Ketchup

The rhomboid at Iwarna is really nice... all about 4-5 inches and alpha... seldom see so many nice specimen.

If u looking for pom pom crab and sexy shrimp, i think Ah Beng higher chance... They tend to carry more of this sort of small species, all in small plastic bags!

Just ask the LFS and they will sell you the various solutions.. there's joe juice etc.

ya, yellow tank also slightly less aggressive if i am not wrong. One thing though, Purple tang i feel is "rarer" as not many purple colour fish... lots of yellow fishes.. like yellow wrasses etc.

Nice, another nice and clean set up

Yellow clown goby need some sps or other corals as protection.. otherwise sure get whacked by bigger fishes.

Hi Alex Your experience is something that we all share. Marine fish itself is a relatively new hobby. Most of us are still learning as we go along as there's so much diversity in species and our setup/equipment are all different. I also wish i found SRC before i started with my small 2ft setup last time.

I was about to mention this as well. I think in general, most LFS featured as sponsor or those we frequently visit do not charge such exorbitant prices. IQ3/IQ5 is less than S$100, the livestock is at most S$50 and they are selling it as a package like S$250-S$300. Ultimately it will not be sustainable.

To a certain extent, depending on species you can do without chiller. But for most species you need to maintain at 28 or lower so unlikely to be sustainable.

Yup. Like what i have said. By doing so, they will ultimately lose their business. I sincerely hope that should they come across this thread, they may change their business practice.

True, Marine fishes does not belong to the tank. The same goes for dogs/cats and hamsters. The reason why we are able to do it now is technology and knowledge. That's why we want to share the knowledge on the forum. If there's no chiller, you can't keep marine fish/corals, no MH/LED, you cant keep corals. Who is to say we can't keep sharks or other exotic pets in future. Even deep water fishes can be kept and breed these days. I do not consider posting here as cyberbullying. The reason is simple, i believe most of us only speak the truth. I do not care if the shop is big or small, new or old or whether if it's sponsor on SRC. Those people who follow what me and desi says on our thread will know how much we complained about certain LFS who are sponsors here. They are just sponsors, running a business. Being their customers, we have the right to comment, be it good or bad. Likewise, we have commented on certain LFS/individuals that provide good service/products. Anyway, everyone view things differently. That's the beauty of having an open discussion on the forum.

I think sometimes reefers also think that our tank is like LFS... When we see fishes like 100 BT/YT in some LFS, we may assume that they will "survive" togethr in that small tank... They forget that the LFS is just providing a holding area until they sell off the stocks. So most fishes should not be with the LFS for more than 1-2 weeks.

imo, if you want, choose between yellow and purple tang but not both. Maybe can add a blue tang if you want, 2ft cube is a reasonable size for blue tang. Can also consider adding a school of anthias (barlett?) or chromis.

Duncans are not too bad.. about 10/head and quite easy to maintain.. just occasionally feeding, no need much light/flow. Sunnies are nice but often dun open and require more feeding. Supersunnies are even nicer get a small specimen if you get duncan as it grows pretty fast.

AH Siang You are missing the point. If i go to the shop and say i want to keep blue tang, then i would expect the LFS to tell me to keep at least 2 ft tank. If i say i wanna keep a nano tank (say like lemon's bro, bear), i would expect him to tell me to keep goby, shrimp, pom pom crab etc. I don't expect them to sell me a nano tank with blue tank in it. It's as simple as that. As someone who has financial/business background, i would strongly advise them (not flaming) that this will ultimately be detrimental to their business in the long run. I know one LFS that basically spoil their reputation by doing similar. Likewise, the maintenance-free marine tank seller is also not doing as well now if i am not wrong. Ultimately, you should be responsible to your customers. If you upsell, ultimately you will get caught and suffers. Also, i think being ethical is a complex issue. If we eat eggs that are sustainably farmed, i don't see what is wrong with it so I'm not going to be vegetarian!

Haha... didn't expect the sharing of this experience with this LFS create such a buzz. Keep it going though as i think there's always two sides to the coin/story. FIrst of all, I don't think they have done anything illegal, unless maybe they imported and sell some endangered species, which i doubted it. Second, there's nothing wrong with keeping Nano/Pico tanks. Look at it this way, people keep betta (Fighting fish) in jars... so this has been done for ages. So whether is it IQ3/IQ5 or some PRC pico tank or tank with no light, no filter, it is still ok. If you look at our forums and RC, there's plenty of nano/pico tank that are thriving. Third, there's really nothing wrong with keeping marine fishes. Most of the species we commonly kept are not endangered. So it's like keeping other pets, be it hamsters, cats, dogs or freshwater fishes. What i feel wrong about this shop is that they are not being a responsible or should i say an ethical seller. Sure, some LFS will sell you blue tang or any fishes you asked for as long as you pay for it. However, most LFS, including most of our sponsors here, will take the next step to ask what size is your tank. Or when you ask them, they will tell you if it's suitable. Some LFS even reserved fishes for us, but didn't charge us if the fish fail to survive the quarantine or holding period. These LFS are the one that we should patronise. Let's look at it with another angle. Imagine you are a construction company owner that hires 20 foreign workers. Would it be ethical to put them in say 1 5-room HDB flats? Sure, they can all find a spot to sleep but you know for sure it's not the right thing to do. (in this case, it would be illegal as well if I am not wrong). The key i'm am trying to say is that this LFS should not be selling the nano tank with fishes that is not suitable such as blue tang. When the blue tang get bigger, what will happen? Do it end up in toilet bowl? or being thrown into east coast beach? Most of the reefers here join the forum for the knowledge to DO THE RIGHT THING. We ask questions like what fish to stock etc. The LFS, being the front line, should be responsible enough to give a knowledgeable answer and DO THE RIGHT THING. For most of us, i think be it a nano or a 10 feet tank, we always try to balance the needs of the fish and our needs/ability to provide the best environment for the fish/corals. That's the reason why we spent thousands on expensive lighting to try and replicate the sun, thousands on skimmers to skim the waste, thousands on fishfood. This is what we, being responsible pet owners should do. Sure, sometimes, things don't go our way, it could be the fish already have disease or collection via cyanide etc. Or it could be other reasons, at least we tried our BEST.

ya, can keep a touch.. or duncan.. and maybe a small brain coral. Zoas, mushies, rics etc are the best choice i think... don't need very strong light and colourful and small enough.

ahh, interesting green sun coral.

the red gornio looks good...

Candy basslet ftw!

Yup, GO used to have a lot of christmas tree... haven't seen it for a long time already.

haha... what Digiman is so true ! I think Lemon will "advise" his brother and turn it into one of his experimental project! Anyway, good luck with the PICO and welcome to SRC

at least the firefish is out

Sadly Marco is right... However, i do feel that responsible seller will reap the rewards in the long run. For example, whoever bought the systems from them will most likely not patronise them again in future. Hence, this type of business will usually not last long.

AhSiang, I don't think it's dymax's fault. I think IQ3/IQ5 etc is great if it's in the right hand. For instance, a friend of mine is using it for his freshwater shrimps. Desi and Comycus also use it for PICO without any problems. The problem lies with the seller (by selling a non-sustainable system) and the owner, who don't do research. It happens everywhere. Even if you give a irresponsible reefer a 6 ft tank, he may ended up keep a hammerhead shark...