comycus

like that then maybe can share some of my 'research' for you to build upon. Although I'm not an Arctica user, based on the few replies I got from the bros here, their chillers kick in on average 5-8 hours per day. This is for those who have got oversized chillers to chill their tanks. For example, on average, my 1/5 Teco takes 6-7 hours to chill my ~80G worth of total water daily. Of course better brands should have more efficient chilling that leads to either lesser electricity consumption, shorter cooling times or both. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps you in your research!

save everyone some trouble http://www.jbjlighting.com/pdfs/AquariumSeriesManual.pdf DBA-075: 450W Although the specs listed are for 115v, 240v can't be that far off to like 75W. btw, in my experience, estimating electricity bill for running the chiller should only be used as a ballpark figure, because it is hard to estimate the amount of time your chiller kicks in and how long it takes to chill your tank. Many factors are involved here including number of pumps used, heat generated from these pumps, lighting used, lighting period, ambient room temperature, evaporation rate etc. Every tank will be different. The best way to estimate your costs is to monitor the chiller at work in your tank for a couple of days. That said, if you are considering whether to buy Arctica chillers, other factors such as peace of mind with using a good brand, excellent after sales support with 2 years warranty and cleaning services should come in. With so many reefers satisfied over using them speaks much about it. btw I'm a happy Teco user, not an Arctica fan. and I apologize in advanced if I'm assuming too much by thinking you are considering buying an Arctica.

bro, fowlr or reef tank? Fowlr tanks typically have a larger load with less pristine water quality. 2 tangs are prob the max a 3ft tank can handle, these fishes actually do better in systems 4ft and above. In fact, one large BT alone will not do well in 3ft. Can refer to bro dnsfpl's thread. My suggestion is to stop stocking for the next 3-4 weeks to let the system stabilise first so the bacteria has time to grow and accomodate with the higher bioload (tangs poop alot). Tangs get ich really quickly, in fact if your tank is new, and you didn't qt your tangs, I'm pretty sure the chances of them getting white spots quite high. For myself, I'm planning to stock up my 3ft with only 8-10 fishes, average 3-4 inches/fish at full adult size. I suppose some reefers like to overstock their tanks with anywhere from 15-20 fishes, using oversized skimmer, and battling to maintain good water quality. Its really up to you. For me, I subscribe to "less is more"

Anyone seen stock for banggai cardinal and royal gamma?

Luminous bubble! Moon coral Lastly, my fav n most expensive coral to date... Open brain! Think its a Wellsophyllia

New corals added to the tank over the past 2 weeks... Rpe Zoas True Octo (v. luminous tips, looks really pretty) came with a really nice looking feather duster thingy at the side. Will this grow fully? Can anyone tell me what's the scientific name of true octo and share how to care for it? Neither google nor liveaquaria has matches on 'true octo'. Its currently residing on my sandbed, hoping to put it high up in a high flow area eventually. And is it a filter feeder too or solely light eater?

Didn't manage to get a tuxedo urchin. Got some normal pincushion urchin from AM last week. Its really cute! Its like the star attraction in my tank now, with its sticky needles scouring over the rocks. Doesn't look like it really helps with diatoms control... but I'm not really complaining. Constantly roaming ard the tank. To help me clean my sandbed, got a small sand sifting starfish from AM too. It's really efficient in cleaning half my sandbed. Dunno why refuse to clean the other half even when I push him over... So now I have nice white sand on one side of the tank and brownish dirty sand on the other side. Should I get a tigertail to help me out? Quite paranoid of them spilling their guts in my tank!

Bro your tank is coming out nicely. Hope the purple tang gets well soon! btw, thanks for the free frag! next time you just need to ask, can get any frag from me

if he has the $$$ and the passion to run the tank, I'm sure no problem will be too big he can't solve I guess this applies to everyone of us

Just wondering bro, since you are not going to use most of the stock equip tt comes with the JBJ, why not just get a tankmaker to custom build a tank for you??

Can try calling Victor from Irwana. He might still have stock. For Hydor no need to get the controller. It costs more than the mp20 alone! You just need to aim the wavemaker at the glass and having 2 wavemakers to mix the flows should be sufficient. Conversely, you can just get the mp40 if you're pretty sure you will upgrade in the near future. Saves you $, and since the flow rate is fully adjustable, you don't have to worry about too much flow. btw I just realised your Deltec would be way way overrated for your cube. There is some debate on up/downsides of overskimming, maybe some other bros can advice? Maybe switch off your skimmer for 8 hours in the day?

hehe mp20 just nice for sps...and when u upgrade to 5ft in future, can change controller to mp40 anyway, K2 alone not enough for SPS, but should be sufficient for LPS. If you decide you need more flow, can always buy another one later. The good thing of having 2 smaller wavemakers is the ability to create random flow. (and if 1 decides to shut down for no reason, at least still have another one)

Although LED's expensive 1st time cost, in the long run should actually incur cost savings. While LEDs still considered new in the mkt, think many bros here have experienced good coral growth, even for SPS. I'm still praying and hoping tt LED prices will drop eventually as suppliers mass produce high powered LEDs. I don't think T5 comes in 1.5ft configuration. Prob either stick with MH alone or have to supplement with a 2ft actinic. Or supplement with 1 strip of Aquaray reefblue?

Is it just my computer or the swimming fishes under everyone's avatar has disappeared and has been replaced by boring blue squares?

Sory bro, i meant unless got ceiling height constraint, a 250W MH can provide your tank with sufficient light for 24". Gives you more options with coral placement and the extra height won't eat too much into your budget. I would start with a Hydor K2 and maybe add another K1 or K2 later when needed. That said, I really love my MP20! Depends on how much you want to indulge yourself Pls check your old equipment to make sure they are still in working order yeah? These things have a tendency to spoil when left alone collecting dust in the storeroom. Cheers!

Use kitchen towel n drag over surface Switch off your pumps and wait for the water to become still then do it. If possible, tilt your return pump upwards to agitate your surface. Could be a circulation problem, your tank flowrate too slow or water not circulating enough for your protein skimmer to do its job. Maybe re-adjust ure skimmer settings to skim more.

omg the lighthouse is actually a skimmer too!?!? haha I also want then when the light gets dimmer you know tt your skimmer cup full liao lol

tilt one of your powerhead/wavemaker to agitate the surface. I thought your tank has overflow? Shouldn't have this problem as it acts as a surface skimmer too. Just get the surface skimmer la. The China made ones are cheap and work as good as the eheim one.

commonly found in most LFS. I saw a couple at AM and Reborn last week.

I think 16" height is too short. should have no problem with 24" since your're planning to use MH. Your sump should be 22x20x16. Unless you have somewhere else to store your sump, I don't think your bottom cabinet will be able to accomodate that size taking into account the cabinet frame. Taking into account running costs like salt, water, carbon, phos remover, electricity, running a 2ft will prob save $$ marginally, think the standard advice is to get the biggest tank your pocket can afford. I agree with AhSiang, just go with Skimz. Many members here use it with good results. Have to watch your sump space though, I've read in quite a few bros posts here that sump space is a major constraint for 2 ft cube. Personally I prefer an external overflow. Easier to aquascape. btw, really nice sketches! What software did you use?

errm can ask stupid qn? How do u 'place' food on the coral? i tried to squirt ard the area n it just floats away (my vortech was already on feeding mode), worse was my hands touched the coral then the tentacles retracted.

hmm bro got check all ure water parameters? maybe something else other than no3 also off...

~35 blue notes after shipping.

yupz CF has quite a few true percs. Went last sat morning and there was 1 really cute mated pair as well. Expect at least 2 blue notes or more.

I'm currently using TMPCC dip for all new corals. Think it is harsher on corals, but some ppl do swear by it