My 3 Ft Tank After 3 Months

[alanseah]

well not all finger coral cant go well with sps... but i do agree it's most finger cant go well with sps...

infact there is one type of finger that is so tonix that it can kill the stony coral..

u should get a book about coral and read up on it.. and understand which coral is tonix and which is not...

if not you will have a chemical war in your tank..

[Melvyn Tan]

wow !! that much i do not know !! points noted from all you experts out there, as we are all hobbyist - we must learn from one another ;D.

The coral which looks "fake" is hydnopora - i will leave it at the bottom and see what happens. In the meantime, i will "upgrade" 2 basic items, ie. T5 and a refugium within the next few months. . 1/3 the size of my tank's sandbed for the refugium - for nitrification blah blah blah, as for skimmer really agree with Michael for overstocking the fish, but still i will leave it for a while as over skimming the tank is NOT good.

Where can i get T5? and also who can customise for me my refugium (reverse flow)?

any one?

[DeepBlue]

The coral which looks "fake" is hydnopora - i will leave it at the bottom and see what happens.

best bet for this coral is too sell it away and use the money for something else...

can use to fund new T5s or MH. Got to note that sps dun do well if water temp is too high. after that, comes the monitoring of Ca level, oh level dkh.......

Great to hear you are taking the guys' advice positively, well, glad there are so many dudes that are willling to explain to you..

oh yah..if you like sps...you might want to check out what danano has to do to maintain a nano sps tank with T5s (its not about adding one or 2 tubes of T5s and its done.

[Melvyn Tan]

Hmmmm....... i will save the hydnopora and use it as sort of experimentation and will monitor and let u guys know the outcome (told by the one who cultured it that it should be ok, although its best to put it on higher grounds). Will get the T5 independantly and also the refugium - btw, anyone wants to get cultured hydnopora?

Danano? well ok will 'speak' to him sometimes to learn from him

Wow !! where do all you guys learn that much from ?? about reefing in tanks etc ?? water parameters, chemistry etc ?? textbooks ? let me know so that i can get em too and read it

[Melvyn Tan]

Feeding time

[Melvyn Tan]

Seahorse (Hai Bea) feeding

[Melvyn Tan]

A pic of the hydnopora (aquacultured)noticed it opening up

[jd_n]

Hmmmm....... i will save the hydnopora and use it as sort of experimentation and will monitor and let u guys know the outcome (told by the one who cultured it that it should be ok, although its best to put it on higher grounds). Will get the T5 independantly and also the refugium - btw, anyone wants to get cultured hydnopora?

Danano? well ok will 'speak' to him sometimes to learn from him

Wow !! where do all you guys learn that much from ?? about reefing in tanks etc ?? water parameters, chemistry etc ?? textbooks ? let me know so that i can get em too and read it

The net r free for u to ultilise bro. There r lots of info in the forum tat u can search and read up abt....overseas forum like RC, RL...are also a good source where valuable info can be obtained. Books r the next good info area, chk out our local libraries>they do carry a wide range of books. If u prefer to own one and read up at ur pace....try PR, remember seeing pretty good books there retailling at pretty good prices too.

[Melvyn Tan]

hahahah....thanks jd_n. Anyone going shopping (for marine stuffs of course)? next week?

[Michael Young]

but still i will leave it for a while as over skimming the tank is NOT good.

... how does one tell if he's really over skimming or not? I suggest you make the skimmer as your first priority before the T5s and the refugium.

[Melvyn Tan]

hahahah...i am all confuse....some say skimmer better.....some say T5 & refugium better....so how ??

[Melvyn Tan]

If get skimmer (not the hang-on types) then need to have sump system cos H&S has no hang-on type. Although sump has many advantages, do i really need it since its only 3 ft?

T5's stronger lighting will help in some ways (UV) in water and refugium will do its work in place of the skimmer.

[Michael Young]

(told by the one who cultured it that it should be ok, although its best to put it on higher grounds).

I think the guy's not giving u good advice.... BTW, Hydnophora are quite similar to acroporas and they need also need intense lighting and good water flow.

[Melvyn Tan]

Michael - i agree with u. Not that he did not give good advice, we all know that stronger lighting and good circulation is important - but its just that conditions in the sea and aquarium is kinda different (in some ways), as it is aquacultured, it'll be more resilient in tank conditions, so experimenting and will let you guys know how it turns out in the next few months (using my tank as an experiment !! ) Of course using T5 or Mh will indefinitely be better.

Just like the undergravel filtration controversy - different systems' employment are good in one way or the other (not that i fully support undergravel system)

What do u feed your corals with ?? i am using coral de lux by H&S and currently employing MBF coral plancton (thought its spelt as plankton - ha ! belgians !)

[Michael Young]

If get skimmer (not the hang-on types) then need to have sump system cos H&S has no hang-on type. Although sump has many advantages, do i really need it since its only 3 ft?

T5's stronger lighting will help in some ways (UV) in water and refugium will do its work in place of the skimmer.

OK, I see your point. If you don't want a hang-on skimmer, then you really need to have a sump to hook the skimmer on. Which means, you'll need the overflow box (you can get that from Ian), a sump and the skimmer. Question: Why do you need to get H&S skimmer, there are loads of cheaper skimmers out there that will meet your needs just right. I do not have any experience with H&S but I do know they are pretty costly. I said that you need to get the skimmer first because that's what I'd do if I were you facing the similar situation.

Where did you read that lights emitted by T5 tubes have a sterilizing effect on your aquarium? T5 does not emit any UV rays and your refugium will take time before it'll begin to absorb nutrients. And even, then you'll still need to harvest the macro algae to export these unwanted nutrients.

[Michael Young]

Michael - i agree with u. Not that he did not give good advice, we all know that stronger lighting and good circulation is important - but its just that conditions in the sea and aquarium is kinda different (in some ways), as it is aquacultured, it'll be more resilient in tank conditions, so experimenting and will let you guys know how it turns out in the next few months (using my tank as an experiment !! ) Of course using T5 or Mh will indefinitely be better.

Just like the undergravel filtration controversy - different systems' employment are good in one way or the other (not that i fully support undergravel system)

What do u feed your corals with ?? i am using coral de lux by H&S and currently employing MBF coral plancton (thought its spelt as plankton - ha ! belgians !)

I do not have any experience in aquacultured sps corals but their needs should still be the same to those harvested from the sea because unless these aquacultured species have been altered genetically that they no longer habour zooxanthellae, they would still need light to manufacture food. Anyone care to share their opinion?

I feed my corals phyto and zooplankton.

[Melvyn Tan]

Ah ha ! Michael you really do know your stuffs !!! Yes it'll take some time for the culturing in the refugium (but i will be speeding up the process u see )

No T5/Mh will not sterilise the water - but it'll help in conditioning the water dun know whats the term called..but anyway having a refugium is better in so many ways compared to a skimmer (unless i am going to have shoals of fishes swimming)

I am sorry but Why H&S? because its probably the only one that will work well.

[planetg]

with all due respects to mike,

choosing a skimmer is not abt measuring the cost only. there's a reason why H&S or EuroReef skimmers are that costly. They are indeed efficient skimmers, well built and performs well.

i'm sure mike is taking your budget into consideration but my advice is not to skim (no pun intended) on a skimmer. not sure abt others but it is VERY important in my opinion. choose with care to avoid unnecessary upgrades in future.

cheers

[Melvyn Tan]

Yes planetg - totally agree with u. I am seriously considering whether i should be getting a bigger tank (wife gonna shout at me !!!! ) then i will employ a H&S to skim. But why need so big? go to the public aquarium if wanna see big reefs heheheh or go to Maldives ! phew awesome !

But now.... to "skim" or not to skim ??? hahhahahaha

Lets experiment and see how my tank will work - will add T5 and refugium progressively....in the mean time do u guys go around peoples houses to share your hobby?

[alanseah]

get your skimmer first... as mention alot of time.. a gd water parameter is very importance...

once u achieve that light etcs r easier...

also why use H&S since u r 3ft.. unless u r rich... if not why not use weipro 2014 skimmer.. alot cheaper and enough for your tank vol also...

As for refugium, I will not agree to having one.. if u have read up well the vol of refugium must be bigger then your tank vol... as whatever u cultivate once into the return pump are all dead... unless u r growing some macro alge then still ok.. but if the macro agle crush.. it will bring down your whole tank..

if u really want refugium, do it in a seprate tank where the water is not share by your main tank

[Achilles Tang]

A skimmer will do wonders for your tank in terms of water quality.

Your tank's new and you will definitely go through algae outbreak phases as your biological filtration tries to cope with your bioload. Not having a skimmer is possible but why do away with something that's proven to be an invaluable component of the modern reef tank?

Get a good skimmer. And get rid of your copperband if you intend to keep a reef tank with inverts or vice versa.

If you want to keep a macroalgae refugium, watch your water quality or you'll 'have' a refugium in your main tank too.

[terryansimon]

seems that you're taking feedback positively. very good.

(=

but seriously, get a skimmer. you can't go wrong. and since you're so dead intent on getting a H&S, hawk around roidan. he may sell his of if he gets his dream double beckett. and judging by the rate at which he adds new stuff to his tank, it should be pretty soon. :P

[alanseah]

lolz that's right.... act fast be4 other buy it..

[Melvyn Tan]

wow alanseah ! must take ur advice seriously ! refugium will crash my tank !! I am going to knock the head of the one who tells me this - that aquaculturist

Weipro - isn't it made in Taiwan ?

Hi Achilles Tang, regards to you and sending u regards from NWF (on behalf, who knows u - me kaypoh).

Not that i dun believe in skimmers.......for bigger tanks yes.....my copperband currently not attacking my inverts but has pick on the feathers (naughty naughty) - not trying to prove anything, but trying to get them to get-together !!

[alanseah]

yes weipro is a taiwan product but alot of the reefer here got use it.. u can search around to see the review...

yes u can try to get the copperband together but dont forget u can never change their natural behavious.. if one day they go hungry due to not feeding them enough...

then can say bye bye to some of your stuff in your tank..