madmac

So during my weekly maintenance of 25l water changes, (I buy NSW), I siphoned out the old-water first, with some of the top sand, there was this particular patch of jus black sand directly under the top layer, near the rocks, the blackness was not jus under the surface, but the deeper I push the tubing, black sand still continued to be sucked out. I think its some kind of sulphur... whatever it was its no good, not everywhre had it, it was spotty... I think this is due to poor flow areas. My sand bed was 3-4 inches deepest, at other points, they're bare, due to two pistol shrimps. I've been reading in RC about bare bottoms or is it bare-bottom... anyway, BB seem to be the way to go. So guess what I did over the weekend? This pic below show the start... acidjazz: Thx for the warning ... I've have them 18 months running and so far so good... i dont think the dreaded tank crashes are more due to canister filters than and other filters/equipment/sump or even DSBs... what do you use now? I'll still be using them.

I think my hair algae in under control, but whats telling these days are the cyano, a red-brownish patch of slime thats coming out everywhere... I'm not sure how it got here but one of the contributing factors is my tap-water topup. They are pretty difficult to get rid off. Here's another pic to show you what I mean.

I'm keeping a tank that primarily SPS as I personally find them easier too keep than LPS. If anything goes to show, my record at keeping LPS alive is quite poor. I'm appalled that such beautiful animals just cannot survived long in captive, at least under my husbandry... those that I have tried and have passed away are 1 plate coral (green wif pink tips), 1 elegance, 1 green brain, 1 orange sun coral and 1 black sun coral... I still have one red blasto, originally with 7 heads, now left only 4. Their skeletons are kept as reminder of how delicate the creatures are. To me, they probably can be kept, it is just that you need excellent husbandry skills, and a great deal of dedication. Besides keeping water parameters in good condition, they also need to be hand-fed and thats why I think good LPS keepers are truly advance reefers in this hobby. You are akin to a zoo-keeper, to those out there, my sincere salutations. So its just sps for me, in my 3 feet. I watch with joy and sadness when these corals grow and colour and not grow and brown out, R/STN. But somehow the loss doesn't seem so painful... it questions me and allows me to re-act to the situation. Sometimes its still not too late. I don't dose amino acids or use the 'Z-stuff'... my lights are 2 150W MH... so this is a general pic what I get...

In December '04, I finally had the parameters and the hair algae back to levels I like, so its time to look for that elusive fish again... the chance came again in Jan '05, another batch of RS Regals came in. When the time came to go down, only one piece was left. This had lesser injuries than the first, spots on the tail and 1 worm-like wound at the 6 o'clock of the left gill. She could eat as well. A discount from the LFS was all it took to get her in the fish bag. The Pygo did well after I removed the last original fish tt came with buying the tank, a maroon clown, who was too possessive and territorial, she attacked the Regal as she started to 'warm' around the tank after 3 days or so. Now she's a good citizen of the tank, a very graceful fish. That makes the total no of fish to still 6, with the MClown in a QT tank now. I hv the following : two pygmies, (1 potteri, 1 golden), 2 Pajamas Cardinals, 1 Purple Tang and the Regal Angel in the 3 ft tank.

Wow, this has become a semi-annual update now: The major events: Mid october 2004, I got myself a Red Sea Regal Angel, it was pretty fish, sickly though, I thought I could nurse it back to health, the price was also too good to pass off, so in the bag it went after some demo that the fish could eat. I did some initial research on as well beforehand... the short story was it proved too difficult. The fish was too shy in its new environment and remained in the back so often. During feeding time, I had to overfeed to get her to take food, and I also tried different types of fish feed. I didn't QT the fish as I read that for this particular fish, many lost their fish during QT. The result was an overfed tank that led to all kinds of parameter spikes, the fish wasn't getting any food as the other fishes were even faster, even the C. Shrimp wasn't doing its job... The Regal suffered from what i believe is Lymposytis on its skin and tail, kinda of like a white cotton, fluffy stuff. It had a hole in the left cheek and more smaller hole in middle of its body, tails were fraying. After 3 weeks, the poor fish starved to death. This made her the 2nd fish lost under from starvation in my care, the first being a Copper-band Butterfly. Hair algae grew where it once was gone... I didn't realized how much i missed them until they appeared and the trouble I went to rid them, 7 months or so. That became my next objective, jus to keep an eye on w. parameters again.

Wow so interesting... will you guys mind a differing view... I think based on the facts (info supplied by the newspapers, assuming it to be true), QH will be very lucky to get away with anything less than 10k for the damages. I think, if QH is smart, they will seek an out-of-court settlement to the matter. They certainly won't get away with anything less than $5000.... court cost will cost them more than $5000 and lawyers cost money too... and if it is dragged further... it will be even more and reputation is at risk too. If the couple is smart, they will seek for a court ruling, as it is very clear that QH is negligent in the matter... the case will be fought on the amt of compensation.... 20k is not big sum for this, besides damages to property, the court will often look at the plaintiff's "station-in-life" to derive on total amt. Its quite a reasonable sum, immho.

Felix, "the precipitation if any will result from the binding of pure CaCO3 crystals. Anything less than that won't do. Does your water look clear or cloudy? it takes only a little Mg to 'poison' the crystals and prevent further precipitation. You should hv enough of Mg as your Ca supplement already has Mg within even assuming if precipitation/calcification takes place, your carbonates should have gone done proportionally, in your case it is quite stable" I should also hv been more clear in th statement.... I don't think the problem is due to hte lack of Mg suggestion.. it very likely due to the excess of carbonates relative to your Ca levels.... This can result from either too much evaporation or an overdose. Sorry, shd hv checked.... thisis the URL : http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

Wow.. good points there. I think this hobby evolved from earlier days because of the love of things that live in water... from my earlier childhood, the long-kangs have always fascinated me... yup I am one of those boys that would scour drains/moon-soon canals, low-tides to look for stuff to bring home.... its truly amazing what you can find! I think there is something in most of us here thats, like a 'calling' if you want... BUT some here just get distracted along the way... I think some think their tanks as an extension of their home decoration and not as what I believe these thing should be, i.e. living life-stock. Nothing against keeping beautiful corals, just remember the responsibility that goes with such high-demanding life-stock is tremendous, and anything that dies is truly saddening, esp if its due to our lack of effort/understanding/experience. I'm new to this, no doubt about it... but I've come to understand that there is more than one way of achieving success in reef-keeping and it revolves around what you want in the first place. Remember, pls to let the love of these creatures move you to keep them and not the colour or its rarity or the quantity. However if you one of those that are into the love and the colour/rarity/etc of these creatures, then at least get the knowledge/equipment you need to support. What i'm trying to say is, know what you want, stick to it, (as in, are you in it for love or for the color?) and then get the equipment. Doing it the other way round is ok, jus a waste a resources only. & if you're not sure, go slow and let your taste evolve together with the equipment needed. a young man decides after two young women, one from a wealthy family, and the other from poor family. the girls family will have nothing to do with their daughter after she get married off. If you had one choice, who will you choose if you were that young man? .... so while its good keep all parameters at optimum levels, there is also a perceived value the hobby brings to you, ie if you are often bothered by why its still 'no there' yet, then you missing the whole point of why you got into it in the first place... you will never be happy with it. Where is the love, where is the love.. remember the song.

I came across your tank sometime ago, jus a bit late to say... I think its beautifully done... luv this view esp. Its jus the space... it gives a v. relaxing, uncluttered and happy look about it. I'll be one happy fish your tank alright! It gives me some encouragement to restrain from over-stocking... sometimes nothing can beat space... not many who love this hobby can afford to lose the space for the corals we love to keep. I'm almost envious, damm. jus beautiful!

thats such a sweet young looking tank you've got there. really sweet! . Its gonna take quite a bit of maintenance, to keep it going well. What r your trying to achieve? ... a singapore zoological gardens only in tank instead... wishing you all good things bro.

the precipitation if any will result from the binding of pure CaCO3 crystals. Anything less than that won't do. Does your water look clear or cloudy? it takes only a little Mg to 'poison' the crystals and prevent further precipitation. You should hv enough of Mg as your Ca supplement already has Mg within even assuming if precipitation/calcification takes place, your carbonates should have gone done proportionally, in your case it is quite stable i think pH 7.8 to 8.3 is ok....but if you constantly get 8.5, then it is a little too high, the implication is either too much evaporation or your Alk is on the too high side... also don't presume your dKH test kit is ok. A high alkalinity will also make it diff to raise Ca. you didn't mention what your tank water volume is... the weather has been very dry lately, you jus have to be a bit more careful than those with a larger water volume as evaporation on a small amount of tank volume will be havoc to your parameters there is an article in Advance Aquarist, Correcting Ca and Alk Problems where a problem was posed very similar to yours... excepted from there : "I'm having problems raising my calcium levels above 200 ppm. I have been using kalk for about two weeks for all top off water, about 3/4 gal a day. The level has never gone above 250 ppm and drops back to under 200 ppm. I bought some Turbo Calcium and tried it as the product label recommended but am having no real success. I have never used Turbo Calcium before and was wondering how much of it I could dose safe. I only have 2 mushrooms and 2 damsels. Any advice?" you may like to read thru it as it has advices tt you may like to consider using... but pls verify your test kits first and when you hv successfully done it, try implementing a balance solution rather than a two-part separate one tt you use currenlty. hope that helps, best to you.

Hi Gouldian, you've got a great set going there. It looks... balanced to me, in all its requirements, as in... it doesn't look like a difficult tank to maintain, its mature and natural looking, with still lots of potential for further stocking. Well done, looking forward see how this one pans out.

Bandit, that would imply, that you somehow store the bal 1800 l somewhere and will eventually finished using them about 9 weeks later. I'm curious to know what you do to keep them "fresh" in the holding tanks at home... if its needed at all. I sometimes just buy two cans and keep the other one for the week later... I leave the cap open, when it comes to using it, theres some uncertainty about the still water left in there... I end up still using it. OT: Vince, Thank you... if I remember correctly, the same congratulatory should go out to you too,... some time about now? oh shucks, while I'm at that, DB and Edmund, pls accept my belated best wishes to you n yours as well. mm

Thx for ur tots, I'm now, super curious about the Mg levels in the tank too... in the absence of a kit, this will jus all be theory.... it is just that from reading, Mg sinks about 1 - 2 %, it is a small amt comparative to the takeup of Ca and carbonates for calcification and even in the prevention of precipitation, only a small amt is used. The reef adv calcium, I use to daily dose already has some Mg in them. I do see growth in the SPSs, esp for the green ones, and I also see C. algae appearing on the glass walls & LRs. these to me are visual signs that, Mg levels are sufficiently available though at what exact levels I don't know. Truly sincerely appreciative...you hv jus taken away the peace of mind I been having all this while about my Mg levels... don't think I can wait till the WE for a test now.

LOL, Alpha, that was the same article I read before about the role of Mg on the calcification of corals... I don't know how I missed out the later portion on its other dual role, ie preventing precipitation of CaCO3... its an eye opener for me, as I don't test Mg levels, I don't even dose Mg... to me its abundantly available naturally in SW, hence a small fall won't do much harm. I also read here of the difficulty some hobbyist had to go thru to raise Mg levels. I'd like to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to maintenance. (tho, I'm truly awed whenever I come across snippets about your setup... its amazing what some reefers will go thru', the passion astounds me! /complement) Personally, its not a real big problem unless Mg levels go to levels like closer to 200,... I think anywhere around 800 would still fine... this is no endorsement... it would always be better to keep as close to optimum where possible. I'll be getting an Mg kit for sure this weekend.

Thx shoelevy. I'm beginning to understand where all this talk about Mg affecting Alk levels come from now. The point made, in the last part of the article, is that with low levels of Mg, rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate crystals comes about. This takes up both Ca and carbonates ions resulting in diminished levels. Conversely with higher levels of Mg present, the rate of precipitation is delayed, resulting in elevated levels of Ca and Alk in the water. Thats quite a valid point... as Mg is shown to have some direct impact on the calcification of organisms as well as the prevention of abiotic precipitation of CaCO3. It affects both, never singly and it would be certainly something worth watching out for. Thx. mm

FWIW, I maintain a 160l 3' tank. I do a change with NSW once a week, about 25l each time. Still Ok, I'm please with it. Most of the coloured SPSs are green ones, they are very easy to keep...yep and some are brown but growing. (think that has more do to do with lighting than water). I'm jus one happy camper. I think with such frequent water changes, one can afford to be a little lax on your parameters. I keep an eye of for dKh, which is kept at about 8... thats the only test I do frequently. Ca levels are rather hard to keep up with these changes. Las test a month back, I did was 330. Been quite diligent, until recently, with the arrival of our little baby. Her birth weight of 4.55kg is like to us.

hi, I wonder... if there are reef keeping publications that show that Mg causes dKh to be low. I've been trying to find for such articles. From my 'limited' understanding/reading... it doesn't. Alkalinity drops are more likely due to other factors OR a combination of them rather that solely due to Mg ... the thing is I don't think (I may be wrong here) tt Mg has even a remote connection to dKH as what some of you here say it is. As most here would know that Alkalinity is dKH(another measure) and in this article : Alkalinity it was pointed that bicarbonate make up 89.6%, while carbonates 6.7%. Thats a total of 96.5%, leaving the rest to a few others... there was an item called magnesium monohydroxylate, whose "Relative Contribution To Alkalinity" is only 0.1% !! I think I've read somewhere of the direct relation of Mg to calcification of corals, however thats not what this topic is. junyong84, You'll best appreciate this hobby if you understand/find out why your dkh drops(as it always will). A dKH of 7 is not as dangerously low as its possible effect on your pH. ie. a low dKh can allow wild swings of your pH which can harm your LS. This article show how to correct your ca and alk levels : Correcting you Ca and Alk levels best to you, cheers.

Just trying to organize my thoughts... - dozing Kalk does not increase your kh as it supplements/replaces the daily intake/consumption of your corals in amounts that are proportional to their take up. - dozing Kalk is a limited to your evaporation rate, ... ie, if your tank evaporates 1.5l of water a day, & if replacing 1.5l of kalk solution a day increases your tank's dkh by 1, then thats fine if you lose 1 dkh a day...perfect. - Ca will not decrease, with the increase input of alk solution... which is used to set-right the value of your dkh/alkalinity initially. It is not used every-day, unless you wish to bring up the value in stages, but once that value has been reached, it should stop. - buffers are often use directly to set-right the value of your pH first, and indirectly use to increase alkalinity. - Mag is not a function of dkh but of calcium... it is found that with proper levels of Mag, corals will calcify easier ??? - kh will always drop over time, with or without low magnesium, most likely even without low mag, it will drop.

If you're intending filtering NSW bought from some LFS... these are already pre-filtered and cleaned, with parameters that are quite suitable for immediate use. If you intend to take your own sea-water from some of the beaches around... it is not worth the effort(time+money)... you'll have to contend with oil, dirt, colored water (usually yellowish green), dKH of around 5, pH somewhere close to 7.2, basically water with visible particles, ... the list goes on. I'm assuming you intend to use for reef-aquaria here.. if otherwise pls ignore above.

From the RC thread, the general view is that a too nutrient free environment will not produce the good, deep coloration that is desired by many SPS keepers. Another common believe that led to this, is the over-exposure of Halide lighting. Corals look bleached and pale looking, but still alive and growing. Various methods were suggested to bring up the nutrient levels in the water column include the following : - feed the corals after lights go out. - reduce skimming and lighting, - reduce photo-period - bring the lights higher away from the surface of the water. This view could be great news if proven true as it would reduce the energy cost and maintenance of tightly-strung-up tanks and allow for some leeway as far as parameters go. It will also mean that less expensive systems/equipment can be deployed without much worry... leaving us with more time to enjoy our hobby.

Thats a beauty.. I've added one about two weeks back... my second attempt at keeping one. The first one I got was an injured one and I thought I could nurse it back to health.. it proved too difficult for me... just didn't hv the necessary skills/environment... I documented the short trails in RC, Regal Angel thread. The recent one seems easier for me, think it was due to the fact that it is a healthier specimen. Anyway, what do you feed it with? Know where I can get angel formula? Thks. mm

It is very challenging to keep reef-tanks on a budget, but imho extremely "rewarding" if you succeed. I think it needs a fair understanding and confidence on your part on how captive reef-systems work, as well as the discipline to maintain the optimum conditions, correct them when they occasionally go off, etc.. Once you reach the stage where your tank goes into wonder stage... things get pretty easy... but before that its a little strive on your part. The test kits do little, imo, esp. if you don't know what & how it got to the stage where you'll need to test & correct them frequently... IMHO, for your 2.5' tank, frequent water changes will do more to help/improve than testing/correcting will. About the most important test you'll need, is to determine the daily drop/consumption of your carbonates (for your LPSes) and cater for that. As dKH, will determine where you pH is, keep a close watch on it. The rest of the parameters will be maintained by the water changes. I think $2 will give you about 20 liters of good clean NSW... thats like 5 times cheaper than what I spend on copi-c a week. Finally, just be patient, depending on what stage of maturity your tank is at, things will just need to go thru' certain phases, let these pass without too much intervention, or it may make other 'things' go worse. And you will learn along by reading hopefully not by experience why its like that and then adjust or upgrade if you want to. Boy, i talk too much... best to you.

Do you use treated water or RO/DI? Topup water straight out of the tap may be a contributory factor. I had GHA under control for some time and it recently started to come back on too... it wasn't until I added some off-the-shelf-tap-water-treatment solution to the top-up water that it started to noticeably disappear. Also you may like to occasionally give your LR a "blast" (when you do your water changes) to rid the areas/holes where good water circulation cannot get to. Have the phos media changed a little more frequently could also be considered as it may have "worn" itself out sooner than you thing so. Growing some macro algae should also be considered... ... a bit voodoo here but I find feeding small amts of phyto to the tank also helps... can't proof anything though.. just an observation. reduce exposure to direct sunlight will certainly help.. reduce feeding to once a day, some frozen feed like the HIkari ones, mysis and brine shrimps should never be over fed to the tank, unless you hv the ability to remove the uneaten bits. can't think of anything else at this stage... best to all. oh yes.. new live fish should nvr be introduced to the main tank unless, you're very sure it can compete for food without you having to overfeed to the point... had a bad case of an injured regal angel which subsequently died... but almost lost the whole tank to poor parameters primary to overfeeding.

Hi, you may want to bring it higher... up to the neck level where the cup joins the body. Also try to tune for finer bubbles from your air intake (add a tap valve if you can) Finally try to resist opening the outlet tap too much as it makes the skimmer less efficient when too many bubbles escape along with the water.