Boonboy

Unfortunately, there are others out there that will poison you in order to make you part your $$$ with them. Moving forward you just need to reject these poison with a cool and sensible mind. Guess it is a lesson learnt. While cycling, amaze yourself with the interesting information about marine & reefing. Happy reefing.

Switch off the wavemaker when you are feeding. Those wavemaker with controllers have a feeding function to stop the wavemaker too. My fishes will not touch the pellets once it touch the bottom. Try those pellets that are slow sinking or float on the surface.

Not sure if your tangs are herbivorous… Maybe your would like to check if your pellets are for omnivore or herbivore?

You may like to take a picture and post here for a good answer. My guess is that some hitchhikers in the live rocks died (e.g. sponge/corals/invertebrates/snails/slugs…etc) and caused the white stuff which should look like cobweb or fungus. As for your wave maker, try aiming it diagonally across. You mentioned you have a canister filter, aim the output of your canister filter at your wave maker to counter the current. The will indirectly reduce the power of your wave maker. Hope this help…

My yellow tang did not eat pellets initially too! It only started eating after my clownfish was added. The yellow tang sort of learn from the clownfish.

Just my 2 cents… Please get a SKIMMER… 2nd hand or China brand (if you are on budget)… With so much dying off, I guess skimming off some gunk will definitely help with the smell. Long term it is definitely beneficial. Adding a wave maker is definitely a GOOD move. You may hold off adding the sump for the moment. Lookout for the following; 1. Diatoms 2. Hair algae 3. Pods 4. Bubbles inside your sand These are indicators that your tank has reached different stages of the cycling. Of course, the more scientific way is to test the water… IMHO, test kit may say something but your eyes don't lie (e.g. test kit may say Nitrate/Phosphate low but you may have an algae problem!) Totally agree that you should enjoy the process…

Yeah, give it some time. My yellow tang eats anything like pellets and mysis. It may take a week before it feeds well but it will eventually.

Note to all newbies readers: When buying zoanthid colony, please check thoroughly for zoanthid eating nudibranches. Especially it's eggs! Spiral-like or O shaped (white) egg cluster found on the "stem" of the polyp. I have had this colony of zoanthid for 3-4 months now and had been doing freshwater dips almost every month to remove these nudibranches. After every dip, I will be able to remove these pests but the eggs are difficult to remove as there are bound to be some that will escape your eyes. After the dip the zoas will recover and the zoas will blossom until those eggs hatch and you will find the tentacles of the zoas starts going missing. Finally, you will spot the egg clusters again. I'm struggling to break this cycle and it seems the solution left is to sacrifice this zoanthid colony.

Updates… Week 3… Spotted some hair algae and diatoms… Hopefully, the anaerobic bacteria has started to build up… Previously added mysis are nowhere to be seen. 1 more week to go before I start to add live stocks… … patience …

Hmm... Ang Mo Kio more central of Singapore, right?

If you are on a budget get a second hand… Running saltwater so make sure you try to go for titanium type… Get a larger chiller (than your tank volume) so that it will chill faster resulting in lesser power. With a chiller get ready for higher electric bills… (mine went up by $100+) Unlike a skimmer it is NOT a one off investment!

Curious to know if there are many reefers in the northern part of Singapore...

Definitely Deltec! The price is about 3 times more leh... The capacity for heavy stocking is 70 (Red Sea) vs 450 (Deltec)litres.

Don't have a test kit for nitrite…

Base on the API test kit... Salinity - 1.022 Alkalinity - 9 dKH Calcium - 420 ppm PH - 8.2 Nitrate - 0 ppm Ammonia - 0 ppm Phosphate - 0.25 ppm

Only when I adjusted the white balance on the camera did I manage to capture the real colors of the acropora. Can you see the green and purple?

Didn't know that the clownfish will "suck" the tentacles when hosting the anemone.

Updates... Don't seem to have much improvements after the new light. Up the salinity to 1.021 after 50% water change.

Hi, I am interested in your blasto 2 & 3. PMed you.

I guess you need the sump to house the skimmer. So get the sump first but again you need to know your skimmer dimension when getting your sump… chicken and egg which come first?

I guess my clownfish has a change of heart… I caught one of them trying to host on the anemone this morning... I hope both survives!

As I was very new then, I got the Red Sea Prizm(~$245), does the job and has a compartment for running carbon for my small(nano) but was noisy. Changed to Bubble Magus NAC QQ (~$80), also does the job but quieter as it is hangon inside the display tank. If you are getting a skimmer, suggest you get a size larger. The canister was about $155, I think. I may have got all at a higher price as I did not check out the prices before buying.

Advise from a fellow newbie (me)... Nothing is impossible. It is about how much time, effort and $$$ you are willing to invest. I believe everyone wants you to succeed when providing you advise. I'm still making mistakes and learning but I am enjoying the process. Just do it. FYI, I too started without sump, doing 2 water change per week with Hand On Back (HOB) skimmer and Eheim canister filter 2213.