Oprime

Its hard to clean the top portion of the tank with a magnet. I use muslin cloth which is the soft little napkins we use for babies. Works like a charm.

I would like to add that even though I have said in other threads that using test kits are troublesome and a waste of money, IMO its good to use them once or twice to get a hang of the chemistry involved. Its fun and informative but some of these kits can be hard to use. You have to focus and you probably will get it wrong the first time or even second time. I used mine a couple of times and i doubt i will use it again. There is one important thing that I suppose we should test for and that's the calcium level which is pertinent if we are going to have hard corals in the tank. Things like PH & KH etc should resolve themselves if we use a decent salt mix and the tank is properly broken in coupled with water changes at the proper intervals i think everything should be fine. Initially i got pretty carried away with test kits too but after sometime you realize ah heck it la - everything is fine!!

I would go with Desidrian and tiffanydrunk's advice:-)

Dear Nic Reef I would strongly advise you not to use actual sea water. The sea water they sell you is taken from our waters and our waters are not GOOD! Some of these guys will tell you that it's filtered etc. I doubt it. They will also tell you stuff like you can add fish faster etc. I strongly recommend that you use salt mix. It has all the essential elements your tank needs. Its easy. You can do it at home instead of going up and down. I know that we all want it to be as natural as possible but unfortunately nothing is natural anymore! Nurture triumphs over nature in this instance i would say! I have had wonderful results with using salt mix and all my 7 fish are hail and hearty. Never has problems with ICH etc. When you use a salt mix its best to use RO/DI water and treat the RO/DI water with anti chlorine as well. I use API. It works.

You can get a tub which has a 2 foot diameter from Sungei Rd - a shop nears thieve's market. What you will need to do is put them in water which has been taken from your tank - 50% of it and balance with water prepared using salt mix. Maybe its a better idea to put them into 100% new water so that no ich gets transferred. Now you can start treating your tank. Drop the salinity gradually to 1.010 and see how it goes. Remove 5% of water from your tank everyday and add treated ro/di water. Test with a refractometer each time you do this to check on the SG level. Keep doing this until it reaches 1.010. Monitor the fish and once they are okay bring the salinity back up gradually. Once you transfer the coral you can enrich the water with Kent Microvert & Zooplex. A cap of each every alternate day. Day 1 Microvert then skip then day 3 Zooplex and go on like that. I've read that fish can fight off diseases on their own if the water quality is good and you don't overstock your tank. There is another treatment which you can use in conjunction with HYPO Salinity. The use of garlic. There are some articles on this. Im not sure if you are supposed to add crushed garlic to your tank or add the juice that is extracted.

Any more views on Miracle mud? Seems interesting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14516253

Corals have to be taken out - placed in a tub with a power head in there while the fish are treated.

I think the best thing you can do is drop the salinity level gradually and do a 10% to 20% water change daily.

Was referring to them as food for reef dwellers not that they are reef dwellers

Yes bro I just "hantamed" them on the site writing this review. Basket people.

Bro no need to add anything to your tank. Its a waste of money and it will give you problems. The salt mix you use has all the important elements needed by your tank. The best thing is to do 10% water changes every week or whenever your instincts tell you that you need to do a water change (oil coat at the surface - blackish bubbles / smell etc)

Mine is about 16 gallons so its pretty close - hope you find the article below useful. This article is intended for those who are starting out small i.e. tanks up to 60 litres and thereabouts. You need a hang on back protein skimmer in which case you don't need a sump; ( you will need a chiller, assuming you don't have 24 hr air-conditioning (you need a pump to direct water through it). You don't need an external filter which many of us use for our fresh water tanks so 1 of the expenses cancels the other out. Now we come to the lights. Are T5's good enough? 2 white and 2 actinic tubes? It's cheap and it works BUT T 5's generate more heat as opposed to LEDs and they are not as bright, Halides are the hottest. I'm not a Halide fan. If you want your tank to look spectacular then go for LEDs. Will cost you a couple of hundred more. Next we come to the blood and soul of the tank. The salt water and live rock. On the water, there are mixed opinions. The safest bet is using a salt mix. Its not just salt but it has all the other important elements that your little tank needs. When preparing the mix don't add salt into the bucket before adding the water. Add the water first then add the salt. How do you mix it? The best way it to have a power head in there. A cheap one which draws water and pumps it out. A couple of hours and presto. You don't need to leave it overnight. Coming to the water. The best way to do it is to run your tap water through a DI/RO unit and after that add a little anti chlorine/anti chloramine liquid for good measure. IMO just adding the anti chlorine to tap water is not enough. You will need around 20 table spoons of salt for a standard sized bucket of water to bring up the SG to 1.0205. After a couple of hours test the SG using a Refractometer. It costs just 50 bucks and its accurate. 4. Next comes the live rock. Its BEST to use live rock which has been stripped of all external living matter. Sponges etc. It should not smell. There should be light purple splotches on it and thats your good algae. Coraline Algae. No need to boil it etc. How many KG will you need so that your tank doesn't look over crowded? 12 to 15kg should be more then enough. The live rock should go in on the initial set up. 5. Now what do we do? We wait for 3 weeks and then add snails and hermit crabs and after a couple of days we add fish. I'm not a fan of test kits. I've used the elaborate ones but IMO things take care of themselves. The live rock will take care of forming colonies of good bacteria and as long as your SG is between 1.0202 to 1.0205 your tank will be fine. Just do water top ups from time to time when you see that the water level has dropped. 6. Water changes? Small frequent partial water changes are the best. 10% every 3 or 4 days. 7. How much should all this cost brand new? Approximately $1030.00. Second hand about half the price. Approximate Break down as follows:- Tank: $170 (you dont need a cabinet! Just put it on any old table) Skimmer: $100 Wavemaker: $20 Refractometer: $50 Live Rock: $120 Chiller: $250 Salt Mix: $40 Pump: $50 Sand: $20 DI/RO: $100 T 5's x 4: $100 Anti Chlorine: $10 Voila! (Fish & Coral Not included - how many fish to put in? 6 to 7 small ones) P.S. Plug and play systems might cost less - my tank is a Juwel Rekord 600 (you may want to leave the built in bio filter inside and fill it with activated carbon media)

Guys IMO test kits are a waste of money. They do more harm then good! The best thing is to have the tank fallow as long as you can "tahan" then gradually introduce fish. Many of the salt mixes in the market will take care of all the necessary elements needed in the aquarium. As long as small frequent partial water changes are made the tank will do fine. UNLESS you need very specific parameters for keeping VERY SPECIAL extra sensitive organisms which IMO even then its not necessary.

Bro, 1. How big is your tank? 2. Once your fish get white spots IMO its best to drop the Salinity. This is the safest and most effective method. 3. One reason this could have occurred is when you first put your fish in there wasn't a chiller and subsequently a chiller was added. 4. Using medication etc will affect the other marine life in your tank. 5. Its very possible that this occurred through no fault of your own so don't feel bad. The fish you bough may have already been affected by white spots. 6. If you are going to drop the salinity level - you can drop it the SG to 1.010 gradually over a 3 or 4 days and see how it goes. Worth investing in a refractometer. Its only 50 bucks or so and the readings are easy and accurate. 7. You might want to change the place where you buy your fish from. And the next time you buy fish inspect them as best as you can. All the best

Unless you have lots of cash to BURN then by all means go to NAIVE. That's what we were, NAIVE, for going there! 5 of us had dinner there recently and the bill came to a WHOPPING 300 bucks. This is RIDICULOUS. Its a vegetarian fusion sort of place. No Lobster or Pate! They must have named it such that the owners must be having a private joke. Let the NAIVE people come to NAIVE and lets screw them over properly!! Then after dinner they give you two coupons of 10 dollars each the next time you come back! Who the F**k wants to come back again?? The bloody AC doesnt work. They force you to order the most expensive dish on the menu and hey - who would expect a vegetarian dish to cost 50 bucks! The food isn't bad but its food not GOLD. You can dine like a duke and order many more dishes at tons of other places and the bill never exceeds 150 bucks MAX!!

Resun not recommended. Go for Hailea. Even Aquamedic Chillers (German Brand) are made in China by Hailea.300 model should be good enough.

The bad hikers have to be removed by you either by spraying the heck out of the live rock with a hose when you get it and putting some elbow grease into removing sponges etc or buying live rock which is stripped of all hikers, good or bad. There should be enough good bacteria on the live rock itself to seed the tank. Don't think its necessary to put in flesh that rots eventually. There is no harm in leaving the lights on for 6 hours or so during cycling. Coraline growth is stimulated etc. Better to add two clowns at the same time. If you add just one and you want to add another later you may have a gunfight on your hands.

SG should be 1.023 to 1.025 - apologies for the Erratum.

Dear friends, First of all welcome to the hobby of marine husbandry! This article is based on intensive research / interviews with most of the reef experts & my experience in this area. This article is intended for those who are starting out small i.e. tanks up to 60 litres and thereabouts. 1. You will need a good tank and a sturdy table to put it on. Please remember that you don't have to cough up thousands of dollars. Its just about 70% more expensive! The only real difference in a simple marine set up and a fresh water fresh up is, (a) you need a hang on back protein skimmer in which case you don't need a sump; ( you will need a chiller, assuming you don't have 24 hr air-conditioning (you need a pump to direct water through it). You don't need an external filter which many of us use for our fresh water tanks so 1 of the expenses cancels the other out. Now we come to the lights. What to do? Are T5's good enough? 2 white and 2 actinic tubes? It's cheap and it works BUT T 5's generate more heat as opposed to LEDs and they are not as bright, Halides are the hottest. I'm not a Halide fan. If you want your tank to look spectacular then go for LEDs. Will cost you a couple of hundred more. 2. One of the biggest issues relating to the tank is: - What should the right thickness be? Salt water is denser and heavier then fresh water so is this really an issue? Well, I'm using a Juwel Rekord 600 which has a capacity of about 60 litres and the dimensions are 61x31x42cm - glass thickness is 6mm. No problems. No explosions. Tank has been running fine. Always remember that its the height of the tank that determines the thickness of the glass. Not the length of it. 3. Next we come to the blood and soul of the tank. The salt water and live rock. On the water, there are mixed opinions. The safest bet is using a salt mix. Its not just salt but it has all the other important elements that your little tank needs. When preparing the mix don't add salt into the bucket before adding the water. Add the water first then add the salt. How do you mix it? The best way it to have a power head in there. A cheap one which draws water and pumps it out. A couple of hours and presto. You don't need to leave it overnight. Coming to the water. The best way to do it is to run your tap water through a DI/RO unit and after that add a little anti chlorine/anti chloramine liquid for good measure. IMO just adding the anti chlorine to tap water is not enough. You will need around 20 table spoons of salt for a standard sized bucket of water to bring up the SG to 1.205. After a couple of hours test the SG using a Refractometer. It costs just 50 bucks and its accurate. 4. Next comes the live rock. Its BEST to use live rock which has been stripped of all external living matter. Sponges etc. It should not smell. There should be light purple splotches on it and thats your good algae. Coraline Algae. No need to boil it etc. How many KG will you need so that your tank doesn't look over crowded? 12 to 15kg should be more then enough. The live rock should go in on the initial set up. 5. Now what do we do? We wait for 3 weeks and then add snails and hermit crabs and after a couple of days we add fish. I'm not a fan of test kits. I've used the elaborate ones but IMO things take care of themselves. The live rock will take care of forming colonies of good bacteria and as long as your SG is between 1.202 to 1.205 your tank will be fine. Just do water top ups from time to time when you see that the water level has dropped. 6. Water changes? Small frequent partial water changes are the best. 10% every 3 or 4 days. 7. How much should all this cost brand new? Approximately $1030.00. Second hand about half the price. Approximate Break down as follows:- Tank: $170 (you dont need a cabinet! Just put it on any old table) Skimmer: $100 Wavemaker: $20 Refractometer: $50 Live Rock: $120 Chiller: $250 Salt Mix: $40 Pump: $50 Sand: $20 DI/RO: $100 T 5's x 4: $100 Anti Chlorine: $10 Voila! (Fish & Coral Not included - how many fish to put in? 6 to 7 small ones) P.S. Plug and play systems might cost less - my tank is a Juwel Rekord 600 (you may want to leave the built in bio filter inside and fill it with activated carbon media)

Bro thats the best part and the beauty of it - WE DONT HAVE TO DO IT OURSELVES! We can buy it ready made cured and cleaned at 8 bucks a kg from Iwarna! No fuss no mess.

That could be black sand. Over the past two months LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of research has been done and this coupled with several trials and errors the following is a must follow list for anyone who is getting into the hobby with a tank which has a capacity of less then 100 litres:- 1. A skimmer is a must. Either the air driven one or the hang on back which IMO is better. 2. A Chiller is a must unless you are running an air conditioner 24/7. Even if you have a FOWLR the 32 degree temp of the water will affect your fish. 3. On the initial set up please get live rock which is clean and stripped of any living organisms. Best if it looks like nice clean bones with purple splotches (thats your coraline algae, the good stuff) 4. Frequent small partial water changes of 10% whenever you feel that the water is getting a little dirty is good. I change the water every other day or once every two days when i see an oily film on the surface. 5. If you are going to have clownfish in your tank you must put two in at the same time or you will have problems. Maroon clowns are aggressive. 6. Dont leave the tank uncovered. Fish will jump out! Use egg crates if you dont want to use a hood. It seems based on experience that the tendency to jump is only for the first few weeks. 7. Contrary to what is said Gonios are not difficult and make a lovely addition. 8. Leave enough space between your corals so they don't sting each other. 9. Dont ever use actual sea water. 10. MUST use salt mix with RO/DI water and use anti chlorine and anti chloramines as well. Tap water with just the anti Chlorine and RO/DI water without the anti chlorine IMO is not good enough. 11. I have 6 fish and that seems to be the max for my 63 litre. 12. Bioload from Snails etc is not really an issue. They are useful. 13. Feed only once a day. Feed a variety of foods. Mysis shrimp by Hikari, Pellets, flakes etc. Picture attached!

I would think that for any tank whether its FOWLR or Tanks with Coral no matter how small it is a chiller and a skimmer is a must! Speaking from personal experience I started off my 63 litre tank without a skimmer or a chiller. All i had was a small Eheim external filter. I just had a bad feeling and added a cheap Hailea Chiller - the one with the smallest Capacity - about 200 bucks and an air driven skimmer which can be placed into the main tank. The water quality is good and the fish are happy and healthy. Our temperatures are just too warm. Without a chiller the tank's temperature hits about 32 degrees. Ofcourse if you have 24 hr air conditioning then its a different story and if its a tank which is small you don't need a chiller. I do a 10% water change alternate days or leave two to 3 day gaps between a water change. Its not at all necessary to have a sump for small systems. If i could go back in time and do things differently I would have gotten a hang on back skimmer instead of the air driven one which I have now. The air stone has to be replaced or cleaned periodically - at least once a month! Its also VERY VERY important to get excellent quality live rock which has been stripped of sponges and it should look like a nice clean bone. The mistake i made was to get Sh***y live rock which had all sorts of crap growing on it - sponges etc and there were bristle worms as well. I thought hey great - free hitchhikers! We dont need these buggers they just foul up the water etc. Attached is a picture of the live rock which I bought recently. This is how it should look. If it doesn't look like this DONT BUY IT!!

Aquarium Artist - they are pretty good.

The best i've seen so far is at Iwarna. 8 bucks per kg and its extremely well clean. No worms / sponges etc....superb