Singapore Reef Club

Reef Photography Tips & Tricks Ever wonder how in the world people is taking those amazing photography of their reef tank and corals on those social media? Today, I am going to share some tips & tricks about taking photographs of your reef tank, which you can learn about easily. As part of this hobby, taking beautiful and nice corals of your tank and being able to share it with your friends via social media is rewarding, however, due to the camera setting or lighting, taking a nice macro shot might not seem easy after all, if you do not know what you are doing. It might not just about your photography skills, but also, understanding how lighting and your camera setting affect the output of your shot. Taken with TG-4 without any filter or white balance Although I might not be a professional photographer, however, through some personal experience and trial and error, here are some of some tips and trick that hopefully can help you take a better photograph of your tank the next time. Underwater camera vs Camera phone We do not need to compare the specifications between a latest iPhone 12 Pro and an Olympus TG Camera specification, but most importantly getting yourself familize with the function of your camera or phone setting that you can play around with especially the color temperature setting which will affect the oversea effect of your photograph . Problem Most of the time, reefer will find that the photo that they are taking using their phone is either too blue or out of balanced, this is mostly due to the LED lighting which makes up of most of the aquarium lighting nowadays. Complementary color wheel So in order to solve this problem, you can either set/adjust your white/ balance or color temperature of your camera setting to warmer color to compensate the ” Blue” effect. Or else, thanks to the product available in the market, you can easily purchase a coral lens which usually makes up of a few color lens which will absorb its complementary color of the blue effect making it look nicer. This will allow you to capture the colors of the coral more accurately, try play around with the filter lens that come with it and you might get some amazing color of your corals that you didn’t know it exists. Coral taken without camera lens on a Iphone 12 Currently, there are many company brands that produce these types of camera lens, be sure to find one that fits your phone model. This small and simple gadget will make it convenient for you to take better photos on the go. Coral taken with camera lens on a Iphone 12 Exploring Underwater camera For those reefers who love to explore more in-depth and would like to take better quality photos, investing in an underwater camera would provide you the nearest take that you can find inside your reef tank. Yes , i mean inside your tank, as these underwater camera, for example, the popular Olympus TG series is able to submerge fully into the water for your underwater photograph. Not only does a underwater camera allow me to take pictures underwater ,it also has varies function that allow better photography underwater, for example the white balance setting allows user to auto-filter the blue light effect . For those using Olympus TG camera, i am going to share with you some tricks how to set the auto white balance easily . Firstly, point your camera to a clear white surface that has blue light background. Alternatively, You can also find place a white acrylic plate in the tank for the camera to be able to set the auto white balance. Press “Capture WB (Menu)” and save the setting! Setting the auto white balance function And thank god you only need to set this once, and the next time you take pictures with your camera, you can quickly select the filter effect and start taking imdiately. The image on the left is taken with an auto white balance function, and the image is taken without the white balance function Other than being able to take photo underwater, some of the underwater camera has a macro shot mode which enable you to take up close up shot of your corals enabling you to see all the fine details of all the colors /polyps ect . Closed up of macro image of zoas taken underwater Tips for Reef photography Now we have suggested ways that prevent your photos that get too “Blue” , the next thing that affects your picture quality is the glass wall barrier that come between you and the corals that could affect the image quality. Subject to the thickness of the glass, the pictures you take might tend to be blurry and not focused even when you are using a good camera. So below are some trips you can use to improve your photography. place your camera as close as possible to the glass or even touching it so that the autofocus function of the camera is not detecting the glass as the ” Object”. If you do not have any camera lens or filter, adjust your lighting to warm white or a more natural white lighting. 12k and 14k lighting is good for photography. Use an acrylic box, take your photo on top of the water surface. Stop all pump and wavemaker in the tank Do not use the zoom function unless necessary, as it will result in poorer quality picture. Camera Phone or Underwater camera? We make an comparison between using a cameras phone and a Olympus camera to see the difference. Image Captured using iPhone 12 Pro with a coral lens image Captured underwater, inside of the tank using Olympus TG-4 with auto white balance function Thank you for reading my article. I will share some of the macro shots taken below for everyone to enjoy! True Rasta taken using TG-4 My favorite dragon eye zoas Vampire Slayer taken using TG-4 Are you able to identify these three zoas? Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

The Reef Bully: Confession of a Misunderstood Fish By Gdiggers – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25121932 Have you ever asked yourself: “why is my fish such a jerk?” You are not alone. However, it’s costly and tedious to be a bully on the reef. Rather than lazing around in a corner, enjoy the sunlight, gentle wave, and the beautiful corals, the bully has to patrol the rocks endlessly, flaring the fins, and put up impressive colour display, chase, nip and fight some harmless new comers. The opportunity cost for reef bullies are extremely high, they have less time to feed; they use up more energy swimming; and they also expose themselves more to the potential predators. Then why would they do that? Let us consider the fundamental drive of life – to reproduce, and perhaps we can make sense of these “unreasonable” creatures. Purpose of Life In order to produce the next generation, reef fishes needs to be able to navigate through many challenges. It needs to avoid predators so that it won’t meet an untimely demise. It need to find sufficient food source to allow it to grow and become mature. It need to have an opportunity to spawn with another fish. Both parent fishes needs to be healthy enough to produce viable offspring. All these are life-and-death situations for reef fishes. Predator Evasion Let’s take about predator evasion first. On the coral reef, a fish can’t call 995 and expect some law enforcement to save them from a hungry grouper. Some fishes arms themselves with spines (like porcupine fish) or toxins (such as rabbitfishes), but most of the fishes are basically swimming McNuggets. For these fishes, the only possible defence is to run and hide. This need becomes more pressing as the fishes prepare to go to sleep, becoming completely defenceless and mostly unawares. Therefore a place to hide is critical for any reef fish. Losing the right to this shelter is tantamount to a death sentence to a hungry mouth. Wouldn’t the fish be very worked up if someone threatens to evict them? It’s a fight for live. https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/parrotfish-mucus-cocoon Feeding The next item on the checklist is food. The reef is teeming with life, but for fishes, food is nevertheless in short supply. Herbivorous fish, such as clown tang, has to take 17000 bites per day to eat enough algae for its growth needs. If there is competitors which feeds in the same area, the grazing pressure increases, and there is a risk of insufficient food for everyone. Therefore, reef fishes defends their feeding turf very aggressively, especially from those fishes which shares similar food source with them. By Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble – lined surgeonfish Acanthurus lineatus (striped surgeonfish)Uploaded by Amada44, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25253580 Reproduction Lastly, let’s look at the ultimate goal of the fishes, to reproduce and keep its genes in the gene pool. The right of breeding is hard earned in many reef fishes, clownfishes, anthias, wrasses among others. Many of these fishes are hermaphrodites. The ability to change sex maximizes the possibility of having spawning population in a particular site, it also allows selection to take place so that only the fittest individuals are able to reproduce. Therefore, the alpha and beta of the group have to constantly harass and suppress the smaller ones, minimizing the possibility that one of them will grow faster and bigger, and usurp their position. By Nhobgood – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15479601 In the Aquarium So, a fish have to behave aggressively not because they are born a jerk. They do it because it’s the only way for them to survive and reproduce. These behaviour are written in the genes from centuries of evolution, and it’s not about to change when the fish is moved into an aquarium. As a conscientious aquarist, we can’t change what the nature intends, but we can try the level best to mitigate some of these stressors, and hope for the best. Allow for correctly sized and shaped hiding place for every fish in the aqua scape. A cave will do very little to make a cleaner wrasse comfortable, while chromis would much prefer a colony of acropora rather than a pile of rocks. Provide sufficient food for the fishes, both in terms of grazing/hunting opportunities, as well as feeding of prepared food. Abundance of food will not remove the drive to defend a grazing ground, but it can potentially reduce such behaviour. Understand and provide proper social structure for the fishes we keep. For example, lyretail anthias lives in harems, where a dominant male keeps a group of females in check. The constant harassment prevents the females from changing to male. If the harem structure is absent, when an aquarist keeps a pair, for example. The harassment will be focused on a single female, which will have a higher chance of succumbing. Finally, understand that fishes are individuals. They can have their own quirks. As pet owners, we need to accept them for what they are, and do what we can to care for them. We must also understand that as fishes grow and mature, they needs may change, and be prepared to cater to the new needs. Author - @JiaEn

Review on the H2Ocean Skimmer Guardian DD skimmer guardian Not a hero we deserve, but a hero we need. Introduction. / Background As a fish lover myself, i tends to keep a lot of fishes in my reef tank, and which I am running a slightly higher wet skim setting on my 422 system to try to keep the water clean while controlling the nutrient in my system. However, the downside of this setting is that the skimmer cup tends to get fill up rather quickly which might cause an issue. Problem There will many a time, when I came back from work or waking up in the morning walking to the living room with a wet floor , that is when I found out that the skimate overflow again from my skimmer cup . Some might suggest that I try to place the skimmer inner to prevent it from overflow out to the floor, however the concern of the dirty skimmate flowing back to the sump tank causing nitrate or ammonia issue frighten me more. So what may happen when your skimmer overflows into your system or your floor ? – Your nutrient will go up (Ammonia,No2,no3,po4 and whatever dirty stuff inside as it’s left for days before clearing might get back into your system). – Floor will be wet . – Corals or fishes may be shocked for the sudden parameter change and could casualty if left unattented. – Wife won’t be happy Solution I came across this device DD guardian which seem to be able to help me on the issue and thus decided to try it out and write a review on it at the same time. Skimmer Guardian plug with sensor It is basically a very simple device with a power plug and with a sensor that is able to sense water level rising in the skimmer cup and cutting off the power supply to the skimmer when it hit the skimmer cup level preventing any overflow. Sensor It come with a magnetic sensor which make it easy to mount on any skimmer cup. I am not sure why they make the plug with a transparent casing which make all the chip board and wire clearly visible, but it look abit scary to me at the first look. Skimmer Guardian plug front Skimmer guardian front look For myself, it only took 2 minutes to set it up and running. Yes, some might say that this function can be achieved with use of an aquarium computer system like the apex, however comparing the price of getting a full aquarium system vs this simple device, I think the choice is rather clear. So far for the past one week of operation, it has help save me twice from shutting off my skimmer in time thus preventing me from mopping the floor , and getting scolded by my wife for a wet floor.. Hurray once again the day is saved, thanks to SKIMMER GUARDIAN! Summary So thank you for reading this short review on this product. Now I’m able to go home in peace of mind every day knowing that I do not need to worry about an overflow skimmer anymore. Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

Specialised Aquatic Shop Tour Dec 2020 As part of our #supoprtlocal and #locallfstour episode, we will be doing our tour around Singapore to share with you guys some of the highlights and features of the LFS that we visited. Hopefully, you will make full use of your visit when you are there ! And not forgetting our LFS video tour too on our Youtube channel. Please subscribe and support our reefing channel ( https://www.youtube.com/sgreefclubcom ) While we have a video to showcase what is happening in SAS – Specialise Aquatic Solutions, I highlight some of the “Did You Know?” to bring you some of the shop highlights which maybe you Might not know. So… Did You Know that all the corals in their display tank located near the cashier are actually available for sales too? Yes! You might have noticed these beauties in their display tank, however, not knowing that these are available for sales too ! The best thing is that the price remains the same even if it starts growing bigger or conditioning better, isn’t it a great deal? I am surprised about this too! So maybe on my next visit, I will probably walk towards the display tanks first to check out their livestock, before heading to their livestock holding area as most probably I might find a Gem there. Below are some of the coral display in their display tank. So remember the next time when you are there, be sure to check out what is available in their display tank as well, and not forgetting the Dec promotion is still running as well. Below are some of the live stock selection taken during my recent visit. For updates of weekly livestock shipment of all LFS in Singapore, don’t forget to subscribe to our Telegram broadcast channel Here ==> https://t.me/sgreefclub And not forgetting to check out these promotions that are on-going in the month of December! Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

Driving the Reef Aquarium like a Car Consider this, what does it take for you to keep the car on the road? You right foot is pressing on the accelerator, your hand is steady on the wheel, your eyes are taking in the sights around you while checking if there is any obstructions. This is how you can keep your reef aquarium too. Ok, maybe not this car. The Accelerator For a car to keep its cruising speed, one must step on the accelerator just enough. When the road goes uphill, step a little bit harder, when the road goes down hill, let go a little bit. Keeping the speed of car constant in real life often means we make constant, small adjustments. This is true as well when we are trying to maintain a miniature ecosystem in our reef aquarium. An easy to understand example is use dosing to achieve stability of kH in a reef tank. Dosing supplements into the aquarium is like holding down the accelerator; and just like driving we need to do it consciously. T. Maxima in the reef (CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28742) When you look at your aquarium, and see that many SPS has shown new growth tips. Should you wait until the scheduled water test to find out it’s impact on kH? When a fast growing clam suddenly closed up tight for a few days, should you reduce your dosing, or keep things the same? Just like a good driver gently accelerates before approaching a ramp, we reefers can adjust our maintenance to keep things stable. Another important pedal for our aquarium is that of the nutrients. Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Organic compounds. Reef nutrition is a complex topic, but suffice to say that if we adjust our maintenance based on the reality of the aquarium, stability is not difficult to achieve. The Accelerator (II) All these are well and good, but where are the accelerators for my reef tank? Just like how you wouldn’t go for a road trip when you can’t find the accelerator and the brakes of your car, not knowing how to control the various parameter of the reef aquarium is a recipe for disaster. Phosphate Ion, Friend AND Foe of reefers How do I reduce kH? How do I increase phosphates? How do I reduce the organics? I believe as a conscientious reefer, we need to know where our accelerators are. When faced with an emergency, that would be the worst time to start reading the manuals. Another interesting thing about accelerators is, once you pressed on it, it doesn’t immediately produce the result you want. Want to go faster? sure, step on the pedal, the car will accelerate and reach a faster speed. Need a emergency stop? you step on the brake, but the car doesn’t stop immediately, it decelerates, and stop. Therefore it’s important to understand how long it will take before your action leads to change. Dosing kH supplement make take 15 minutes to register on test kits, but commissioning an algae turf scrubber may take a week or two to see the impact. While waiting for the effect of kick in, do not overcompensate. The Steering Wheel Even when the car is driving on a straight road, once in a while, the driver needs to nudge the wheel to keep it on course. The same is needed for the aquarium. Firstly, the elements in the aquarium must be in balance. Without going into too much details here, there are three important balance to consider. The major-elements (sodium, chloride, potassium and sulfate) The reef building ions (bi-carbonate, calcium and magnesium) The nutrients for life building (Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus) If the ratio is not maintained within reasonable range for these elements, undesirable things can happen. Therefore, even as the reef tank cruises along, we need to occasionally apply a light touch to the steering wheel, and correct any imbalances. What is the direction for your reef tank? Another decision on direction is how the tank would be run. As an aquarist, we can have an aquarium with barely detectable nutrients, or have an equally successful aquarium with elevated nitrates and phosphates. We can choose to have elevated reef building elements for faster growth, or we can have the alkalinity at natural sea water levels. Some aquarists strive for high input and high export when it come to nutrients, while others strives for efficiency. There is no one way to achieve success in reefing, and the steering wheel in your hand can point to your destination. Eyes on the Road When on the road, no doubt the driver needs to check the speedometer, but more importantly, the driver needs to keep his eye on the road. Only then can the driver be prepare for the dangers ahead, but also enjoy the view. As aquarist, observing the aquarium and the lives within not only is the process of enjoyment, it can also tell you volumes about the state of your aquarium. Did the algae on the rock become more dense because the tangs were not grazing as much? Does that mean the tangs were behaving abnormally? does that mean that tangs may be sick or otherwise stressed? What do the polyps say? Did the polyp extension of the corals become more prominent? Does this tell us that more food is available in the aquarium, or that the inorganic nutrients are lower? Did the color of the sand bed and glass change? Did the hair algae gets a dusting of brown algae on top of it? What does this tell us about the nature of nutrients in the aquarium. Who is the tank boss, who is the coward, who is the joker and who bullies who? Watch the aquarium more. That’s why we have one in the first place. A Pleasant Ride… Keeping an aquarium with understanding is not as straight forward as following a manual, but to me, it is definitely more rewarding. This article barely touched on some important reefing ideas, let’s discuss and improve, and enjoy this ride together. Author - @JiaEn

Water Test: Is yours working? Salifert Test kit – One of the popular aquarium water testing brand For many avid reef keeper, one of the favourite past time is to conduct water test. Since the fishes and corals we keep come from an environment which is very stable, it is meaningful for us to ensure our little water tank imitate the natural environment as much as possible. One of the common methods for us to get that peace of mind is to carry out various water tests. However, when you get a reading of 1ppm nitrate, or a pH of 8.21, or an alkalinity of 7.50 dkH, how much confidence should we have about the value? In this article, we will briefly look into different types of water test, and appreciate what they can (or cannot) do. Accuracy vs. Precision This is a topic which have been discussed repeatedly. In short, an accurate result is close to the actual value, while a precise result means different tests results are close to each other. Accuracy and Precision (By Pekaje at English Wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1862863) For instance, for an aquarium water with a pH of 8.2, a set of test results is {7.8, 8.6, 8.1, 8.0} can be considered accurate but not precise, since the tests averages to the true value, but the results are not consistent (repeatable). A different set of tests has a result of {8.4, 8.4, 8.4, 8.4, 8.4} for the same water. The second test is precise, but not accurate. It is far from the actual value, but repeatable. A test is meaningful only when it is sufficiently precise and sufficiently accurate for our needs. There is really not need to use a stopwatch to measure the time to braise a chicken stew. Only when we know the test conducted is suitable for our needs, then we can be confident in the result of the test, and then follow up based on the test result. Another character to consider is the resolution of the test. Resolution is the difference between the two adjacent values. Higher resolution allows us to differentiate two close values, but it does not imply accuracy or precision. Finally, there is the limit of detection. This indicates lowest possible level to be able to register a reading on the test. Again, this does not imply accuracy or precision, but if the actual value is at or near the detection limit, the test may be difficult to produce usable results. Water Test Techniques We shall look at different types of test briefly, so that we can understand the pros and cons of each of them. Inductive Coupled Plasma – Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) Triton ICP-OES, One of the many test providers ICP tests are currently held as the golden standard of water test. Believe it or not, it has a lot of similarities to the good old neon lights. Water samples are filtered and misted into a jet of plasma. This breaks down everything into individual atom. Different atoms in the plasma emit different wavelengths of light. By detecting the wavelength and intensity of light, we can deduce the amount (concentration) of different elements. It’s not hard to accept that ICP-AES process is extremely competent, but are there any caveats? Test protocol: Different test provider may use different protocol for sample preparation. This can affect what goes into the spectrometer. Atomic Level: The test is good at detecting elements such as phosphorus and potassium, but cannot detect ions such as bicarbonate (kH) and Phosphate. If an ICP test provide kH reading, it is done the same way as you, through titration. Detection Limit and Accuracy: Many elements in ICP are of very low concentration in the seawater, often below the detection limit of ICP-OES tests. In addition, the accuracy of the tests may be quite low in certain cases. So is ICP-OES useful? I’m not an ICP user, but I do believe there is value in the ICP testing. Not so much as to tell us that the copper level is 10.00 µg/l, but to high light glaring problems in the reef aquarium. In another word, use it, but know what it can and cannot do. Colorimetric Tests We now take a look at one of the most common test conducted by aquarists, the colorimetric tests. In essence, colorimetric tests make use of formation of colored dye. The intensity of the color can be linked to the concentration of ions to be tested. After mixing the sample and test agent, we just need to compare the color of the liquid to a chart, and find the closest match. Most of the phosphate and nitrate kits belongs to this category. Hanna Phosphorus ULR Colorimeter. Many reefers swear by this. There are some challenges inherent with colorimetric tests. More often than not, the color differences are minute at the lower range of the scale, and generally difficult to discern. Coincidentally, many of our interested parameters falls at this lower end. Another obstacle to quality test is the color perception of individuals, poor color vision can negatively impact the test result. The alternative to “eye power” is the colorimeter. A colorimeter shine a light though the water sample. Some light is absorbed, and the detector picks up the difference. This process eliminates the need for tedious color comparison, however, it also introduce a new set of problems. Bubbles, finger prints, water stain, scratches, all these can reduce the transmitted light into the detector, affecting the result. In addition, if a different cuvette is used for the reference sample, they must be optically matched to ensure accurate results. Titration Tests Titration tests works by slowly adding a standard solution (titrant) into a prepared test sample. The volume of titrant used when the color of the sample changes will tell us the concentration of the sample. With proper technique, titration is a very reliable test method. Most kH, Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium kits are titration based. Salifert Potassium Kit, based on the principle of titration Here are some tips to achieve reliable test results for titration. Prepare the pipette as carefully as possible. It’s normal to have an air gap between the plunger and the top of the liquid. However, it is not okay to have air bubbles in the liquid column. Use one hand to swirl the sample vial, while using the other hand to dispense the titrant. Take care to minimize titrant landing on the wall of the vial It’s sensible to add about 3/4 of the expected volume of titrants quickly. However, the last 1/4 or so must be added drop by drop. Mix the sample well after each drop, and follow the test kit instructions. some tests may show a color change, only to disappear when mixed briefly. The first drop of permanent color change is the end point of titration. That is where the test should end. It’s okay to add one more drop to ensure the color don’t change any further, but do not count the additional drop into your reading. Electrodes Pinpoint pH Monitor, a type of Ion Selective Electrode With the introduction of reef controllers, electrodes become more and more popular. Aquarists have been using temperature probes to control chiller and heater; conductivity probe to measure the salinity of the water; and pH probes to tune their calcium reactors. The discussion of measurement using electrodes is a daunting endeavor. Let’s just look at some points to note for this article. Most electrodes have limited life span. However, for some electrodes, they can be refreshed with a new membrane and filling liquids. Most electrodes need calibration with known standards. This ensure the reading is accurate. The electrodes needs to be routinely checked for calcium deposits, or algal and bacterial growth. Understand that there are inherent inaccuracy in signal processing, Do read up on the technical details if you can find them. Conclusion There are much more to discuss about water test techniques. For instance, to know more about refractometer, you can read up on this article by Leon. In any case, as long as we know the limitations of different tests we conduct, and know that they give us reliable enough results for our need, We can have the confidence that we are on the right path, water wise. Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

Bioload of an Aquarium: How much is too much? My fairly high bioload (ex-)aquarium How many fishes can I keep in my aquarium? Finding the limit of the bioload of our reef aquarium is a frequently debated question. On one hand, we don’t want to pack our fish tank like canned sardines. On the other hand, it’s nevertheless good to understand the limitation of our little glass box. If you ask our friend google, it’s easy to find suggestions such as “1 inch fish per gallon of water“. For an absolute beginner, it’s an easy to understand guideline (with a lot of caveats). However, for you, my dear reader, you deserve to understand better. I will not discuss how many fishes (or corals) can be kept in a reef tank. Rather, I would like to discuss about what is stopping you from keeping more and the chemistry/reasons behind it. This article touches on many topics, so buckle up! Challenges of High Bioload To answer the question about bioload, we need to understand the negative impact of an overly heavy bioload. When the bioload is too high, there are two critical challenges: The social dynamic of the reef fishes is compromised. This manifests as aggression, stress or neurotic behaviors. If there are too many fishes in the aquarium, the fishes are more likely to compete for food, hiding place and dominance. Therefore, undesirable behaviors are more likely to occur. You can read more about fish aggression in this article. The chemical balances of the reef water is compromised. In a closed system such as our reef aquarium, reefers make use of a variety of techniques to counteract the impact of shifting chemical balance. We strive to keep components (nutrients, reef-building elements, dissolved gases, etc.) of reef water within a range of acceptable values. When the change in water parameters outpaces the coping ability of the reef system, the aquarium may spiral out of control. A lot of unseen chemicals exist in this clear water The breakdown of the social dynamics and the water chemistry can cause the fishes to experience a higher level of stress. The affected fishes may turn aggressive or becomes withdrawn. The immune system of the fish becomes compromised, and the fish is more susceptible to infections due to overcrowding. This article, we will focus on the chemical balance of our aquariums. Chemical Balances Unlike in the open ocean reef, keeping a boxed aquarium is an enclosed system where Reef water is the immediate environment of marine lives we keep. Therefore the “quality” of the reef water in an enclosed marine tank is paramount for the success of the aquarium depending on our filtration systems and caretaking routine. When fishes and invertebrates eat, breath and releases wastes, the chemical balance of the water changes. We will look into three categories in this article. 1) Dissolved Gasses Hold your breath, count to hundred. It’s difficult isn’t it. It’s the same for the fishes in our aquarium. Concentration of dissolved gases in Seawater. We are only interested in the top 20 m or so. Respiration is the process of producing energy from food. Vast majority of living things relies on aerobic respiration for energy needs. When a fish goes about its daily business, it extracts oxygen from water, and release carbon dioxide at the same time. When the dissolved oxygen level in the water drops to a very low level, fishes will have labored breathing. In the most extreme of cases, fishes die due to asphyxiation. I vividly remember my trip to Tibetan plateau. Over there, the air is very thin at high altitudes. and the oxygen concentration is very low. For the first few days, I have to be very conscious about breathing. Even then, I experience headaches and fatigue due to lack of oxygen. I guess fishes in an aquarium with low dissolved oxygen would feel the same – not at all pleasant moment to be in. On the other hand, the released carbon dioxide presents a different challenge for the aquarist. Dissolved carbon dioxide ( C02 ) is in a delicate balance with bicarbonate and carbonate ions (alkalinity). The ratio of the three determines the pH of the aquarium water. Therefore when there is too much carbon dioxide in water, the pH level drops. This can impact the physiology of marine lives. 2) Maintaining Gas Balance So how do aquarists deal with these two parameters in check? Easy. We promote gas exchange. The law of nature dictates that matters will move from more concentrated area to less concentrated area. This is called diffusion. When we create a water-air boundary, diffusion can take place. Oxygen molecules enters water from air, while the carbon dioxide molecules does the opposite. If there is sufficient air-water boundary, the dissolved gasses will take care of itself. Simplified diagram representing gas exchange. A tank of water have very limited surface for gas exchange. Fortunately, we have some ingenious tricks to massively improve the situation. Water flowing down the overflow weir increases gas exchange. Protein skimmers creates numerous microbubbles. As a result, this vastly increase the air-water boundary. Good circulation using wave maker etc breaks the water surface and improve gas exchange. Keeping an algae refugium or scrubber take advantage of photosynthesis. This produces oxygen while consume carbon dioxide in the system. 3) Nutrient Balance Nutrient in reef is a complex topic. Perhaps we can discuss about this in detail later. For now, I would like to offer a simple approach towards understanding nutrients. Unsurprisingly, Reef Nutrition adds … nutrition Nutrients in the Reef What is precious and often fought over in the nature become an evil in our reef aquarium. Elements such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Carbon are resources on the natural reef. Fish, corals and invertebrates evolved to take advantage of what little nutrients available on the reef. For example, coral produces mucus, which is capable of collecting phosphates from surrounding water. As a result, the phosphate level in coral mucus can be more than 100 times of surrounding water. For this article, I will not discuss about what the ideal level of N:P:C is; or if the red-field/buddie ratio is applicable in our aquarium. Instead, I would like to look at the big picture of how we account for the nutrients balance in our aquarium. Chemical Engineering 101 When it comes to understanding how nutrient level changes in the enclosed reef aquarium, I find it sensible to apply a basic chemical engineering Concept. Input – Output + Generation – Consumption = Accumulation In the context of reef nutrients in aquarium water, for instance, nitrogen, we can think of it in the following manner: Input: How nitrogen is added into the system. Generally, nitrogen elements are added into the aquarium through feeding. At the same time, cyanobacteria fix some nitrogen from atmosphere. Output: Surprisingly, there are very few ways to directly export nitrogen from water. What little output there is generally comes from the action of activated carbon, water change, or polymer resins. Generation: When fish and coral carry out their biological activities, they produce nitrogenous wastes, such as ammonia. When microbe bacteria break down organic compounds or dead organism, some nitrogenous compounds are produced. Consumption: Lucky for us, most living things in our reef tank consume nitrogen in one way or another. Fishes consume the food we feed, taking up some nitrogen. Certain Bacteria, algae and zooxanthellae consume nitrate as they grow. These processes help remove excess nitrogen from water. Case Study I feed my aquarium a mixture of pellets and coral food, say, 4 grams of nitrogen per day. This is the input. The activated carbon and zeolite extracts 0.5 gram from the water per day. This is the output. Out of the 4 grams of nitrogen in the food, 2 grams are eaten by the fishes and coral. This is the consumption. The bacteria and algae also make use of the nitrogenous compound in the water. As the result, they increase their biomass by 1 gram of nitrogen. This is also consumption. Fishes release 0.5 gram of nitrogen in to water in the form of ammonia. This is generation. As the result, for this aquarium, the accumulation of nitrogen is: Accumulation = 4 – 0.5 + 0.5 – 2 – 1 = 1 gram Diagram illustrates the processes which increase (blue) and decrease (red) nitrogen in water This means the nitrogen content of the aquarium will increase by 1 gram per day. This also means, for a 500 L aquarium, the nitrate will increase by about 9 ppm per day. Hidden Cost of Nutrient Export Get ready for an “eureka” moment! If we can export nutrients simply by having more bacteria growth, does that mean there is no limit to the amount of nutrients a system can handle? If it sound too good to be true, it probable is. Unfortunately, There is a hidden cost for an aquarium to export these nutrients. Nitrobacter sp. One of the bacteria involved in nitrification. It consumes oxygen as it work. When bacteria breaks down organic compounds, they consume oxygen and gives out carbon dioxide. When bacteria make use of C, N and P to grow and multiply, they consume oxygen and give out carbon dioxide. The hidden cost for nutrient export is dissolved oxygen. We can have gazillion bacteria to help us deal with all the nutrients. However, when they consume all the oxygen in the aquarium, things will start to die, fast. Here we are, back to square one, the chemical balance of nutrients is ultimately limited by dissolved gases. This decides how many fishes and coral we can keep in an aquarium. Mineral Balances The balances of reef-building minerals are critical for corals especially so in an enclosed boxed aquarium tank. At the same time, they also have a measure of impact on fishes and invertebrates affecting their growth and health. In a reef environment, these minerals need to remain within an acceptable range. For a quick recap of these minerals, you can read this excellent article by Chun Wai. When coral consume these minerals, we must add them back into water. Some of the techniques adds back the consumed ions in a balanced way, while others may upset the ratio of ions in reef water. We shall briefly discuss some popular methods. Kalkwasser: this unbalanced method increases calcium and alkalinity, without topping up magnesium and other trace elements. it also increases pH slightly. The adding of kalkwasser depends on evaporation rate. 2- or 3-part dosing: this unbalanced method can increase major and trace elements. However, it has some impact on the salinity and ionic balance. Balling: this balanced method will not affect the ionic balance or salinity of the reef. Calcium Reactor: this balanced method will not affect the ionic balance or salinity. However, it tends to increase the dissolved carbon dioxide in water. This puts pressure on gas exchange. Back to Bioload We have covered quite a few topics in this article. Let’s return to the original question: So what is stopping us from adding more fishes? Mixing of microbubbles and water in a protein skimmer creates plenty of surface area for gas exchange My answer is : gas exchange. We need to maintain a reasonable level of oxygen, while removing carbon dioxide. We do this not only to ensure the fishes and coral will stay alive, but also in support of the nutrient cycles through bacteria. Therefore, I believe the rate of gas exchange is the limiting factor for the bioload in reef aquarium. Keeping this in mind, it makes sense to have a largest possible nutrient export method, for example, an oversized protein skimmer, or largest algae refugium; So that your aquarium has a higher limit for bioload. Author - @JiaEn

Behind the scene of coral importation EP:1 (How do we get our corals) As a hobbyist, we might always be wondering where and how coral is collected and imported into Singapore, landed in one of the local live fish shop (LFS) before it eventually ended up in our fish tank. We would like to take this opportunity to thanks coral fanatic that is willing to share with us the insight of the whole importation process , so we as the hobbyist can start to appreciate the work behind it. Beginning – Source of the corals Corals are protected by international CITES regulation against over-exploitation through international trade, and ONLY cultured corals or species that are deemed non-impact to the environment or post any threat of extinction are allowed to be collected. Indonesia is one of the major exporters of coral for the aquarium trade which make up of almost 71% of market share. Most of the corals found in the aquarium trade are either from the coral triangle or from Australi , Fiji and Hawaii etc.. A documentary on coral gardening by BBC. Importation of corals Shipping Corals are sensitive to temperature so shipping by air is the only possible way. As spoken eariler, hard corals such as LPS and SPS are heavily protected under the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Before a shipment can be arranged, the local Live Fish Shop will need to verify that all corals which are going to be imported come with a legal cities certificate, which is like a birth certificate of the corals which could indicate details such as genus, species sciencic name, name of the coral farm, location harvested ect.. Example of tags on coral which prove that corals is cultured This will follow up with the application of an import CITES permit application with our local governing authority NParks board. The process for approval could takes anywhere between two to four weeks before the import permit application is approved for import. Only upon approval, the LFS can arrange for a shipment date with the exporter to arrange for the shipment to be flown in . Once these details are finalized and freight space is confirmed, the exporter packs the shipment according to what was declared on the CITES and order. Upon shipment arrival in Singapore, this is when the race against time actually start! As corals has to be cleared from custom and bring back to the shop at the shortest possible time to protect the health/quality of the corals and toavoid any causality of the corals. The usual process usually involves the logistics staff/company that will collect and clear the cargo and bringing it for further cargo clearance inspection. However, in this particular instance, the staff from Coral Fanatics actually collected and cleared their shipment themselves to ensure that their coral is clear and arrived at the shortest possible time! Kudos to them for that !! Coral are carefully packed and labelled during shipment How many boxes can you see? How much coral do you think it contains in one box? Make a guess! NParks Qurantine station. The boxes are then transported to Changi Animal and Plant Quarantine (CAPQ) for inspection by NParks authorities to ensure that the species, genus and quantity imported are in accordance to what was cleared in the CITES import and export permit, before releasing the cargo to the consignee. Boxes of corals ready to be transported back for unpacking There is usually a minimum quantity set aside by the exporter of the corals, so it is almost impossible for the individual hobbyist to import it themselves taking into consideration, the space required to hold and keep the corals. And not forgetting the risk involved one has to undertake in the even that corals are death when you open it up, just image after going through all the tedious and expensive importation process that one has to go through and find out that corals are all DOA ( Death Upon Arrival ). So coral packaging is extremely important to ensure that all corals will arrive safely and healthy. Shipment arrived at Coral Fanatics And now the shipment arrived at the shop, and this is only when the hard work starts! As corals are shipped in a limited amount of water, it has to be removed and transfer to better quality water in the shortest possible time to avoid any casualty. Upon removal of all the corals from the packaging boxes, visual inspection as well as a simple coral dip and acclimatize process is carry out to ensure that all corals are healthy and pest free before releasing it into their display tank . Coral undergoing inspection during unpacking process Check out the color of these coral before it even put into the tank Coral unpacked and placed into the holding tank! Corals that arrived are usually left to settle down for up to 48 hour to check for any sign for stress or any un-healthy parts are removed or trim to protect those that are still healthy before finally releasing it for sales. Healthy coral that arrived safely usually start displaying healthy polyps and colors Once the corals are settled down, corals will be available for sales to the hobbyist and remember to do you own coral acclimatize and coral dipping and quarantine progress as well, as it is not 100% as eggs could be present in these wild colony. Want to be the first to know when is the next coral shipment from coral fanatics? Do remember to check out their section in the forum or their coral fanatics telegram group or else subscribe to our SRC broadcast telegram group which we update shipment of all various LFS in Singapore. And lastly don’t forget to contact them to reserve your favourite pcs of corals if you happen to see it as every pcs of corals that were imported is unique and chances are you might not see either the exact same species, colouration, or similar size anymore! So that is all for BEHIND THE SCENE EP:1 (How do we get our corals) and stay tuned for the next episode that is coming soon! Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

How to register SRC Forum Mobile. (IOS) Hey Guys! Today I will be writing down a tutorial guide on how to register on Singapore Reef Club Forum and also how to use Tapatalk to access the forum on your mobile as an app. Firstly that is few thing we need to understand. SRC Forum is a standalone forum that require an account to post or access to full features. Tapatalk is an app that is used on mobile devices that allows you to access all your online forums in one place. Once you install the app, you identify the sites on which you participate in forums (such as this one) and provide your login info to sign into the forums. Once signed in, you browse the forums and can post and reply to posts. Therefore in order to use Tapatalk to access SRC, you need a total of two accounts, (one Tapatalk, one SRC). *You can log in as guest, but your information might not be saved. Here is the instruction on how to download tapatalk and register. Open your App store. Search Tapatalk and click download. 3. After installing, open the app and you will see this page. 4. Click GET STARTED. 5. Click or search on anything you want to follow and click NEXT. 6. Select NOT NOW if you want to log in as a guest or you can create your own Tapatalk account (This is not the SRC Account). If you click Sign Up it will bring you to this screen. Key in your desire username and password and click Continue. This is the homepage of Tapatalk. Now you need to search for Singapore Reef Club Forum. On the top right side click the magnifying glass and search Singapore Reef Club. 7. Click Singapore Reef Club and press follow. 8. After you click follow, they will ask you to register or log in. This is where you must register an SRC Account to be able to post and access more features. ALERT: Unfortunately you will not be able to register SRC Account through Tapatalk App. Just simply use your browser like Safari and register your account through the internet browser. 9. Open your browser and register your SRC Account through your browser. If you have an existing account, just skip to Step 12a. 10. Click on the 3 Bars on the top right to Register/Sign Up which is shown on the next picture. 11a. You can link to your social media or manually key in your information for registration. 11b. Remember to click agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 11c. After you done register, you are require to verify your email address to access to full features. 12a. Now all you need to do is switch back to your Tapatalk App and log in with your existing Singapore Reef Club Account. 12b. You should be able to see the home page. 13. To know that you have successfully log in, just click on the 3 bar on the top right corner and you will see this photo shown below. 14. Congratulations! Welcome to Singapore Reef Club Forum. In summary Tapatalk account and Singapore Reef Club Forum account are two different accounts. You can log in Tapatalk account as a guest to access to Singapore Reef Club Forum with App. You are required to register Singapore Reef Club Forum account through your browser as registering through Tapatalk doesn’t work. Thank you for reading this article. Hope I am able to provide some help! Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

Protect yourself. Protect your tank. Do you get rashes when doing tank maintenance? Are you susceptible to dermatitis or eczema since you started reefing? This is a 2 part topic about wearing gloves when working on your tank. And about alternatives to using a bandage if you have an existing cut but need to touch tank water. We need to be reminded that the home aquarium is filled with bacteria & toxins Some may have heard of mycobacterium marinum, an infection that produces skin lesions that is very difficult to treat in humans. Palytoxin is another highly toxic poison from zoanthids & palythoa. Mild symptoms include rashes & numbness. But severe cases can lead to kidney failure & coma. Personally, I avoid putting my bare arms in the tank to minimize or even avoid transferring moisturizer & skin dirt into the tank. Avoid putting bare arm in the tank Most folks don’t bother with gloves. For many, it’s not an issue. This is what a dermatologist at National Skin Center said: “When skin is healthy, it has many layers to protect us. But when the barrier is compromised, we lose that 1st layer of protection. Bacteria & toxins can enter our bodies causing rashes or in more severe cases, poisoning. As we age, the surface layer of the skin (epidermis) thins out. Skin loses elastic tissue (elastin & collagen). Basically, it becomes more fragile as we age. This is an irreversible process. Salt in particular is very dehydrating and accelerates the degeneration of one of the most important organs of the human body – skin. Moisturize at least twice a day. While steroid creams can heal eczema & rashes very quickly, it is not to be used long term. Steroids thin the skin (same effect as aging process). Similarly, this is irreversible. Thin skin breaks easily. “ In this article, I will share some thoughts on glove products used. Disposable gloves are good options as most have a ‘tight fit’ – allowing you to feel what you are doing (e.g. Fragging corals or fixing equipment). If the gloves have a tendency to slide off, just use an elastic band or elastic Velcro strap (~20-30cm is good) to secure it. Nitrile gloves are my preferred choice of material for reefing use. Nitrile is short for acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber. This synthetic material is notably more durable & resistant to chemicals. The ‘standard blue’ gloves are about SGD$12 for 100 gloves Nitrile gloves come in different colours and thickness. Gloveworks for example are much thicker for added durability (to be used at workshops). Some have raised dimples for better grip. Prices vary. I always disposable gloves when gluing corals – better to get glue on the glove than on your skin. Vinyl gloves are made from PVC (a petroleum-based film). They are relatively cheap but less durable. Vinyl is less elastic than nitrile & latex, hence giving you a looser and more comfortable fit. I don’t like these for the hobby. Breaks too easily. Polyethylene (PE) gloves are most common in the food industry (food safe). They are about 75% cheaper than nitrile gloves. But they are usually quite thin & break easily. PE gloves are generally loose fitting & not practical for handling frags. There are full length PE gloves (up to the armpit). These are good if you need to dip your arm into the tank. Look for the thicker variant for veterinary examination but note they still break quite easily. For non-disposable gloves, a good quality one is Kimberly Clark Nitrile glove (G80) The picture below is the variant that reaches the forearm. They have another version that reaches the elbow. For more heavy duty and waterproof use, my favourite is the ATG MaxiDry. This is a nitrile coated glove. The palm side has a microfoam / non-slip grip. Its thick & very lasting. Snug enough to be able to use for fragging & gluing corals. There is a version that reaches the wrist (see pic). Good for general tank maintenance – mixing salt, washing wavemakers with acid. There is another version that reaches the forearm. For full length non-disposable gloves, these PVC gloves are very thick & durable. You often see them used by fishmongers. But the main issue is they are a one size fits product where the finger section is very big. Combined with the thick coating, you won’t be able to feel anything when handling small & delicate items. In general PVC gloves are not food safe. They tend to have a plasticky chemical smell. These gloves were good for washing rocks & dipping them in vinegar. Now I’ve repurposed them for showering the house cats (and to protect my arms from their nails) Full length latex gloves. I use these on a regular basis. These are aquarium specific and can be found at good LFS. It fits the fingers fairly snug & goes all the way to the arm pits. The ends near the biceps are broad and may slip down, so just use an elastic band to secure it in place. These gloves aren’t cheap. Take good care of them & they should last at least 6 months. As these are made of latex, some basic care is needed. Rinse off the latex powder before first use. Rinse the gloves with water or ideally with mild detergent, both inside & outside to prolong its life. If there is a need to use them when gluing corals, just slip a nitrile glove over it to protect the more expensive glove. I hope this article has been useful for you to down-select the right glove to get. In summary, the 3 must have are : Full length latex glove if you need to put your arm in the tank Nitrile disposable gloves for general use ATG Maxi dry for more heavy duty work And the option to combine the above for your application. Remedy for reefing related cut & wound injury Liquid bandages If you are using a normal bandage or plaster on an existing cut on your finger, you are likely to get it wet along the day (eg washing hands). On the other hand, waterproof plaster don’t seal all that well. Its worse if the plaster gets wet with tank water (risk of bacteria & toxins getting into the cut). Liquid bandages are something I tried the past year which works quite well. An alternative worth considering. WARNING : Do note the application process stings like crazy when the chemicals touch your raw wound. The 2 commonly found in the local pharmacy are LiquiPlast & Betadine Clear Liquid Bandage. Apply the 1st layer. Brace yourself (for the sting). Allow to dry. After 2 coats – a reasonably flexible & strong protective film is formed. LiquidPlast seem to use more solvent. It adheres to the skin better but is more painful during application. Betadine is more viscous & forms a thicker layer. It does not stick very well, so apply over a larger area. In general, both works well to give you the added protection from dirty tank water. Have a happy & safe reefing week ahead. Author - @SubzeroLT

Are you ready to start a Marine Tank? As a newbie in the salty side of the hobby, you might have heard people telling you that starting a marine aquarium tank is relatively expensive compare to a freshwater tank and it is hard to upkeep it. If you ever have thoughts of starting a marine reef or fish only tank and not sure if you are able to do so, in this article I will share with you more insight, tips and possible worst scenario and solution for you to judge if you are ready for the saltwater journey. Commitment Be it setting up a freshwater or saltwater tank, everything will always start with the level of commitment that you are willing to take. Are you be ready to take care of your new found hobby? What is the comfortable tank size that you are able to upkeep and maintenance on your own ? If not, are you be willing to pay someone to do it for you ? So what is like doing your own maintenance? Regular Maintenance usually consists of replacement, cleaning of the filter wool, conducting water parameter testing to ensure that all parameter is in check especially if you are keeping a coral tank, also ensuring that your fish are well fed with proper nutritional foods. If any of the elements is found to be out of range or imbalance during your routine water testing, you would need to adjust your daily dosing or supplement it to ensure it stay on the optimal level. What other preparation do I need to start a marine tank? I will break down most of them below. Will you able to find space to build a tank? Space / planning We are talking about the place and space that you are going to need and location where you are going to place your new tank. Are you planning to keep a reef aquarium or a FOWLR ( Fish Only With Live Rocks) or even a species only setup which could be seahorse tank, jellyfish tank etc.. Do you want a ready make tank or go for a customise setup ? How big of a tank do you want to have? What kind of fish do you want to keep? Knowing and planing these beforehand is important as not only it helps in your budget planning, it also determines the types of equipment that you would require later on. If you do intend to set up a fish only tank, what types of fishes do you intend to keep? For example, fishes like the tang family will require a tank size of more than 3ft to have plenty of space for it to swim around. If you intend to start small and upgrade to a bigger tank later, do you have space for another tank when your corals and fishes grow bigger? This ain’t a goldfish in a fishbowl nor a goldfish can do well just in a fishbowl. Not sure about the fish compatibility and what fishes that you can keep? You can always ask around in the discussion community by starting a new thread in the forum or check out our marine fish database knowing what you will be getting. Cost / Budget The marine aquarium itself isn’t really an expensive hobby if know what you are getting. Especially so if you’re not chasing popular names of corals or chasing expensive fishes, which could be even more affordable compared to some of the freshwater fishes. A common marine tank sump setup with equipment like reactor, skimmer and chiller. It is always debatable that equipment should always buy oversize which will affect your overall budget, however, it might not be necessary so depending on your bioload and what do you intend to keep as well, as it makes no sense to buy an oversize skimmer if you only have a few fishes or corals in your tank. So how much do i need to spend? It is advisable to check for quotation from a few tank maker and do some research online as well as our forum, or our saltwater hobby group to check and ask around what equipment suits your budget. After setting up the initial budget for the basic equipment and tank setup, do prepare to budget for your fish stock list as well as some basic supplement like for example, bacteria to start your tank cycling and maintenance aspect of it. Some of the common and basic supplement used in a marine tank. The last aspect would just be stocking up on your new tank, waiting for your favourite fish / coral to come along in one of the shipments from the local fish store. Not sure when the fish is coming? You can always subscribe to our telegram shipment broadcast channel HERE to be the first to know. Knowledge Knowledge is Power – As a beginner in this hobby, the salty side of the setup might be new or alien to you. Even if you browse or search online which is full of resource, stubborn people like me tends to experience hardship, paying endless school fees before being reliase that being stubborn is actually wrong ! And start to listen to experience reefer in this hobby what they shared is actually true ! (That is why I am writing this now). If you happen to read this article, Good. Please take our advice on what the experienced hobbyist share with you on the forum . Conclusion A coral reef display tank at one of the local fish store. Although this might be a short and brief article regarding the new tank setup, I hope this article would be able to assist new hobbyist that is jumping into the salty side of the aquarium to have some basic information and knowledge what you are in for. Yes, Reefing could be slightly more tedious as compared to setting up a freshwater tank but the reward of it is a beautiful and colourful coral and marine fishes that a freshwater tank cannot compare to. When you step into the marine hobby, you will also be able to learn more about water chemistry and the important aspect of it and start to appreciate the uniqueness of the marine life in our mother ocean. Starting a marine tank do required patient, knowledge and discipline but it will reward you with the best ever master pcs of an ocean in your own space. Thank you for reading. Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

Green Sinularia Leather coral Sinularia is a common type of finger leather coral that has vibrant bright green colors that is a great addition to any reef tank that is often neglected by many hobbyists. As the name suggested, finger leather, the growth of its branches are like a tiny finger spreading upwards. Sinularia has polyps on the surface of it branches and that is how it reach out for food particles from the water column. The good thing is leather corals are photosynthetic which means they will get most of their energy from just photosynthesis. You don’t have to direct feed! As time goes by, it tends to close its polyps and has a shiny smooth skin surface. Fraid not, as long there’s flow it will help the leather to shred its skin. They are also known to be hardy but I kept mine under this parameter and is doing very well. No3 10PPM Po4 0.25 Calcium 450 MG 1350 KH 8 PH 8 1.025 Salinity In my experiences they tend to be more luminous under strong par as the light will expel the Zooxanthellae in them BUT do not have too strong light or direct focus light on them as it will bleach the leather turning it to white or might even cause it to die from stress due to prolong strong lighting. However, I notice that they tend to do better under medium flow than high flow, as it seems like they will not have pressure from the flow and able to expand and grow faster. Leathers are also easy to propagate by propagating with either sharp scissors or knife and leave their branches to settle down on a low-flow area with rubble at the bottom that help it to heal itself and attached to the new ruddle. Another common method for securing the leather coral is by using a rubble band to secure it to a liverock until it encrusted or tieing a fishing line over it. (In the future I’ll do a video on it!) Photo Credit to Iwarna Thanks to Iwarna Aquafarm, I’m able to shop from my home to have Auzzie Sinularia deliver to me. You can visit them below: Aquarium Iwarna Pte Ltd 70 Pasir Ris Farmway 3, Singapore 518234 https://goo.gl/maps/CX6FAyS6vNVmXg7G8 That is it for this article. There are still so many beautiful soft coral to collect for. So watch out this blog space for me to share with you this amazing corals! Beautiful Toadstool that is also another kind of leather coral. Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

Nutrients on the Reef (I) Sooner or later, aquarists will encounter the topic of reef nutrient when keeping an aquarium. Many aquarists are often concerned about these questions: Is my nitrate and phosphate level ok? Should I feed my corals more? How do I reduce nitrate? or phosphate? All these are fair questions. Eutrophication is often characterized by overgrowth of algae However, if we approach reef nutrients just by looking at the nitrate and phosphate levels from test kits. We are like a blind man touching an elephant. For we only see a small part of a great picture. For this article, N and P refers to inorganic salts containing nitrogen and phosphorus elements. We will discuss about how an aquarist can reduce nutrient level in a reef aquarium, just like how a driver steps on the brakes to slow down a car Fixed vs. Free Nutrient Queen Angelfish (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Holacanthus_ciliaris_10.jpg/1280px-Holacanthus_ciliaris_10.jpg) Let us consider a fully grown queen angelfish (H. Ciliaris). Show size queen angelfish is a foot long fish weighing almost a kilogram. For a fish of this size, it contains large amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in its body. However, when you add this beautiful fish into your aquarium, the nitrate and phosphate does not rocket through the roof. Why? It is because the nutrients are fixed in the tissue of the fish. Therefore these nutrients are not available for other organisms, such as bacteria and algae. Pellets are a staple food for many captive fish Let us look at pellets then. When we toss a handful of pellets in to the aquarium, does the nitrate and phosphate increases? Maybe. When the pellets is freshly added, the nitrogen and phosphorus are “locked” in the pellet ingredients. When a fish eats the pellet, it digest it, and some of the nutrients become part of the fish. These portion of pellets does not increase the free nutrient of the aquarium. The uneaten and indigestible part of the food, however, will breakdown thanks to the bacteria in the water. This will increase the free nutrient in the aquarium. Thus overfeeding (define as feeding more than fish can consume), and feeding low quality food (contain much ingredients, especially terrestrial origin, which can’t be digested by the fish) are the two main reasons of out-of-control nutrition levels. The much feared algae: Bryopsis (By B.navez – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9364885) Let us last consider algae. A bunch of hair algae contains fixed N and P in its cell. if these algae dies due to medication or water quality. These N and P will be released, and the free nutrients in the water increases. Without intervention, theses free nutrients will likely encourage the growth of some other forms of undesirable algae or bacteria. Test kit and Expectations High nutrient or low nutrient? We often take reference not from the nature, but from the test kit we use. Take for example, nitrate. natural reef water has a nitrate level around 0.25 ppm. Based on this standard, we may consider 1 ppm nitrate as high, while 0.05 ppm nitrate as low. However, reefers generally consider 1 ppm nitrate to be rather low. This is because many popular test kits, such the Salifert nitrate kit, has a lowest reading of 2 ppm in their normal test mode. Things are not much better when it comes to phosphates. Most test kits are not able to measure the level in the natural reef. The worst challenge, however, is that hobby test kits only measures inorganic phosphates. While there are plenty of organic phosphates in the water. For an aquarium with 0 ppm phosphate from Hanna test, it may have significant organic phosphate in the water. These organic phosphates supplies nutrient to cyanobacteria and dinoflagellate alike. When it comes to organic carbon, well, welcome to the jungle. There are few organic carbon test kits in the market. Not to mention the desired level of carbon is, for a lack of better word, undecided. We don’t care so much about organic carbons because we can’t test it. What if this is the key to reef nutrient management? C-N-P and the Redfield Ratio Redfield Ratio It is only reasonable that aquarist talk about nitrates and phosphates when talking about nutrients in a reef aquarium. After all, the only accessible test kits for our hobby is nitrate and phosphate. The inconvenient truth is, if we cannot test certain things, doesn’t mean it’s not there, or it’s unimportant. Alfred C. Redfield In 1934, oceanographer Alfred Redfield went around and sampled the marine phytoplankton and deeper ocean water. When he examined the chemical composition of these samples, he discovered something interesting. The ratio of C-N-P, as well as other elements, are more or less the same. On average, the ratio is 106:16:1 in terms of the number of atoms of C:N:P. Since then, Redfield ratio is one key idea for oceanography studies. In Aquarium Does Redfield ratio applies to our reef aquarium? Yes and no. Unless you aquarium is a bowl of highly concentrated phytoplankton, or a void consist of deep seawater, the Redfield is not directly relevant for the water parameter. In fact, most of our reef aquarium supports far less phytoplankton than natural reef waters. Therefore, fixating on a magic ratio is generally counter-productive. However, Redfield ratio gives us some hint about nutrients. The C:N:P ratio is a fixed value for a given organism. For example, Chaetomorpha has fixed C:N:P ratio. Nitrosomonas has a different fixed C:N:P ratio. Green Hair algae, cyanobacteria, diatoms… each of them has a fixed ratio of C:N:P. Diatoms, which have different ratio of C:N:P to, say, hair algae. (By Damián H. Zanette – Originally uploaded 01:59, 16 July 2008 (UTC) by Dhzanette (talk) to en:Wikipedia (log).(Original text: I created this work entirely by myself.), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7267563) Therefore, if your aquarium relies on these organisms for export, then we need to supplies them with a good balance of C:N:P. For instance, we harvest chaetomorpha to export nutrients. The carbon is supplied when the algae photosynthesizes. In order to grow, chaeto takes up N and P from the water, thus export thing them. If the concentration of N in water is not sufficient to support the growth, the chaeto will not be able to take up any P as well. The lesson from Redfield ratio is simply: organisms exports nutrients in a fixed ratio. If one nutrient is insufficient, they can’t export other nutrients either. Exporting by Biomass Why do we need to care about the nutrient ratio for algae and bacteria? This is because most of the aquarium relies on exporting biomass for nutrient management. Bio-fixation A fish contains a lot of phosphate. However, adding a powder blue tang into an aquarium does not release these phosphates into the water. The phosphates are “fixed” within the fish. It’s not dissolved in the water. The algae cannot make use of these phosphates to grow. Basically, these phosphates does not contribute to the available nutrient in your reef tank. You are looking a a picture of efficient nutrient export (Reef2Reef forum) If we can grow organisms which takes up nutrients in the water column; fix the nutrient in its cells. Then we remove some of these organism from the aquarium. Voilà, the nutrients are exported. The more these organism grows, the more nutrients they remove from the water. In practice, there are many different approaches to achieve this. Bacteria and Skimming Like it or not, bacteria is the most numerous organism in your reef tank. In the most ideal condition, bacteria undergo binary fission. During the process, one bacterium becomes two, two become four. Before you know it, the amount of bacteria can reach unreal proportions. For instance, nitrosomonas, one of the common nitrifying bacteria, has a growth rate of 3.0/day. If your aquarium starts with a single bacteria, theoretically, there will be 205,891,132,094,649 bacteria one month later. This amount of bacteria would weight more than 200 kg. Fortunately for us, such situation is next to impossible in our reef aquarium. There is limited space and nutrient to support exponential growth. In addition, some bacteria dies off, or become prey to other organisms. Nevertheless, this growth of bacteria can significantly deplete the nutrient in the reef, and cause cloudiness at the same time. Since the reef aquarium can only support a limited population of bacteria, nutrient export is inefficient unless the bacteria is constantly removed from the aquarium. Lucky for us, bacteria tends to flock together. This bacteria flocks are easily removed with protein skimming. Skimmers remove bacteria flocks, diatoms and whole lot of stuff from your water Algae as a form of nutrient reduction Growing algae outside the display tank is a natural and effective way for nutrient reduction. Aquarists can grow turf algae within an algae scrubber. Alternatively, they can grow macroalgae in a refugium, or more recently, a reactor. Algae, being slightly more complex than bacteria, grows and propagates much slower. Therefore it takes longer for an algae based export to be up and running at full capacity. Algae make the required organic carbon mainly from photosynthesis. However, different algae contains different proportions of N and P; and these inorganic nutrients must be take up from the free nutrients in the water column. This tiny detail is significant, because it affects the efficiency of an algae scrubber or macroalgae refugium. Algae Turf Scrubber (image from carousell) In an algae scrubber, the aquarist does not purposefully keep a (few) species of algae. Many different algae species compete with each other based on available nutrients and space. When the phosphate is higher, for example, more brown algae will grow. In a way, an algae scrubber is effective across a wide range of water parameters, and it is self-tuning to a certain extend. In a macroalgae refugium, the aquarist has to provide proper nutrients for the chosen species of algae. If a species of algae use up most nitrate in the water, but leave behind a lot of phosphates, then the aquarist needs to intervene to maintain the balance. If an aquarist pulls some algae from refugium, and feed them to the fishes, are they exporting nutrients? Please let me know your thoughts in the comment below. Corals Corals, as well as photosynthetic invertebrate such as tridacna clams, requires N and P to grow. Therefore by growing these desirable organisms, aquarists unknowing remove some of the nutrients from the water column as well. Since growing corals and invertebrates is the main goal of a reefer, this export technique is almost perfect. The problem however, is that the corals and inverts are more advanced than algae and bacteria. Therefore they grow slower, and also demand a more exacting water quality. Managing Nutrient Imbalances The methods listed above exports C-N-P at the same time. What can we do when the nutrients become out of balance? There are two tools in our arsenal: we can add in the limiting nutrients, or we can export the excess. When it comes to addition, carbon dosing is extremely effective to provide the limiting nutrient for these bacteria: organic carbons. Addition of organic carbons directly into reef waters allows faster growth of bacteria, This, coupled with an efficient skimmer, can be very effective to export large amount of N and P. In some aquaria, when N and P becomes imbalanced, the aquarist can dose nitrate or phosphate to make up the difference, and eventually achieving a lower level for both N and P. Selective export method; for N and P gives aquarist fine tuning ability to adjust the level of specific nutrients. Sulfur denitrator removes nitrate from the aquarium without affecting the phosphate level. On the other hand, phosphate media such as GFO and aluminum oxide takes care of phosphates without changing the nitrate level. Conclusion and More I start discussion from the perspective of nutrient removal, because achieving low nutrient level is the goal of many reefer. However, just like you need both accelerator and brake to drive a car, reefers need to know how to increase the nutrition in the water. Remember, the goal of reefing is not to get nutrients as low as possible, but to provide correct and stable level of nutrient based on how your aquarium is run. In part II of this article, I would discuss the flip side of the coin. we will look at how we can increase nutrients in the reef in a controlled way. Meanwhile, keep the nutrients low where you want them, and carry on reefing. Author - @JiaEn

Comparison: Natural Sea Water VS Salt Mix As seen in many online discussion portals, there’s a lot of debate about the comparison against Natural Saltwater (NSW) vs Salt Mix (SM) debating which is a better option. Today I’ll will try to share with you and break down the pros and cons between NSW and SM for you to decide which is more suited for your tank and why is that so. Natural Sea Water Seawater pack into 10L bag from Ah Beng Aquarium Natural Sea Water (NSW) as the name applies, is collected naturally from the sea. usually, it involved a special vehicle that collected the seawater from one of the remote places of our shore and transported to the Live fish shop. As the natural seawater is dirty and could contain dirt, some form of preparation and filtration is required before it is put up for sales. The Live Fish Shop (LFS) will usually filter the raw seawater before selling it to you to make sure that the water is clean and to prevent unwanted organisms that might come along. MOST LFS will usally do a simple form of treatment and filtration themself which usually involves running the seawater through small micron filter sock , ozone and UV to sterlise the water before use. Now let us break down to the Pros and Cons for easier understanding. Pros Natural Seawater (NSW) is “cycled” and ready to be used completely, as it usually contains live beneficial bacteria from the sea. However, if you’re setting up a new tank, the live bacteria that contain in the natural seawater will greatly help speed up the cycling time of your new tank. You’re not required to put anti-chlorine for NSW (Never trust tap water, you never know what it contains) or use RO water to mix because it is already ready to be used right away. It is cheaper to purchase as compared to buying salt mix. All you need is to purchase the NSW and use it. It is simple and easy to use- No messy mixing of salt water or RODI filter required to prepare your water for saltmix. Cons If you are intending to store your NSW for future way, It required circulation else the live bacteria might die and this method could take up space as well to store it before use. The parameter of NSW is not stable, as the salinity will vary between season and weather. Especially when collecting the seawater after a heavy rain, the salinity will definitely decrease. Our local Natural seawater range from 1.019 to 1.023, so topping up of salt is necessary to bring it up to the ideal level.. Naturally, a lower salinity could also mean lower parameters like low calcium, KH , mg etc… Which required topping up of these elements as well for a reef tank. Although there might be some form of filtration carry out, there’s might still be a chance of parasite being introduce into the system if you are using NSW as it is not 100% filtered due to the large volume they handle. Logistic wise, delivering NSW is a nightmare as just to imagine having to carry 10 bags of NSW back home for a major water change, so, all in all, it might not be cheap after all. If you’re keeping a ratio of corals that depleting your elements faster than you replenish the elements, using seawater that has a lower parameter might result in your corals depriving the corals of elements example (CA, MG, KH). Which means you need to dose more of these elements, which add more cost to it as well. unlike using a salt mix , If you are using NSW, you will not be able to know the water parameter of your batch of NSW that you are using, unless you tested it, and bare in mind each batch of NSW that you use the parameter might be different. Various brand of saltmix ( ref; bulkreefsupply ) Now let’s talk about salt mix. Video on how salt mix are produced. The term salt mix simply means using aquarium salt to mix with your freshwater to produce synthetic saltwater that is suitable for both marine fish and corals. (Most of the time, we would recommend using a RODI filter to produce pure water which is free from any harmful impurities or substances which is often measured by TDS level. This would avoid adding any unknown source of the chemical into the salt mix that you are preapring. A typical 5 stage RO/DI water filter *Total dissolved solids (TDS) is the term used to describe the inorganic salts and small amounts of organic matter present in solution in water. There are many various selling brands of salt mix available in the market, however, the prices of the salt vary from the country of origin, brands, parameters and weight of it. Here’s the Procs and Cons of using Salt mix. Pros Control level of trace elements that you know what you are adding into your tank. No unwanted parasite Easier to store as you only need to take out and mix when needed. No expiry date – Generally salt mix can be store for a long period of time without getting bad. Might be cheaper comparing to NSW to produce more saltwater vs weight. Cons Need to mix and wait for the salt mix to be fully dissolved before use. BE PATIENT Need to dose bacteria especially when using it on a newly setup tank. However, some new brand of saltmix come with bacteria in it as well. Relatively expensive for small water volume change. (Unless you are buying in bulk) Require you to invest in a RO/DI water filter unit for your saltmix. To learn how to use salt mix with RO water, check the video below! That is it for today’s articles. Both have its advantage and disadvantage but it all depends on what kind of system do you want to run in. If you are interested to know any topic feel free to let me know! If you want a clean and stable parameter every time you do a water change, Salt Mix could be the best option for you! To understand more about reef chemistry and how it affects our reef tank, you may read more about this article here. Conclusion If you want to establish your new tank fast or if you want to do a major water change without requiring the time to stabile the parameter, then you can consider using NSW since it comes with bacteria. However, if you are doing a water change to replenish your existing tank water parameter or if you are concern about the safety of the water then using a salt mix might be a safer option to go for. Author - @Willy Guccivera Yap

Singapore reefing community has evolved over the years, with more and more sophisticated setups, greater access to reef keeping information, wider variety of livestocks and many dedicated Reefers/LFS. SRC has seen many successful local reef and FOWLR tanks and this thread seeks to collate photos and videos of the tanks within our community! A one stop thread for anyone to drool! Hence, we would like to invite all Singapore Reefers, to actively contribute, to this thread, your full tank shots, macro shots of your display tank and videos of your vibrant marine life at home! For those with a great setup to share, photos of your live support system, controller consoles will be welcomed too! To showcase the pride of our community, we will also be featuring these photos/videos, regularly, on various SRC social media platforms. (By sharing your shots on this thread, you would have also consented to the use of your media for the above purpose) For each of your post, do upload your media and include your Instagram/Facebook account so that we provide credits when we feature your media on our social media platforms. Feel free to also tell us a little about your photo/video in your post, e.g. the species of the livestock(s), interesting facts about your setup or even a story of your tank. Looking forward to your posts! Who knows, your sharing here in this thread could lead to the bragging rights of the TOTQ titles

Reefers will be spoil for more choices of corals, and congrat to the newly opened coral fanatics and supporting our community. Coral Fanatics is started by a team of passionate reefers that turned purveyors of beautiful, and exotic rare corals. Looking forward to them bringing in more rare and special corals for our reefers here ! Coral Fanatics also specialises in in-house aquaculture of coral. Rare strains are preserved by propagation and made hardy for your home aquariums. Stay tune to their shipment updates. Contact Detail; Email ; coralfanaticssg@gmail.com Phone ; 8857 2044 Address; 160 Changi Rd, Singapore 419728, Hexacube Facebook ; https://www.facebook.com/Coralfanatics-SG-106409094451977

Hi, Please state price for the sales under the pasa malam rules

Yes, please bare with us here , while they are fixing it..

Dear Members, It has come to our attention from the authority that there has been a few members receiving official warning from our local authority regarding the excessive sales of live corals in the community going beyond as a hobbyist letting go overgrowth frags to becoming a part time coral seller in the community . Please note that the pasar malam section is mean for members to offload excess or overgrowth coral frags only. As such with effect on 03th Sept 2020, - Sales of coral , frags is limited to Max 5 per week per member, please start a new topic once the limits is reach, all unsold coral/ frags has to be posted on the new week. - Seller must publish price openly on their sales thread on their items for sales. - For Tank Decom sales, it has to be stated clearly that you are selling away all the live stock due to a tank decommission. - Thread which is deem to be a commercial listing by us will be removed without prior notification. - Only related reefing equipment, tank sets and livestock is allowed. - Please consider having your coral swap with other fellow members under our swap section. - Link to other third party sales that display your items for sales is not allowed; i.e ebay. Gumtree, carousell, facebook, ect.. - To protect your privacy, members are strongly advise against sharing your contact no openly.Please use the PM instead for buyer to contact you . - Thread found on violation of the above rules, will have his topic remove without any warning. - Repeated offenders might find his posting rights temporary disabled and repeated offenders might have his posting right permanently disabled in this forum. We would like like to bring to your attention from the NPARK authority that Under the Singapore animals and birds act ( Pet Shop And exhibition) Rules 2004, it is an offence to use any premised to keep and display animals intended for sales as pet without a pet licence, except in accordance with a valid licence issued by the Director General. Sales without a pet shop license is a prosecutable offence, which carry a fine and imprisoned . https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL-Supp/S34-2004/Published/20040930?DocDate=20040127 Thank you and we seek your co-operation in this manner