My Slice of Nature (Part 3)

[SubzeroLT]

4 hours ago, daveyy said:

Hello! May I know where you bought the big botte one? I only saw the smaller size one at LFS  

 

Btw i saw they said to soak in Muratic acid, does vinegar works as well? Ps am not very good in chemistry 

I bought the big bottle from Amazon during one of my USA trips.

Yes. Acetic acid (vinegar) works just as well here.

 

You can get muratic acid (Hydrochloric acid) from good hardware shops. They sell it as paint/cement remover. I've used it for soaking rocks before without issues. But for most reefing purposes, vinegar works just as well. 

 

[daveyy]

Thank you! Are those big bottle 500ml?


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[SubzeroLT]

20 minutes ago, daveyy said:

Thank you! Are those big bottle 500ml?
 

The one in my pic is the 1000ml bottle.

[daveyy]

Oh wow. Do you use all of them? If not, how much do you use ?

Would you say that they are effective in removing heavy metal?


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[SubzeroLT]

3 hours ago, daveyy said:

Oh wow. Do you use all of them? If not, how much do you use ?

Would you say that they are effective in removing heavy metal?
 

I used 250g of it so far (5ft tank). 500g shared with other reefers.

I'm using it because the aluminum in my tank is 180x above normal sea level. Though my corals are OK, i'm not comfortable with it. Hence the decision to use this product.  I believe the product will remove what it is designed for. But  I'll know for sure only after the next ICP test. 

In an email exchange with Jack Kent (CEO Continuum Aquatics), he mentioned : The product primarily shows color for copper removal, which would be bluish or greenish.  Aluminum will show up as a gray shade which is very hard to recognize.  Also, organics in the system can discolor the resin in the brown tones, which can make distinguishing difficult.  It is not an indicator resin, it will only display a color if the color of the basic ion shows up, which is most prevalent in the case of copper.

Of course, i do need to remove all sources of aluminum in my tank else they will continue to leach.  I suspect they are coming from 2 main sources :

- John Guest quick fitting connectors (those RODI tube connectors). I have about 6 connectors in the system.

- Marine Pure (though marine pure contribution is very minimal)

 

 

 

[daveyy]

That is a very insightful write up. Thank you for the information.

I’m worried about Iron being absorb, do you have any opinion on that?

I have bought 2 x 250ML to try since it suggest 4ml for a gallon. But guess i will err on the side of cautions.




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[SubzeroLT]

I suspect it will remove all heavy metals (including iron) so I'd probably use it short term.

[SubzeroLT]

Realized the Max Mini Carpet Anemone split into 3 (not 2)

 

Kenya Tree from fellow reefer from some back after doing PAR measurement.

Growing well (thanks for the frag).

[daveyy]

I suspect it will remove all heavy metals (including iron) so I'd probably use it short term.

Ahh haha. Guess as much. Thanks!


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[MarCal]

3 hours ago, SubzeroLT said:

Realized the Max Mini Carpet Anemone split into 3 (not 2)

 

Kenya Tree from fellow reefer from some back after doing PAR measurement.

Growing well (thanks for the frag).

Max Mini Carpet Anemone is so pretty!!!

[SubzeroLT]

1 minute ago, MarCal said:

Max Mini Carpet Anemone is so pretty!!!

Yeah. But they do capture & eat fish. So do remember to feed them occasionally.

Refer to one of my earlier post of it catching a spotted mandarin

 

[MarCal]

3 minutes ago, SubzeroLT said:

Yeah. But they do capture & eat fish. So do remember to feed them occasionally.

Refer to one of my earlier post of it catching a spotted mandarin

 

oop!!! Can see cannot touch

[SubzeroLT]

Did a weekday water change tonight. Snapped a couple of quick pictures with the shallow waters & wavemakers off.

 

 

 

Bubble Tip Anemone

 

Lime in the Sky

[Jeebusai]

Did a weekday water change tonight. Snapped a couple of quick pictures with the shallow waters & wavemakers off.
 
 

 
Bubble Tip Anemone

 
Lime in the Sky

Please let me know if ur fragging some lime stag for sale! Thanks


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[SubzeroLT]

On 07/06/2018 at 8:55 AM, Jeebusai said:

 

Please let me know if ur fragging some lime stag for sale! Thanks


 

 

Sure

[SubzeroLT]

Picked up the Alkatronic pump upgrade kit a couple of days back. Its great that the Alkatronic company & distributor provide good support to early customers like me. Pump kit was FOC.

The replacement process was simple with very clear instructions. 

 

All done. Very silent now

[Jeebusai]

 I am sure I can dismantle. But cannot guarantee can put all back! 

[SubzeroLT]

Got a new bottle of Selcon last week. Good for re-hydrating dried pellets. Adds  Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin C and B12 supposedly beneficial to overall fish health & immune system.

 

Mushrooms

 

Pic of the anemone basket. Selling some to a reefer tonight

 

Looking for other colors. Keen to trade if you have any.

[SubzeroLT]

I don't have a display module on my Apex & rely on my mobile app. 

Installed a small red LED at the tank for visual notification if any of the alarms are triggered. Useful as a notification for family members as well.

 

I ordered a blinking LED but it does not blink. Oh well....  

 

Triggers are :

1) Leak sensors placed around the sump & outside the cabinet

2) Empty CO2 tank or calcium reactor effluent clogged

3) ATO reservoir empty

4) Chiller issues - Temperature too warm or too cold.

5) Skimmate/Alkatronic waste collection bucket (15L) full

[SubzeroLT]

My black sea cucumber split. Quite interesting.

I've heard of tiger tail sea cucumbers splitting but not this particular black species. Thanks Alex for searching on the topic - its indeed capable of asexual reproduction.

 

Looks pinched in the middle. Pic taken this morning

 

Extracted from : http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/…/moede_marl/reproduction.htm

Asexual reproduction in these species is performed through the process of transverse fission. In most sea cucumber species capable of asexually reproducing, a method is used where the organism’s anterior and posterior end rotate in opposite directions. After a while, the two ends slowly move in different directions, eventually causing the body wall to tear and split the organism into two separate individuals. However, Stichopus chloronotus uses a different method of transverse fission in order to divide itself. More specifically, the organism starts by creating a constriction in the center of its body. While the posterior region of its body stays stati onary the anterior end begins to move forward. This results in a more intense constriction in the center of the body. As the anterior end moves further away from the posterior, the constriction in the center, or fission site, begins to turn in to almost nothing but a fluid like substance. Following this, the two halves separate with ease. Based on a study, this entire process only takes a few minutes. Following the fission, it takes around a day for the tissue at the fission site to heal. The body wall of Stichopus chloronotus is often referred to as “catch connective tissue” and it is very thin and fluid-like. It is believed that this tissue is the reason why it is possible for Stichopus chloronotus to undergo transverse fission with more ease than other species capable of the phenomenon. Furthermore, it is thought that this tissue also helps with the speedy recovery that Stichopus chloronotus is capable of after fission has occurred. Transverse fission usually occurs during cool portions of the year (around June in the Indo-Pacific region) and it is also thought that it mainly takes place a night.

 

 

Twisted

 

It had already split when I got back from work this evening. As the article mentioned, the anterior portion makes the movements. Posterior portion stays put. And it usually happens in June (its June!)

 

This is an old picture of the sea cucumber. Purchased in Nov 2014 for my previous 3ft tank.

 

A workhorse trying to clear diatoms. A losing battle back then.

 

 

[atdayahwh]

Weather here in Singapore has been quite warm the past weekA. At times, hitting 32DegC inside the apartment
The compressor kicked in more often. That prompted me to check the compressor temperature controller & realized that the accuracy drifted by about 0.5degC. That is, its reading too warm => cooling the tank 0.5DegC more than it should. I cross checked the Apex temp probe (supposed to be a 'long life' probe which is 3yrs old & still accurate when further cross referenced to an alcohol thermometer)
 

 
Monitoring stuff :

 
Emerald crab munching away on red turf algae. Some of them have grown quite big ~ 1.5" big.
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Your emerald crab not going to corals? I got bad experience with this guy eating my torch.



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[SubzeroLT]

On 21/06/2018 at 12:54 AM, atdayahwh said:

 

Your emerald crab not going to corals? I got bad experience with this guy eating my torch.

 

 

 

No issues with the emerald crabs. In my case, they may appear to nip on LPS but are actually targeting at the algae on the LPS bone. 

How serious was your situation? Caught it in action? Was the torch healthy or not doing so well in the 1st place?

[SubzeroLT]

Playing around the DD Coral Color. A very handy kit for taking coral pics under very bluish LED light - something impossible to be done with mobile phones previously.

 

Multi lens stacked. The Close Up lens is fantastic for allowing the phone to focus much closer to the object

 

Pics taken with iPhone outside the tank under 20k light. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeebusai]

Pics looks good bro. Can share where to buy and the cost? Thanks 

[klyve]

Wow nice and neat tank u have!!