FuEl

I will provide a free start up frag. How about that?

Are you overdriving your T5s? 36-40W ballasts firing up a 24W tube!?

Nope..I'm basically an electrical idiot. Actually the lighting you use depends on what you want to keep. For a tank that small using T5s should be able to keep most things. If retrofits are out of your budget, consider asking help in the d.i.y forum for people to d.i.y for you?

Oh yes, invest in a good skimmer.

You can't dose most medication in reef tanks to combat itch as most of the brands in the market are copper-based. Will be lethal to invertebrates. Best bet is to increase the immune system of the fish by feeding it garlic soaked food. Using that method, all my fishes in my tank are itch resistant, with the exception of one yellow goby that is still recovering from it. To prevent toxins from killing your livestock, periodic replacement of activated carbon should do the trick.

Why not post in the pasar malam section that you are looking for a 2nd hand one? I think got many people in the midst of upgrading. You will be able to find a better bargain. Some more their skimmer is already seasoned..you dun have to wait for 2-3 days for it to begin skimming stuff... For $200+ you can easily get a 150W d.i.y Mh for your tank. But might be a lil of an overkill.

Not forgetting that electronic ballasts use up less electricity and they are not that hot to the touch.

It can be placed in the sump. Or it could be hung onto your tank. Weipro is a hang-on skimmer.

dunno....I bought my 2012 at $60. Sold it off 2nd hand with the pump for $40.

Yes...the more overated a skimmer the better...removes organics before they can break down in such a small volume of water. A 2011 should be sufficient..but if you have the cash n space consider a 2012. It can hold slightly more water meaning a slight increase in the total volume of your tank, leading to slightly more 'cushioning' capacity of the water. You will need a powerhead for internal circulation of the water to facilitate gas exchange. Best if there is surface movement.

Hmmm..best you dun use it...it will cause lots of salt spray and it will definitely lead to nitrate accumulation. If you have not stocked with much livestock, liverock and a powerhead to provide circulation around the tank is all you pretty much need.

Yea...no point giving up the hobby because of a black sheep.

Use a weipro 2011 will be sufficient. Anything bigger can work too, but it might look unsightly hanging on such a small tank. Check the threads in the pasar malam. Too bad my 2012 reserved for someone already.

Striped keelback no one? C'mon guys....it's very healthy..I no time to take care of it...got too many things to take care of...it's skittish..but it does'nt bite.

If your tank is tall enough, you can consider a deep sand bed with some liverocks on top. As for filtration all you really need in a tank that small is a weipro skimmer. Will be sufficient. You can include a small powerhead in the tank for circulation.

Last time i keep SH they got itch before leh.. but that was when I was inexperienced and my water quality totally sucked.

How small is your tank? What are the dimensions? What are you planning to keep?

Your nitrates will go sky high as there will not be an anoxic zone in your sandbed for denitrification bacteria to grow.

Check out Glare's thread in our sponsor forum. Selling affordable T5s.

My tank is that size. I'm only using 3X54W T5s..thinking of adding one more blue tube soon to balance out the whiteness. With that amount of light you can keep most things. Also depends on the way you arrange your corals from the light source. Using T5s tend to make the light more spread out. If you use MH of 150W, it tends to have a 'spotlight' effect, with some areas receiving less light than others. However, this also causes the ripple effect. It all depends on your preference. I prefer T5s as I am not using a chiller and I like light intensity to be more evenly spread out.

ryz need to look for chicken essence bottles already. Actually any bottle will do the trick.

If you are thinking of growing macroalgae, lighting in the spectrum of 6500K-10000K works the best. I would recommend 6500K bulbs with supplementary actinics if you mind the yellowish tint of 6500K bulbs. Shrimps can tolerate light. It's just that they are more shy during the day, so it does not matter whether you have more or less lights. As long as they know it is day time and fishes are swimming around they tend to be more shy. Yes...you can keep lobsters with shrimps. But not the reef lobsters of the genus enoplometopus. Those can grow huge and are quite predatory esp towards any sleeping fishes (Although I had one which slept next to my maroon clown...but that is another thing).. The lobsters you can probably keep are those species with long antennas (those we find on the menu) and small pincers (only meant for scavenging, not for ambushing prey). Sometimes you find them in LFS..normally selling for around $10. Real adorable creatures...I had one which rubbed it's head on my yellow star polyps every night until some eventually fell off.

I'll help you out on feeding. If you are intending to target feed your clam, get a plastic tank (those cheapo $2++ kind) and cover your clam by inverting the tank over it on the sandbed. Squeeze phyto under the tank to confine it close to the clam. After 10-15 minutes you might want to let in some new water and feed again, or you could do it another day. I did it once everyday for my 1.5 inch clam. Now it has grown bigger I don't do it anymore.

Seems like you stocked up rather fast...anyway...keep an eye on your spanish dancer..they only slowly starve to death..by which you should remove them before they decompose. As for the boxfish...keep an eye on it..boxfish don't really tolerate new tank syndrome that well... It's either itch outbreak or toxin release.

Another trigger. Humu humu nukku nukku apuah! ahaha..i was toking about picasso trigger.