fongster

you can get those big boxes from Sealife in Balestier one box contains 3 big pcks

s/n nick Location 1. bukitimah Bukit Timah 2. minireef bukit batok 3. Reddevils Holland Grove 4. Sapp - Boon Lay Drive 5. Xersion Jurong West 6. Dleecool - Clementi 7. iantoh- bukit timah 8. dominik - bukit batok central 9. kusboy - Jurong West 10. Hobgoblin - Bukit Batok East 11. Idefix - Pasir Panjang 12. TntR2 - Bukit Panjang 13. brian38 - Bukit Batok 14. fongster - clementi west

there are a few things inside the control gear, capacitator, ignitor, ballast so it could be one of the different parts, not necessarily the ballast. my mh also did not light up so i opened up the control gear and spotted a melted cable and a malfunctioning ignitor so i went and got a new one and TADA working again.. only $20 if you send for repair, they would probably charge at least $30 including the labour cost, depending on what is spoilt.

it could be that the cause of the tiny particles are actually micro bubbles from your skimmer being introduced into your tank via the return pump you could try to filter the outflow from your skimmer using a filter bag so the bubbles will dissapate or line your return pump with sponge material, so that it does not suck anymore bubbles, if in fact micro bubbles is the cause. No harm trying !!

a few ways to mitigate the algae problem reduce nitrate and phophate by reducing feeding and introducing phosphate remover via FR use DI or distilled water mixed with synthetic salt to perform water changes reduce lighting hours increase water flow introduce sea hare, they are quite ferocious eaters and frequently they will clean out everything and have nothing left to eat, then starve slowly. so maybe can pass on to someone else. Warning sea hare frequently gets sucked into pump and die, so cannot have any strong pumps inside the tank itself.

they move very slowly, sifting the sand for food. Maybe those in the lfs were not healthy ? anyway they need sand to sift, if they are in an empty tank they will just stay still. you could also get sea urchins, sand gobies, sand dollar to clean up the sand if u do not fancy the stars

i heard that can get glass works done at kelantan road it would be good if you could get a sump done, sumps have alot of benefits... -protein usually collects at the top of the water column, but due to the overflow nature of the sump system, this is mitigated -a bigger system, in litres means a more stable system, the sump increases the volume of the marine system -more area to put pumps, skimmer what not -can include refugium or dsb even a few benefits of a sump

good advice from jem just a few things to add on.... singapore ambient room temp is about 30+ deg, so a mini fan could be used to bring down temp 2-3 deg anemone requires alot of light, you would require a strong light source. probably a mh

thanks bro

any pics to show?>

as above all replies much appreciated

Hi all replies much appreciated my 150mh ignitor short circuited so i need to find another one to replace no idea where to find many thanks

1 and a half weeks seem rather short, however it could be that the dosing of the bacteria starter helped alot. are you using a dsb or de-nitrator ? seems queer that even nitrate can drop. the way to test is to add an ammonia source again, either pure ammonia or decaying matter, if ammonia and no2 is 0 then cycle is complete, can do big water change and ... stock up fish at 1 fish per week.

that is a big change being 300L per week 10% weekly or a 15% fortnightly is actually enough provided that your water parameters are good, the change will replenish elements such as calcium and carbonates used up by coral. however you will need to test to keep up with changes, test kits such are calcium, alkalinity, magnesium is needed if you are keeping hard corals. you can add in trace elements and iodide to help the corals in general, but not absolutely required. Some would recommend adding a cap full of eco-bact water conditioner, not necessary if you have sufficient live rocks and substrate. important to keep tank ph and alkalinity stable, avoid major fluctuations.

if your tank is an empty tank then there is no need to run the chiller during cycling, true although the evaporation rate would increase but the speed of bacteria build up will be slower, so to hasten the process (i assume you want it to be faster) the chiller being off would benefit more. high nitrite shows that one portion of the cycle is complete. you do not want to reduce the nitrite in order to be able to continue cycling. different types of bacteria convert the different elements into nitrite and nitrate respectively. nitrosomas--> ammonia into nitrite nitrobacter--> nitrite into nitrate thus you will need nitrite to complete the cycle at least until the nitrate stage. you can theoratically further speed up the process by purchasing off shelf bacteria, however best is to leave the tank to its own devices and increase water contact with atmosphere, via airstone, etc, you will need places for bacteria to establish, be it, rocks, sand, bio-balls, bio-homme or even filter wool. after cycle is complete the bacteria will be residing in those materials. the bacteria will build up accordingly, waiting time about 2 weeks to a month depending on different tank situations. when ammonia and nitrite is 0 cycle is complete, nitrate will be higher and a significant water change can be performed. Subsequently fish can be added in at a recommended rate of one fish per week.