Achilles Tang

*OFF TOPIC!!!* <_< Hey don't hijack this topic!!! Go create another one!

Hey Hon, you should cut and paste your story into the other Rainbow thread...

I use an all plastic clothes peg with a fishing clip to a fishing lead sinker to clip my boiled vegetables, it sinks to the bottom and the tangs pluck at the upright floating vegetable. When they are done, I use my tongs to pick the 'vegetable peg' up! For Nori, I usually hand tear and feed. If you clip a big piece, they tend to be torn into chunks which float around and get sucked into the overflow... troublesome!

It's so easy.... just go to the shoreline of our beautiful island country... and wherever you find mud.. you will find mangrove! Just look into the water and you will find floating pods which you can take. Or pull out a few saplings from the mud... just watch out for sandflies... urrgh!! Hate them! I don't think you need to acclimatize mangroves, their salt-straining ability cannot be underestimated. The mangroves in Singapore are mostly in direct contact with seawater, not brackish ones. Trust me, I used to fish in mangrove swamps. I once had a sea snake right at my foot and I must have broken the world record for vertical high jump! Go check out the northern coasts eg. seletar, plenty of mangroves there. Watch out for the seasnakes, stingrays or catfish should you walk barefooted in the mud water.

Yeah I don't mean the bioballs themselves... I mean the use of them may cause the overwhelming production of nitrates due to the wet/dry effect that causes the nitrite---> nitrate bacteria to proliferate much faster than the nitrate-->harmless nitrogen bacteria can cope with.

I use my tongs to stir the very top layer of sand once in a blue moon to kick up a detritus storm, notice that some corals and gorgonians open their polyps to catch them (or the bacteria) for food. Don't ever stir up a DSB! Actually, with a live sandbed, you should have enough worms, copepods, brittlestars etc to clear up the detritus. The secret to clean sand is to have good circulation to kick detritus up into the water column where they will be swept down into the sump or preferably the refugium where they can settle for the refugium creatures to consume.

Yes, DT's phytoplankton is alive... in suspended animation or dormant... and very concentrated. Can be kept alive up to 5 months in the fridge but cannot be frozen or the cells will burst. Must be used up in that time or nutritional value drops rapidly. Can stand 2 days in transit if unrefrigerated. Any more exposure to heat means a drop in nutritional value. It's expensive, about S$72 excluding shipping for a mere 0.88 litres. If you don't want the hassle of culturing live plankton ie. lazy... then it's perfect but you pay for the convenience. If you prefer live plankton and don't mind the effort to do so.... it's much cheaper and can be an ever lasting supply (as long as you don't screw up by forgetting to harvest or by cross-contaminating the cultures).

I finally caught my mantis shrimp after a year... I suspected there was one... but never actually saw it until late one night when I took a torch light and started hunting. Boy... were they fast!!! I had to dismantle my rockwork! I took the rock out and put it in freshwater and then it took a damn long time to come out... when it did.... I put it in a glass of tank water for a few weeks till it died of starvation... it is a really hardy pest! It was green in colour and looked like a preying mantis!

In my dive at KK, I saw my first turtle, pipefish, lionfish, giant trevally, giant angel fish, sleeping parrotfish with the mucus net (during night dive)... and NONE of my dive buddies saw them!!! I believe having a reef tank has made me more aware of my surroundings and how fish can be camouflaged. I was peeking under rocks and overhangs while they were contented to float above corals. Needless to say, my buddy (my wife!) wasn't very pleased as she hated to touch anything! But I believe the most amazing sight was seeing hundreds of tiny baby damselfish float just above a huge acropora plate and disappear into it as we approach.. and the parents hovering protectively over them. Oh yeah... seeing two HUGE reef cuttlefish doing a mating dance... seeing how their tentacles will touch each other gently while seeing RIPPLING waves of COLOUR moving on their bodies. They were like doing a waltz with each other. The scariest sight to me was seeing a BIG titan triggerfish defending the invisible zone of its territory by charging at you!

Hi Coelacanth! Welcome to the Singapore Reef Club! Do you get a lot of popping sounds in your tank from the pistol shrimp? Is it in a symbiotic relationship with the watchman goby? It must be real cool to watch them!

In tank or in sump or external?

I use HoldFast Epoxy Stick...by Aquarium Systems. Will bond and cure underwater. Mixes in one minute. You have approximately 7 mins to work with it before it hardens. Within 30 mins, the epoxy becomes hard. Within one hour, you can sand, file or drill it. One stick costs me $28. It leaves a sticky oily residue on your fingers.

I had a lettuce nudibrach in my tank once.. i kept it for a few weeks but after I found out that it was a culprit after eating all my turtleweed algae... out it went! It produced a lot of thick mucus when it gets disturbed... really yucky!

Hon, Yup... my reeftec is black in colour and slimmer... it's version two. Jimmy Chen, the inventor, from the States passed it to my friend who is a pilot who flew it back home... free delivery.. hee hee! I am the first overseas customer.. heh heh! Tunze is coming up with a commercial version so expect to pay like 4 times the price... in my opinion.. not worth it. One of my reeftecs is running in the current tank and I LOVE the flow it generates... lots of turbulence but non-high velocity flow... I have removed two powerful powerheads from my tank. I recommend all SG Reef Club members to get it... but it's for those with at least 3 feet tank only. It's S$175 for two units with customized brackets for euro-bracing. The pumps you can get it for around SG$90 each. IMO, it's worth the money as the idea works well and the unit is well constructed. I guess it can be reversed-engineered, anyone with a lot of time on their hands with acrylic experience, can buy acrylic to cut into nice pieces and holes, find the plastic bolts and nuts, cut a bit of egg-crate, find a shaft attachment for the propeller and a propeller which pushes, not pulls. Spiff, It's a Little Giant PE-1 pump (not included) with the impeller removed and a propeller attached to the shaft, encased in the Reeftec casing. I plan to put one on each end and run it on timers... morning, it will flow from left to right... night, it will flow from right to left.... noon time... 1 hour of turbulent time from both units followed by slack tide... no movement... sleeping time no movement... to simulate tidal movements! I am planning to hide the reeftecs with my rock lanscaping... leaving only a cave for the opening where the propeller can push the cone of current out. This is really cool! The only downside is the size and price.

Good luck! Make sure the fish don't get overstressed... or the ich will take hold again.

Hi Max, you asked: "may i know how's the performance of UK Lightcannon? how much and where u get it from? thanks!" I must say the UK Lightcannon is the first dive torch I ever bought and I must say that EVERYONE is impressed with it. The HID light produces the WHITEST, BRIGHTEST with the FURTHEST REACH above and beyond the strongest halogen bulbs. During the night dive, the yellow beams of my group couldn't penetrate much as it was quite murky due to sea detritus and marine snow... everyone was following ME around... ! The true colours of the corals and sleeping fish... eg. parrotfish and groupers were seen with its white light. It's worth every cent of the $400 I paid for it... err... or is it more than that? Heh heh!... the replacement bulb itself is around $80 I think. Here is a pix I took during a deep wreck dive with my lightcannon. Everything is dark blue... note the red colours of the encrusting sponge on the rigging ropes.

I am an advanced diver too! Maybe we can organise a reef-appreciation course for Singapore Reef Club members... I can get my Dive Instructor friend for a special group rate! But the season for M'sia is closing soon... monsoon coming! Damn... was supposed to go to Redang but I got my reef project... wife is also sad cannot go... But Thailand dive season is opening soon... PHUKET DIVING!!! Maybe early next year....

Personally... i feel the place is run by c**w ah b**gs... Ask too much questions and they will beat you up. Kekeke! I didn't know they were selling marine more than 10 years ago already. Why did they stop and why after all these years... they are still doing it WRONG??!!!! <_< Sigh!

Banggais are peaceful reef fishes. Urchins are good for algae control but they are known to be troublesome as they will knock down corals, pierce and damage corals and eat coralline algae. They could be hurt you too if you are careless... I always look out below when I sink down to the sandbed when diving and watch where I place my hands! I don't believe when they die they will release toxins... but you should probably remove the dropped spines and any dead matter immediately.

derf, I don't think so... you should have more media for denitrifying bacteria to colonise... it is believed that too much bioballs causes too much nitrate to be formed from nitrites. The prob may be not enough bacteria to quickly convert the no3 to harmless nitrogen. ... and that algae that comes and goes is cyanobacteria, diatoms or nuisance algae. You have too much dissolved organic matter in the water. Get a better protein skimmer or reduce overfeeding/overstocking. ------------------------------------------- Phang, I believe you can use the phosguard continuously until it is maxed out.. ie. turn yellow. Phosphate is something we should have very low quantities in our tank... so it doesn't make sense to have intermittent use of the phosguard.

I believe so... They even helped me get marine-grade plywood... should be no prob as they are in the construction biz. My consultancy fees quite reasonable for you.. heh heh!.... just bring the beer and chicks... oops... make sure the wife is not reading this!

I have never seen a neon goby in LFS....

Ok ok.... ---------------------------- Lighting: AB Aqualine Aquasunlight pendant: 2 x 150watt 10,000k BLV HQI, one moonlight, 2 x 18watt Coralife Actinic 03 tubes. 1 spare 150watt 10,000k BLV HQI pendant as an add-on if lighting is not enough. ---------------------------- Circulation: 2 x Reeftec PE-1s for broad, diffused, low-velocity AND cone-shaped water current spread... I have investigated the best water circulation mechanisms and the Reeftecs are on par with the Wave2k (which is bulky and apparently having problems with the drive train). (2 Reeftecs should give the same circulation power as 10 powerheads BUT without the damaging high-velocity jets coming out from ordinary powerhead nozzles. It will also consume less electricity) 1 x closed loop to the chiller. ------------------------------ Calcium Reactor: Korallin Kalkreactor 1502. ----------------------------- Chiller: Teco RA680 ------------------------------ Here goes: Good Lighting and good water circulation is a must. My priority is to ensure that the chiller will no longer be linked to the sump and main pump. It must be on it's own circuit. Lessons learnt: switch off the main pump during feeding time = no water going back to the tank from the sump = chilled water only in sump. FORGET to turn on main pump and leave for a few days = from constant temp of 25C climbing to 32C = dead melted bleached corals = cry for many weeks over my stupidity and carelessness. Therefore, to overcome this scenario from ever happening... should I forget to turn on the main pump, the chiller circuit will be unaffected and the main tank water will remain cold. The chiller and lights will also be on the same electrical circuit. If the circuit to the chiller trips, the lights should go off too... so no worries about heat. Oxygen-wise: The main tank will have enough oxygen diffusion from the large surface area. As long as the Reeftecs are on, every corner of the tank should receive ample circulation for oxygen-import and get waste-export. Filtration-wise: 6" DSB for half the tank to ensure definite denitrification effects. The other half will be sloping from 6" to about 3" semi-DSB. How do I achieve that? I will have a 6" acrylic partition on the glass floor cutting half-way across the tank. No rock or sand shifting or sand-burrowing creature is going to affect this 1.5ft x 5.2ft true DSB zone. Liverock: Won't have too much of it as the DSB is more effective at denitrification than liverock. Also, a lot of corals come with liverock so it's pointless to pile on too many base rock in the first place. I am also planning to build an acrylic rock rack to maximise circulation and save on space. The sump will be purely a water catchment and equipment area. It will be linked to the main pump and the refugium. The water there should continue to be 'fresh' as the skimmer will oxygenate the water, even if the main pump is not circulating water from the main tank. The refugium will also function and not crash as it is self supporting. It will be the main natural filtration export for phosphate and dissolved wastes. I will selecting an algae species that will not crash/go asexual. As I believe in a hybrid system (best of all worlds)... my Euroreef skimmer will be further boosted using ozone in small quantities and irregularly. I believe that this system will enable me to keep a heavily-stocked tank and yet with crystal-clear water.

Hey I tried replacing the starters for my AquaSunlight HID/moonlight/actinic flourescents pendant and my 18 watt FLs doesn't fire up! Noticed the old starter is labelled FS-22 (4 to 22w) 110v/130v single, 220v/240v series... Sylvania brand. I have arcadia ones which are labelled FSU (4 to 65w) 220v/240v single, which don't work well (or are they old?)... one flickered... ... so I bought new ones from a hardware store and pop them in.. and it didn't work. The ones I bought are labelled S-10 (4-65w) 220v/240v single... Any electrical gurus here who can tell me what the differences are? And are the FS-22 starters available in Singapore?

I think you meant decapsulated brine shrimp eggs....? You can decapsulate BS cysts by pouring some kind of acid on them for a couple of minutes till the outer shell is dissolved. The eggs can then be fed direct to the tank without worry that the hard shells will cause indigestion to fishes.