kaykay

Wow! I spent the last half an hour reading from post 1 to here. Actually I took (well, tried to take) inspiration from your scapes and tried to replicate in mine. Mine really cmi big time haha. I have actually read the first few pages of your post before, but still am in awe again of the rockscape you can create. Thumbs up!!

Hi Santa, thanks for the dinner box idea. I built a black acrylic box to house the UAS. The interior is built with a white piece for reflective purpose. There is actually a mirror acrylic available, but they only have it in 2mm thickness, and the mirror finish scratches far too easily. So it had to be canned. Before washing (8 day's worth, though not alot). The growth is very dark brown. Only introduced 2 small fishes 2 days ago. Is this the reason for the little green growth? After washing. The box that I built, and the screen inside. The custom built 10W warm whiteLED I'm using. This is the brightness. The final product as of today.

DIY Project 4 (update - 10/6/12) Upflow Algae Scrubber Finally! Scrubbed the scrubber during the water change. Before: (looks burnt, doesn't it?) After washing: Put the acrylic box I built yesterday to use. I have to trim the mesh slightly to fit the box. Now mesh is only 3.5" x 5". Total area = 17.5sq inches. My 10W LED should suffice. But.. now I have a white surface at the back the reflect the light. It should now be doubly effective. Naked in the ios. Lights! Action! Camera! I'm happy. Cheers.

DAMA is just a shop that u can get acrylic and plastics, cut to your requirements. They're huge. ATS = Algae Turf Scrubber Cheers.

Hmmm.. It's a good idea.. However with itchy finger young children around, the risk is high. And I absolutely dont like sticky saltwater drips in the house. So I gotta shelf this idea for a while.

DIY Project 4 ( update - 09/06/12 ) Algae Scrubber I have cleaned the ATS twice, and I'm finding it cumbersome already. Right now, the turf is connected to the base egg crate. So it's actually a big L-shape piece of item. How is it cumbersome? 1. The ios compartment is small and narrow. Maneuvering this piece of turf within this compartment takes some dexterous fingers. Even after putting it in place, the turf usually cannot stay straight. 2. This L-shape piece is light, and it floats. So I needed something to hold it down. I'm using a bag of red Biohome to hold it down. So everytime I remove the turf, I also gotta remove the biohome. AND, Bacteria in the biohome requires a zero light condition to flourish. So this bag of biohome is exposed to strong LED lighting 16 hrs a day. How to cultivate any bacteria? Lol.. 3. Hair algae is blooming in my ios. It is mainly due to the presence of strong stray light from this ATS. These 3 points alone made it a necessity to modify the ATS. I tried to shop for a black plastic lunch box that fits the ios dimensions, but you guys will know its almost impossible to find the thing you really need when you need it. So a trip to DAMA ensues. Drilled the holes at home. So worried I may crack the acrylic, I took 1 full hour to drill these 26 holes. Halfway through the thumb got cramps somemore.. The workmanship leaves a lot to be desired though. First time using acrylic glue, so proceeded with extreme care too. End product. How it will stand in the ios. I wanted to use a mirror piece of acrylic for maximum light reflection to double the effectiveness, but the mirror piece is not an easy material to work with. The mirror laminate scratches easily too. So I chose white to reflect as much light as possible to the back side of the turf. I stick another piece of black acrylic to minimize light escape. The back of this case is like this. Told you the workmanship is poor. Now I'm leaving it to cure overnight, though I know it's not necessary for acrylics. But it's too late now to clean the turf. There's more important things to attend to, like sleep. Haha. Will be scrubbing the ios compartment, doing a wc, and install the new case for the ATS tomorrow. Will update again with pics of this case in operation. Good night guys.

It was just below $70..

Just curious bro, the first t-off from the return pump is for...?

You have pm

I saw you only have 2-3 kg of LR? Just turn them over and give them a gentle shake. The loose sand will fall off. Anyway, your LR will then stand on the sand instead of now, which is in direct contact w the tank glass bottom.

I'm interested if it is a brand new set bro.

Wow. Thanks for the speedy replies!!

Hi reefers, Does anyone have an idea where I can find this? I'm reusing bro CFOh's photo posted about a year ago..

Saw a 5"- 6" specimen at Ah Beng last Sat at 6pm. Can also give them a call.

I think it's a good idea. Thanks! I just realised another problem without a sump. It is that I cannot store the unwanted rocks aside for rescaping at a future date. There is absolutely no additional space in the ios. Sigh.. Maybe after the rescape this weekend, I can pass the spare rocks to others. Yea, I think I'll do just that. Cheers.

I find the rockscapes a little too cluttered. Should I just keep the rock structure on the left? (but shift it slightly centralized) Any comments?

Hey bro, how lousy is lousy? It looks pretty decent on the website. Is it so deceptive? Or do you have a pic of the set you're currently using?

DIY Project 4 (part C ) UAS. I continued to source for parts for the UAS. Hit a road block when the plastic mesh were stocked out at Spotlight. I kinda suspect the buyers of this item is more reefers than handi-crafters. Lol. Finally got help from bro Marcuss to buy it all the way from KL!!! Thanks bro. Wooden air stone? Couldn't find anything longer than 3" all over Singapore. No choice, as I had no more idea what else I can use. So UAS finally started running almost 2 weeks from the 1st day I started sourcing. Sat the custom-made LED set at the innocuous back left corner. I was getting disheartened to see absolutely no growth in the first 5 days. But 2 days later, I got a bit of encouragement. However, the bubbles were getting weaker and finer. The airstone seem to be getting clogged. So I had to go shopping again. "Ask, and you shall be given." Stopped by at Petmart. Asked the aunty at the counter until I was recommended this. It works like a charm. Nice, big, brisk bubbles. The turf at 14 days. After cleaning, changed to the bubble pipe. I had to clean the glass tank walls. Purple brown algae was forming there fast and furious. After cleaning. I didn't cut the cable ties after securing the turf to the bubble pipe. This helps to prop the screen upright. Do note that the cable ties were done the opposite directions for the 2 pcs, thus supporting it both ways. More updates on this in a week. Cheers.

DIY Project 4. (part B ) UAS. I wanted my UAS to be compact. For the perfectionist me, the external lighting has to look like it is a natural extension of the glass tank. So a spotlight protruding like a swollen sore thumb is a big NO-NO. My CO sure will frown too. The more important factor, however, is safety - I have a finger-itchy 4 year old boy. Haha. So the most logical lighting has to be the LED. I was thinking of this initially. But it was immediately thrown out the window due to the 2 factors listed above. One fine afternoon, after my meeting in town, I visited Sim Lim Tower. My, oh my. My eyes almost went blind after looking at LED fixtures. I almost gave up the search after 30 mins, when something caught the corner of my almost-blind eyes. A small flood light was sitting in a glass counter. I asked to see it, and was surprised to be told that it was a 10W LED chip. However, the housing of that fixture was still too big. It measured 5"x 4"x 4"thick. But it ran on DC. I queried more, and discussed fabricating one to my dimensions. It costs slightly more than the thick set, although it incorporates the 10W LED warm white chip. But I happily paid for it, and waited impatiently 24hrs for it to be made. I wasn't really too happy initially at collection. The guy miscalculated, and drilled some holes, left unused. Then I reckoned these holes can be some form of ventilation, and calmed down somewhat. It sure is bright. And it was inconspicuous enough. And energy efficient. And it fit like a glove. I'm happy again.

DIY Project 4. (part A) Nutrient export - the natural way - "Upflow Algae Scrubber". I believe some of the reefers here have tried the algae scrubber, many with positive results. I saw the mega-size one at Iwarna, and am pretty sure this works. Unfortunately, I'm not running a sump. And having a bucket of algae beside my tank just doesn't cut it. Not a chance. It must be divine intervention, when I was surfing SRC in church (yes, in church!), and read the thread Santa Monica started. God sure loves me loads. It was the 5th day of my tank cycle, and I was like going, I'm sure going this way - the "Upflow Algae Scrubber" (UAS) way.. Oh ya, typing on the iPhone is somehow not as easy as it seems, not least with such a "Lor Sor" uncle suffering from slight "lau hua".. Haha. So it's very likely I'm doing this in a few parts.. So bear with me ya.. In short, the UAS concentrates the growth of macro algae in a controlled piece of turf WITHIN the confines of a tank, thereby utilizing up the Nitrates and Phosphates present in the aquarium. This is especially useful in a nano tank where space is premium. I have an available first compartment in the ios in which I have not decided what goes in it at that time. I was getting really excited.

Day 14. Seeing green turf algae. Took it out for a good scrub. Changed out the wooden airstones for a plastic bubble pipe. Works like a charm. Now I'm getting big, brisk bubbles.

Yup. Got it from polyart. Neat looking piece of equipment. Hang on the hood. But slightly noisy tho..

Those are copepods. You'll want them in your tank. Some fish, like the mandarin fish feed exclusively on them.

Thanks for the compliments. I'm just trying to chronicle this nano journey, and solicit feedback in this open journal. I appreciate and welcome all comments in this lil' journal of mine.

Hi John, glad to know that we both share the same dimensions for the display tank. Mine just have the extra 6" of ios at the back. It has been an exciting journey for me and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. For the bulk order for the LED, simply reply in the thread with the information stated there. Thanks. I'll be changing my combi of lights to 4white + 6blue though. Cheers.