AlfaRomeo

You are using NSW from a FF? ahhhhhh... I dunt really wanna know which FF but have you tested the levels in the water? PO4/NO3? That can definately be why u r having problems with cyano etc etc. Especially since the surrounding waters in Singapore is not considered clean/pristine. If you can, Its advisable to mix your own water since we have definate control over whats in the water.

Riot, you can try using better brands of carbon. Those do not leech detectable PO4s. Brands like rowacarbon or zeocarbon have been demonstrated not too leech detectable PO4. HTH

I have come across info on the net that mentions corals turning green due to high values of FE in the water. Dunt know if its true in your case. Might be worth investigating. BTW, whats your PO4 level?

Clams dunt require very clean waters. In fact they will be happy in less than ultra-clean waters..

Im jealous of that Regal Angel. Does it only attack zoos and nuthing else? LPSes like Hmmaer/bubbles/prata/blastos etc etc?

Spectrum is totally different from intensity IMHO. Intensity can be defined loosely as how much light gets to the corals and spectrum is loosely defined as the 'coorect' wavelengths of light that the corals can use for its purposes. So both needs to be in play. We need the correct amount of lighting with the correct wavelengths for the corals to use. One will not work without the other and they are totally different from each other. Hope im making sense! Also the Kelvin rating of the lamps we are using is just an indicator of what the light will look like overall. 6.5kk will be yellow, 10kk white and 20kk blue usually. That in itself does not tell us the overall spectrum that the bulb is throwing out. We need a spectrum chart to find that out. So if we can find a particular bulb with enuff spectrum and in the correct ranges, that bulb is good! hehehe. e.g BLV10kk is amazing in terms of coloration of corals and growth altho its a bit too yellow for most users to be comfortable with. This can easily be overcome by masking the overall 'look' of the light with a few blue tubes. The best thing about it is dat even after masking, we do not lose the spectrum of the 10kk bulb, it only looks blue to us because of the skewed and larger spike in the blue range.

Yeah, do you think a foam head which is not purpose built can compare to a purpose built needlewheel impellar/pump? I dunt really know the answer to dat one but just to throw a spanner in.

BH, nope IMHO. The most fundamental proof of a skimmers ability is the tank water quality. If the water condition is near perfect even with heavy feeding then the skimmer is up to task. IF even with light feedings and the water quality is not ideal, then the skimmer is not up to par. Skimmate quality/quantity is mainly dependent on how wet/dry you skim. other factors of course affects it but not as much as how dry/wet u r skimming. Of course, if you put a skimmer online and it doesnt pull out anything, your water quality will thus deteriote which leads to the first point Im trying to make.

Why do you need so much lights for if u dunt have SPS? Just remove the FLs and save some $ on electricity IMHO. Maybe change one of the 20kk T5 to 10kk and your done. hth

RK2s are sweet! Have you seen the Deltec and RE commercial series skimmer? very nice

Yup, always shorten the photoperiod or raise the lights when doing a bulb change and then slowly increase the photoperiod or lower the lights every week or so until its back to normal. If not, the acros will bleach in response to the sudden increase in intensity.

Rowaphos will not change color when exhausted. Only indication is the rising po4 level in the tank.

Whats your budget for the skimmer?

Yup. I was referring to al-based PO4 remover ike BP3 and not iron-based which Stanley should know lah. Quite easy to identify from the color

Al-based media will not leech anything back into the tank at the lower PH levels we are running the CR on. Point to note is dat the media should not be in contact with the main water body and should only be used for the effluent of the CR.

First time I heard of LAB28. What is it and what does it do?

Rav, do you have a detailed plan for your tank/sump layout/piping etc etc? I would be very happy to see it if u dunt mind.

No Picture, No Talk!

NPNT! hehehehe

I could never control my beckett as much as I wanted and everytime I shut down the pumps and restarted it, I had to re-tune. Wat to do, Im not very good with tuning the beckett so it could never perform as well as the others that were running becketts. Nuthing wrong with the skimmer itself but more a case of User-error! hehehe With the current skimmer I have, its set and forget and it will keep its setting no matter how many times I start/stop the needlewheels or feed pump. Very easy even for a fool like me to master. RAV-65, considering the cost of the beckett and the 2 x md100 and the humongoes electrical draw and not mentioning the way noisy pressure-rated pumps.... Have u explore the possibility of using needlewheels instead?

Dan, which AA are you using now? Glad to hear that its a very visible difference between dosing and not dosing. I for one will surely continue dosing as the colors are getting richer and more intense which I prefer over very pale pastel colors.

I dose 10 drops a 2x a day usually. Once in the early morning and another time after the lights turn off. Been doing this for a week. Looks good so far..

Rav-65: For more in-depth info on skimming: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/...ature/index.php

Guys, dont confuse spectrum with intensity

No leh. e.g Feed rate : 5000L/hr volume of skimmer : 50L No of times/hr : 5000/50 = 100x/hr Dwell time : 3600/100 = 36 secs So you will know the exact skimmer turnover rate as well as dwell time in 1 single calculation. Correct mah.