dragonfly_sg

What are their size?

SMS"ed"

Interested in the above, can list or PM me the collection place. Thanks.

Where is the collection point?

Yes, very normal. The diatoms are usually around, coralline will appear once the condition is suitable. U'll see little bit off 'purple' on your glass and you know it's started. I read that you need to have some coralline algae in the tank as seed but normally the LR I get will have some, more or less, so I guess you need not worry about seeding.

This type of things have to cultivate one It always starts with some investment and after a few trips try to chat up the man or woman in charge. After paying enough school fees, most fishshop will automatically give their "best" customer some sweetener one Some shop are more tight fisted, so you gotta make a call then. But I honestly feels that good service is more important to me than "special" prices.

The next thing you could do after you have setup everything you have purchased is to get cured LR. Seek out people that have decided to quit the hobby in the classified section and buy their LR. It's much much cheaper and it's cured, so that will be easier. You wouldn't want to go through the curing process espcially if you have a mother or wife that is less then appreciative of your hobby Once you put your LR in the fun beging Start counting pods, thats what I did. The negative point about cured rock is that you're not going to get many surprises, but there is usually a small pods population inside the rocks that will start to multiply in your tank. If you get uncured rock, you can expect to see many things, brittle stars, crabs, shrimps, worms, I every heard octopus, etc, etc. Some of these you want in your tank, some you don't, but it's very interesting watching them do what they do especially after dark And after that, expect a major diatom bloom. Once it gets messy enough you can get some CUC and after they're in there for a week or two, you're in business. About skimmer, when I got my first tank I got a skimmer immediately and run the whole setup without any LS. Everyone was talking about skim mate and using that to judge the effectiveness of their skimmer. NOBODY told me I need to have "not" good water to get skimmate , so I was fumbling with my skimmer for a week because I am getting nothing, not even decent foam. I use cured rocks, so that didn't help with the skimmate part either. Finally after reading a magazine did I realised that. So IMO you can get your skimmer once you get your live stock or if you begin with uncured rocks. Otherwise take your time to read others people experiences with the respective brands and choose the best one with your available budget.

Actually you have alot of time ...... to slowly decide on what you want to do but at the same time getting your hands wet. Since you already have the tank ..... Your immediate decision is to decide ...... 1. What substrate ? 2. What water ? (Salt mix or NSW) 3. Get LR. 4. Get a Wavemaker. Get this stuff first, and get your tank (salt water) running and you have 1 month to slowly decide what you want to do The problem is people wait a long time to decide what they want to do and when they start, they want to do everything at a go. Thats where problem happen and also going it all at once is pretty "siong" on the wallet too. So get the above stuff and let it cycle, once you decided what you want to do (eg. Reef, FOWLR or Rojak). Then your tank will also be ready for you.

It's not bleach actually, when it's all strech out it's actually whitish translucent. When there is strong light, it will strink up and it becomes really white. At first I though I had some kind of fungus or something, but the structure look the same as a mushroom. Then one day, saw two on a rock being sold in AM. I guess it would be better for me to take a picture of this fella, maybe I probably mis-identified it ...... who knows

Any one have advise on how to manage white mushroom? Anyone kept them before ? They don't seems to like bright lights.

First time I got a zoa, it didn't open too. Until I found that evapouration and a fault hydrometer cause salinity to be way too high. So maybe you can check that too and get those glass floating types which is more reliable compared to those swing arm type. Got money a refractometer lagi better

I have a maxima that's pitting. IE. small pits are appearing in it mantle. I have been observing and it's not cause by pest. It don't look sick that leave me to guess it's some mineral deficiency but I don't know what it is. Can anyone help.?

From what I gathering if you daisy chain 3 to 4 cannister filter (spolit ones, but not leaking) with one low flow external pump, the water reaching the 3rd cannister should be without Oxygen. But it will take some time for the aerobic and later for the anaerobic bacterial to established themselves. Heard the denitration effect only takes hold only after 4 months. I've also heard people using the hose method too. It's easier to get the whole coil from the hardware shop (I think its 30 or 40 meter) in there original wrapping and pull only the free end out from the coil to attached to a slow flow pump and the other end back to the tank. That way the main body of the coil stay in the plastic wrapping and its easier to handle. I always wonder if you drop bio-homes into the hose to fill it up, it'll probably be more effective, but it'll be very difficult to do that without uncoiling the hose from it's original wrapping. Anyway, I have not personally tried this as they occupy space which I can ill afford in my little flat. Hope you'll be successful with your attempts.

Got it from the US. PM me if your interested.

I have done my trade for LR so far, so thats off the list now. So looking for nice color mushrooms or small zoa frags

I am hoping to trade some breathable bags (in packs of 10) for either zoa frags, nice mushrooms, rics, or even a couple of kg of live rocks. Size of each bag is 7.5" x 12". This bags allow you to transport fishes without worrying about them dying from lack of oxygen. It allows CO2 to escape through the lining of the bag and allow O2 to flow in through the bag to replenished O2 in the water. Here's a write up on what it's about. It especially useful for aquarist who go on trips overseas to target wild speciements. This reduce the need for areation equipment and takes up less space per bag during transportation back to Singapore. It's also useful for people when they exchange fishes, shrimps and marine inverterbrates with each other, as most of us will not have access to pressurized O2 tank to pump up the bags for transportation locally. The longest I have kept a fish (3.5" wild caught Indian Hind Grouper from Sibu Kelong) in the bag is 4 days, on the 3rd day I open the bag to replace 50% water as I was afraid the wild caught hind would be badly effected if the Ammonia in the bag got too high. After the water change I re-seal the bag for another day and a half day. I have also used this bags to collect fishes from some of the aquarist here, so don't worry it's a proven technology Not worth alot, but if you have something to spare and I have something to spare then why not.

I am interested in the Pair of Seio 820. Can tell me where is the pickup point ?

Oh the plastic water holder and stuff will last indefinitely, it's the chemicals that comes with the kits that gets used up. BTW be aware that some kits in some shop probably been on the shelf for ages , alot of them don't have obvious expiry dates (or either I don't know where to look). Stick to those shops that carries test kits with newer packing, if there isn't any dates available. Or you could get pH pen and some of those electronic measuring device which will allow you more tests and last longer (hopefully). But they are going to be very much more expensive.

Hope you understand what some people mean by needing to have enough knowledge to for the hobby. Just take a simple example of stirring the sand. Some people recommend you to do it ( because they have a shallow sand bed, probably with cucumber, urchin or some fishes turning it constantly ) and some people warn you against it (because these people have DSB). Both have good intention but you need enough knowledge to know which can apply to you Tough isn't it It gets worst from here .......... how deep is a DSB? If you have very course coral chip as substrate, 5" of those still wouldn't make a DSB. But if you use very fine grain sand then you might have an anaerobic layer just 1.5" down. I have some experience in freshwater and planted tanks, been playing around with them for almost 30 years or more. Certain concepts are the same but not others. Thats why I am looking forward to getting some books from Amazon to help me further. I have a small tank running (FOWLR), I am using it to understand things I read from the web and forums. I don't expect complete success with this initial, setup but I am those that prefer hands-on to theory So far I killed 3 Algae Bunny that hope out of the tank *sigh* and a sea hare that rotted in between my life rocks . Otherwise I am good so far Well ....... as good as it can get. Initial outbreak of algae is now under control and not getting worst, honestly I didn't know what I did stop it. So I am sure I need to re-learn it some time down the road. But it have been an interesting trip for me so far and I hope you enjoy the journey to having a great tank too.

Hi I am just starting my tank too and still buying the stuff I need as I move forward. As for item 2. You'll need NH4, NO3, KH, PH, Ca and Mg. Well you could also get NO2 but you'll probably use that a few times only so you could skip that it you've some experience in the Nitrogen cycle. I skip buying NH4 kit, but instead use a Seachem Ammonia Alert card that you keep permanently in the water, gives you read 24/7 for a couple of month for only $10 I am searching for good KH, PH, Ca and Mg kit at them moment. As for 3, everyone seems to have their own preference So I think might have to work this one out on your own. I am using CoralLife and just bought Tropic Marin to try as my CoralLife finished.

The answer is (to certain extend), how many fishes you can put in your tank depends on how much and how often you're willing to do water change . The above also works on the assumption that you have a filter or filtration source able to fully convert the NH4 and NO2, so that your water change objective is to remove nitrate and replace whatever trace you've lost.

I have been reading And I do have a little experience in keep freshwater and planted. The objective of freshwater cycling is to establish Nitrifying Bacteria, isn't it the same for marine? Are there additional objective which I should be aware of? If I have a new tank with only sand (sterile) and 1 day old water from saltwater mix, I should have no NH4, NO2 and NO3 other than those coming from PUB. Cured LR from an established tank will have the required bacterial to perform the bio-filtration needed, assuming they don't die en mass in the new tank (which I would like to know, if anyone experience doing that. In freshwater it's not a problem if the water params are similar. ). Incidentally from my understanding, if I don't provide an immediate source of ammonia/nitrite to the Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter will start dying as they're without their source of food. Can anyone confirm this? Therefore if i don't start putting fishes in immediately, then the effort of having LR is wasted as those bacteria will start dying? The anaerobic guys will probably last longer because of PUB's good grace and the decomposition of the bacteria in the LR probably start a mini NH4 spike and some nitrifying bacteria will survive. But in a longer period without import source of NH4, it'll slowly go down hill. When I am writing this, it seems strange but logical, any comments? The reasons I asked these questions are two fold, firstly I am very interested in the science of all this and secondly I want to have enough know how, to set up a healthy marine tank within a shorter period (3 to 4 days). I know everyone will propose a slow start with 3 or 4 weeks of cycling, so I am interested in understanding whats suppose to happen (within the tank) in that period. And if there are work around. I have a pretty good understanding (in theory) what should happen, but I am sure I still don't have the complete picture. By tossing my idea in here and having experience folk shoot it down (which I will try to defend with theories I know ) hopefully we can learn something together. The thing I am most curious to know is the need for the saltwater (from salt mix) to rest for a period before introducing LR or LS, I encounter this statement on a few forum and I am pretty sure there is a good reason behind it, if someone explain or point me to any write up, I will be most grateful. I have a nagging feeling there is no short cut for this one

I came across a couple of posts in this forum of aquarist advising newbies (like me) to let newly prepared saltwater (made with artifical sea salt) lie for a day or more before introducing life stock. Can someone explain to me why is that neccessary? Isn't water made today same as water made yesterday, assuming it's a bare tank with a current making pump? Or when is recommended period to rest the water? If I lay my tank with sand, made the sea water with artifical sea salt and let it sit for a day. After a day, I put in alot of LR from an established tank and hook up a good skimmer (I think they call this a berlin system ?). Can I put in life stock immediately after I done the above? I would guess it would be possible if done incrementally. If your answer is no, I would like to know your opinion. Lastly, if I collect highly mechanically filtered seawater (assuming no heavy mental and toxin) and pump it in a barrel for 2 weeks without circulation, do you think the water can be use in a marine tank after that? These are some questions thats bugging me and I would greatly appreciate it if someone can help me understand the science in all this. Point me to a website or give me some key words, to start me search would also help. Thanks in advance. P.S. There are more questions, but they are evading me at the moment.

Your light can hold two PL tubes of 11W each? Since you mention 1 white 1 blue.

Thanks everyone You'll be sure I am going to try every recommendation by the number I will update everyone when he finally eat.