My Slice of Nature (Part 3)

[SubzeroLT]

4 hours ago, Maipian80 said:

OMG, your stylo is like plucked from the ocean! So big!! It is crazy haha....may i know how often do u feed your tank and with what huh?

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app
 

Thanks. This is another stem of Bali Slimer that's growing quite big. I feel that SPS growth is more attributed to OK water parameters & sufficient light (in my case, using AI Hydra)

 

Any specifics about 'feeding the tank'? For solid food,  I feed fish with pellets (about 1 teaspoon) and minced prawn/fish meat (about 1  table spoon worth) daily. Much of the floating bits get picked up by the corals. Fish also get half palm sized sheet of dried seaweed daily.

A teaspoon of Reef Roids on alternate days (target feed goniopora & millipora). And pinch of DD Reef paste daily. 

 

 

[Andyreefer]

growing like ocean haha

[SubzeroLT]

Did some minor re-scaping after trading away the large stylo colony. Moved the gonio garden from the sand bed in place of the sylo. But found that the PAR there is probably too high for goniopora (300-400 range).

So I unlinked the Hydra64 on the right side to have its own light setting for now and slowly acclimatize the gonio to higher PAR over time.

This is the current reading :

 

Setting for all the lights except the right most Hydra64 

 

 

PAR numbers at the gonio garden (located on the right side of the tank)

Light setting for the right most Hydra64

 

 

[keirra1988]

hey bro is there any reason why you set your right most hydra much lower than the other 3? Is it because the torches and the zoas dont require that much light?

Thanks in advance! New reefer learning here 

[SubzeroLT]

10 minutes ago, keirra1988 said:

hey bro is there any reason why you set your right most hydra much lower than the other 3? Is it because the torches and the zoas dont require that much light?

Thanks in advance! New reefer learning here 

Actually torches especially the holy grail torch need relatively strong light.

I reduced the right most one because gonios (which cannot handle too high light) is now placed on a rock where an SPS used to be located. 

 

[SubzeroLT]

Crazy busy with work recently & didn't have much time on the tank. Now to do some catching up maintenance.

 

The Atlantic Blue Tang has grown quite a bit. And (finally) the bluish colors are showing up during the day time. Its also quite an aggressive fish. 

 

 

This is what it looked like in October 2019. About 1.5". 

 

Got it from Iwarna back in August 2019. I picked the smallest of the lot. About 1" even though the larger ones were the same price. Very glad it survived

 

Did some minor tank maintenance recently.

The Versa released a software update recently. Slight update to the interface such as Amount dispensed today. And also able to input the dosing container volume information.

 

 

Using the versa to dose Kalkwasser to increase pH.

2L during night hours. 0.2L during day time hours

 

Replaced the rowaphos. These wide mouth funnels are very convenient. 

 

Quick rinse with RODI water 

 

 

The CR secondary chamber was getting choked with fine residue. Dismantled it for a quick wash & top up.

 

Fine mush

 

I always use a fresh section of the tube during maintenance. This minimizes chances of fatigue & cracks over time. Snip off a bit with a tube cutter.

[SubzeroLT]

Seems like urchins wearing a hat is all the range recently.

Several reefers like Simon & Chun Wai highlighted this & I decided to jump on the bandwagon & 3D print one as well. Merry Christmas:)

 

Plan to re-do some light settings & equipment DIY over the long weekend. But for now, here are some recent corals pics.

Got 2 hammers from Coral Fanatics SG recently. The corals look much nicer in person. Purple/gold on the left. And blue hammer on the right. The corals there are extremely nice. Need to make space.

Hard to capture the colors with the bluish light. In any case, this is a good article written by Willy about reef photography : https://www.sgreefclub.com/home/reef-photography-tips-tricks/. Need to try his white balance technique.

 

Recent addition 

 

In an earlier post, I mentioned about reducing the light intensity of the AI Hydra over the gonio garden after discovering the PAR levels were too high. Gonio appear to prefer the lower light. 

 

Fiji pink birdnest growth is still very slow. At least the pink base starts showing.

 

Not mine. Hosting a chalice for a fellow reefer. Need to mount on a larger frag plug soon.

 

Sunset millie loving the strong random flow in front of the MP40

 

Zoas from SRC's "Stay Home, Stay Safe Reef At Home contest" back in July. I'm not really a zoa's person but glad all 5 types are surviving. Think I need to space them out more so they grow out more evenly.

 

From Supreme5 on 26th July '20

[SubzeroLT]

Trachyphyllia looks happy after a meal of Nyos LPS pallets, DD paste food and a dash of Fauna Marin MinS

 

All puffy this morning

 

 

This pair gets along well

 

The harlequin shrimps having a meal as well.

 

[shnapper20]

hi just wondering what flowrate you chose for the uv? thanks

 

[Guest]

Love your pair of Mandarin!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SubzeroLT]

3 hours ago, shnapper20 said:

hi just wondering what flowrate you chose for the uv? thanks

 

I'm now running around 2000/hr. 

[SubzeroLT]

Full tank shot to kick off 2021

 

This is the current light schedule for the AI Hydra 64 & 32.

 

In the past weeks, I received several queries about which light to buy for their tanks & why I chose AI Hydras. My feedback generally centers around a few points :

• Get as much spread as possible. Multiple sets placed apart will minimize shading
• In my opinion, lights & pumps are 2 equipment you should be willing to invest a little more on.
• Very important is to have good local support in case things break down (both within & beyond warranty period). You don't want to be left stuck with faulty equipment that cannot be repaired quickly
• Other things to consider :  Factor in brand, quality, good user reviews & watts per dollar. Though not so critical, resale value should sometimes be considered.
• In my case, AI Hydra ended up in the sweet spot. Very happy with them so far. Enough PAR & corals are doing OK.
• Ecotech Radions have higher performance (and price point). Maybe for the next tank/upgrade.

 

Some corals pics. Taken with Olympus EM5 camera with 60mm macro lens + yellow filter.

 

Indo gold torch(Left) & Aussie gold torch(right)

 

Aussie gold torch(left) & Holy Grail (right)

 

Euphyllia paradivisa 

 

Ricordea from fellow reefer Law88 (thanks!!)

 

Birdsnest

 

The pink/gold hammer & blue hammer from Coral Fanatics SG.

 

Lobo from reefer Azil 

 

 

[SubzeroLT]

Added some new fish recently. Flavo anthias

 

And a couple of blue eye anthias

 

Cultured baby brine shrimps to feed the flavo anthias. Just to get them to eat something for a start before weaning them over to LRS Frenzy.

 

Added a 2nd chamber of sulfur to keep nitrates down. This is also in prep to cycle some media as I plan to wash the original reactor/chamber soon.

 

 

 

[SubzeroLT]

This piece started as a single stem stuck to the back wall of the tank several years back. It merged with another pink digi & reached the water surface. Then hair algae started to grow there.

 

Snip snip....and this piece goes back to the back wall.

 

Got this new frag cutter from ReefmarketSG recently. The black layer is some kind of plasma deposition coating (if I heard it correctly). I suppose this gives the stainless steel cutter an additional layer of protection against rust. 

And its pretty sharp. Didn't realize how blunt my old frag cutter was until now.

 

 

[Guest]

What camera you use when taking photo of fishes!

[Harlequinmania]

My favourite shrimp How did you intent to upkeep it's special diets ? I remember I was rushing to LFS hunting very often for common starfish in the past when I was keeping these fellows.

Trachyphyllia looks happy after a meal of Nyos LPS pallets, DD paste food and a dash of Fauna Marin MinS

 
All puffy this morning

 

 
This pair gets along well

 
The harlequin shrimps having a meal as well.


 

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[SubzeroLT]

3 hours ago, Willy Guccivera Yap said:

What camera you use when taking photo of fishes!

Using Olympus EM5 MK1 (there is a new version out now) + Olympus 60mm macro lens. Pics from outside the tank of course.

 

Here are more fish pics :

 

 

 

[SubzeroLT]

25 minutes ago, he said:

My favourite shrimp How did you intent to upkeep it's special diets ? I remember I was rushing to LFS hunting very often for common starfish in the past when I was keeping these fellows.

 

Fortunately or unfortunately, I have a crazy population of asterina starfish. I think there comes a tipping point where its able to self sustain (hopefully in the long term). 

When I first started the hobby, I did the same thing to buy sand sifting starfish but feel this is not a good idea. The starfish will be dead in a few days & continue to be in the water for longer periods for the shrimp to finish eating it. That fouls the water. And sand sifting starfish are now in the $5-$6 range each. Not $2 anymore.

[bobdude]

Nice. thx for sharing

[Maipian80]

Beautiful fishesDo u have a special way of managing ich in your tank to share? I read that it is almost impossible to irradicate ich from tank unless u dont add new fishes or corals/or u quarantine all of them for a significant period of time and that is also not a guarantee. Cheers

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[SubzeroLT]

On 1/5/2021 at 7:49 AM, Maipian80 said:

Beautiful fishesDo u have a special way of managing ich in your tank to share? I read that it is almost impossible to irradicate ich from tank unless u dont add new fishes or corals/or u quarantine all of them for a significant period of time and that is also not a guarantee. Cheers
 

Thanks

Most of us do not have the space for a proper quarantine system. Or the discipline to follow through it.

My process to manage fish disease :

• Quarantine. I have a plastic tub (filled with 20L of water) to quarantine fish for a couple of days to monitor them. Usually add prazi as a preventive measure against intestinal worms , skin flukes & paravortex turbellaria flatworms (black ich). But as you say, this is not 100% fool proof. The rest are more applicable to your query.
• Hospital tank/medication. I have a spare plastic tub / tank on standby in case fish get sick & needs to be taken out to medicate. Air pump & wavemaker for the hospital tank is always within reach. Standby Seachem Cupramine (for ich), Eiho Prazi Gold (dewormer) & API Furan2 (broad spectrum anti biotic)
• AquaUV sterilizer. Usually running about 75% of the time but will turn on 24/7 for several weeks if new fish are added. UV is to mitigate risk of full blown ich. I'm running a 57w unit on the 850L tank.
• Feed the fish well so they can fight off parasites on their own. I use Fauna Marin Food Energizer on a regular basis to give pellet food a nutrition boost. Selcon works very well as well.
• Cleaner wrasse eat some turbellaria flatworms that reside on fish. Wrasses & Mandarin dragonets eat what they find on the sand bed. Wrasses & mandarins are not a solution to pests. And may not do much in the whole scheme of things. But they probably do help a little (just like how UV can reduce the population of cryptocaryon irritans). A single adult turbellaria flatworms (black ich) can re-produce hundreds of larvae on the body of a fish. Any reduction of an adult is a good thing. I have cleaner wrasse, 6 line wrasse & blue mandarin dragonets - 2 pair of each.

 

[SubzeroLT]

Maintenance weekend

Clean lens & body of the lights. Wipe off salt spray.

 

Out of sight but not out of mind. They do catch a lot of dust & pet fur.

Particularly for the blade, you need to do this when the lights are off & install the grill back correctly. Check that the fan turns freely. The blades can snap off if it get caught when spinning.

 

Wipe off salt spray from wavemaker. Else, the rubberized parts get sticky over time.

 

Top up the CO2 scrubber. More on this in another update.

 

Trim off overgrown corals. Will post on pasar malam soon

 

15% water change

 

You'll notice I'm wearing gloves most of the time. Here is a short write up about gloves & minimizing risk of rashes. https://www.sgreefclub.com/home/protect-yourself-protect-your-tank/

 

This long latex glove is good.

 

Disposable nitrile gloves are particularly useful when gluing corals. Or when you are attempting to squeeze out every last drop of glue.

 

Slip a disposable nitrile glove over the full length latex ($$)  glove when glueing corals inside the tank. Secure the cuff area with rubber band.

[SubzeroLT]

View of the left side of the sump.

Added a large secondary chamber for the calcium reactor & sulfur reactor. Instead of having 2 (smaller) separate chamber, I decided to go with a single large one.

 

The outlet water is routed through a 3D printed channel & into the refugium box to further reduce CO2. Left tube is for sulfur reactor effluent. Right side is for calcium reactor effluent. This set up allows me to visually see the drip rate of the effluent and easily remove it for cleaning/unclogging as necessary. Due to the relative height of the inlet vs outlet, it was possible to have this 'open' reactor.

 

The orange/grat parts are 3D printed. And fits snugly on the Skimz lid (blue)

 

I wanted away to remove the tubes in case it needs to be cleaned or flow adjusted. Instead of cable tying it down, a tube clip was made which slides in & out of the aluminum profile

 

Algae blenny found a new favorite spot. Fortunately the clam isn't too bothered by it.

[shnapper20]

On 11/23/2020 at 8:51 PM, SubzeroLT said:

Did some minor re-scaping after trading away the large stylo colony. Moved the gonio garden from the sand bed in place of the sylo. But found that the PAR there is probably too high for goniopora (300-400 range).

So I unlinked the Hydra64 on the right side to have its own light setting for now and slowly acclimatize the gonio to higher PAR over time.

This is the current reading :

 

Setting for all the lights except the right most Hydra64 

 

 

PAR numbers at the gonio garden (located on the right side of the tank)

Light setting for the right most Hydra64

 

 

hi leon after being somewhat in awe of your beautiful tank, I decided to place 5 hydra 64's over my new cade 1800.  The signature series settings on the allumination site, look nothing like these settings. So how long have you been running the lights at these settings? where can I download these settings? and thanks for being an inspiration

[SubzeroLT]

Thanks

You will love the Hydra64 for sure. I've been running the current light settings since February 2020. 

I've loaded the settings to Singapore Reef Club facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sgreefclub/permalink/1900022876802915/

 

 

16 hours ago, shnapper20 said:

hi leon after being somewhat in awe of your beautiful tank, I decided to place 5 hydra 64's over my new cade 1800.  The signature series settings on the allumination site, look nothing like these settings. So how long have you been running the lights at these settings? where can I download these settings? and thanks for being an inspiration