comy's newbie tank

[mr_xxx]

for me, feeding my 3 rhyzos with small piece of market prawn is already good.... they happy & health......

just my 2 cents..........

[comycus]

Maybe just to clarify... My corals won't be eating most of the crab meat la... I bought it more for making breakfast (either salad or sandwich) than the tank. lol I don't use market prawn coz I don't go to mkt, and the only prawns I can get are the frozen ones that will prob cost as much, and I don't fancy prawn salad for breakfast. Here's a shot of yummy crab claw meat as promised. Looks cooked eh?

Jacky, the splendid wrasse is reef safe and v. beautiful la... I just dunno why mine decided to be a brain/clam killer. I think your tank should be safe if you do decide to get it. I suggest getting a feeding one though as these wrasses are one of the difficult to feed kind. Another shot of the LEDs after taking out the protective layer on the acrylic support.

[jackywongto]

Maybe just to clarify... My corals won't be eating most of the crab meat la... I bought it more for making breakfast (either salad or sandwich) than the tank. lol I don't use market prawn coz I don't go to mkt, and the only prawns I can get are the frozen ones that will prob cost as much, and I don't fancy prawn salad for breakfast. Here's a shot of yummy crab claw meat as promised. Looks cooked eh?

Jacky, the splendid wrasse is reef safe and v. beautiful la... I just dunno why mine decided to be a brain/clam killer. I think your tank should be safe if you do decide to get it. I suggest getting a feeding one though as these wrasses are one of the difficult to feed kind. Another shot of the LEDs after taking out the protective layer on the acrylic support.

- should cook it only tml when I am there

- arh you supplementary blue LED.

[zorden]

Maybe just to clarify... My corals won't be eating most of the crab meat la... I bought it more for making breakfast (either salad or sandwich) than the tank. lol I don't use market prawn coz I don't go to mkt, and the only prawns I can get are the frozen ones that will prob cost as much, and I don't fancy prawn salad for breakfast. Here's a shot of yummy crab claw meat as promised. Looks cooked eh?

Jacky, the splendid wrasse is reef safe and v. beautiful la... I just dunno why mine decided to be a brain/clam killer. I think your tank should be safe if you do decide to get it. I suggest getting a feeding one though as these wrasses are one of the difficult to feed kind. Another shot of the LEDs after taking out the protective layer on the acrylic support.

do u get the shimmering effect from the LED?

[comycus]

The LEDs do provide shimmering effect, but it's very little as I still have my T5 lights on. When the T5s are switched off, the shimmer gets more pronounced. Hope I can save more $ and migrate to a full LED system!

[yikai]

but I couldn't take tt one coz SOMEONE kiasu reserved it the moment it came in...

haha since he's not ard, take the chance to suan him la...

i might not be around but i'm not oblivious to what goes around here reserved it many daaaaaaaaaaays after his shipment came btw

glad SOMEONE got his copperband after so long.

[comycus]

i might not be around but i'm not oblivious to what goes around here reserved it many daaaaaaaaaaays after his shipment came btw

glad SOMEONE got his copperband after so long.

haha your copperband looks great la. Go collect soon!

[stewpid]

Ahh...so bro lemon was the one who reserved the copperband!haha!next time must psycho 'auntie' don't reserve for him!

[comycus]

My latest 'project'!

hmmm.... nope it's not a qt tank... another clue maybe?

[LaW]

My latest 'project'!

hmmm.... nope it's not a qt tank... another clue maybe?

i saw tiny tiny red dots

hope you didnt dump mine inside as well

will see you soon.

[onizukaa]

breeding box ? (not tank haha)

[Sea_Urchin]

breeding brine shrimp?

[LaW]

breeding brine shrimp?

think its pods. tigger pods.

[yikai]

are you breeding pods in that set up? if you are, don't think its going to work. but then again my idea of pods are those small white conventional kind. so what's your grand plan? please unveil it haha

[jackywongto]

are you breeding pods in that set up? if you are, don;'t think its going to work.

What else does he need. bunch of Chaeto/ live rocks, light, feed phytoplankton ??

[yikai]

What else does he need. bunch of Chaeto/ live rocks, light, feed phytoplankton ??

well if its the standard aquarium pods, a box with bubbles wont do it. from what i know, they need a food source, somewhere quiet and dark to reproduce and of course a nice and cosy setting. some liverocks and chaeto will work great. some sand might help too. if rocks and chaeto etc are added, they won't need food source. they will find their own way. not sure what they eat though. probably let some diatom films develop on the container sides.

conventional pod cultivation units are those much similar to a refugium. and the pods will find their way to the maintank by way of the return pump connecting the unit to the main display. this will provide a constant steady stream of pods whilst those in the unit are reproducing. i don't see a way for the mods to go into the display tank in his set up unless he manually scoops them up? quite impossible?

but i don't know what he is growing so i cant say much too. so my comments are based on assumption that they are normal aquarium pods.

[yikai]

but whatever it is, a dark and quiet place is a definite yes for them to breed in. rock rubble, chaeto etc is great.

[yikai]

btw the crabmeat looks delicious. LPS cannot taste and they don't appreciate food. mysis will be gourmet food for them. a crab will be no more nutricious to them as a mysis will be. don't waste the crab on your lps. in fact, dont even use it for your LPS. will be a total waste. corals deserved to be well taken care. but not to this extent.

[ReDDeviLs]

actually,there is artipods which is good enough.

previously a reefer winger24 selling frozen artipods v cheap and worth buying,most fishes responds to it almost instantly.

whats the reason for going thru so much to cul. pods for ur tank?

liverock shld have them,else.. why liverock?

if ur tank has insufficient pods for ur tank dwellers. it also mean ur tank is not ready.

a tank that is 3wks old have tons of pods all on the glass.

lemon and law knows it too yea

[jackywongto]

actually,there is artipods which is good enough.

previously a reefer winger24 selling frozen artipods v cheap and worth buying,most fishes responds to it almost instantly.

whats the reason for going thru so much to cul. pods for ur tank?

liverock shld have them,else.. why liverock?

if ur tank has insufficient pods for ur tank dwellers. it also mean ur tank is not ready.

?? No matter how much pods you have in your live rock currently (even in a ready tank), ultimately they will all be decimated by the Mandarin.

One of the reason why ppl keeps refugium is to allow these pods to have a "quiet" environment to populate.

[yikai]

actually,there is artipods which is good enough.

previously a reefer winger24 selling frozen artipods v cheap and worth buying,most fishes responds to it almost instantly.

whats the reason for going thru so much to cul. pods for ur tank?

liverock shld have them,else.. why liverock?

if ur tank has insufficient pods for ur tank dwellers. it also mean ur tank is not ready.

a tank that is 3wks old have tons of pods all on the glass.

lemon and law knows it too yea

yeah ur right. in a matured reef, pods should be abundant and turnover rate should support your inhabitants. your tank only has 2 major pod consumers to my knowledge. your mandarin, which has a 100% pod based diet. and your leopard wrasse, which occasionally picks around for pods. if by now your tank cannot even support these 2 fishes, then something is wrong. i suspect you have enough pods, you just dont know it. just coz u dont see them doesnt mean they arent there. besides, both your fishes eat prepared food. so why worry about pods? at this point they don't benefit you.

so i suggest not to waste time and effort growing your pods. firstly its not practical, and worst of all its not possible in that set up. a clump of chaeto in your main tank is more than enough. pods will grow there.

sometimes in this hobby, simplicity is the way to go.

[comycus]

okie, after xmas partying, time to update... Got my hands on this, and decided to just give it a try. Actually my tank inhabitants are all feeding on frozen already, just wanted to provide another source of food for them sinceI have 3 fishes who eat pods: mandarin, splendid and copperband. I have no refugium as well, so have been looking for ways to cultivate some sort of pods...

Tiggerpods! Don't worry Lawrence, yours still in my fridge... Better collect soon!

[comycus]

I'm really just trying out this method as instructed. Was thinking of putting some LR/cheato in it as well, but will monitor for the next month to see if this work. I'm feeding them with phytomax from Kent Marine. Like Lemon, I have my doubts as well, but just trying out to see if it works. Not much of a hassle, and I don't expect it to really work, but if it does it will be a bonus Instructions I found online on how to cultivate them:

What you will need for Culturing in a Stand Alone Container

Culture vessel. This can be anything such as a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium, Tupperware container, etc. that holds water. Deep containers or carboys are not suggested.

Culture water. You will need some freshly mixed clean seawater, or you can use a natural seawater product such as Catalina water. Do not use water from an existing aquarium or culture as this will contaminate your attempt to start a new culture of copepods. A specific gravity of 1.020 to 1.025 for this strain of copepod is suggested.

Small air pump, air stone, and airline tubing.

Cover to keep dust and contaminants out and evaporation down.

A food source, such as Phyto-Feast phytoplankton.

Directions for Culturing in a Stand Alone Container

Fill your container half to two-thirds full with the clean seawater. Attach the airline and air stone to the air pump. Put the air stone in the culture vessel, and plug in the air pump. Make sure you use a drip loop and check valve to keep water from getting into your pump and electrical outlet. Add a small amount of Phyto-Feast to lightly color the culture water. Do not add too much, or the water will foul. Add your new copepod culture, put the lid on, and you are done!

Over the next few weeks, your copepods will reproduce. It may seem at first that they aren't reproducing as fast as you would like, but once they get to a certain population level you will see an "explosion" of copepods in your culture vessel. Feed with Phyto-Feast as necessary to keep the water lightly tinted, and monitor water quality. Crashes from overfeeding that leads to high ammonia and nitrite are possible, water changes can help if the water quality declines too much.

To harvest your copepods, a plankton collector/strainer of some sort is very helpful. You can siphon your copepods through the collector, insuring that when you feed them to your aquarium you are only adding copepods, not culture water. Make sure you do not dip your strainer in the copepod culture, and then in your aquarium, and then back in your culture vessel without cleaning it first. Likewise, keep siphon tubing and other equipment you use on your culture separate from equipment you use in your aquariums or larval tanks to avoid contamination. While you can always buy another batch of Tigger-Pods should your culture crash, you can avoid that frustration by not sharing equipment between different systems!

[yikai]

copperband feeds on pods? not to my understanding they don't. not intentionally anyways. wah bro expensive lei. phytomax + tigger pods add up already almost $60. summore pods also u dun need. fish like coral 1 lah dun appreciate so good food. pellets and frozen enough nutrition for them liao. can see you're a very dedicated reefer spend so much money on different different foods. truth is it is not really needed. in fact, even if u only use NLS and mysis, your fishes will still be in the pink of health

you can spoil your fishes if you feed them too many good stuff. if one day they stop eating pellets and frozen and go after one of your gourmet foods then its going to be expensive i kana before..

[comycus]

copperband feeds on pods? not to my understanding they don't. not intentionally anyways. wah bro expensive lei. phytomax + tigger pods add up already almost $60. summore pods also u dun need. fish like coral 1 lah dun appreciate so good food. pellets and frozen enough nutrition for them liao. can see you're a very dedicated reefer spend so much money on different different foods. truth is it is not really needed. in fact, even if u only use NLS and mysis, your fishes will still be in the pink of health

hahaa yeah... I also say expensive... I have no doubt tt they will do v. well just on NLS and mysis, what can I say? Itchy hand, and as a pet lover, just don't feel good feeding them 2 kinds of food. I think tt's part of human nature. We tend to think in terms of how we would feel if we can only eat 2 kinds of food everyday. Ba chor mee and chicken rice everyday doesn't sound appetizing at all! hahaaa

I'm thinking of getting the pellets from RD one of these days... Saw my male lyretail trying afew pellets the other day but still spit it out. It will be really good if I get him, the mandarin and copperband to feed on pellets. Then I can safely go for my reservist next year... They are all feeding on cyclopeeze already, maybe they will take to the new pellets too!