bawater

Eggs hatched,swam out of tank & then eaten by everything including going into overflow. (within an hour of hatch) Don't worry, you should have another batch laid in a week. Raise the larvae outside the main tank. This is the best choice. Black rubbish bags are your best friend. Buy some & a small plastic goldfish tank, wrap it with trash bags (see bottom for example). Prep: Get ready a torchlight. Fill the small tank with main tank water on the day of hatch, start bubble 1-2 bubbles per sec. You can hatch them artificially like you tried but I find it a pain (to get them to hatch at the same time) I rather let them hatch in tank, you are looking to catch a few so catching only around 50% is fine. (half of a few hundred is still a lot) If you have shrimps – once you start the torchlight, you have around a 20mins window of collecting against the feeding shrimps/fishes & corals. Maybe you will even get to see 1-2mm baby bristle worms swim & catch larvae. Everything knows its hatch night!(not only you) Before lights off – cover entire tank with trash bags, switch off all wave maker & pumps. Relax,watch some TV or Have a Shower. (if you run MH- switch off lights before you cover!!!!) Come back 45mins-1hr later and remove a small window at an area you want to collect. Use torchlight,shine straight down to concentrated larvae & Scoop them out in a bowl with some water, transfer to small tank. (the scooping takes a little time to get used to but you’ll get used to it by the 3rd or 4th batch) The on to the next stage of rotifers,changing water,bbs etc etc.

Hi mag, pls keep pics at 800pixels wide (easy to view), any bigger & it stretches the screen making posts difficult to read. A sponge is a very simple animal. They are basically a mass of cells. They posses no nervous, digestive or excretory systems. When you get your sponge home you should acclimate it to your aquarium very slowly. Sponges are not sensitive to temperature, but do not like drastic shifts in salinity. Add a little bit of tank water to the bag containing the sponge every 10 minutes for about one hour. This will enable the sponge to slowly adjust the changing water conditions. Place your sponge in an area of the tank that has good water flow and minimum lighting(somewhere low light but not dark). The good flow will bring food to the sponge. As caleb has said, removing most reef sponges from the water even for several seconds will kill them. If you remove the sponge from the water, airlocks often form in their channels and there is no way to force that air out of their body. Trapped air causes those cells in the area to die, and as they decompose they produce gas which makes the problem worse, and the sponge starts to decay. The best way to deal with a dying area in your sponge is to cut that portion away in the water and discard it. Feeding your sponge is fairly simple. A Phytoplankton supplement on a regular basis. The other foods like diatoms, dinoflagellates, organic matter, bacteria grow naturally in the aquarium. The main point is that you do not get too large a sponge. A sponge the size of a golf ball can filter over 2 liters of sea water an hour. Do not put many sponges into one aquarium, and keep your sponges small. If you keep sponges well fed, they will grow according to the water conditions. You may find it difficult with 3 or 4 sponges in your 4ft (with typical LFS sponge sizes). Silicate in your tank water does help in growth - regular water change with saltmix & Tapwater will do. Sponges are easy to grow if given the right conditions. Sponges will not affect water quality - its the feeding that does, but as you are with a Fowlr it should not be much of an issue. If you find you are having problems with your sponge in a few days or in 1 or 2 weeks - You may find the need to stop your ozone. Ozone oxidizes organic matter (which bacteria grow on which is a part of the food items for sponges) and most probably kills some free floating diatoms and dinoflagellates.

Members have a right to be a little sensitive on this topic - although you have a right to feel happy paying $25 for a Sarcophyton leather coral, many other hobbyist who visit the shops know very well its way beyond what they would pay. You also fail to mention the weekday $20 9am-3pm delivery charge (making your leather hmmm$45), of course if you want it on the weekend its $40 additional. Now that's becomes $65 for a leather coral. There is no coralmarketplace registered in the singapore business directory http://www.acra.gov.sg/general/directory.html maybe it is not registered under the above name - if so a business reg number should be provided somewhere on the site especially when its a online shop (which can be here today-gone tomorrow) The website payment options only have Internet transfer or ATM transfer & contact details are to a Hotmail account. If this does not raise questions in yourself, you have no one to blame. I would suggest that if you really want to buy from them - do so only cash on delivery. If it doesn't turn up- you loose nothing. I have not mentioned anything about commercial or the terms used on the site which raises a lot of brows .

They may, percula/ocellaris hybrid pairs do happen and do spawn. What they produce is a different story A.percula takes over a yr to develop 3 stripes while black A.ocellaris takes oooh ard 20+-30day for stripes & 6mths-1 yr to colour.

A lot of the marine fishes look different when they are young, a few of the clown species are also the same. They take quite a while to develop. The black pigmentation start in the fins when they get ard 3 months then slowly in the bodies by the time they reach 6mths. (they are still a dark brown at this age) From then how fast they go jet black depends on water quality & space. Usually full black at a yr. nothing much exciting now, just watching them grow, fight & colour up. 6mths 8mths

It does depend on your preference of viewing time (maybe you work late so you don't want to come home to see a dark tank everyday) As long as you have a set schedule - the animals will get use to it. And lighting duration depends on your inhabitants- whether its full of light loving corals, lower lighting animals or just fish. You can follow nature and go with 10 or 12hrs a day. You can run different lights at intervals that total up to 15hrs a day too (stimulating dawn-dusk) e.g - a T5 or 2 on from dawn to dusk with MH or more T5's running 8-9hrs in the middle. Usually reef recommendation at 8-9hrs of lighting. Just 2xT5 would rather just be for viewing(unless the tank is 8-10"deep), you really need about 4 tubes or more for keeping corals in the long term.

Hi mansiz The layer is a crust of carbonate (when kalk reacts with carbon dioxide from the air), the CO2 in the water will also react when mixing and will settle with the remainder of the kalk powder at the bottom. You use the clear liquid which is already 100% saturated and throw away the sediment at the bottom. In an open air container - kalk mixed water will last around 4days. If its air tight then more than a week like what nakazoru has posted. You can drip in the mornings (this is usually when pH is at the lowest)

Hi Serene, welcome to the forum - To answer your question, Spirulina is a blue green algae which has been dried and can be found as a green powder. It is used in fish food as a supplement (not on its own) usually not more than 5%. It is high in Beta-carotene which is a carotenoid. Carotenoids are the major pigment compound and it also helps the immune system as well as detoxification processes. Yes it works on freshwater & marine fishes. You can find many brands of fish food that contains spirulina in most fish shops, just look for it in the ingredients. If you are able to, rotate a few different foods - this is good for the fishes and you will get the vibrant colours.

Hi Jun, We don't just change water to replenish elements - there are always additives to do that. It has much more benefit than that. For a FOWLR tank with tip top filtration & low bioload - it will minimise or prolong water changes (depending on you filtration/equipment/capacity - to once a month,once every 2mths,once every 3mths or longer) of course water changing is a chore - to someone who keeps a 4ft,6ft or 8ft tank but for a 2ft - it can be done in less than 15mins. That's 15mins per month Bacteria populations will never over populate bio-load , it will always stay in proportion to the bioload(assuming enough surface area is available). A major factor for water change in a Fowlr is nitrate reduction (by dilution), Fishes can tolerate nitrate but only up to a certain point before getting stress. With no NO3 removal and accumulation of hundreds of ppm in NO3 a yr down the road, you may end up with OWLR (only with live rock). With or Without water changes, you need basic additives for sure - KH & pH will drop. You just need the basic like kalkwasser and an alkalinity supplement,Do not dose without checking. For the amount of Fish you want and if they are not 10 eviota gobies- you are overstocking, nitrate will be an issue for sure(10 fish need a lot of food). For your low maintainence/less water change with current filtration in a 2ftx1x1.5- you're looking at 2-4 small fishes (taking into account fishes grow- safer to say 2 fishes) If you want to utilise the NO3 reduction & filtration factor from Liverock - you need the equation of half Kg of LR per 4ltr of water. In the specs you provided (2ft+2ft sump) you are looking at ard 25gal or 100ltrs, that's 11.25kg of LR(problem is leaving no space for fish). The biohome + LR you have now will do fine for the ammonia & nitrite part. Hope this helps

Ferrous Sulphate is used in the medicine industry as ###### iron supplements, but usually iron tablets also contain Manganese Sulphate and Copper Sulphate. It is not as efficient as the FE products on the market today. Ferrous Sulphate is also used as a Fe plant nutrient supplement or fertilizer. As a chemical, if it can be used will bond with phosphate and will need to be siphoned out of the aquarium(or removed somehow). Iron media available are granular ferric oxide (GFO) or Granular ferric hydroxide (GFH): symbol=Fe2O3 . Their working range is between pH2.5 to 12.5 They were developed primarily for arsenic removal in water and is employed in water treatment plants around the world(In fixed bed filters). In high pH ranges it was found that Phosphate and Silica interferred with arsenic adsorption hence how it found its way into the hobby as a PO4 removal media. It is the crystaline structure of the GFO that helps in higher adsorption rates and can be used with kalkwasser dosing. Once PO4 has adsorb into/onto the media- you just change to new media. It is safe to throw the old media away as GFO conforms to landfill standards around the world. hope this helps

yes it is fine. Same media,same tank, no difference.

Hi francis welcome to SRC, At the moment your tank should have a lovely ammonia and nitrite peak which can kill fishes. This whole cycle process will take on average 30days. Although the LFS may have told you shop seawater won't need to cycle - Your new filter needs to cycle! Which they failed to mention. You have to leave the tank alone for another 2-3weeks before adding anything else. Your 1.5ft with a hang on filter will be able to hold around 3-4inch of fish max(3-4 small clowns max or a single pair of clowns). This is taking into consideration filtration/water movement/oxygen content. Clowns don't need an anemone - but if you do get one, you will need strong lighting (which will push your temperatures up)and regular feedings to it. You will also need quite regular water changes.

Howdee GrooveMeister, Yes you can use distilled water straight from the bottle to the tank. Distilled water comes from steam. The purity of the steam and the temperature at which this occurs would make drinkable water as is. Steam is produced and cooled and the condensate then put directly into a sealed sterile container. Storage would require no chlorine. Even if chlorine or other purifying agent like ozone is used it would be absolutely minimal. You may want to try it first. Distilled water has a very flat, bland taste.

If the livestocks in the tank show no signs of distress, i would rely more on the hydrometer reading 1.025 for now. plastic hydrometers are usually calibrated at 25c, so at 28c the actual reading is around +0.003 or +0.004 or more. (1.015 can be actually 1.018 or 1.019 if you use a ATC refractometer). Using this water it will most probably bring down your SG to 1.023 or 1.022 measured by the hydrometer which is still ok and of no concern. (Marine parameters of 1.021-1.026 allows you this margin) The only concern is the probe - maybe re-calibrate it again, the extra 0.100+ reading is way off. If it continues to drift then its a probe problem.

Hi minireef yes there is something wrong- Salinity is measured in ppt(parts per thousand) or Specific Gravity(density) with 1.175sg you have 218ppt (seawater is 28ppt-35ppt) *In reference- the Dead Sea has a salinity of 300ppt and only bacteria lives in it. If your readings are right, you are around 7 times over the range and the tank shouldn't have anything swimming in it. Something is wrong and i think its the device you use to measure salinity- you can cross reference(double check) with a cheap hydrometer (that gives you at least the range you are in even if it is not accurate) As to the pH, its a minor issue- check you KH and raise it if need be to KH 8-12. 1)You can dose kalkwasser which will rase you pH,KH and calcium together. 2)Dose a buffer that will raise pH individually. 3)If the tank is small, do a Water Change.

Would you by any chance be using natural seawater or shop bought water? If you are - do a serial water change with a saltmix (artificial saltwater) 10-20gal per change per week for 4 weeks. If you are using saltmix? change brand & do a serial water change. You will need to look into a bigger skimmer - something to skim at least 600ltrs volume(your fish load is heavy for a 4ft and need to compensate) Optional- you can use additives to boost up the magnesium levels but if your test kits are correct, the jump is big (for 300mg/L cal you should be at around 1000mg/L magnesium) - Just this jump alone in magnesium buffer + the usage of the test kit to keep track will spill over $100+. >Changing water is cheaper and will help calcium and KH values as well AND if your test kits are not accurate - water change won't harm anything, But overdosing on Mag by the thousand ppm's will. Kalkwasser usage in top off freshwater will help buff up the calcium and KH values.

Hi Steven, The Octo can recover but its still too new in the tank. Only time will tell, You can move it to a mid-light area somewhere about 1ft distance from the MH bulb with a moderate flow. You can feed some mysis to it, this will help in recovery.

Why not all?maximizes the space and works as a remote biotower, just prefilter the water as much as possible first on the intake tube- so the canister only intakes clean water. If you mean that the canister is the only filter for the entire tank, then the media should be the last tier(usually at the top) after all the mechanical media(sponge). This will mean the canister will need to be cleaned often.

Hi jun, ceramic media like rings/biohome are designed for slow water flows (unlike bioballs/most plastic media) so over time biofilm & biofloc will build up on their surface - if they are kept out of light or in a shaded area this will take much much longer. Once they get slimy and brown remove a portion and wash with tapwater (scrub them with a toothbrush if need be) - Replace the media and repeat to the other portions a week later. If they are kept out of light in clean filtered water, this only needs to be done once or twice a year. There is no need for new replacement, unless you don't want to wash.

Hi Lyz77 Your SPS will consititute to a drop in KH, For every 1 calcium molecule, 2 molecules of carbonate are used to build calcium carbonate skeletons. So it is only natural dkh will drop faster than calcium. Coralline algae will also contribute to these needs. Your parameters are fine - dosing alkalinity buffers twice a week for a tank with sps is quite ok. In a perfect world or in a tank with just water and no living things: For calcium at 450ppm the equal parameters for Mg is X3(1350ppm) and 4.5meg/L(12.6dkh). But as every tank's uptake differ according to its inhabitants and corals. you are well within the optimum range. Calcium- pH 8.0-8.3 / Cal 400ppm-450ppm / kh 3.0-4.5meg/l(8-12dkh)/ mg 1200-1440 You don't mention the use of a calcium reactor but use Hydrocarbonate (as substrate?) usually used as reactor media. Even with calcium reactors you will come across people dosing alkalinity & calcium buffers because it really does depend on individual bioloads and needs. Natural surface seawater has a reading of around dkh6.72(2.4meg/l), so there's nothing wrong.

Which is why it is dying in the first place , if you want to rescape this is the best time to do it. Remove that rock and break off that portion with the dying coral. (use a hammer & an old screwdriver as a chisel- *note old because screwdriver will rust)

yup, the LPS should be the source of ammonia and once you remove the dying corals you should be fine. Rescaping shouldn't cause any upset to parameters except it will stir up some paticulate matter- no worries. You don't have to keep adding bacteria - maybe only to jump start if you wish but at a month the bacteria colonies should be established. At this stage- it makes no difference if you add more, less or none Just keep an eye on the ammonia levels, 0.25 is not an emergency but an alert signal. Or another unlikely extra source of ammonia is chloramine from tap water,which is chlorine and ammonia. Once the chlorine part is broken down you will be left with ammonia. I don't think this is an issue as it is minute and will be processed by your filtration, unless you do 50-100% daily water changes fresh from the tap. This is just an extra source, along with uneaten food and fish waste.

Hi ong, The xenia is most probably the cause(xenia is known for it), only one way to find out for sure- move it abt 12" (30cm) away. If it still happens remove the xenia. This happens with some leather corals too.

Hi Ghoti, Hormones are not the staple in marine food, many if not all feed manufacturers have made a move to hormone free foods and products for a few years. Hormone feeds are not a everyday thing nowadays since overfeeding or prolong feedings have drastic side effects. Hormones temporarily impair immune function leaving the fish exposed to the various parasites and diseases. Hormones will affect the livers, causing flatu-lent abdomens,and sometimes faded colours. If you do want to use it you will need to visit the vet as its not available off the shelf. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract: Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management Publisher: Taylor & Francis Issue: Volume 4, Number 3 / September 01, 2001 Pages: 275 – 282 Zebrafish were exposed from pre-blastula stage until sexual maturation to either standardised water (controls), 17a-methyltestosterone (1, 10 wg l-1) or 17b-estradiol (1, 10 wg l-1). Exposure to both concentrations of 17bestradiol caused a significant feminisation, while a significant increase in the proportions of males was found after exposure to 1 mg 17a-methyltestosterone l-1 Furthermore, exposure to 1 and 10 mg 17a-methyltestosterone l-1 caused development of intersex individuals. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to enhance colours of the males, it would be best to do it naturally by way of feeds - a high protein diet with an inclusion of a Carotene source like: Canthaxanthin Spirulina algae Astaxanthin Natural astaxanthin has been extensively tested and has demonstrated exceptional pigmentation of koi and tropicals (marine and fresh water). Carotenoids pigments are responsible for the broad variety of colors in nature; most notable are the brilliant yellow, orange, and red colors of fruits, leaves, and aquatic animals. Among all of the numerous classes of natural colors, the carotenoids are the most widespread and structurally diverse pigmenting agents. Astaxanthin and Spirulina are widely sold in the US and used in fish feeds, you may want to look into the discus feed range or how hobbyist and breeders make their own(who also fall under the cichlids category).

Hi Searching 4dan, just a simple calulation,in cm- lengthXwidthXheight divide by 1000 = volume in litres. If you want gallons (as salt mix usually in gal) divide litres by 3.75. your tank - 75cmx50cmx50cm + sump 60cmx30cmx30cm Total : 64.4gal almost all saltmix (anybrand) is half cup of salt to 5gal of freshwater. You will need 30cups of salt. or 8.4kg of salt since you have already used 4kg, you need another 4kg (this does not count water displacement from rocks/equipment etc) You will need to adjust the final specific gravity/salinity because of this.