hideaki

Ashwin, u see lah, now i become a joker! I wasn't joking leh...[emoji24]

I am, mah! Just starting on sps leh... [emoji16]

[emoji33] so fast all taken?! Sigh... [emoji30]

$32

AC may still have. Iwarna got a huge one (abt 5 inches!) if u want. [emoji16]

Ok, will try sugar method next. Hopefully from now will be mission accomplished.[emoji16]

Agree! Definitely Totq calibre!

Any updates, bro? Waiting eagerly to see your new tank.

Oh, carbon dosing! Tried vinegar dosing earlier this year to try to bring my nutrients level down. But not successful even though i followed the instructions from the internet. And i think the vinegar probably screwed up the ph in my tank. Sianz....

Yah, i think blue treasure is chian salt. From hainan or somewhere. Can't remember.

Oh, talking abt salt, not sure if i mentioned before, for those wanting to try sps, pls dun use blue treasure salt. I suspect my initial problems with keeping sps is due to blue treasure salt. Maybe something in it is not suitable for sps. But it shd be fine for lps or softies.

I am using red sea coral pro salt. This should be good rite? Not using biopellets. Read about the all in one biopellets. Wonder if it is good. Very tempted to run it. But need to study whether my sump can fit another reactor. Too busy with water changing lately, so still don't have time to go find out more. Do u recomment aio biopellet? Wat is vsv?

Trace elements? Wat are they meant for? I have read about things like iodine and potassium. But dun really know what they are for. Are they necessary?

If it is bacteria bloom, it should clear soon. Just make sure u keep your water oxygenated. And dun worry about light lah, there r also long stretches of cloudy days over natural reefs. So a few days shd be fine. [emoji16]

Oh ok, thanks for the recommendation. Will go and get siporax soon. I have 5 sand sifting stars, 5 nassarius snails and 1 sand dollar. Enough?

Yeah, really amazing. Can see the effect very quickly and clearly from the resulting skimmate. And this is the first time i see my nitrate undetectable. Hahaha... super happy.

I got some space at the compartment immediately below the downpipe, which i am using filter sock and wool to catch the detritus. Below the wool is a 8 inches high compartment where i place the bag of carbon. Can these bacteria housing be placed there and i put the carbon on top? Yah, i am dosing biodigest. Seems to be working because since i started dosing, my nitrate became undetectable and phosphate is about 0.03 to 0.05ppm.

Oh okok... i don't have any of these, except for the sand bed in main tank and a layer of wool to trap detritus from my downpipe. Hmmm.... ok, I shall add some of these.

I am already running red led for chaetos and harvesting every 2 weeks. Don't really understand the part on increasing surface area for beneficial bacteria. What surface area are you referring to?

Change weekly for carbon? Rowa carbon consider cheap carbon? Or is it too strong? Just rowaphos and carbon, and a refugium with chaetos. Sorry, I don't really know what are considered biofiltration. But those above are what I have, apart from skimmer.

Thanks, bro! Yeah, fortunately, I am seeing some improvement. Otherwise, I don't think I can persevere for so long. Hahaha... honestly, I almost wanted to give up at one point. But luckily got some nice reefersl friends encouraging and pushing me along as well as the advice I get from this thread so far. Am really very appreciative to all.

Use more carbon? That sounds like a more doable option for me. Is there any negative side effects for putting too much carbon? I am using rowa carbon currently and putting about 100g (agaration) in a filter bag and throw into sump area with high flow. And I change once a month.

Hmmm... replacing the bottom rocks will be difficult. Iwarna did a good job in rockscaping without using any glue or epoxy. Tat means the rocks are leaning against one another. Will be tricky for me to remove one without affecting the adjacent rocks.

Thanks for the encouragement. It is indeed not easy to juggle the regime with family and work commitments. In fact, it is sibeh siong ar! Lol

It appears my intensive water change regime has yielded some positive results after a month. My surviving frags are stabilising and... This piece started to show great polyps extension and continued its encrusting. The stn on the tips of this piece stopped and started to encrust. Thanks a lot to all the bros here for sharing with me all the tips and advice. [emoji16]