bawater

cyclops are 800microns (more than double the size of baby brine shrimps). Yes a little may be stuck in the filter wool. You want the food to soak up the garlic which is easier to feed (or get into fishes)- u can pour away the excess juice before feeding. Dripping it direct into the tank will dilute it & most probably be skimmed out.

DT cell's size is smaller then the gaps in filter wool. (the biggest algae cell is not more than 12 microns) But most powerful skimmers nowadays are not plankton friendly and may skim it out .

Unless oil or mineral deposits are found under your location or within its boundaries. Which then the govberment may wish to offer a price for your location...which could be $1 Landed would be forever or until the walls fall down. Private condos would be until everything that is holding you up in the air falls apart (which by recent building standards are not very long since the tender goes to the lowest bidding contractor)

If the salt is properly dissolved, you can take a reading instantly. or you could give it half to 1 hour to settle and take a reading. i meant- remove a few ltrs of tank water(into a pail or something) and mix salt into it and add back to tank to raise the salinity. You do not need to remove so much. What you are doing is to make a concentrated brine(salt solution) and adding this to your current volume to increase salinity. Take frequent readings. *If its an empty tank with no sand- u can actually just add the salt in the tank directly and adjust from there. when u remove water to add in rocks- this would be where the extra 2ft will come in handy, take out as much as u want and put it in the 2ft then add back what u want till you reach your desired water level in the main tank. There is no need to adjust salinity because you are already at the correct SG.

Its simple adjust your salinity now, before the rocks go in. raise the level to abt 1.021-1.023 for tank temperatures of 28c or above(this will allow you a 0.002 to 0.005 buffer in salinity due to evaporation). The range of salinity is safe between 1.021-1.026(i prefer 1.023-1.026) All u need to do is take out some tank water and mix in half a cup of salt with that water in a container then pour it back. Check salinity everytime u mix it back, adjust untill u reach the 1.021-1.023 range. Once the rocks go in, there will be die offs and your cycle will start. This will also happen if u stay at the current 1.011 but when u raise salinity just before fishes go in...u may get another batch of die offs(from dying bacteria due to the huge change in salinity) which will raise ammonia & nitrite levels...causing additional stress to the already stressed new fishes and so forth it goes. So once u have got your salinity correct(the earlier the better)- just top up with freshwater to maintain at that salinity. Playing with low salinity will work more for fish only tanks(but even so- some fishes are less tolerant than others), corals are not that tolerant.

i think its good that you asked the requirements before getting one. It would be better to refer them as Goniopora because alveopora is also termed as jewel etc... with too many lumped into a common names(or easy to name) we may end up with longan coral or rambutan coral soon. These are heavy phytoplankton grazers and feeding is one of the main factors in long term survival(dosing phytoplankton foods would be needed almost daily- something most closed systems cannot handle). And 1 yr is not it's lifespan. If provided well enough i bet it would still be in your tank 10yrs from now or most probably able to out live you. It is usually found in lagoons but not a very common sight if u dive reefs. Strong light- and a good current flow to constantly bring food to it may give you a chance. (starvation is usually the main cause of death) success would mean keeping it over a yr, and by then you should see growth in size.(not tissue receeding) but don't take my word for it- read the links below Goniopora by Eric borneman Gonioporas by Albert J. Thiel Gonioporas by JULIAN SPRUNG Toxicity of goniopora

www.eaquanature.com/DT

That is why DT is available in various sizes- buy the size to revelant your consumption. Although your corals may not consume much but if you have a DSB,the micro life in that would be consuming a lot. If you do your research, there is not much other products that can beat DT as a tank food supplement. used within 3 mths would be optimum- this should be a time frame when the majority of algae cells are still very much alive, by 6mths there will be some die off but still useable. Beyond that it would just be like any other dead/inert phytoplankton based product(with decomposition). Take an apple for example- what happens if u left one in room temperature for 1-6mths and what happens if u left one in the fridge for 1,2,3,4,5,6mths? (lousy comparison but just a basic idea) is it still nice and crunchy?

its covered in there, just phased different. Quote[/color]"There are two primary ways to remove chloramine from tap water. The first is through the use of inorganic reducing agents such as thiosulfate. Thiosulfate (S2O3- -, which actually looks like -OSO2S-) is an inorganic chemical that is typically dissolved in water, usually as the sodium salt. When added to water containing chloramine, a reaction takes place, destroying the chloramine. The electrochemistry of sulfur compounds can be complicated, and different researchers report different products of this reaction (extrapolated from reactions with chlorine itself, not chloramine). The products have been suggested to include sulfate (SO4- - and HSO4-),10,14 elemental sulfur (S),10 and tetrathionate (S4O6- -),11-13 and may depend to some extent on the conditions, including the pH and the relative amounts of compounds present. John F. Kuhns (inventor of Amquel below) has indicated that he believes that the reaction resulting in sulfate is the most frequently observed. The reaction for this process is shown below: S2O3-- + 4NH2Cl + 5H2O à 2SO4-- + 2H+ + 4HCl + 4NH3 Thiosulfate is also equally suited to dechlorinating free chlorine in water, and it has gained wide use in marine and freshwater aquaria. Unfortunately, the ammonia that is produced as a result of the reaction is still toxic. Consequently, thiosulfate alone is not always adequate for eliminating toxicity from chloramine. Other products, such as hydroxymethanesulfonate (HOCH2SO3-; a known ammonia binder15 patented for aquarium uses by John F. Kuhns16 (sold as Amquel by Kordon and ClorAm-X by Reed Mariculture, among others) can be used to treat chloraminated water because they both break down chloramine and bind up the ammonia."quote So it depends on what kind of anti chlorine/chloramine you use - You will need to do your own research on the brand or product and what active ingredient it contains. Then you will roughly know what end product you get, sulfate/ammonia,both or none. If you have been using it for a while already- i think you would have noticed an overdose by now. If you haven't used it before- get a good brand and follow instructions accordingly. nothing major > sodium thiosulfate overdose

nope, chloramine will still be there. read the article marinebetta posted. Its all there.

sure , then you will introduce heavy metals as well as chloramine.

marine de lux is a German brand name- German products is all about quality, but its in a bottle(& i think they store it on the shelf at room temp)- and its still dead food. So feed sparingly. There is little info on it and just about zero reviews on it. i have not come across the ingredients listed, because that would give a better idea of what's inside. So the decision is yours. (Salifert is another brand name you might want to look at if you are looking into inert bottled foods) no comments, but i guess its not cheap either.

sorry, i have no idea what is coral liquid. (if u have a brand then i can look it up). The only thing i know that resembles that is coralife liquid gold. (which is an additive of amino acids,trace elements and vitamins) This is Not a Food product.

usually all dead or frozen foods is just dead particulate matter- they will all start to decay once they are in the tank so u want as much eaten quickly as possible. That makes it no difference in nutrient levels for cyclops,marine snow,liquidfry or other dry/frozen foods like mysis/brine shrimp/bloodworms etc. The main criteria on feeding is the actual nutritional content of the foods and food size. liquidfry marine is pea flower based and the same as yeast/egg yolk based foods- they pollute more than feed.(if i blended and mashed up some flake food in saltwater...it would be kind of a marine snow and still also contribute to water quality problems) Cyclops is fine as long as you have something that eats it up- but at 800microns its too big for most soft corals and sps. Benefits the LPS and fishes more. when uneaten it contributes to water problems and cyanobacteria(test your PO4) DT is live- so if uneaten, it does not contribute to the dead matter. phytoplanton is the start of the food chain so yes you will see more micro fauna population(even if it directly does not feed the coral), this in turn will become food for bigger animals and their larvae become food for the corals.

gigantic pic removed. gotta resize it & repost again. but i dun see any algae apart from some blur stuff on the left side rock.

i think everybody covered all the points but abt the top up- Mine is abt that size- it can run 48hrs before it goes dry, but i don't have a chiller so evaporation is higher, yours should run a few days- 3 or more. For long trips- make do with a big toyogo container or pail in front of the tank and transfer the float switch & pump there. (yes it may look ugly but your not around to see it)

Reef builder (dkh) Reef buffer or marine buffer (stanby use for those low pH days if they happen) buy the powder form- more value for money. everything else optional for spare cash$ buy more test kits instead. Then you will be able to tell in future(or over time) which additives you really need based on your tank's needs.

To grow any plants well you just need to go back to basics (or use natural light). photosynthesis involves two primary steps for higher plants; (1) the capture of solar energy in electrons ,obtained by splitting of a water molecule and (2)the transfer of that electron and the hydrogen released when combined with carbon dioxide to a sugar or alcohol, which happens in a dark phase called carbon fixation. Following Florida Farm's research into growing single cell plants (microalgae), i also applied that to my refugium . (normal daylight hours) pH does not flunciate much-maybe between 8.1-8.4. 16hrs on 8 hrs off you may want to even run 20hrs on and 4hrs off- but i leave that trial for you to try. The moss type-stringy type is also a member of the caulerpa family,(i found the name for it but can't remember anymore)and i find it the most robust thing ever and u can actually watch the growth daily. i use it along with a variety of other algaes. Another thing to note is that- young plants grow the fastest (in the process using up more nutrients) so regular cutting/pruning will be beneficial..if not a rule. Also PL lights produce much better growth than FL . Now on to the grape and feather caulerpa, actually many algae will die or die back with a major change in light levels and big changes in water chemistry. Caulerpa turns sexual and this is a form of reproduction if conditions don't suite it. It will also go sexual if it gets too crowded...spreading its spores everywhere and releasing back the nutrients it has used(white cloudy water).Not a major problem as i have let it go before with no side effects to the main tank.(but then again,i run 2 skimmers so don't take my word on it) But it does give u a warning:12 hours before it melts it will start to yellow while the insides becomes liquid (i note that going sexual is usually in the early morning from abt sunrise 7 to 9am as mine is on the balcony and able to receive moonlight and ambient sunlight) this means chk your fuge at nite and you should catch any signs and remove it. Stick to whatever that works for you.

NH4 what does light green equals to?. This is a shot in the dark but if its a tetra kit, means abt 0-5ppm or something like that.(BTW-tetra ammonia kit requires u to wait for 20mins for actual results) so if light green is ok - why would you use amguard? If you test for zero ammonia- then any drop of amguard is overdose. (although i don't think that stuff can kill off the whole tank in moderate doses) If amguard is the only way to control your ammonia levels- means the tank has not established its bacteria colonies and the tank is not matured enough to sustain high livestock loads. i would suggest getting a pH test kit too. (calcium tests is secondary for now)

yes it is important to create current within the tank(referred to as water circulation).....but by using airstones for a home aquaria would be the only way to do it in the 70's. We now have powerheads and much more advance circulation pumps (tunze range of streams/reetecs/seaswirls)

They base their concepts more on interior design. They do quite a few designs of the plasma type mounted onto the wall up to 4ft in length(& its HDB approved) but its only abt 3-5" wide.They mainly run undergravels for these setups and the planted ones or guppy ones are ok. The overall finished sleak look is quite good since you pay for it. The filtration design posted should be fine for fish only marine and maybe a few high nutrient tolerable corals(if they provide enough light). But for a full reef......the filtration concept is not much different from a side internal overflow(like those LH designs).There will be limitations in the long run.(i think its the main 2.5ft or 3ft tank at the front of the shop...but that was months ago!) But i do see a problem with the false bottom- 1st you will have to watch your rockwork placement..and also the amount in weight. 2nd...what happens when coralline,particulate build up,tube worms...and worse of all aiptasia grow in that space?(using a powerhead to blow beneath won't remove aiptasia or coralline trust me). but that's just my opinion.

wait till u read 0.5 nitrite or less. then test nitrate. dilute the end nitrate(NO3) with a partial water change. 2L for a 5ft.......sounds more like water top off. should be 10%-15% of your total volume. You can prepare the salt mix & water the day before- then change the next day.

some numbers would be better than a "good" i guess pH 8.6 right. not 86 ammonia-? nitrite-? nitrate-? Temp-? salinity-? and if u do a full range? DKH-? calcium is not a concern. having nitrate does not mean your cycle has not complete- in fact, it means you have cycled. NO3 is the end product. A DSb will not mature till abt a yr (the fastest i give u, 6mths). A fully working DS means it has the micro-organisms in it to turn the bed over and release the gases. This would include various worms etc. the 100% change just because of NO3 was a mistake. You should have done a series of partial water change to dilute it instead. Since currently you do not have a nutrient export, nitrate will continue to rise...so in future-do partial water changes. NO3 will not harm fishes immediately- you do not have to concern yourself with that as an immediate danger - unless you read 300-400ppm...and our off the shelf test kits don't measure that kind of levels(which in this case it does affect fishes) Your pH is relatively high, but proper accimatisation will not affect the fishes. Your salt mix should not mix that high pH, are you dosing something else? none the less, the biological process of bacteria will bring down the pH in time. There is another way, by pouring a can of soda water into the tank but don't do it unless u have no living things in the tank. (and pH 8.6 is not critical enough to use this method). Your canister acts as a biological filter(which it was designed to be)- so washing it so often kills the bacteria. This is also the main source of your nitrate production.

As an add on to tanzy's explanantion, Calcification in the stony corals occurs under the basal disc of each polyp.This biomineralization zone is well removed, on the scale of a millimeter to a centimeter from the photosynthetic region occupied by the zooxanthellae, which is typically located in the upper part of the polyp. (this would be one reason for good water circulation). It seems highly unlikely that carbon dioxide removal and elevated pH is a direct driving force in coral calcification, but it is almost certainly an important factor. It seems that membrane pumping of calcium ions to, and hydrogen ions from the enclosed spaces between the basal disc of the polyps and aragonite skeleton is the key to control of calcification by the animal. Carbon dioxide molecules diffuse through membranes and cells to the calcification site.The removal of hydrogen ions greatly raises pH in the calcification area beneath the polyp causing the reaction between water and carbon dioxide to shift to dominance and supersaturation by carbonate ion. With calcium being pumped in, once aragonite crystallization has started, calcification occurs rapidly. As an equation for every one molecule of CO² taken up and calcium carbonate laid down, two ions of bicarbonate are used and two molecules of CO² are produced. Since the build up of acidic conditions and excess carbon dioxide would soon slow the calcification process, the removal of CO² by the coral zooxanthellae is critical to continue rapid calcification. Calcification by the described process supports photosynthesis, providing the preferred low energy carbon CO², which is in very short supply under typical reef conditions of high pH. Photosynthesis in turn supports calcification -locally removing the the acidifying CO². Thus the symbiosis between the animal part of the coral and the zooxanthelle is far more than just an exchange of nutrients and CO² for sugars. (different genera of species utilize these elements in a variety of ways). Research done (by Goiran ,1996;Al Moghrabi ,1996) on dissolved inorganic carbon utilization by stony corals generally supports the above information. i also believe amino acids(as any living thing needs)and borates play a part and dose seachem reef plus(recommended by G.A.R.F) which includes in trace form: boron,bromine,cobalt,copper,iodine,iron,manganese,molybdenum,nickel,rubidium, tin,vanadium,zinc,arginine,glutamate,lysine,tyrosine,choline,inositol,niacine, pantothenate,riboflavin,thiamine,vitamin B and vitamin C.

Either it has sucked in air by accident or if its a male there are air bubbles trapped in its pouch.