Roidan's Reef (I)

[roidan]

ORP at 315 as at this timing

[Blenny]

Whoa! I was this close in buying the same fish for my tank. My dad was bugging me like crazy when I brought him to CF when he saw it. Told him I will read about it before I buy. Old man was unhappy and nag all the way home!

Am happy to hear that you managed to get them out before you have to rearrange the rock works! Thanks bro for publishing this out.

[roidan]

same here...somehow we guys know the danger fishes...

and today when i went with my uncle to pasir ris farms...he pointed out a few *lovely* fishes...guess what...from the ANGELS family....geee...

well, maybe if i din know so much about fishes i would be attracted the same way...say 2 years back...but now...i can smell a non-reefsafe fish from a few tanks away...LOL

so seriously bros, never succumb to temptation to introduce any butterflies or angels into reef tanks....consequences you gotta bear yourself...hehe

really wonder how on earth i managed to get them out..must have been 3 times lucky to do so...lol....

[roidan]

a valuable statement:

never put something in that you have problems taking out later.

[Blenny]

ya you can say that again.

You mentioned something about angels are not reef safe. I remembered reading somewhere that the smaller angels are ok. for eg. coral beauty, Flame, etc

[roidan]

yeah...but they belong to the put-at-your-own-risk angels category also..u never know when they grow older and decide to include the fleshy corals into their gourmet diet...lol....really heng suay lor....

i also heard flame angels pecking at those meaty corals...hehe

but really lucky you din buy....congrats...hehehe

[jc85]

Butterfly and Angel are generally not reef safe. Better play safe. Some of the guys here does have flame angel in their reef tank. Juz whether u wanna take the risk.

Cheers

[roidan]

phosphate today

[roidan]

nitrates today

[weileong]

you used any PO4 media?

[roidan]

used contraphos at the start before my macroalgae took over..now i think the media is exhausted already...but havent take out yet leh....lol.....if my refugium can't cope, then have to get more rowaphos or contraphos.....

[roidan]

a good article about ORP in case some bros here wanna know

#Let us start by saying that redox potential is really a saltwater thing, so if you have a freshwater aquarium, read on because we'll explain this soon, or . . . because you like the way we write. In our humble opinion, the redox potential of a marine aquarium is one of the best measures of success in maintaining a great saltwater environment. If we had our way, every salt tank everywhere would be equipped with a redox meter (ORP meter).

We'll start with our very own anthropomorphic, unique, over-simplified and only-partially-correct definition: "The redox potential of an aquarium is a measure of the aquarium water's ability to cleanse itself." Now here's the long chemistry-lesson version. You'll soon understand why we gave you the simple version first:

With the exception of energy, everything, everywhere, that's anything at all, is composed of atoms. An atom, you may recall, is composed of protons, neutrons and electrons. The protons and neutrons form the center of the atom, called the nucleus. Protons carry a positive charge, and neutrons are neutral, so the nucleus has a positive charge.

There is one negatively-charged electron for every positively-charged proton in an atom. The electrons circle the nucleus in layers or shells. It is the electrons in the outer shell that "react" with electrons in other atoms to form compounds.

The more protons an atom has, the heavier it is. Atoms with different atomic weights are known as elements. When two elements combine in a reaction, they form a compound. Compounds may exist as molecules or ions. Molecules are un-charged components of a compound. Ions are either negatively or positively-charged components of a compound. The simplest molecules are two combined atoms of one element, for example, oxygen as O2, or chlorine as Cl2.

"Redox" is short for oxidation-reduction, which is a type of chemical reaction. A redox reaction occurs when two elements combine, and one element "loses" an electron to the other element. The element that "loses" an electron is said to be "oxidized." The element that "gains" an electron is said to be "reduced." By the way, the electrons aren't really lost. They're shared in such a manner that the resulting molecule has an electrical charge. For example, when two sodium atoms (Na), and a chlorine molecule (Cl2), combine to form two molecules of table salt (2NaCl), they undergo a redox reaction. The sodium is oxidized and "loses" an electron, so that it has a positive charge. Chlorine is reduced and "gains" an electron, so it has a negative charge. The two go hand-in-hand. If one element is reduced, another must be oxidized.

Some atoms, like chlorine (Cl) and oxygen (O), really "want" to "gain" electrons. These atoms are called oxidizers. Some atoms, like sodium (Na) and Hydrogen (H), really "want" to "lose" electrons, and are called reducers. Water is an amazing molecule. It too, is formed by a redox reaction, which forms a bi-polar charged molecule, having a positive charge on the hydrogen end and a negative charge on the oxygen end, making it both an oxidizer and a reducer at the same time.

"Potential" refers to the charge of an ion created a redox reaction and dissolved in water. When table salt (NaCl) is dissolved in water, it forms two ions. One is an oxidized positively-charged sodium ion, (Na+), called a cation (+). The other is a reduced, negatively-charged ion, (Cl-), called an anion (-). The oxidation reduction potential of saltwater is the measurement of the total cations and anions in solution that are available to either oxidize or reduce other molecules. Redox potential is measured in millivolts (mV). If there were an equal amount of cations and anions dissolved in a given volume of seawater, the water would have a redox potential of 0.0 mV. Water in an aquarium has plenty of free oxygen in it (we hope!). Oxygen is a great oxidizer, and is busy "stealing" electrons, so there are always more positively-charged (oxidized) cations present in clean seawater. Therefore, saltwater in an aquarium will have a positive redox potential. The ideal redox potential in a marine aquarium is between 350.0mv and 400.0mv.

If the oxygen levels drop in an aquarium, more anions appear on the scene, and the redox potential will fall. This happens as organics accumulate in the water, reducing oxygen. If a strong oxidizer, such as ozone (O3), is introduced, the concentration of cations increase, and the redox potential will rise.

By measuring the redox potential of the water in a marine aquarium, we can tell how clean the water is. A redox potential meter only measures redox potential. A redox meter/controller not only does this, it also can be set to maintain a desired redox potential by controlling an ozonizer which doses ozone into the water, usually inside a protein skimmer or an ozone reactor. Ozone is such a powerful oxidizer, that caution should be exercised when using it. It is also used in aquariums to control un-wanted pathogenic microorganisms and parasites#

[roidan]

i seem to have this thing on my glass...just 1 or 2...usually in the mornings....when my actinic comes on

i took away about 3 small ones over the past weeks.....din know what they were until this issue of reefkeeping...

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/...ature/index.htm

picture from the article above

[roidan]

one of them on my tank glass this very morning...

somehow couldn't get a good focus lock on them....

[roidan]

another pic..

somehow there must be some aiptasia to support this small population...

but i only saw one aiptasia that i got rid off using kalkwasser paste and no other aiptasia returned on that site...wonder where the rest of the aiptasia are that these slugs are feeding on....

maybe behind the rockwork...but never mind lah..as long as the aiptasia dun come out to the front...i wun need to use kalkwasser paste on them again..hehe

[roidan]

haven't go visiting yet, bored, take some pics again...lol...

removed all the tongs and fish nets from the top of the tank hood...hehee

[roidan]

[roidan]

last night reunion dinner...extended family came to have dinner....

came upon the topic of what happens if power failure..thousands of dollars gone...then i say i got the UPS backup can last the tunzes for about 2 to 3 hours...

but then an uncle suggested DIESEL generators!!!! hahaha

he is going to source for a small one...after all...the return pumps are just 2 eheims 1262s....should be able to find a small one to provide enough current for them...LOL

but can u believe it? diesel generators?? i dun think singapore will ever have longer than 2 - 3 hours power outage....if really so long, then i think its probably war already..and the fish tank will be the last thing on our minds anyway..haha

[roidan]

for bro alfaromeo:

this is the one i am using....

[roidan]

ORP currently

[Terryz_]

So good have these slugs... Like very helpful in clearing glass anenomes...

[sjsheng]

Bro roiden really envy your tank ... wonder how you keep your coral so nice and your fish so healthy..

cause my coral are not doing well in my tank

dying slowly ... haiz... and not opening really well...

[weileong]

ORP currently

bro, how much did that burn your pocket? Cos I also want to buy heheh

[CalciumReef]

a pin point monitor already near 300...i guess this one also not much differential...hehe

[weileong]

I go back my company next week and check how much they selling but then it won't be cheap Good thing is when spoilt I repair myself.