Achilles Tang

Here's all the info you need... got it from another site: 13.1 OZONE: Ozone is one of the most misunderstood additives used around aquariums. This is mainly because few articles have been written about its function and use, and because even pet stores are not all that familiar with how to incorporate it safely in a salt water or reef system. Ozone is an allotropic and very unstable form of oxygen. Ozone does not exist on its own, it needs to be produced for you to be able to use it, therefore, hobbyists interested in injecting this gas, somehow, into their tank's water need an ozonizer. It cannot be bottled in pressurized canisters. Because of its strong redox (2076 millivolt), much stronger than oxygen (1360 millivolt) ozone quickly oxidizes a great number of compounds, transforming them into compounds of a different chemical nature, often much less harmful than the original ones. This oxidizing ability is what underlies its use around marine tanks, and its injection into either protein skimmers or ozone pressurized reactors. Ozone quickly breaks down because it is so unstable. Even in nature it cannot exist for any length of time, unless new quantities are produced continuously. You may have been exposed to ozone without knowing it if you have visited large waterfalls, coniferous forests, or in coastal areas during a massive die-off of seaweed. Ozone is also produced during large electrical storms. None of it can, however, be collected and stored. If you need ozone you will have to produce it right where you need it, and you will have to do so continuously to have an unending supply. Excess ozone is harmful to all animals in the tank, to humans if too much is present in the air (1/10) mg per m3). Ozone also damages all non-ozone resistant tubing and hose it comes in contact with, and is neutralized in the process. Practically, what this means for the hobbyist, is that unless you use ozone-safe tubing you will lose a lot of the ozone you produce to the chemical reaction taking place with the tubing itself. 13.1.1 WHEN SHOULD YOU USE OZONE?: If the water quality in your tank is low, which would be demonstrated by low redox potential levels and low dissolved oxygen levels, and a tank that does not really look in good shape, you may wish to consider using ozone to improve your water quality. Tanks with these characteristics are usually in need of additional equipment to reduce the amount of organic material, alleviate the stress on all the filters because of the high load or poor water quality, and increase dissolved oxygen levels in the process. Ozone will also keep parasitic disease in check. It may not cure the problem completely on its own, in a short period of time, but it will definitely kill off all free floating parasites that go through the skimmer and/or ozone reactor. Because free floating parasites are the ones that spread the parasites to other hosts, this is a plus. Ozone also oxidizes nitrites, and can be used to cope with small amounts. Whenever you find nitrite you should, however, look for the real cause and deal with it, rather than using a patch solution such as ozone injection. Typically though, in tanks in which a fair amount of ozone is injected, no nitrites will be present, unless things get really out of hand. In such a case, major changes may have to be made to your system to bring it back in line. 13.1.2 HOW IS OZONE PRODUCED?: Ozone is first produced by an ozonizer, or ozonator as it is sometimes called, and then mixed with water either in a protein skimmer, foam fractionator, or it is injected into an ozone reactor. Two types of processes are used to produce ozone. Corona discharge units use very high voltage transformers (several thousands of volts) and transform some of the oxygen that is blown through a special tube inside the unit, into ozone. To do so efficaciously a good air pump is required. Wisa 200 and Wisa 300 pumps are, in my opinion the best suited for this process. Typically 1 percent of the oxygen passing through the tube will be converted to ozone, at 6000 volts. Many factors affect the process, and generating ozone is not at all as simple as it sounds. Ozone generators can be very temperamental indeed. Moisture and dust in the air reduce the output of these type of units considerably. A loss of 50% or more is not unusual, especially since air around aquariums is usually extremely moist, over 90% is not uncommon. Dust inhibits the formation of ozone as well, which is the reason some hobbyists buy and install small in-line air filters. A second process used, is to blow air over and by a specially constructed bulb that emits light in a specific nanometer range, and generates ozone while irradiating oxygen that passes through the unit as part of the air that is blown into it. These units too are rather touchy, as moisture, dust and temperature all affect the amount of ozone that will be generated, although to a lesser degree than in Corona discharge units. These units operate at regular house current voltages. In both of these processes you must blow air through the unit itself, except if you have installed a venturi protein skimmer as the latter such in their own air, and do so through the ozonizer if you have installed one. In this respect, venturi skimmers can save you a good deal of money, as a strong air pump can cost quite a bit of money. Several companies now offer a number of models to fit just about any situation you may be in. Small units from Sander producing 25 or 50 mg of ozone are available, and so are much larger units producing 250 mg, 500 mg, or even 1.0 gram from TAT. Regardless of which unit you buy, look for a long warranty because you may need it. Ozonizers can be very temperamental. As indicated, moisture greatly reduces the amount of ozone your unit will produce. Adding an air dryer to your system is one solution, as it will pull moisture out the air that goes through before it enters your ozonizer. Problem is, air dryers need constant attention. The compound that absorbs the moisture needs to be dried itself just about every couple of days (and I do mean 2). This is laborious, not as easy to do as you think, and many hobbyists quickly tire of it, and neglect the dryer. As a result, less ozone than is necessary is injected into their system. The alternative is really simple. Buy a unit that produces about twice the amount you need, and do not use an air dryer. You will still end up with enough ozone and will not have to mess around with air dryers and the compounds in it, often calcium sulfate or silica gel. Which unit is right for you depends on many factors. Mostly on the size of your tank, and the load you keep in it. Additionally the type of unit you need is determined also by whether or not you will be using an air dryer and an in-line air filter. 13.1.3 INJECTING OZONE: Not much time needs to be spent on this as most hobbyists know that this can be done in two ways: through a protein skimmer, or with a pressurized ozone reactor. After ozone is generated the mixture coming out of your ozonizer contains both air and ozone. This mixture is pushed into the protein skimmer and escapes into the water from so-called air stones. Since protein skimming happens more efficiently when the bubbles are small, appropriate air stones should be used, and they should be changed as soon as the size of the bubbles starts to increase. You may want to make it part of your maintenance schedule to change your air stones once a month. Limewood and oak seem to work best. The latter requires a stronger air pump than the former, because they offer more resistance to the air, however they make much smaller bubbles. Some hobbyists want to use two small units rather than one, usually because they already have them. The correct way to hook them up is in parallel, not in series. The above diagram shows the correct method of hooking up 2 ozonizers. When ozone is injected into a reactor, often just a plain acrylic cylinder filled with a medium to disperse the water, the process can be made efficient by raising the internal pressure of the cylinder. As the partial pressure of ozone is increased, it is forced more strongly into the water and a higher efficiency rate is achieved. What this means in simple terms, is that you get more oxidation from the amount of ozone used. You will remember that earlier in the book my premise was that it does not really matter how much ozone you use, as long as none can be found in the water in the tank itself. This must, of course, be somewhat qualified! My recommendation is that you size the ozonizer you acquire to deliver 2 mg per gallon water in your system, and that you do not use it with an air dyer, and preferably install a redox potential controller. Two milligrams per gallon in your system, rounded off to the nearest available size of ozonizer available, may seem high. It is not in my many years of experience with ozonizers. I personally use a 500 mg unit on a 135 gallon tank, but because of all the water in the sump and pipes, the true volume is really around 200 gallons. Even with that 500 mg unit I do not find any residual ozone in my system, other than in the water coming out of the skimmer. Because no residual ozone may be present in the water that is in the tank - such could be very damaging to your corals - all the water coming out of the skimmer must be flowed over activated carbon before it remixes with the main water mass. Do not take this requirement lightly, especially if you follow my recommendation with regard to the amount of ozone used. As the activated carbon neutralizes the ozone, it exhausts its ability to do so. Change the carbon regularly. Once a month is a safe frequency. 13.1.4 USING REDOX CONTROLLERS: As you "clean up" the water in your tank with ozone, and reduce the amount of pollution, especially organic pollution, the redox potential will go up. If you now adhere to sound feeding and stocking practices, it will take less ozone to maintain the water at that quality level, than it took to get it there in the first place. This may seem like a dilemma. It is really not. If you operate a redox controller on your tank, the unit will shut your ozonizer on and off whenever the redox goes over or below the set point. Because of this automation no changes have to be made to your system, and you can let the ozonizer operate exactly the way it has done before. If you do not use a redox potential controller you must use a different method, but you must use a redox potential meter, a device that will cost you between $50.00 and $100.00 depending on its quality. Buy one, or borrow one, or rent one from a pet store. You can rent such units from TAT as well. A one week rental will cost you $20.00, plus a refundable deposit of $30.00. The rental can even be applied towards the purchase price (price applied at the time of this writing, check with them for current pricing). Proceed as follows, do not switch the ozonizer off: Obtain a redox potential meter. Measure the redox potential in the morning and make a note. Measure the redox potential in the evening twice, once before the lights go out, and once after they have been out for about 2 hours. Make notes. If the three readings you obtained are well below the values suggested in this book, your water quality is not nearly where it should be and you should leave the ozonizer on all the time. First clean up the water conditions and start the procedure again when the redox is over 350 mv. If it is, proceed with then next steps. Measure again the following morning and again twice that evening. Do so again on the third day. You now have three days of morning and evening values, and you will have a fairly good idea of how your system evolves redox potential wise. On the fourth day take only a morning reading, and write it down. In the evening take your first reading. Write it down, switch your ozonizer off for 15 minutes and then on for 15 minutes and off again for 15, and on again for 15. Use an inexpensive digital timer with 1 minute on and off cycling time to do so. You can buy these timers at Radio Shack. After about 3 such cycles, take a reading of what your redox is when the meter is on, and a little later after it has gone off but is about to come back on. This will give you a high number and a low number. Measure again just before the ozonizer goes off again. This will give you another high reading. If the high reading you obtained after the cycling is just about the same as the one you had when the ozonizer was running continuously, a 15 minute cycling time will be all right for your system to stay around the same redox potential. If it is not, reduce the cycling to 10 minutes and conduct the same tests. Do so until you have found the correct switching time for your system. Although this exercise may be somewhat time consuming, and although you may have to repeat it several times, it certainly is less expensive than acquiring a redox potential controller of good quality. Not only will it allow you to operate your ozonizer more efficiently, but it will, in addition, give you a better understanding of what is going on with your tank, which in itself is a plus. 13.1.5 CONCLUSION: Whether you like it or not, the use of ozone will greatly improve the quality of the water in your system. Used as explained in this chapter, ozone's mystique is no longer a problem, and it can safely be used, even by a novice. Used in the amounts suggested it will bring the quality of your water up to levels where it has not been before. Both the animals and the appearance of your tank will reflect it and the overall result will be a much more vibrant looking aquarium. Read up on ozone in other books if you still feel uncomfortable with it. Talk to others who have used it for a long a time, or call us at Aardvark Press. We will gladly help you. 13.2 PROTEIN SKIMMERS: 13.2.1 INTRODUCTION: Whether you use a protein skimmer of the columnar or of the venturi type, and whether you use it with or without ozone, is a matter of how much you want to improve your water quality. My experience has taught me that you must use one, if you want to improve that water quality. There is no way around it, except running a largely understocked tank with an oversized filter. Although the use of protein skimming has greatly increased in the last year or two, many hobbyists still feel that such filtration may not really be required, or that they can get away with a real small unit. Such is not my experience, and such is also not the experience of recognized German authors such as G. Hueckstedt, P. Wilkens, Sander and Lemkemeyer. Protein skimmers work on the principle that if small air bubbles are chased forcefully through a column of water, they will pick up organic and other material as they rise, and create a strong foam that contains all the matter they have picked up. Removing that foam removes the matter, and since it is no longer part of the system, it cannot break down and stress the filtration and the animals in the tank. Just looking at what comes out of a well operated skimmer should convince even the skeptics. 13.2.2 TYPES OF SKIMMERS: Two types are commonly available in the hobby: columnar skimmers and venturi skimmers (also called power skimmers). Columnar skimmers are more widespread and therefore more familiar. They are less expensive to make, especially when certain of the parts are molded, as is the case in some of Route 4 Marine Technology's units, and of the of Sander ones. Foam fractionation, as it is called in an industry where such filters emanated from, has been around for decades and is nothing new or fancy, just an efficient way to remove certain compounds from water. The problem the hobbyist must deal with when deciding on the purchase of a skimmer is not only which type (columnar or venturi), but the size and the quality of the unit. This is especially so if ozone is to be used. The photograph shows both a columnar and a venturi skimmer. It should be obvious that venturi skimmers are much smaller and can, therefore, be placed underneath the aquarium, in the cabinet. Venturi skimmers operate on exactly the same principle as columnar ones, but differ in the manner in which the air is mixed with the water. Rather than using a rather crude wooden air diffuser approach, specially made valves, manufactured manually or molded, are used to generate extremely small bubbles very forcefully, much more forcefully, and in larger quantities than is possible with air stones. Because of this improvement in bubble size, bubble quantity and mixing, the units can be much smaller. And since space underneath a tank is always at a premium... Being able to hide the skimmer from view is one advantage of venturi skimmers, but the additional efficiency is much more appealing. Better efficiency means better water quality, means a better looking aquarium. TAT builds venturi skimmers into all their trickle filters, making that filter perhaps the best buy on the market, because you get not only one of the best filters, but for the same price you get a venturi skimmer as well. And since stand alone venturi skimmers can cost $500, you may want to think about this carefully if you are in the market for a filter. Whereas columnar skimmers require a fair amount of adjustment, venturi skimmers usually do not. You set them up and regulate the water flow and the foam height, and you are skimming without having to readjust the levels ever so often. This, too, is an advantage to consider and factor into your decision. Venturi skimmers with molded venturi valves are more efficient than venturi skimmers with manually made venturis, but your system may not need the higher efficiency of the molded venturi if it is only stocked at medium level and operated with a good trickle filter. Talk to the manufacturer and then decide which one is better for you. The difference in price is worth the time. With any skimmer, but especially with venturi skimmers, make sure that you can operate them with a great deal of ozone if that is what you have in mind for your system. Not all can. 13.2.3 OPERATING THE SKIMMER: After installing your unit, operate it with a pump, or a by-pass from the main water return line, and adjust the flow rate to equal about 1 to 1.5 times the amount of water in your system. If you do not have a flow meter you will have to gauge this somewhat. The amount of water you push through the skimmer is not extremely critical, but enough must go through for all the water to be skimmed in a regular fashion. Many hobbyists flow greater amounts of water through their skimmers and report better results. Experiment a little until you have it set right. In fact, if you own a redox potential controller or meter you can measure the redox of the outflowing water at various speeds and decide on which one is best. That would obviously be the setting you would want to select. Venturi skimmers typically require more water flow because of the venturi valve. The more forcefully you push water through the valve assembly, the more forcefully you will draw in air, and the better skimming levels you will attain. On the venturi skimmer in the photograph 600 gallons per hour is a minimum, but what an effect. Because ozone changes the consistency of the foam that develops at the top of the skimmer, levels and foam must be adjusted each time you make a change in the amount of ozone that is injected. This applies to all skimmers. Observe the levels when you make the change and readjust if necessary. Sometimes changes in water and foam levels take time to become apparent. Do not walk away from a skimmer unless you are sure that the level is not changing. This may take 10 to 15 minutes to be visible. Air stones wear out quickly, especially if used with a lot of ozone, and the bubbles they produce will rapidly increase in size. This reduces the efficiency of the skimming process a great deal. Your air stone(s) need to be replaced when this happens. Make it a point to do so. There is no sense spending money on a skimmer and then not operating it the way it should be operated. If ozone is injected into the skimmer, use ozone resistant tubing to connect the output of the ozonizer to the air/ozone mix input on the skimmer. Not doing so reduces the amount of ozone that is actually available for the skimming process. Norprene* is the recommended tubing. Silicone tubing will last for a while, and polysulfone is the best but also the most expensive, fetching as much as $8.00 a foot retail for the very high grade quality. If ozone can be smelled in the room where the skimmer is placed, suspect that it is coming out of the top of your columnar skimmer, or that you have a leak in the ozone line. The former is more often than not the explanation though. To prevent this from continuing, install an ozone cap on the top of your skimmer. This is a round cup, of the same diameter as the top of the skimmer, with a perforated bottom, and filled with activated carbon. All air/ozone coming out of the skimming column must now go through the carbon before it can escape into the free air. Since carbon neutralizes ozone your problem should be solved. Clean the top cup of your skimmer regularly. This will allow you to better determine where the foam level is and it will also reduce odors that may otherwise emanate from the scum that collects in the cup. Alternatively, make a connection with a small diameter hose from the skimmer cup, to a larger container with a lid, placed on the floor. Scum will now flow from the top to that container, and the lid will prevent odors from getting into the surrounding air. You will have to make a small hole through the lid to pass the hose through. Make it tight. Some companies, for example, Route 4 Marine Technology and Marine Technical Concepts, offer special containers to do just that. Certain additives can make your skimmer foam much more forcefully than normal, usually because they contain binders or colloids, or both. To prevent the skimmer from overflowing, test a small amount of any new additive you plan to use and make sure it does not affect the way your skimmer operates. Be especially careful of KH generating compounds, some vitamins, some nutrient elements, and a number of others. This does not mean that you cannot use them, but you must add them only in very small quantities. In the case of KH generators this is not practical, and I suggest you get yourself one that does not affect your skimmer. Skimmers are meant to run 24 hours a day. I see no reason why you shouldn't. When a time comes that little is to be removed from the water, the skimmer will not produce as much foam. That's all. When later on, e.g. after feeding, or when algae die, and they do all the time, more organic matter will be present in the water, and the skimmer will start removing it again. Do not be misled, a skimmer that has been running for a while may not have anything to remove from the water, so it won't. Such does not mean that your skimmer is not working properly. It probably is. Once you have adjusted your protein skimmer properly, leave it alone. The more you adjust, the more readjusting you will have to do, and the more unnecessary work you are creating for yourself. Note that this applies to both columnar and venturi skimmers. _Small Reef Aquarium Basics_, and a few issues of _Marine Reef_, the newsletter we publish go into even more detail on skimmers and outlines a chart on how to size your protein skimmer accurately. You may wish to refer to them if you need still more information. Two volumes of back issues of _Marine Reef_ now exist. Volume one, Year one includes issues 1 through 17, and Volume two, Year two includes all issues from 18 through 34. Both are available form Aardvark Press for $30.00 each, or for $50.00 if you order both of them. To keep yourself up-to-date on what is happening in the hobby, and to learn more about the requirements of the animals you keep, consider subscribing to the newsletter. It will be a worthwhile investment.

I actually bother to subscribe to aquatic magazines.... full of ads... and many irrelevant articles. The WWW is a much better resource! True, they may feature some people's 20,000g tank but other than that... there's nothing in there that is covered in the internet. My 2 cents. AT

Norvin! I just left my 2 purple tangs at Ocean Planet for sale...! They have been sadly separated from another PT and YT which they have been together for close to 3 years! They stick together so I hope you can buy both! They eat anything... nori, fresh vege, pellets, frozen mysis etc and they are not afraid of people. If you like, I will reserve them for you but promise me you'll take very good care of them! Too bad I wish to keep other tangs in my new tank.... if not they would still be together... in fact, my wife was also sad. Oh well....

Anyone seen my dog yet? It's an American Hairless Terrier... the world's rarest dog! There are only 4 in Singapore!

The use of ozone is something very misunderstood. It's a very straightforward application. Ozone reactor straight to the skimmer. When used correctly, it is probably the most effective water filtration with anti-bacterial/parasitic properties. Even UV can't hold a candle to it. It is something I have been investigating for a very very long time... and from my learnings... there are far more benefits than problems. Anyway, aquarium ozone units produce far less ozone to even endanger livestock or humans. It's safe. Anyway, I am using it intermittently. Perhaps later I would get an ORP monitor. Am using it in a sump... so no worries about residual O3. Yes, my euroreef skimmer is ozone proof and I also use ozone-resistant tubings as well as an DIY air-dryer.

Robe... No worries... already have the sand washed very very clean. Must have used a Olympic swimming pool's amount of water... don't see any metal bits or big shells... I have no worries about small sediments... they are supposed to be good for DSB. My water is crystal clear now.

My tangs follow me whereever I go... I mean around the tank haha... They get fed twice a day and love whatever I feed them... freshly boiled vegetables (kai lan or lettuces), nori, mysis shrimp, flying fish roe, pellets.... just about any kind of food! They are constantly swimming and love 'surfing' in the turbulent currents in my tank.

I can switch on halogen lights in my hall and because it's pointed at my tank's feature wall... it also adds orangey yellow light into my tank. Brings out the reds and yellows! But it's awful looking on its own.

Guys! I forgot to mention that last Sat night... my coral banded shrimp gave birth to baby fry!!! I could see it arching its back, fanning its legs and using its claws to 'throw out' its newly hatched fry! IN MY NEW TANK!!!!!! There were like hundreds of them!!!! It was an auspicious sign yes? My fishes and corals had a good feast! Too bad my digi cam was with a friend. Gonna get it back today and show you some photos of my new tank setup!

Letter from an Indian mother to her son.... Read it carefully...it's hilarious!!! My dear Jagjit, I am in a well here and hoping you are also in a well there. I'm writing this letter slowly, because I know you cannot read fast. We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen 20 miles from home, so we moved 20 miles. I won't be able to send the address as the last Sardar who stayed here took the house numbers with them for their new house so they would not have to change their address. Hopefully by next week we will be able to take our earlier address plate here, n that our address will remain same too. This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine, situated right above the toilet I'm not sure it works too well. Last week I put in 3 shirts, pulled the chain and haven't seen them since. The weather here isn't too bad. It rained only twice last week. The first time it rained for 3 days and second time for 4 days. The coat you wanted me to send you, your Aunt said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with all the metal buttons, so we cut them off and put them in the pocket. Your father has another job. He has 500 men under him. He is cutting the grass at the cemetery. By the way I took Bahu to our club's poolside. The manager is Badmash. He told her that two piece swimming suit is not allowed in his club. We were confused as to which piece should we remove? Your sister had a baby this morning. I haven't found out whether it is a girl or a boy, so I don't know whether you are an Aunt or Uncle. Your uncle, Jetinder fell in the nearby well. Some men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off bravely and drowned. We cremated him and he burned for three days. Your best friend, Balwinder, is no more. He died trying to fulfill his father's last wishes. His father had wished to be buried in the sea after he died. And your friend died while in the process of digging a grave for his father. There isn't much more news this time. Nothing much has happened. Love Mom. P.S : Jagjit, I was going to send you some money but by the time I realized, I had already sealed off this letter.

> Dangerous Application to install > > ------------------------------------------------- > Dear Tech Support: > > Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a > slow down in the overall performance, particularly in the flower and > jewellery applications that had operated flawlessly under Boyfriend > 5.0. > > In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such > as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, but installed undesirable > programs such as NFL 5.0 and NBA 3.0. > And now Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and Housecleaning 2.6 simply > crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, > but to no avail. > > What can I do? > > Desperate > > *************************** > > Dear Desperate: > > First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package, while > Husband 1.0 is an operating system. > Try to enter the command: C:/I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and download Tears > 6.2 to install Guilt 3.0. > > If all works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the > applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. > But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy > Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program > that > will create Snoring Loudly. WAV files. > > Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 or reinstall another > Boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash > Husband 1.0. > > In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have a limited > memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider > buying additional software to improve memory and performance. I > personally recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 7.7. > > Good Luck, > > Tech Support! > > Dear (IT) Technical Support: > I am desperate for some help. I recently upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 > to Wife 1.0 and found that the new program began unexpected child > processing and also took up a lot of space and valuable resources. This > wasn't > mentioned in the product brochure. In addition Wife 1.0 installs > itself into all other programs and launches during system initialization > where it monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Boys > Night > Out 2.5, and Golf 5.3 no longer run and crash the system whenever > selected. > Attempting to operate Saturday Rugby 6.3 always fails but Saturday > Shopping 7.1 runs instead. I cannot seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the > background > whilst attempting to run any of my favourite applications. I am thinking > about going back to Girlfriend 7.0 but uninstall doesn't work on this > program. > > Can you please help. > > Joe > > ----- > > Reply from Technical Support > Dear Joe, > This is a very common problem resulting from a basic > misunderstanding. > > Many men upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 thinking that Wife1.0 is > merely a UTILITIES & ENTERTAINMENT program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING > SYSTEM > designed by its creator to run everything. You are unlikely to be > able to purge Wife 1.0 and still convert back to Girlfriend 7.0 as Wife > 1.0 > is not designed to do this and it is impossible to uninstall, delete or > purge the program files from the system once installed. Some people have > tried > to install Girlfriend 8.0 or Wife 2.0 but have ended up with even more > problems. (See in manual under alimony/Child Support and Solicitors > Fees). > Having Wife 1.0 installed myself I recommend you keep it installed > and deal with the difficulties as best you can. When any faults or > problems > occur, whatever you think has caused them, you must run the C:\I APOLOGISE > program and avoid attempting to use the *Esc-key. It may be necessary to > run > C:\I APOLOGISE a number of times but hopefully eventually the operating > system will return to normal. Wife 1.0 although a very high maintenance > program can be very rewarding. To get the most out of it consider buying > additional software such as Flowers 2.0 and Chocolates 5.0. Do not under > any > circumstances install Secretary (Short Skirt version) as this is not > a supported application for Wife 1.0 and the system will almost > certainly crash. > Regards, > > Technical Support! >

Subject: AH BENG JOKES > > Humor-Ah Beng's Style > > > Ah Beng wants to buy a TV set. He goes to a shop. > > > Ah Beng : "Do you have color TV ?" > > > Salesgirl : "Yes !" > > > Ah Beng : "Give me a green one, please " > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > > Ah Beng is filling up an application form for a job. > > > He supplied the information for the columns on Name, Age, Address etc. Then he comes to column on "Salary Expected" > > > He is not sure of the question. > > > After much thought, he writes " Yes " ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Ah Beng goes to a store and sees a shiny object. > > > Ah Beng : "What is that shiny object ?" > > > Salesgirl : "That is a thermos flask." > > > Ah Beng : "What does it do ?" > > > Salesgirl : "It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold" > > > Ah Beng : "I'll buy it" > > > > > > The next day, Ah Beng goes to work with his thermo flask > > > Boss : "What is that shiny object ?" > > > Ah Beng : "It's a thermos flask." > > > Boss : "What does it do ?" > > > Ah Beng : "It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold" > > > Boss : "What do you have in it !?" > > > Ah Beng : "Two cups of coffee and one cup of ice cream" > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > After taking photocopies of documents, > > > Ah Beng always compares it with the original for spelling mistakes. > > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > > Ah Beng always smiles during lightning storms because he thinks his > > > picture is being taken. > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Why can't Ah Beng dial 911 ? > > > Because he can't find the number 11 (eleven) on the phone. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > > Ah Beng had just bought a new computer and was using it. > > > When he encountered some problems. > > > He decide to use the 'Help' command after some tries. > > > Soon after, he became very irritated and called the computer retailer > > > for support. > > > > > > Ah Beng : "I press the 'F1' key for help ah but it's been over half an > > > hour & still nobody come and help me Lah ?!" > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > Ah Beng with two red ears went to his doctor. > > > The doctor asked him what had happened to his ears and he answered, > > > "I was ironing a shirt and the phone ring Lah - but instead of picking up > > > the phone, I accidentally picked up the iron and stuck it to my ear >Lah" > > > "Oh dear !" the doctor exclaimed in disbelief. "But ... what happened >to the other ear ?" > > > Ah Beng answered : "That stupid dumbo called back Lah !!!!" > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > Ah Beng talk to a long-distance telephone operator. > > > Ah Beng : "COULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME THE TIME DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Taipei AND LAS VEGAS ?" > > > Operator : "JUST A MINUTE..." > > > Ah Beng : "THANK YOU Lah" AND PUTS DOWN THE PHONE. > > > ------------------------------------------------- > > After completing a jigsaw puzzle he'd been working on for quite some time, > > > Ah Beng proudly shows off the finished puzzle to a friend. > > > "It took me ONLY 5 MONTHS TO DO IT", Ah Beng brags. > > > "FIVE MONTHS ? THAT'S TOO LONG", the friend exclaims. "YOU ARE A FOOL." > > > Ah Beng replies, "SEE THIS BOX, IT IS WRITTEN FOR 4-7 YRS". > > > ------------------------------------------------ > > At a bar in New York, the man to Ah Beng's left tells the bartender, > > > "JOHNNIE WALKER, SINGLE", and his companion says, "JACK DANIELS, > > > SINGLE". > > > The bartender approaches Ah Beng and asks, "AND YOU, SIR ?" > > > Ah Beng replies : "Tan Ah Beng, MARRIED Lah"

Not sure about the kind of skimmer you are using. The bubbles in the water should be in the neck just below the collection cup. Not all the way up to the end of the tube (into the collection cup). The bubbles should be pushing icky stuff at the top into the cup, not the bubbles themselves. Microbubbles can be an irritant to some corals once they get caught in the corals and buildup around their polyps, I think. And its also very unsightly. Is your overflow in the sump? You can use some filter wool to block the bubbles if you don't have partitions to direct water flow under any floating bubbles. That should solve your microbubble problem, I guess. AT

Happy dives man! Be safe! And help keep the newbies off the corals and sandbed!!!

Perhaps I should get one too... as I am an ozone user too. I need it to increase the efficiency of my current skimmer as I have upgraded my tank... and the other benefits of using ozone is also a plus point. Better than getting another skimmer to supplement my current or to upgrade to a bigger one! I am using a hybrid system of using natural filtration like DSB + refugium and a skimmer + ozone (I'll use my ozone on and off... to clean and clarify my water and as a parasite control measure). I do notice my water has become crystal clear after use.... No more yellowing compounds... and my skimmate has become clearer too as the organics are burnt up! I have a Sanders 200 ozone generator unit.. and u?

Clams need very good lighting to prosper. I am talking about MHs or a lot of PL/FL/VHOs. Smaller clams under 2 inches need phytoplankton to supplement their diet. You will know when a clam is healthy by looking at the folds, if they are always closed up and not fully expanded... something is wrong. Same if the clam is gaping... ie. when you touch them, they don't close up tight but gape. The byssal gland must be fully extended and the clam should have its foot firmly on a rock surface to feel secure... of course... putting clams on sandbeds would be alright too I guess.

Actually... my wife and I don't intend to have kids. Or at least not yet for the next 4 to 5 years...

I think from my experience... only a couple of things kills tangs. 1. Not eating 2. Stress (fighting, freshwater dips, small tanks, bad shipping) Healthy, eating, stress-free tangs can fight off ich and even marine velvet while newcomer tangs tend to succumb easily. Good water parameters are a given for livestock.

That's cool... to have one! Do you use ozone? I think it would be good to see the redox changes after using ozone. I don't have a redox meter so I can't really comment.

Seems like the dosing of additives is something that's under a lot of research right now as the cause of toxic heavy metal buildup in reef tanks. Liverocks and sandbeds are 'sponges' that absorb these to high levels... and even Ron Shimek, the DSB 'expert' has suggested changing out your LR and DSB every 7 years... but again... its based on the evidence of his own tank crashing.... not generally. Don't need to panic... its just hearsay. Not scientifically proven beyond a doubt.

Limpc, Actually, I am not that young... just very very young at heart! No kids yet... so can afford all the time to do these fun stuff! Heh!

Used to play a lot of Delta Force.... was the founder of a kickass team... actually they are still pretty kickass.... =TAG= heard of them? http://www.tag4ever.com. My nickname was Crap=TAG=. Anyway, used to play a lot of starcraft online... was the master of the hydralisk rush... heh heh! Now I barely have time to play any game.... Now playing SOF2 multi, Unreal Tourny 2, crazy taxi etc when I can...

well......... i did say the tiny stuff!

I used black fibreglass netting in my DSB to protect any disturbances from sandburrowing creatures. For my 6" segment of my DSB... the netting was deployed at 3" from the bottom. For my 6" sloping to 4" segment, the netting was at the 1" mark. FYI, the reef racks will reviewed in the DIY segment and the fibreglass netting will be featured in Product Reviews later.

With a huge amount of sand to wash... I am talking about 21 bags of #1 sand.... it would be backbreaking to wash them in the bathroom and transport them out into the room and heave them into the tank. So the decision was made to wash the sand right there in the tank! We poured the sand right in and use a lot of filter wool to catch the floating debris and gunk and also used a fine net to scoop out those that didn't get caught by the filter wool. Here's a pix of the sand pouring into the tank. You will see some reef racks that I have custom made to support my liverock at the back. I wanted to maximize the sandbed exposure for maximum detrifying effects and at the same time, save space for my fishes to sleep in as well as to save money in liverock. See how blurred the view was? The dust took about one and a half day to clear as I used my reeftec to churn up the water. Of course my reeftec doesn't churn out bubbles like this... its just too close to the surface as I was draining out the water. Here's the gunk and debris caught by the filter wool... all this from 21 packs of sand!!! I found a sweet wrapper fragment, wood bits and raffia string inside the debris!