madmac

Point noted Lightning, pollution and contaminations are akin to the production and the QC of artificial salt mixes batches.... point is you never know... however for NSW, if the pollution and contamination is so severe, then so will the LS at the LFSs... do you not think that their inventory is not as valuable as yours is? Don't we all buy rocks, corals and fishes that have been exposed to their NSW for at least a few hours?... Again taken from the link above... "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). Sea water is not just a solution of sodium chloride and water, but rather is a complex and incompletely understood mixture of virtually every substance that has graced the face of the Earth. Anything that can be washed downstream eventually finds its way to the seas, and is incorporated into the solution of the oceans (Pilson, 1998)...." The constituents of artificial salt mixes just cannot hold a candle to NSW and what it provides organically, to your LS, factoring some pollution etc. in...

Natural Seawater has many advantages, too. Chief among which is it is natural. In the recent online issue, Sept 2004 of Advance Aquarist, it was summarized when the author the following, "In marine aquarium science there are many issues that have been passionately debated for decades. Two of the most common issues involve the questions of 1) which is 'better' - natural seawater or synthetic sea salts, and 2) trace elements in synthetic sea salts: good or bad? [bOLD]Unfortunately, there is little real science to support any side of the arguments for these topics.[/bOLD]" It is a short article, please read, Advance Aquarist Sept 2004 Among the many advantages of using salt mixes... there are also cons to it. Artificial salt mixes have been rated with alarming differences... some brands have been tested to be detrimental to the health of life stock.... I have also come across several FAQs on wetmedia, where the quality in the production of salt mixes was questionable and is suspect to the widespread loss of live stock... some Producers may recall but how many will? e.g. pls read this articel :Shimek, R. 2003 The Toxicity of.... Some Freshly Mixed Artificial Sea Water: A Bad Beginning for A Reef Aquarium." Saying it is your choice really answers the question, yes it is your choice, because it is your tank, not because, you've spent Ks and risk losing etc... because you don't know the reason or the background of the person who posted the question. Don't go flaming me pls, I'm just trying to contribute to the "knowledge pool" of local reefers here. Salt mixes can be expensive on the "overall delivery"... not to mention the trouble you'll have to go thur' to make sure it reaches its optimum state....etc. Surely, time-saving has to be a big point to add to besides money saving. For those who are proponents of natural seawater, however there are clear points in the care of your life stock with regards to contingency... And like having spare powerheads at home, large pails, having a bag or two of salt-mixes at home on standby is just being clear-headed.

Pic of cabinet stuff, nothing exciting, there's a partition in the middle, very difficult to install a sump with a setup like this. Penyu: Thanks. Just that sometimes there a lot of reflection and it hinders your view... also certain portions look a bit magnified.

qt movie of pics... hope it works. thks. Reef.mov

Full tank pic... taken w/o flash, blue lights over-exposed.

Hello fellow reefers. I'm staring this thread to document my progress... journey in the world of reef-keeping. Objective : to attain a beautiful looking reef as possible without too much loss in livestock, and time & money. Tank specs : 36"x18"*18" glass tank Volume : 45G or 170l Lighting :Weipro (lookalike) - 2 x 36W blue + 1 150W ushio 20kk MH; supplemented by another dymax 10kk 150W clip-on Filtration : 2 canister filters, one teed to the chiller while the other a FR (200g of rowa) Chiller : 1/4 HP CL-650 "Avers Aquatic" Skimmer : Weipro 2011 - 1000 l/h external pump Wavemaker : 1* eden 228, rotating powerhead In tank: 3" of beach sand and No.3 sand mixed together and 30-40kg of LRs 4 Fish : 1 maroon clown; 1 Purple Tank, Potteri and Golden dwarf angels Corals : SPSes, 1 dying green brain coral, 1 green cup coral, 1 leather mushroom (toadstool?) Water Specs: pH : 8 to 8.4 Salinity : 1.025 Temp : 26ºC to 28ºC Ca : 360 to 420 (Tropic Marin) dHK : 7-9 NO2 : 0.02 (Tropic Marin) NO3 : 5 (Tropic Marin) PO4 : untested Mg : untested Future Plans : if this little experiment works well, I hope to have a chance to upgrade my lighting and maybe even acquire a CLabs' CR. Thanks. Comments are most welcome. Full tank pic incl.

jus like to share a pic on my 2011... the pump is rated a max of 1000 h/l, external. It has a yellow knob to control the outflow (inside looks like a boat rudder)... the knob also allows air to flow thru (venturi style) and the air hole can closed if not desired... I connect using a eheim tube and I can see the air bubbles as they travel, the tube is transparent... What I like to point out is that, if the pump is turned on the max flow, very little air gets in green tube, whereas if the flow is slower, lots of air sucked in... so jus be careful in selecting a pump for the venturi skimmer, unless you have to ability to pump air into the tube, your strong pump may actually block the air entering as the flow is so powerful and fast. I find that it is entirely not necessary and a real waste if you choose a pump too strong for your skimmer as to make it effective, you'll have to adjust the flow slower (speaking only for Weipros skimmer here). I get dark skimmate, and if you look carefully, you'll see that the skimmer output is almost closed, i.e. the flow rate thru' the whole skimmer is quite slow.

FuEL is right. Your parameters are in a very good range... don't mess around with it... For me, if the dKH is anything above 8, I never check pH as there should be sufficient buffer to hold it up. Assuming your measurements of dKH to be correct, then it would imply you have an alkalinity of 3.93 (11/2.8)... looking at the chart (excerpted from reefkeeping.com; http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm) Figure 1. you can see that you are right on the line of the elevated CO2 gradient, (pink one) => too much CO2, either in the air surrounding or in the water (do you use a CR?)... think that could be the cause of your low pH (but it is within acceptable range anyway.... it could get alot worst if your dKH is lower...but since it is 11 your fine. )

hi, i'm using a 2011 and it is works "well" *. You may want to tune the outflow so that the like what untouchables said above, that the level is just above the neck-line... somewhere slightly higher than where the black rubber is. It will also help if you can attached an air-flow tap at the inlet of the air tube to control the air flow. I tuned the skimmer by looking at the bubbles produced after (using the outlet valve) adjusting the water level. The bubbles produced (and relative height) can be controlled using the air valve too. My pump is an external 1000 l/h whose the flow speed can also be adjusted. You don't want to have too fast a flow for the 2011 as the tube length is short and the reaction time is too little... you'll need to adjust the flow a little slow and the bubbles finer, you shouldn't be able to see inside upper half of the skimmer as the bubbles produced will opaque the internals.... sit back and just be patient. ; ) * fortunate enough to keep a collection of about 15 growing SPSes now, 4 fishes in a 3' tank.

weisoon, just came across an article in the recent issue of reefkeeping on "low pH" (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm),..."A final approach, and probably the most successful, is to combine the CaCO3/CO2 reactor with another alkalinity supplementation scheme that raises pH. The most useful method in this application is limewater. In this situation, the limewater is not being used to provide large amounts of calcium or alkalinity, but to soak up some of the excess CO2, and thereby raise the pH. " maybe not by the input to the KR but by combining thru a "Y" connector on the output of the KR.? .. the low pH would be neutralized by the kalk, as your pH increases so will your dKH?? jus a thot

Congrats to all expectant parents! We're expecting our fourth child in Feb '05, prayerfully a girl. Just had a chance to meet up with RAV-65... maybe should let him announce.... Anyway, breast-feeding helps a great deal for those who are bordering on whether to do or not. It helps the baby build their immunity to sickness; helps with digestion (so the poo won't be so dark and smelly); don't have to worry over whether the bottles have been sterilized; no milk power problems; helps your beautiful wife lose weight naturally and gain back her original figure. ; and most important of all, it helps you fathers have an uninterruptible, good night sleep (breast-feed on demand)... and 50 more good reasons.. all too many to mention on this forum. Search to web for breast-feeding resources in Singapore. Back to topic... Best to you, DB, downsizing the tank is wonderful when you have little time... you'll want to keep things as simple as possible, trust me on this.... there be times when the tank will have to take "the back seat", even when its screaming for attention.

Your tank habitat must have somehow reach equilibrium in being self-sustaining. That is truly wonderful. Why don't you proceed by monitoring your LS health to see if its deteriorating before you start your feeding again. I would just watch the condition of the water as it doesn't mean it won't get worst over time... you'll still need to add some supplements to the water even if you don't want to change and guard against pH drop. jm2¢

Hv the same too... except that the corals will sit on a glass plate, suspended from a single pole in the centre from the top, like an inverted "T"... movement be water-propelled by 4 tunzes mounted from the corners of the tank pointing towards it... clockwise movement during the day and CounterCW mvmt at nite... & lights : a series of 8 MHs, 2 each lighted for periods of 2 hrs each simulating sun's mvmt... + tank will be built in-room, air-con chilled, and I take home $50k a month, plus did I tell you my living room faces the... dream on bro!

I have and used the Tunze 6060 for a 3' tank and it just too powerful. I even loaned it out to a fellow reefer to try out for his 3' tank and if he likes it he'll buy it off me.. it wasn't long before he returned it... too powerful. Your tank is even smaller!

"Can canister be use for SPS?" The short answer is yes. I'm using two canister filters (CF) for a 3' tank... two because when one is being washed and cleaned, the other can still run and provide the bio filtration necessary until the new bio whatever builds is itself up... remember it takes time... otherwise everytime you clean your one and only CF, you risk having your tank run without any good bacteria for a few days. You won't need two protein skimmer, one should be sufficient for a 3' tank... (actually that answer depends very much on your bio-load... but here I'm referring to the size rather qty)... I use a hangon Weipro 2011 driven by an external RENA-C40 @ 1000l/h. I clean each of my CF once every other month, but have decided to actually let the water parameters tell me when to do the cleaning nowadays... you'll know when its time. Disclaimer: I'm not advocating the use CFs here, like you, it wasn't by choice. I bought my tank on impulse at Katong Flower Shop (upper changi rd east) - was very much into greens then. The whole setup came with chiller, FL lights, LRs and even 9 fishes with 1 CF... The darn two door cabinet has a divided in the middle.... what I wish you to know is that there is always more than one way to.... ... the long answer is... SPSes needs more than CFs and PS to thrive well... Give the CFs a shot by trying... you'll learn plenty and your monetary risk is limited as you already have a CF... start out with a few SPS frags and built your knowledge base as you go along... and if you should love SPSes than you can still upgrade... the journey to a thousand miles begins with a step. Best to you. mm

After some observation when placed in a float netting to acclimatize the fish, she tends to try too hard to escape and I could see that she'll soon damage her mouth, hence I decided to release her sooner rather than later. This is the first dwarf angel in the tank, with plenty of rock crevices for her to hide in... very shy indeed... always the first to back away from any encounter. She is only about 1 inch in size. The fish started to nib/peck at rock walls all of the time until about six weeks later when I noticed that she took the remains some left overs... after that it was easy. Nowadays she comes up and competes for her fair share of takings... still always being chased away, always finding a way round to get the food. About 4 weeks after I got her, I put in a Poterri, which is very aggressive towards the Golden, but somehow it is because of Poterri that the Golden angel shows herself more. The poterri keeps to the entire back of the tank, grazing off the algae there (as I don't clean the back glass), this causes the Golden to keep to the front of the tank. Some advise for those considering the Golden Angel is : • release sooner than later, don't use any beta box, netting box, etc • great help if it is the first dwarf to be put in, definitely not to be the last fish • plenty of hiding places for the fish • I find a smaller size species better as the bigger fishes don't find her worthwhile challenge and always give up after a short chase • leave the fish alone after you release it and just wait. My tank has two adult pistol bigger than her and she lost half her tail once, it has grown back since... a very feisty little fish, it has character... like a playful damsel and a real beauty IMO. It'll be a great loss if she goes. Touch wood. BTW, I have 4 other fishes in the 3' tank now, a golden clown, PTang, LN Hawkfish, Potteri. mm Does anyone want to buy an Eibli dwarf in my QT.

It sounds very flawed indeed!! And I think that could be the reason why your dKH keeps dropping. CO2 is soluble, before your skimmer can 'degassed' it, it is already absorbed into the water or worst.... your skimmer maybe contributing to the absorption of any access CO2. Unless you have done test to see if they get degassed more than they are absorb... it may not be worth the risk. Have you considered with putting the effluent tubing into your KR instead? Excess CO2 would make your KR fluids more acidic, just like vinegar would... that would neutralize your the CR effluent and aid in the freeing of the ca and carbonate ions from the Kalk solution? * just applying some fundamental reasoning here, dont' hv any CR or KR... would luv to see if anyone else have done otherwise and produced better results.

I have a potteri and a golden... both quite ok.. there is always that occasional nib but not enough to stress out the coral... The potteri feeds off the tank glass walls and the LRs for algae and pods... an excellent fish as it keeps itself, ... a bit on the fierce side when it comes to its space. Yesterday, I had to take out an Eibli dwarf... now if you ever see how and what this fish nibs on, you'll know what trouble is. A small word of advise, as pretty as it is, KEEP AWAY from the Eibli, me thinks its strictly for FOWLR keepers. mm

Thats' a good point...to have the outlet on a higher level, perhaps on the 'mountian' in the middle of the bottom end. Sediments will result... maybe from some undissolved powder(esp so if your making a saturated solution) or precipitation over time in your mixed solution. Also over a period of six hours or so, you'll see that the solution is no longer "fresh" due to reaction with air... so you may not want to use the no-so-fresh portion of the solution, which will remain at the bottom if you have your outlet higher... another point for your consideration, perhaps is to have the air tube extend into the water, instead of letting the droplet pass thru' some air space before making a splash on the water.... this may result in some calcifying on the glass panes, etc jm2¢ mm ryan: can u pls explain "remember kalk dripper bottle should have a cap with a small hole...".. my kalk dripper has no cap... is there something I'm missing.. thks

well if you had followed your own tread, you'll know which one I was refering to... it would be item 2 then, the one you priced for $400? Pls don't quote me too high a top up.* PM me lah... mm * I'll might as well upgrade my own lightset to two 150W MH DE + 1 centre actinic.

Hey, easy bro.... You misquoted. All the best for your sales. mm

Bringing it down to $300.... anyone? mm

Hi, can you clarify with is item 1 and which is item 2? Also, will you consider a swap with me plus a top up for the light set with the 2*FL. My item is listed on http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20966 thks, mm

JF, jee thks for the photo tips. Will practice it the next time I post any pic.... its lights off for the LS, and I don't wish to upset their expectations. : ) The third pic was just to illustrate that any prospective buyer could keep healthy SPS if he/she bought the light set. Still have no enquiries... yet. keeping hope alive still. mm

DB, Your tank is truly an inspiration for me. It shows how dedicated you are in your love for the reef. Having kept a few corals and knowing how difficult it is, your tank(and a few others here) will constantly serve to remind me where one can get to if sufficent resouces are put in. Its so Grand and wonderful. Wishing you continued success in your reef keeping endevours. mm