tofubox

7.PEST PEST PEST!!! Anyone that has been in this hobby can list u a dozen over pest problems and types of pest out there. Common pest u looking at are Aiptasia (glass/white looking anemone, takes over your tank easily), Majano anemones, Critters like worms (certain species) , crabs (certain species), starfish (certain species), common parasites like itch (a parasite that leach on to the bodies of fishes), Flatworms, Redbugs. etc etc. My experience: I have gone through every single one mentioned. My recommendation: If you can afford it, run a quarantine tank (qt tank). Obviously, anyone new to the hobby isn't gonna be interested in setting up 2 tanks at the start. DUH =.=" Myself? Never actually quarantine my fishes or corals through the years hence u can see i have experience every single pest problem mentioned. Anyone one that has been extremely successfully with their main tank, probably has had the experience identifying and dealing with the pest, or have a qt tank. So, this is the other alternatively, when u buy the fish or coral, don't just look at it for its beauty. Spend some time at the fish shop staring at the details of the livestock. STARE hard. Most of these are also invisible to the naked eye and after it develops and grow, then we see it. But nonetheless, try finding any live critters on the livestock. I.e for corals, look for any sort of bugs or nudibranch, flatworms, live critters. If u spot any, try to identify what it is firstly, than, decide if u have the capabilities to remove it. Usually, for bugs, if theres one, theres probably a ton more. My advise is to stay away from this coral. Secondly, if you dont run a qt tank, u need to do a coral dip. This means treating it in some form of medication i.e two little fishes revive, coral dip rx etc etc. This is just a precautionary step and will definitely not be a "confirm will work kind of thing". But you are doing what you can as best you can. With regards to fishes, its really really much more difficult, because u can hardly spot a parasite unless it has reached it maturity age. But heres what u can do, observe the fish for a while, don't be rush just cause the shop owner is hasseling you. Watch the behaviour of the fish, it should be calm and breathing normally, watch how it swims, does it look normal to you? Plan on how u gonna feed it, is it able to accept pellet food? Are you gonna try and train it to eat pellets eventually? Fish that dont eat well will succum to sickness 10times faster. Fishes like Blue powder tangs are nortorius for having parasite problems, read up on the particular fish u intend on buying. I made this mistake before, i saw this beautiful powder tang, it eventually developed the itch and it spread to all my fishes. Prevention is better than cure. With regards to cure, there are some methods, but mostly its trail and error. some work amazing some just don't. With regards to pest anemones like apitasia and majono. This is a difficult area, because most of the live rocks u buy, will probably be cured at a half **** standard. Anyone new to the hobby will not be patient to cure the rocks, which takes weeks or even months. Read on how to rid these pest. I.e Commercial products (Joe's juice, apitasia x), Home made products (lemon juice, Boiling hot water), natural predators (Wrasse, peppermint shrimps, copperband buttefly fish, etc etc). Its already in your tank, nothing much you can do, except try any of the above mention.

Haha, get a ios tank bro, i know there are a couple of AIO (all in one) marine nano tanks now adays, (kinda costly in my opinion). alternatively, u can custome build one. I'm using a 2.5ft tank, with 0.5 being a side IOS. U can try custom a 1.5ft tank with either back overflow or side overflow of 0.5ft. If u do decide to go with a custome built nano tank, make sure u get the dimensions of ur skimmer right, else u be screwed end of the day. Also make sure the water lvl for the skimmer compartment is right if using an in sump skimmer.

Well, if thats the case, u should be asking how often can u do water changes? Else,use a hang on skimmer and hang on filter for a small tank. Keep the bioload low until u know ur tank can handle it better

Feel free guys to add all your newbie mistakes, everyone share your inputs will be a good thread for learning.

Hi bro! nice tank! Is that a rock specially for frag plugs on the 2nd last pic? lower left. or just where u had them initially?

very interesting trade bro! Ups for ur trade!

Small Tank: Pros, Easy to maintain, drop your hand in, scrub around and algae gone. Don't necessary require you to get "wet". Cons: Water parameters bloody unstable. Takes tank a while for it to mature and stabilize, couple of months will be the best. 3. Understanding all about lighting. ( A very big pitfall for me) I went from Metal Halides, to 8 tube t5s to leds. Nothing much to explain. Recommendation: Know which light suits your budget best. And by that, i mean maximising your budget as much as you can!!! Of cause i know many people who have used cheaper lightings and got away with it. But most of these people i know, have very good water parameters which make up for it, and these tanks are very stable. I went and bought a china made lighting at the start, saved couple of hundred dollars. Before i knew it, the light was crap all. Next, you need to know your coral placement!!!!! Very important point here. Make sure you know how strong your light is before u place the coral. I, myself have had bad experience here. I put it where i wanted, just cause i thought it looked best there, eventually the coral will start losing its colour, or may even die. 4. Knowing your equipment and additives. I have spent lots of money in this hobby, and at the end of the day, i realise that half of what i bought was not even necessary. This is especially true to additives and cleaning equipment. Alot of additives are hit or miss. You can buy a particular brand, and end of the day, no results whatsoever, end up buying other addictives. Research a little on what you want to get, and get addicitives base on people who have expirence with them. This will save you tons of money! As it goes for equipment, get reliable equipment from day one! This will save you plenty of trouble and time eventually. Yes, it may be pricey, but well worth the money spent. Also plenty of stuff are not necessary, find out exactly what you need, plan your sump according to your equipments and not hope that they will "just fit". 5. Back to water parameters : Mainly Nitrates and phospates Reason why? Simple: This is the main cause of any ugly tank you see. And the biggest mistake too of every new reefer. These 2 components are basically the main fuel of algae growth!!! My experience: Tank had a very bad algae problem due to my insufficient knowledge of lighting once again and also my water parameters. Got disheartened and almost quit the hobby. My Recommendation: Know these 2 components in your water extremely well. First sight of algae, start testing these parameters. How to keep these 2 parameters low? Simple: Using additives or media, i.e Rowaphos, biopellets, carbon dosing. Once u have implemented any of them, test again and again till u get your desired reading. Some things work some things dont. Some need regular replacement to maintain. Again, this is a huge pitfall for any new reefer. Take the time to understand phosphates and nitrates and you will have a beautiful tank! I will continue to update this thread when i have the time. These are just some of my experience, I hope anyone new to this hobby can benefit from this!. Thanks!

Hi Guys, just thought i share my experience with those starting this hobby, since i have an hour to spare. I've been in this hobby for about 5 yrs now, and still I'm making heaps of mistakes, but always learning along the way. I used to own a 3ftx2ftx2ft tank, I went from soft corals, to lps, to sps, to Fish only (went overseas to study, my dad had to take care of the tank for over a yr, no idea what he was doing except to change water). I now own a 2.5ft tank with built in overflow and sump, currently mix reef with mainly sps corals. Here are couple of mistakes I've learnt over the few years. 1. Water requirements This is the biggest pitfall for any new reefer. Hence its my biggest mistake. Before you even decide on a tank, decide on what u wanna keep. Fish only / corals/ sps corals? Once u understand the type of fish/ corals u intend to keep, study up on water parameters. The biggest failure in this hobby is water parameters, something out of place, and your tank will most likely be overtaken by algae or even worst corals/fishes dying. Heres my recommendation: Get a good salt mix. A good salt mix will basically determine your success right off the start. I started using cheap-po salt at the start, and corals died time n again, wasted more money buying corals. Get a reputable salt brand base on what you intend to keep. Don't just trust the salesperson when he tells you this salt mix is good and buy (my mistake again). Buying good salt mix alone isnt gonna cut it. You still need good Water to mix it with!!! Tap water is fine if u are able to export the nutrients found in tap water (which is really high, commercial liquid products for treating water is never sufficient). For small tanks, i found it most economical to just buy bottled water from NTUC and mix in your salt. For large tanks, RODI unit is definately the only way to go. You canalso buy Natural sea water, but personally i found the parameters not to my desire. Last option is you can purchase premixed saltwater from a trusted retailer. 2. Choosing your tank size. Firstly, its important to know exactly how u want your tank to appear. Big Tank: Pros, Plenty of room for fishes and corals, Better stability of your water parameters, more room for error when your new. Cons: Prepare to get wet, and put aside time for maintainence. I.e Scrubbing algae of the tank walls, arranging your corals and rockscape, preparing water for the scheduled water change etc etc

Oh yeah, i just saw the post, heres the link bro

Just curious, how old is the set up already?

Definately go for distilled bottle water for a tank of that size!

Depends on what u planning to keep. For a 422, the ehiem 1262 should be just right, in terms of turn over. I used it on a 3ft, and still had a mp40 running. I would strongly recommend using a wavemaker to recreate a random flow in the tank to pick up crap on the sand. Also if u intend to keep sps, random flow is necessary. Fish only, or soft corals are not too particular in terms of flow. Get the affordable range of wavemakers. i.e Jebao wp25 or wp40. If u dont like the idea of wavemakers, I think there are some new products which allow u to create 360 flow with ur return pipe, not sure if its availble here. I know dancing wave does the same, but its a wavemaker i think. End of the day, U could always still just use the return without a wavemaker. A wavemaker is not absolutely required, but adds the random flow to the tank.

Interest to know the price too! pm me ! thanks!

Hi guys, Looking for hanna checker phosphate colorimeter, pm me if u have one for sale. Thanks!

Hi Guys! Looking for some cheato to stock my new refugium, anyone has some to spare? Will pay for large amounts too =D. Need about 2 handfull. Thanks! Able to collect at time of ur convenience. 90020585, Jarrett

Hey guys have the below item for sale, left from my decom. Only selling as a set of 3. Thanks 3 x Fake corals, 2 small 1 large. - $35 Firm Pick up from S456781, siglap area. 90020585, Jarrett.

I read from an article somewhere. From my understanding, no scientist actually knows what affects the anemone exhibitng its nice looking bubble tips. Its more of a personal characteristic. Some will do it, some wont, personally i always seen bubbles looking better when they are small, i.e younger. as they grow older they start to form their own personal shapes. some long, some nice n bubbly. I may be wrong, since it was an article on reefing that i stumbled across, but thought i share with everyone

Beautiful tank, i like the aquascaping bro

Hi bro, for nano tanks, u definately need to keep up with the water changes. preferably once a week. once its more stable, bi-weekly shld be fine. Also depends largely on ur bioload. More fishes more crap in water, without a skimmer, no doubt u need to change the water. As for corals, u need to have good water parameters, usually water change for nano solves the problem. Even with a skimmer, u still need to do waterchanges regardless. For small tank, water change dont take long, drain out 20%, fill it up and done. With the money u invest on corals n fishes, trust me, the weekly water change is well worth it. Both the skimmers are great option. Depends on ur budget. And yes u can go without sump. but basic filtration should still be used. i.e Canister filter. And if u intend on upgrading anytime soon, just go for the bigger tank right of the start.

yes, u need to take the sump volume into a account too.

Fish n snail pending collection tmr. Thanks all! Mod please assist in closing thread.

Hi guys, Will be giving away my 4 snails ( 2 turbo snails, 2 astera snails) reef safe. medium-large size. Snails have grown abit too big for my small tank and knocking over plenty of stuff Also giving 1 pajama Cardinal, medium size 4-5cm, 3 been with me for 6mths now. Feeds on pellets n frozen. Greedy fella. Giving to reduce my bio load. PS. This is a set, taker must take both the snails and fish together. First come first serve. Hoping to clear fast. 90020585, Jarrett Collection is at Siglap or kembangan MRT. Timing can be arrange, day time is fine too.

Thanks alot!!! Appreciate it

Still looking for peppermint shrimp. Hopefully somewhere in the east will be good. Thanks!

Thanks all for the support! Most equipment have been sold. left with these remaining. 1. Tunze 6025. Used for 3 days only, needed a larger wavemaker - $55 2. Deltec reactor (used for 6mths) no leaks, good condition - $60 3. 2ft Lighting stand, used for my maxspect g2, but have since switched. Bought for $80, selling for $40. Can be extended if required at delightings. 4. Seachem Phosguard - $8 used only 5%. Aquapharm sorb4 about 60% - $5 5. Artificial Corals, selling as a set- $40 for 3 6. Maxspect G2 stand - $20, can be extended. 7. Deltec pf501 calcium reactor (with remaining media) - $70 (pump slightly leaking, i always used mine in sump, so no issue) 8. Spare Co2 bottle (fat black bottle from aquamarin) - $25 9. Co2 Bottle with regulator (tall blue bottle) - $50