34litres Nano Reef Wonder

[ngjaso]

Hi, may I know where u get yr brightlux from n the price?

Thanks.

[lurenake]

Hi, may I know where u get yr brightlux from n the price?

Thanks.

No problem. I've pm you the eBay username and price

[ngjaso]

No problem. I've pm you the eBay username and price

Thanks

[lurenake]

So, I've gotten my hands on a few new toys this week. Got a set of API test kits and tested my water parameters last night.

Water paramters as follow:

PH: 7.8

Ammonia: 8ppm

Nitrite: 0.25ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

Phosphate: 1ppm

Calcium: 600ppm

DKh: 14

Also, upgraded my Eheim compact 600 to a HYDOR CENTRIFUGAL PICO PUMP 1000l/h to cater to my new TECO TR15 Chiller that I got from a nice bro from marketplace.

Temperature is set at 26 degrees celsius.

[Admiraltian]

Ur ca & dkh are too high!!

[lurenake]

Ur ca & dkh are too high!!

Will it affect the growth of the corals n livestock?

[Admiraltian]

Will it affect the growth of the corals n livestock?

It will definitely stun ur coral's growth but before u touch that panic button, I suggest u do a cross reference with another brand test kit to confirm. Salifert will be a better choice IMO.

[lurenake]

It will definitely stun ur coral's growth but before u touch that panic button, I suggest u do a cross reference with another brand test kit to confirm. Salifert will be a better choice IMO.

[SubzeroLT]

What supplements are you adding to get such high calcium?

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[Admiraltian]

Ideal range for calcium will be btwn 400-500ppm. Alkalinity will be 8-11dkh. Hope this helps.

[lurenake]

What supplements are you adding to get such high calcium?

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The funny thing is I'm haven't even started to dose anything yet. LOL

[lurenake]

Ideal range for calcium will be btwn 400-500ppm. Alkalinity will be 8-11dkh. Hope this helps.

Thanks man. Appreciate the advise and knowledge

[Angel Keeper]

Allow me to make a wild guess... You mixed your salt with tap water?

Angel Keeper

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/128217-Angel-Keeper's-5-Feet-Mixed-Reef-Tank

[lurenake]

Allow me to make a wild guess... You mixed your salt with tap water?

Angel Keeper

Nopes, my top up are from NTUC's "Life" distilled 1.5l water bottles and the salt mix is pre-mixed H2ocean pro with ro/di water bought from madpetz.

[lurenake]

Look at what I found in my tank on a beautiful Saturday afternoon

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[ASHWIN]

Before you go and adjust you parameters! Salifert imo is the best API is crap with inaccurate results

[ASHWIN]

Before you go and adjust you parameters! Salifert imo is the best API is crap with inaccurate results

[lurenake]

Before you go and adjust you parameters! Salifert imo is the best API is crap with inaccurate results

Thanks will get my hands on salifert test kits soon

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[lurenake]

It's been a long time since I've updated the progress of my tank. That being said, this will be quite the lengthy update so i'll be splitting them up into different posts for readability's sake.

The first good news coming to the new year would be that my tank is finally cycled!!

Water parameters as of Sunday 28/12/14

SG : 1.025

Temp : 25 - 28C (returned the chiller as it was faulty)

Ammonia : 0

Nitrite : 0

Nitrate : 0 - 5ppm ( hard to discern the colour in API's test kit)

Phosphate : 0.25ppm ( hard to discern the colour in API's test kit, might be lower)

PH : 8.2

Calcium: 500ppm

DKH: 10

The first bad news was that the TECO chiller I had was returned back to the kind bro whom I got it from as it was kinda faulty. I'll be saving up to get a Hailea 28a during the cny period. As such, I'll be reverting back to running the DYMAX fan on this tank.

[Edmund Koh]

Bro, Sailfert kits are at 25% off over at AM. Super worth it

[lurenake]

Next up would be the exciting news!! After looking at my scape over the last few weeks, I felt the flow still wasn't quite right thus...

I got my hands on some Selley's Aqua Knead It and Superglue Gel.

Let the fun begin!! Building the base rock here.

Here we have the base rock foundation completed.

Starting to build up the height of the scape here.

Here we have a close up of how Selley's knead it is applied on the live rock itself.

Here the scape done!! But, hmmmm, something seems to be missing.

By breaking up one of the live rock into smaller bits, I made an arch/bridge out of it

Overall experience of using Selley's Aqua Knead it. It's pretty easy to use and it forms a semi bond pretty fast. The semi bond is formed within 30 mins of application and fully cures in 24 to 48 hours.

Also, because the live rocks were sitting in the tank for quite a while, thus the surfaces were wet, but I had not much issues in trying to the the epoxy to "stick" to the surfaces of the rocks.

This actually allows me to scape pretty quickly and reduce the risk of leaving the live rock out of water for too long. I was afraid that it might have some dire consequences to the life in it. Another plus point was that, it cures in and out of water

However, it'll "stain" your hands white for quite a few days, but the ease and speed of application more then makes up for it.

To break it down

Pros

- It is not chunky and hard, thus it is very easy to knead and apply

- Adheres to wet, moist or dry surfaces

- Forms a temporary bond in a very short period of time

- Cost Effective as compared to coral epoxy

Cons

- It'll leave a white stain on your hands (wearing gloves helps)

- Quantity of the tube is not alot, thus you might need alot more when doing a big scape.

[lurenake]

More exciting news!! As my cycled was completed, I decided to kickstart the air stone skimmer that came as a set with my Ocean free Nano Marine 3.

Alas, it was as many have said, having a air stone protein skimmer is as good as have no protein skimmer.

Recommendation to all who wants to get a Ocean free Nano tank set, go for the Ocean free Nano Space, as it doesn't come with the air stone skimmer and air pump. Meaning it's cheaper!!

Since the air stone skimmer doesn't work and Christmas was around the corner. I decided to get myself a Christmas present!

Lo and Behold.

My new Bubble Magus Q3. Wanted to get the E3 but it was out of stock island wide, thus decided to try my hands on this baby here.

Here's how it looks when hung on my tank at the right hand side.

Here's the back view of it.

One of the differences between Q3 and E3 was the outlet, Q3 features a "waterfall outlet" and this is how it looks from the top. Note that the acrylic portion with the black sponge is removable.

Here's the skimmer in action.

And because, the acrylic drop off is removable, I decided to remove it and the water flows nicely into the 2nd compartment of my ios which houses the chemical filtration.

Here's the skim mate produced within minutes, however I have yet to fine tune the height.

Overall experience of using Bubble Magus Q3. It's pretty easy to prime, but be vigilant when priming as over priming will cause the water to flow out of the U shaped cutout where the inlet pipe is sitting in.

However, for the price that we are paying, I would expect a removable collection cup or at the very least a draining tube in the collection cup.

To break it down

Pros

- Cost Effective

- Pretty good skim mate for me

- Easy to operate

Cons

- The collection cup and reaction chamber is a whole tube, thus you'll have to off the skimmer and remove the whole tube in order to empty the cup

- It's not that easy to find the sweet spot of the skimmer in order to get a good skim mate

[lurenake]

With my new skimmer and new scape and a ready to go tank, here's the latest FTS.

FTS and how it looks with the skimmer hanging at the back

Close up of the front

Here's the right side view of the tank.

Here's the little arch or bridge of the scape. Looks pretty cute to me

[lurenake]

Updated list of Equipments:

Tank Specs

Tank size: Oceanfree Nano Marine 3, 31x31x36cm (34L)

Lights: Brightlux 18pcs PAR38 LED

- 54watts

- blue:white ratio: 6:12

- 60 degrees optic

- light spectrum, blue: 460-465nm; cold white: 6500-12,000K

Chiller: TBC

Wavemaker: Jebao RW-4

Filtration: 4.5kg worth of live rock (from Pinnacle) + around 1kg worth of arga-alive! live sand

Filtration media : Chemipure and RowaPhos

Skimmer: Bubble Magus Q3

Return pump: Hydor Pico 1000

Substrate: Arga-Alive! Live sand (bought from polyart, forgot the exact type and brand)

Water: H2Ocean Natural Reef Salt + DI water (bought from MadPetz)

Top off: Fairprice PURE Drinking Water (NTUC inhouse distilled water)

Cooling : Dymax Fan

Additives: Brightwell Aquatics MicroBater 7 (16 drops a week)

: Brightwell Aquatics BioReef Fuel (16 drops daily)

Others: Pinpoint Wireless Thermometer

[Lee Khim Ann]

Nice scape!