albinosage

Have you seen the size of their mouths when fully opened? Scary leh hahaha.. Mine was only 2.5 inch, but I think it can swallow a triple A battery, if not a double A I agree with you that they grow very slowly, and mostly keep to themselves, but their predatory nature shouldn't be ignored.

Dettol hand wash, followed by dishwashing liquid, especially if I was handling zoas before that.

It didn't disturb my bta, I sold it off a few weeks before buying the anemone. You should see the size of its mouth when fully open, can fit a AAA battery inside haha. Anyway, the blotchy anthias is predatory by nature and grows up to 8 inches in the wild, don't know if anyone has ever kept them long enough to reach that size. I think this is a rare 15cm piece that was sold some time back:

Careful with the blotchy anthias, it is carnivorous, will eat small fish and shrimps, especially your clown goby. It almost ate my purple goby which was about 2 inch long! Saved it just in time cos it was too big to digest quickly. Best to keep it with similar sized or bigger fish.

Chiller sold, thanks for the interest and inquiries. Just a footnote: Reason for selling is that I bought a new chiller. Not due to this chiller being faulty or not performing well. Dunno why so many people sounded so incredulous as if there is a catch somewhere

Everyone do yourself a favour and remember to add the word "fish" when you google image search for "nak*d clown fish" OMG my eyes... the horror.... :shock:

Ah okay okay, must be the same thread I saw. The pic couldn't be linked

I actually seen pics of a pom pom crab carrying a mushroom. Mine carried a polyp of zoa for a while till it died weeks later, at the moment, it is bare clawed.

Not just deep sand bed, anaerobic bacteria grows in dark oxygen deprived places I think. Blacking out a sump compartment and filling it with liverocks or bio filter media also does the trick I think. In fact the instructions on Biohome recommends that you place them in a dark place.

I think as long as the water is circulating with the help of wavemaker, don't have to worry about filtration if it is for a couple of days. Live rocks is a bio filtration medium too.

Nikon brands their macro lens as micro, probably a typo that lasted 50 years haha.

Actually a decent focal range should be sufficient for tank photos considering that cameras now, even phone cameras, can come with a bajillion megapixel sensors. I normally use a 17-35mm lens, and the pics in this thread were cropped to show the subject. I don't have a macro lens cos I don't have a need to shoot stuff like this on a regular basis :

105mm Micro

Yah I like it a lot, very versatile haha. Just hang onto any container, instant quarantine tank.

This is where I store my NSW: The Eheim hang on filter keeps the water running and fresh, and I've got a small bag of biohome that has already been cycled inside, so anytime I need to isolate a fish, I won't be caught off guard.

Nothing better to do, and I had a macro lens on loan last weekend: Damn sian hor? Always take picture of the same few corals. Should go shopping soon.

Wah, really nobody want ah? Chiller disconnected, wiped down and ready for collection. Spanking new temperature controller which cost me a bomb (relative to the cost of the chiller). Hole drilled for the external temperature sensor: The broken snap I mentioned in the first post. Doesn't affect the function, the grill still snaps into place firmly. Price is slightly negotiable. PM me to discuss.

Yup, siphoning out water from the middle of the tank before moving stuff around and setting aside is a good idea, the water will be a lot cleaner. Not just for "moving house", I do that even when doing water change, the water can be used to compensate if I calculate wrongly and don't have enough new water. I also keep the water running in a container, can be used as emergency supply if I need to quarantine livestock on short notice.

I bought it 2nd hand here from another reefer. If it's bought brand new, I won't have the heart to chop up the collection cup like that haha

1. How many PPM of Nitrate is safe in aquarium? Depending on what livestock you are keeping.. Fish only tanks or with soft corals can tolerate a higher level of NO3, I'd say 20 to 40ppm(?) is a safe gauge, although I know of people who are able to maintain a thriving reef tank despite NO3 levels of up to 100ppm (Yes lemomlemon, I'm talking about you haha). SPS corals will require clean water, undetectable NO3 and PO4. 2. Read a post that if all NH4, NO2 and NO3 are zeros during new tank cycling, it could be that the tank never went through ANN cycle. Is it true? It's like a bell curve, all the measurements will start off at zero, then when the rotting organisms break down, NH4 will rise, peak and fall to zero, followed by NO2 which will start to rise, peak and fall after NH4 disappears. After NO2 is undectable and NO3 peaks, the tank is considered cycled. If you are unsure, you can throw a piece of prawn meat to see if there is a noticeable presence of NH4 or NO2. 3. Since Nitrate is the final product of ANN cycle, will it finally reduce to zero? Today is the 18th day of my new tank cycling, the NH4 is 0 (first measure was 1PPM), NO2 is 0.1PPM (it was around 0.3~0.8PPM) and NO3 is around 5~10PPM (it was around 20PPM). Can I say that my tank has completed the cycling and it is ready for LS? NO3 is unlikely to fall to zero while cycling because the bacteria required for that process can take a few months to colonise and mature. Usually after NO2 is undetectable, you should change out the water partially to export the NO3 (if it is too high), then you can start to add livestock slowly. 4. The filter wool is very dirty. Should I just replace it or clean it? I heard that it might contain beneficial bacteria? Is it true? The filter wool is a mechanical filter; it physically sieves out solid scum and dirt. The scum trapped inside will rot and become a nitrate factory if not changed regularly. It will contain bacteria, but it will also provide a constant source of food for them, polluting your water. 5. I have just measured my tap water using API NO3 test kit, the reading was 0. Read from forum that it is better to treat the tap water with Crstal Pro before pump it into the fish tank. Anyone has experience with this product? 3 stage or just single stage is good enough? No experience with this cos I don't use tap water, but I do know that tap water contains copper and other traces of heavy metal, I rather not take the risk of using it untreated. 6. What could be the source for the high NO3 in the fish tank? My existing 1 1/2 ft tank read >40PPM. How can I reduce it? Do a water change? As mentioned above, NO3 is a by product of the ANN cycle, comes from waste, your filter wool if unchanged could also be a NO3 producing factory. The bacteria that breaks down NO3 takes very long to mature and colonise the tank. Best way is to use an algae scrubber, denitrator, or a refugium with macro algae. You can also do water change to export the NO3. If you do a 25% water change, it becomes 30ppm, you do another 25% water change, it becomes 22.5ppm...

Chiller at $140 anyone?

Very nice tank bro.. For 8.5 months, I think it's decently stocked, not over stocked at all haha.

Bumpity bump! Still available. Just disconnected it from my tank today, cleaned and scrubbed ready for collection. Chills up to 2 ft cube or 3x1.5x1.5 tank. The upgraded thermostat will save you unnecessary kick ins, it costs me less than $10 in electricity a month

Bump for the weekend. $160 for chiller + thermostat + 4-5ft of 5/8" hose or best offer. Chiller is in great working condition. Will be disconnecting it from my tank today. PM me to discuss.

Currently reserved for Singleisure. Bro cdckjn, I don't think can use for 2ft tank, my tank is only 1.5ft and the light is maybe 15 inch long only