albinosage

LOL you see wrongly is it? I thought the "bubble deflector" looked like a scoop of ice cream too, it is actually a plastic measuring spoon. The foam just reminds me of shampoo haha. Yah the water level has to be kept constant, if not it will become very noisy if there is too much or too little water. Even the water displaced by sticking my hand into the tank can cause the gushing air sound. Where did you place the sk-05 skimmer? I have this impression that it is oversized, could be wrong

My humble little contribution, skimmer cup modification for Tunze 9002 nano skimmer to fit JBJ 24G nanocube (or similar IOS covered tanks). Pics reposted from my tank thread. The problem with most IOS nano tanks is that you can't get a decent skimmer that can fit inside the back compartment. From memory, the space of the largest compartment at the back is 15cm X 8cm. I tried the Boyu 308 skimmer, but it produces a lot of heat and very diluted skimmate, might as well not use it at all I read about the Tunze 9002 being one of the best commercially produced nano skimmers, and had a chance to buy it cheap 2nd hand, so i decided to get it, since the body fits inside the back compartment nicely. The collection cup is 13cm in diameter, so It can't fit in the tank with the canopy closed. SteveT from mediabaskets.com does a custom collection cup that fits in the back, but for $80 inclusive of shipping, it is a bit too much to pay for a few pieces of acrylic. DIY cup next to the original one: What you need: 1. Tupperware or any container that has a width or diameter of less than 8cm, as that is the size you have to deal with in the back compartment of the tank. 2. 1/2 tbs measuring spoon (those for cooking). 3. Silicone sealant 4. Dremel or any rotary tool. Basically, you just need to chop up the original collection cup to get the shaft (the transparent tube), cut a hole in the bottom of the tupperware, then stick it through and seal up the gap with silicone. Drill 4 small holes in the cap, and for the bubble deflector, I glued on a chopped off measuring spoon. I don't have any work in progress pictures, so I'll just let the pictures do the talking: The bubble deflector is supposed to break up the foam and direct it into the bottom of the cup, as opposed to clustering on the cap as seen in the image below: Bubble deflector glued onto the cap: Foam produced after 1 hour: Skim mate collected after 7 hours: Pic of the skimmer with cup fitting into the back of the tank: Total cost: $1

Wah don't suan me leh, you buy deltec skimmer yet no money to buy kopi, so that makes me too poor to even buy ice kosong HAHAHAHA

Don't bow to me leh, you are the one who gave me the idea to drill air vents

Latest FTS, from another angle to show the rock structure: Miscellaneous shots that don't really show anything: Seahorse and Zoa... Left side of the tank...

Added another mod to my DIY skimmer collection cup: Bubble deflector. In total, the entire collection cup costs me less than $1 to make! Having the deflector really helps create more skim mate, as the foam is deflected to the sides and down the shaft. Previously, the foam just rises and rises until most of it hits the cover and burst and go back down the shaft. Here is a crappy artist's impression of how it is supposed to help (Very bored and free yesterday lah ):

LOL! I thought transvestites don't hang out there anymore? Nevermind, I don't need to know. HAHAHA. Skimmate fetish eh? Hahaha. 7 hours of skimming:

Wow bro, very nice pics. I hate to keep repeating myself like a parrot, but your tank is really gem filled. I always like to see nano tanks "carpeted" with colourful zoas. No wonder you have no need for a sand bed LOL. Your photos are also razor sharp, puts my dslr to shame

Wah, good question, I'm asking myself that also LOL! I seriously have no idea. I think it's a combination of biohome as bio media, chaeto, low bioload, controlled feeding with minimal wastage, weekly water change of 20%. Also, I cycled my tank properly when I started, and have been very disciplined in introducing fishes slowly, giving the denitrifying bacteria a chance to grow steadily. Started using my Tunze skimmer yesterday night, within 10 hours, there's 60ml of chinese tea coloured skim mate. The performance is really superb for a nano skimmer, considering the only other nano skimmer I ever used was a Boyu, which took 1 whole week to collect the same amount of skim mate that's almost clear coloured. Thick bubbles are also produced almost instantly, overflowing into the collection cup. Here's some pics from this morning, 10 hours after operating:

Blue Planet by BBC.

So fast itchy for a new tank liao? hahaha. I just did some finishing touches on my skimmer, gonna start using it this weekend, will update if it's a success. How high is your bioload? You keeping 20 fishes is it? lol I find that mine is okay, with 5 to 6 fishes, my nitrate is between 5 to 10 ppm, now it's 20ppm, I suspect a snail or something died somewhere, causing the nutrient spike. Yup, close to 3 digits, waited quite long to find the right size, so just buy, didn't think hahaha. Had a chance to buy one a couple of months back at less than 2 red notes, but too bad, it was too big for my tank. Anyway, I'm sorry, the frag I promised you disappeared already, in fact the rest of them lost their colour Yes yes please hahaha. Pm-ed you, will probably get it done early next month when I'm free. Now you know where my GST credit is going haha. It's a red bubble tip anemone, much bigger than a ric, I think the angle makes it look like la haha. Thanks for the offer, I kind of solved the problem by doing water changes and removing a thin layer of sand to prevent the spores from propogating. Damn kek sim, to see my pristine white sand bed turn brown and red haha. I think must be the weather and especially scorching sun, the fresh water and marine tanks in my office also kena algae bloom.

Borrowed the DVD twice from the library, but never had the chance to finish it. Watching now

My pricey little anemone — another ninja, each time it settles in a nice spot and I want to take photos, it will move around and find a new spot Clown fish doesn't want to host on it, but this guy is quick to move house hahaha!

A pic of an old but seldom seen friend, the marble star: Pregnant cleaner shrimp hanging on the flat live rock with the only survivor of the zoa pox, sneak preview of my next purchase at the left corner : By the way, does anyone know how to get rid of the red bamboo permanently? They are growing out all over my live rocks... sian....

Another one of my purchases.... Wait, what's there? Nassarius snail, bought a pair of them, sneaky like ninjas!

This is the purple fire goby finally nursed back to health: The constant scowl on his face is almost like he's still pissed off at having a near death experience Pictures are a bit blur cos he's quite tiny, about 1.5 to 2 inch in length. Looks damn cute la, no wonder it is so popular. Reminds me of an angry transvestite with badly drawn lipstick hahahahaha! The decision to sell the blotchy anthias was a no brainer, even though it is much more expensive than the goby and I waited very long for such a beautiful and healthy fish — I always side with the underdog

Been very busy lately Quite a few changes and events happened to my tank, so I'll just update on what's missing first, pics coming up later. 1. Lyretail Hawkfish migrated to a bigger tank in the office. 2. Yumas not doing well, some melted or lost their colour 3. Lost the eagle eye and most of the yellow zoa colony to fungus 4. Introduced a purple fire goby to my tank. 5. !!!!! 6. Eaten up by the blotchy anthias 30 minutes later! *%@#&$% Managed to rescue the purple fire goby by chasing the anthias around the tank and eventually goby was spit out (goby's head was sticking out of the mouth). Housed the goby to the office while I looked for a new owner for the blotchy anthias. I also had a fight with red slime algae the past month, my nitrate seems to have doubled ever since I stopped doing water change with NSW and used salt mix instead . Maybe the natural bacteria and micro organisms in the NSW promotes a healthier system than with salt mix.

To suck out the sand completely to wash is a bit extreme. The flying sand and particles when you siphon them out and put back in will stress the fish and corals. Actually there is no need to clean the sand so thoroughly, because the sand bed, no matter how shallow, does house denitrifying bacteria, which will clean the sand for you. If you take the sand out completely to wash, you are killing the beneficial bacteria, and the resulting die off may cause a spike in ammonia or nitrate. Problems like diatoms or algae only affect the top layer, so your cleaning routine can include siphoning the sand lightly to get rid of the gunk. I usually do this when I'm changing water.

LOL... Can't bear to part with it, but he has been threatening to eat his smaller tank mates, now they are all hiding.

Considering selling this little bugger off, since I intend to introduce some smaller fishes to my tank, and he doesn't really like newcomers to the tank Fish is about 3 inches long from head to tail, very nice and vibrant colours, no broken fins. Asking for $60, the price I got it from bro thomas_lim about 3 months ago. Preferably collect tomorrow afternoon, if not I may change my mind since I'm quite reluctant to let it go. Please PM me your number if interested. Priority given to reefers I know, and I reserve the right to sell it to whoever I feel comfortable dealing with See pics attached:

Hey guys, before you get carried away, do remember that the primary purpose of Flatworm Exit is to kill flatworms. They release toxins when they die, not sure about nudis, but it's best to have carbon running and to siphon out as many dead critters as possible. Even the manual (or article I read somewhere, can't remember) recommends not to apply to main tank except when it is absolutely necessarily, best to do it out of tank, in a pail. Also, peacemaker bro, 3 drops a bit overkill lah haha, I usually add just 1 drop per 3 litres of water in a pail, or 2 drops per 5 litres, can add one drop of lugol for extra kick haha. The stuff is really lethal, keep spinning your wrists in a washing machine motion while holding the rock upside down, you will see them all drop off within seconds. $20+ can probably last a nano tank a lifetime haha. For best results, do it in a white pail. Why? For contrast so that you can see clearly exactly how many of those little b**tards drop dead hahahaha.

Randomly googled for worms and found this: Worm cucumber?

Actually they take on the colour of the zoas they are feeding on so that they can blend in between the skirt. I'm guessing you'll find the rest of his family in your yellow zoa colony hahaha.

Haven't seen anything like it before, but I hope you isolated it or got rid of it

Bought it from T95 right? Saw it on shipment day, thought that creatures like this should be left in the sea where they belong. I don't think it is possible to sustain long in a captive environment