jervismun

There are various methods of nutrients control... Refugium being one of them. There are pros and cons and it will take a long long time to really understand the system. But generally there are 4 types of nutrients (esp. Nitrate and Phosphate) reductor: 1) Refugium with the right type of macroalgae and etc. 2) Gadgets... Nitratreductor, FR, all sorts... the list will go on and on... 3) Don't bother... just invest in a super protein skimmer and avoid overfeeding 4) Rely solely on water change... every week without fail (of course the above will also require water change along the way... but in a much reduced scale) I am currently using method (2) as my tank doesn't come with a sump and I try not to maintain too many tanks in my study room. To me, Refugium can be a fun thing at the beginning, but once they matured and overgrown, they can be pretty messy... imagine all the activites going on inside it... some reefers also find their Refugium particularly useful for keeping unwanted/undesirable LS that can harm the corals in the main tank. If I am to start a Refugium today... it will be of 1 reason (only). That is its ability to help maintain pH at night. pH is highly dependent on photosynthesis period to help maintain a high and healthy level (say 8.1 to 8.3)... once the lights are off, the pH will slowly drop to 7.9 in the middle of the night... sometimes even 7.8! By turning on the lights of your refugium at night, the Refugium will balance the night effect of the main tank. Of couse some reefers will leave the lights on 24/7 but for me, the alternate method makes more sense if maintaining stable pH is crucial to you. Hope this helps!!! Haha... it's funny someone without a refugium can give advice on setting up a refugium!!!

You can still keep it for another year or so before the destructions I guess it all depends on luck lar... just like some angels do well in reef tanks... have you seen those horrible pictures on my thread?

Really? How big is your Big Mama? Mine is slightly more than 3.5" It took me so long to catch it... I can't release back into the tank... who knows next time she grew smarter liao Anyway I've already given it away... there's not turning back... I don't think I can call the bro and ask for my Big Mama back... coz I'm afraid he'll say YES!!! The root of the problem is actually my wishy-washy rockscaping... being a half-architect myself, I should've known better... previously I'm very afraid of using epoxy or glue (have not tried in fact) coz I want the scaping to be flexible as I firm up my design and ideas... now I think I have to start making my structure more stable... basically Big Mama proof!!! But I still not sure about permanently fixing corals to my LR... how hard is it to remove corals later if I am to use aquarium standard epoxy? I bought a box of Tunze Epoxy last time. Major work tonight

Haha... it's amazing you guys can still remember the pix I posted so long ago!!! Making my time worthwhile I should've seen it coming... the problem is (I've learned after Big Mama) you always feel the fish is rather small in a rather empty LFS tank... you can only see the real size when u release into your tank!!!

Becoz most people expect delivery to their doorsteps?

Big Mama has always been very destructive and territorial... been bullying most of my fishes except my Chevron which it dare not touch... yes, it all started with yesterday afternoon, when the RBTA started moving south (u can refer to my postings here and under Product Review: ATI)... so Big Mama went crazy with all the corals around the RBTA... here are some of the corals "kena" affected: 1. 2 colonies of Zoos (dropped to sand bed) 2. 1 large piece of Green Bubbles (dropped to sand bed, luckily quite low) 3. Hammer (tentacles "kena" bitten) 4. Pink Zoos (got buried by the RBTA) 5. Lime Green Gonio (dropped to the sand bed... bulls-eye onto my Prata) 6. Several pieces of small LR Stress to others since I tried using the net to catch it... a few attempts then throw in the trap. As you can see... the damage is extremely huge for me... that's why I didn't even think twice of giving her away... the kind bro who adopted her will only keep large fishes like angels so shouldn't have problem It took her a while to get into the trap actually Quite drama actually... very emotional... a sense of loss then a sense of achievement (after trapping her) I actually wanted to give the RBTA away also, but it's very pretty... so I will give it a second chance... I'm sure my Nemo will find it more appealing than those common Zoos

Err... the first reason... I'm not too sure about "THE" tank... but the second reason is extremely valid lor... I promise to post nice nice pictures of them Sure, anytime u free... maybe can look at your NC too at the same time

Heat from MH huh? Tell me all about it I've downgraded my lighting few days ago just because of that reason alone... so far my corals (mostly softies and LPS) are looking cool... you can visit my Product Review thread to see how my corals are adjusting to the T5 tubes... I hope I don't have to look for a new MH fixture anytime soon Oh bro... you may wanna cover your plugs a little... I have to do something to mine too

Extremely true... like mine... moving around bulldozing its way around... but it's too pretty to be given away... oh I manage to catch my Big Mama yesterday and given away to a kind bro. Go to my tank thread... you can see the shocking damage it is possible of inflicting... basically almost 30% of my scaping gone... along with some corals (esp. my Prata on the floor bed) injured!!! Beware of this guy... of course my Big Mama is whopping 3.5"!!!

I notice one thing with my 4 Cleaner Shrimps (all growing like crazy!!!)... they will start to come out of the caves once I off my lights... they love total darkness Hehe just to share my experience

Wow!!! $5!?! Good deal leh... hey bro what's your next plan? Share with us lah!

Bro finally got a chance to see your son... now a big boy liao right? Hahaha your Atlantis tank is purely a low tech tank... now that can be a guideline to future categorization of tank setup

Wah so much details... em I didn't know there's a LFS there. A lot of fishes and corals there? And that's definitely a good price for a chiller What's the power consumption in Watt?

Hi bro thanks for advice... I will try to be more responsible next time... but last night, I was really being put in a very emotional state... I'm sure you know the feeling right? Seeing pieces of your scaping and corals falling off every few minutes... or else I wouldn't have put in the cage to catch Big Mama out. But to be frank with you... this is a pretty unique case where I don't feel any pain of giving it away... I dun usually give away my babies... but this time... the damage is way too much to bear with. I've been pretty responsible actually, I called the guy up, I asked him what's the state of his tank, I asked if there's any other LS in his tank, I even warned the reefer about Big Mama's destruction power... I'm quite surprised the guy said yes actually. He said he will be starting a thread soon, perhaps we can still see Big Mama for months to come Dun worry bro, I've always been very careful when handling LS and I will not let the emotional side(anger especially) takes over... but again... it's quite hard to control sometimes that's why I usually post pix and every detail... to release I guess To cut long story short... dun worry bro... Big Mama will be in good hands Note: Big Mama collected... em seems like a nice chap... although new in the hobby I'm sure Big Mama is strong enough to handle a bit of mishaps here and there as it has gone through a lot in my tank too (Oh did I mention it killed its husband 2 weeks after I bought them as a pair?)

Hey bro Maxstar... so nice of you to offer me your very own catch... as a matter of fact, I've always envy you and sis Monki for your great effort in catching your own LS... having your pair of local Gobies will make my tank much more meaningful... especially can't find in any LFS!!! Do let me know how/when to collect it from you...now what's the reason of you giving it away? Don't tell me they move rocks too!!! I've had enough in a day I will drop by a LFS to buy more epoxy later

Sorry bros... perhaps I shouldn't use such strong words... I was so so angry at that time... seeing with my very own eyes a big portion of my scaping being damaged... and my Prata injured. Partly my fault also... should've epoxy everything... imagine its strength... being able to move a large piece of Bubble (attached to a piece of small rock) off the cliff!!! I think I should start a thread to warn any new/unaware reefers of its destruction power

I've already checked with the kind bro, his tank has been running with LR and some cleaning crew for 2 to 3 weeks now. He intends to start stocking next few days... FOWLR tank. So he said he will not worry about Big Mama messing around with his corals (no corals to start with hahaha). You should've seen the damage Big Mama does to my tank... I think giving it away to someone is the most humane thing I can think of doing... and a 2 to 3 week tank is actually not too bad lah. According to the bro, his tank already gone through the A N cycle. The decision is final... coz I've brought with me Big Mama to my office and the bro will come collect it (together with the tubes) lunch time. Thanks bro for the concern (and the minor flamings) Note: I did mention to the bro the destruction power of Big Mama and he still wants her

Tunze too strong for your tank??? Emm... perhaps you should get the controllable ones... but I'm sure the SEIO will serve you well

GOT IT!!! Not so cruel lah... already found it a new owner... the bro that will come over to my place tomorrow to collect the T5 tubes will take Big Mama to help cycle his tank I'm sure Big Mama will do good as cycling agent Problem solved... now another long long day tomorrow

I don't think I can just give her away... no one should have this beast in their tank... what you guys suggest me do... say if I manage to trap her?

I know... I've been extremely careful with her... tried several attempts to catch her with my tiny net... but haiz...

I am fighting back... I've got a hostage with me... wish me luck...

She went totally berserk... she even attacked my Hammer

Here's a pix of her in action... in the end my Bubble ended up on top of my Prata

Hahaha it is normal and it is very very pretty!!! Keep it up!!! With the new lighting? Or always been like that?