Jason,
Haha yes the power consumption is pretty high for SW, though these days with LED lighting and more efficient pumps it is reducing slowly. The seahorses sound amazing, it would be beautiful to watch them 'holding' each other closely. Stony corals would definitely be out of my reach! And ah ok so you did have a sump. I think that would be the way to go.
Chris,
Most of the hobbies these days end up with us (atleast me) putting too much money in
Must have been quite something to see. Pics would be great, though monthly changes probably wouldn't have been enough?
Ian,
Well there's your problem! It's the sunlight that causes the algae to bloom, no wonder your indoor ones do much better. Plus they thrive on excess nutrients so perhaps too much fertiliser/food/livestock? Definitely send a pic of your tank when your back in sunny cairns
Matt,
Ah sorry I misread your post. Glad you still got the two G's
Its nice of you to mind the fish for your nieces and nephews. That's interesting re no special food for moonshine, did you put any salts or powder when doing water changes? I think henry is slowly improving, especially with a diet high in calcium and I will start dosing liquid calcium soon. That apparently works wonders. You probably know this already but any ammonia reading above 0 is considered toxic to the fish which could explain why moonshine came outta the water? Add some real easy plants like anubias or java fern, it'll help tremendously. If I can grow it anyone can
Ian,
Thanks
Co2 would be very nice, especially back in those days would have cost you a mint! Been thinking about a DIY system with yeast but to be honest the plants are growing just fine (Although slowly) which means less maintenance so I'll see how it goes