Hondace

Bacteria dosing is a must in order to maintain a healthy population of good bacteria. Given space constraints, I would think biopellets reactor is a better option over phosphate reactor if u can only choose between one. The biopellets will be a food source for the bacteria & keep them multiplying & replacing dying ones. Bacteria is also a food source for the corals so it is good to replenish them. Biopellets shouldn't results in a ultra low nutrient system unlike zeovit. So not to worry too much on this affecting corals. The bacteria will remove some phosphate though not as fast as phosphate reactor. If u find phosphate too high & can't fit in a reactor, u can put it in a bag & use it as a passive remover ie. place it near a flow in the sump.

2 for 3reds

Any updates on the SPS shipment?

There r many brands/types of substrate for bacteria to populate. Many claims that their products r one of the best. It's really hard to tell as there's not enough independent scientific tests to prove. But one thing for sure, many if not all successful reefers are dosing bacteria into their tank as it is a basic vital step to maintain a healthy water perimeter besides ca, mg & kh. So in my opinion, no matter what u use be patience & follow the regimen of regular testing, dosing & changing of water. FYI, I am using bacteria king too but I can't say it is better or worst than the other products but it works.

u can try buying from Fresh N Marine. Got my supplies about 2 weeks ago from Edmund but that is after waiting for almost a month. his website is not updated on the stock availability, so better to contact him before u buy. the web should have his email address.

Get a plastic wired mesh (must find the right size - the holes mustn't be too big or small) & cut it according to the diameter size. Remove all the pellets. Place it at the bottom plate original position & try to secure it. It should work.

Bro, Very vague. Care to explain?

Irwarna also got 1 Gem Tang. Suddenly we r seeing so many "diamonds"!! Before this Fish Channel also have. Irwarna shipment arrived..balance got african flameback, Vanderbilt chromis etc.

Can try adding Dr G to pellets & garlic. Let it defroze for 15 to 30 mins & mix the food. The pellets may absorb some of the medication. Somehow it works for me.

Contact Razali, he's the distributor for Maxspect. I have pm u the contact.

It's hard to pin point whose fault when buying new fishes. if u buy fishes that just arrived, higher chances that it will not survive. Hence I prefer to buy fishes that arrived 1-2weeks ago & feeding, unless very rare & u don't want to miss it. Having said this, after 15-30mins temperature climatisation, it is very important that before you open the bag u got to aware how long has the fish been in the bag & how much water is in the bag. If time is long & little water, the drip method is actually bad for the fish. The ammonia built up will become toxic when comes into contact with the fresh air when the bag is open. Hence, u may wanna do a quick 50% water change ( pour 50% out & replace 50% w your tank water) before cotinuing w the drip for full climatisation.

Yip. U'll get poison too.....bring lots of $$$. Everything so nice, must buy!

Very beautiful tank. Yes please share your experience : system use (zeovit, biopellets etc), dosing regime, equipments, tank perimeter (ca, kh, ph) & lighting.

Thanks bro, I know as well. One from u & one from "I" or "M". If u sell me at $400, it will be deal of the year!! I got green light to buy both at $1400, hiaz now my dream gone liao.

Is it Xenia?

Wah, good deal. Can anyone pm me the details. Thanks. Sorry to TS. Didn't mean to ride on this thread.

hmmm. will be tough if u can't move it away from the wall. perhaps u have to leave the chiller outside until u find a way to move it..ask movers for help? pay abit if u have too.

U can cut a hole on the back panel of the cabinet to slot the hole in. Or remove the fan & use the existing hole. My chiller also sitting inside my cabinet besides the sump. On the 1st day of setup, I had to keep the door open to cool down the temp to 26. I am using Arctica 1/5hp for my 4feet tank. So far it is ok but it does get hot inside the cabinet. Need to have big ventilations behind the back of the cabinet. Mine has a big rectangle area cut out to facilitate the heat transfer.

Check out this link on the various methods of maintaining water quality thru zeovit, prodibio & biopellets. http://blog.aquanerd.com/2012/04/battle-of-the-bacteria-zeovit-vs-prodibio-vs-biopellets.html

True if u restart. But bear in mind, ich will never be totally gone. It is always present in the fish itself somehow & when conditions r bad, it will strike again. I think it is kinda like flu, we never get rid of it.

About 6-8months old at that time. CFOh is correct on quarantine but new fishes always get stress again when in display tank, so my experience is that they tend to get ich but it is controllable if your water condition is good & it keep eating the soak food. Soon it will recover. Most important my existing fishes doesn't get it. Worst case is my new fish mati but rest still fine.

Yup, it's hard to administer octozin effectively in my opinion, it didn't kill off all the ich. I had a bad outbreak 1 year back that took away 1/2 of my fishes when I added too many fishes at 1 go thinking my tank is matured enough. Tried all sorts of methods but fishes still died, some I suspect due to stress from treatment too!! Now, I have about 30 fishes in my tank but ich is no longer of a concern (fingers crossed) as they are resistant to ich. Whenever I add a new fish it will bound to have ich even after quarantine when release to my display but it doesn't affected the rest, even my 3 Tangs, unlike a year ago which the ich will spread. What I did was to improve my water quality & feed daily with soak food (garlic & vitamin) after the outbreak a year back. I have boosted the bacteria variants by dosing different types of bacteria (bactiv8 NPX, biodigest, a special power form of bacteria bot from Henry) plus fritz zyme to remove waste materials. This make sure all the waste, nitrates, phosphate are remove. Also using biopellets to provide carbon food source for the bacteria to grow. In short, stop adding fishes & let your bacteria populate the tank & add different strains of bacteria as they have different functions. Overtime, a healthy bacteria population will provide better environment for yr fishes & less likely they will fall sick. Lastly, regular water change & have a good skimmer to prevent bacteria boom if overdose (signs : cloudy water but it is fine).

Go for arctica if u can. It may cost 2-3x more than other brands but it's worth it for my experience as I had 2 resun before switching to arctica. Some will say u can buy a few other brands chiller with the cost of 1 arctica but trust me, u don't want the chiller to die on u & yr corals to die or bleach. If budgeted, go for 2nd hand but only arctica. Other brands, better to get new ones.

marvellous eye poping STICKS! wanna get some BUT I am still trying to colour up my sticks..too brownish as my nutrients level r high, 34 fishes!! just started Red Sea Reef program too see if it helps..any suggestions?

Thanks bro..yip it is a very nice specimen which was spotted by my wife & son. Nice meeting u & Terry is w u, right? His hawaii sunburst zoa is in my tank! Nice Yellow & Orange Kuda Seahorse. U have a Seahorse tank, easy to keep?