idefix

diatom our cyno - both are normal for a 3 month old tank. Make sure you have enough water circulation and your Phos and NO3 are low to prevent other algae from growing out of this one. You will see it will go once the food source is gone (diatom - silicate e.g. from your aquarium glass).

if you invest, infest a bit more and get something better ! You will have much more fun with your tank later ! Own experience !

looks evil anyway !

What I would do: You should increase the air to your tank. Add an air pump with bubble stone just to make sure it is not a bacteria outbreak (most of them will reduce the O2 in your tank until your fish are dead). If it is only the algae, make sure your skimmer is running 100% as it will collect a lot of algae "juice" in the next days Stronger aeration is still not a bad idea though !

Hi there, long time no post I found this guy in my Acropora. Anyone an idea if this is a good or bad guy? Thanks !

Thanks Hon, Do you think it would be possible to do it without the variable socket ? Maybe directly controlled by the Aquastar ?

Thanks !! I will try to find a shop selling it and have a look !!!!! Maybe I get it to work without the variable socket :-) !!!!

used one 1/2 year back. spoiled after only 3 weeks use....do not recommend !

Maybe this link can help: http://www.reefligion.com/diy.htm

Sorry Powder Blue that I have to object. Have you ever been to US or Germany and compared the prices? If you do, you will find that most items are even cheaper in Singapore then in the countries they are produced. Even if the distributor has to pay the expensive shipping to Singapore (result = small margins...). To be honest I'm a bit disturbed with the cheap cheap attitude this forum advertises. Most fellow Singapore reefers give priority to cheap items never mind the trouble they go through, guarantee problems they might have at the end, time they have to invest or bad support they get at the end. CHEAP RULES. How many of us have invested in cheap equipment or animals, maybe to save 20S$, just to realize at the end that the product we bought can not live up to the expectations we have in it or dies after a few days due to they way it was caught – the cheap way??? At the end we lost everything, instead of only 20 bugs. I have learned from my mistakes (buy a cheap tank and don't be angry if your living room is flooded after 5 weeks). Besides that, Singapore is a very small market. You can count the shops that sell marine equipment on you two hands. Even the sell of one skimmer will help this shop and the distributor behind it to justify future investment in new equipment and help them to support us in our hobby. Imagine the impact a DIY campaign (10 DIY skimmers for sale) can have on them! At the end we shall not be surprised if items we urgently need (skimmer broken, pump defect..) can only be ordered on request (what 6 weeks…….) – as it is with many items already today the case…. Please don't understand me wrong: I LOVE DIY and many of the items I use are DIY but sometimes we should think if the trouble we go through justifies the small savings we have and the impact is has on the local aquarium industry..........

If this is true then the phosphate removing process can only take place in the first 2 hours or so which reduces the efficiency significantly. After that the stuff is in the skimmer. The remaining ContraPhos is not that efficient anymore (as the experience shows - previous posts). To be honest, it looks to me as if ContraPhos is not the best solution....

Sorry - back to the Tunze Stream Does anyone have a electronic controlable Tunze 6100 ? I would like to see a pciture of the power plug as I want to know how I can connect this to my IKS system..... don't want to buy another wave maker !

Hi guys (and ladies), I'm looking for a 8'' (or 20cm) acylic tube 50cm or 1 meter long. Does anyone have an idea where I can get this one cheap ? Thanks !

If I understand right, the good stuff in ContraPhos is lost while rinsing it with water. If I now place the ContraPhos without rinsing it into my tank, the water turns yellow for a few hours (due to the brown mud that is washed out). After some time the skimmer has removed the brown mud and the water clears again. Question: What is the difference between rinsing the ContraPhos first and removing the brown stuff to letting the skimmer remove it later on?

Arrow b (or actually the lowest part of the joint) controls the max water that is drained from your tank in case of pump shutdown. The lower b, the more water will run out of your tank in case of power loss = flooding danger !! Ideally b should be only a few cm below the desired water surface (just as your return pipe !!)

2 Thumbs down for R*b*rn aquarium.... dead fish, super crowded tanks, dying corals. Sad, sad, sad, sad.....

Interesting! How come RowaPhos has a uniform color and no brown mud is washed out? It looks to me as if RowaPhos is of higher purity then ContraPhos.

Do they still add active carbon to ContraPhos (I think I can see some on the picture posted before) ? If yes it will explain why it is cheaper and not as powerfull as RowaPhos. After all the same volume only comes with 1/2 amount of phosphate remover. I personally will stick to RowaPhos and RowaCarbon !

don't think this will work as air will be able to go in and break the siphon...

best you check the current price (euro exchange rate) with one of the selling shops (e.g. ML)

I'm using a Jetskim 100 !! Very good performance with dense and dry foam. Easy to setup and clean. Very good workmanship (not the cheap plastic other manufacturers use). I can only recommend Schuran. I'm currently running: - Schuran Jetskim 100 (skimmer) - Schuran Jetstream Pico (Ca reactor) - Schuran Nitratefilter 100 (Denitrator) Very pleased with the results !!!

A test to contribute: http://www.thereefweb.com/skimmer_comparison.htm

I'm using a D&D (Deltec) RO Unit. It was very inexpensive (around 260 S$) and creates 189 liters a day. Check with ML how much it is now (mine is 1 year over...)

Hi Trigger, when choosing a Ca reactor make sure it comes with these features: - automatic de-gassing (not manually with your hand) OR - reintroduction of excess gas (de-gassing is not required anymore) - 100% CO2 usage - Gas separator (to avoid gas going back in your tank) - High water current in the reactor to avoid “mud” buildup - Performance diagram: Amount CO2 / Waterthroughput / KH value (this one is very important) I’m using a Schuran Pico at this point of time. The performance is great with the lowest CO2 usage I saw. If you want to invest a bit more, go for the next bigger model (Jetstream 1) as it comes with pH electrode holder to authomize the CO2 addition to the reactor. Hope this helps.