SubzeroLT

I started to use nylon filter socks recently. The bubble magnus ones (100 & 200 micron) ones are very cheap (around $5) & easy to flip to rinse under the tap. There are unbranded 300 micron ones available. I've stopped using the felt ones which as you say, are so troublesome to wash & bleach.

Fresh & Marine brings this in. Recall its not cheap ..... around the $50 range

Looks good. Looking forward to future updates. I see you are using the 100 micron filter sock (red ring). These are great for clearing up the water fast but can clog quite quickly when livestock is added. A 200 micron (blue ring) is also available which could 'last' a couple of days longer.

Wanted to add some diversity in food source for the reef tank. Got one of these brine shrimp hatcheries from a fellow reefer. Fill up with salt water. Sprinkle some eggs on the outside section. Within 20 hours, you'll find baby brine shrimps in the middle section. Quite impressed with the convenience. No air stone, electrical light source or mess of separating the empty shells from the brine shrimps with mesh filters Not a single egg shell where the brine shrimps are.

I find that Sea Cucumber & Sand Sifting stars are best for diatom/brown algae on the sand bed while Serpent stars & hermit crabs best for left over chunks of frozen food.

It does bring up the Mg levels a little, though its still below target at the moment. It used to be ~ 1150ppm before adding Grotech Mg Pro. Its hovering around 1250ppm now. CO2 / pH is set between 6.65 - 6.8 at moment. I'm told i should go slightly lower but struggling with maintaining low kH. What's your setting & Mg/CA/kH levels like?

I managed to get the drip control thingy from SGH pharmacy (Thanks Redsuns) Its called the "IV administration set" @ S$1.80 per pack. I'll be using it for drip control for acclimatizing livestock. Link to the product : http://www.bbraun.com/cps/rde/xchg/bbraun-com/hs.xsl/products.html?prid=PRID00001142 Some recent photos : Yellow watchman Goby from some time back. Necklace Fromia Starfish Other things done recently : - Gave my skimmer a quick vinegar wash as it wasn't skimming much recently. Man...that made a difference.

I have the Eheim battery operated gravel cleaner but i don't really like it. The filter isn't fine enough and kicks a lot back into the water. I'm now using those siphon type gravel cleaner purchased from C328 (~ $15). Siphon weekly during water change to get rid of detritus. For algae, as Guccivera mentioned, i have 5 sand sifting stars + 1 sea cucumber in my 3ft to get rid of algae on sand surface.

The hermit crabs must be really hungry. Perhaps give it a super small piece of prawn meat. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For the candy cane, perhaps you want to try to take it out of the tank. Pluck out as much GHA as possible. Then squirt hydrogen peroxide on the stem area a couple of rounds without touching the polyps if you are worried about hydrogen peroxide. Pretty sure the GHA will go away in 2-3 days there.

These are pineapple sponge. They are harmless filter feeders.

Some of my anecdotal observations of the 6 small anemone's in my tank & things done : - Anemone typically like a small recess where they can anchor their foot in. - I've epoxied some rocks together to create this movable structure before. I've also used a small piece of 1" piping with a small rock inside to create this recess - Anemones that are hosted by clown fish & invertebrate (in my case, it was a porcelain crab) seem to do better. - Those hosted has better colors & nice bubble tips all the time. They seem to stay put in one place. - I have 2 anemones that are not hosted. They move around a lot more & to places with less light resulting in poor shape & colors.

Almost all LFS sells them. Some examples : http://reefnutrition.com/phyto_feast.php(eg. Irwarna or LCK201 : ) http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/ReefPhytoplankton.html and many others .... LCK201 sells nannochloropsis (a type of algae) in a large frozen pack if you want to culture larger quantities of pods. Around $90. You can get live rotifers & copopds from as well. Copopods are larger & more suitable for mandarin fishes.

You can culture/grow copopods outside your tank, feeding them with algae (eg. nannochloropsis algae or phytoplankton available at some LFS). And toss these in regularly inside your display tank to boost population.

Yes. Coral Farm is open on Sunday Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice

I have a 3ft & Hailea 1/4HP chiller. Perhaps this chart can give you a rough feel of the time involved. The portion where the temperature drops = chiller on time. The portion where temperature increase = chiller off time. Day time : Night time :

Thanks Xiggie for sharing For the cross stitch sheet, other places to get it are Polyart @ Clementi C328 . Also found at Spotlight @ Plaza Singapura. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This would definitely work. I wasn't able to find it at the local pharmacy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I split the output of my return pump to the following rough approximate : - 60% to chiller then directly back to display tank (1/2" diameter return pipe) - 25% to biopellet reactor of which, part of it goes to rowaphos reactor - 15% to refugium

Thanks for sharing. Feel like building one too.

The Jebao DC10000 is a good choice. You can adjust to run at lower power as necessary since its a DC pump. This is not possible for AC pumps. And since its quite powerful, you can also T-off to run other reactors (eg. Rowaphos & Bio pellet) For reference, I'm using a Jebao DC6000 running at 95% power 3x1.5x1.5. Hooked up to 1/4hp Hailea chiller.

They are likely copopods/amphipods. They are beneficial & help clean up left over stuff. They are also a good food source for fishes. Population is building up because you have few fishes now. I'd leave it alone. Once fishes are added later on, the numbers will naturally reduce.

For the same wattage, Artica can chill slightly more volume than Hailea. This is probably from better material used (eg. use of titanium coils - more efficient). But the cost of Artica far outweighs the savings from the efficiency. At the end, its a an individual's choice. Note that for Hailea chillers, there is a small intake at the sides as well. So ensure you have some gap on the sides as well. As many have said, hot air comes out from the back of the chiller, that's where it it needs to be ventilated to disperse the hot air. Its down to basic physics on heat exchange - if the surrounding air is cool, heat exchange takes place quicker & the chiller will reach the desired temperature sooner. From pictures from this forum, i see many successful tanks with 'dedicated' cabinet around the chiller with front & back open. For reference, mine is a Hailea 1/2HP chiller for 3ft tank. Its about 30cm away from the wall on one side & back. The air around 50cm around the chiller has been measured at 35deg C.

Don't know what Zoa that is....but i can only say its damn nice.