My slice of nature

[SubzeroLT]

Yes...the guy from Aquarmarin (didn't know his name before though). A friendly chap & always with good advice.

He did suggest 2 things with the calcium reactor :

1) Water inlet must be strong enough to 'push' water in.

2) Don't tighten the pH controller too tight

[SubzeroLT]

Came home from work this evening & noticed the anemone looked odd.

It apparently splitting on its own. I've read about it but seeing it for the 1st time.

Top view of the mouth area during the split

The entire process for it to split completely took about 3 hours.

[Admiraltian]

Does it mean it's growing too big hence the splitting or is it due to stress?

[SubzeroLT]

The anemone has been with me for 2 months. Its not big.

Highly suspect its the stress coming from the porcelain crab & clown fishes battling over the anemone.

Its decided to split. One for the crab. One for the clowns.

[SubzeroLT]

The anemone finally split into 3 parts. All 3 are recovering well. I gave it some market prawns yesterday (5th day) & it gobbled it up.

A view of the porcelain crab. Shed its shell once so far.

Regarding the calcium reactor. One reads about folks in the US forums using a pinch valve instead of this valve it came with which I found to be difficult to fine tune.

I got rid of it & used a spare Skimz tube holder instead. The plastic screws were great for pinching the tubes for relatively precise drip rate control.

I looped it twice as a precaution to use 2 pinch points instead of one.

[tofubox]

Great DIY skill! Im going to copy ur method! Its impossible to find a pinch valve in sg. Thanks for sharing!

[SubzeroLT]

Thanks. You will need the longer plastic screws to pinch the tubes.

You can get them from the back of the Skimz tube holder (to secure the holder to the glass). Else, plastic long screws are available at some hardware or acrylic shops.

[SubzeroLT]

Tank is about 5+ months now.

The brown algae / cyno bacteria stopped appearing about a month back.

Some pics :

One of my 1st corals. Super sun :

Golden Cloves. Its interesting that the mouth seems like a perfect rectangle.

Got 2 heads of Duncan from Aquarist Chamber just before CNY. Doing OK.

Another anemone I got in late Feb from a fellow reefer split into 3 last night.

A recent addition. Its getting bolder & willing to venture further out to feed now

Quite happy with the calcium reactor so far.

Still tuning it to get it right, but its almost there.

Water parameters :

Nitrate : 0.2ppm

Phosphate : ~ 0ppm

Calcium : 450ppm

Magnesium : 1170ppm (Got to buy a bottle of Mg soon to push it up)

Alkalanity : 9.8dKH

Potassium : 380ppm (On the low side)

Strontium : 4ppm (On the low side)

[Kelvin Ang]

Tank is about 5+ months now.

The brown algae / cyno bacteria stopped appearing about a month back.

Some pics :

One of my 1st corals. Super sun :

Golden Cloves. Its interesting that the mouth seems like a perfect rectangle.

Got 2 heads of Duncan from Aquarist Chamber just before CNY. Doing OK.

Another anemone I got in late Feb from a fellow reefer split into 3 last night.

A recent addition. Its getting bolder & willing to venture further out to feed now

Quite happy with the calcium reactor so far.

Still tuning it to get it right, but its almost there.

Water parameters :

Nitrate : 0.2ppm

Phosphate : ~ 0ppm

Calcium : 450ppm

Magnesium : 1170ppm (Got to buy a bottle of Mg soon to push it up)

Alkalanity : 9.8dKH

Potassium : 380ppm (On the low side)

Strontium : 4ppm (On the low side)

Bro how to u reduce ur nitrate?

[SubzeroLT]

Bro how to u reduce ur nitrate?

My nitrates was running in the 20+ ppm levels past few months. I think the following things done recently helped.

- Top up biopellet reactor (using Two Little Fishies biopellet). Dosing Microbacter7 & BioFuel on alternate days.

- Reduce feeding with frozen food (1x every 2 days instead of 2x a day). The rest of the meals with pellets.

- Prevent detritus from building up around the rocks & the back of tank : Raised all my rocks up to improve water flow. Installed a spare wave maker at the back of the tank to clear detritus on the rear where the regular wave maker can't reach. This wavemaker runs a few minutes a day only

- Added additional clean up crew : 4 sand sifting starfish, 1 serpent star

- Siphoned out detritus from sump

[Kelvin Ang]

Orh I think it's my sump . I about 1 month never siphoned. Cause I feed only once a day with pellets and my phosphate it's 0ppm and my nitrate it's 80ppm .

[SubzeroLT]

I understand that there is a need to have some phosphate in the system in order for the bacteria to consume nitrates. Ideally, it should be just barely detectable.

Something called Redfield ratio (1 part phosphate :16 part nitrate). If there is really no phosphate, nitrates won't come down.

[Kelvin Ang]

Oh . Ok then 2morro I go buy more bio pellet to add in then see how

[Kelvin Ang]

I understand that there is a need to have some phosphate in the system in order for the bacteria to consume nitrates. Ideally, it should be just barely detectable.

Something called Redfield ratio (1 part phosphate :16 part nitrate). If there is really no phosphate, nitrates won't come down.

Bro may I know how long to change the filter socks ? 1 month or 2 weeks ?

[SubzeroLT]

I change my filter socks every 3 days because they get clogged up & start to overflow.

Accumulate a few then dump them in the washing machine.

[Kelvin Ang]

Can use washing machine? ?

[Kelvin Ang]

Normally I 1 month used then throw and buy new 1 replace it . I don't know can wash it . Kindly to teach me how . Do I need to put any washing soap or something ??

[SubzeroLT]

For the polypropylene (felt material) sock, I do the following

- flip it inside out, rinse it under the tap or small bucket of water. Collect a few then

- soak in some bleach (optional)

- dump into washing machine for normal wash. Add bleach (optional)

- Soak in anti chlorine if bleach is used (baxter powder brand is quite cheap)

- Spin dry in washing machine

If no bleach is used, the washing machine can have a funny smell.

[Kelvin Ang]

Orh ok

[Admiraltian]

Or u can use nylon sock. Less cloaking. Can wash like once a week, less maintenance. Easier to wash. Juz pressure spray with tap water 2-3 times to rinse away the dirt on it inside out and vice versa. Its also fast to dry. Can get from madpetz the nylon type of filter sock.

[SubzeroLT]

Good to know. Will try it

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Kelvin Ang]

I'm using both now

[Admiraltian]

Or u can use nylon sock. Less cloaking. Can wash like once a week, less maintenance. Easier to wash. Juz pressure spray with tap water 2-3 times to rinse away the dirt on it inside out and vice versa. Its also fast to dry. Can get from madpetz the nylon type of filter sock.

Haha, I meant less clogging. Typo.

[Bunster]

lovely pics bro!

[SubzeroLT]

lovely pics bro!

Thanks bro