Achilles Tang

The refractometer works by shining a beam of light through a sample of liquid. The device measures the amount of light that is refracted (or bent) from the light path due to the constituents in the sample ie. salt crystals.

fantom, I think Red Sea Salt is worse than Kent Sea Salt in terms of dissolvability... Hey are you sure its just $30 each?? For one box for 150 gallons???

Hahah... the tank warming party will be soon.... Members-only! Tomorrow, the tank finally goes up on the stand.... ! Yippee!!!

To some people, plenum systems are 'old school'. While plenums are good for nitrate control, so would a DSB. The only problem is that a plenum takes a bit more space than a DSB coz you need at least 2 inch for a plenum, then the plate, then the sandbed, then a screening to prevent gobies or other sand-digging creatures from disturbing the plenum.... all for the same benefits as a simple DSB?! I have heard stories where tanks crash due to the plenum plate breaking. Also plenums are also known to become nutrient sinks... I dunno... but I have evaluated the plenum system for my new tank but I think its not worth the effort, time or the risk.

WOW! I like the sump! Deltec is an aquarium equipment manufacturer, for those who don't know. You can't find this brand in Singapore. But they lose to me... coz my overflow is external... heh heh! And I lose to them coz I only have one pane Starphire glass... I really like the neatness of everything... in battleship grey!

Cool! Looking forward to more information from you in the near future! Any other DIYers around here?

Great info! I have not used most of them... only Kent Sea Salt and a very long time ago... Red Sea Salt.. urrgh! I have bought 2 boxes of Tropic Marin and will use them for my new tank. Yes, I do notice that freshly dissolved saltwater mix tends to have a negative effect on corals... a few hours for the water to stand should be better to counter this. Good review, Hong! Although I am scratching my head over the Red Sea salt comment that it's made of dried sea water. LOL! I think most of the salt crystals of all the brands here are evaporated from sea water right? Unless they are taken from salt flats?

Chillers are a necessity for tank stability and long term coral survival in hot and humid Singapore. How many of you reefers out there don't use them?

Looks awesome Fantom! You sure you're not an electronics engineer or something? So you followed the principles of a float switch device... and made your own cheaply! WOW! I am an electronics idiot... actually i hate electricity... hate getting shocks! Perhaps what you do is to start using materials that will give it a more professional look, tidy up the wiring, waterproof it... and you could sell this float switch hobby kit cheaply to us!!! Kaching! $$$$!

Hong, I am not an expert by any means... I do research a lot and speak to as many experienced people as I can. I know there are very advanced and experienced reefkeepers in Singapore who knows how to propagate corals for years already... but I think they are very very low-key and don't really share much. Hopefully, with this new Reef Club in Singapore, we can bring the knowledge of reefkeeping to a higher level. It will take a lot of effort but at least we have taken our first baby steps already with the launch of this forum!

I have a reef expert friend from Hong Kong who is in touch with a lot of a other famous reef experts from Germany, USA, UK and he once told me that lobsters are not suitable for aquariums as they tend to produce a lot of ammonia. Take a lobster out of water and press the body and a lot of yellow liquid (pee) will come out! They have to do that before they cook it for you! But I think the lobsters we see in LFS are very small... but still... heed advise from the wise! CBS pairs are hit and go... if you are lucky they will pair up. Bad idea to keep 3 in a tank! The best way is to buy a big CBS and a small one, as the different sexes tend to come in diff size. If I am not wrong, the bigger one tends to be female and the smaller one male... or is it the other way around? hahaha!!

Ahh... I found the pix of my always pregnant CBS!!! And here's a pix of a shrimp fry that swarms out when the lights are out!

Just tell them your wife is pregnant and you need to move in RIGHTAWAY!!! Hey Hon... how many 1" true union ball valves do you have?

Great looking tanks everyone!

Yes, that is a LFS that I go to also. They are near my home too.

I guess the digital timer thingy might work in theory. The only thing you have to accurately guess is your powerhead flow rate and how short a timing your digital timer can be set for. I believe the minimum is one minute? One minute can be probably enough to drain half a bucket, unless you use the tiniest powerhead/pump or further restrict it with a valve! You don't want too much water entering your tank at once! Oh... WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THAT TIMERS FOLLOW A 24 HOURS CYCLE? Don't forget you are setting a min worth of water every 24 hours...!!!

I used to use a swing arm hydrometer... they are mostly accurate. How you can verify is to take natural sea water and use that to calibrate against your tank water at 1.023. There shouldn't be too much a margin ie. 0.2 difference. Anyway, I use a refractometer to measure my salinity and that is the most accurate instrument available to hobbyists, but expensive.

I never liked canisters... the danger is when you take them offline for some time... a lot of the bacteria will die and when you switch it on... you get sludge water going into your tank and needing a water change to rectify this emergency. I have seen this happened too many times to people I know. Especially when they forget to switch the canister back on after feeding their tank. IMO, bio stuff are better than liverock in canisters. They are supposed to have a lot of colonizing space compared to the same quantity of liverock. Liverock is living and some of the life will end up dying in some quantities due to no light, or getting choked because they don't get any food/oxygen in the canister and die etc. I see no benefit from using liverock in canisters at all. For those who use canister, be extra careful about this.

Here, I found this design somewhere...

There are simple designs using just suction to do water top-ups. Look for DIY Nurse designs, you can design one using a water-cooler jug, a rubber cork, stiff airline tubings etc. Either that or get an auto-top up system with two legs... get your family members or neighbour to come in and top up manually!

As long as you have the glass shield meant to filter out the UV rays... there should be no danger to humans, unless you intend to outstare a metal halide bulb! There should be just enough UV for corals to react by producing flouroscent pigments to counter it... ie. get the beautiful colourful tips seen in SPS corals.

Get a cleaning magnet!

Some people recommend just using an old credit card to scrap algae off the glass. It is hard enough to work but not sharp enough to scratch glass. You'll regret the day when you accidentally scrapped it a wrong angle and .... OH NO!!!!! Also, any metal will rust so unless you take the effort to rinse the blade after use... and then dry it before rust spots set in... then good for you. AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE, DON'T USE WD40 ON IT!!!

Yup! It was! It was so beautiful.... sigh! I so wanna go for a dive this month but my reef project's my priority now! But of course it's in a Marine Park so heavy penalties are in store for those who even take a dead rock from it! I have more pix to show... soon!

I was at the helipad of the Raffles the Plaza (the old Westin Plaza) for a party and the view was FANTASTIC!! I also saw the fireworks coming from the top of the Fullerton Hotel at the climax of the river show... cool! Happy Mid-Autumn Fest everyone!