Reefkeeping South Africa » Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Algae

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 9:23pm CDT by DudleyD

Hi
I have what looks like bryopsis. Can anyone ID?
Trying the magnesium trick - raising the levels to kill off the algae?
Mexicans or mexicants?

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 8:28pm CDT by gaboon

With Mexican snails being the new algae eater of choice in SA, does anyone have pics? Google gave me every kind of snail so I'm not sure.

I see local stockists are really taking advantage though as they are about $2 overseas.
Kalk Stirrer and Calcium Additive

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 8:27pm CDT by amalick

I use my Kalk stirrer in the traditional method, via my auto top of RO water. A quick question, I would like to boost my calcium level with a powdered form of calcium made by Cape Coral care called calcium booster.

The recommended method is to add it to your RO reservoir which would then dose calcium enriched water via auto topup. Will this affect my Kalkstirrer in anyway given that I topup RO via it ?

While I'm at at, does anyone add any additives to their Salt Mix during the aeration period, before adding it to their system, are there any con's to doing this. I ask because perhaps I should dose the calcium into my prepared salt mix before I add it to my system via my weekly water change instead.

PS : I have a CARX but my calcium levels stay just under 400ppm, I suspect my CARX cant cope with my calcium demand given my stocking level
My frag tank : Take 1

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 8:08pm CDT by poiromaniax

So ive decided to setup a frag tank, mainly thanks to Midasblenny because he gave me the tank :)

I plan to build "steps" using eggcrate and have the powerhead and heater under there.

The skimmer will sit in the corner (elevated) and the steps will be built around it.

Tank Dimensions:
600X300X500

Filtration:
my trusty old TS1 Skimmer
HOB filter running seagel and floss

Flow:

Hydor Koralia 4 (if it aint strong enough, I have a sunsun 12000LPH)

Heating:

100W no name heater

Lighting:

Still unsure, thinking either T5's or CFL's

Some pics:

Hydor and heater

TS1 :gunsmilie:

Thats all for now :downdown:
Biorock for sale: East London

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 5:56pm CDT by Slummies

Hardware for saleThread title:
Biorock
Location:
East London
Shipping or Collection only:
both
Photo's and description/list of items for sale:
howzit,

i got 3 pieces of biorock i wanna sell. never been used. r55/kg .

i reckon they around 2kg's a piece -if you are interested i will weigh the piece. very cool pieces for base rock.

Preference to East Londers
Notes:
-
Stupid... I broke the skimmer ballvalve

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 5:46pm CDT by gaboon

After finishing blowing detritus off the LR I snapped the tap on the skimmer ball valve. Luckily it snapped in the off position, it just has a slow drip which has a container under it now.

Are there any miracle ways to fix this or do I need to cut it out and replace the whole ball valve?
Aqua-Medic OceanProp 15000 L

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 11:23am CDT by Sean H

Hi guys
have any of you tried the new OceanProp 15000 L powerhead with controller. I find it an extremely good powerhead. I see they have also recently launched the O ceanProp 5000 L.

Let's have some feedback.
do corals move around?

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 8:57am CDT by alexa

hi:wave2:
im very soon im getting a marine tank its all planned and everything theres just one thing that doesent make sense. how do you keep a coral in one spot? wont it move around?
***Will they kill them all... Canthigaster Amboinensis?***

Posted: September 19th, 2010, 8:54am CDT by sriddick

Hi Guys,

Firstly, apologies for being so scarce. I have not been around for a while, as I have been overseas to the UK and China, but I have been following everyone’s progress and systems.

Listen, I have a really odd thing to raise here. I just feel that I need to do something about the savagery that is going on down the natal coast line. I have lived in Amanzimtoti / Durban for the last 11 years, and when I first moved here, I would walk along the rocks and watch all the fishermen. On many occasion, I would take buckets full of these little spotted toby fish from the rock pools and release them back into the ocean. These fishermen seem to feel that the Toby’s are a vermin and need to be killed. On more than one occasion, I witnessed guys reeling these little guys in, and then instead of taking it off the hook and just releasing it back into the ocean, they would literally just swing the rod around and smash the fish against the rocks to get it off the hook.

Others would take them off the hook, and found pleasure in throwing them as hard as they can against the rock in order to hear the sound it makes when the puffer explodes. The large majority would just throw them in the infested and stench ridden rock pools to die a slow death in the hot natal sun. I have not seen many of these fish around for years, but strangely enough, their numbers seem to have increased again, and I have been noticing them around on the beaches. I went for a walk along the Amanzimtoti main beach yesterday, and took a walk on to the rocks, as I noticed a guy landing quite a nice size fish. When I got onto the rocks, my heart sank. Toby’s lay everywhere. All the rock pools were overflowing, and they had just been thrown around on the rocks. I counted more than 20 in one small rock pool, and could see the vast majority were already dying.

When confronting one of the "fellows" on the rocks as to why they don’t just release them back into the ocean, they merely say that these fish are pests and eat there bait. Things have got heated on more than one occasion to the point that a full on physical brawl has almost ensued.

Whilst this fish may seem insignificant to some, I for one have a problem with the inhumane way that these “locals” treat them. My son is 3 now, and I fear that if something is not done, by the time he reaches my age, you probably will not see them anymore.
I am considering putting together an article for the local newspapers to highlight the wrongdoings of these barbarians who call themselves civilized, but more importantly, to try and put some constructive and educational information together to try and educate these guys about the species, and the importance it plays on our coast line. From what I have found online, I believe I have an ID of Canthigaster Amboinensis? Maybe some of the local and more knowledgeable guys could help me out with that one?

For this reason, I ask, if any of you could assist with some facts and other information, I would greatly appreciate it. Sadly, I am off to the beach now with a bucket and a net to go try and catch a few more and release them back into the sea.

Regards,
Sheldon.