First day first problems and many more to come :)

[Filzan]

hi rebbot,

thanks for your kind words of advice ! For your second advice, didnt really do much research the par38 lights was really just an impulse buy but oh well. gotta move on. YEA!! did some more reading up so PH 8.0 is fine so decided to just go with the flow and yes gonna get test kits for KH and CA soon

Day 9

Ph: 7.8 S.G: 1.026 AMM:1ppm Nitrite 0.5PPm Nitrate: 10ppm

Day 11

PH :8.0 S.G: 1.025 AMM: 1.0PPM NITRITE: 1.0PPM Nitrate: 10ppm

Day 14

PH :8.0 S.G: 1.025 AMM: 0.5 PPM NITRITE: 2 PPM Nitrate: 20 ppm

Day 16

PH :8.0 S.G: 1.0265 AMM: 0.5 PPM NITRITE: 5 PPM Nitrate: 40 ppm (water change)

Day 19

PH :8.0 S.G: 1.0255 AMM: 0.25 PPM NITRITE: 5 PPM Nitrate: 20ppm

Finally i am guessing that i am almost at the last phase of the cycling. hoping that my AMM drops to 0 and hoping to see a decrease in nitrite next week

1) my boyu skimmer is really getting on my nerves. did some adjustments on it and the foam does not build up and go to the top to spill over the cup. and my skimmate is as clear as my tank water LOL. Damn tempted to change to a TUNZE 9001 or 9002. should i ? or is there something wrong with my boyu skimmer?

Third major problem i am facing while starting up my tank and that is to plan for the LS i wanna put inside. i am no big spender and i like to keep things simple.

what i am planning to put inside is

2 X OCCELARIS clown

1 X royal gramma

1 X blue chromis

inverts

1 x cleaner shrimp

and snails and probably one hermit (depending on my algae issues in the future)

of cause this will be done over a period of months

any advice or better recommendation for fishes or inverts? for beginners of cause

[Filzan]

oh yes one more issue.was reading on the amount of flowrate for tanks. and it is stated that for low flow is normally 20X your tank volume, Medium flow is 50X tank volume and high flow is 100X tank volume. My boyu skimmer is 1600LPH and my tank is approx 50L. There is no sand storm in my tank atm. But still have detritus flying around the tank looks like some white stuff.

Isit too high ?

[rebbot]

Hi Filzan,

No worries and your cycling looks good. I have no experience with boyu, but I suspect that you will need some time to dial it in. Maybe reduce the water level to get darker skimmate. It should work properly if it is new so no need to go out and buy a new skimmer. I do have a nano one for my old tank somewhere if you like to take over, but I think there is no need.

The selection of fishes look okay but not sure if are too many including inverts. I like the blue leg hermit crabs, astrea snails, brittle stars and peppermint shrimps as cleaners. Hehe.

Last but not least, I am not sure if your skimmer pump contributes to the flow, which I do not think so. What is the flow rate of the return? The white stuff could be pods i.e living organisms!

Cheers!

[Filzan]

hi rebbot thanks for the input. Then i guess i will just use the boyu skimmer till further notice.

yea maybe its a bit too much if i include the inverts. Guess i wont put a royal gramma in there so can have a bit more inverts in. Blue leg hermit crab seems like a good choice.

OOOPS sorry i had a typo i meant was my boyu wavemaker is 1900LPH. i have taken it out it feels that the flow is too much. the white stuff was not pods though sad LOL

My return pump is at 1200LPH. but it is pump - chiller - then to tank.

Fourth problem (but should be rectified soon)

Went to buy maxspect glaive today after so much researching and calculating. In my excitement i never check the contents inside the box before i bought it. It was lacking a power cord and the led console has abit of minor scratches and oil stain or something like that at the exterior. i learnt my lesson. Luckily, razali was kind enough to offer a 1 to 1 swap the next time i go. He even picked up a call to his HP after office hours.

Kudos to De Aquatics for fantastic customer service.

Nitrites is still at 2.0ppm praying that it will go down to zero soon

[dinGdinG]

I see u have finally decided to get your new lightest huh? Lol, chill on the intensity ok? Don't blind your fishies!

[Filzan]

LOL yea bro dingding just had to go for the glaive neat looking and the possibility if me keeping SPS is almost zero i really don't like to keep things too complicated haha.

But sadly razali does not have spare one for me to swap tomorrow. Maybe i should just overlook the minor scratches since cant really be seen unless anyone does a detailed inspection.

Anyway dingding when you bought your glaive does the light fixture seems to be oiled? i understand if it is to prevent corrosion. but my fixtures seems to be heavily oiled.

anyway my water parameters just to keep track of my cycling stages.

DAY 25

PH :8.0 S.G: 1.025

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 2.0 ppm

Nitrate: 20 ppm

Nitrite and nitrate seems to be at a constant for this whole week. Was planning to buy a blue damsel or maybe a clown to put in my tank is it safe enough ?

i know waiting for another 2 weeks is BEST BUT my patience is running out

Saw some Red Mushrooms at GO last week was planning to get this week too but looks like until my tank is cycled it will be too late and i have to wait for another shipment which might or might not have the red mushroom

[dinGdinG]

before anything, please reconsider adding a blue damsel. Although i have not kept one before but many bad experiences with blue damsels can be found online. It will be almost impossible to add any mild tempered fishes in the future as the blue damsel will kick their assess because they are very territorial... Clowns are fine i guess, I myself have a pair. They are absolutely great to have...

I dont recall my glaive being oily bro, lol. I think its because my set was very new when i got it. I got it when it was first launched. But i guess if the leds are working well then it should be fine as there is a 1 year warranty right?

Your nirate level is still above ideal range to me, but maybe thats becoz you are still in the cycling stage. Try to hold your purchases untill u can get it down to 10 at least, i know its tough, we all have been there done that LOL

Your next equipment upgrade has to be your skimmer bro, trust us, you will need it badly once your bioload is there

Dont worry about the red mushrooms.. it will always be available in the lfs.. Btw, dont rule yourself out on having sps now.. the sps poison is very potent

[Filzan]

hmmm alright bro, tot there are peaceful fishes was doing research on them awhile ago.

yup the oily glaive i got was actually a faulty set and razali was doing something with it. finally got all that sorted out and got a new set.

yea alright will reduce the nitrate to 10ppm before adding any fishes.

went to freshNmarine to shop for salt today but ended up buying so many other stuff!!! argh gonna be broke again this month LOL.

HAHAHA sps poison eh well i will cross that bridge when i get there bro hahaha !

[Filzan]

Just putting it here to keep track of my tank parameters.

Day 27

AMM: 0

nitrite : 2.0ppm

nitrate : 20 ppm

Kh: 8dkh

phos: 0.25

Day 28 (water change) 2 occel clowns added few hours after water change

Added Api quick start, added bio home in middle compartment of IOS

Ph: 8.0

Amm: 0ppm

nitrite : 1ppm

nitrate : 20ppm

S.g 1.025

Day 30

S.G 1.025 Ph: 8

Amm: 0ppm nitrite: 0.25ppm Nitrate: 20ppm

Log: clowns doing good male is feeding well female abit shy and eating one pellet for past few days.

gonna do another water change to reduce nitrate abit more.

Fish acclimatised for 2 house with 150ml of tank water added every 15mins

cheers.

[Filzan]

And yes bro ding didnt wait for my nitratw to go down LOL srsly patience is no my virtue.

I am.worry as i dont have any scavenge crew in my tank. Saw some left over food at sand bed. Hopefully be able to suck it up during water change tml

[rebbot]

Hi Fitzan, your water parameters do not look ready but its up to you. Try to stabilize your KH, CA and MG before you start adding corals and you will thank yourself for it.

[patricklhc]

Hi bro may I ask what do u eventually want to keep in your "ocean". Because I believe that whatever u want to keep in future it is better to build a good foundation from the beginning. Doesn't really matter if u are new to the salty hobby cos there's a lot of kind and experience bros/sis to help and advise you

In this hobby there are just too many different school of taught. One works one but may not work for another. I would say due to the way we "play" with our tank. U will eventually find a method which suit and work well for you.

Imo there are different level of skills/knowledge from easiest to hardest *yawn* but I don't care I'm just going to write it down of course like I say this is my view. U can choose to or not to follow

Fish only with liverocks- ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate as low as U can maintain. Once all good congratulations. U have been promoted to adding softies.

Softies- same as above got to put in more effort to keep nitrate low.

All doing well? If yes well done. U master another level of knowledge. Level up!

Lps- same as softies but U will need to maintain your mag ca and kh. Good extension? Colors maintaining or better than U see in LFS? If yes to all good job!

Mix reef all of the above must do with extra care especially mg ca and kh has to be maintain at or within a specific range. Softies and Lps showing good color? Opening up nice and huge? Superb job! For me during this phase of my life as a reefer I started to get sick and tired of Lps already and before I know most of my Lps has either been sold or given away and give more rooms for sps.

Sps dominated/only!!! tedious! Mg ca kh must be kept consistent! Nutrient has to be kept as low as possible. Levels that Lps and softies can accept sps won't be able to. They turn brown in mild case, turn white(die already loh) in some.

Till now I still get parameter swing every now and then. Till now I will still encounter issues that I can't find the root cause.

Anyway with a lot of work but you MAY be rewarded for your hard work, dedication and care if it's done properly and correctly. This phase is the phase I'm in and i would say I'm still exploring a better method to bring out the best a sps dominated tank can display.

Sps does sounds challenging but there are a minority of reefers who kept them well without so much work. Hats off to these group of reefers. I just can never achieve that.

Like it or not some things in this hobby U just can't rush or it keeps burning your pockets again and again

Good luck and feel free to ask and ask and ask. No question is stupid question. And Pls of you can post more pics of your tank and also your IOS setup. We would love to have a tour over that side as well

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dinGdinG]

I agree with you totally bro patricklhc..

Nowadays I spend most of my time just staring at my sps, anticipating any colour changes or any problems happening to them lol.. slowly giving up lps to make way for more sps..

The sps poison~!!

imo, having good and consistant husbandary habits is all that it takes to succeed in reefing.

So bro Filzan, you have to practise and find your own system in maintaining good parameters because our setups and habits are all different, diff equipment, diff media, diff livestock etc etc. There is no one size fits all method in reefing i believe..

[Filzan]

Hi Fitzan, your water parameters do not look ready but its up to you. Try to stabilize your KH, CA and MG before you start adding corals and you will thank yourself for it.

Hi bro rebbot ! ah dang i tot if i were to test to CA and MG only when SPS corals are involved. Test kit for this 2 are abit pricey if i were to get a SALIFERT. Yea currently i am out of money to spend on corals now. gotta wait one month for next pay day. meanwhile doing research on corals. and trying to have good maintenance practices to keep amm and nitrite and 0 and nitrate less then 10ppm bro

[Filzan]

Hi bro may I ask what do u eventually want to keep in your "ocean". Because I believe that whatever u want to keep in future it is better to build a good foundation from the beginning. Doesn't really matter if u are new to the salty hobby cos there's a lot of kind and experience bros/sis to help and advise you

In this hobby there are just too many different school of taught. One works one but may not work for another. I would say due to the way we "play" with our tank. U will eventually find a method which suit and work well for you.

Imo there are different level of skills/knowledge from easiest to hardest *yawn* but I don't care I'm just going to write it down of course like I say this is my view. U can choose to or not to follow

Fish only with liverocks- ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate as low as U can maintain. Once all good congratulations. U have been promoted to adding softies.

Softies- same as above got to put in more effort to keep nitrate low.

All doing well? If yes well done. U master another level of knowledge. Level up!

Lps- same as softies but U will need to maintain your mag ca and kh. Good extension? Colors maintaining or better than U see in LFS? If yes to all good job!

Mix reef all of the above must do with extra care especially mg ca and kh has to be maintain at or within a specific range. Softies and Lps showing good color? Opening up nice and huge? Superb job! For me during this phase of my life as a reefer I started to get sick and tired of Lps already and before I know most of my Lps has either been sold or given away and give more rooms for sps.

Sps dominated/only!!! tedious! Mg ca kh must be kept consistent! Nutrient has to be kept as low as possible. Levels that Lps and softies can accept sps won't be able to. They turn brown in mild case, turn white(die already loh) in some.

Till now I still get parameter swing every now and then. Till now I will still encounter issues that I can't find the root cause.

Anyway with a lot of work but you MAY be rewarded for your hard work, dedication and care if it's done properly and correctly. This phase is the phase I'm in and i would say I'm still exploring a better method to bring out the best a sps dominated tank can display.

Sps does sounds challenging but there are a minority of reefers who kept them well without so much work. Hats off to these group of reefers. I just can never achieve that.

Like it or not some things in this hobby U just can't rush or it keeps burning your pockets again and again

Good luck and feel free to ask and ask and ask. No question is stupid question. And Pls of you can post more pics of your tank and also your IOS setup. We would love to have a tour over that side as well

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

hi bro patrick to answer to you to give you more details on my tank.

planning to keep livestock of

2 X clownfish (done)

1 X royal gramma

1 x skunk shrimp (priority next month pay day)

2 x blue legged hermit( recommended by rebbot )

corals

mushrooms, zoas, pusing xenia( maybe)

hammer corals ( see how) . and my aim is to get an anemone by this year june. waiting for tank to mature.

thank you so much for the RANKING wise in doing this hobby. will keep track of that and hoping to work on the fowlr first stage as mention for about a month before i take in dip with softies.

yea burning my pockets very easily now but i alwasy try not to spend so much. i usually set aside one day after my pay day to get whatever i need or want. and after that i dont go back visit any lfs or whatever to prevent my from spending my money till next pay day HAHA.

alright bro will post some photos of my tank in a while

[Filzan]

I agree with you totally bro patricklhc..

Nowadays I spend most of my time just staring at my sps, anticipating any colour changes or any problems happening to them lol.. slowly giving up lps to make way for more sps..

The sps poison~!!

imo, having good and consistant husbandary habits is all that it takes to succeed in reefing.

So bro Filzan, you have to practise and find your own system in maintaining good parameters because our setups and habits are all different, diff equipment, diff media, diff livestock etc etc. There is no one size fits all method in reefing i believe..

LOL bro ding. i stare at my tank for about 2 hours every night EVEN if it is just 2 clownfish inside with no corals. Having a marine tank beat a Planted tank hands down srsly. and loving the maxspect glaive bro LOL.

alright bro ding will try to have a set of weekly maintenance practice and make do with what i have

[Filzan]

putting my tank parameters again, and some a photo of my IOS as mention by bro patrick.

Day 32

Did a water change and tried to suck as must left over food and fecal matter as much as possible. even if it just 2 clownfish they shit a lot seriously LOL. Currently using instant ocean salt mix as FNM was out of stock last week and i had no choice. was using Red sea salt previous and i love red sea everything dissolve and clear water in minutes. Instant ocean salt have salt residue that doesn't fully dissolve and have to wait overnight for the water to be clearer.

ANYONE HAVE ABOUT 1KG OF RED SEA SALT TO SPARE ? i don't mind paying for some please please ? preferably in north east.

P.S" moderators if i post this and if its not right pm me and i will remove it thanks sorry but just desperate :("

Day 33

PH: 8.0 S.G:1.025

Amm : 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 20ppm Phos: 0.25ppm KH: 8dkh

Clownfishy are eating good looking healthy so i am guessing that my nitrogen cycled and my tank is cycled since amm and nitrite is 0 hope that i can keep it that way and reduce nitrate.

Pic 1 : tank

pic 2 : clownfish

pic 3 : is my IOS

First chamber is filter wool

second chamber is boyu skimmer( i dont even get any brown skimmate ) with polyplab biosphere and biohomme

third chamber is my return pump -> chiller -> DT

anyway one advice to people who want to start a tank

DO NOT PUT THE TANK IN YOUR BEDROOM!!! i am losing sleep every night was supposed to sleep at 1030pm and ended up sleeping at 1230pm every night just staring at my tank LOL

[Filzan]

Day 41 (08 Feb 14)

Ph:8.0 S.G: 1.025

Amm: 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 20ppm

Phos: 0.25ppm KH:7 DKH

KH is abit low at 7, i understand that 8dkh to 12 dkh is normal. I wonder is this a matter of concern ?

Added one cleaner shrimp hiding most of the time. Cute fella. I also added Chemipure blue as an alternative to carbon and saw a very good review of it on youtube LOL.

My Problem is just facing my nitrates issue water changes is not reducing the nitrates to 10ppm. I have Bio-homme at my middle sump. Polyplab biosphere under my skimmer but nitrates is still at 20ppm. All in all my nemos look fantastic surviving for about 2 weeks already and cleaner shrimp at 4 days old. all eating pellet and hungry fellas

Next, bucket list and last and final expensive equipment i am gonna get is a proper skimmer tunze 9001. hopefully to remove the gunks cause my boyu skimmer is skimmer clear water . Test kits for cal and mag. hopefully one coral !!!! come come payday !!!! 2 more weeks

[dinGdinG]

Nicee.... Looking at your tank now makes me miss the clean look tank I had lol..

7dkh is fine la, no big issue..

What test kit are u using now? just curious.. Salifert?

About time u decided to change your skimmer bro, tunze is good and reliable.. A good choice..

[Filzan]

Lol! Once the photo period kick in for corals can say good bye to clean tank bro ding

currently using api test kits

Bro you very long never update your thread at nano section hahaha

[dinGdinG]

Bro, please throw away or donate your api test kits to charity. I know they are cheap, but they are pretty useless i would say... try buying a salifert to test your nirates and compare the results with your api immediately.. You will know what i mean after that..

Because I have been spending alot of my time sitting in front of my tank... plus i just got married, if you know what i mean........

Maybe I will squeeze in some time to update it before cny lol

[Filzan]

lol! okok will get a salifert nitrate kit on pay day

Heheh busy making babies ah bro hahahaha

Alright good good its your tank that made me motivated to keep marine tanks

[Edison Wong]

agreed that salifert testkits would be a better choice

[diki88]

Day 41 (08 Feb 14)

Ph:8.0 S.G: 1.025

Amm: 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 20ppm

Phos: 0.25ppm KH:7 DKH

KH is abit low at 7, i understand that 8dkh to 12 dkh is normal. I wonder is this a matter of concern ?

Added one cleaner shrimp hiding most of the time. Cute fella. I also added Chemipure blue as an alternative to carbon and saw a very good review of it on youtube LOL.

My Problem is just facing my nitrates issue water changes is not reducing the nitrates to 10ppm. I have Bio-homme at my middle sump. Polyplab biosphere under my skimmer but nitrates is still at 20ppm. All in all my nemos look fantastic surviving for about 2 weeks already and cleaner shrimp at 4 days old. all eating pellet and hungry fellas

Next, bucket list and last and final expensive equipment i am gonna get is a proper skimmer tunze 9001. hopefully to remove the gunks cause my boyu skimmer is skimmer clear water . Test kits for cal and mag. hopefully one coral !!!! come come payday !!!! 2 more weeks

Bro,

I can pass you my tunze 9001 for you to try. Not liking it personally. Just bought it about a month ago.

If you like it, then can discuss further. If not can return me.

[Filzan]

Ok bro bombom i will pm you soon but just to ask what reasons why you dont like it? Online reviews seems not bad