Hi

[muz]

So when you enter the site it prompts you to say howdie, ok then, Hi. I am Muz from Cape Town South Africa, i am 34, male, 1 son 7, the rest will bore you.. I have been keeping freshwater for about 17 years and have found that I keep breeding the same fish, going back to the ones I love.. just happens to be a bit stale now. I have removed all my species tanks and reduced the freshwater tanks to 1 community.

So charging into marines with eyes open. I have been reading up for about 3 months.. have finished designing the tank & sump and have been buying bits of live rock for about a month which is currently in a QT with heater & powerheads, minimal lighting a 15w marine glo tube and a spare one I had from a freshwater.

Havent a clue so may ask some bumb ass questions...k

Muz

 

[meschaefer]

HI

Welcome to Manhattan Reefs, although based out of New York City you will find that we have quite the international community here.

We love dumb questions, so ask away.

 

[digitalreefer]

Welcome to MR!
My girlfriend Lissa (ellebelle) just got back from South Africa, shame you weren't here a couple months ago!

 

[muz]

Well thanks, here is one off the bat.. my tank has been built but I will be waiting about a week maybe 2 max for the stand, sump..getting the plumbing done, freshwater run all that jazz.. I have been buying live rock and have placed in a QT with a heater to 83 - 84 and some scary powerheads x 4 providing some nice water movement, lighting is just 2 tubes running 14 hrs.. don't kill me yet, I have not tested the water for any readings.. tets kits are next on the budget! I need to know.. do I need to be running a skimmer or will this setup be ok to QT the live rock until the tank is setup.

Much appreciated

Muz

 

[muz]

Welcome to MR!
My girlfriend Lissa (ellebelle) just got back from South Africa, shame you weren't here a couple months ago!

Well if she is planning on coming over again please let me know, some of the frags I have seen in your guys tanks are nothing short or breathtaking, I am VERY new to this so knowledge is slim pickings at the mo, I have been mainly researching water chemistry and things like linear overflow, i have not even looked past live rock yet, next up sump with refugium then lighting. But when I am ready I am gonna be looking for frags - gimme about a year :knockedou

 

[meschaefer]

You can either be running a skimmer or you can just do water changes, even with the skimmer you wuld probably need to do water changes while the rock cures.

 

[digitalreefer]

You're keeping the rock alive with the QT, I wouldn't worry about testing until the rock is in the display tank as that's where your cycle will need to be finalized. You could test just to get in the habit of testing and watch the chemistry change, but it's more important to test before you add livestock. Although water changes will probably work for now, it would probably be a good idea to get a skimmer going soon to help remove the organics as the rock dies off.

 

[Quang]

welcome to MR!
Wow, all the way from Cape Town.

 

[DEEPWATER]

Welcome to MR !!!!

I see Erics GF dropped off some MR cards at Cape Town

How is it getting corals by you ,Do you have a Local fiosh store in the area or do oyu order thru the internet

Ronen

 

[crox99]

Ehi Muz howdie and welcome to MR.

 

[ellebelle]

You shouldn't be too short of nice corals and fish in S. Africa though. Just hop a plane to Durban or up the east coast and collect them yourself! (I'd say collect in the Western Cape, but you'd have to run a chiller all the time for those fishies. brrr.)

Loved Cape Town - def. want to go back. And since I was there for work, it's not out of the realm of possibility. I actually had a thread going while I was in South Africa. (http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/nudibar/20373-greeting-south-africa.html - if you're interested.)

 

[muz]

Corals

Welcome to MR !!!!

I see Erics GF dropped off some MR cards at Cape Town

How is it getting corals by you ,Do you have a Local fiosh store in the area or do oyu order thru the internet

Ronen

I have not really investigated corals yet, i am still on setups and water chemistry, we have many LFS here, mainly freshwater but there are about 4 in driving distance that stock marines, their quality is suspect at best and even with my limited knowledge would improve some aspects.. they all stock corals the one I did recognise is a sun coral, they have mushrooms as well but the colours we get here are mainly browns and green, I have not seen purple, pink, yellow etc like I have seen on the internet. I will get there in a few months, i am planning on doing this tank right and I believe this takes about 3 years.. crumbs.

You guys seem really keen on frags and so you will be the first place I look when searching, I will probably end up bringing in my own, budget seems to be a problem in general with this hobby !! my live rock set me back a bunch.

Muz

 

[muz]

Cool, this gives everything a personal touch.. My mom & dad live in Pietermaritzburg so when I am up there again I will look for corals.. there should be plenty in Durbs, in Cape Town it is much harder and much more expensive.. I wish I know you guys last month I had a mate in NY doing auditing, I was thinking he could have bought back some but I am getting ahead of myself

Muz

 

[ellebelle]

Hard to bring corals and fish back from the US b/c of the liquid laws. They won't let you take liquids on planes to and from the US. In Jo'burg airport, I couldn't even bring wine from the duty-free in my carry-on. You'd have to check them.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I think there are also rules about bringing non quarantined livestock from one country to another without authorization from both governments.

 

[ellebelle]

True, but you can always go through the hassle of getting permits. I've brought back all sorts of crazy stuff from different countries in the name of research and you can get permits for just about anything. :biggrin: