The comet's 5 footer!!!

[Melvyn Tan]

oh yeah

i did a blackout test

it didn't flood the sump....its fine...no flood

erm....lets say if all anti-siphon devices fail and water from main tank gets into your tank...will there be flooding? since the allowance in your sump is merely about 3 inches high?

[shoelevy]

ah...return pipe from sump....i haf a mouth near the surface to prevent flooding when blackout and another one at the bottom to prevent dead zone in sand bed at the back

i never use any anti siphon device.

my method is simple

see the mouth at the near the surface?

when blackout, since the mouth is at the surface, it siphons little if any water back into sump and then air fills the pipe and the siphoning action stops

my sump can take the extra water from the IOS plus the little water tt comes from siphoning action of the return pipings.

no worries bro!

at first i didn't haf the mouth near the surface...then shortly after i setup, the pump spoil....FLOOD!!!....lucky i was home to stop it!

haha

so then i decided to add the mouth at the top and now no problems ler

[Melvyn Tan]

Ok it is safe then...

[shoelevy]

fellow brothers...i got a quest regarding my refugium...how much power should i use for the lights to keep caulerpa?

[shoelevy]

wat's the power for a t5 1ft long?

[lightningstrike]

fellow brothers...i got a quest regarding my refugium...how much power should i use for the lights to keep caulerpa?

depending on the depth of ur refugium, i wld say PL or T5 with bulbs in the range of ard 6.5kk will do fine.

[shoelevy]

my ref only bout a foot deep.

i'm eyeing this 11w pl.

would it be ok?

[lightningstrike]

my ref only bout a foot deep.

i'm eyeing this 11w pl.

would it be ok?

yes, i think it will do fine. i used to grow caulerpa at the same 1ft depth with only a 9W 6.7kk PL.

[shoelevy]

ok

looks like some peolpe r telling me heh bee won't work since its dried up and so has not much DOC to offer my tank and since i don't wanna buy one whole packet of market prawns just so tt i can use one for cycling, i've decided to ask some lfs and a couple susgested putting in frozen brine shrimp and mysis shrimp and let them rot!!!

don't know if it'll work but no harm trying....so there...now i haf 3 cubes of mysis rotting out in my tank

[pegasus1010]

u can buy 1 or 2 prawns from market won't cost a lot..

[shoelevy]

har?...raelly?...i tot must buy in packets one?

[pegasus1010]

market free & easy ones..take 2 also sell. No need to buy 1 pkt.

I bought 2 previously from my side admiralty wet market. Told the seller I buy for fishing uses to answer their curious stares.

[shoelevy]

ahha.......................ok!

will go tomorrow

paiseh ah...i don't know...cos i neber go market one......i'm a typical man

[terryansimon]

I'm a typical man but I go to the market.

or am I an atypical man.

[pegasus1010]

I am typical too but had to go market once a while.

[shoelevy]

ahha

okok

paiseh paiseh

looks like i angered a few people...ok my fault my fault!

[pegasus1010]

no offence taken dun worry..

[shoelevy]

oh well....looks like both heh bee and mysis shrimps don't work!

heh bee don't work cos its dried...no DOC juices for bact....mysis don't work cos too small..................so...ahha...got mum to go buy market prawn from market cos i'm still the same guy who doesn't go market..haha

so here it is...used the whole thing without the head

strange ah....its supposed to be black but photo makes it seems like its cooked

in case yr're wondering y its suspended so high and so left even though the string is to the right...that's cos of the current from the tunze.....YES....its tt strong!

[Melvyn Tan]

Good to see the start of your cycling

[weileong]

Just ask for some black skimmate from beckett users then pour all in confirm get your cycling started And probably won't get those terrible smell from the rotting prawn

[shoelevy]

4 days later....shrimp rotting....

BUT...

[shoelevy]

ammonia and nitrite haf been 0 all the wae....i think its cos i got the rocks from other reefers...all matured...full of bact....i'm not sure on this

fellow brothers....pls comment on this phenomena?

[aStRoBo|]

i chatted with u on msn regarding this topic.. i personally think tat, cos of the LRs u got from other bros, it might be matured. So useful bacterial is already residing on it. And thus, it sped up ur cycling. Tat's wad i ask a few bros ard here to confirm as i also have difficulty having ammonia and nitrite.. think tat LRs are doing their job. wait till the prawn fully rot and test again..

[Melvyn Tan]

Wow its really a phenomenon ! but surely the decomposition from nitrogenous waste - protein - amino acid (phenol) - amine [Mineralisation Stage] takes a while ? Maybe you wanna check your pH, if the Heterotrophic Bacteria is working, the conversation from Amine to Ammonia + Organic Acid will reduce the pH.

Whats your quantity of LR involved?

For aquarium without LR (or dead rocks) the Ammonia will kick in only after day 4 and peaked on day 8-9.

For aquarium with LR (quantity dependant) Nitrate production will start in day 1 and you should see a spike in Ammonia in day 4 and some Nitrite readings also (peaked in day 13-15), approx. day 16 the Nitrate will be rocket high.

Importantly, tank size and quantity/size of dead prawn ratio to kick start the ANN is also a factor.

Guideline for maturation time : -

Aquarium set-up with "seeded" live rock + "seeded" live sand filter (natural system) - about 3 - 10 days

Aquarium set-up with an "unseeded" sub-sand filter and "seeded" live rock - about 14 to 28 days

Hope this helps...

[Ekia]

Actually its possible for a new tank setup to be unable to detect any NH4 or NO2 at all right from the start. I experienced it myself. But the difference is that I had the LRs cured in a separate tank for a month and the transfer between the 2 tanks is just a matter of seconds, therefore no die-offs observed.

After the transfer of all the LRs and aquascaping, I tested the water the following day and both NH4 and NO2 is zero. I waited for another 3 days and again, they are zero again. To be sure, I added a piece of market prawn and let it rot for a week. Every alternate days, I tested for NH4 and NO2 and they were never detected at all. Did a water change and started stocking from then on....