintenance
The radiator and fan should occasionally be cleaned. If they have been running for a few years they may need to be regassed by an aircon technician.

[FS] 2x seio m2600 10'000lph incl magnet mounts

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 3:22pm CDT by sweetnsour

sup reefers

need to sell my 3 month old seio m2600 pumps incl magnet mounts

they are brilliant pumps and in great condition (just have coraline growth on them)

R2000 for both.

Canister Filters

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 3:00pm CDT by Kanga

What is a canister filter?

A canister filter is a plastic unit which holds the filter media with a motor unit attached on top. Canister filters needs to be under the tank water level as it is a gravity fed system with a return pump. If you buy a proper (read more expensive) brand of canister filter you will only have to clean the filter once every 3 months, some of the top units come with an indicator which alerts the user when it is time to clean it.
Some canister filters comes with a heating element built into the motor housing to heat the tank to a constant temperature.
These filter units are great for chemically altering your water quality as they allow a large volume of filter media to be used. In freshwater systems where you want an acidic PH you can run peat fibre or granules (not advisable in the Western Cape), in a Malawi tank you can use coral chip/shells. For marine systems they make great phosphate and carbon reactors.

Drawbacks

As far as filtration goes the problem with canisters in a marine tank is that they reduce waste as far as Nitrate, however unlike a Deep Sand Bed they do not turn Nitrate into nitrogen gas.

Alternative uses

They can be used as a water polisher by filling the canister with filter floss and "vacuuming" rocks etc which will remove small particles. If this is to be done then it should only be run as long as you are "vacuuming" the tank. Thereafter the floss must be discarded and the unit washed and stored.
When used as a carbon and phosphate reactor it is important to understand that the purpose is no longer to remove particles from the water but rather have the water flow through the media.

Carbon
Carbon is used to remove toxins and polish water. It can, in the place of any other filter media, be used in a canister filter.

Phosphate Media
As with carbon, Phosphate media can be placed in a canister in the place of traditional filter media such as ceramic rings, sponges etc Phosphate media such as RowaPhos, PhosBan etc. remove phosphates in the water that will lead to algae growth.

[FS] swop seios for frags or why

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 2:35pm CDT by mandarinman

i have three 1000lph and one 2400lph seios to swop for assorted coral frags or something of interest. all been used for two weeks, too small for my purposes.

Anemone's

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 2:32pm CDT by Kanga

It is strongly advised that anemones only be added after your tank has reached a certain level of maturity, since most ornamental anemones prefer crystal clear water, stable water parameters, strong flow and strong illumination. If everything was done correctly, this can be as soon as 6-9 months. Before purchasing an anemone, a couple of things should be kept in mind (see The Anemone FAQ).

Anemones collected from the reef are central to the symbiotic relationship with clown fish. Clown fish do not naturally survive long in the wild without their host anemone, thus it is preferable to not buy them.
Anemones tend to wander in the aquarium - especially if they are not happy with their environmental conditions - and when they do, they will sting everything in their path.
Many anemones get very large - some more than 1 meter in diameter. Keep this in mind when deciding which anemone to buy.
Not all anemones will work as hosts for any clown fish. There is a specific list of anemones used as hosting partners by specific clown fish. Make sure to research this before just buying any anemone.
Most anemones are fish predators, meaning that slow moving fish are easy prey for them.

Hello

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 1:41pm CDT by Nasil

Hi all,
I will be setting up an aquarium as part of a school project. I will have to use aquarium heaters/coolers to maintain the temperature in the aquarium.

I'm therefore asking for assistance on brand names of heaters with thermostats and companies where they can be bought from. The temperature range is 10 to 35 degrees celcius.

I'd appreciate any assistance

ROTM - Reefer of the Month

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 12:44pm CDT by dallasg

Hi there all MASA Reefers!

we at MASA are striving to make the forum experience for the users new, fun and dynamic. So i am going to tell you about the new ROTM idea we have, Reefer of the Month will be about a MASA reefer who has excelled on the forums, new or old, young or old, its all about who is showing potential and going out of their way for the community. We will start a thread asking for nominations for a week, username and example, then will make an anonymous poll where people can view and vote for their fav reefer and submit Q&A. Once we have a winner, i will then conduct an interview asking about the reefer, putting forward member Q's etc. This will alternate with TOTM and eventually we will have a nice gallery of reefers and tanks.

This ROTM is used to promote the reefers on MASA so we can make this a bigger and better family. Nominations can be for help given, funny comments made, anything that shines a light on a reefer..

Various frags for sale: Durbanville, Cpae town

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 12:39pm CDT by 459b

Various frags for saleCommon Names:

Ricordea

Scientific Names:

Ricordea florida

Size of frags

-

How long have you had the frags?

-

Are the frags mounted?

Yes

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection only

Your location.

Durbanville, Cape town

Price:

R300

Photo's:

Attachment 669

Notes:

I am selling some of my ricordea frags. I have a new project lined up and need to gather some funds and also free up some space in my tank.
I have the following colours:
green
blue
orange/blue
peach/blue
mixed

Attached Thumbnails

ricordea-1.jpg
Views: N/A
Size: 192.3 KB
ID: 669

Tank looking good

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 12:35pm CDT by b-rad

Hi Guys Im happy to say my tank is now looking real good, the brown algae has completely disappeared, the rocks are full of calcareous algae growth, nice and pink, corals are growing, the frags I got from some of you are starting to take shape and my fish are all happy.

Freebie Forum

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 12:26pm CDT by Schalkdk

Hi Boys and Girls.
As a newbie to marine tanks I was Shocked to see the prices of all the equipment needed. Its a very big investment for something that youre not really sure youll get the hang of.

Talking to some of the local guys I found out that many of them started their tanks on the generosity of Hand Me Downs from friends and fellow hobbyist.

So I think its a great idea to start as Freebie forum. For all that old stuff in the back of your garage that would make a newbie very happy not to mention how many lives you might save (Fish and corals).

Best Marine Pet Shops in JHB?

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 10:34am CDT by AfricaOffroad

Up here on business, wouldn't mind making a quick visit to one of the better shops this side of the world?

Any suggestions and directions appreciated

Marine ich roots

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 10:29am CDT by maj

Hi,

I have been reading thru all the marine itch articles and links,but i have failed to see how this develops in a tank?
Say for instance,all livestock are in the tank....white spot free etc etc

then all of a sudden,one fish gets stressed and develops the white spot?
Does that mean all fish have this parasite on them,just needs stress or poor water quality to trigger it?
Is there any reefsafe meds that really eradicates or greatly assists with this or is a Fresh water dip and Quarantine the best option?

If this specific issue on white spot has already been discussed,please post link;)

THnks

My Humps, My Humps...

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 10:13am CDT by Garethmur

LOL, Howzit again...
Sorry, got another question...
Whats causing the humps in the sand in the sump, is it like bristleworm, or pods or what? since i got some sand from Marc, there have been humps forming on the sand in my sump... jus curious as to what does that?

Moth Ball?

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 9:36am CDT by Garethmur

Howzit,
Anothe quick and probebly stupid question here....
Our tank is in its 4th week of cycling now, and i have noticed that there is a lot of ... er... um.... decomp thats not supposed to be in the tank... there are quite a few moths that get into the tank... and sump... the overflow catches most of the shitthat landup in the DT, but there are like 3 large moths that are stuck to the return pump in the sump, okay, like 2 and half(one is almost melted away). should i clean them off or is it helping my cycle in someway?

i have noticed that the sump has quite a bit of life since we got some sand from Marc, so hopefully thing are going well so far...

Newbie with white spot problem

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 9:27am CDT by snorky

:wave2:Hi all! Im very new to fishkeeping and have been doing it for a few months and i just noticed white spot on a small green tiger barb(she has around 8 in total in a 3ft) for the first time in my sisters tank so i have resovled to try and help cure the problem. Should i use a product like bio elite heal all or an anti ich product solely. how often should i do the water changes for her and should i add medication immediatley after the water change? sorry for my ignorance but i want to put the least amount of stress on the sick fish as well as the others to avoid any unneccessary casualties.

[FS] vortex mp40 gen 2

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 2:15am CDT by IMarine

Hi guys i am selling my 6 month old vortex mp40 gen 2 for R3500.00 each i have 4 but 2 will be pending on buyer will let you guys now,and upgrading to something new,and all boxes and manu included, this is one time offer and they in a mint condition

[FS] Various Reactors..

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 12:03am CDT by scubaninja

I have some Carbon,Phosphate, Hydrocarbonate and sulphur reactors.
I also have the manuals for them.
Offers welcome before i decide a price. Please no chancing your luck. Only what i have listed is for sale

Hydrocarbonate and Sulphur, media included

Phosphate reactor (carbon is the same)

Another newbie

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 11:39pm CDT by 2time

Hi All

My name is Keanan and live in Cape Town. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to marine tanks.
I currently have 4 freshwater tanks, but soon will be converting 2 of those into marine. The one will be used as a DT which is 1.2m(L)x60(W)x70(H) and the other one will be used as the sump, which is the normal 3F tank. I would like to keep a reef tank and I know I have to do a lot of reading on how to go about it and would appreciate some help/advice as well. If there's any good LFS here in CPT that I can get some advice from, please let me know or should I rather just stick to the internet and MASA?

Thanks
Keanan

Reefmasters Pico aquarium

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 9:52pm CDT by ReefMaster_SA

Hey guys just wanted to post up my tank

its a dymax iQ3
7 liters

1.5 kg LR

GSP

Green mushrooms

Zoas
Green
orange

Plating monti orange

200lhp return pump

50watt heater

X 3 led lights

Still busy doing the tank to perfection :yeahdude:

bristle worms wanted

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 9:51pm CDT by mandarinman

i am looking for a handfull of bristle worms for my sump if anyone in ct has please help!?

The spear gun thread

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 9:10pm CDT by Mekaeel

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_koekemoer (Post 332131) :nono::nono::nono::nono::nono::nono:

Shoot him with the speargun im bringing for you Sean :slayer:

Marine Aquarium SA dot com

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 8:39pm CDT by sean_koekemoer

Was installing Opera on my phone and when I di a search for MASA to bookmark it, I stumbled upon this. Quite interesting:

marineaquariumsa.com Estimated Worth $19330.4 USD

Title Marine Aquariums South Africa Description Marine aquarium and reefkeeping forum South Africa Daily Pageview 8248 Daily Ads Revenue $26.48 Last updated Today Index Data

Traffic Rank 133363 PageRank 3 Backlinks 31655 Dmoz Categories Currently Not Listed in Dmoz Traffic Data

marineaquariumsa.com Traffic History Time Range Traffic Rank Reach Rank Reach PerMillion PageViews Rank PageViews PerMillion PageViews PerUser 3 Months 133363 213161 7.3 34000 2.06 29 1 Months 179071 236769 6.6 107370 0.64 10 7 Days 262209 311786 5 238074 0.28 5 1 Days 1194051 1094277 2 1236966 0.02 1

250w MH suggestions

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 8:10pm CDT by gaboon

Need to replace 1 bulb, 250w de 14k. I think current bulbs are reefteks. Cost is an issue so blv seems very popular but apparently have to be run off good ballasts. I'm assuming my unit has electronic ballasts. Are k ratings standard across the range? My previous setup had 12k coralvue bulbs and 4 actinics which I was very happy with. Any other suggestions would really help.

ID needed please

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 7:59pm CDT by Munky82

Hi there. I found this creature yesterday on a fearly new piece of lr (1,5 months old). Is it a shroom ?

24Watt T5 ballast

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 6:27pm CDT by wukkie

Hi all

I am looking for T5 24watt ballast. any idea where I can find.
I am looking for something short, not the long ones like the 54Watt.

Thanks

Is there an easy way to check if ballast is faulty?

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 4:58pm CDT by gaboon

My one MH bulb wont come on, its a real mission to get to the bulb and a bigger mission to get to the ballast. Is there an easy way? I know this is a lame question but am looking for the easy way out.:whistling:.

THANKS:)

Newbie to aquarium tanks

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 4:56pm CDT by Rish

Howzit guys , name is Rish, i have a tropical/ mixed assortment in a 2 foot tank for a few years. But after doing some research i have decided to set up a marine tank.i want to buy a 4 foot tank to get started with.
Any help will be much appreciated as although i love fishing i am a complete novice to marine tanks.

Look forward to talking to you guys,

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

MASA very slow...

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 4:48pm CDT by Furbz

is it just me or is MASA very slow?
over the past few days i have noticed that it is taking ages for masa to load.
or to post a comment..
i am not having this problem with any other sites?

is it just me or are other people experiencing the same thing?

How to fill up new tank

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 12:32pm CDT by vleis

Hi.
Right my tank is almost finished. the size of display tank will be 1500 x 600 x 600 and the sump 1200 x 450 x 450. My question is the following. Do I put RO water in the tank and then add the salt? or, do I mix the RO water in a container and wait a couple of days and then put the water in the tank? Sounds like a silly question I know. The reason I am asking:
1. What do I do with the LR? I have heard that when you add the salt the water gets extremely hot.
2. When do I seed the DSB?

or must I first put in RO water then the salt then let it circulate for a couple of days then add the LR and sand for DSB and then seed the DSB??

Please explain?

Forum input - advice for a super nano

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 11:58am CDT by dallasg

Hi All!

oki i have built myself a super nano with all the bells and whistles, and been looking for a few idea on what to keep, or what to do with it... but before i start my thread on it let me run thru what it is and see what themes/ideas everyone has.

The DT is 40cmx45cm x 40cm with a C2C on the back top, it has a 150w MH 10k with 2 x 24w actinics.

it then flows to a lower tank where i have a ts1 skimmer, heater and auto-topup chamber, and then it flows into a DSB tank below which is 40cmx20cm and 15cm high with a refugium and return chamber.

I was thinking of calling it the Calcium forest and keeping only SPS with inverts and a pair of black percula's i have

keen to hear what everyone has to say, and yes this is Galibore's old nano from yester-year, re-done and modded

Mantis shrimp and lighting query

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 11:37am CDT by Dane

Hey there,

I'm getting a bright red mantis shrimp from someone to put in a little dedicated tank I've had lying around. And I've got a few queries..

The first is lighting - its got one of those tiny little flourescent globes and balast in one combos, pretty useles. If I were to "upgrade" (hahaha) this to an 18wat 6400k CFL what softies could I grow in the tank? (Keep in mind only 20cm of water!)

The second is what other interesting creatures can I put in this tank? I know that It'll wipe out other shrimp fish etc. But what about other inverts like echinoderms? Brittlestars, urchin etc?

Lastly, whats the most basic filtration needed for a tank like this? What about doing a little fuge round the back of the tank just filled with cheato?

Thanks in advance,
Dane

Ricordea

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 10:27am CDT by 459b

After having my arm twisted by more than one person, i have finally decided to post a pic of my tank (or part of it at least).

Eskom strikes again - cape town

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 10:09am CDT by Johan van Aardt

Can you believe it, woke up this morning to find that the power was out, i thaught the power mightve just tripped but it seems that eskom is at it again

TS2 Skimmer or Equivalant

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 9:48am CDT by deepblue

Hi guys, I'm looking at buying a TS2 skimmer to replace my TS1 any other skimmer in the same price range (+-R 2000) that you guys suggest? Also what mods or upgrades are available for the TS2?

QT Must Haves?

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 8:57am CDT by vatso

Hi all

what is recommended in a QT tank?

I am going to use my 250Lt old tanks as a QT tank

I will be running a skimmer & one 5000Lt pump.

No Sand no rocks? - I will be doing weekly water changes taking water from my new tank. so will be doing close on 50% water change per week.

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2010/03/16/Mr.'

Mr.

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 8:20am CDT by Rochelle

Hi, I am new to this Forum, and would like to start a Marine tank. I have always been involved with Tropical tanks and exotic fish. But left it a while back and will go this route now, or try atleast. I dont have anything as yet so it will be a fresh start and a expensive one i take.:lol: I am a male incase anyone was wondering.:slayer:

Happy Birthday martinkeyser and Archie123

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 6:48am CDT by chikaboo

Happy Birthday guys - hope your'll have a great day and Archie123 if no posts by next year .... no birthday wishes for you!:nono:

54watt T5 ballasts

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 10:49pm CDT by Drk

I'm looking for 54watt ballasts for T5 either 3 double or 6 single. Or any other way to connect the tube via a special adaptor.

Lighting issue, please help

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 10:12pm CDT by Johan van Aardt

Hey people, so i have a bit of a problem with lighting. at the moment i have a unit that has 4 x 13watt units in and to find replacement globes is impossible.(you guys starting to see my delema:whistling:)

ok so my tanks dimentions are 500 x 400 x 600( l x b x h ) waterlevel at 500.

now i need to before the end of the hear redo my lighting and have no clue what to replace it with.

i was thinking or mh or t8.

Now my reason for wanting to go mh or t8 is because i need something that will exactly fit over the tank the light unit cant be bigger and i would preferably like to diy the unit myself. i was thinking of going with t8 because u get rather short tubes, im not sure on wattages tho, and offcourse the heat issue.

then there is mh i dont want to use more than a 70 watt mh and still then there might be heat issues.

guys take into mind i want to lift the unit another 10 cm above the top of the glass of the tank and i am only goint to be keeping zoa's

Fish Shopping

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 8:42pm CDT by Renannchen

The Amazing Aquarium Store Street of Hong Kong by Howard Norfolk
Have a look at this, wonder if they sell marine's?

Elegant flasher Wrasse

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 5:25pm CDT by Mauritius-aquarist

Here a is rare pict of a The Magnificent Mauritian elegant flasher wrasse. Probably one of the rarest wrasse in the world. This fish is in USA now!:1:. There's a second specimen which will be the property of a fellow south-african( a nice person;))

own mix food

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 5:22pm CDT by clown

Hi all,

Do any one now how to make a home maid food mix for Herbivours and Omnivore food mix.

Can you boil brocoli and feed thatto them also?

Would like a recepie for the following LFS.
Midas blenny , fiji Chromis, clearner shrimp, dwarf blue legged hermits.

Regards
Clown :wave2:

Microbacteria 7

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 4:57pm CDT by sweetnsour

sup reefers

im in need of MB7, however after much much shop to shop hunting i cant seem to find any?

does anyone know what the problem is or of a shop that has stock available?

thanks

Various frags for sale: Pretoria, Hatfield

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 4:27pm CDT by Furbz

Various frags for saleCommon Names:

Pulsing Xenia

Scientific Names:

Xenia sp.

Size of frags

between a 50c and R5 coin

How long have you had the frags?

over 6 months

Are the frags mounted?

No

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection only

Your location.

Pretoria, Hatfield

Price:

R50 a frag

Photo's:Notes:

-

New Fish Death Question

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 3:47pm CDT by vatso

New Fish Death

how much time does one worry about a new fish making it? My Scopas died on the 3rd day of being in the tank got sucked into a pump at night :(

What is the average Danger time for a fish to survive? I know if they are eating all is good but some don't start eating for a few days.

Thanks

more than one boxer shrimp/coral banded shrimp

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 3:37pm CDT by magman

Hey Guys,

I belive through the forum and other reef keepers that you can only keep one boxer, unless they caught as a mated pair. I have had a single boxer in the sump for somebody, and on saturday caught another pair and a single. I took the single and put it with the other single and kept a close eye, and too be honest there was no tension, they did play follow my leader for an hour or two, and that was it. They do seem fine, has anyone else "mixed" boxers before? Or is just that I was lucky and is it differant sexes?

Gotta sell my tank: Sandton JHB

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 3:07pm CDT by mike Bushie

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

Gotta sell my tank

Location:

Sandton JHB

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection only

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

Hey Guys. Was dreading this but i am moving so its gotta be done. Selling my tank.:(

Live Stock:

Red brain coral (R450)
Green favite (R500)
Plating red monti growing with a smaller green monti (R1000)
Plating red monti (R800) [ both red monti's are about 15cm by 15cm +-]
Small sun coral R 70
Big rock with plenty pink zoo's, red zoo's, different types of green zoo's (R850)
Rock with very cool coloured zoo R300
Ricordea 2 big and about 10 small on one rock ( yellowish green and purple colours (R800)
big Ricordea florida with a small colt coral on one rock (R900)
Colt coral with red and green shrooms on rock (R 400)

I will be posting Pic's on all the corals tonight.
All the hardware stuff will be posted soon aswell.

Notes:

Green favite:

New Member Introduction

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 12:42pm CDT by Schalkdk

Hi all :wave2:, Im a new member (SUPER SITE!!!!)from Durban, just joined today. Im planning my first marine tank 1.2m X .45m X .45m. I did all the reading and most of the planning. Im in the final stages of buying equipment. I'm Into DIY and Caching my own specimens and :thumbup:Scuba diving:thumbup:.

Update Pics

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 12:37pm CDT by deepblue

Hey Guys some update pics.....:slayer:

ID this please

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 12:33pm CDT by clown

Hi Guys,

I see the below every time I go to melkboss strand.
I see if you touch the middle it rolls completely up.

I would really like to know what this is.
Is this a type of Anemone.

Catching a hawkfish

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 10:40am CDT by Furbz

hey guys,
i really need to catch a hawkfish in my tank...
its a coral hawkfish.

any ideas on how i can do this?

and anyone who gives the idea on how to catch him and it works...
the fish will be yours for free! :thumbup:

Hermit Feeding ?

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 8:42am CDT by neo

Hi,
I want to know what/how to feed my hermits.
Bought 3 hermits this week-end, also got some food - small pellets.
this is the first live stock i'v put in my tank so there isn't much feeding and wasting going on at this point.
The pellets only float on hte water surface, not sinking to below for the hermits to get hold of.
So what does hermits eat and what can i give them.

Softies wanted pls.

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 11:25pm CDT by Evo R

Hi all.

Does anybody have any softies frags for not to much $$ ?
I despratly need to get some colour and variety in my tank.
I upgraded the boyu's lighting from 18w 6k calvin to 24w 10k calvin.

Please guys.....:P

Total Alkalinity Confusion

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 7:22pm CDT by costa

Hi Guys,

Perhaps you can help me out before I tear my hair out!

I am somewhat confused by different alkalinity readings.
I have a Seachem test kit which uses the no. of drops to determine total alkalinity.
According to the test it takes 6 drops for the colour of the solution to turn from blue to yellow. i.e. total alkalinity = 3 meq/l = 8.4 KH.

However,and this is where the confusion sets in, my local, and very respected, supplier used an Elos test kit which indicated a total alkalinity of only 4.5 KH.

My leather corals seem fine but I need to be 100 % sure.

Could you perhaps give me some advice on what I might be doing wrong or if it is the test kit?

Any advice welcome!

Cheers,
Costa.

Howzit

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 6:45pm CDT by aquafriend

Hollo to all, I am not technically a new member my user name was tankoholics, but have since got a new e-mail address and forgotten my password so thought it easier to reregester.

I have a boyo 550 which is going strong and has been for about 1-1,5 years now, I have had my learning curve along the way but now my system is stable.

I have: clown (probably every ones first fish)
mandarin
blue damsel
chocolate tang
cleaner shrimp
2x blue legged hermits
1x red hermit

and a few soft corals

Also a 660l system going but still quite new, so only 3 fish in it now.

I have some hardware I want to sell but do not have rights to post yet so will let you all know when I can.

Cost of setting up a Marine tank form scratch

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 5:04pm CDT by Singularity

OK so alot of people starting out in the hobby wonder what a complete tank will cost them. Because a 4ft tank is usually the best size for a beginner because of water volume compared to cost (Big enough for more stable water conditions and most entry level equipment will work fine) we will use it for this example.
Tank dimensions 120x45x45 with a 3ft 90L sump, thats total water volume of 330L. This is also a rough estimate, but will give you an idea. Lots of the stuff can also be diy`ed to save on cost.
Best would be to get in contact with a sponsor closest to you for your tank Sponsors Forums - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

ok so lets start with the tank, stand and sump...
Tank - R1800-R2500 depending on amount of holes that need to be drilled, what type of overflow, glass thickness. This could obviously be alot more if you go for a full custom build, but you can a standard 4ft with overflow for that price.

Stand - +/-R1600

Sump - +/- R900

OK some of the essential equipment

Skimmer - R1500-R4000 you can go for Reeftec TS range skimmers (TS2 will work well) which offer good value for money, and for something a little better look at the reef octopus bubble blaster skimmers and bubble blaster cone skimmers rated for 800L

Circulation pumps - R1600 Seio`s offer some of the best value for money (price is for 2x Prop 530`s and 2x Prop 1000`s which should be more than enough to start of with.)
South Africa's largest online marine aquarium pet shop
Powerheads

Return pump - R500-R1800 Here you can choose anything from Tunze, hailea, Aqua medic OR pumps, sicce. Best would be to choose one of these brands as you seldom hear of any problems with them.
Aqua Africa
South Africa's largest online marine aquarium pet shop
Powerheads

RO unit - R1500
The Waterboy: Water Purification Equipment Specialists

Light Unit - R2000 - R10000 Here you really have to know what you want to keep in terms of corals before deciding on what type of lighting will be sufficient.

Heaters - R400-R500 It is recommended to use 2 smaller heaters 2x150w jager or 2x200w jager

Plumbing - R500 Pipes allowing water to travel from display tank to your sump and back

Good quality hydrometer or/and refractometer - R500 for aqua medic hydro or tropic marin hydro meter or R850 for reef octopus Refractometer.

Salt - R2000 for +/-40kg`s for the first couple of months, obviously you can buy less but thats just how i prefer to buy :P

Master test kit - R650 I still think for the start the tropic marin offers the best value for money and includes all the tests you would need for cycling etc.

Substrate and dsb - R200-R1500 if you decide to use playsand it could save cost, more expensive is aragonite.

Live Rock - @ R100-R120 for decent kenyan live rock and +/-20kg`s

Thats about it for getting a nice basic tank up and running.

How to convert .MOD video to AVI, MPG, WMV, MPEG, MPEG-4, H,264, MOV, M4V, DivX, XviD

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 4:27pm CDT by AlbanyLongman

Question:
1. What is .MOD video?
2. How to convert .MOD video to AVI, MPG, WMV, MPEG, etc?

Answer:
1. The .MOD file format is used by various digital camcorder models (I.E JVC Everio) to save their videos. These .MOD files are often accompanied with small .MOI files (See links below) which contain the videos' time-stamp information.

The .MOD format is simply a MPEG2 formatted video file, and if you simply wish to view the files on your computer, it is reportedly safe to rename the extension from .mod to .mpg or .avi

The known camcorder models that use the .MOD format are:

JVC: GZ-MG30, GZ-MG70, GZ-MG37, GZ-MG77, GZ-MG505, GZ-MG130, GZ-MG155, GZ-MG255, GZ-MG555

Panasonic: SDR-S100, SDR-S150, SDR-S10, SDR-H18, SDR-H200, SDR-H40, SDR-H60, SDR-SW20

Canon: FS100, FS10, FS11

2. Now there is one professional Mod Converter that can convert .MOD video to AVI, MPG, WMV, MPEG now.

The following is a step-by-step guide on how to handle the conversion.

Step 0: Install and run Mod Converter.

Step 1:Add files
Click "Add File" to add your video files.

Step 2: Set output video format
Click "Profile" button from the drop-down list to select the output video format such as AVI, MPG, MPEG and WMV. You can click the "Settings" button to set parameters of your output video such as Frame Rate, Bitrate to get the best video quality as you want.

Step 3: Start the conversion
Click the "Start" button to start the conversion.

Tip 1. How to join your .Mod videos
If you want to merge several Mod/Tod videos into one file you can choose them and click the "Merge into one file" to do it.

Tip 2. How to split your .Mod video
The "Trim" function also servers as a video splitter. You can set the "Start Time" and "End Time" to set the time of the clip or you can directly drag the slide bar to the accurate position. After cutting your Mod/Tod videos into small clips you can upload them to YouTube, Myspace and so on to share your video with people of the world.

Tip 3. How to crop your .Mod video size
By using the "Crop" function you can crop the black edge of your video and you can also drag the line around the video image to adjust your video to your mobile devices. With it you can enjoy and share your DV with other people anytime and anywhere.

Tip 4. How to save your favorite picture
If you like the current image of the video you can use the "Snapshot" option. Just click the "Snapshot" button the image will be saved and you can click the "Open" button next to "Snapshot" button to open your picture.

Here I also recommend you some High Definition video converter: HD Video Converter, Flip Converter, AVCHD Video Converter, TS Video Converter, MTS Converter, Blu Ray Ripper.

Hello

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 3:11pm CDT by reefbrucie

Hello people. Just introducing myself. ex-zim guy living in scotland. :wave2:

DIY Materials Sourcing?

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 1:31pm CDT by AfricaOffroad

How about a "Sticky" dedicated to where we can source good DIY materials.
I've lost touch with my old sources and now its a bit like finding needles in a haystack. Probably best to split it my major region ie. KZN, Gauteng, WC, FS etc

Some of my sourcing questions include where to find:
1) Egg grate

2) What's the best grade silicon available in SA to build tanks with?
I've seen the Bostik Marine at around R33.00 per tube but would rather spend more on using the best possible product available.

3) Industrial lighting component suppliers that have Actinics, Metal Halides etc.

4) pipes, valves & other plumbing fittings.

5) Acrylic/Perspex sheeting

6) Glass

continue list below ...

So what you catching at the moment?

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 1:21pm CDT by AfricaOffroad

Two brief excursions to the local rock pools have revealed the following worthwhile specimens:

1) goldern headed jawfish:thumbup:
2) moorish idols, nice size too:slayer:
3) clown surgeon
4) bunch of those blue and gold damsels (that eventually turn dull brown as they mature)
5) cleaner wrasse
6) couple of moon wrasse

Must say the first 2 surprise me. Never saw these during my previous fish keeping days

Clownfish paradise

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 10:28am CDT by Nsteyn

Eish, This is kinda stunning..
for all the clown fans out there...

27 clowns in the same tank 27 months~Thread of the Month - Reef Central Online Community

Protect Marine Fauna of Mauritius

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 11:07pm CST by Mauritius-aquarist

Hello all fellow Marine world passionate.
I've been here for a while, and I thought it would be right to discuss and share a very worrying issue concerning the marine environment of the Paradise Island. I had a discussion with Marcel and Yuri before, and now I think its right time to make the light on it;

Here is the story summed up by a true marine conservationist, who've felt the importance of protecting our "mother" sea from selfish human beings:censored:

"In April 2009, the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agro Industry, Food Production and Security issued an exceptional letter of authorisation to Marine Culture of Mascarene Ltd (MCML). It states that the company is authorised to: collect up to 4000 units of live marine ornamental fish per month, to constitute a brood stock and the surplus to be exported.
Annexes to the letter specify the conditions of the authorisation, including geographical limitations and a list of ornamental fish and invertebrates that were suggested for breeding. The fish include several species of clown fish (cousins of the main character in the Disney movie Finding Nemo) and the invertebrates comprise various species of soft coral.
For background, we talked to ornamental fish collectors with decades of experience in Mauritius. They explained that their methods were highly sustainable since they removed only a small fraction of juvenile fish from the wild, while protecting adults of breeding age. These fish were caught on demand in response to requests wholesalers around the world and their quota from Fisheries Division was around 5000 fish per annum. They were dismayed that MCML had permission to extract nearly ten times this number. At that rate the fish stocks in the area defined would be on the brink of collapse within a few years as the collectors would have to remove virtually every fish they encountered to reach the quota.
They further explained that it is not commercially viable to breed the fish suggested by Fisheries Division in Mauritius. Many of the species are relatively easy to breed and this is already conducted in countries which constitute the main markets for ornamental marine fish, thus eliminating the need for expensive long haul air freighting of the fish. Further investigation revealed that Werner Menzel, the main shareholder in MCML, is one of the major distributors of ornamental fish in Europe but has virtually no experience or operations in breeding them.
Given that one mating pair of fish can produce thousands of spawn, it is inconceivable why a quota of nearly 50,000 wild fish per year would be required to build up a breed stock. Perhaps the clue is in the short phrase and the surplus to be exported. Our suspicions were confirmed when we questioned people who had visited MCMLs operation site. They stated that the facilities consisted of short term holding tanks that were totally inappropriate for breeding.
We learned that Werner Menzel was assisted by Parmeet Ramtohul, a relative of Dr Arvin Boolell (ex-Minister of Agro Industry, Food Production and Security), and whose wife was apparently given a 45% share in MCML. According to Mr Ramtohul, the exceptional letter of authorisation was obtained with the help of Mrs Ratacharan of Fisheries Division. She had been promised all-expenses paid holidays and in return she had written half of the MCMLs proposal to ensure its application was approved by the appropriate committee.
When we spoke to Mrs Ratacharan, she refused to answer our enquiries and instead referred us to the Director. We send him a fax detailing our questions about the authorisation and he advised us that he had instructed Mrs Ratacharan to answer them. To date she has not refused to take our calls or return them.
We have discovered a conversation on a bulletin board for ornamental fish dealers. In it, Mr Ramtohul declared that he was looking for partners to help him catch and export fish from Mauritius, including the highly sought-after Gem Tangs, which retail at over $3000 and the Debelius which retails easily twice the price of Gem tangs. these was not included on the list of species suggested for breeding.
Mr Menzel is currently out of the country. However, we understand that the operations of MCML are continuing under the supervision of the German Consul in Mauritius, Mr Rainer Goetse.
From our investigations, we conclude that is highly likely that Mr Menzel and Mr Ramtohul set up a front business pretending that they would breed certain fish. However, their real intention was to catch and export much more valuable wild fish from Mauritian waters. The question remains: which officials knew about this and are complicit in its implementation? "

Please ur views, comments and solution will be the most welcome. Help us protect the Environment!

Protect Marine Fauna of Mauritius

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 10:27pm CST by Mauritius-aquarist

Hello all fellow Marine world passionate.
I've been here for a while, and I thought it would be right to discuss and share a very worrying issue concerning the marine environment of the Paradise Island. I had a discussion with Marcel and Yuri before, and now I think its right time to make the light on it;

Here is the story summed up by a true marine conservationist, who've felt the importance of protecting our "mother" sea from selfish human beings:censored:

"In April 2009, the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agro Industry, Food Production and Security issued an exceptional letter of authorisation to Marine Culture of Mascarene Ltd (MCML). It states that the company is authorised to: “…collect up to 4000 units of live marine ornamental fish per month, to constitute a brood stock and the surplus to be exported.”
Annexes to the letter specify the conditions of the authorisation, including geographical limitations and a list of ornamental fish and invertebrates that were suggested for breeding. The fish include several species of clown fish (cousins of the main character in the Disney movie “Finding Nemo”) and the invertebrates comprise various species of soft coral.
For background, we talked to ornamental fish collectors with decades of experience in Mauritius. They explained that their methods were highly sustainable since they removed only a small fraction of juvenile fish from the wild, while protecting adults of breeding age. These fish were caught on demand in response to requests wholesalers around the world and their quota from Fisheries Division was around 5000 fish per annum. They were dismayed that MCML had permission to extract nearly ten times this number. At that rate the fish stocks in the area defined would be on the brink of collapse within a few years as the collectors would have to remove virtually every fish they encountered to reach the quota.
They further explained that it is not commercially viable to breed the fish suggested by Fisheries Division in Mauritius. Many of the species are relatively easy to breed and this is already conducted in countries which constitute the main markets for ornamental marine fish, thus eliminating the need for expensive long haul air freighting of the fish. Further investigation revealed that Werner Menzel, the main shareholder in MCML, is one of the major distributors of ornamental fish in Europe but has virtually no experience or operations in breeding them.
Given that one mating pair of fish can produce thousands of spawn, it is inconceivable why a quota of nearly 50,000 wild fish per year would be required to build up a breed stock. Perhaps the clue is in the short phrase “and the surplus to be exported”. Our suspicions were confirmed when we questioned people who had visited MCML’s operation site. They stated that the facilities consisted of short term holding tanks that were totally inappropriate for breeding.
We learned that Werner Menzel was assisted by Parmeet Ramtohul, a relative of Dr Arvin Boolell (ex-Minister of Agro Industry, Food Production and Security), and whose wife was apparently given a 45% share in MCML. According to Mr Ramtohul, the exceptional letter of authorisation was obtained with the help of Mrs Ratacharan of Fisheries Division. She had been promised all-expenses paid holidays and in return she had written half of the MCML’s proposal to ensure its application was approved by the appropriate committee.
When we spoke to Mrs Ratacharan, she refused to answer our enquiries and instead referred us to the Director. We send him a fax detailing our questions about the authorisation and he advised us that he had instructed Mrs Ratacharan to answer them. To date she has not refused to take our calls or return them.
We have discovered a conversation on a bulletin board for ornamental fish dealers. In it, Mr Ramtohul declared that he was looking for partners to help him catch and export fish from Mauritius, including the highly sought-after Gem Tangs, which retail at over $3000 and the Debelius which retails easily twice the price of Gem tangs. these was not included on the list of species suggested for breeding.
Mr Menzel is currently out of the country. However, we understand that the operations of MCML are continuing under the supervision of the German Consul in Mauritius, Mr Rainer Goetse.
From our investigations, we conclude that is highly likely that Mr Menzel and Mr Ramtohul set up a front business pretending that they would breed certain fish. However, their real intention was to catch and export much more valuable wild fish from Mauritian waters. The question remains: which officials knew about this and are complicit in its implementation? "

Please ur views, comments and solution will be the most welcome. Help us protect the Environment!

: leoHighlightsIFrameClose();" target="_blank">

Welcome to Phuture Lab

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 6:21pm CST by viper357

Please join me in welcoming Zayn from Phuture Lab on board as a sponsor of MASA. :)

Quote:

PhutureLab in Plumstead, Cape Town, was founded in 1998 and originally traded as Ras Mohammed International.

While our primary objective is to offer the widest range of specialist reef tank instruments, equipment, supplies and livestock, PhutureLab is more than a high-tech, professionally-run retail outlet. It is a research institution with a proud history of pioneering advanced reef mechanics and life-support systems.

Here our dedicated research and development team has produced a number of technological breakthroughs that make reef-keeping simpler, easier and more affordable than ever before.

M Range
Our flagship range of products is without doubt the M Range of off-the-shelf reef tank systems, ideal for first-time aquarists. These clean, contemporary systems are all-in-one solutions that include all the essential equipment necessary to set up and maintain a sophisticated coral reef eco-system – without the need for the frequent and often costly hardware additions and upgrades required by so-called ‘starter tanks’ sold to unsuspecting new hobbyists. The M Range has been designed with all its major life-support systems – heating, filtration, refugium, pumps – contained in a single integrated chamber hidden behind a blue perspex screen. The whole system is housed in a hi-tech, white cabinet that provides storage space in the cupboard below. M Range systems are available in five sizes – the M40, M60, M90, M120 and M150 – and start at under R1 500 in price.

PowerLab
PowerLab is a range of reef-tank applications designed and produced by PhutureLab technicians in order to provide simple and effective solutions to various complex engineering problems.

Manufactured using imported Italian components, this range of robust life-support and water treatment units offer reef-keepers solutions that are easy to install, use and maintain.

Reverse Osmosis Units
Pure fresh water for pure salt water
Complete treatment of tap water
Demineralization Plant
Enhances Reverse Osmosis Unit
For the ultimate water purity
Recommended for SPS tanks
Chemical Media Reactors
Multi-purpose applications for housing carbon, phosphate, etc
Simple to install & service
By-Pass Reactors
Enhances calcium reactor performance
UV Sterilizers
Removes parasites using ultra-violet light
Cold Parasite Sterilizers
Mimics effect of coral feeding on parasites
Natural solution for parasite reduction

DIY Nano

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 2:36pm CST by Qaiser

i have 60l tank an wanted to know whether those freshwater hang-on filters would work and eliminate the use of a skimmer or if you guys have any other suggestions.thanks

Nice tank and coral placement

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 12:57pm CST by sean_koekemoer

This is a very nice tank:

[www.youtube.com]

Steve Johnson's Images - The Reef Tank Gallery

Dorry Pets PTA closed from 16th -19th

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 12:18pm CST by lanzo

Hey guys

Im going down to Frans from the 16th -19th

I will have my Pc with me so you can still email me(orders can still be processed)...or phone me.

But the shop will be closed.

I really want to meat up with a couple of you guys down n the cape...maybe Frans and myself can have a quick road trip for one day and visit some of you.

Jacq
Achillies
Marchel
ect.

My 4foot update

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 8:57am CST by Jurgs

Hi Guys,

Thought i would put up some pics of my 4foot. Its around 8-9 months old now.

Hope you enjoy....:thumbup:

phosphate reactor

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 8:28am CST by nico.m.ferreira@gmail.com

Good day.

Can anybody help me?
How does a phosphate reactor work?
What does it do?
How is the maintenanse and cost involved in ceeping one for a 600l tank.
What size is recomended for 600l (excluding sump of about 100l)

Regards Nico

easy feeding for Brine shrimp

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 7:11am CST by brentv

Guys besides doing a whole green water set up to feed your brine's, what do you think will be a nutritional food supply thats pretty easy to feed?

Happy birthday KevinR and wildbunny

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 3:07am CST by chikaboo

Happy birthday guys - Hope your'll have a fantastic day and may your'll have "sea" many many more.....

what aquarium system is best for me?

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 12:28am CST by Franz

hi like to compare marine with tropical,
who can assist?:nono:

thought you guys would like to see this

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 10:57pm CST by The Waterboy

lol.....i new this would get your attention....but this is not what i wanted to show you.
however this little guy i caught on the weekend on twini ledges.
water conditions were not great but we charted a boat to fish and dive with some friends. also got 4 goldies and a bean.
gem is eating ocean nutrician like a pig!:P

anyway....what i wanted to show you
this is a 3000 litre per hour r.o.unit that we are busy assebling to transport up to pretoria.

this baby takes 12 large membranes (2 per housing)
the pre-filtration plant takes 300kg of sand, 280 kg's of maxi zorb carbon and the water softner takes 200 litres of resin.

the water then passes a mineral infection dosing system and is then stored in a 17000 litre tank with ozone gas before being delivered to the bottling line.

we have commisioned 3 of these plants already for a company belonging to bidvest.
we will be up in pretoria for 2 weeks in may to install this baby asell as meet with gauteng / pretoria lfs stores to launch our new range of marine r.o.units with 3 new patents.....watch this space as the waterboy evolution range have now be revolutionised to deliver again and again at minimal cost:yeahdude:

we are also meting with bidvest to discuss a project we may run in gauteng which will be benifitial to the marine trade....and will be a first for south africa.....watch this space:thumbup:

3000 litre per hour r.o.unit

half of pre-filtration plant

Jelliquarium

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 10:51pm CST by Jaak

Eish, I would not mind one of these...:P

[www.jelliquarium.com]

Back from the Dead

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 9:47pm CST by AfricaOffroad

So what do you need to know about me?

Back into marine fish after a 10 year break.
Sold my last tank after a divorce and was sick and tired of moving my set up around.
Built a house 2 years ago and made provision for a nice 1000L room divider between kitchen and lounge. Have just started the tank build.
What got me going again, was diving in a local rockpool the other day when I saw a juvenile golden headed jaw fish. Wanted to catch it but had nowhere to put it, and none of my current mates have marine set ups:(. In all my previous years of catching, I've never ever seen one in our local shore waters !

Will be building everything myself. My last self build was a 10ftx2ftx2ft set up with a wet/dry sump system.
I'll probably try and catch 50% of my fish myself. Will stick with a mainly fish set up. Lets hope I haven't lost my old catching techniques - still have all my nets and gear.

On the latter subject, what I rate as my best catch ever was a full grown Bispinosis (not Multispinus) off North Pier, DBN. Looks like they have stuffed that hunting ground up of late with the new pier. I remember how we used to go off there at night with torches, made catching big butterflies very easy. The harbour police weren't too impressed:nono:.

In the days I kept fish there was no internet. Damn, cant believe the amount of information available now. Used to read books and belong to the local Durban Marine club that used to meet at South Beach in the lifesavers offices. Amazing how many "fish that got away" stories we came up with after a few (okay lot) beers. They used to publish a monthly mini magazine, kind of a photostat version.

Dont think I'll spend as much time on the hobby as I used to. Now I have to work for a living, (which does provider the benefit of a more healthy cheque book) plus have another time consuming hobby riding offroad bikes (hence the user name)

Anyway, that's a brief intro, look forward to learning a lot from you guys and gals.
:thumbup:

Got a new borne!

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 9:06pm CST by Nemos Janitor

Was feeding my orphans and noticed my Maroon clown being very active. After all hell had settled i noticed a baby. The anemone had moved about 300mm to the right exposing.....

What are your thoughts and suggestions Brender.

It is a baby is it.:mbounce:

copepods and amphipods

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 4:55pm CST by hypn

Hi everybody,

I am trying to find some copepods and amphipods to add to my marine tank while there are no Sea-Horses yet. I have specifically catered for their ability to breed and hide as this would not become the main diet of the seahorses.

Is there anybody online with cultures for sale, a few in a bag would be great as I am not seeing any seahorses moving in for some time in the foreseeable future.

Would appreciate any help, direction or advice

Andre

Weekly fish stock list 1

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 2:48pm CST by Moolis

Hi reefers

Now with the extra help I got you will be updated weekly (hopefully on a Monday) of the species of fish and inverts we have in stock;)

Just another way to make life easier for all.

Before you ask CORALS, well corals are very difficult!!!!!
We have 2 display units that Carry anything from 200 to 350 (1st ones capacity) and 300 to 400 (2nd ones capacity) and our SPS aquarium can handle 50+
PLUS this week we added a frag/nano aquarium coral system - see new thread on Monday/Tuesday in MASA

So this is this weeks list (we will have skipped some fish but 95% are on the list) PLUS all the fish that are left from the Kenya shipment - not included in this list!!

Hermit crabs
Porcelain crabs
Anemone shrimps
Sexy shrimp
Cleaner shrimp
Fire shrimp
Camel shrimp
Sea urchins
Maroon clowns
Tomato clowns
Clarks clown
Saddle back clowns
Ocelaris Clown
African brown and white clowns
Orange line chromis
Blue damsel
Bursa trigger
Nigger trigger
Undulated trigger
Blue/green chromis
Yellowtail damsel
Yellowhead Goby
Twospot goby
Yellow watchman goby
Diamond goby
blue barred goby
Fire goby
Green mandarin
Spotted mandarin
Blue Hamlet
Bangai cardinal
Striped cardinal
Squimampinnis goldie
Evansi goldie
Carbeyerri goldie
Sunburst goldie
Zebra eel
Leopard eel (Zebra eel)
Black combtooth blenny
Forktail blenny
Bicolor blenny
Yellow tail blenny
Fox face
Magnificent fox face
Virgate rabbit
Goldspot rabbit
Scopas Tangs
Yellow Tang
Brittle tooth
Barred rabbit fish
Lyretail hogfish
Cleaner wrasse
Flasher wrasse
Twinspot wrasse
Lamarck angel
Rusty angel
Knife fish
Red breasted maori wrasse
Salarias goby
Bamboo shark
Bamboo shark egg
Bluehead tile fish
Six line wrasse
lionfish
pufferfish
Yellow striped cardinals
Chalk basslet
Bluelined snapper
Coral hopper
Coral hopper pigmy
Blue head / yellow tail blenny
Red spotted shrimp goby
Sneyder's sand perch
Signal/ocellated goby

New one early next week:slayer:

8 foot 4 sale for sale: Durban

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 1:09pm CST by wito-zn

Hardware for saleThread title:

8 foot 4 sale

Location:

Durban

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection only

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

The Tank is 2.44m * 600mm * 600mm. It comes with a stand and a hood. There is a chip on the front pane of glass as seen in my thread Fixing chip on pane of glass - Marine Aquariums of South Africa
The reason i am selling the tank is i just don't have the time or money to get it up and running and i don't have the space anymore to house the tank. I would like R3500 for the tank but the price is negotiable.
Pm me for more info on the tank.

Notes:

-

Attached Files

	tank 1 ..doc (264.5 KB)
	stand.doc (861.5 KB)

Photo competition 2

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 10:55am CST by viper357

Hi all, sorry for the delay in sorting out the photo comps. We're back up and running again and looking for those great photo's of yours.

We are combining February's and March's competition into this one, so if you posted any pics in the original Feb thread, please repost them in this thread, thanks.

The two themes for this competition are (1)Fish and (2)Clams, but if you have no fish or clams and have taken a humdinger of a photo then feel free to pop in a pic of something else, we don't mind ;)

Four photo's from this thread will be chosen for next years calendar.

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 Omega™One 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.

What do you feed the following corals ?

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 8:03am CST by ZeroCool

Hi there, I have a candy cane and a hammerhead, and all i feed them is basic coral liquid food. Are calcuim required for them as well ?

If I am way off, please direct me in the right direction please.

Overall, the 2 are doing ok, but not great i think.

help ..

Happ Birthday Magman,clown and (long lost) Sooi

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 4:33am CST by chikaboo

Guys Enjoy the rest of the day and may your'll "sea" many many more

Imacsa

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 10:18pm CST by Yuri

how to get sum one there
i have mailed John a lot to ask stuff about rare fish
http://www.macnaxxi.com/index.php?op...d=49&Itemid=86
and he keeps asking me about IMACSA
so how do one get him there

When can I add live rock to my new tank....

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 7:55pm CST by Reef E

When can I begin to put live rock in my tank .I baught a test fish and its stil alive for one week .:thumbup:

sea horse

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 7:47pm CST by Reef E

Is it very hard to look after a seehorse

Reactor special

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 6:05pm CST by Moolis

Hi reefers

These SPECIAL prices on reactors are only valid till 2010-03-20

Kalkwasser Reactors
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
KR-100O - TP-500 - 100mm - 1,000L - R1465
KR-140O - TP-1000 - 140mm - 1,000L+ - R1710

Calcium Reactors
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
CR-70 - OTP-500 - 70mm - 300L R890
CR-100 - OTP-1000 - 100mm - 800L - R1875
CR-140 - OTP-2000 - 140mm - 1,200L - R2515
CR-200 - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 2,500L - R3200

Water Blaster Calcium Reactors (Single & Dual Chamber)
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
CR-2000 - HY-2000 - 140mm - 1,200L - R3660
CR-3000 - HY-3000 - 200mm - 2,500L - R4200
CR-5000 - HY-5000 - 220mm - 3,000L - R4800
CR-5000 - DHY-5000 - 2x200mm - 4,500L - R6200

Water Blaster Calcium Reactors w/ Multiple Chambers
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
CR-2000 - CHY-2000 - 140mm - 1,200L - R5950
CR-3000 - CHY-3000 - 200mm - 2,500L - R6850
CR-5000 - CHY-5000 - 220mm - 3,000L - R7800

Phosphate Reactors
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
PHR-70 - HOTP-500 - 70mm - 500L - R835
PHR-100 - OTP-1000 - 100mm - 1,000L - R1045
PHR-140 - OTP-2000 - 140mm - 3,000L - R1525

Sulpher Denitrators
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
SNF-140 - OTP-1000 - 140mm - 1,000L - R1820
SNF-200 - OTP-2000 - 200mm - 2,000L - R2295

This special end 2010-03-20

Skimmer special !!!

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 5:46pm CST by Moolis

Hi reefers

I know this is a double thread but under the other name a lot of customers were not able to find these specials + I made a mistake on the price.

Due to this problems and to compensate for my mistake, the special are extended till 2010-03-20. But that will be it guys. No more extensions;)

These are the pre-order prices:
REEFTEK In-Sump Needle-Wheel Skimmers
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
TS1 - OTP-1000 - 110mm - 300L - R985-00
TS2 - OTP-2000 - 150mm - 500L - R1465-00
TS3 - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 700L - R1985-00
TS4 - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,000L - R3360-00

Reef Octopus Recirculating Needle-Wheel Skimmers
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
DNW-200 - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 700L - R3035-00
DNW-250 - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,000L - R4620-00

Reef Octopus & OCTX Extreme Hang-On Skimmers
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
BH-1000 - OTP-1000 - n/a - 300L - R1100-00
BH-2000 - OTP-2000 - n/a - 500L - R1460-00
BH-800 - SPSK-2500 - n/a - 900L - R2200-00

ORCA In-Sump Pin-Wheel Skimmers w/ Bubble Plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
80-INT - OTP-1000 - 110mm - 400L - R1255-00
100-INT - OTP-2000 - 150mm - 650L - R1775-00
135-INT - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 900L - R2385-00
180-INT - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,200L - R3870-00

ORCA Recirculating Pin-Wheel Skimmers w/ Bubble Plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
80-EXT - OTP-1000 - 110mm - 400L - R1800-00
100-EXT - OTP-2000 - 150mm - 650L - R2695-00
135-EXT - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 900L - R3500-00
180-EXT - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,200L - R5300-00

Reef Octopus Extreme In-Sump Pin-Wheel Skimmers w/ Bubble Plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
160-INT - PSK-2500 - 160mm - 900L - R2325-00
250-INT - 2xPSK-2500 - 250mm - 1,500L - R4300-00

REEF OCTOPUS Extreme recirculating pinwheel skimmer w/ bubble plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
200-EXT - PSK-2500 - 200mm - 900 L - R3765-00
250-EXT - 2xPSK-2500 - 250mm - 1500 L - R5900-00

BUBBLE Blaster in-sump skimmer w/ bubble plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
1000-INT - HY-1000 - 120mm - 500 L - R2720-00
2000-INT - HY-2000 - 150mm - 800 L - R3600-00
3000-INT - HY-3000 - 200mm - 1200 L - R4200-00
5000-INT - HY-5000 - 250mm - 2000 L - R5295-00

BUBBLE Blaster recirculating skimmer w/ bubble plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
1000-EXT - HY-1000 - 150mm - 500 L - R4120-00
2000-EXT - HY-2000 - 170mm - 800 L - R5450-00
3000-EXT - HY-3000 - 200mm - 1200 L - R6200-00
5000-EXT - HY-5000 - 250mm - 2000 L - R7000-00

* REMEMBER only till 20-03-2010 & while stock last!

Coral chips

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 5:43pm CST by 459b

Does anyone have any coral chips they no longer need, such as the chips they once used as substrate in their tanks?
thanks

Create a poblic aquarium without spending money.

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 4:37pm CST by Moolis

Hi Reefers

We are planing a L SHAPED display aquarium in the shop!!:slayer:

This aquarium will be different than the other 20 000 liters in the shop in that we want to make it a permanent display with corals that are not for sale.

The purpose would be to have something that is easy (for beginners to use as starting point) but still magnificent.

The dimensions are:
Front long = 850mm
Front short = 530mm

L cut out is in the back =
240mm x
650mm high water level
Will ask a customer to upload a drawing.
But to visualize = draw a rectangular aquarium 530mm x 850mm
Cut out a rec. on the left back 240mm x 320mm
with the 240mm on the 530mm length and the 320mm on the 850mm length

Lighting:
2 x 150w MH
2 x T5's

Filtration:
Only after decided what to put into it.

Decor:
We thought - Custom made rock wall with PLENTY of spaces in between totally overgrown (in time) with polyps.

I KNOW 200 liter + filter 150 liter = a small aquarium! But that is the only space we have (left:)). Hopefully one of the 3 plans we are working on for expansion would come to light soon.:whistling:

We thought of a polyp WALL, but this is not set in stone at all. Any suggestions or alternatives would really be appreciated?
This is your opportunity to say "that is my creation" and not spend one cent to make it happen:slayer:

The Save Bayworld group on facebook

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 3:27pm CST by Steve Warren

For those that are interested

Incompatible Browser | Facebook

There is a bit of history on Bayworld in a recent article in the Herald

[www.theherald.co.za]

Id needed

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 2:18pm CST by gMAN

Hey guys, can anyone ID this Nennie for me?

Want help to set-up a marine aquarium

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 1:53pm CST by keith1964

I am currently breeding Tanganyikan cichlids but would like to convert my 2m tank sump tank into a marine tank. What do I need to do?

Various corals for sale: Edenvale

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 1:21pm CST by Manic

Various corals for saleCommon Names:

Soft Corals

Scientific Names:

-

Size of coral

-

How long have you had the corals?

1 year

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection Only

Your location.

Edenvale

Price:

-

Photo's:

From left to right:
Far Left: Yellow Finger Leather: Sinularia Asterolobata: R220 Sold, dallasg
Left: Pink Finger Leather: Sinularia Asterolobata: R200 Sold, dallasg
Middle: Colt Coral: Cladiella Colti: R180 (Colt coral on far right already sold) Sold, dallasg
Right: Pulsing Xenia Rock: On about 1Kg of live rock, really nice piece but it isn't going to do well in my new tank: R250 Sold, dallasg

As for the sizes of the corals, the tank they are in is 910mm long and 400mm high.

Another pic of the pink finger leather:

Then there is this lobophytum, it's polyps aren't out at the moment as I just moved it around, there another pic of a frag of it with it's polyps extended. The big one is covered in polyps like this. I'll try post a pic of it again a bit later. It is on a big piece of live rock, maybe 3Kg. R280

Then I have the following corals, if anyone is interested I'll get a pic of them:

2 x Seriatopora Caliendrum Frags (About 6cm by 6cm): R100 each
1 x green polyped sarcophyton (About 6cm in diameter): R80

Think that is all for the moment, I'll add some more stuff soon.

Notes:

-

DSB Lighting Question?

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 12:14pm CST by Garethmur

Howzit,

Jus a quick question here...

I have a energy saver light lighting up my dsb at night, but what is the recommended amount of time one should have the DSB area lit up?

I want the pods n stuff t grow, does too much light time have a negative impact on pods and chaeto?

Full System Sale: Florida, JHB

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 12:10pm CST by Ghaydeen

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

Full System Sale

Location:

Florida, JHB

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection Only

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

Hi guys

I'm selling my system.

1.8 X 750 X 800 with metal stand
Dual Overflows including plumbing
Sump with DSB

Equipment:
4000l return pump
TS2 Skimmer
x3 Sun Sun Power Heads
X2 300w Heaters
Light unit (x2 150x metal Halides + x2 T8)
x2 T5 with ballast

Live Stock:
Yellow Sailfin Tang
Paired Maroon clowns
x2 Anthias
x2 hermit crabs
x5 snails
+/- 30 kg live rock

Corals:
Bubble coral
x2 Magnifica Anemone's
x2 Torch corals
Hairy mushrooms
Red mushrooms
Brain Coral

Price: R6000

Notes:

-

BTA Growth rate?

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 11:58am CST by scubaninja

Hi brenda

I'm trying to find out how fast bubbletips grow? Do you have any idea of a growth rate? If we were to assume excellent water conditions and regular feeding with decent lighting? I've seen some guys with HUGE BTAs, and i really want mine to be a show piece so he must grow as big as he will allow :)

for reference here is a pic :)

Maybe i will post pictures of the nennie from the same angle after say a month, two months etc for interest sake while i'm at it :) On a non-related question, is there sub species of GBTAs? For example mine has purple tips on the green, is there a specific group for it or is it just a colour variation? Any for interests sake again, have you seen other variations of GBTA?

March 2010 Meeting

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 11:08am CST by Mekaeel

Hi members!

Our next get together will be on the 25/03/2010 at the UKZN Dive Club, 18:30 for 19:00.
Hope to see all you guys there. :)

Mekaeel

Hi to all

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 10:04am CST by Stevie

Hi guys

for those of you who went army, I'm a roof with this in other words new and stupid and impatient:)
I bought a Boyu tank about 3 months ago and I thought it was going good till I introduced a cow fish to it that only lasted two days, I wanted to cry and kill my local supplier, after cycling my tank for 8 weeks i introduced a clown and he seemed happy ever since, bought him a mate and a cow over the weekend together with a nenny for them to play.
Again I only found out this morning the nenny needs to be fed, tell me everything I need to know please, exept that I need a bigger tank that I figured out the first week.
Stefan

sea cucumber

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 8:54am CST by regis

Does anybody know were I can get a small reef safe sea cucumber?

Equipment Picture Gallery

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 10:38pm CST by Singularity

I wanted to start a thread like this where people can post pics of their equipment with a size reference so that other people looking to purchase the same thing can get an good idea of the size of certain equipment and maybe get a better pic or two than what is usually available on the net, esp skimmers and flow pumps, and other stuff that you have bought without seeing many pictures on the net.

Here is a couple of examples, sorry for the phone pics :P OK and have added an "index" for later posts so you can jump straight to the post where the pic appears, so if new pic is posted, me or one of the mods can edit the firts post and add it to the INDEX with hyper link to specific post. If you cant find it on the list please post a request for pics of the certain piece of equipment.

INDEX
Jager 150w Heater
Jager 300w Heater
Reef Octopus Bubble Blaster 5000 pump
Reef Octopus Orca-135 Internal Skimmer
Reef Octopus DNW 250 External Skimmer
Vortech Mp40W Gen 2

Jager 300W

Jager 150W

Bubble blaster 5000 pump

Vortech mp40w Gen2 with controller

So when you make your next purchase, before putting it to work, take a couple of quick pics and post them here, of whatever equipment you like. I will also be posting some pics of Bubble blaster 5000 skimmer, and RO phosphate reactor in a couple of days.

First on my wish list

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 7:51pm CST by Nemos Janitor

Check Out This Yacht!

A famous French shipbuilder ship company and one of Monaco joined hands together to build this yacht with enormous dimensions: the WHY 58x38. (58meter long and 38 meter wide) After the first pictures of this project.

The yacht, an area of 3400 m2 with seating for 12 passengers and 20 crew.

This is a "green" yacht.

Wally et Hermès use green energy to 20 to 30% fuel savings and 40 to 50% electricity consumption on board. Therefore there are 900 m2 equipped with solar panels, producing a daily output of 500 kW.

Three decks, a 25 meter pool, a spa helicopterpad a 100m2 with hammam, sauna, gym and massage room, a promenade of 130 meter, a music room, a dining room, a cinema, sun decks, suites, terraces, a lounge, a bibi. The luxury is at the rendez-vous.

The decks are connected by stairs but there is also an elevator.

The suite of the owner (ie ikke !!!!!):

With an area of 200m2 and completely covers the third deck. (This is the bedroom).

The sea view is great and there is a private terrace of 25 meter long.

A sea of light.

The yacht has the shape of a horseshoe and has a roof so everything is bathed in a sea of light.

The spacious lounge.

On the lower deck are the common premises, such as lounge, piano bar and dining area.....

Dining Room

The dining room opens onto the sea view.

Suites for the guests

For the guests, 5 suites with sea views (on the middendek).

There is also a reading room equipped.

Now is that shipshape or what?

Anybody know where to get something satin chromed ??

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 7:47pm CST by Singularity

Hi would just like to find out if anyone has a contact or know of a company that can satin chrome steel ??

Anthia growing a set, what to do?

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 5:31pm CST by gaboon

My one goldie is doing the big switcharoo, are there any preventative measures I should take to ease the drama thats about to unfold? Maybe add another one? I've got 5.

how to seal a pipe connection

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 4:28pm CST by RiaanP

Test
Fail

I done my plumbing, but got a problem. One connection on a T-piece leaks. It got a reducer directly in it, with a ball valve direct against this. So I cannot cut the pipe. and redo. Must redo one half of my CLS if I must do that.

So how do I seal that hole?

Just smear more PVC weld all over the joint places?

SPS wanted

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 2:37pm CST by Brandon WJ

Hi guys my chiller packed up yesterday and have lost most of my SPS which has been growing for a very long time.:(:(:(

If anyone has any SPS to sell or any frags, please contact me.
Trying to pull myself together and start all over again.

You know over the weekend my tank was looking so awesome that I was considering posting some pics up to try and get tank of the month and trues BOB this happens.

I never seem to get a break in this hobby!

This weeks shipment = 120

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 2:08pm CST by Moolis

Hi Reefers

This weeks shipment is 120 items :P we ordered 400:(

This is what should land:
Acanthurus-leucosternon - med - Powder blue tang
Acanthurus-caeruleus - small - Yellow Doctor tang
Paracanthurus-hepatus - sm - Blue tang
Valenciena sexguttata - white sandsifter goby
Gobiodon-citrinus - Citron goby
Anampses-twisti sm - Twisti wrasse
Anampses-caeruleopunctarus wrasse
Halichoeres-cosmetus wrasse
Halichoeres-mageritus wrasse
Pseudocheilinus-hexataenia - 6 line wrasse
Parachellinus- carpenteri wrasse
Centropyge-acanthops - Juming bean
Pomacanthus-imperator sm - Emperor angel
Pomacanthus-imperator med - Emperor angel
Pomacanthus-semicirulatus med - Semi angel
Pomacanthus-semicirulatus large - Semi angel
Zanclus-cornnutus - Morish idol
Antenarius -spec. - Antena predator
Labroides-bicolor - Cleaner wrasse
Nerita politana (turbo snail)
Leporicyprea (Algeeater snail)
Periclimens (Anemongarnele)
Linckia (Starfish)
Zoantharia (crustanemons) big green
Zoantharia (crustanemons) big blue
Discoscoma (Mushroom) med blue
Neospongodes sp. Med orange/red Champain glas

ETA tomorrow afternoon

This weeks shipment = 120

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 2:07pm CST by Moolis

Tobes's new 4ft

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 2:04pm CST by Tobes

Ordered my new 4ft today :jiggy:

Stocking sugestions for a nano?

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 11:45am CST by Evo R

Hi all

Can anybody please give me some sugestions on what i can stock my 100l nano with.

Regards

clown hosting ?

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 9:58am CST by dropzone newbee

quessie !
is it possible that my 1 tomatoe clown could be hosting in my clam ?
seems that he hangs around there all day and seems to catch food and take it to the clam ?:P

Urgent help needed How to set temp on my chiller???

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 9:11am CST by clintonjay

I have bought a Hailea chiller, HC-1000 BH, and have no clue how to set the temp. I have no manual either. Can anyone help me......It goes to 29 deg. before swithching on, then chills down to 25. How do i stop it going so high before switching on?:banghead::banghead:

Needed expert here

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 7:17am CST by Phyrannus

I gez i needed some expert to help me make my water param stable.
I am posting my Water test data for 3 consec months using API reef master test kit and it shows that my water param really unstable.:whistling:
Inputs:
3yrs old Tank from FOWLR converted to Reef 1 yr ago
100g including sump water.
50g sump with, JEBO520 skimmer, DSB, Phospad, Cheato and refugium
Additives Calcium plus and reef buffer only

Tests done 30 mins after every water change

i can't make my Phosphate down.
Nitrate controlled by my cheato
Calcium raised up by calcium plus but suprised by my KH going down
Anything i could do in terms of additives?

TIA...

What is this?

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 5:57am CST by Phyrannus

Help me pls. What happened to my rock? part of it turned white in just overnight.

the rock is almost 3yrs old in my tank and this is the first time it happened.:(

New to MASA

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 4:01am CST by smitchell

Hello all!

My name is Scott. I am happy to be a part of this group. I am best friends with Brenda/Anemone. We have been friends for about 20 years. I’ve spent a lot of time on here already reading some of the threads over Brenda’s shoulder, so I’ve decided to create my own account.

Several years ago I kept four seahorses in a 55 gallon tank. This lasted about two years. With little to no knowledge of seahorses, they managed to survive those two painful years until a heater malfunction cooked them. I like to think I’ve come a long ways since then. I now know what a refractometer is and how to use it and why you can’t just mix salt with water and dump into your tank! I also know that you shouldn’t have a heater with seahorses, and they shouldn’t live on frozen brine shrimp. Brenda was NOT impressed with my seahorse keeping skills. Needless to say, after a lot of these looks :nono::1hissyfit::arghh::hammer: I learned a lot QUICKLY when I was asked to help build her seahorse fry set up. After many failed setups, we finally got it right. Raising fry has been put on hold for the time being, but I know I’ll be back at it someday soon.

At this time I have 2 reef tanks that each contains a pair of clowns, assorted corals and some RBTAs. I also have three 35 gallon salt water mixing stations so there is always fresh saltwater for the reef tanks as well as the seahorses. It has been an educational ride, learning as I go, but having Brenda as a tutor has been less painful. I am enjoying each day, the frustrations of mistakes made, and the rewards of things going well. This hobby is truly one of the most unique that I’ve ever seen.

My future plans include a 120 gallon seahorse tank, and a 90 gallon reef tank. I’ve got a long ways to go, but I’m definitely looking forward to the build.

I am interested in learning more about the algae turf scrubbers. So any help on ATS would be appreciated.

Shroom burned my brain

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 5:41pm CST by Munky82

I found a stray mushroom up against my open-brain this morning. I removed the shroom with no obvious problems.
Then I got home today finding my open brain in a poor state.
Would it recover? Is there anything I can do to help him improve or is this the beginning of the end ?

Any advise ?

Amazing corals ....coming in the next 4 months

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 5:39pm CST by lanzo

We would like to share the following corals pictures that our supplier sent us today

The location will stay secret for now...until it lands;)

Lets just say South Africa is in for a whole new range of AWSOME new corals that we have drooled about only in books

Arraival...May-July

Here we go:

I would like some freebie frags

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 4:22pm CST by samier

Hi all, does anybody feel generous enough to give me some frags.
I am running a Nano with a total of 48watts of lighting.
soft corals would be my best bet with this lighting.

I will also pay for frags if they are priced right.
thanks guys.

Manic's 550L SPS Cube

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 2:57pm CST by Manic

Hey Everyone,

So finally got my cube up and running, it is 900 x 900 x 600 (High) black silicon rimless cube with 12mm glass and c2c overflow.

Its been running now for about 3 weeks. It is going to be a ULNS and at the moment I am using the full brightwell NeoZeo method. I just got the base rock from Lanzo, so once that has finished soaking I can start aquascaping it. At the moment it has about 30Kg's of live rock which I just threw in, no aquascaping attempted at all, so don't judge it just yet.

The equipment I am running is as follows:

Skimmer: Orca 135 Internal
Reactor: DIY NeoZeo reactor with zeolith stones and carbon
Return Pump: Lifetech AP 4660 (4800Lph which I have tuned down to around 3000Lph)
Lighting: 250W 20 000K MH (BLV)
Substrate: Around 40Kg of aragonite
DIY auto top with in-sump reservoir
Water Movement: 1 X Resun waver 15 000Lph and 1 X SunSun 5000Lph
I'm going to add more flow just indecisive on what wave maker to get

I tested the water every 2 days and added most of the sps after 2 weeks. All the parameters were in check, just remember I am running the full NeoZeo system in which a cycle usually only takes 2 weeks. All the live rock I used I have had in various tanks for about a year, so it was all cured.

I haven't added any fish yet and am still going to wait a while. The only tank inhabitants are two cleaner shrimp, a fire cracker shrimp and a boxer shrimp, also a few hermits that were hiding in the rock.

The tank is still far from finished, still needs a cabinet which I will be doing soon. Anyway enough talk here are some pics:

Notice the surface of the water, it goes like this every time I stir the NeoZeo stones, every time I stir the stones everything goes mad trying to catch all the crap in the water.

Urgent help needed Power out!!

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 1:08pm CST by Evo R

Hi all.

The local munisipality issued a warning today that the whole Mossel Bay's power will be down on Sunday the 14th from 8:00 to 18:00.Anybody with advice or good ideas on how to keep your tank(running) for +- 10 hours PLEASE help!!!
I've got 5 days left to go!!! :confused1:

Requirements for new marine.

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 12:33pm CST by kendall1012

Hi all,

As you can see i'm new here and really need some help.

I've have a Fresh water tank for about 4 years now and really getting bored of it.

I need a step by step guide of what exactly i will need for a 100l tank. Not sure which type of marine tank i want, i guess the least exspensive.

I have looked everywhere but here so i hope someone can help me.

Thanks alot

Students in JHB and PTA

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 12:02pm CST by dallasg

Right Ladies and gents,

I am looking for students in JHB and PTA looking to make some extra cash on weekends!

Please PM me your tel number and where you are based

Please guys not friends of friends, I would like MASA members to benefit if possible.

cheers
:peroni:

To skim or not to skim

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 11:33am CST by Nsteyn

Have been doing a lot of reading, and found a lot of conflicting views, so lets hear from the MASA experts :P

We all know skimming is nescesary, and most of us know that the skimmer also removes a lot of good stuff (trace elements etc) from the water.

I did a bit of reading, and found that most people say run the skimmer 24hours, other say a lot less.. even some stating for no more that 4hours a day.

Then others believe the added value of oxinating(spelling?) water is a huge benifit, while others say it is negligent.

Some remove the cup from the skimmer to allow it to oxinate the water but not remove the trace elements.

What is your opinions on some of the above - how long do you run your skimmer, if you switch it of, when - during feeding during dosing etc?

Do you think the skimmer contribute to oxinating the water - what about ATS then?

Sorry if it seems a bit confusing :P - thats just my mind on the way out.

Niel

T5's not working!

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 9:58am CST by Pads

Hey guys, I bought 2 x 54w Actinic's yesterday to connect with my ballast I wired up in my hood. They fit lovely and neatly but once they're connected up with the mains they turn on for a minute then go out. If I cut the power and reconnect then they blink on and off again.

Can anyone with electrical knowledge explain what the prob might be. Shot ;)

Nice equipment for sale: JHB, Benoni

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 9:56am CST by Ridwaan

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

Nice equipment for sale

Location:

JHB, Benoni

Shipping or Collection only:

Shipping at buyers expense

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

Howzit Guys..

I have the following for sale....

1. Reef Octopus OCTX160 insump skimmer in excellent condition
R2000:thumbup:

2. AquaMedic Quad Reef doser.In excellent condition
Has 4 dosing pumps of which each one can be controlled seperatly by the built in computer/controller
R3000:yeahdude:

3. Reef Inmates 8 X 54w T5 Unit in good condition
Price excluding lamps - R2500
(Selling on behalf of a friend as he does not have internet access, He is selling
cos his tank build got delayed)
So if anybody is interested in this, I will PM you his contact details...

Thanks
Ridwaan

Notes:

-

Where to get 150w MH in EL

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 9:52am CST by Mudshark

Where are the East London guys buying your Venture 150w MH DE 20000k lamps from? Voltex no longer wants to help.

If this is an inappropriate post, mods please delete.

New zoas (pink /purple)

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 9:23am CST by clown

Hi Guys,

I got the folowing new zoas last week in my tank. I would like to here what every one think of this one. Purple /pink mix.

I will be getting some Organe Zoas today and Pulsing Xenias.

Purple /pink mix zoas
url='http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=23637']

[/url]

Regards
Clown

reef safe wrasse

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 8:44am CST by magman

Hey all,

I got a friend who is about to become a newbie again, ;),

and we been trying to get him to add lots of nice wrasse, as he had a bad encounter I believe with a clown wrasse before!!!!

What wrasse are fine, stay smallish, don'ty turn rocks, don't chow inverts and other fish.
I was thinking the tamarin types, eg. the leopard, biphartus, leaf etc.
the dwarf kinds like banana, sixline-fairy, iridis
and avoid the coris types, or the ones that change from juvie colours and are the long round shape.

Please only advise on what fish you have ikept n their adult stage, for a while, and not what fish you have had for the last few months only, cause after a year they could become mental.

thanks guys

Richards Bay Diving

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 7:46am CST by nakoma

well got a new wetsuit that fits hade to bne a xxl but oh well got a few nice fish on sunday diving in richards bay nows if i can only find my camera cable

Pygmy angel fans

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 7:17am CST by Achilles

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/03/08/c...s-blue-harbor/

anyone got any Mauritius friends ;)

Wanted : Ozoniser !

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 10:25pm CST by Viper

Looking for a Ozoniser in good condition .;)

[FS] Canon 20D + 18 - 55 lens

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 9:58pm CST by vatso

Canon 20D + 18 - 55 lens = R2500

Live rock questions

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 9:28pm CST by sweetnsour

sup fellow reefers

ok so im in need of some very sound advice.,

with all the aquascaping threads going around i thought id get round to doing mine.

now ive recently purchased dead/old/Dry Live rock [IMG]http://***********************/forum/images/smilies/LMFAO.gif[/IMG]

around 25 -30kgs and ive since pretley'd everything like i want it.

but heres the kicker

the cube is pretty much mature running aprox 1 year now but i have designed the scaping to use all the new rock and to move all the other rock to my softie tank.

what i wanna do is move all livstock, corals and rock inside the tank to the softie tank and put my new rockwork into the cube.

what kind of cycle should i expect and how long will it take for a few smalish pieces of cured/mature rock to seed the old rock?

do you think i can get away with it without any losses?

and lastly i have a fair amount of substrate in the display, will this aid in the old rock curing time?

any and all comments welcome

many thanks in advance before i do anything [IMG]http://***********************/forum/images/smilies/wink_smilie.gif[/IMG]

Angels-Semi, Old Woman,Emperor

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 9:01pm CST by sean_koekemoer

Ok, I only need the gurus (the real ones...:lol: ) to please settle this for us, once and for all- and if the gurus have posted the pics, highlighted the differences etc, could we then please delete unnecessary comments and make this a sticky Mods??

Please, post pics of the real Semi Circulatus, the real Old Woman as well as the real Emperator.
We/Us always argue, and in two of the books I have, the pic of the semi is different than the other.:(

1.)So, we need pics of the juvenile stage, and the adult stage of each fish.
.
.
.

2.)Then, when (at what size) does these above mentioned angels change/loose their circles/stripes etc ??
.
.
.
3) State the differences please!!! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Permalink for 'Marine_Aquariums_of_South_Africa/2010/03/08/CLS'

CLS

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 8:56pm CST by Evo R

Can anybody pls explain what a CLS is and what its used for and whats the Pro's and Con's of useing a CLS.

Thaks in advance and sorry if its a dumb Q.

How many plugs does your fishtank use

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 7:23pm CST by Johan van Aardt

Hey guys.

just want to figure out whats the average amount of plugs people use on their tanks, like.

3 prong plugs and 2 prong included.

i tried making a poll but dont know how.

my tank uses 12 at the moment.

Port Shepstone tidal pool

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 4:42pm CST by frankie fish

I just wanted to know,who r the regular tidal pool visitors? I've been snorkeling in Port Shepstone tidal pools,and saw big change since i was there,2 years ago. There's a lot of xenia type softies(purple and brown), LPS (or so i suspect) pink,brown,green,seriously,a lot of colours. I didn't remove anything,wanted 2,but didn't. Where else can i find nice tidal pools? I saw some racoon butterflies,lionfish,3 anthias (couldn't believe it).

Special + special ......

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 3:21pm CST by Moolis

Hi Reefers

Seeing that the online shop is temporary offline we decided that we need to give MASA members some great specials by themselves.

So to make your money work for you and stretch your budget.:slayer:

This is it!!!!:yeahdude: (for now - more to follow soon)

REEFTEK In-Sump Needle-Wheel Skimmers
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
TS1 - OTP-1000 - 110mm - 300L - R1025-00
TS2 - OTP-2000 - 150mm - 500L - R1525-00
TS3 - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 700L - R2065-00
TS4 - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,000L - R3500-00

Reef Octopus Recirculating Needle-Wheel Skimmers
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
DNW-200 - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 700L - R3155-00
DNW-250 - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,000L - R4800-00

Reef Octopus & OCTX Extreme Hang-On Skimmers
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
BH-1000 - OTP-1000 - n/a - 300L - R1155-00
BH-2000 - OTP-2000 - n/a - 500L - R1525-00
BH-800 - SPSK-2500 - n/a - 900L - R2300

ORCA In-Sump Pin-Wheel Skimmers w/ Bubble Plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
80-INT - OTP-1000 - 110mm - 400L - R1305-00
100-INT - OTP-2000 - 150mm - 650L - R1850-00
135-INT - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 900L - R2,480-00
180-INT - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,200L - R4000-00

ORCA Recirculating Pin-Wheel Skimmers w/ Bubble Plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
80-EXT - OTP-1000 - 110mm - 400L - R1880-00
100-EXT - OTP-2000 - 150mm - 650L - R2800-00
135-EXT - OTP-3000 - 200mm - 900L - R3,650-00
180-EXT - 2xOTP-3000 - 250mm - 1,200L - R5500-00

Reef Octopus Extreme In-Sump Pin-Wheel Skimmers w/ Bubble Plate
Model - Pump - Chamber - Rating - Price
160-INT - PSK-2500 - 160mm - 900L - R2415-00
250-INT - 2xPSK-2500 - 250mm - 1,500L - R4400-00

* only till 13-03-2010

MUCH more to follow!!!!!:whistling:

PS.
How to order now = send a email to ric@petstopsa.com with the product info and he will reply to your request
Do we ship = Yes
This is strictly pre-paid and then we order it for you, so you could not pop into Pet Stop and demand these prices:( you have to work through the channels. Please guys we give these prices because it is your money working for you:thumbup:

Feeding of Corals

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 2:14pm CST by Evo R

Hi

I have a melon or neon green mushroom and a ric wich both came with the LR.And im getting a couple of frags later in the week,now my Q....what to feed them or will nature take care of its self??

Thanks

[FS] WANTED LPS PLEASE

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 12:04pm CST by wors143

Good day all.

If anyone can assist with some frags it will be greatly appreciated. I am looking for some LPS frags. Frogspawn, Torch, Hammer, Plate coral. If anyone can assist it will be greatly appreciated regards Paul

[FS] 4*39W T5 with ballasts

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 11:52am CST by ziyaadb

4*39W tubes and ballasts
2*12k - about 6 months old
1*actinic - used less then 3 weeks
1*10K - used less then 3 weeks

500.00 for all. Collect in JHB

various items for sale: sunninghill-jhb

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 11:13am CST by iced666

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

various items for sale

Location:

sunninghill-jhb

Shipping or Collection only:

collection

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

hi all,selling following items.all items brand new
1)Tank-1.5mX1mx600mm-built by idol marine,complete starfire,10mm.
2)Sump-1.4m long,3 compartments,huge dsb-built by Idol marine
3)Stand-50mm tubing,800mm high,very strong-built by Idol marine
Tank,sump and stand cost me R10500,I want R7500(Includes all plumbing)
4)Bubble Blaster RO-5000 internal skimmer-R4800
5)Vortech mp40 gen 2-R4000
6)3 bags Aragonite (13.6kg) sugar fine-R900
all items cost me close to R24000,still have receipts,if somebody wants to take everything,i will let it go for R16500.Tank is at Idol Marine.

Notes:

-

RE: Dotty Back and yellow tailed Damsel

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 9:39am CST by deang

Hi,How "violent" is the yellow tailed damsel. He's been chasing my dottyback around the tank the entire weekend.Dottyback is slightly larger than the Damsel (Damsel been in tank for about 3 months).ps. got a 4 ft tank.Few shrimps, 2 clowns, and a copperband butterflyfish.Any views?

High nitrate, tried sulphur?

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 8:40am CST by Mo_G

I have tried this a number of time and have found this to work quite well if done correctly. So read, read and read again until you fully understand before trying it. Within 3 days it should start reducing your nitrates. the article was given to me by Marc Langouet.

The autotrophic biodenitratation on sulphur in marine aquarium

By Marc LANGOUET

1°) A biodenitrator why?

To really understand how this idea was born, it is necessary to remind the aquarist context in the beginning of the years 1990. At that time all French aquarists were confronted with the problem of the constant nitrate rate increase in their aquariums. The Berliner so-called method was not practically known in France as AQUARAMA published the first paper on it in 1991 (D.STUBER). The most widespread solution to eliminate these nitrates that made almost impossible the conservation of the invertebrates that we began to find on the market, was water changes.

It could be achieved either by a massive change of an important quantity of water, with the risk of a important disturbance in the aquarium, either by the very fashionable method at that time of the continuous « water drop change » on which it could be found very numerous publications in the aquarists magazines of the beginning of this decade. For my part I changed 30 to 50% of the water of my tanks every Saturday...

However these methods present major inconveniences ; they require the use of a water in which the nitrate concentration is the lowest possible, or it becomes almost impossible to get a low content of nitrate in the aquarium. It is necessary to add otherwise that at this time, the use of the osmosys was again very little widespread in aquaristic world, and that even today where they spilled extensively in reef aquarist, we never have to forget that they don't eliminate all nitrates (when they eliminate them!), and that in some areas the concentration of nitrate in the tap-water being high, the preparation of a synthetic sea water from osmosed water can sometimes lead to nitrate rates in the range of 5 to 10 mg by liter (NB All values of nitrate rate in this article are expressed in mg / liter of NO3 nitrate and not in mg/liter of N-NO3).

Besides the method of the water change consists in throwing a important quantity of water just to eliminate only one ion : the nitrate. I have searched therefore very soon a much more selective method eliminating these bothersome ions and I orientated my investigations toward the biologic eliminations processes of the nitrates by breathing nitrate in poor oxygen situation and transformation of the nitrates in sparkling nitrogen.

At that time some rare companies sold systems constructed to achieve this biodenitratation in heterotrophic way that means with regular additions of an organic carbon source ( generally glucose or a derivative of glucose) in order to feed the heterotrophic anaerobic bacteria. These bacteria take the necessary oxygen for their breathing and for the oxidation of the organic carbon serving them of food, in the nitrate ion, that they reduce at the sparkling nitrogen state, and permit an elimination of the nitrates of the closed system that constitutes the aquarium.

This method works very well but it presents two major inconveniences: it needs, for maintaining the biologic reaction, to feed the bacteria very regularly, and to calibrate this addition of carbon in an enough precise quantity. Indeed, too little carbon drives to a partial reaction and the continuous production of nitrites, whereas too much carbon drives to a too reducing environment, that results quickly in a characteristic odor of rotted eggs due to the production of sulphides. This addition of carbon must be of course adjusted in relation to the water flow in the reactor and to the concentration in nitrate of the water to be treated, what complicates the problem furiously. Besides the system is relatively little tolerant in relation to the flow rate, especially because to practice this nitrate breathing, the heterotrophic bacteria must be maintained in conditions of low content in dissolved oxygen, and also because for a certain flow rate of water it becomes difficult to achieve the reaction, even by important glucose addition,.

Finally the starting of the reaction need enough time ; it is necessary to wait about four to five weeks before being able to produce a water without nitrate, and during the last three weeks of the process there is a continuous production of nitrites.

End 1990, I contacted the professor Guy Martin specialist in the water treatment in the Engineer National School of Chemistry in Rennes where I finished my chemist engineer studies in 1978. He had himself experience of an autotrophic biodenitratation process on sulphur for potabilisation of fresh water destined to the adduction network. However he ignored completely the possibility to use the same process in sea water and the impact of such a process on fauna and flora in a marine aquarium.

2°) My first experience

After having hesitated for a long time until September 1991, I decided finally to make the experience on a tank of 200 liters with marine fishes, superior algaes like caulerpas and sea urchins. I build a cylinder shaped reactor with 40 cm in height and 7, 5 cm in diameter filled with 2 kg of sulphur, and in which I by-passed a small part of my EHEIM filter. The initial flow rate was 10 drops/minute (about 60 ml/h). Two days later I noted that the content in nitrite at the exit of this column was very important in the range of 5 mg by liter of N-NO2 ( measurement unit of the TETRA test, equivalent to 16 mg/l of NO2) ; it had not any impact on the aquarium himself due to the very low flow rate, allowing the small quantity of nitrites produced to be oxidized in nitrates by the aerobic filtration of the aquarium. The third day the nitrites at the exit of the reactor fell again to 0 and then I have been able to measure the content in nitrate of the produced water that was also at 0; it is important to note that in the tank the content of nitrate was about 37 mg by liter when the experience started. Nitrite and nitrate having fallen to 0, I could increase the flow rate then gradually, first of all to 30 drops/mn then l l/h and finally until 10 l/h, without seeing the nitrites nor the nitrates re-appearing at the reactor exit.

On the other hand water coming out the reactor proved to be very acidic for a sea water as the pH was in the range of 6 to 6,5. I added a height of 10 cm of maerl therefore in top of column to buffer this water, which gave me a much more better pH. However because of the produced acidity and the nitrates having come down again very quickly to the range of 10 mg / l in the tank, I decided to reduce the flow rate to avoid to lower too much the pH of the water in the tank. I worked then in a range of flow rates being located between 1 to 2 liters per hour, that I adjusted by crushing the tube entering the reactor with a Mohr clip.

This experience continued many months on the same tank that always works 10 years after with the same reactor, even though this one has been stopped some weeks at the time of a move from Paris to Brittany. The experience having proven to be positive and without negative consequence on fauna and flora in the tested aquarium, I decided some months later in 1992 to set it to a tank of 240 l populated with soft and hard corals (LPS), and then with SPS that began to be available on the market at that time.

This second reactor that I constructed was in all identical to the first one with the exception of the part destined to buffer the pH which was constituted with a second identical column to the first but full of maerl in order to get at the exit practically the same pH as with the water entering in the sulphur reactor.

Different experiences have been done end of 1994 on domestic " aquariums " of variable initial nitrate content, and no negative consequence having been noted, but on the contrary, the system having proven quickly very efficient to maintain a low nitrate rate in aquariums highly fed, I decided end 1994 to communicate on the method in order that anybody can use it.

A first pilot experimentation has been done in the aquarium of the Musée des Arts Africains et Océaniens in Paris. This positive experience incited Michel HIGNETTE curator in this aquarium to set it on the commun sea water circulation of the aquarium (45 000 L) where it lowered in some weeks the content of nitrate from 300 mg/l to about 10 mg/l.

When then in May 1996 I took the technical and scientific management of the « Grand Aquarium » of Saint - Malo, I set very quickly reactors with diameter 315 mm and 2 m height. The only modification in relation to the first experimentations was the use of sulphur in balls with diameter between 3 and 5 mm used in wine industry. Indeed the first experimentations had been made on sulphur in hammer broken pieces which produced an irregular granulometry sometimes driving to cloggings of the column.

These balls of sulphur allowed easier water flow without clogging. The column of sulphur is followed with one or even better two columns of maerl of identical volume and geometry. An article has been published in 1996 on the occasion of the convention of the EUAC (European Union of aquarium Curators): « Elimination des nitrates par filtration biologique autotrophe sur soufre en aquariologie marine » by Michel Hignette, Benoît Lamort, Marc Langouet, Sebastian Leroy and Guy Martin.

3°) The biodenitrator on sulphur: why today?

Today in reef aquarium there is two main methods : the so-called Berliner method, probably the most widespread in Europe, and the Jaubert method that encourages the reduction of the nitrates in nitrogen by heterotrophic anaerobic process in the tank itself, through a deep sand layer on a plenum.

These two methods give both excellent results, however it can happens that for a reason or another nitrates rise above the desirable level (due for example to a too slow foam skimming, or even too strong foam skimming in the case of the Berliner method): in this case the autotrophic biodenitratation on sulphur could be applied in an occasionnal or continuous way to recover a suitable nitrate rate.

Otherwise, it is necessary not to forget that the reef aquariology even mainly being oriented toward the photosynthetic corals, has a huge progress to make with regard to the non photosynthetic corals. These corals need to be fed heavily and generally are low illuminated what often makes inapplicable the two previous methods without a technical complement to solve the problem of the nitrates specifically.

Last but not least it is important not to forget that the marine aquariology is not only limited to reef aquariology but that one can be interested by the realization of tanks for fish only, or with many fishes plus some invertebrates that generally do not accept high level of nitrate. Finally I would mention the happy owners of big tanks of several thousands liters and the public aquariums where the Berliner method is not very popular due to difficulties to use it on big volumes.

4°) Biochemistry of the autotrophic denitrification on sulphur.

Facultative anaerobic bacteria as Thiobacillus denitrificans have the possibility when they are under low oxygen coditions (hypoxic situation) to « breathe oxygen atoms » present in the nitrate (or nitrite) ion and to transfer them on the S sulphur or its derivatives (S -, H2S,...) to oxidize them in sulphates; it is the so-call nitrate breathing.

As far as I know, the reaction stchiometry has never been studied in sea water where the method had not been experimented before, although some very recent works seem to show that the process has been observed in the marine environment. On the other hand in fresh water and on sulphur it has been studied, and the following stchiometry has been proposed:

11 S + 10 NO3 - + 4.1 HCO3 - + 0.5 CO2 + 1.71 NH4+ + 2.5 H2O--- > 0.92 C5H7NO2 +

11 SO4--+ 5.4 N2 + 9.62 H+

It is necessary to note for those who are not familiar with these biochemical (and non chemical) reactions, that these are approached equations; C5H7NO2 represents the biomass. Sulphur acts as " food " (it brings the energy) and as it is non soluble in water, it is at the same time a colonization substrate for the bacteria: all the interest of this method is that the bacteria have permanently a source of energy without having to feed the system, nor besides to have to add whatever it is. Sulphur is consumed very slowly but many monthes are necessary to notice it.

In sea water the presence of the carbonated sea buffer reacts with H+ and certainly modify the reaction that, globally, has been experimentally proved to produce carbon dioxide and not to consumme it : indeed the degasing of the acidic water produced lead to almost teh same pH as the sea water before reaction.

5°) Setting the autotrophic biodenitratation on sulphur

a) The reactor

For a water of which nitrate rate is lower than 50 mg per liter, it can be applied the general rule that the volume of the sulphur reactor expressed in liter must be equal to about 1% of the volume of the tank. Why expressing it in volume and not in mass? Simply because when you want to built a reactor you need to know its geometry, which is governing the construction, and not the mass of sulphur.

However it can be indicated that sulphur in balls of average diameter between 3 and 5 mm have a density in the range of 1,15 that permits to estimate the weight of sulphur to buy. Of course another granulometry will have another density. To this topic I advise against using sulphur in powder considering its very big propensity to clog.

In the first centimeters of the sulphur column water starts with unloading itself of its oxygen, indeed the facultative anaerobic bacteria start with breathing the oxygen dissolved, what is less energy consumer for them than breathing nitrate: as it is this second breathing that is interesting for us to eliminate the nitrates, it is necessary to built a sufficiently long column so that the course of water in anaerobic condition is sufficient.

On the other hand a too large column in relation to its height facilitates preferential paths of water through sulphur, water having tendency to use the shortest path to go toward the exit of the reactor. In the case of preferential paths, due to no-oxygen areas parasitic reactions could occur in a part of the column. Even though the biologic reaction is tolerant enough in relation to the content in oxygen dissolved, too elevated oxygen content doesn't allow the nitrate breathing and too low content allows settlement of other bacterias that those required, what can lead to the creation of very reducing areas in some particular cases producing some sulphides with characteristic odor.

To avoid this it is sufficient that the column of sulphur is bathed by the most homogeneous and most regular possible water flow: you can get it very easily in using a column which height is at least five times more than the diameter, and by making water circulating vertically from bottom to top of the column . In the initial step of a reactor when working with water at a high level of nitrate, the production of sparkling nitrogen can be higher than nitrogen solubility in water. In this case you will see nitrogene gas inside the reactor. This gas, considering the very low flow of water in this reactor and the numerous obstacles that the balls of sulphur constitute, risks to be trapped inside if the flow of water doesn't help it to leave. The best solution is therefore to have a vertical flow of water from bottom to top because the natural tendency of gas is to go up.

Such a reactor with sulphur at 1% of the tank volume will be very difficult to launch, or even impossible to launch if the initial nitrate rate of the water is more than 50 mg per liter. In this case it will be necessary to choose between the construction of a more important volume reactor (for example 2% in sulphur if the nitrate rate is between 50 and 100 mg/litre but it has been proved to be too big when nitrate will have decreased below 50 mg/l), or it will be necessary to decrease previously the nitrate rate below 50 mg/l through an important water change. Indeed it is always possible to start at 100 mg/l nitrate with a sulphur volume of 1%, but it will need to reduce tremendously the water flow, what could make impossible, in an aquarium where you will continue to feed and doing so to built nitrate, to succeed in lowering the nitrate rate in a meaningful way.

b) The columns of calcareous substratum

To avoid the production of a too acidic water I recommend you to drive water at the exit of the sulphur reactor in a second or even better a third identical reactor as the sulphur one, both in geometry and bottom to top water direction, but full of calcareous substratum: the volume of the calcareous substratum that will fill these reactors will be therefore equal to one or rather twice the volume of sulphur.

In all experiences that I drove personally Maerl was used as calcareous substratum. Some have since used also other substrata: the essential is to have a sufficiently fine granulometry to have enough surface exchange, without reaching a too fine granulometry that will be inevitably source of clogging. It is necessary not to forget that the relatively important acidity of the water produced by the sulphur reactor will drive sooner or later to the reduction of this calcareous substratum in fine particules, and then in mud in which water could not pass anymore; for this reason my preference goes to a variable granulometry from 1 to 5 millimeters. It is of course necessary to use as in all limestone reactor a substratum not bringing too excessive formation of bothersome ions at the time of its dissolution; I especially think about the phosphates but also about heavy metals.

c) The flow rate

During the initial phase of starting the biologic process, the flow rate must be adjusted the lowest as possible and in any case must not exceed a drop per second and by fraction of 2 Liters of sulphur (says 2 drops per second remains acceptable for a 4 Liters sulphur reactor).

This point is especially important and seems to have been badly understood when I began to communicate on this method. There is production of nitrites during the starting phase, that means generally in the first three days after setting the water flow in the system. If the flow rate is enough low as recommended previously, this small production of nitrites doesn't have any impact on the tank, but this assertion is not of course true if you work with too strong flow rates.

Otherwise in the initial phase of development of the anaerobic bacteria, it is especially important that the biggest possible part of the volume in the sulphur reactor is under hypoxic condition so that the bacteria get settled as soon as possible; for getting this a very low flow rate is also required.

Once the bacterial flora is well established, one notes that the water coming out of the reactor will lower its nitrites rate suddently, generally within in some hours. If the conditions recommended before are respected it occurs generally between the 3rd and the 5th day after the starting, and it is only at that moment that you can increase gradually, in some days, the flow rate until reaching the cruise speed that be can estimated at about 1 liter per hour and by liter of sulphur. If I give a aproximated flow rate value and not a precise value it is simply that every aquarium is different and that according to the precise initial nitrate rate, the daily contribution of food, the own tank capacity to reduce the nitrates in nitrogen, it cannot be possible to give a precise value for the parameter flow rate; some measurements of nitrate rate in the following weeks and months will permit, according to the own parameters of the tank to determinate a flow rate for cruising.

Please note that if you increase the flow rate too quickly depending on nitrate rate and sulphur volume you could see the nitrites and nitrates reappearing at the reactor exit due to an incomplete reaction. On the other hand it is rare to produce some sulphides (characterized by an odor close to the rotted eggs); it only occurs in the case of extremely low flow rate in the reactor (to the limit of the stopping, for example by clogging) or in the case of preferential paths driving to the non irrigation of a part of the reactor and the realization of an anoxic area (that is to say completely oxygen free); the production of sulphides is without consequence as they are always bound to a very low flow rate and therefore that their negligeable quantity is re-oxydated in sulphate in the tank.

Their presence is especially rare because Thiobacillus denitrificans in anaerobic condition is itself able to oxidize the sulphides in sulphate as it does for sulphur. On the other hand at the time of a re-initiating the flow after clogging you need to let the time to the bacteria to make this transformation and if not some sulphides can come out of the reactor in small quantity.

d) How to adjust the flow rate?

To flow the reactor, water can be send directly by a pump placed in the aquarium, or by a by-pass on a already existing water tube. It is necessary not to forget that such a column of sulphur, plus one or even two columns of calcareous substratum, represent nevertheless a non negligible load loss, especially after some months of working, because the biomass can come to clog partially the sulphur column and especially the limestone columns where the attacked substratum will produce fine particles as explained previously; for this reason it is necessary to be able from time to time, when the flow rate seems too decrease, to flow higher rate of water under pressure only during some seconds to « clean » the system.

You can consider approximately that a pump with a flow rate between 100 times an 200 times the sulphur volume per hour must permit this operation (200 to 400 l/h for a 2 liters sulphur) even though of course it is not the flow rate of the pump that has to be taken in account but its ability to send water under pressure.

It is better to get the day to day low flow rate by « crushing » the plastic tube entering the reactor with a device like clip of Mohr (EHEIM for example), at least for the small reactors requiring very low flow rates. It is better to crush the entering tube than the exit to facilitate the possible exit of gas.

Although I never used it personally, it seems that the peristaltic pumps, although more expensive, would also permit to assure this function.

e) The decrease of the nitrates in the tank

When the reaction has started the nitrate rate is going to lower relatively quickly in the aquarium; however the decrease won't be linear but exponential as the water without nitrate at the exit of the reactor will be remixed with the water of the tank.

On the other hand the food for the animals will continue to produce nitrates that will oppose the decrease of the nitrate rate in the tank. It is therefore very difficult to be able to calculate how long it will take for the tank to recover an acceptable nitrate rate; in general it needs some weeks and then again you can decrease the flow rate of the reactor in order to just maintain the aimed nitrate rate.

The operating bacteria are able to work even with very low nitrate content and therefore it is possible to reduce the nitrate rate in the tank to non measurable values (lower to 0.5 mg /l) through aquariophily tests.

It is necessary not to forget that the system is producing calcium by calcareous substratum dissolution, so to let the reactor operating at too elevated flow rates can lead to very important calcium rates in the tank: sometimes it has been observed calcium rates twice the natural sea water amount and even though personally I didn't ever record negative consequence of such rates, some noted that calcium above 800 mg per liter can produce calcic precipitations in the aquarium.

f) The sulphates

Thiobacillus denitrificans are able to oxidize all derivatives of sulphur (S, S -, H2S...) in sulphates. The question that comes immediately is what about these sulphates in a closed tank ?

It is necessary to note first of all that the sulphate concentration in sea water is about 2,65 g per liter (900 mg/litre expressed in sulphur in the sulphates). Even though the reduction of a nitrate ion in nitrogen produces 1,1 sulphate ions, it is necessary to have processed a important quantity of nitrate to begin to increase in a very meaningful way the rate of sulphate in the aquarium.

Besides, Michel HIGNETTE curator of the Aquarium du Musée des Arts Africains et Océaniens in Paris noted at the time of recent studies that the sulphates were trapped by the limestone columns destinated to buffer the water acidity and that the sulphate rate in a tank working in the recommended conditions remained practically steady on a long period. The calcareous substratum, becomes gradually mud by acidic attack, and has to be replaced after some time of use (generally long enough), and so the produced sulphates are eliminated.

g) The KH and the pH

On an aquarium where the system is used at a normal flow rate to avoid the rise of nitrate, you can note a stability of the KH and the pH on long periods (several months or even years) without changing water. On the other hand when you work with elevated flow rate for example in order to decrease quickly the nitrate content of an aquarium where it was too much, it is necessary to monitor the KH and the pH that can show a tendency to the decrease particularly the KH if you have built too small calcareous substratum columns.

The pH measurements at the calcareous column exit permits easily, when it is low, to anticipate the pH and the KH decrease in the tank. Note that an energetic degasing (by air bubbles) of water coming out of the sulphur reactor permits to recover the level of the tank pH, showing that the acidity of this water is mainly due to dissolved carbon dioxide.

h) The influence of treatments

The reduction of the nitrates by this way, being based on the biochemical activity of bacteria, you have to be carefull not to disrupt this activity by adding bacteriostatic or bactericidal substances like antibiotics in the tank.

In case of reaction stopping after using it, you have to re-initiate the process by « seeding » the reactor with a small quantity of new " sulphur " and to take the procedure at step one.

On the other hand I never noted any consequences on the reaction when using copper sulphate.

i) Stopping the reactor

In case of necessity, you can stop the reactor and re-use it easily if you have maintained a sufficient population of bacteria in life. The best solution is to empty the reactor of its water and to close it to prevent sulphur from drying ; in this case the bacterian activity re-start generally very quickly when flowing then the reactor with water. However for more security it is better to check the nitrites at the reactor exit and to limit the flow rate (only if they reappear), as at the time of the first starting.

If you maintained the reactor with water inside, stopped during a long period, it is better , either to throw water contained in it and to proceed as describes here above, or then to send this water in the tank but at a very low flow rate if you cannot make otherwise.Water having stagnated in the reactor in very reducting condition risks to contain a important quantity of sulphide.

6°) Use as limestone reactor

More lately some users wished to use this type of sulphur reactors for their only ability to produce CO2 and to make a limestone reactors. The autotrophic denitratation on sulphur is able to work even with very low rates or even non detectable nitrate by the available aquariophily methods of measurement (typically lower to 0.5 mg/l) and with relatively elevated rates of oxygen contrary to the heterotrophic denitratation. You can produce an acidic water at relatively elevated flow rate (sometimes superior to 5 l/h by liter of sulphur) even when the tank nitrate rate is non-detectable ; this water can be flew on a calcareous substratum to get an important production of calcium very easily but it seems more difficult to grow the KH by this way.

It is likely that in these level of flow rate a big part of the sulphur column works in aerobic condition and that the reactions are not anymore the same. This use can be interesting but I didn't specifically study it.

Green flourescent mushrooms

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 8:05am CST by Kevin

I have got a small problem with my Mushrooms. They have grown extremely fast and now I have to start removing them out of the tank.

Does anybody want some or want to swop for some other lekker coloued mushrooms?

Riaan's Intro

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 9:59pm CST by RiaanCil

Hello there,

My name is Riaan and I am from Rustenburg.

I recently bought a small tank (Boyu TL-550) 128l with a few critters in already, the reef is still not established.

Already had some problems with overheating and power trips but at the moment it is starting to look good.

First Microscope Pics

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 4:14pm CST by abgg118

Hi all,

At last I've started taking some pictures with the Microscope I got (second hand) more than a year ago. While I did try it out one weekend after I got it, I do want to examine much more than I have up to now (especially when I get the greenwater, rotifers and clown fry going). Today, I looked at some dried zooplancton (ZoPlan) with each of the 4 different lenses.

04:

10:

40:

100:

To get something in focus on the 100 is really tricky ...
Hopefully some more interesting pics to follow later ...

Stringer

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 2:35pm CST by Stringer

Hiya all. Have had a marine tank for about two years now, mainly catch my own fish as that is the most fun part and frustrating, want to take it to the next level as tank never seems to look as good as it should.

My DIY T5 setup

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 12:21pm CST by abgg118

Hi all,

Some pics of my DIY T5 setup. I bought a roll of solid-core wire and went nuts. I use only 2 plugs which lead up to the back of the canopy - I run the "dusk/dawn effect" lights off the one, and the rest off the second. In this way there aren't scores of power cables running up to the ballasts, and I need only one plug per timer to run the 6 T5's (on 5 ballasts - one is a double).

I haven't got the correct globe combination yet, but I'm getting some globes any day now, to add some more actinics.

The solid-core wires were run across the back of the canopy too, and everything is tied together using cable ties (making sure the "correct" wires are tied together, and leaving some space for the "cable stretching" that would ensue if you made everything as short as possible and then tried to lift the canopy ;) )

It seems to work well, and is very tidy - previously I had two "big bulky units", which hung at the back of the canopy but was still very visible - now you only see them if you look for them - they don't stick out from behind the canopy at all.

The end-caps are tied with cable ties to screws turned in at the correct places. Also, the ballasts have been raised slightly off the wood of the canopy to ensure some air flow and cooling.

My DIY Algae Scrubber (with results)

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 12:10pm CST by abgg118

Hi guys,

I've been a bit (well, very) quiet lately - working too hard and not getting time for the more important things in life, like DIY.

I've built myself an algae scrubber (don't worry, I'm not going to throw my Skimmer away

)

To start off with I've had this red plastic water/whatever container for a while now, and it seemed it would be perfect for housing the scrubber. I sawed off the top.

For the top pipe spreading the water over the "planes" I took 40mm PVC pipe and cut a lslot into it, as well as some small "indents" in the slot to let water through more easily - it was pretty haphazard but it turned out just fine when the water flowed eventually, covering both sides pretty evenly. At the end I siliconed a "wall" into the pipe, but did not close it completely. This means there is an overflow if the slot ever becomes clogged. You'll see later how perfect the container was to handle this overflow.

Got some halogen pond lights (50W when submerged, 20W when not) at Builder's Warehouse. I was planning on putting one on either side but decided 2 was needed per side or it would not cover the entire screen with enough light. So the other side is still lightless at this stage - maybe I'll get another one or two of these lights to build into that side.

Better view of the lights siliconed into place (watertight fit). It remains to be seen whether the sides get too hot for the silicone, but so far so good - most of the heat is on the part outside the container.

Here you can see how nicely the overflow pipe fits into the "handle" of the container. If the water flows over this and into the handle it merely falls down into the container as if it went down the screen (the handle is not solid).

I took the original cap of the container - which is another great fit - and made a whole in the middle. What's so great is that the cap has got this "inside bit" instead of being one solid piece, and I turned this bit around so that the "nipple" pointed to the outside. The return pipe then fits nicely over this. Fastening the cap tightly keeps the whole thing watertight.

One with the lights on and the screen and flow-bar roughly in place, showing coverage.

And there it goes, water running pretty smoothly over the screen (about 40cm wide). For the screen I used a normal "paint advertisement board" - those ones made from some kind of plastic material, not cardboard of course - that I got for free from a local hardware shop. I sanded this down with course sandpaper after splitting it in two. I want two screens so that I can remove one for cleaning while the other stays in place for the water to run off on. It also makes it possible to swop them around to be exposed to the different sides of light, should that be needed.
On the left is the "input" with the white "cord" holding things very steady. To the right the white "cord" pulls the overflow end of the pipe into the container handle, keeping everything steady on that side. The Omo buckets is to get the height so that the return flows back into the sump through gravity.

White Spot

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 10:55am CST by gMAN

Morning all,
Q 1:
I've noticed white spots on my tank glass, it only seems to be on the section of the overflow that's covered in a type of black vinyl. Should I be concerned?
Q 2:
I'm hopefully getting a Niger Trigger this Tuesday, will he be okay with the rest of tank mates?
1x Regal
2x Perc's
1x Pyjama Cardinal
1x Cleaner Wrasse
1x Jumping Bean
1x Cleaner Shrimp

Urgent help needed Mi all the tank(suddenly)

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 3:32am CST by aminyassien

hi Everybody

My Tank Have White Spot

Ammonia : 0
Nitrate :0
Ph :8.3

1 Yellow Tang (meduim)
1 Powder Blue Tang (meduim)
2 Black Tomato
2 Damsels
1 Fox Face
2 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Coral Banded Shrimp

Some Hermits And 2 Stars

I Do 10% Wc Every Week From Ro Filter

What Should I Do ?

Please Advice

Amin

possible research center water proposal

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 10:40pm CST by mandarinman

Having chatted with some of the guys at the get together today i have a suggestion. i think the research centre has been abused in the past with huge volumes of water being removed for a pittance of a donation. is there someone who has a contact there that a proposal could be made to? i would propose water collection membership permits of different values. 100 litres a week, 200, 500l etc and pay accordingly up front for that membership permit for the year. with the face on the permit being the only one allowed to collect , (could be in the form of a booklet, with proof of each collection.) if a pet shop is to fill a guys tank up etc they must apply for a special permit and pay accordingly. or the person whose tank it is must apply for his own permit. (if they are too snooty to do that then they can afford to buy their salt and mix it.
Opinions and help please!?

Visibilty on Vetchis?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 10:38pm CST by b-rad

Im thinking of coming down to Durban tomorrow anyone have any idea on the vis at Vetchis?

caluerpa please!

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 10:26pm CST by mandarinman

please can someone help me out with a strand or six of caluerpa for a refugium i am setting up(ps if you dont want to admit to the caluerpa police that u have any, then pm me.) thanks in advance!

Itst-bitsy-spider

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 6:05pm CST by adele

Just wanted to show you our seaspider - we collected them (4) in the tidal pools on the coast North of East Londen after spring low. There is two red one's, the other is hairy and the other pinkish. We spotted this one this morning, thought they didnt make it. They are about 1 cm - fortunately the fish dont look at them with hungry eyes...
itsy-bitsy-spider pictures by goggi - Photobucket

[FS] PS3, Play Time, Harmony Remote

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 1:46pm CST by vatso

Here are some things I no longer use or have upgraded

Will trade for reef stuff as well.

PS3 + 2 remotes + 9 games = R2800 (SOLD)

Harmony 885 remote = R500

Playtime + 500Gig Drive = R600 (For Playing Movies & DVD's from Hard drive)

Canon 20D + 18 - 55 lens = R2500

Frag Grab

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 11:27am CST by Mudshark

Moti digitada, red and green frags up for grabs. I'll be home at 7 till 8.

Boxer Shrimp

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 5:57am CST by aminyassien

hi everybody

sorry for disturbing

i bought a boxer shrimp (coral banded shrimp)

is it harmful for the fish or the other cleaner shrimp?

cause i feel it is a bully >

please advice

Amin

Some kind of snail?? ID please!!

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 12:04am CST by dean

Hey... I was passing my tank last night a decided to see wat all my critters are up to and to my surprise i found something that ive never seen before. Looks like a white shelless snail of somesort. Can anyone please help me id this so i know whether it is good or not. Thanks.

Posted a photo but the quality isnt very good. Thanks.

Urgent help needed Power Gone!!!!

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 7:39pm CST by Titanse

Hi Guys

I need somone to help me urgently. I have no power (1 phase blown on Main board) and need a temp setup for an air pump (battery operated) as I have nothing like this.

Please pm me urgent!!!!!!!

Id needed

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 4:02pm CST by gMAN

Hi guys,
can anyone ID this for me? will it be a threat to my carpet nennie? can see 3 of them, was attached to rock i got yesterday

Mangrove plants.

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 3:48pm CST by nico.m.ferreira@gmail.com

Hi guys and girls.
I an looking for mangrove plants in the Pretoria region.
Can any one help me were to find it?
I realy need it.

Urgent help needed Ricordea dying? Help needed

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 2:38pm CST by Jaco Schoeman

Hi

My dad has a ricordea. He says it has started to close up and a slimy white substance is on it. Sounds to me like it's dying, but confirm please.

Can it be stopped.

Water params in check, flow is medium to low and 54W T5 lighting.

Salt + salinity = ?litres @ ?price

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 2:05pm CST by neo

Hi,
I want to do a survey and small analisys of marine salt.

Pls. post the following info on the salt you are using.

Brand,
what salinity you are using,
how many litres of water are you getting per kg salt,
what are you paying for your salt

If i have enought info I'm going to avarage the values and compare it to what the brand-specs say and hopefully get to a point where i can choose a better value-for-money salt as i feel the salt i'm using is actually a bit expensive at the salinity I'm using.

Moving Sump

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 2:05pm CST by XV3

I am moving today and have heard that I must leave the sand in the sump is this true or can I take the sand out ?, apparently my livestock will die from sulfurdioxide poisoning if I remove the sand ??? Any help please..

Online Pet shop UPGRADE

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 1:30pm CST by Moolis

Hi Reefers

www.onlinepetshop.co.za will be down over the weekend :(

We are doing this for 3 reasons:

You browsed the site so much that our existing package need to be upgraded :thumbup:
Our currant host are not able to handle our site up to the standards we require.:(
We would like to go "PROUDLY SA" so our new host is in SA;)
AND THEN - The most important reason - Make the site faster.:thumbup:

I did not like the complaints regarding down load times etc. so when the site needed to be upgraded this was a Major factor in deciding to move to a new host!

So it is all your fault :lol::lol:

But I do not mind, now we will be faster, more efficient and most of all we could handle all your browsing and inquiries much more efficient :slayer:

Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause:(

But next week we will be back stronger and better than ever!

Warning Lots of pics! INDONESIA

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 10:24am CST by Renier

Hey guys!

During Dec I visited Hong Kong & Indonesia (Java,Bali,Lombok,Meno and some other Islands).

and took some pics.

Mmmm crystal clear blue water fetish!

Auto fish feeder

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 10:17am CST by EastCapeBream

Hi Guys just registered. We have started East Cape Bream situated in Port Elizabeth with regards to Tilapia Farming linked to aquaponics.

Looking for South AFrican supplier of Resun Auto Feeder which I saw on deepblueaquarium site....any ideas as I see there is mention of users in the chat box.

Presently doing R&D work with two 8000l round tanks and all equipment.

Any other Tilapia growers out there

Regards
Sean

Soft coral tank

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 7:03pm CST by Nsteyn

When I started out, I was sure SPS is the only way to go, but the more I look, the more I fall in love with some LPS tanks...

Here is one of my favorites at this stage..
GobyInPeace - Featured Reef Profiles - Nano-Reef.com

This is not all LPS, with a few monti's etc, but boy it looks nice..

Why do most see SPS as the ultimate tank? or am I wrong in this assumption..
Is it because it is more difficult to keep?

I think a LPS tank gives so much life, movement and colour its just beautiful.
What do you think?

Niel

Opae Ola Hawain shrimp

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 5:07pm CST by hypn

Hi Everybody
I set up breeding tank for the little red Hawaiian shrimp, biological name "opae ola". In America they are bred in mass amounts and also used for feeding. I unfortunately only have one left after a water related problem in there breeding tank. Anybody on the group possibly breed or sell any of these shrimp

Sea Horses wanted

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 4:52pm CST by hypn

Hi,

I use to be a active Sea-Horse breeder in South Africa but stopped a few years back. I recently started up a marine tank specifically for Sea-Horses again and I am looking for a recommendation supplier wise. I prefer tank bread seahorses and even more specifically Dwarf Seahorse.

Anybody with a active interest in this area that could be of help. If not I can import dwarf seahorses from the states but would like to make the order relatively large - anybody keen on sharing the order

I would appreciate any advice

Andre

Wanted algea

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 3:21pm CST by ml

chaetomorpha wanted please help.
I live in krugersdorp and I would like to get rid of my PO4 levels.

kind regards
Morne

Julius Dalema's Latest Joke

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 3:19pm CST by nick_fraser

Julius Malema's Moët-quaffing birthday celebrations. As he downed fine French champagne, his elderly followers sipped water and snacked on bananas.
And he issues the statement,
"I'm still living in poverty today, because as long as neighbour of mine is struggling, I too am struggling." Gulp! Slurp!

Water Changes

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 2:39pm CST by b-rad

Im going to do a water change this weekend, My tank is 1000 litres. how much do you guys recommend I change? Thanks

need an Id please

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 2:19pm CST by ziyaadb

HI I have some sorta Calurpa growwing in my sump just started growing from some LR i got can someone ID for me

Thanks

BTW: its a killer in terms of nutrient uptake as i just left it to grow and the back glass of mine that was full of GHA is dissapearing Literally. From fully covering my back pane its now half but what can be seen is that the cheato is slowly dieing away

My new cube...finally

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 1:05pm CST by FransSny

Just thought I would update you guys with what I have been doing in my "spare"time

Dimensions : 900 x 900 x 600 (effective water level 480)
Sump: 600 x 800 DSB & TS3 Skimmer
Planned Inmates : Volitans, Frogfish
Planned Corals: Zoas, Shrooms & Rics
Lighting will be unit with 4 39 W T5's & moonlight LED strip

Unfortunately I had to keep the bracing as it was not designed as rimmless . Also ran into problems with the cabinet maker as after "carefull"measurement the boards were cut to small , will have to make do untill he brings the new ones

[FS] Canon 7D EF-S 18-135 IS kit

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 11:51am CST by vatso

Canon 7D EF-S 18-135 IS kit

New fish in stock

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 11:11am CST by Bob the (reef)builder

Hi All,

AMAZING PHILLIPENES FISH SHIPMENT IN OUR TANKS AND ANOTHER SHIPMENT ARRIVING TOMMOROW.:thumbup:

CURRENT STOCK INCLUDES;SINGAPORE QUEEN ANGELS AND CORAL,RUSTY,LAMARCK,KEYHOLE,BICOLOUR,REGAL ANGELS.TWO BEAUTIFUL HARLEQUIN TUSKFISH.POWDER BROWN TANGS AND VLAMINGI TANGS.VARIOUS SNAPPERS AND GRUNTFISH.HENIOCHUS ANGELFISH AND VARIOUS HAWKFISH.:thumbup:

WILL UPDATE TOMMOROW WHEN WE UNPACK AND ACCLIMATISE THE NEW SHIPMENT.

Be well in salt,cheers,
Idol Marine Crew.

"Green" fiji pink

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 10:42am CST by neo

Hi,
I bought a bag of Fiji Pink arag. to use as my substrate
The inside of the plastic bag is greenish - algea, the arag is still fine with no green on it.
is this ok to use? is normal wash with RO water OK before I put it in my tank ?

Sump Corals???

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 10:30am CST by vatso

Hi all

What corals could on keep in a sump?

I am thinking about target feeding & the new tank I am getting is not going to be easy to target feed!

could we keep a sun coral in the sump? what other corals?

Just an Idea!!

test kit needed

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 9:35am CST by brentv

Hey guys,
i'm looking for some test kits like Marine lab to do all testing required for a mixed reef tank! From Nitrites right through to PH??
What you got?:whistling:

Vodka or vinegar?

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 9:28am CST by gaboon

Started dosing 2ml vinegar this morning, my tank is approx 600L so will slowly increase dosage. Whats the diff between vodka and vinegar? I've tried biofuel but it gets expensive to go through a few bottles a month.

Which to choose for Maroons???

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 9:26am CST by brentv

Hi Guys,
Which species of nennie would you choose to host 2 maroon clowns, they have been in the tank a few weeks and I'm trying to decide which to get?:whistling:

aquabee 2000 lph skimmer pump impeller

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 9:17am CST by preshan

Hi can i get a price on a replacement aquabee 2000 Lph needel wheel impeller.

[FS] Inverts for swop or sell

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 8:46am CST by Jaco Schoeman

Good day

I have two "sumped" inverts that I would either like to sell or swop for some softies. The one invert is a nice big Reef Lobster, and the other is a Sea Cucumber.

If sold, i'd like:

R150 for the Lobster
and
R100 for the Cucumber

or to swop for some decent mushrooms, metallic green star polyps, zoanthids etc?;)

Dorry Pets Offline

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 8:46am CST by FransSny

Hi Guys

We seem to have a problem with our servers thus both e-mail & online shop is down . Will let you know as soon as it is fixed

Our new toy

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 8:42am CST by ADVdiver

We splashed out some cash recently and this is what we have to show for it.

Thanks to Marko from THE WATER BOY for hooking us up with this awesome unit.
Stage1. 5 micron sediment filter
stage2. 10 micron carbon filter
stage3. 5 micron carbon filter
stage4. 3 X 100gal per day mebranes
stage5. DI resin
Other equipment. 2 X booster pumps.
1 X Auto flushing kit
1 X TDS meter

What a unit, we hooked this bad boy up. Rinsed the carbon cartridges for 15 minutes and reconncted to membranes. having setup many ro unit before we are well aware that there will always be a leak. But after 5 minutes there was still none.
Thanks to Marko for configuring this awesome unit.

We woke up this morning having only started production at 11pm to find about 500L of perfect water at 7am.

The TDS is tested before and after the DI resin and readings are as follows.
Water after filtration before DI is 7ppm
Water after DI is 0ppm

To everyone selling RO/DI water using this unit is an absolute pleasure.
The waste to water ratio of 1:1 thanks to Marko's configuration.

Happy Birthday Tom

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 5:39am CST by chikaboo

Happy birthday dude - enjoy the rest of the day and may you "sea" many many more;)

2 different foxfish 1 tank?

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 10:05pm CST by Furbz

hey guys,
would it be possible to house a magnificent foxface with a normal yellow with blackspot foxface?
or are they to closely related?
cos i here relatives will fight...

live rock???

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 8:31pm CST by jumpinbean

Hi every1
I'd love to make live rock don't know what south african cement to use tho..
Any suggestions?? Thank you.

Best (online) place to buy a pc

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 6:22pm CST by Singularity

Hi guys...

I am in the market for a new gaming pc, looking for suggestions on where to buy and suggestions on what hardware to run on it, budget +/- R5k for the motherboard, processor, RAM, hardrive and graphics card.

Fish landing tomorrow...plus 2 special fish

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 5:24pm CST by lanzo

Hey guys

Dorry Pets PTA and CPT will be landing our fish tomorrow

Fish will be kept in quarantine for a week before selling them off...only the fish that eat(and parasite/bacteria free) will be selling after 7 days.
The rest will stay in quarantine until we can let them go.

We will be having a -15% on live stock selling the first week after quarantine......yip....quarantine and discount;)

And the 2nd week we will be selling livestock -10%........( so that is 10% off after 3 weeks of quarantine)

List will be uploaded tomorrow

Also some great news....2 rare fish is landing

Gem tang

and

Leucistic Blue Eye Kole Tang (best id we got)

Here is the pics for you guys...straight from the supplier:

check how easy it is to decapsulate brine shrimp eggs!

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 5:16pm CST by mandarinman

after thinking about brine shrimps and reading up on how to decapsulate them i decided to give it the lazy way trial.

i poured half of medicine container (bout a tsp)of brine shrimp into one litre see thu plastic bucket(lidded type) and added a cup of tap water. put the lid on and gently swirled things around ensuring eggs all got water time.(one hour) i poured a cup of albex original bleach into bucket and put lid on again. i swirled it around until all the eggs were a dull orange. i then took the lid off and let the eggs settle on the bottom. then i slowly poured off the top two thirds of water and topped up bucket with tap water. i then left it for a minute to settle and poured most of the water off leaving eggs settled on bottom added some water, smelt it and no bleach smell. i added a little vinegar to water swirled it around and let eggs settle i poured off most of the water and rinsed it once more in fresh batch of tap water.,lett eggs settle and poured off most of the water off. i then poured some super salt water(lotsof marine salt diluted to extent it has sediment in bottom to just cover eggs. the hyper salinity prevents eggs hatching. i took a small bit(half tsp of eggs and put in see thru bucke with 500mls tank water, put the lid on swirled it around. that was at eleven last night. at four this afternoon i have a container of brine shrimp(there are still some eggs at bottom. but when i get home later i will see if all have hatched!

ID this blennie/gobby PLEASE

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 4:27pm CST by Moolis

Hi reefers

I received this as "SPECIAL SPECIES FOR YOUR ATTENTION" It is not a bi-color, no "antennae"
They act like them though, but are more active and colorful. Their fin's form a full circle around their tail when they swim. Gorgeous:w00t:

Help me ID please!!

zoas

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 3:33pm CST by clown

Hi All,

Im Looking for the blue zoas in CPT.
Do any one have some frags of blue zoas? I'm willing to pay for them.

Would like to add some colour to the tank.

Clown :wave2:

Tang ID

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 2:22pm CST by lanzo

Hi guys

Supplier just caught this tang
Id on this one please guys.

Looks like a bristle tooth elbino or something

Furbz full system for sale: PTA

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 2:13pm CST by Furbz

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

Furbz full system for sale

Location:

PTA

Shipping or Collection only:

Collection

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

hi guys,

i am seriously considering selling off my complete setup...
this is not a REAL for sale thread so please do not post here asking for things.

i am looking to see if anyone would be interested in purchasing my full system lock stock.
thats full tank, everything inside (livestock), lights, chiller etc

the reason i am looking to sell is because i believe that my tank is taking up to much of my attention and i need now to focus on my studies this year as they are really stepping up a gear..

so please guys, i am looking for anyone who may be interested in purchasing the full system in the future

the time period being anytime within this year...

if no one shows interest i will carry on running the tank and take a second decision to sell it off in pieces probably at the end of this year or the beginning of next year..

Regards keith

For pictures, please see my thread here

Furbz 500l Cube - Page 7 - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Notes:

-

Dream Filtration System

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 12:22pm CST by manta

I have the goverments permission to move tank filtration system to the garage. I have already started knocking a hole through the wall and need some input.

I have the following restrictions. The stand for filtration system can not be longer than 1.5m and wider than 400mm.

Spare glass I have can make a 930X400mm and 800X400mm without adding cost for glass.

I have included a drawing with DSB of 51*40cm which gives me a total footprint of 2040cm sq. Then a refugium of 500X400mm.

Will use a 25l tank for RO topup.

What else do I need to add?

DT size is 1200X450X500mm - Currently very lightly stocked and with about 10kg of biorock which is current in system to cure. Then also about 10kg of live rock.

Only 3 fish in system. (Hermit crab got hold of the one Damzel unfortunately - he was huge and has gone back to the Ocean)

My current DSB size is 400mmX350mm which is very small. I am thinking of keeping this underneath the tank and gravity feed to DSB in the garage. (Fortunately the garage is below the house)

Would welcome any comments and suggestion.
Attached Files

Sump Drawings New.xls (35.0 KB)

Zuna's revived Emporer Killer Tank

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 9:42pm CST by Zuna

Hi Guys

you'll would be please to know that my tank is sorted out thanks to Louise @ Idol marine(awesome dude).

here is some specs and and pics

Tanks is 1580x620x800
sump is a 3ft with 400l skimmer
4000l return pump
m1100 seio power head
2000f astro power head i think i need 1 more

lighting - 1 x mh need another one
- 4x T8 globes need to replace with T5s
about 30kg of live rock mixed with some lava rock

also check out my Tang tank

Moving tank ?

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 9:35pm CST by Viper

I'm going to move a 2m x 700 x 700 12mm tank with euro brace etc.
300mm is going to overhang at the back of my bakkie.
Will this be a problem ?
Will pollestyrene under the tank be suffecient ?
I don't want to crack the tank , so any advice will be appreciated .;)

Attention t5 users.

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 8:53pm CST by aslam

Hello guys,I would like to clarify whether burning t5's without cooling them will shorten their lifespan.Your experiences and opinions would be appreciated.Thank's.

My Ricordea Collection

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 8:35pm CST by Manic

Hey everyone,

Just though I would share some pictures of my ricordea collection so far, I plan on getting as many different colours as I can:

salt Creep

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 5:35pm CST by Wetty

Silly noob Q....but wot exactly causes salt creep? Im starting to have a prob with it on and in my Boyu TL450

Protein Skimmer

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 4:36pm CST by manta

Looking for a second hand protein skimmer. Willing to pay reasonable price in comparison to new.

Help, my mantis gone walkabout!

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 4:05pm CST by Pads

Aquascaping for 900mm Cube

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 3:23pm CST by Manic

Hey everyone,

I need some ideas for aquascaping. The tank is 900mm x 900mm x 600mm (high). I have no idea what to do with the aquascaping. The only thing I know is that I want a minimalist look. Don't want the whole tank full of live rock. I'm still going to buy the base rock and I have around 40Kg's of live rock to play around with, since I'm going to be hand picking the base rock I can pretty much go with any scaping ideas that are out there. I'm also going to drill the live/base rock and place rods inside it to keep them in place. Here are some pics of tanks that I like. Any other pictures of some cool scaping will be apreciated.

Tank 1:

Tank 2:

Tank 3:

Also keep in mind that the tank will be sps dominated.

Setting up a Marine Tank

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 2:13pm CST by Brett H

Please if anybody in Durban has a little time to spare to help me set up my tank.

I have been given a complete marine tank set up but they cut all the pvc pipes and everything was handed to me in boxes,I have no idea as to the set up.

I want to breed/grow "ginger shrimps" for bait purposes and am hoping I can do it in the sump of the tank and keep mackrel and mozzies alive upstairs.

I have all the pumps,skimmers and lights but need help or on site advice as to the set up.

I live in Umbilo and the tank is there but I would like to move it to my fishing club at Bayhead.

All help will be appreciated.

Brett

Ontmoeting

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 1:28pm CST by Antionette

Hello Alle Kaapenaars
Kan ons ontmoet en lekker gesels oor ons nuwe stokperdjie. Ek stel voor Willowbridge in Durbanville
Kontak Reef Maniac vir Info
Antionette:peroni::thumbup:

Featured System for March 2010

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 1:00pm CST by dallasg

Our Featured System for March 2010 belongs to Takumi!
Congratulations on a great system!

Click on the photo to see the full feature.

ID for Rock Anemone

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 12:36pm CST by RiaanP

Last ID needed.

Local Rock Anemone, also from Balito
About 10cm across. I got 3 of them. Do not like light, hanging under the rocks.

These are normal Natal Rock Anemones, is that correct

Id this Local Hermit

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 12:31pm CST by RiaanP

I got him from somebody else, a shell collector. The lady doing the shell collection knew I were looking for some hermits. She search and found this one somewhere south of Durban. He is getting big now, and a very good cleaner of the frag tank. I got him now for a year. Feeding out of my hand small piece of silverside once a week.

I'm not sure if he is 100% reef safe, but I did not see him doing any damage. But to be safe, I put him in my frag tank and he keeps it clean, on his own. And he is a lot bigger than my other hermits.

Anybody got a ID, and some comments if he is reef safe.

Please ID me - Blennie type fish

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 12:25pm CST by RiaanP

"I'm a local Ballito boy"

"I do not like the Display tank. I found the overflow and go back to the DSB. Second time I done that. Now I stay here. But for some reason I lost a lot of my green colour, just to be a lot more green. "

My son took / stole him out of some other kids bucket. Came running to me with him in his hand and dropped him into my bucket. He is about 3cm, so quite a small fish. So he is in my tank, my sump from December. He used to be more green, like the cheato. And like to perch on the cheato. Obviously he is having a ball eating copepods in the sump, but there are too many for him to finish off.

Anybody got a proper ID on him?

[FS] 6ft (1.8M) Tank for sale

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 12:12pm CST by poiromaniax

Hey guys,

I picked up this tank yesterday, but after seeing the size - There is no way I can afford to run it (student budget :P )

So Im selling it to buy a smaller (but still bigger than my current) tank.

Specs are:

1800(l)X600(w)X750(h) = 810L Display!! Tank is drilled for returns and overflow
Stand: built from 30mm square tubing. Height is 670mm (Will need some light sanding and fresh paint :D )

Tank is built from 10mm glass with bracing all round and a 30mm base.

It has an overflow chamber but I seriously suggest going to Idol Marine for fitment of a slimline overflow as the current one is bulky.

I havent done a leak test but I know that the pane just behind the overflow needs new silicone (which Idol will do for you if you fit a slimline)

I havent cleaned the tank either, I will leave that to the lucky buyer :lol:

because you will need to redo some silicone, I am asking for R2300! (which is less than I paid)

THERE IS NO SUMP

Pics:

This pane needs the silicone

6 X 2L coke crate to show size

the stand:

BTW, this tank is FLIPPING heavy, you will need at least 6 guys to carry.

Collection only

EDIT - forgot, if anybody wants to come inspect the tank, drop me a pm

Price on MH globes please

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 11:57am CST by Tobes

Hi guys, can you please give me prices on the following globes

250W MH double ended - 16000k (preferably) and 14000k incase no 16000k available ;)

Thanks

Which DSLR Camera 7D or 550D?

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 10:55am CST by vatso

Which one?

Who has a 7D?

Good to be able to get help

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 10:52am CST by Brett H

Hi Gents

Good thing about modern technology is help is just a google away.

I have just been given a marine tank and I am hoping to do two things,firstly breed ginger shrimps for bait and secondly build it up to a good looking practical tank.

This is where you guys come in,I need assistance in setting up the whole tank.I am based in Umbilo in Durban and any help would be appreciated,I can be contacted on 073 104 2395.

Brett H.

This weeks shipment

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 8:57pm CST by Moolis

Hi

Just got confirmation of the species that are allocated for packing and shipping to Pet Stop SA this week.

Lyre tail hog fish,
lipstick tang,
yellow angel,
maroon/ bubble anemone,
green mandarin,
Crystal anemone shrimp,
blue bellus angel,
Bicolor angel,
regal angel,
spotted cardinal,
neon goby,
yellow watch man goby,
egg shark,
feather duster,
green chromis,
orange line chromis,
blue barred/ zebra goby and
cleaner wrasse.

We should have a special on:
green chromis,
orange line chromis,
blue barred/ zebra goby and
cleaner wrasse.

More info from the packing list tomorrow afternoon/Wednesday morning. Specials and prices only after I opened the boxed and confirmed quality.;)

1 chromis MIA

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 8:36pm CST by vatso

one of my Chromis is MIA!!! I can't find it anywhere - i have looked on the floor nothing

do they hide? all other fish are 100%

Water level in Skimmer

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 8:17pm CST by martinhal

I have a DNW 150 ReefOcto skimmer. At what level should I set the water level ?

Air freight help please?

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 8:13pm CST by chikaboo

OK guys a little help please ... I need to get a fishy from Cape to Durbs on the weekend of 19th till 22nd March as we dont have a major airport here in our "city" of Newcastle .... so who's done this before as I'm totally a noob in this logistics field - usually drive with fish home - Also bear in mind its a long weekend (if that makes any difference) and would prefer to be as close to the 22nd as possible so that can collect on my way to Newcastle (Also bear in mind this another 4 hours drive from Durbs) How do the "Logistics pro's" propose we do this - I will be equipped with buckets and battery air pumps as I so want to go snorkling that weekend - if that will help in any way... Maybe If someone in Durbs has done this I'll appreciate all the help you can give as I dont want the poor fishy sitting any longer than he should at the airport and instead of me driving mad all over the airport and wanting to shoot those who "dont know" whats going on at the airport - might be better if I had someone experienced with me.... Thanx in advance guys...

Algea wanted

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 7:41pm CST by ml

hi all
Looking for some nice algea for my tank like caulerpa species or even some cheato will do. Brown green or red algea will be nice thanks

Morne

potassium permaganate

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 3:58pm CST by Furbz

potassium is used in marines all the time...

could one use potassium permaganate as a substitute to expensive brands in pets stores?

i might be interested in trying it out...

Opinions on the Polario 22ML

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 2:44pm CST by Neil H

I am considering using this pump (Polario 22ML) as the main pump in my new tank

So far the advantages would seem to be

low watt
single pump creates 2 different flow diirections
flow is random in direction and speed
this one pump will turn my water over at a rate of about 35 times an hour

I am really interested in people who currently have or have in the past used this pump....

I am considering using this in place of a CLS, how Nennie safe are these pumps?

opinions good or bad please...

2 x Turbelle nanostream 6025 paired with Boyu JX-10 Intermittend Switch

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 2:19pm CST by dizzyg

hi George

is it possible to pair 2 x Turbelle nanostream 6025 with a Boyu JX-10 Intermittend Switch, I would obviously love the multi-controller but it is out of my price range. I am looking to use the switch to run one power head from one side of the tank for an amount of time and then the other pump from the other side of the tank to mimic the tides.

do you think the pumps will handle this switch or would i damage them using this?

I have a 250L Red Sea Max tank.

please help newbee

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 2:00pm CST by dropzone newbee

please could you tell me if i should be concerned or not ? the one side has closed up completely and the other side looks as strong and healthy as when i got it :(

Big Regal, Little Regal

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 1:54pm CST by Kunhardt

I bought a Regal Tang from Atilla in December and finally got around to getting it from him on Saturday :P

Now the Regal is a bit bigger than I had envisioned and I am not sure if I should keep him or not. My LFS has 2 small ones in and said I am welcome to trade him for one of them...but I am undecided.

The pro's of keeping him are that he is already a well established to tank life healthy fish and I kind of feel responsible for its well being now. Also it would be nice to see another big fish swimming around my tank.

The cons, at his size he may outgrow my tank sooner rather than later, may be more likely to be major fighting with my Purple and Yellow tang where as smaller fish they dont seem to worry too much about.

I dont know, I'm in two minds about what to do, all I know is that I must make a plan quickly because he is in my sump and i dont feel that its fair on him to stay in there much longer.

Any help in making my decision would be appreciated. Here are some pics to give you an idea of his size.

Info on kalkwasser reactor

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 1:47pm CST by Johan van Aardt

Guys can anyone explain the workings behind a kalkwasser reactor, i know how a calcium reactor works but it seems like my new tank wont have space for one so im rather thinking of a kalkwasser reactor. But cant find exactly how it works.

Coral magazine

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 12:37pm CST by neo

Jan/Feb edition of Coral magazine electronic version
Coral - January/February 2010
some nice articles,
aquarium snails, what corals eat, short 101 article on salanity

Away with alage..with Ultra Algae x

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 12:35pm CST by lanzo

Hey guys

In the next month we will be stocking up on the new

range.

Its a well known brand in germany

a new thread will be opened to show you guys all the new products available to you.

But for now.....Fauna Marine Ultra Algae x

Great New Product from Fauna Marin
Ultra AlgeaX is a very strong and effective solution to remove any hairy or plague type algae growth in Reef Tanks.
It also removes dinoflagellates and Briopsis algae.
It treats algae plagues in reef aquariums without harming any corals.
AlgeaX does not destabilise the aquarium system. AlgeaX is not a treatment for Cyano bacteria but for all type of algea´s.
Dosing 5ml per 100 Liters every two days

i'm testing it from today;)

Can I Borrow A Cup O Brown Sug.... DSB stuff...

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 11:33am CST by Garethmur

Howzit, been reading that many will swap a cup of dsb sand n so on, is there anybody who will we willing to do gimi some?, just started the tank and would like to seed the dsb with some established dsb sand. in the eastrand...

:confused1:

[FS] Cannister filter

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 11:33am CST by inflames

Great for Phospate reactor or the like. 300 ltr/h.

The Sump, Built and Baffled

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 11:28am CST by llewellyn

(L)1000 x (W)400 x (H)500 :slayer:

[FS] Auto Temp Controller

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 11:27am CST by inflames

Auto temp Controller (DIY) air temp and water temperature monitor. Plugs into heater and Cooling fans / chiller. Set desired temperature for fans to switch on for cooling and for heating. Very good fail safe for heaters and chillers. Keep your tanks temp constant cheaply with this great unit.

[FS] Various Pumps for sale

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 10:56am CST by inflames

1850 litres/hour 2m max height.
Also 2 x pumps 200 ltr/h and 250 ltr/h R150 for both. great for ATS!

[FS] Dual 24 watt T5 ballast with Globes

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 10:40am CST by inflames

With Globes +/- 3months old.

[FS] Various Hardware for sale

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 10:17am CST by inflames

Hi Guys,

Have the following for sale.

Heaters - 100watt x 2 R100 each

Great Service

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 10:01am CST by Sentari

Hi

I would just like to say i was at Wild on Pets this weekend and i was very happy with their setup and the help i recieved. The prices of their fish are VERY good and they all look in great condition.

I would recommend this shop to anyone!

Keep up the good work guys!

[FS] reef octopus reactor

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 8:50am CST by mahan

HI GUYS I HAVE A REEF OCTOPUS CALCIUM REACTOR FOR SALE R1000 INCL TRANPORT TO CENTRAL AREAS FOR COLLECTION BOUGHT THIS REACTOR FROM RORY IN JHB DONT NO THE SPECK LOOKS LIKE A CR100 DID NOT CONNECT TO MY SYSTEM FROM THE DATE I BOUGHT IT COMES WITH HEILA PUMP FOR CIRCULATION

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

Feeds

Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 11:47pm CDT by zombie clam

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 11:02pm CDT by tekkengal

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Posted: March 28th, 2010, 2:44pm CDT by marinenoob

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Posted: March 27th, 2010, 4:30am CDT by Nemos Janitor

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Posted: March 26th, 2010, 12:19am CDT by Sammy