Achilles Tang

You sure you're not being cheated? I paid $650 for my 5.2 x 2.4 feet starphire pane... at 12mm. Maybe yours is 5mm?

At this point of time, LR will be very scarce and no one will be telling you where to get them coz of AVA raids and also they would probably be hunting down sources for cheap LR. (which you can't get anymore). Perhaps when everyone is willing to pay for CITES-cleared LR at many times the price, then supply will come back!

Arhh... you beat me to it! I have the news cutting right here in my pocket. Reminds me of my dive at Dayang where a titan trigger rushed at my Dive Instructor a few times but she didn't see it coz she was facing us. I think she didn't understand the signs we were frantically trying to signal her!

That info was lost when my server migrated to a new datacentre. I will have to post it all over again. Oh well... for SRC! If you are hatching BBS, I recommend Brine Shrimp Direct's grade A cysts.... have very good hatching rates.

Are we all into the TGIF mood?

Uhmm... I just got a call from Woodbridge... We three have been called up for a psychiatric examination. Hahahhahahhaha! Just wait till the other reefers like Tanzy, Morgan, Robe, Hon etc start their mud-slinging or get slimed first! Weeeeeee.... this is fun!

And someone rather set up a sump first while still waiting for the main tank to come... muhahahahahaa!!!

You should seriously research before you buy things that you don't even know their feeding/stocking/lighting requirements. We have no idea what you are talking about as you can't ID the coral yourself. Perhaps you may want to post a photo for us to help you? It's worse than buying a bra and wearing it for a day before realising that you are male and have no particular need for it. Or installing a fireplace in your home when you live in the tropics. Sorry if I sound harsh... but one of the aims of the reef club is to promote responsible reef-keeping and we don't encourage newbies to go into this hobby blindly. We are very willing to help but you have to first help yourself, okie? At your disposal, AT

Phang, Not Dr Spade's No. 3! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA!!!!!!

More symptoms have been discovered: 1. Having a sump installed first, and then cycling and stocking it before the main tank comes online. 2. Walking or taking public transport to work but not hesitating to take a cab even during peak hours to rush to LFS upon hearing of new stock arrivals. 3. Refusing to go to a gym for exercise but willing to carry kilos of salt, LR and moving litres of water around without complaint. 4. Able to spot little creatures like pods in an instant but not able to find where you last left your handphone in the house. 5. You make visits to check out LFS and public aquariums when you are overseas on holidays or work. 6. You watch Nat Geo only for the marine documentaries, once you see apes or lions, you switch off and walk to your reef tank. 7. You feel immense pride from the 'woahs' from visitors admiring your reef tank but feel shame when other hobbyists who came over spotted a patch of cyano on your sand or see a dead snail or notice your fish have ich. 8. You find lots of excuses why money spent on a reef tank is much more well spent than on a bigger diamond ring for your wife. 9. You surf reef-related sites more often now than ######. 10. You are entirely guilty of all the above.

Ahhh.... no no no! Phang needs a straitjacket and cushioned-padded walls. He fulfills one of the symptoms to the extreme...

Nice polyp extensions on your sarcophyton!

me or you?

Ahh.... WELCOME to the Singapore Reef Club!! If you are thinking of going into this hobby... you've found the right place!!! 7 tanks? Woah! I used to keep planted and cichlids before. Anyway... it's not true you will get salt deposits on the floor all the time. Salt creep happens when you have water spray due to bursting bubbles or you have a leak somewhere... when the water dries, the salt is left behind. (Unlike FW tanks, we do not have to bubble air into saltwater as the oxygen content is higher in SW). The only thing is that due to evaporation, you may find increased corrosion in the metals in your house... but it's not as bad as staying next to the sea ie. Marine Parade.

There is a German brand (i forgot) of bottled coral food which is quite good. The american ones are so so but I am no expert as I haven't tried everything yet. You are better off searching the internet for users' feedback. Marinesnow is junk from the lab research done. I take no chances and I want the best for my tank... go read about Golden Pearls and Phytoplankton, as these are what I am feeding my tank.

Dr Spade... there are some more sick than others... you know who! Okie... i am checking myself in... where's the nearest reefer rehabilitation centre for Reefers Anonymous meetings? "Hi... I am AT... and I am a mad reefer..."

This info should convince you: Spanish Dancer - Hexabranchus sanguineus The Spanish Dancer may grow to 5 inches. Carnivore. The Hexabranchus sanguineus is generally peaceful toward other tankmates. Keep with caution in a reef aquarium. Many consider the Hexabranchus sanguineus a high-maintenance specimen. Not venomous. Be careful with copper-based medication and extreme nitrate levels. Ultra-sensitive to alkalinity changes, and will be venomous if it dies. It requires an expert reef keeper. It lives symbiotically with the Periclimenes imperator that actually eats its. These snails are empowered with skin glands that produce potent poisons; some species make sulfuric acid, others non-acidic noxious substances. There are celebrated species that use the cnidocysts (stingingcells, nematocysts) they reprocess from eating stinging-celled animals. Others have spicules embedded in their mantle. With their sudden and mysterious death, this stuff ends up in your water. To reduce the potential for disaster you need good chemical filtration with adequate circulation, regular partial water changes and a watchful eye on what you have and where it's at in your system. To emphasize the above point I like to recount my experience with a certain Spanish dancer, a swimming nudibranch. That's right, some of these snails are truly butterflies of the sea; in constant motion. Once at a Sears-Roebucks in the early seventies, when they were in the live pet business, we had a tank that whatever fish we put in, it would become shy and perish within a few days. We tried all the usual; massive water changes, dumping the tank completely, even throwing away the gravel, including the decor, all to no avail. Enough study and discussion led us finally to realize that the Spanish Dancer (swimming nudibranch) that had been in the tank had bumped up against the tank walls depositing stinging cells all over. These were zapping and debilitating everything they came in contact with. Once more we dumped, acid-bleach washed and salt-scrubbed the sides of the tank. Subsequently we were able to keep other livestock alive. Some of these snails even feed on the Portuguese-man-o-war. Yowch! Keep water quality high (SG 1.023 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F).

I DUNNO!

LOL! Sorry... i couldn't help it. YES, sea water has plankton! Without plankton forming the bottom of the natural food chain, life in the sea would not be what it is today. Even the biggest sea creatures feed on plankton! To point you to the right way... if you keep any filter-feeding creatures or corals in your tank ie. sponges, certain corals, tubeworms, tunicates, sea fans, gorgonians etc etc... you will have to feed them with plankton or similar substitutes. If nothing else, plankton will feed the zooplankton and micro-life in your tank, which in turn is consumed by something up the food chain and so on. You can culture live plankton and zooplankton or you can buy bottled stuff (beware of some of them as they have been proven to be expensive and useless... go for the recommended stuff).

Yeah what if a crime takes place on the platform? Robberies, molests, murders? No proof coz no video evidence? Perhaps they were hoping nothing happens, so they won't have to spend money doing up sliding doors on open platforms to prevent people from going onto the tracks... or buy video recorders to absolve from any blame or having to change the tiles coz they could be potential hazards during rainy seasons. If I knew the person personally, I would be extremely angry with SMRT because they have no answers for what happened. Let's hope they do something really quick before a similar incident happens again.

There is no 'usage' for tubeworms. They are not like sea cucumbers, hermit crabs or snail which have a purpose in sandbed maintenance or algae control. If you like them, keep them. They are filter feeders so pls provide the right kind of foods for them... plankton or plankton-substitutes.

Phang, call me lah bro. lobang I got, many many... LOL! Spade.... just wipe down the stainless steel with WD40....

I really hope you will do some homework first before consulting us. For your livestock's sake!

It's such a small world.. you know the recent fatality at AMK MRT station? My godsister's sister knows her well... heard she was prone to fainting spells. And it was slippery on the platform that day coz of the heavy rain. No one knows what really happened. I feel so sad for her husband as they were newly married. Another friend of mine was THERE when it happen. He was amazed it took them only 6 mins to clear everything away.

Depending on the salt brand... you should more or less have the PH around there.. as long as it's within 8 to 8.5 should be ok. Additives to maintain PH is Seachem's Reef Buffer or izzit Marine Buffer. Good luck!