Achilles Tang

Yeah I read about that too... funny... I haven't changed any water in over a month!

Naturally, as would most plankton feeding sea creatures. Unless your tank is producing minute amounts of plankton like shrimp spawn, or you feed it with plankton substitutes... it will disappear soon.

Live plankton.

Hmmm... I am eyeing the Eheim 1262. It's selling for around $230 for the 1.7m cabled version and $360 for the 10 metre cabled version! Duh! Technical Data 1262: Pumpoutput: 3400 l/h / 750 Imp.gal / 900 US gal Delivery head: 3,5 m / 11'6" Power consumption: 80 W Hose connection order no. suction side: 25/34 mm / 1" Hose connection order no. Pressure side: 16/22 mm / 3/4" It seems more attractive because it only consumes 80watts compared to the 100 over to 200 watts that Iwaki pumps comsume. My Rena 6000 does 4650l/hr and consumes 106watts. Funny, its rated for 3 over meters of head. Shouldn't be a problem... but it's leaking air in somehow... perhaps its sand particles in the o-ring... gonna go home and double check and test again.

Arrgh.... my Rena pump doesn't seem to do too well as an external pump inspite of what the manufacturer says. Seems not to cope too well with head pressure. Any Iwaki pump owners here who can advise? Or any pump alternatives? I am looking for one that can do about 4000 - 5000 litres per hour with good head pressure. But of course budget is a big factor. AT

About $95.

Its very much up to you. I am going to link it with a timer on my new tank.

Different Aiptasia species comes in different colours, some are brighter as they are photosynthetic.... some are duller and are found in the darker regions of your tank. The above Aiptasia pix does look like yellow polyps at first glance.

Hello there aquarists! Many of us have deep tanks... 2ft deep or even more. While many of us would use tongs to pick up small stuff... there is no way we can move heavy base liverock with them. Some gung-ho types would use their bare hands and then suffer the consequences of itchiness as their skin gets all pruned up. Worse... some will suffer pain and allergic reactions as a result of scratches by liverock, coral scrapes, bristleworm spikes getting into their skin (the thing I hate the most!) or even having their tank occupants like damsels, clownfishes, rabbitfish, lionfishes, triggerfishes or even tangs bite or scratch you with their spikes. As much as I try to keep my hands out of the tank as much as possible by using my aqua tongs, nothing beats the human hand in its strength, dexterity, precision and gentleness! So now we need protection! Gloves! I have bought many kitchen and gardening gloves in the past and used them for protection mainly against scratches caused by liverocks & bristleworm spikes. So which is the best? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have narrowed down my choices to the Ferra Household latex gloves 15" length. It comes in yellow colour. In L size, it's big (not too small even for big asian hands) and comfortable (as it comes with a inner sweat-absorbent cotton lining). It also has a unique rolled cuff and patterned grip ensures no slipping and a sure grip on things! It is also made of pure natural latex and is super strong. It comes in 15" length so nano tank workers will stay dry.. heh! It also comes in different sizes to suit different hand sizes. It gets the best score amongst all the kitchen/gardening gloves. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- However, it offers no protection for the forearm, elbow and upper arm and even if you use rubberbands to around your mid forearm, water is bound to slip in and you end up with water balloon fingers.... making it irritating to work in. What other glove is there in the market that can keep you dry and offer you protection then? Well.... there is the Coralife Aqua Gloves! These Aqua Gloves are full arm-length with elastic bands to hold them snugly on the upper arm. The gloves measure 28" in total length and are made of the finest PVC material with fiber reinforced sleeves. Aqua Gloves are designed to allow the hobbyist to work efficiently inside the aquarium without contaminating the water. The gloves keep arms and hands completely dry, thus avoiding any possibility of skin contact with the water and its inhabitants. Prevents stings and allergic reactions (unless you are allergic to PVC, haha!) The Aqua Gloves come in a tacky red and purple colour and while not meant to be worn in public as it will make you a fashion nightmare... it is, IMO, the best gloves for working in-tank! Even with my long arms, the gloves go right up to my armpits and I have no problems keeping my whole arm dry! The glove also prevents glass 'burns' as the sensitive skin of your inner arms don't scrap against the glass edge. The gloves feels thick and you will feel very secured in manuevering heavy or sharp rocks and corals. It may even feel tough enough to prevent a lionfish spike from going through so catching a lionfish with your gloved hands may be a possibility. (JOKING!!!! Don't even think of trying it!) I guess for those who hate moving slimy anemones will appreciate these gloves! It is perfect for those with 2 feet deep tanks as you won't get to show your tank inhabitants your 'smelly hairy black urchin' , any deeper than 2 feet, well, they haven't made gloves that cover your upper torso yet! Note: the Coralife Aqua Gloves were imported from the USA as LFS here don't have them. They also come only in 1 size... extra large... so those with small hands will not qualify as an ER assistant in those gloves! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So which of the above 2 gloves reviewed here is suitable? Both are!!! The Ferra latex gloves are excellent for quick use especially when you need to move liverock out of boxes into a shallow tank, or for handling livestock like anemones. Nothing that involves deep water, it's perfect. You will feel very comfortable with them! For in tank use... it's uncomfortable to use due to the water balloon effect. The Coralife Aqua Gloves are for in-tank use and offers excellent protection against water and scrapes. However, due to its air/watertightness, your arm will start to sweat as there is no ventilation inside and because it doesn't have a cotton lining... comfort is zero! Oh well... there's no such thing as a perfect glove! Hope the above review helps! ------ A Product Review by Achilles Tang ------

The reeftec mod kits you can order direct from www.reeftec.com. Because the brackets can be modified to whatever you want, you should communicate with the designer eg. euro-bracing, nail to wooden hood etc. The PE-1 pump is the problem now as locally there is no stock. The distributor is reluctant to bring in as there is no demand for this pump. Perhaps I can see if I can do a mass order.. how many of you are interested?

Here's a pix.

It's just tapwater! We had to go inside to clean the glass properly.... and take a bath at the same time!

And of course, everyone else in the family had their turn in our new tank! Heh! My dog hates water and sulked the whole evening!

Greenex has been touted as the ultimate cure for flatworm infestations. But of course, its such a killer that you risk killing other stuff too..

I was working on my new tank and then I realised that my current tank water looked rather cloudy! I rushed down the ladder I was on and peered at my firefish eating little specks floating in the water. It didn't look like my usual CBS or cleaner shrimp fry, it just looked like... white little specks... duh? Then I spotted it at the corner of my eye... a puff of smoke that disintegrated into little strings and specks... Grabbing my digital camera... I captured the sequence below of my snail spawning! Now my sun corals and my gorgonians have fully expanded their polyps and enjoying the feasts! I am also noting a film on the surface of my tank water.... hmmm... i guess my protein skimmer's gonna have to work overtime! Enjoy!

Triggers are unpredictable. Some become terrors over time, known to kill other tank inhabitants... and to take chunks of flesh off their owners. Believe me... when you go diving and you see a big titan trigger rushing at you... you'll swim faster than a hungry barracuda!

The boss said its a dead link. They don't have a website yet, at least it won't be ready for a few months.

Be careful that the test kits are not old. Old test kit solutions are inaccurate and may give false readings.

What about the salinity of the LFS NSW? I heard the salinity is off by a lot at times?

Ahh gee.... My wife can't take leave... too busy at work. Guess that means more time for me to mess with my tank too! So I guess this trip is off... may go up to Phuket in December then. Oh well... at least she dived in my tank last nite! Heheh! See my tank progress thread! AT

Mermaid!!!! My wife snorkelling as she helped me clean the inside of my tank!

Ahem.... any comments to add on NSW, ECBM?

Yes, the Reeftec kits are procured from overseas... the pump from the local distributor... who is out of stock of the PE-1. He only brought in 2 units.... one with me, one with a koi guy. I have to wait a long time again to get hold of another unit! Maybe if the PE-2 pump can fit into the Reeftec PE-1 unit... I dunno... need to contact Reeftec.

Kel... even Morgan agreed that the black tang of such size would not be comfortable in a 8 feet tank! It has such tremendous speed that I am sure it will rocket out of any tank given the right trajectory! Even if I have the money... I won't keep it in my big tank. Such creatures are meant only for Sentosa Underwater World tanks or the deep blue sea!

I know the weekend before a couple of you organised an unofficial trip to LCK. Just yesterday... 5 of us dropped in CoralFarm at LCK to take a look at the facilities. We were impressed by the facilities, especially when we noted the way the filtration systems were done, utilizing ozone, uv sterilizers, and giant protein skimmers. The layout of the place with many low tanks with neat pipings gave a very airy and clean feeling and it was with excitement as we walked through rows of soft corals and fishes. We were briefed on their acclimatization process, which was more thorough than what other marine livestock import/export companies were doing. Their fishes included angels and tangs that were all eating fish pellets and were not as jumpy as newly/non acclimatized fish. They apparently supply a few of the world's biggest distributors of marine livestock and therefore had to ensure that livestock provided were of high standard. They even showed us charts that track the daily parameters of their tanks. The boss wasn't comfortable with me taking photos of the facilities. He did, however, was open to the idea of the Singapore Reef Club having an official site vist organised by the CoralFarm during a day when a shipment comes in and they would show us how they proceed to unpack and acclimatize their livestock. It would surely be an eye-opening experience for many of us. Their collection sources are from a few places, namely Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. Their sources are also screened to ensure that all livestock are hand-caught with nets as opposed to the common destructive methods of collection using cyanide poisoning and dynamite bombing which are responsible for coral reef destruction and the slow poisoning of fish livestock. These illegal practices are fueled by greed, and commonly carried out in the Phillipines and parts of indonesia where good policing is hard to enforce due to lack of manpower resources, poverty or corruption. Thus, their prices are a lot higher than anyone else. IMO, a small price to pay for the protection of our reefs. I won't mind paying a bit more for healthy livestock that won't konk over in a few weeks time due to slow cyanide poisoning or just to know that the collection of my livestock didn't mean that a hectre of corals were decimated. Sadly, people will be people and cheap prices for short-lived livestock will still attract them. Once we get educated about our marine heritage and take steps to preserve them, can then we truely enjoy our hobby without a sense of guilt. Overall, we left with a positive feel about this company and some of us even bought a few fishes inspite of the prices. Time will tell if these fishes are not cyanide-caught. Morgan, X-Japan, Achilles Tang, the boss of CoralFarm, ECBM and Rrrobt on our first unofficial SRC site visit. A huge and rare Black Tang that probably was 40cm in length. Note the green coloration on the upper flanks of the body. It was in an 8 feet tank. Another shot of the Black Tang. Its value would probably be around $400 to $500 dollars! It came packed in 15kgs of water!