madmac

Have you got a pic to show what a dwarf hermit looks like? I have "sand" hermits if you want. > I have some, about 6 to 7 "sand" hermit crabs -- they're white legged, never climb onto the live rocks. They're are constantly bringing sand to their mouths, rotating them around when in their mouths, and when in danger they bury themselves under the sand, leaving their eyes and antennas out. about 1 inch long, shell size. .... < PM if you want to buy... mm

This is what I did to catch that trouble-maker. I bought a box of tiny hooks, size 20. Tied the hook to a floss and baited it with some meat. The fish took to it in seconds when I placed it near its hideout, I pulled it out... remove the hook quickly and put the fish in some container. It was fine and swimming around as though nothing happened. I managed to trade the fish for $2/- at I*****a. No noticable scars on the fish. Can't believe that when I got it out, "Speak softly love" was playing on iTunes. No sweat chicken feet... har ha Now does anybody want to buy a box of size 20 hooks, only one is use, 99 left... give me $2 and its yours. : ) mm

Yup, I have one. It is approx. 4feet by 3 feet by 2 feet high. Blue colour. Need exact dimensions, wait till I get home. : ). The tub is reinforce by another twin tub, like one tub inside another. You can't remove them. You wanna buy it? It is a great spare for all kinds of reef keeping purpose... I had a tunze circulating the water inside and it kept cool at 26ºC constant droping lower in the nights. mm

I have some, about 6 to 7 "sand" hermit crabs -- they're white legged, never climb onto the live rocks. They're are constantly bringing sand to their mouths, rotating them around when in their mouths, and when in danger they bury themselves under the sand, leaving their eyes and antennas out. about 1 inch long, shell size. I find the red-legged hermits, too agressive. Recently they murdered 2 of my Astraea snails and assume their shells. They climb all over the place... real nuisance.... glad to have gotton rid of them. If you want, $1 each. I think I have too many a three footer. mm

Whatever brand don't choose Alteco's A+B Epo-putty(Underwater), available in most hardware shops here. Got this email from the sales rep : >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 05-Jan-04, at PM 04:46, sales wrote: Our epo putty, when cured, will produce certain chemicals which will harm marine lives in the long run. Best Regards Patrick Voon Alteco Chemical Pte Ltd -----Original Message----- From: ********** Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 4:30 PM To: sales@alteco.com.sg Subject: Re: Receival of Form Submission Dear Patrick, That is very strange! Because the web-site that I referred this (http://www.alteco.com.sg/consumer.htm) says..... -------------------------------- On 05-Jan-04, at PM 04:06, Sales Dept wrote: Our epoputty is not suitable for underwater saltwater (aquarium usage). Best Regards Patrick Voon Alteco Chemical Pte Ltd

another pic

Yup have it too.... just one only, but it started to grow about 1 month back and very fast too. Then there's the other one a bit stiffer, and it resembles a monti. None of the snails and fishes like it, although the clown tried to tear off a piece to feed his BTA. I don't think they last very long in the tank as they look fragile. mm

Patrick, a dKH level of 6, "Is this level dangerous?" is a wrong question. A dKH level is simply a measure of alkalinity, or "pH buffering". The normal accepted level of alkalinity or dKH is somewhere about 10 to 12 times. Even at this level of 6, if your pH is btw 8.1-8.3, then it is not dangerous. However, if it simply points to a condition in water, which will allow for wild fluctuations in your pH, i.e. you can have a pH as low as 7.5 quite easily on say normal water evaporation during the day. A higher pH means that it takes alonger time for your pH to swing, it remains constant at say 8.1 for 3 to 4 days before it starts to drop. I hv read that some additives can cause a drop in your pH, but again a higher buffer will s l o w the drop. Now if your LS can take a low pH then u don't have to worry, however, since you say you're using rowa and KR, chances are.. you're keeping stoney corals, which wouldn't be tolerable to low pH. I'd say, the problem lies with your KR, it needs some fine tuning. mm

Vince, This is what I think happens to your tank. I must qualify myself fisrt because I quite new still. In WetWebmdia.com, there is very good coverage on pH, Alkalinity (or dHK) and Calcium (Ca). Your understanding of this will get you far in this hobby as it forms the basics of good water parameters. The pH coverage is here : http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marphalk.htm. Firstly, what dKH test kit are you using? Is there another dKH to test against the first, just to make sure they are both giving the same result. 2ndly, what is your pH level now? It could be dangerously low for your LS. As for your pH, I think it is due to your heavy stocking of live fishes (for your tank size)... and the accumulation of CO2 in the water column, CO2 turns water to Carbonic Acid, which lowers the alkalinity of the water(obviously). At night time, pH has a tendency to drop as the plants/algae which takes in CO2 in the day suddenly compete for O2 and give out CO2 instead, adding more CO2 in our water column together with your other LS. So that explains why some prefer to dose in the night. There's nothing wrong with your system. Keep maintaining your biweekly dose to keep your pH constant. I'm not too sure how Ca affects your pH, except that for every "x" volumn of water, you can have a certain amount of hydrogen/Ca/etc molecules. This portioning isn't very strick, it can be a slight varible, but if any of the elements exceed their respective set, it will precipitate out as something insoluable, i.e. visible particles floating around your water. However, if your H+ ions is low, it allows your Ca to increase, hence, your high Ca level... (actually 440 isn't very high for those keeping SPSes-- I think) Hope tt helps, happy keeping, mm

15 to 20 times for me, as some has also advised, assuming your tank capacity is 180 l, then somewhere about 3000 l/hour would be good... get the outflow from different places e.g. 3 PH of 1000 l/h pointing to different directions sounds cool. mm

Yes, initially for the 1st week or so.... nowadays, its not difficult to see her, I'd say that one can spot her about 70% of the time, just around rocks, pecking at them... trouble is if you go too close suddenly, she darts away into hiding. Yesterday, I noticed she's starting to peck at algae growing on the back glass. Don't know how to train her at this stage as she's still pretty shy around ppl. You're caught with such shy fishes as if you underfeed, then the other fishes get to the food first-- overfeed....! Training is easiser with a newer one. Which leads me to my next question on your Potter as I am considering getting one. 1) How long did you keep the Potter Angel before releasing into the main tank? 2) Shy around people? Is it still agressive towards other fishes? 3) BS is live, frozen, or baby (as in live ones right)? How about freeze-dried for convinence? Any brand preference for such small fish? TIA mm

Well at least you have acclimatized her well... maybe too well : ) When you say that its eating, do you mean you hand fed her or she's just eating off the LRs? 'Cause my goldie's not taken any food since I aquired her, its a little nerve wreaking... 1 month since, and counting. Well gd luck anyway and happy keeping. mm

That sounds like a GREAT idea. I second the motion. Er, now... how do we go about organizing it? Well, you can count me in... if the need arises for a "karkie". : ) rgds, mm

Rav, Hi how's the Potter Angel doing? Have you released it into the main tank? Saw a few for sale at PasirRis, can I ask how much you paid for her? & Finally, I noticed that you also have a flame angel, are the two d. angels getting along fine? I am intending on a Potter, but I'm not too sure as to whether it'll go well with an existing Golden Pygmy in a 3' setup. The Potter's a real sweetie! TIA, mm

revine, Hi, I'm new too, well 6 mths actually.... after buying the tank-- lock, stock and barrel, I've come to realised I'm way off in setup terms from where I want to be. So take this with a pinch of salt.... its wannabe newbie helping newbie. : ) Since you're just starting again, and having the list put up, it looks like your're headed in the right direction. I think you've missed out on the chiller somewhere in the list. So this is how I visualised the sequence of your water flow : a) your overflow will take the water to sump then from your sump to the skimmer c) then the return pump back to the tank {I know it sounds stupid : )... do you still need a diagram for that?} some questions : i) how big is your new tank to be ? => it would help you decide on the size of your pump/s & your lighting reqms, actually everything else ii) Fowlr or mixed? iii) assuming your dsb to be in tank and the "filtration" in your sump? Oh, put the tank near somewhere with easy access to several electrical sockets (you're never enough) mm

Your question is so confusing. You first said that you are losing a lot of water.... but it not at the sump, then where do your notice you are losing the water? i.e. it can't be the main tank, so it has to be the sump... (oops unless you have a leakage somewhere). Now if you can tell us in which area of the sump you noticed the water level is different, perhaps some of us may be able to help.... otherwise it would appear that you don't really know what you're seeking. The response so far are quite valid.... if you placed your PS in the return pump compartment of your sump then that's the area where most of the water level would fluctuate, it would then appear that your PS is actually taking air instead of water, thereby reducing the efficency of your PS as air is already being let in thru' a venturi portion. Shift your pump to the portion where the water level won't change and placed it about 1.5 inches from top. If tt can't be achieved then keep ur current setup and hv ur sump replaced with one tt has a larger base at the return end compartment, cause' obviously its currenltly has a small base now, => the height of water changes rapidly.... don't think it'll cost you > S$50.00 mm

Hello, Have read somewhere, some reefers engage in coral/liverock flushing on a weekly basis. I wonder what that refers to. Particularly, I notice there's plenty of 'dirt particles' settling on the coral/LR on my tank, and it poofs off when I adjust the outlet stream. These particles can't be good, as the places where they are stuck, in little holes and crevices get very filled and before long, hair algae grows out. Perhaps the output flowrate is not strong enough. If its not then any idea for a 35 gallon tank, what is the expected g/hour rate. Unless this a pretty common occurance amoung you guys. Thks in adv. mm

Thks for the reply guys. Judging from the response so far, I guess most members aren't quite interested in this manner of learing and sharing info. Wanted to moot the idea of setting a physical club location, where people can come by and meetup... where monthly/weekly workshops can be conducted on say, "coral propagation", "advance reef keeping" etc... we can even pay workshop fees. Just that some of us don't quite have so much time (besides the money thinggy) to spend searching on the web and evaluating/experimenting the merits of each suggestion before tying. Its a win/win for everyone... : ( xiggie, the web is a tremendous resource, ... but i don't think it can replace learning face-to-face. bwillie, I hope to catch up with you sometime... mm

>reef keeping is a boring stuff if u r not interested.. >bringing kids (who yell) n wife (who look bored) is never a good idea. >it should be soley reefers. lol, I hv 3 kiddies and I try to involve them in this new found passion. Children are always curious to see and animal life is fasinating. I point things in the tank out to them and try to explain whenever possible what I think is happening.. As for the wifey, well, in some strange manner, none of us here married hobbist could possible take this time-consumming, $$$, but gratifing hobby further without their support. Fact is, in something like this, getting family support, will bring you quite far... otherwise it'll just be abortive exercise over time. Isn't it a long term thinggy anyway. >outing with mass orgy is never a good idea. yes can't agree more. >best is to have 4person maximum.. then everyone can really get into discuss.. sounds good to me.... Anyone? I'll volunteer my place for those in Tampines/P. Ris... limited to 4 families/individuals and prefebly an "expert". mm 36"x18"*18" mixed reef, algae challenge tank many un_IDed intverbrates, 5 fishes, - Maroon C., Purple T., Six-lined W., Copperband B., Golden Dwarf A. 2 cannister filters 1/4 HP chiller set btw 26 - 28ºC 150 MH, with two 36W blue lights.

Hello, I was wondering if there are any clinics organised to help people with problems or perhaps give advise to newbies/ppl interested in starting out before they actually do. It could be organised on a location/district basis with perhaps one or two "senior"/"advance reefers volunteering out. The host loacation could be hte newbies place and those who attend could gain an appreciation of hte situation. Maybe some cookies/kopi coudl be dished out. Wine? : ) Casual definately. Family affair, bring your kiddies too? NO to anyform of selling/multi-level etc sh*t pls. I'm got my tank in Nov '03 and have been spent much $$$, sometimes regretfully. Its a hair-pulling (pun) experience so far. I stay near Pasir Ris.... if SRC could put session dates in the Calender part and organise it. That would be great. mm