alons

Folks, With great sadness I had to decommission my marine system due to an house move and strong opposition from the other half, so for now it's marine on a screen saver for me. i always believed that buying good equipment is key in achieving stability and peace of mind, so all my equipment is top brand bought new. i will give a 1 week warranty on the staff I sell, not happy, bring it back, I'll give you back your money. For enquiries Alan 98113959, pick up in the river valley area. So up for grabs the following:

Just recalled posting this a while ago, which contains similar temp control along with some other goodies: Next challenge..

There is no time period for cycle, you should look for an amonia spike followed by nitrite spike (amonia will go down), until both are 0, don't settle for anything less than that, after both value are 0, 20%-25% water change and you are ready to start, start means 2-3 fish, wait 3-4 weeks, and same number again, let the bacteria population build up gradually, slow is fast.., patience is key

I would say, safety first, larger dedicated relay with bigger contacts is safer for 220v switching, while the internal controllers relays can switch 12v, which also prolong the controllers life. I've built several of those boxes, typically using the STC1000, which is a cheap temp controller (I always buy 2 and keep one for backup as sometime this controller is misbehaving). This controller can work with 12v or 220v input voltage, go with the 12 if you choose this model. More reliable controllers would cost $150+, but will give you a peace of mind. In the pic above, you can see the controller, 12v internal power supply, leds (hot/cold indicators), on/off switch, 2x12v relay for 220 switching (1 hot 1 cold), fuse (always put when dealing with 220v). Hope this answers your question.

Similar idea, different setup Recommend to use a 12v temp controller and use different external 12v relay for switching the 220v on/off (not the internal relay within the controller)

Totally agree, proper filteration is a key success factor + you have a bunch of equipment in the sump. Tank, sump, proper piping, good return pump and good skimmer are basics to start off on the right foot. Not related but relevant, I'm selling a kick-ass 4 feet tank, PM if interested.

I doubt it's bacteria bloom, bacteria need food (basically organic carbon based waste) to bloom, which clearly in an empty system you do not have. My guess is some sort of substances extracted from the sand or rock, did you wash them well with water before you put them in? Next step is to cycle your tank, which in your case may be 1-3 weeks, depends on size, do not skip this step, and don't worry about the clouded water. Do not, and i repeat, do not add any fish until your tank is properly cycled, or they will die. Good luck.

Couple of thing to consider: 1. Check your flow within the UV per the mfg recommendation, even do a test as sometime it's not so easy to calculate if you use the same pump for other equipment (like chiller etc), too fast not effective, too slow may have negative impact on bacteria 2. Check flow within the biopallet reactor, biopallet should hoover, but not too much, for sure not static, Biopallet are basically carbon based food that bacteria will feed from, in this process they consume nitrate 3. i recommend you to use "special blend" (microbe-lift) on a weekly basis, this is live bacteria, will smoothen and accelerate the process you are trying to achieve, make sure you turn off the uv for a day or two after you top up

Fresh water and salt water tanks are completely different setups. Hang on filter is not enough, you need proper water flow, skimmer, temp control (very important with corals, less with fish only), etc' Do yourself, your wallet, and the poor fish a big favor and look for a 2nd hand tank, which is built for marine fish, with proper equipment, read a lot and do it properly, there is not way to make shortcuts, although many of us try and end up frustrated. Good luck

YES! Quarantine tank is recommended regardless of how big is your main tank, it's even more important in a small display tank as bad things tend to happen faster in a small tanks, so you need a backup plan

Nice! I would add 2 key words (written in blood :)) "Patience" - translate to take things slow, slow as in put 1-2 fish in a 4-5 weeks intervals, let the biology mature (i know it's extremely hard and most people will not follow, but we are talking about live creatures here, it's heart breaking to see them die because of our mistakes) "Quarantine" - start from day 1 and setup a quarantine tank, store systems infested with parasites and other crap, if you follow advise above, you can easily aclimate and treat new fish in a small (50l) quarantine tank for 3 weeks before moving to the main tank, this will save you A LOT of frustration and money, it's the best investment you would do (iMO doing this for couple of years)

Wait with corals, don't add any more fish, be patient for couple of months, and you'll be OK. Most people don't survive the first year of this hobby because they don't have the patience.

ICH is a survival machine! There is no effective way to treat ich in a reef, medication sold which are "reef safe" is BS, save your money. The parasite will die if he cannot find a host within 24hours, so the only effective option in an infested reef is to take out the fish to a secondary tank, and leave the main tank empty (corals etc OK) for 6-8 weeks (yes, yes). Increasing the temp will accelerate the parasite life cycle. Even after all this, there is no 100% guarantee the parasite is gone, it may be in a "sleep" mode deep in the sand for months and re-surface again, infecting fish which are stressed, and the cycle start again. In a FOWLR tank it's a different story, a Chloroquine based medications as food are effective, but typically sick fish will not eat. If you can get your hands on Chloroquine phospate (CP), comes as a powder, not easy to get in SG, it's a very effective treatment, different than copper, but you will need to change 80-90% of the water at the end of the treatment, did this twice on a 500l tank, it's no fun, read more (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/fish) Copper is effective, you have to follow dosage, monitor levels on a daily basis, get a reliable test kit!, i recommend 2 cycles of 3 weeks each, with 1-2 weeks break in between, monitor fish behaviour carefully as it burns. ICH is very very very hard to get rid off once it's in, best strategy is avoidance, quarantine new fish for 3-4 weeks before moving to main tank, keep the parasite away, that's the best approach, all the other staff is reactive. Unfortunately most of the stores in SG/farms are infested with this crap. Lots of articles out there, read and read more

You should have no problems with corals, as long as you maintain a water refresh routine, not over feed and over populate with fish, and put new live stock SLOWLY, patience is the name of the game, most of the folks over-populate and do it fast, causing their biology to collapse. Delay using chemicals, be patient instead, save your money.

Deltec / Tunze for peace and quiet..

You never put sand and live rock in an hospital tank!, take them out, they will absorb medication, you can put pieces of pvc pipes instead to provide a hiding place for the fish. You wlll need a small hang-on filter, air pump, heater, small power head (for circulation), and maybe a small vent to keep temp stable. Hospital tank=quarantine, for treating new fish before moving to the main tank, or treating fish with medication (although it's not straight forward as it's very hard to catch a sick fish, and the stress of move might finish the job, depends on his condition) You can always cycle it and keep it running, but after usage you need to replace all the water and disinfect filteration system. You can always take water from your main tank (assuming it's not contaminated) and use it to start There is a lot of material out there, read read read Good luck.

Have a set of 6x54W (T5) solarmax, 4feet (120cm), various colors+spares, in great condition, selling @ $180. 98113959 if interested.

What is the problem?.., the values you indicate are reasonable for a 4 months tank, i would say even it's pretty good, why run and start to use chemicals and out materials Reduce a bit feeding quantities, period 10-15% water changes, and you are good to go, let nauture do his thing If you really keen on adding something in the future, check out "special blend" from microbe-lift, it smells like shit, but it's the only product with real live bacteria, dose a bit every 1-2 weeks after water change, and it will keep your tank shiny (I am not in any way affiliated with M-L, just used their shit for 3 years).

Not enough rocks buddy, live rocks are essential for a stable Nitrifying bacteria environment is a marine tank, if you do decide to add rocks, add slowly over time not to cause amonia spikes, rocks are going through a mini-cycle as well

what's a fallow period?

50% water change will stress your live stock, i would not do this unless there is an emergency, and for sure reduce nitrate level in a FOWLR tank does not qualify. Weekly changes of 10-15% for 2-3 times will do the trick, add biopalets, better strategy from experience.

While it may not cause much issues, not sure of the benefit as 1+1 here does not equal 2. better do it right and if needed and upgrade the skimmer.

1ft cube is not a good choice, you will have very limited choice of fish type and quantity. So much can happen in 2.5 years, so start with a good size (3-4f) and enjoy

Decommission my tank, Looking for a new home for the following triggers Large red tooth trigger: $25 Large pink tail trigger: $25 Mid size Orange striped trigger: $15 98113959 (Alan)

Nitrifying bacteria is established on live rock over time, not free floating in the water. Natural sea water may contain crap you don't want in your tank. Patience is key in this hobby, don't make shortcuts, do a proper cycle of the tank, otherwise you'll lose your fish and your money.