porc

just a thought... wouldn't the salt diffuse into the water container and dilute the whole tank? Our objective of a water top-up is to maintain salinity. If diffusion is not stopped, we might as well pour the whole bucket of water into the tank in the first place. Maybe the addition of check valve may work...

sometimes it can also be the fish that attack the wires... My puffer completely bit through the wire of my thermometer probe... luckily it's just battery powered... though it's just a thin wire I wouldn't be surprised if it bites and exposes another live wire in future...

Hi Ben, Thanks for selling me the lights and delivering them (within 2 hours of ordering). Actually, me "helping you out" is just pure coincidence, I only read this thread now... didn't know you have been aeroplaned... No wonder you sound frustrated just now when I asked why you have stock in your car... I was already intending to contact you today after your pm replies to my queries last night... maybe to prevent such future occurrences, you can get people to transfer money (internet banking) into your account first then you go get your stock. You are protected and the official banking transactions can be the "proof" to protect the buyers too. win-win for both parties... Cheers, Porc

btw, I don't think the flow would slow down with the bubbles, cause if it slows down then your return pump will suck dry your sump or your main tank will overflow... but have to monitor so that the bubble don't get too big to break the siphon, or else really suck dry sump and overflow main tank...

Hi, I don't use the I-box but I diy my own siphon to a hang-on-back "dustbin" using those transparent plastic tubings... what I do to siphon out the air is to connect a airtube to a 50ml syringe (can get from any pharmacy), stick the tube into the siphon pipe and draw the air out... don't need to drink saltwater...

Hi Wei, Thanks for your comments. I must admit that I'm still new to the reefing community here and there's a lot of historical info that I may not know... I'm glad to have learnt a lot from this thread... I didn't know that LR under CITES too. and why? what are we protecting? (someone care to enlighten and educate me?) Checked their website and dunno what LR would be classified under... Under Appendix II the listed ones are mainly the hard corals... Also, I feel that fiji rocks cannot be compared to normal LR, they are shaped differently in the first place which imposes a premium... your case would be stronger if fiji rocks were equivalent to the cheap indon rocks but yet cost so much difference... which brings me to my next point... would the CITES certification cause such a marked increase in price? The singapore permit costs $12 per SPECIES... oh this is new to me... petty politics involved... arrggh... hard to decide what is right here... I agree 100%... No comments... Yes, we control the demand... I'm willing to do my part, and just hope that more reefers would think alike and resist the temptation... Actually I'm having internal conflicts too... battle between the brain and the heart... arrggh.... Cheers, Porc

been thinking about this matter for the past few days... can't be bothered abt the politiking among the trade but in the larger context, I'm concerned about such illegal activities... in line with the SRC's slogan of Responsible Reefing, we should understand that some species are CITES controlled for a particular reason... they are ENDANGERED already!!! I'm not afraid to say this, but we should be concerned about which LFSs are getting their stocks illegally and boycott them... So what if prices go up because of the current AVA clampdown... So what if stocks run low... We should be responsible for our environment and if it is priced out of our reach, then we should be sensible enough to say no to keeping such corals and not succumb to the temptation of buying from illegal sources. conservation is the only way to preserve such wonderful wildlife diversity for the long-term enjoyment of reefers which includes us and our future generations... I'm new to reefing and previously, I'm not aware that such illegal practices exist (too trusting that the govt is doing it's job well ). But now that I know, I really want to find out who does such illegal imports. I definitely won't want to patronize their business... hmmm... maybe I should write to AVA... just my 2 cents...

hmmm... the "v" word seems to be a post repeller... as i mentioned earlier, I can help out here... so what's next?

hmmm.... not intending to add any fish soon... anyway thanks guys...

the recent streetdirectory case was abt people who copied their maps and used it in their websites/brochures etc. streetdirectory also mentioned that they have allowed links to their site to those who seek their permission, sometimes for free too. We can ask them too since we are non-commercial... ok... so let's get the ball rolling already... so we need to solicit reefer's contributions and approach streetdirectory...

Hi, I just stocked up my LR a week ago and now there are about 10+ little white creatures scooting around just below the water surface. They are about the size of a sesame seed and seems to have the shape of a prawn/shrimp. I only have a small clownfish now and it's ignoring the creatures. Tried to take a picture but they are too small to be captured clearly so cannot post. Just wondered if anyone experienced this before... (PS. I still don't know how to post pict here... cannot find any faq on this anywhere )

Hi AT, I'm a newbie to this forum, just started reefing couple of weeks back, though I have prior freshwater and marine fish-only experience. I don't mind helping out here as my contribution the the sg reefing community... With regards to your list of info to be included, i have some questions and suggestions... 1) anybody has the LFS database (at least name and address) in the first place? Actually, I know of another sg portal with quite a huge database, including freshwater and LH shops too. don't know if it's ok to mention here. any chance of contacting them to share info or are we starting from scratch? 2) Location : with a postal code, the exact position will be marked by a star on stretdirectory.com. think they're the best in terms of map details. best if we can link to their site. but more than simply giving credit mention, we also need to contact them for permission first. 3) directions using own transport : if we can get the streetdirectory.com link, then the map would be self-explainatory and we don't need much verbal description here, which can be quite subjective and not understood by all. 4) directions using public transport : similarly, with the map, just the bus info to the surrounding main roads will do. 5) I suggest we can also include pictures of the storefront or whatever ulu road leading to the farm finally, must it be in a thread form? or could we just post an excel spreadsheet somewhere? easy to update too and sort in alphabetical order... btw, this thread very quiet hor... maybe everyone skipped this because it is pinned... cheers, porc

I assume you mean ammonia... and you must be confused on your nitrogen cycle... why are you waiting for ammonia to spike? for a completely new tank, the proper order is ammonia followed by nitrite spiking, after which both should be undetectable. the fact that you used old life rock and sand must have shortened your cycle such that the ammonia spike is skipped... once your nitrite drops to 0 your cycling is complete and you can start stocking...

you mean just take the LR out of water and superglue the hole? I assume then that normal superglue is not toxic to the tank? Or is there aquarium superglue too? Always wondered but couldn't find the answer.

yeah... i got it too in my tank... and i stir the water to get rid of it (like swiping spiderwebs)... so are these creatures good or bad?

Read this article from wetwebmedia about natural seawater. Seems like natural seawater is no better than salt mixes. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seawater.htm Anyone with experience?

Hi, I'm currently starting to buy my live rock piece by piece week by week. The lfs I buy from simply places the LR in a big red plastic bag for my 45min bus ride home. Is this the common practice at other lfs? Is it suitable to leave it out of water for so long? How long can it last before dying? and how else should the rock be packed? Would like to seek your experiences please, just in case i'm doing wrong or if I happen to find nice LR from other places further from home... Rgds, porc

Hi jazzben, interested in your LR but not the whole lot. I'm only starting up a 2ft tank. Don't even know how much is required to occupy my tank but maybe you can let me get a piece first to start things going. I can afford to wait a while for the rest that I need from you while you clear the LS as I'm taking thngs slow. btw, upper thomson ard thomson plaza. I'm living at Soo Chow. Are you my neighbor? I can just walk to your place. Let me know. Cheers Eddie aka sgporc

oops... realised my suggestion has been discussed in another thread already... not surprising since it's a simple idea... my apologies...

Out of curiosity's sake, just wondering if anyone thought of building a top-up system by modifying a toilet wc?? it uses a float to actuvate a valve, and it's purely mechanical and safe (no electricity)... It would require water pressure but that can be achieved using a pump connected to the valve plus a small alternative outlet (for water flow then the valve is closed, so as not not spoil the pump). rgds porc