yikai

update on the multibar pair. one of them have slight ich but it's understandable since i did not want to QT them. QT them might cause more harm than good anyways... such delicate fish i don't want to stress them in a bare bottom QT. straight into a tank with plenty of liverock is the best solution one of them is feeding very very aggressively on mysis. fighting the waves from the tunze 6105 to feed on mysis even. this fella is in good shape and very alert. the other multibar is more sullen and prefers hanging underneath it's cave. it's not feeding yet and not as active compared to it's partner. i won't worry yet since i saw both of them feeding in the LFS. so i hope it's just a matter of time. taking into consideration i just introduced them yesterday also.

ok it's still quite nice.

this is nonsence. about.com is not a reliable site for reef info. this is untrue for nitrates. even more untrue for phosphates. refer to my first post.

lol no lah unfortunately that's all i know for this snail. i don't know what it eats.

it is. very nice!

it's a tiger cowrie.

hey wilson regarding that beautiful chromis, the vanderbilt chromis, it's not 3 red notes. it's only 2 gold coins. coral farm aunty mis-ID it. but it's a very sensitive chromis so handle with care if you want to get it.

i always see the one without stripes..

wetmorella i always see at ahbeng. but i never see the triocellatus before. that 1 is my favourite. btw, the vanderbilt chromis. is it very very nice and vibrant with yellow and blue as seen in photos? i'm afraid this is one of those fish that will look greyish in our tanks because of their small size and non-wild settings.

ok no problem. if you really like it then keep it bah haha. i've kept laboutei before and mine was a huge alpha male. very fierce but i sold to earth when i decomm. as for lineatus, i never kept before but i see them so much these days that i'm contented. so if you don't want to sell afterall it's perfectly fine. wetmorella triocellata? the possum wrasse with the white stripes? omg i love that fish. where you buy from.

oo.. ok then i will get the vanderblit chromis next time. ok i will get the roseafascia next week. lineatus and laboutei i let you know when i go to your place can? must check if i have enough money first because the MH are coming next weekend also. i don't know if i should stock so many fish so soon after my weird "cycling". but should be fine.

i see. hope they start feeding soon. i should try live brine

how much did you buy the vanderblit chromis? you said around 2 gold coins in your sms. can i collect the roseafascia next weekend? my school starting tomorrow so won't have time until weekend

there are alot of threads on hypo here. you should really go and do a search for faster answers. hypo CANNOT be done on invertibreates and corals. only fishes. put your fish in hyposalinity of 1.010 or 1.011 and keep it there for 3 weeks. do not put liverock inside. do regular water change to keep the ammonia 0 and nitrite 0. also, not all fish respond well to hyposalinity. must read up on individual fishes before carrying this treatment out.

more pictures of the multibars. picture very grainy. sorry bout that.

the blennies are in my sump. they are not feeding yet, and terryz one also not feeding. how are yours? no news from RB or GBD. i emailed them at 3am last night so i will wait a few more days. it's the weekend afterall.

yes finally saw it for yourself huh? nice right haha. hmm.. yeah the multibar is a difficult fish but definitely not as difficult as colini and golden. the good thing is both are feeding, and being first to be introduced should give them a giant headstart. the entire 183 gallon tank with 70kg of liverock is all to themselves now. this time, there's no excuse for death. they're in a tank with proper circulation and skimmer, feeding, peaceful setting, tons of liverock. my only fear is not being able to feed them in a big tank without over-flooding.

the "dirtyness" is contributed by your livestock. how big is your tank? the more fishes you have will contribute to how much waste your skimmer produces. of course, 2 fishes in a huge tank and 2 fishes in a tiny tank is different. so what kind of fish, and how big your tank is, is important.

yup. zebra dartfishes are common. however, they are very jumpy and easily frightened. so a hood is needed as well as fairly peaceful tank mates.

yes. we're just testing for the level of dissolved salt in the water, so any distilled water is fine. in fact, i used tap water. not advisable though but the levels of salt in tap water is negligible.

it's been more than a week and ammonia, nitrite is 0 since day 1. despite 6 market prawns. no spike in ammonia and nitrite for more than week. There's an abundant bloom of pods on the rocks and glass which indicates a healthy system so far. the remaining macroalgae on the liverocks which died off initially is regrowing back although slowly. i will soon remove them manually anyway or let my fish eat them up. cycling is technically over. why so fast? i still have no idea... It's safe to add fish now, although i would usually wait a week or two. this time i threw caution to the wind. I added a pair of very special fishes today. It's not advisable to add such fishes so soon even after such parameters though. If need be, add easier fishes like chromis etc first. i believe i'm experienced enough to care for this particular fish so i'm willing to take the risk. besides, it's not everyday you chance upon a feeding pair and they usually don't hang around in the LFS for long. btw, they're stable and feeding at 1 week old after shipping. here's a sneak peek. they're feeding on cyclopeeze and frozen polychaete worms already (-:

apogon compressus! yes they are very pretty with the giant blue eyes. seldom see it in LFS. the past 2 shipments at iwarna had many of them though.

to calibrate a refractometer, place a few drops of distilled water and then look through. use the screwdriver to adjust until it hits 0.000 sg.

ok. yeah. of course eating pellets will definitely help them fight the ich off better, and with good immune system, they will resist ich naturally

phosphate definitely. above 0.03 ppm will kill corals. phosphate prevents calcification of corals and will kill them. nitrates, even at 100ppm, corals will still be fine, although abit stressed. have kept nice and successfu reef tanks with 50-100ppm of nitrates. however, such high nitrates are no good for SPS. it might kill them or turn them brown. for LPS and soft corals, it's fine. of course, best not to hit such high levels of nitrates. for normal LPS and softies, 10-15ppm is fine. SPS, maybe go less than 5ppm