madmac

Jervis, thnx. You got equipment there to support anything you'd like to keep.... C'mon into SPS. I'll be happy to contribute something to kick-start it for you.

You got anything you'd like to swap for a frag of that blue millie?

Top-down:

some any-o-how shots,

yeah some I got from reefers and some from the stores. Bring some life back to this otherwise dead thread. Left side; Right side;

Welcome to the sgreefclub. you could consider getting a hang-on skimmer. An easy to find brand is the Weipro series and the smallest skimmer in that range is the SA-2011 model, they're venturi type. I've found that pressurized pumps works best with this skimmer, do go for one rated at least 1000l/h.

keep skimming. ?he skimming, it will stop once the water becomes less hydrophopic... the conditioner you added caused this. It happens but you'll want it let it find the equilibrium. Don't turn off the skimmer. replace loss skimmate with clean seawater... after some hrs the skimmate will return to normal. The "wetter" water contains alot more "water-soluable PO4" in it, so the waters appear soapy. Wat conditioner did you add?

Hi, Yes, I think they are. Commensal crabs are those that live in the colony. You will commonly find them on wild imported SPS corals. I've read that they help by keeping the colonies clean of detritus or dirt. Between two colonies, I usually pick one which has the crab vs. one that don't. These crabs are mostly the smooth shelled crabs.

At the markets baking soda is sold for like $0.70/100gms and MgSO4 can be gotten from Guardian, think they retail for $4/250gms.

not in my opinion. I hv quite a few. none of them on corals but hiding in rocks. I've seen them eat algae, and found that most hv the tips of their claws bent. Is your digitata damage? If it is, then it is better to remove it.

ok... it went away for some time... but its back again. Oh how come like that one huh?

wow! thank you for this.

I'm closing it here and awarding it to SeaAngel. will PM him details... Thnx everyone and hv a good day.

viper, Sorry if I didn't make it clear earlier. This is my first bid sale. I wanted to see increments in even nos.. and not set a fixed($2) next-price for every incremental move. thnx.

Spawns... looking back at the posts, I think I went too far in my use of language there towards you. I think you've were trying to help, but its jus from the style you wrote, it came off so wrongly... and I'm very sorry. ... should have counted to 10 and gone to sleep. Thnx. PM sent.

Terryz_, my thumb there measures 18mm wide. I'd say the piece is no less than 6cm by 6cm... and yes I do intend to close it at noon today. Spawns, No offence bro, can u pls jus leave. I hv no idea what you were/are tryin to pull there. Thnx.

1/2 !!! ? ... c'mon, be honest... more like 1cm by 1cm sq ?

giving tis a bump up... and to say that I had meant that there be no minimum bid increments, only that if there is, pls let it be in multiples of $2... I hope that clarifies. and Thank you all who have bided in... its kinda of fun

Hi, I'm putting this up for bid. I hv no space for it. Its almost fully encrusted over. The white colour on the left is a pic thinggy. No reserve price. Bid starts at S$10.00. Bid increments of S$2 Bid ends tomorrow noon... i.e. 31th Oct 2006 noon time I'm staying in the East. Collection time after tomorrow from 8:00 pm onwards. Thank you. Oh... I'd also like to right to withdraw or stop this bid at anytime without selling. Thnx

Sg NSW... well I use them... I speak for myself here and for several yrs... maybe 3 yrs only. I don't have algaes in my tank or ich on my fish... I don't use Phosphate sponge or carbon or UV.... what I'm trying to get at... to those who think its not good enough, is it is. Good enough to keep SPS, enough to prevent algae or diseases. It comes with the right enough composition from the word get go. Sure it is a personal preference for me... but where gets it bad is when ppl say NSW is not good because I have to carry it up 34 flights of steps and its not light.... or that its bad because we can't measure some stuffs in there, so they must be bad. Hv they ever thought they it may be because of something/s else that algae or ich come about. Dosing becomes a pain esp.. if you don't hv to do it at all. NSW comes with most right there, better than most salts can offer. Because of what they lack, you'll need to constantly source for the right type of salts to cater for what other salts lack... and thats even before you talk about maintaining consumption.

Hi qixian, I hv read those articles. I think authors wrote to debunk the comparisons of toxicity lvls btw different salts brands by Dr. Shimek, and yes I have felt it was more well conducted. It doesn't dispute the view point that NSW is still the standard to beat. The 4 yr study was very specific... it read : . Read the quote carefully... it points to fertilization and not breeding...dilution of industrial effluents for fertilization.? How they come to that conclusion... based on the study of fertilization rates....? I only brought up the 'taste bad' thinggy because you left that out in ur hydroponic veges example... nicer looking... greener, healthier and bigger... I guess you've never been to an organic vege farm before... its very interesting... they go to great lengths to forgo looks for taste and believe me its more healthier than hydroponic veges. Hv you tasted a wild caught fish and compared them to farmed ones....

Fine. Thats good. Where have you seen recent published articles showing the contrary? Truth is ageless.... in that you can only get closer to the NSW... never better. Of late in the SPS space, keepers are now talking about dosing K for potassium shortage in saltmixes. Reefers in zeovit are finding that coral colours look wornout. This added to the not so recent understanding that you also need Strontium, Mg, ... all so that you can come closer to NSW. There's a price for everything. In hydroponic farming, as opposed to wild caught/organic food, taste + demand will command a price. Food prices for things from the wild are always higher because you can nvr get enough of it... they taste better lah.

Here :- The Toxicity of Some Freshly Mixed Artificial Sea Water; A Bad Beginning For A Reef Aquarium by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com Introduction : . . . Amongst professional marine biologists, particularly those who work with invertebrate embryos, the average artificial sea water mix has been recognized for many years as an imperfect substitute for what is the perfect medium for marine animal growth, pure oceanic sea water. This is particularly for delicate organisms such as embryos (Strathmann, 1987). Marine organisms have evolved in natural sea water, and natural selection has fine-tuned their physiology to this medium. Many of these organisms do not have waterproof skins, and the well-being of the creature is directly dependent upon the solution surrounding them. While there is some toleration of variations from the "normal" condition to those that the animals are attuned, generally that tolerance is small and limited only to the range of natural variation (Prosser, 1991). . . . .Prior to the advent of many organic pesticides, many of the pesticides in use were simply mixtures of various salts of copper, zinc, arsenic, mercury and other "trace metals." Present in very low concentrations, generally those found in natural sea water, most of these materials are not harmful; however, in slightly elevated concentrations they kill organisms. (See, for example, Alutoin, et al., 2001; Breitburg, et al. 1999; Goh, and Chou, 1992; Heyward, 1988; Negri, and Heyward, 2001; Reichelt-Brushett and Harrison, 1999). Results : . . . The mean, or average, number of larvae from each experimental sample was compared to the mean number from the natural seawater control sample using the t-tests (Table 3). It can be seen that the results of the samples from water made with ... salts, as well as the sample from Hobbyist B's water, each had probabilities of between 0.00003 and 0.00006 (or between 3 and 6 chances out of 100,000) of being the same as natural sea water. Conversely, the results from of .... had a 45 percent and an 85 percent chance respectively of being from the same group of results as those from natural sea water. you don't hv to look to far too. PM FuEL for his views on lasmata culture... done in NSW vs artificial salts.

many breeders of tiny newly-hatch frys, use NSW. It has has been found to contain enough of right "stuff" that for their survival at this critical stage. If fish catches ich in a tank, don't look at NSW as the cause... you won't be any closer to the answer.

Je®vis, Why do u assume that "the stuff", you can't measure is bad?