Wales -Swansea-uk

David martin · Jan 21, 2018

Hi,
does anybody fancy a club in Swansea wales UK,
I'm lucky enough, that because of my job- and please don't let this put you off, im the vicar of a church- which means we have access to a venue room, with overhead projector system for people that want to give presentations, facilities to make tea coffee, and even cook bacon sandwiches.

however we need people, I will make this clear yes I am the vicar, but that's the other side of the glass
this will be solely about fish keeping and I'm happy, to open it up to all types of the hobby, now I need people want to join and help me get off the ground, and also have the knowledge as I'm fairly new, if you're interested let me know many thanks Dave

Nik Mason · Jan 24, 2018

Hi Dave,
ggod to hear from you, im in Cardiff so i wont be able to come to regular meetings but I would like to be part of a group for knowledge exchange, Im new too, my first tank had water in it one year today, I will be able to come to some meetings but not all,
Regards,
Nik Mason

Nik Mason · Jan 24, 2018

Opps, sorry about the typo above.

David martin · Jan 24, 2018

thats great Nik, thats two of us

Nik Mason · Jan 24, 2018

Hi Dave, do you have any photos of your tank, im going to take some tonight,
how are you getting on with your tank, can you give me some details?
regards,
Nik

Nik Mason · Jan 25, 2018

Hi Dave,
Here's some photos of my tank, its had water in exactly a year now, i don't think i'm getting great growth [ not sure what constitutes good growth ] and i can't get my Alk down now matter how many water changes i do, its at 13-16, lowest i've had is 10, i'm not dosing alk, i have changed salt to red sea blue bucket which has lower Alk than the pro bucket i was using and i'm going to try hydrogen-chloride to bring it down slowly, regards,
Nik

David martin · Jan 27, 2018

Morning, Sorry for not getting back sooner, I've got the good old Swansea cough and cold, anyway your tank is looking great, far more established than mine are, I have to be very careful, because I'm waiting for the owners of the house to put in a separate ring main , as every time Julie puts on the tumble dryer, whilst let's say the dishwasher is on, it trips the circuit. my tanks, are in my office- which is really the garage with a plasterboard wall, and the electricians spurred off.

so at the moment I have two small tanks, the first tank, is not quite a 2x2x2 Cube, its about 126 litres not including the sump. and at the moment is used as a quarantine tank, and is home to my blue face angelfish which Ive had for three months, and is a young juvenile, and keeping her company, are to black-and-white clownfish.

my second tank is 331 litres not including the sump, and is home to a pair of standard clowns ( if there is now such a thing) juvenile rainbow wrasse, Mata tang, Koran Angle ( which will have to go back to the shop to make room for the blue face) im running x2 - Hyda 26 lights, c7 skimmer, both tanks have Maxspect Gyre systems the 331 litre has a duel set.

I also have a lage sps living under a pond basket, as my blue face finds it tasty?

Future plans/ ideas
if I am to keep my present stock the tank needs to be increased, at least up to 6x2x2, and even with that size tank is not gonna be much more room, considering how big the blue face grows.
I have been toying, with the idea of selling all my stock (fish) which then gives me the option of keeping the tank I have, or just going up to a 5x2x2, and setting up a much more calmer environment, I love Clams, I could keep my black-and-white clowns, one other point that I need to put into this equation is that I will be moving, it comes with the job hopefully, still within this location, the next move will occur in about 18 months time. I think if the fish are going to be sold, then it needs to happen, because if you're like me, you get so attached.

Nik Mason · Jan 27, 2018

Hi David,
sorry to hear that your not well and your having electrical problems, you wont believe im an electrician! partner in a company - Evans Electircal Ltd,
sorry but we dont work in houses.
Anyway back to the really interesting part, ive just looked up a blue faced angel, really nice fish, how big do they get?
How did you get in to the hobby [ second mortage ]?
Your tanks sound nice,
I love clams too but i wont have any until my hermits pass on, they are a good CUC but they are in to everything, as an example i bought some live cockles, mucules and oysters from tescos fish counter, i put them in my sump to be filters [ mad idea of mine ] they were great for about three months so i put them in my tank, only the cockles are now alive as they can bury them selves away from the crabs, how they get in the shells i dont know but i have seen them picking inside the shells so im not going to have a clam yet.
Do you test your water, my nitrate and alk are high so im dosing nopox and hygrogenchloride acid to try and get them down, i keep reading that alk is used up by the the tank but i have not seen this yet, i only use RODI but i know i have hard water which i think is keeping the alk up, maybe, i have changed to red sea blue bucket also.
Also another coincidence to me being a sparky is my wife is master of ceremony for cannon rev lisk in cardiff, st margerets church, funny world.
Why dont you take your fish with you?
Anyway, lots of question, hope other UK reefer join in the conversation and exchange ideas.
Regards,
Nik