Nitro

Is ur friend who's selling u the chiller a reefer too? If so maybe u can engage his help too. If u're using the existing canister, u must replace all the filter media and also any bio-stones or rocks within. From the photo shown, it's seems to me that the tank is expose to natural Sun light. So during this period, I would said On or Off the light is not really critical. U might want to put in rocks during this period too. If rocks are in, I would advice switching on the skimmer. U can maintained a simple yet beautiful marine tank with small amt of LS even with a canister filtration but as I've mentioned, u'll need to be abit more hardworking by doing water replacement(abt 20-30%) every week or fortnightly. In this way, u can have a feel of keeping a simple marine tank without first spending the money in getting all the high-end equipments and also dousing all the diff kind of supplements. Regular water replacement will help to maintain the condition(supplements) of the tank too. What skimmer are u using? Oh u might want to consider having a blue color back-drop for the back of the tank. Can purchase this from most LFS, get the OBAMA... I meant OYAMA brand sticker... haha! To apply, clean the glass surface with water and clean cloth, make sure no stains are left. Next wet the sticker surface (the sticky side) with abit of water, than slowly apply the sticker onto the glass surface with the help of a long plastic ruler or anything flat. Do it slowly so that all bubbles trap can be push out. With water sprayed onto both surfaces of the glass and sticker, u can still remove and adjust here and there should u need to but once fully stick on and dry it'll be diff to re-adjust. PLS NOTE... all recommendation and methods I've given above is based on the understanding that the choice of LS kept is as I've suggested.

That's bcuz I still rem u've asked me to share my experience and have a write-up in keeping this species of anemone

Hmmm... dun think I said that but I did mentioned that u post a pic and allow us to advice from there. Anyway I'm not offended or anything like that. Must say there are always diff sch of thoughts. Some will said this while some will said that... I would said there is no right or wrong BUT only individual experience and preference will cause one to decided which is best. Braincoral is not wrong to said that canister is a no no. As the bio-load for marine tank are quite demanding and if a canister is under-sized, this will greatly affect the whole eco-system and plus the hassle of regular maintenance(can be fortnightly or once a month on top of the routine tank wall cleaning etc). The diff between a canister and a sump/refugium is that the latter allow for a easier maintenance and also more forgiving should there be a failure(can be power failure or bacteria outbreak) in the filtration system. I used to have another small tank using canister but must said the tank condition is not the most ideal and it does limit the type and number of fishes that I can keep. Back to ur setup... Ur canister might not be ideally sized for a 2ft marine tank. However it can still do it's job if the tank is not heavily stock, if keeping only 1 pair of Clownfish(True Percs) and 1 Pacific Blue Tang(Dory), 2 Turbo snails, 1 Abalone, 2 Cleaner shrimps and maybe some small hermit crabs as cleaning crews. This life stock list will cost an estimated $120. If u planned to hook up the chiller via this same canister, then it'll def not be enuf in the flow rate. I believed u're setting up this tank for ur children but of cse the actual person is the father which is u lar By the way is there a tank on the bottom rack? Can consider using that as a sump tank. Juz a rough work out of the cost for u, estimated. 1) LS = $120(as mentioned above based on that list) 2) Rocks = $80-$150(depends on the amt and also from which LFS) 3) chiller = $200(2nd hand, 1yr old Teco from ur friend... if really it's 1yr old from 1st owner, it's real good buy. What's the model?) 4) Sand/Substrate = $100-300(again depends on type and LFS) 5) Ur new tank? = can cost between $100-$300(from off-the-shelf to custom-made) 6) Accessories such as wave makers(powerheads) and if using sump tank for filtration u'll need return pump, PVC piping/soft hose etc. Lighting, skimmers, marine salt mix... all these can cost from $300-$800. Of cse can always go for 2nd hand at the Pasar Malam. I hope this will give u a feel of how much u might need to spend for even a simple setup. For beginner, my advice is to get the basic setup and critical(lighting, type of filtration system and skimmer) equipments first. The above mentioned LS list are not light demanding so u might want to re-use the light set and at the most juz replace the tubes. FL tubes can still be use for Marine, it's juz that FL tubes won't be able to support a tank with corals and esp the demanding ones. However some corals can still be kept under FL tubes such as some of the less light demanding mushrooms, Discosoma species. Do continue to feel free to ask and clarify any doubts and questions in this forum and also to Google and read up. Did u go to the link that I've provided?

Wow u're hardworking. Ok for that I'll start giving my recommendations 1) So you've decided to replace the tank... 2nd hand or brand new? If new, you might want to consider getting those with a filter partition within so u dun have to get an external filter. Of cse with the in-built filtration, the swimming space for the fishes will be less but again, it also depends on the kind and the number of fishes. Juz a pair of Nemo(Clownfish, maybe a beautiful pair of True Percs) and 1 Dory(Pacific Blue Tang) is def more than enuf for a 2 x 1.5 x 1.5ft(overall size) tank with some rocks and some very easy to keep corals(more of the Soft Corals type). As for the flow rate of the filtration, a 1000L/hr return rate shd be good enuf. Usually ppl will recommend the flow rate to be 10x the total volume of the tank water but for a small tank like urs, if u're using a return pump that delivers more than 1000L/hr I'm afraid that the flow return flow will be too strong for the tank. This will cause everything inside the tank to sway here and there. 2) Cleaner shrimps can be Blood or Fire Shrimp(Lysmata debelius), Coral Banded Shrimp(Stenopus hispidus), Pacific/Skunk Cleaner Shrimp(Lysmata amboinensis). I know you'll see alot of nicer and beautiful shrimps, crabs and lobsters during your shopping trips when stocking up BUT PLEASE refrain from getting all the others less those I mention for a start. Reef lobsters are beautiful but they can start toppling ur rocks and also attack fishes. U'll gain more experience to keep this category of live stocks(LS) as u progress but not for now hor 3) Hmmm as for corals for the Clownfish... if u're referring to anemones... eh, will have to depends after setup and cycling completed. It's not easy to keep anemones healthy for a long period in a reef tank, it's a challenge and if one succeed, much experience will be gain. I've 2 in my tank and one is still struggling to survive beautifully after 3 mths. I'm referring to BTAs(Bubble tip anemones or some called it Rose Bubble Tip anemones). The other kind can be the normal mushrooms(in the order corallimorpharians) which are quite cheap price ranges from $5/- a rock of them to the more ex ones that can cost $30-$50/- per polyp(one pcs or one mouth). Cheap ones also got nice and beautiful one hor The cabinet looks like can't take the weight of the chiller. Based on the tank sizing, I'll estimate the amt of water to cool is ard 33Gal or 128L for the tank only. So suitable chiller size are 1/10 or 1/5, examples are TECO TR10 or Arctica DBA-075 or DBA-150 models. These are the more expensive brands and I personally uses Arctica. U can try the other makes such as Resun or Haeli. Do check out the Pasar Malam thread as from time to time, reefers do upgrade and sometime, u can get very good deals there BUT PLEASE take note... it's willing buyer and willing seller principles As for ur stand... can still use but will need some anti-rust treatment (can DIY) before getting new tank. Sand it down, apply metal primer and choice of paint color. As u're starting on this and I'm sure u'll wanna upgrade to a bigger tank in the future if u grow to luv this hobby, so dun need to spend too much on this round for the stand but do go for a solid wooden stand on the next upgrading which can set u back abt $400-$700 plus depending on size and also the choice of finishing. Below is a link for u to read up before u start off ur marine journey... Setting up a Marine tank!

Sorry not honest... wrong choice of words, it shd be sure of what you want to keep, in a way... truthful to urself and that will make my job our job easier to recommend what kind of LS to what type of setup.

Hi Dirtnitro, If u dun mind, I can help u in ur setup at no cost BUT I'll need u to be as honest as possible and abit hardworking on ur side. 1st is if u can, post some photos of what r ur equipments on hand to be re-use and importantly is what kind of fishes and corals do u intend to keep as a beginner? This will make our job easier to help advice u based on ur budget of SGD$800/-.

Cuz if you visit my Memeber's Tank thread, you'll see that my overflow box is an external one and I have 2 outlet pipe running into the refugium and 2 return line back to the main tank via a "open pipe" concept. Hope you'll be able to get some ideas from my design and also to improve on whatever I've missed out and make yours a better one!

Auto top up system... Yes I have and it's a "SMART" system some more... me lor I dun really have a great water level fluctuation in that compartment.

Well if you look at it from the marine life perspective, all LS (fishes and corals) will do well in temp ranges from 23-28degC, depending on the region of the world. So if we're talking abt temp between 28 to 30degC, I would said this is not good esp those with zooxanthellae, as they'll expel the zooxanthellae and this will affect the health of the anemone. Even if anemone dun die immd, they'll have a shorten life span.

The union ball valves and one-way stop valves are as shown. The ball valve cost less than $8/- each. It's the one-way valve that's slightly ex as there are not very common in SG, think it's over $20/- or $30/- each. What you see in the pics are the exact ones that I'm using for my tank system. It's for a size 20mm and 25mm PVC pipes. The return pumps I'm using is the AB2000I model which fit into the 20mm PVC pipes. This is how I ran my piping. As you can see, there is a redundancy at the 2 return line. This is to facilitate should I need to switch off the return pumps, I dun have to close the ball valves, the one-way stop valves will do their job. The ball valves is more of for other usage in my setup. One word of advice... Always place all ball valves and any other valves within the area of your sump tank, so that if there's any leak in the joint, the leak will only drip into the sump and not out onto your flooring. As you can see, 1 of my mistake is the valves along the downstream line are position outside the area of the sump tank. I'll have to re-position them when I'm free, as of now there's no leak.

As the Pseudocorynactis(Indo-Pacific region species) do not host any zooxanthellae(photosynthetic unicellular algae), strong lighting and long photo-period is not require. Although I've mentioned that they're suspected of being a filter feeder(zooplankton and particulate organic matter), prolong period(2mths and above) of not feeding it with "solid" food such as small fish, market prawns etc can lead to a "retard" growth. Observation includes shrunk in size(overall), reduced number of tentacles or tentacles size reduced(thinner) and also a lost in it's intensity of colour(from a dark brown/red to a pale brown on it's paddle disc). Feeding of solid food should not be in large amount or size as this can posed a problem for it's digestion and cause it to regurgitate the meal. Regurgitated meal can foul up the water very fast(can be within half a day) and this can cause a major nitrate spike, which is very unforgiving for a small size marine tank. Regurgitated meals will not be consume by the anemone again even if it's place directly into it's mouth. The guiding principle(which I applied) for the size of food per meal is that the food should not be bigger than the size of the anemone (when fully puffed up). If feeding a whole fish, small damsel posed no problem for digestion but with bigger size fishes such as a 2" and above, it would best to feed it to a 4" and above size anemone. Each full meal will usually takes abt 3 to 5 days to digest after which the anemone will remain puffed up for another 4 to 7 days. The frequency of feeding can be once a week(which I dun really recommend unless it's a juz one) to fortnightly or even once a month. The species mentioned within here is also able to tolerate a very drastic water condition changes. I've personally witness that they can survived through an ordeal of a "nuked", high nutrients and extreme temp fluctuation conditions and yet still able to multiply or split by fission. This is not surprising as this is a survival tactic, to multiply in bad water conditions so that at least the species stands a chance of survival(by the smaller anemones) and not perish as one whole big anemone should it succumb to the bad conditions.

Thanx Lemon. Ya I juz realize that I've started it in the wrong thread

You need not have to use 2 ball valves. Install a ball valve before the inlet of the pump and install a one-way stop valve at the outlet of the pump. The one with the rubber flap that prevent water from back flow. For this one-way stop valve, you can check out from RD. They carry the German brand (I think it's GF). PM me if you need help in the pipe works, I can share with you my methods.

Tunicate, I would advice you to bring the coupler (both male and female ends with washer) to your tank maker and they'll open the hole on the tank wall accordingly. If pump is on the outside of tank, I advice you to connect the female end of the coupler on the inside and the male end on the outside. Do put a few round of the plumber's white tape (abt 5-7 rounds is good enuf). Rubber washer shd be on the inside together with the female end. For added ease of mind, you can apply a thin layer of silicon on the outside circumference of the male end. The only thing is that you might have to find a secure way to connect the pump to the male end without gluing them permanently. This is to allow you the ability to replace the pump if need be. However if you're using a ball valve, you might want to glue the pump inlet extension to the one end of the ball valve. As either side of the ball valve can be bought off the shelves.

1st 2 pics show the anemone in a "relax" non-feeding mode. Pics are taken more than 5 hrs after lights on. Last feeding of MP(market prawns) was more than 4 days ago. If they're healthy, they usually remains filled with water (puffed but not to it's max) with their tentacles in a stub-like position or hanging loose. Next pic shows the anemone in a feeding mode with all tentacles extended. Pic is taken more than 5 hrs after lights off. Last feeding of MP was more than 4 days ago. Some other observations. The Pseudocorynactis can host the Sexy shrimps(Thor Amboinensis) and the Cleaner shrimps(Lysmata Amboinensis), Maroon Clown (Gold Stripes) and the True Percs without doing any harm to them. However shd the mentioned LS be heavily injured or sick, the stings from the anemones' tentacles can do much damage and even consume them.

looking at their faces reminds me of The Simpson cartoon

With all the readily available micro bacteria starters and "live" sand and "live" rocks in the market, actually it's not a must to use MP to cycle the tank. Do consider this too.

A feeding frenzy... Luv the last pic as it gives a sense of like in a shallow reef zone (less the pipings and the feeding float).

Thanks. The juv King is fat and as for the Queen, it's was injured when it got stuck in the rocks a few days back. Now it's recovered and feeding well too, hopefully in a few weeks time it'll fatten up Once both are doing well, they'll be transfer to the main tank to join the other 3 angels (Centropyge Flavicauda, juv Blue and juv Townsend) and the rest of the fishes.

Our local LFS does have good and healthy specimen of diff fishes from time to time. Both low and high end type. Just need to observe during ur shopping spree and the challenge is to resist from buying even if the fish is nice and beautiful but not feeding in the LFS. I used to succumb to this temptation too But now has learn many lesson the expensive way so not repeating this mistake again. Just to share that it's possible to get healthy and feeding fishes from LFS... my latest King Angel is one specimen from SL. This batch of Kings came in only abt 2-3 days but are already feeding pellets and such, solid! Oh by the way I meant put in the least aggressive ones first and the last one shd be the fiercest.

Beside just feeding on "chucky" bits of meals, ie cut-up fresh market prawns with vits enhanced or "live" fish such as damsel and also "stranded" creatures such as marine snails and starfish, this species also fully extend it tentacles during night time(lights off). The initial observation is that most likely they're feeding on small marine creatures too, ie pods and plankton. The other reason is also to capture any fishes that are clumsy enough to sleep their life away, into the path of it's tentacles. This situation had been observed before in my previous tank where one Purple Tang and Algae Blenny had literally sleep and strayed into them. Furthermore the 2 fishes mentioned are not sick or injured in anyway. This photo is taken with flash during the night time (lights off).

This thread is to share my experience in keeping the Pseudocorynactis, Ball-tip anemone in the home reef. The species mention herein is from the Indo-Pacific region, ranging from Indonesia to the Philippines. My sharing will includes their feeding habits, their stings, reproduction and also the ease of keeping one. From time to time, I'll updates info with pictures and also if possible, I'll be showing how to carry out a binary fission with photos from the ops to cleaning after the ops and the healing processes plus what are the steps to take for a successful fission. Pseudocorynactis is under the category of Anemones... Category Anemones Phylum CNIDARIA Class ANTHOZOA Order CORALLIMORPHARIA Family CORALLIMORPHIDAE Species Pseudocorynactis species Here are 3 of the links that states it's classification and also some basic info - It's classification, Some photo ID of it and Some very basic info The first 2 pics shown below are the original mother broods(2 of 5 pcs) that I first bought. The 3rd pic shown some of the already multiplied ones, some are by it's own fission while some is fission carried out by me. The mother broods has been with me for abt 4-5 yrs and some of the new pcs had been sold too.

The partition is to keep the fishes away from the pseudocorynactis anemones in the refugium. So far I've been getting some new angelfish and I put them in at the same time. No serious fighting and biting observed. The King angel is the last to went into the refugium. My experience is to get healthy ones and also to always put in the least aggressive one. The last one to go in to the tank must always be in good conditions, feeding and already used to the water condition from the tank. That's to said, if possible, try to keep the new fish in the refugium for a period of time before transferring it to the main tank. I've been using this method for the more "aggressive" type of fishes and so far it works for me.

U meant the 2 juv angels... it'll be great if they're. Anyway I know u're referring to the shrimps but I dun think so cuz already been in the tank for more than 3-5 mths and no breeding plus they do fight from time to time.

2 of the 3 Harlequin Shrimps... fighting over a star-fish The other 2 angels in the hse.