Shallow reef tank

[Soong Yu Juan]

NICE! then just add some schooling fish and a tang to keep them schooling.. swee already!

hehe, talking about fishes.. this is my stocking plan

1) goby and shrimp pair

2) mandarin fish pair(must have, they are reason why i got a bigger tank but ofcoz they must be pallet or frozen food trained)

3) 1 regal angle or majestic angle or purple tang or powder blue tang or pacific blue tang (1 focal point, a king of the tank)

Hi bro yes you can are you running any reactor . I cycle my for 3 week and 3 reactor po4x4 , biopette & carbon.

not running any reactor to add heat, as i dont plan to have a chiller. Hopefully the volume to surface area ration enables enough evaporation to cope. With the return pump as my main heat source, current temp is about 27-28C. I believe this will go down by another 2C when i put a fan in sump area. No fans in main display tank as i dont want surface agitation to disrup top viewing. However i did plan enough cabinet space for a chiller as last resort.

[straydum]

one way to have a reactor without a second pump is to T off the return pump to feed the reactor as well. you'd need a slightly stronger pump for this though

[Soong Yu Juan]

Eh can leh! Great suggestion! Thanks, dunno why I never thought of it.. haha

[Soong Yu Juan]

been doing some reading.. as the outflow of the reactor goes directly into the main tank, bio pellets are not recommanded eh. I dont see the need to tumble activated carbon or PO4 remover so might not be installing a reactor afterall. I dunno, what do the expets think?

[Soong Yu Juan]

I quite like the idea of bio pellets but can i output the flow into the main tank? the advertising claims that filter feeders will fest on these bacteria....

[tropic]

But biopellet u need skimmer to remove the excess. The outlet best skins out by skimmer

[justrc]

Hi bro

What is your overflow pipe diameter and your sump size.

[Soong Yu Juan]

pipe dia 13mm, sump 60x30x24

some updates...

all i want for xmaz are some beautiful zoas.

added more live rocks

mangrove can survive singapore's famous polluted water but looks like gonna die in my tank... know where to buy red mangroves? saw many at irwana but the handsome indian helper say not for sale..

[justrc]

Your overflow pipe hole is 13mm? I believe 13mm is your return pump pipe.

[Soong Yu Juan]

Ohh overflow.. I not sure as did not specify.. about 40 mm I think.

[ambystoma82]

if it is a top view tank, go low on the surface current..

[Soong Yu Juan]

tunze 6015 non adjustable leh.. trying to find a balance between surface agitation and sand storm. Once the sand become more "sticky", i will direct it downwards...

[ambystoma82]

mayb u can go for low jet flowrate with octopus stem

[MarcoVan]

What's an octopus stem?

[[V]tEc]

suggest u get chiller instead of fan. topping up with di water is no joke. u may end up spending more on buying DI water than paying the bill for a small size chiller.

[PROX]

3) 1 regal angle or majestic angle or purple tang or powder blue tang or pacific blue tang (1 focal point, a king of the tank)

Tank might be too small them unless you bought small size and trade them off when it grow bigger.

dwarf angel is suitable, ie Flame Angel and 1 S size Purple/powder blue (prone to ich) or Pacific blue (Trade off when they grow bigger).

[Admiraltian]

tEc' timestamp='1354761883' post='1077760']

suggest u get chiller instead of fan. topping up with di water is no joke. u may end up spending more on buying DI water than paying the bill for a small size chiller.

I seconded that, chiller will be the wiser choice if u intend to keep lots of corals. Currently u r able to achieve temp of 27-28deg maybe it's due to the rainy weather. Come next yr march onwards, when the weather gets real hot, your livestock will suffer esp corals. I dun believe using fan can achieve temp below 26deg in SG. Juz my 2 cts.

[Soong Yu Juan]

tEc' timestamp='1354761883' post='1077760']

suggest u get chiller instead of fan. topping up with di water is no joke. u may end up spending more on buying DI water than paying the bill for a small size chiller.

I seconded that, chiller will be the wiser choice if u intend to keep lots of corals. Currently u r able to achieve temp of 27-28deg maybe it's due to the rainy weather. Come next yr march onwards, when the weather gets real hot, your livestock will suffer esp corals. I dun believe using fan can achieve temp below 26deg in SG. Juz my 2 cts.

hey guys thanks for your input.. they help to keep me thinking. I'm giving every chance for evaporative cooling to succeed. From what i observe, it plays a big part in my system. Sometimes when i have to go out for the whole day, i will close all the windows and the whole living room becomes very stuffy, as there's no moving air around the tank and sump, the temp will climb to above 28C. But if i keep the windows open, the temp can go down below 26C on a rainy day. Remember my cabinet is bare back so the shallow sump is also very exposed.

I have two more major heat sources to install... lighting and skimmer. If really cannot control the temp below 29C, i will get that chiller. But i quite optimistic cooling fans will do the job.

Another 2 other optional heat sources i might add in are

- lights for a planted refreguim ( can run a dark refriguim, just throw in some live rock and see what kinda life develops, lol)

- bio pellet reactor ( saw a very compact bio rector at gemsurf booth in fish canival that absolutely fits my space contraint but not a must have)

taking things slow for the moment....

[Soong Yu Juan]

3) 1 regal angle or majestic angle or purple tang or powder blue tang or pacific blue tang (1 focal point, a king of the tank)

Tank might be too small them unless you bought small size and trade them off when it grow bigger.

dwarf angel is suitable, ie Flame Angel and 1 S size Purple/powder blue (prone to ich) or Pacific blue (Trade off when they grow bigger).

I have more or less set my mind on a powder blue tang as my "king of the tank". Although it doesnt have the coloration of the angels but it has a very proud and majestic presence.. i like.

[[V]tEc]

if u not getting chiller, then u have to get auto top up device. using fan confirm can cool your tank down but u have to keep topping up fresh water to maintain your perimeters. just a rough guide, i am topping up 1.5L of fresh water everyday for my 20L tank. For my 500L tank with chiller, i top up less than 3L a week

[braincoral]

Chiller is a way to go...

[Flavs]

Are you guys using distilled bottle water or RO water for topup? What's the usual water temp if you use a fan?

Thanks

Benjamin

[Soong Yu Juan]

Im using life brand distilled water. As for temp, it depends on individual situation... for my case, fan cooled water temp is about 4C below ambient without any heat contributors.

[justrc]

any update on your tank?

[Soong Yu Juan]

kinda besieged by problems....

got my par38 lights from Rapid LED but have problems with the difference in colouration. Kudos to their customer service for offering to replace them without me asking. Now working out the logistics.....

problems with crab hitchhackers(caught many but still keep on appearing) and aiptasia(oh shit dunno what to do) too....

right side more violet

future lps corner

future zoas island