wilsontantw

Did you not buy this leather from a friendly LFS somewhere?

Nicely done. Welcome to marine keeping! Seems like you have done a lot of reading and preparation with the equipment that you are using. Good idea of going minimalist scape too, reduces dead spots for flow. Looking forward to you tank thread updates and photos would be nice. Mixed reef I suppose??

After I kena once, it's always at least one coupon whenever in there. You're up early bro. Haha.

Dont be too long guys... Remember resistance is futile. Hahaha.

Well said! Good gets better! Good point on the frag exchange. I've done that with a few bros here too. Share the love... Dear sir, my suggestion is to use dosing pump. It really takes a lot of pain away. Once it's passed the first week (daily test for 7 straight days) everything is pretty much automated. I now check only when I add many SPS or when visual observation shows signs of stress. Based on Iwarna's standard mix, I'm using ard 120ml for KH per day. This volume is automatically divided across 24 times a day and dosed evenly every hour on the hour. I've started using dosing pump since 28 aug. The 20l jerry can is still 50% full.

Looking forward to sale of the year... 4 more days to 2011...

Well done. Daily manual dosing! Super dedication. Look forward to more tank pics.

Bro. You using dosing or CR? Your system seems very stable with minimum shifting of corals. *thumbs up*.

Bro. You mean UOB?? Hehe. *wink* But thanks for the heads-up.

Refugium is indeed amazing. I am currently using a basket chaeto as nutrient export. But as I don't stay in a landed property where space is not a concern, (even if I do, I doubt I'll dedicated a similar size chaeto tank as my main tank)... As small quantity of chaeto/mangrove alone is not enough to export the nutrients. Again, this is based on my personal "trial". Never try, never know... Actually I could be wrong, but iwarna's outdoor pond does have skimmer too right? A 6' tall Beckett?? Another great use of having a refugium, pods growth! It's amazing how much (and big) pods you get... Downside, without proper circulation, refugium collects detritus.. So dont forget to do the regular clean up maintenance.

Seems like the forum has a good take up of SPS keeping reefers recently (and some drop-offs). I tried searching in SRC for a similar easy-to-read SPS keeping guide, but to no avail. Thus thought of sharing this very basic list that I've learnt from the pros and some through my own limited learnings and observations during the past few months. Just to share and exchange pointers.

Siang. Haven't seen u post in awhile. Hows your SPS journey?? Haven't seen ur tank pics lately man.

I'll recommend 4hrs of MH plus 10-12 hrs of blue plus T5... I have not tried other brands before... Been using TM since I started upon recommendation... IMHO, DI unit is sufficient...

Btw without measuring ca/kh/mg, you wouldn't know how much is consumed... Take my tank for example, I dose ard 100ml each to supplement the intake of ca and kh daily... If without dosing pump or test kits, I wouldn't know... And end up under/over dose.. And if done manually, Just make sure you are home everyday... (read no holidays, no partying till late etc...) start with regular w/c... With minimal sps... Should be able to maintain... Enjoy the journey... Be warned, sps keeping is a massive money- and time-consuming hobby! Thus, always known as the dark side...

Your lighting seems ok, try to give at least 4 hrs of MH and 10hrs of T5... And ur salinity is through the roof, fish still alive?? Try to gradually bring it down to 1.023 - 1.025 Yes, to keep SPS, u should measure ca/kh/mg. They need all 3 to be constant... Dosing/cr helps maintain these (simplistically speaking).. Water change is to aid nutrient export (so is skimming)... My suggestion is to use DI water. Some start with buying bottled water from ntuc, or get a DI unit... (google crystal pro).. I'm using tropic Marin pro-reef salt mix.. It reduces my effort to supplement the essentials that often.. Yes you are right, SPS not easy, but once u get the hang of things (or automate some boring stuff), you will love the joy of watching the sps speedy growth.

Just to share some of my understanding on keeping sps. Obviously I'm not the most qualified sps reefer, but just thought of sharing this simplified list for sps beginners as it helped me... 1) lighting - T5s are generally sufficient. (average of 6-10 tubes) Try to go for 10-12hrs.. However to bring out best coloration, 250w per 2ft length is recommended. (4hrs) and supplemented with T5s.. 2) Ca:420-450, kH:8-8.5, mg: 1200-1300 3) no3/po4 readings (minimum, but don't need to be zero) 4) keep temp around 27 degrees celsius 5) salinity: around 1.024 6) provide good/random wave movement ard sps. use controllable ones if budget allows. 7) ensure good skimming or regular nutrient export (weekly 10% is highly recommended) 8) do prepare salt mix in advance to perform water change anytime u need.. 9) prepare for Murphy's visit. Do prepare backup systems to ensure your treasures are safe from power blackouts or sudden outage (especially when you are not at home). 10) the key is to maintain constant parameters for the tank. Avoid making any major drastic adjustments... 10 weeks of 10% weekly water change is not equal to a 100% water change once in 10 weeks. Disclaimer, everyone's setup is different, and i'm sharing what works for me... And hope it helps you too...

Hi jizzhut, there are many reasons that can cause sps to go "wrong". But more importantly, is to know what parameters they need in order to thrive. Why don't u start by sharing the below checklist, I'm sure u can find what's wrong... 1) lighting - What type? Tubes/bulb life span? Distance from said sps? 2) Ca/kH/Mg readings (how constant are these) 3) no3/po4 readings (I'm assuming the basics for ammonia and nitrite are taken care of) 4) water temp? How constant? 5) salinity? 6) water movement - enough movement around the said sps? (do u see polyp extension) 7) what type of freshwater top up are you using? Is TDS reading zero? 8) are you using CR/dosing pump or manual dosing? 9) how frequent is your water change? How many %? The above is a list that helped me when i started sps, hope it helps you too.. Quick and dirty answer: usually it's insufficient lighting... But try monitoring/measuring the above, you will figure out why...

Good log and growth. Seems like they enjoyed more growth in nov/dec?

Agree! And some of the SPS and LPS are equally stunning! Share pix pls...

Btw mods: can help me close this thread. All collected as of last night. Thank you guys for your support and help to clear space for the tank. Especially those who got stuff that are not listed. For reefers who are on "exchange" program, I'll see you within these few days.

Kindness begets kindness bro! Btw, if u can, pm me ur available slots for these few days-next week? I'm on leave already and should be able to visit you (like finally...) Apparently tycoon lee has found time to visit me 2 days back bro. And he is also another kind reefer.

Hi lemon, any idea whats on the tonga shopping list?