Achilles Tang

Yeah... well... its not good to hear that it doesn't work as advertised. I seriously doubt if the phosphates via tapwater will be as high as the phosphates introduced by feeding anyway. So why lose hair over the lesser evil? IMO, I wouldn't even bother with a DI tube if phosphates was the main issue coz with that kind of money, I can buy Rowaphos/Contraphos which reduces phosphates quickly and extremely well too. You should not fret over the DI cartridge coz its supposed to remove other bad stuff from the tap water as well right? ...phosphate is just a small part of it.

Hon! You're selling the backup pump for the backup pump for the main pump??!

Well, it's definitely evolved... It's much nicer now. I wonder what triggered the inspiration! Well done!

How does the 2nd link work? You need to pay for them right?

Hello Yellowbelly!! Welcome to SRC! Glad you found us... so our efforts to promote the club and hobby at Aquarama wasn't a waste! Rest assured that we all have good intentions to help you out along the way. Feel free to seek out more info and don't be too sensitive to some advice which can appear harsh because written words can appear like that without the use of the 'smilies' like or or or . (Reminder to all... tone your words with these to indicate your body language - it's common internet protocol). One advice from me.... take advice from LFS with a bucket of salt.. depending on where you go, you can make do with a pinch... but frankly I can only count with 2 fingers which are the better educated reef- conscientious and not just money-minded LFS in Singapore. Where ever you got your advice from doesn't know what he's saying and probably hoping that ignorance is bliss and your return visits again and again to rectify problems and restock your tank will be good for him. You will find that the hobbyists know a lot more than LFS these days because of the rising affluence coupled with easy access to the internet and good aquarium books. I suspect many of the new LFS are copy-catting the very old established ones have been running the same way for decades... and have not kept up with advances in the hobby (its hard to teach old dogs new tricks).... See you around! AT

2 ft is extremely far away! Your lights should be maximum 12 inches away if you use high wattage lighting like 400w. Too high up and you lose intensity! Some people bring down their MH lights as low as 3 inches or 4 inches. Just be careful about water splashes and the reflector spread may become narrower.

My anthias love frozen cyclop-eze. Great stuff!

Marine fish do not kiss. That is a sign of aggression. They are biting each other's jaws. You probably got two males fighting. BTW, what's a purple flame goby?? Purple Firefish you mean?

Hi Benny Very nice photography skills... what camera are you using? SLR type?

I am using Reefez kalkwasser and find it comparable to the other top brands in the market in terms of purity and ease of use. It's a good thing that the market is no longer charging crazy prices like before, compared to overseas markets where such additives are dirt cheap.

Coming right up dude, after Aquarama!

*cough* *hack* *wheeze* guys... i feel sick... i don't think I'll be even able to crawl out of bed today... i nominate flubberina to go and represent SRC and talk in my place... what do you say? *sniffle* *sneeze* *cough*

Hmmm... all I know is that ever since the last downtime, there have been at least 3 new websites that have sprouted up with almost similar categories and one other 'old' one revamped to have almost the same categories too. I take it as imitation as the best form of flattery... I don't know what to make of it but I'll still continue to give the same amount and level of advice, good content, people management skills, running of a tight ship and maintenance of the atmosphere that has made SRC such a great place to be in, to find support, make new friends, get the latest info etc. It is a great honour for me to serve the public! The Singapore Reef Club will still be the 1st official Marine and Reef Aquarium Club around, and whether or not there are other similar forums around or not, who am I to stop them? Like I said... the marine community is so small... SRC has united them and given them a home after all these years. It's the organisation of people and not the mode of communication. Look at how far we have gone together as a Reef Club! We are at Aquarama 03, we got involved with the industry and the mass media during the Saving Nemo craze, we clashed with the LFS industry a few times, we had so many public gatherings and home visits etc! I don't see any conflict as you mentioned... and in fact, the marine sections in Arofanatics and Aquarealms are how I still communicate with people during the last few SRC downtimes. As I mentioned, hopefully with the shift into this reputedly very reliable local webhost, our hosting woes will be OVER! Rest assured, there can only be ONE! SRC forever! Achilles Tang Founder and Administrator Singapore Reef Club

Moray eel.

My FIL runs a shipyard... he's not a worker...hahaha!! Round bars are round, square bars are square. If there are octogonal bars, I am sure they will be octogonal.

Yazid, Interesting subject! I believe that once a tank's biological filtration system is matured and adapted to the tank's bioload and not significantly strained, that the reliance on skimmers will diminish. However, I would not dare pull out the skimmer from the system because it is a very good insurance in case anything happens. If not, I'll leave it in there for the high oxygenation it gives to the tank! The debate still rages on the long term viability of DSBs in becoming nutrient sinks and causing significant problems later on. However, there are so many sides to the equation that are so uncertain... it's a headache trying to figure out what to do. As it is, the benefits of a properly setup DSB cannot be ignored. I'll keep my DSB. Turning on/off your skimmer every week could be an interesting experiment... but unless you are using a skimmer like mine, the electrical savings is insignificant. AT

I seriously doubt about your mangrove tree impacting your nitrates at all. Reefers are abandoning using mangroves because: 1. They are very slow growers. 2. They need a lot of strong lighting eg. metal halides to grow. 3. They take up a lot of space. 4. Their uptake is very slow and you need a LOT of mangrove plants to see any impact. 5. They grow best in very shallow sumps and in muddy substrates. 6. They contribute a lot to yellowing compounds in water.

I am using iron square bars, rust-proofed, epoxy-coated for my stand. No probs. Go to any metal workshop and get quotes from them. Mine was priceless... as in.. my father-in-law got his shipyard workers to do it for me.

Mysterious creature from the deep! Anyone know what this is???

.... when that happened... he blushed, appeared to be sympathetic and wanted to cry... yeah right.

Cuttlefish during night dive. It was because of him that I got stung by a sea urchin. OUCH!!!!!!!! Two spikes into my palm. Fire. Acid. Ouch.

My favourite shot of this whole trip! Banded Pipefish. Very cute!

A coral trout trying his luck in getting lunch.

The dispars were in the surf zone up on the reef crests, where a lot of surging water movements kept me very busy trying to stay still to capture these amazing creatures!

Mingling with the school of dispars were lyretail anthias. The dispar supermales were busy pecking other males and other females as they maintained their hierarchy in the school.