Graveyard

[Gouldian]

Its going to be a mass burial ground soon.

[iori_del]

Its going to be a mass burial ground soon.

Nan Jing Da Tu Sha.

[mUAr_cHEe]

Listen to me...

first i get your facts straight.... even if u got enuff rocks to support a mandarin... even if u feel the whole tank with rocks.... it is still no food for the mandarin..... why??? becuz there is no POD population!!!!! you need your tank to mature... henry of ML once told me need 6 months for a decent pod population to support a mandarin.....

and pls like others say... STOP ADDING FISHES IN!!!!

stablize yr tank.... get the things straigthen out....

my strategy in building a budget tank... (i was on budget once)

in order of purchasing.

1) tank

2) salt

3) Water bill (for the water mah!!)

4) sand

5) LRs

6) Powerhead for circulation

7) Skimmer and powerhead for skimmer.

8) clean up crew

9) Lights

10) all other stuff

okay... i know... u tell me.... by the time buy all the first 9... no money buy fish....

GOOD!!!!! thats the point and plan.... by the time u buy all the stuff... no money to buy fish... then no choice... u wait for yourself to save money buy fish.... then the time u wait... the tank no choice sit there cycling..... which is good.... the longer u cycle the tank... the safer the water parameters will be!!!

it may not be the best way ard here to start a tank....

but i personally tried it.... and it was great....

btw... wanna add... after adding the lights... next thing u wanna get is the magnatic cleaner to clean off all the damn algae... kekekeke....

my 2 cents worth....

[Gouldian]

Great work Muar Chee, I couldn't have done it any better!

[iori_del]

Tat the way for Fish keeping.

It is responsible hobbist.

Way to go bro mUAr_cHEe, ur fish must be very happy

[mUAr_cHEe]

yes ... i wanted to buy skimmer, but first i heard many noisy stories and also too many types. i really don't know who to listen to. some are $1000+ some are $40. some even asked me not to have skimmer during the cycling .... wow of course i listen to the no-need-money option.

FOr skimmer....

get weipro.... you cant go wrong... its the most value for money....

when i bought it last time... it was going like 80 for one.... er... i think should be cheaper now from what i last heard.... in the regions of 60 or sumthing....

for a 80 dollar skimmer... it has good skimmate.... just invest in a more proper powerhead.... it will be worth your while....

dun look short term... u will nv get things done... "WAH!! one small pump 50 dollars...... i can get a pump with higher flowrate at a cheaper price!!"

look long term..... with the dollars u pay more... u get less headache... u get more reliable equipment.... then again... not say a pump u bought at a more expensive shop is better.... petmart sell things cheap... but stuff are same as outside....

i reccomend u get a weipro pump at least if u gettin weipro skimmer.... better still... go for eheim.... compact size with powerful flowrate....

dun forget to ask the LFS whether u need to buy additional pipes to connect the skimmer to the pump.....

remember.... LONG TERM......

[yiling]

40 fishes is alot le...im only thinking abt 5

so if u have a 4 feet , u should only have abt 10 ...

yea and get a good skimmer...

Im also planning to get one soon.

go read this thread that i started recently for all the bros and sis to vote on the most value for money skimmer.

link to skimmer

good luck !!

[mUAr_cHEe]

40 fishes is alot le...im only thinking abt 5

so if u have a 4 feet , u should only have abt 10 ...

yea and get a good skimmer...

Im also planning to get one soon.

go read this thread that i started recently for all the bros and sis to vote on the most value for money skimmer.

link to skimmer

good luck !!

my 5 feet tank only got 5 fish.... beat that!!!

some more all small fish....

[Gouldian]

my 5 feet tank only got 5 fish.... beat that!!!

some more all small fish....

That's because you are having SPS right?!?!?!?!

[mUAr_cHEe]

That's because you are having SPS right?!?!?!?!

MY GOSH!!!!! YOU GOT SOME KINDA CRYSTAL BALL OR SUMTHING?!!?!?

i look at my marble... i still cant see yr tank.... boh pian... by the time spend money in my tank.... onlft left enuff money buy marble... no money buy crystall ball..... hahahahaa...

[yiling]

MY GOSH!!!!! YOU GOT SOME KINDA CRYSTAL BALL OR SUMTHING?!!?!?

i look at my marble... i still cant see yr tank.... boh pian... by the time spend money in my tank.... onlft left enuff money buy marble... no money buy crystall ball..... hahahahaa...

crystal ball ??

for fortune telling uh ?

[wayne]

lizard u beta change partly of ur water... u dont have a good filter system n a skimmer so i believe no2 n ammonia is high... if u dont do something to upgrade ur system... u will be wasting more money in keep addin new fishes think in a longer term...

[RAV-65]

MY GOSH!!!!! YOU GOT SOME KINDA CRYSTAL BALL OR SUMTHING?!!?!?

i look at my marble... i still cant see yr tank.... boh pian... by the time spend money in my tank.... onlft left enuff money buy marble... no money buy crystall ball..... hahahahaa...

Muar Chee bro!! Dun bluff, you had an ich-outbreak and all the fishes died...

[RAV-65]

Btw... you really have 40 fishes?!?!??!?! OMG, dat's too many!!!

[lizard44]

thanks iori_del

sorry typo ... flame angel is a damned "ex" fish for me. i typo-ed wrong about the fish. flame angel too much on my mind, so typo-ed wrongly. i meant the $6 coral beauty.

bought some more veggie food today. my dear flame angel no give face. never feed. keep pecking at the green hairy algae. stomach is still flat but not ultra flat yet. fins have white dots.

thanks muar_chee and yiling

the four mandarins are very much alive and kicking. they are all 1 inch long.

the rest of the fishes are 0.25 in to 1 in in size. most if not all are damsels.

in the main tank, i have 4x false percula (0.25 in each), 2x 4 strip humbug (0.75 in), 1x 3 strip humbug (0.75 in), 1x bi-color blenny (1 in), 1x bi-color dottyback (1 in), 1x coral beauty (1.2 in), 1x green chromis, 1x dominoe damsel, 4x 3 dots damsel (non-dominoe), 2x pyjama cardinal, 1x cleaner wrasse, 1x cleaner shrimp (very hard to see it is alive, only every few days see once and alive kicking), 1x blue damsel, 1x yellow tail blue damsel, 1x beau gregory, 1x cloudy damsel, 1x marginate damsel, 2x true mandarin, 2x spotted mandarin, 1x yellow goby, (all 0.5 in to 1 in max), 3x orange legged hermit crabs (0.5 in), 1x brown legged hermit crab, 1x free brown-colored clam (1 in) and numerous snails (free, came with the LRs). super feeders. give any nonsense also eat.

in the refugium, i have 1x purple firefish (1 inch), 1x flame angel (1 in), 3x ###### shrimps (0.4 in), 2x white legged dwarf hermits (0.2 in), 1x boxer shrimp (0.5 in) and 1x cleaner shrimp. so far, only 1x ###### shrimp UP-LORRY (supposed to have 4). these fishes are kicking for quite a while already, feeding well.

finally i got to count:

main tank: 29 fishes + 1 prawn + 4 hermit crabs + 1 free clam + many snails.

refugium: 2 fishes + 5 prawns + 2 hermit crabs

as for the skimmer, i am dreaming for a macro ... sigh ... i actually wanted to save a while for EV-240, but no chance now.

newbie lizard

[RAV-65]

How big is ur tank har??

[lizard44]

hi RAV

it is 48x20x28 10mm glass, 40 kg LR, 130 kg grade 0 sand, 1260 eheim main pump, a small superboy power head, a over-flow tanks that is fully filled with bio-balls.

with a lower sump, a coral chip nitrate factory, a cute 1.5 ft refugium.

same looking as this tank except i don't have corals, only 30 kgs LR, no lights and skimmer.

newbie lizard

[RAV-65]

Though it's 4 feet and all ur LS are pretty small in size, it's still too much of a load IMHO...

[lizard44]

oh ...

i forgot to add (because they are kept in a box in the refugium, forgot to count them):

i got 1x harlequin prawn (0.5 in), 1x 6-legged star (2 in) [i have cut off one small leg for feeding the harlequin, another pig], 1x feather star [health so-so]

this harlequin costs $15 !!!

deeply broke now ...

newbie lizard

[iori_del]

Woh all damsel???? U love damsel tat much???? wun they chase ard all day long,with such a nice tang u should try other fishes.. But sadly dun hink u can remove the damsel unless u tear down the tank.. haizz

[mUAr_cHEe]

very misleading.... for a moment i tot... that was yr tank....

with so much LS.... how old is yr tank u say again???

btw... these are the only fishes left which survive my ich outbreak...

3 purple firefish... 1 royal gamma and 1 big-######-mutha-dorsal sailfin scooter blenny....

got some hermits... 1 abalone... some turbo snails... (they just spawn... got many baby snails...) and like a hundred of dwarf hermits....

[Eric]

cleaner shrimp x2

mandarin x1

yellow goby x1

i bought 1x cleaner shrimp, 1x mandarin and 1x yellow goby from a LFS. the LFS packed all of them together. by the time i am back (2 hours later), all have UP-LORRY even before i open the packing.

i went back the next day, the kind LFS gave me discount for another batch of the same LS.

another time, i again bought 2x damsels and 1x cleaner wrasse all packed together by the LFS. reached home about 1 hour later, the cleaner wrasse almost UP-LORRY (luckily saved by simple air bubbling). i have since concluded that ...

lesson learnt: never pack LS together and must go home fast.

the second cleaner shrimp was acclimatised by adding water (50% one time) from the tank to the plastic bag. the cleaner shrimp again UP-LORRY.

it took me almost 1 week before plucking the courage to try cleaner shrimp again. i bought one first. this time, i used a bottle cap to add water from the tank to the plastic bag. i only add water again when the cleaner shrimp is running around the bag. i did this until the entire water in the bag is increased by 3 times. i then released it into the tank. it has survived since then. i since have also added another cleaner shrimp with the same happy result. i have since concluded that ...

lesson learnt: prawns are very VERY sensitive, contrary to what most reefers said about easy cleaner shrimps.

newbie lizard

The LS should not be packed together unless they are of the same species.

Your LS wont die becos of a few hrs in a plastic bag if the water quantity is sufficent (oxygen level).

You might wanna look into the temp. increase while transporting your LS home, I suspect that might be the cause.

Eric

[yiling]

though im a newbie, but i havent seen any LFS that packs all together in a bag before

[lizard44]

hi bro muar_chee

what i have showed you is only a sample. not my tank. i dont have that money to fully setup one like that.

but the basic look and feel is correct. BUT no lights, no corals, no protein skimmer, only 30 kgs LR, what you see in the pic is 40 kg LR, fully setup skimmer with corals and MH lights.

i have ordered the lights coming after the chinese new year.

might be getting a sanders skimmer, still thinking hard ....

it seems to me, the tank although slightly stinky is fully "cycled". i have no more LS deaths. every one of my prawns have changed skins.

only the flame angel is not feeding.

looks like i got a dumb flame angel because it just stucked between some silly rocks and i have to rescue it from misery.

hi bro eric

i will watch my temperature during transport. maybe the trip back is stressful (temperature-wise).

there are quite a number of LFS that packed LS together. just today i cheong again, this LFS also packed the firefish and jawfish together. so looks like it is a common practice. or maybe i got my stuff real cheap, so LFS dont need to provide raffles class service, just basic economy class will do.

newbie lizard

[RAV-65]

Bro, wat's ur pH like??