Kikobananas Marine Tank

[pokmingsheng]

got Iwarna to do my pippings today...

whole cabinet was in a mess before that...

now everything's all neat and tidy..

more pleasing to the eye..

the PRC guy did a great job!

really nice guy to chat with...

now i do not need the Eheim 1262 pump i bought just few days ago..

he manage to make use of my old pump, with the addition of another small pump he brought along..

at least now i can sleep in peace,

without having to worry that the soft hose connecting my pump would burst in the middle of the night..

i believe 3/4 of you reading this wont understand what i'm saying here. haha..

in summary: GREAT SERVICE, GREAT JOB, MORE THAN WHAT I EXPECTED

[tian1974]

got Iwarna to do my pippings today...

whole cabinet was in a mess before that...

now everything's all neat and tidy..

more pleasing to the eye..

the PRC guy did a great job!

really nice guy to chat with...

now i do not need the Eheim 1262 pump i bought just few days ago..

he manage to make use of my old pump, with the addition of another small pump he brought along..

at least now i can sleep in peace,

without having to worry that the soft hose connecting my pump would burst in the middle of the night..

i believe 3/4 of you reading this wont understand what i'm saying here. haha..

in summary: GREAT SERVICE, GREAT JOB, MORE THAN WHAT I EXPECTED

show pictures pls

the yan-tao prc guy is called xiao wang.

[raydiative]

New Addition to my tank...

the long awaited Neon Goby!

Thanks to FuEl for the healthy specimen,

and raydiative's own neon goby for influencing me

picture taken very blur..

just dosed AZNO3....

but this is the best shot for now..

Nice fellow.. looks very pui pui..

you sure got it from the best source.. Fuel's fishes surely very well taken care of one...

try the NEON cleaning services yet? lol

[kueytoc]

U forgot to add the WRASSEYS mate.

i think i've exceeded the maximum capacity for fishes that a 2ft cube can hold..

let me list them down...

02 x True Percula Clownfish

02 x Black Ocellaris Clownfish

01 x Blue Hippo Tang

01 x Yellow Tang

01 x Mandarinfish

01 x Flame Angel

01 x Purple Firefish

01 x Royal Gramma

01 x Orange Stripe Shrimp Goby

01 x Clown Goby

01 x Copperband Butterflyfish

01 x Cleaner Shrimp

04 x Nassarius snails

Total Fishcount: 13

WOW

anyway, i'm monitoring my NO3 very closely now..

currently standing at 30ppm...

hopefully with the help of WC and AZ NO3,

it'll be brought down further..

I got the copperband from Ah Beng for 3 gold coins,

just wanna try to induce it to feed on frozen...

so far no success...

if a feeding one comes along,

i'll either give this current one to the LFS which i will buy from,

or other reefers here in SRC..

actually,

one last LS that i would like to add...

NEON GOBY...

but not so soon...

let my newcomers settle down first..

[qiang]

Eh kiko can pm how much did the piping cost u ?

Cheers

[pokmingsheng]

show pictures pls

the yan-tao prc guy is called xiao wang.

ok maybe tonight..

nothing much actually.. haha..

[pokmingsheng]

Nice fellow.. looks very pui pui..

you sure got it from the best source.. Fuel's fishes surely very well taken care of one...

try the NEON cleaning services yet? lol

not yet..

just came out to swim in the open yesterday only...

will try it in a few days.. haha..

[pokmingsheng]

U forgot to add the WRASSEYS mate.

i'm not into wrasseys

the only one i kept before was the common yellow wrasse.. haha...

[pokmingsheng]

Eh kiko can pm how much did the piping cost u ?

Cheers

PMed

[pokmingsheng]

i seem to be facing quite a big problem..

all was well in the afternoon..

but when i just came back home just now,

i realise that my tank is full with micro bubbles..

flow seem to be quite strong for my tank...

mushroom didnt open,

anemone shrunk, but still remained at its position..

gonna have to get a PVC elbow first thing tomorrow to deflect the waterflow downwards..

oh man..

it was all well this afternoon...

[TayHongSiang]

i seem to be facing quite a big problem..

all was well in the afternoon..

but when i just came back home just now,

i realise that my tank is full with micro bubbles..

flow seem to be quite strong for my tank...

mushroom didnt open,

anemone shrunk, but still remained at its position..

gonna have to get a PVC elbow first thing tomorrow to deflect the waterflow downwards..

oh man..

it was all well this afternoon...

strange...how come yr return so high up?

[jackywongto]

yah... bubbles could be from water splashing down.

that also create a stronger current.

[ambystoma82]

can post pics for the G1 110W ?

[jackywongto]

can post pics for the G1 110W ?

check out page 9

[poomoon]

strange...how come yr return so high up?

yeah, became like an HOB flow ...

[raydiative]

i seem to be facing quite a big problem..

all was well in the afternoon..

but when i just came back home just now,

i realise that my tank is full with micro bubbles..

flow seem to be quite strong for my tank...

mushroom didnt open,

anemone shrunk, but still remained at its position..

gonna have to get a PVC elbow first thing tomorrow to deflect the waterflow downwards..

oh man..

it was all well this afternoon...

why dun u pluck in a hydor flo there? seems like a good spot.. will reduce your flow and create random flow too!

[pokmingsheng]

why dun u pluck in a hydor flo there? seems like a good spot.. will reduce your flow and create random flow too!

was told by ah heng at AM that hydor flo can only handle up to 1500l/hr..

i think the bubbles are coming from the sump..

shall check it out tomorrow..

long day today...

[pokmingsheng]

have been feeling rather down these days..

i thought the change in "pipings" would make my tank better,

but things are starting to fall apart..

1) microbubbles started to fill my whole tank (problem solved)

2) main return pump too strong, initial plan was to connect the pump to the chiller, pass UV and back to the main tank. Iwarna came, gave me an idea to run the main pump straight back into the main tank, and provided me another weaker pump for my chiller and UV.. so this particular main pump that i've been using all these while, suddenly became abit too strong for my tank...

3) due to many projects and assignments commitments, didnt do WC for about a month.. (finally did it on sunday).. brown diatoms starts to appear on some part of my sand.. NO3 at 50ppm, PO4 just went down to 0 after my addition of rowa last week... neglect neglect neglect...

4) collected some black sand from a reefer.. due to my laziness, dump the whole sand into my tank at night when the lights were out... RESULT: many "large" pieces of stone all over the sand bed.. so many and too many to remove...am still doing it slowly once inawhile... the fine sand settled down, but there were too many "large" pieces around... just thinking about removing all of it made me feel so tired and regretful that i actually just dump everything in that night..

5) want to reduce my bioload badly.. gf loves blue tang and pair of true percs, dad loves yellow tang, i love my black clowns, flame angel and mandrain fish, purple firefish had been with me since Day 1 (sentimental value), very reluctant to sell my royal gramma.. headache headache headache..

6) impatienly waiting for the NP-biopellets to work, but still no sign of improvement..

7) thought of decomming the whole thing, but everyone told me to just stay on after all the time and money that i've spent on this hobby..

8) i seem to be worrying more about my NO3, PO4, fishes, corals, more than enjoying them...

9) due to the recent changes, water parameters have been swinging quite abit.. one of my black clown died this morning extremely upset.. now the other one is all alone..

10) on the bright side, corals seemed to be doing well except for one colony of zoa and one lobo...

sometimes i tell myself, how i wish i can be free from all the maintanance, and just sit in front of my tank for an hour just staring at the fishes and corals, mini-mother nature at home...

[LaW]

give it more time to settle down. dun always edit here and there. eventually it will be good. actually NO3 and PO4 are not that scary, no need to be exact zero though its good to have for most cases. just wait for ur biopellet to kick in more. how long u placed it in?

all the best to you and i know how it feels to be in your shoes.

[bugattilambo]

hmm think the main problem to ur frustrations is from the pump cause I suddenly become very strong causing micro bubbles and stuff?

why not u tee off that part with a valve to control the water flow coming out from the tee off part.

yep I agree with bro law just give it some time the no3 and po4 will slowly go away.

Me too have experience how it feels in ur shoes.

[comycus]

bro I know how you feel, kinda like you right now... Tank's in neglect, parameters no longer as good etc.

Entertained the idea of decomm for a period of time, but I know will also regret after decomm, so my action plan for now is just to maintain the tank as best as I can, get myself motivated by looking at the beautiful tanks here in src and slowly nurture back the tank.

Hope it helps!

[tian1974]

bio-pellets take a while like 3 to 4 weeks to see some results. If you cant wait that long, dose AZ-NO3. Thats what I did. However, it might reduce iodine so dose iodine once a week or twice a week as supplement. PO4 not a big issue as long as ur corals etc r still expanding. So, cheer up!

[jackywongto]

Hey bud

Sorry, want to encourage you but also feel that you need a kick in the butt.

hope I am not too harsh. Think you are just feeling so fatigue due to recent activities.

When you come out to work next time, you will feel this way ALOT.

That's one of the reason why a lot of people job hop. Tired, switch to a new job, start fresh, feel motivated etc.

But that's not right. A lot of things you will need to rough it out.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint, just pace yourself in whatever you do.

If you feel burnt out (all of us do at some point of time), take a vacation or go recharge yourself doing something you like

Sorry my naggy side is taking over today

1) microbubbles started to fill my whole tank (problem solved)

good thing it was resolved right? take heart!

2) main return pump too strong, initial plan was to connect the pump to the chiller, pass UV and back to the main tank. Iwarna came, gave me an idea to run the main pump straight back into the main tank, and provided me another weaker pump for my chiller and UV.. so this particular main pump that i've been using all these while, suddenly became abit too strong for my tank...

Talk to Victor and see if he can help revert to your plan. There should also be an easy way to reduce the flow. no biggy.

3) due to many projects and assignments commitments, didnt do WC for about a month.. (finally did it on sunday).. brown diatoms starts to appear on some part of my sand.. NO3 at 50ppm, PO4 just went down to 0 after my addition of rowa last week... neglect neglect neglect...

Happens to all of us. you should see my tank sometimes... algae everywhere..... just stir your sand occasionally and clean the tank walls. Takes only 10 mins max.

you will spend more time looking at your tank when it looks clean. and when you spend more time looking, you will spend more time doing minor maintenance. no need a lot of time one... maybe 20 mins every 2 - 3 days. Really other commitments cannot be used as excused. just get a bag of water from either AM, CF, GO, SL, Iwarna - then switch the water.

doesn't take long really. most of the time, it is our procastination and laziness. I am guilty of that too.

4) collected some black sand from a reefer.. due to my laziness, dump the whole sand into my tank at night when the lights were out... RESULT: many "large" pieces of stone all over the sand bed.. so many and too many to remove...am still doing it slowly once inawhile... the fine sand settled down, but there were too many "large" pieces around... just thinking about removing all of it made me feel so tired and regretful that i actually just dump everything in that night..

Use a siphon to move all stones to one corner. then either use a net or a larger hose to siphon out lor. or as you see one, just use a long stick to "kick" it to a corner.

slowly clear it up. Since it does not harm your water, you can either do it over time or clear it all at once when you feel like it.

5) want to reduce my bioload badly.. gf loves blue tang and pair of true percs, dad loves yellow tang, i love my black clowns, flame angel and mandrain fish, purple firefish had been with me since Day 1 (sentimental value), very reluctant to sell my royal gramma.. headache headache headache..

haha ... your greatly overstocked tank. related to point 3. the more livestock you have, the more rigourous your WC must be. Else it will be detrimental to the livestock.

moderate your stocking level. I also wish I can house my fishes in my nano but discipline and common sense is very important.

6) impatienly waiting for the NP-biopellets to work, but still no sign of improvement.

These stuff can assist in reducing over time but they are not miracle workers. The fundamental thing is that you need to create a balanced ecological system in your tank. So it is your stocking level, feeding regime, maintenance routine that are of utmost importance. Not biodigest, not np pellets, not AZ NO3.

BTW, NP pellets also produces a negative strain of bacterias which you do not want in your tank. They advised putting the pellets near a skimmer so that they will be skimmed away.

I have not used mine because of this reason.

7) thought of decomming the whole thing, but everyone told me to just stay on after all the time and money that i've spent on this hobby.

I think you are just tired from your papers, assignments, etc etc. take a break, go enjoy yourself while doing minimum maintenance & additions to your tank.

You will come back refreshed and stronger. No point deccomming because you 3 - 6 months later, you will want to come back to reefing.... hehe.... it is in our blood already.

Not because of the you money spent but prob because it is your passion bro. maybe you wanna ask yourself that question, make a decision and dun look back already.

8) i seem to be worrying more about my NO3, PO4, fishes, corals, more than enjoying them...

No3 is due to your stocking level and PO4 is prob from your fish food and water source. Reduce stocking level (especially the tangs) and they will improve lah.

If not then do weekly WC lor, that should help too. Even if they are high, they dun kill livestock like some of the bros mentioned. Dun worry. Take up the challenge and reduce it.

Peter's tank was running at 80 - 100 NO3 at one time hor.....

9) due to the recent changes, water parameters have been swinging quite abit.. one of my black clown died this morning extremely upset.. now the other one is all alone..

it happens .... now you can pass me the other one... haha.....

A good reminder for you not to neglect your tank again

10) on the bright side, corals seemed to be doing well except for one colony of zoa and one lobo.

yay... at least there are some positives. Corals seemed to like "seasoned waters". maybe they are nutrient rich.

sometimes i tell myself, how i wish i can be free from all the maintanance, and just sit in front of my tank for an hour just staring at the fishes and corals, mini-mother nature at home...

hire me to do your maintenance for you

take more photos are your do your maintenance. People ask me why I always take the photos of the same old corals..... the secret is I do that alot after maintenance cause seeing them open big big and doing well in my tank really gives me motivation to do rigorous husbandry work. Keep the tank simple, Kiko. Simpler tank = lesser maintenance.

[TayHongSiang]

bro I know how you feel, kinda like you right now... Tank's in neglect, parameters no longer as good etc.

Entertained the idea of decomm for a period of time, but I know will also regret after decomm, so my action plan for now is just to maintain the tank as best as I can, get myself motivated by looking at the beautiful tanks here in src and slowly nurture back the tank.

Hope it helps!

check out henry's display tank and u will be revitalised again...

[pokmingsheng]

LaW: Biopellet placed in on the 15th of March... agree with you, maybe i should just stop editing here and there.. let the tank settle down, and take it from there..

bugattilambo: adding a valve would be a great idea! why didnt i think of that...

comycus: agree.. i know i'll definately regret once i decommed... maybe less than a month later, i'll come back to this..

Justin: hopefully around the 15th of April i'll see some results ever since the rise in NO3 and PO4, i've been feeding my fishes to the minimum... all fat enough already, esp my royal gramma, round and fat...

Jacky: come to think of it, yea.. its laziness on my part... if i can mainatain my tank when i just started, why not now? like what comycus said, i'll definately regret once i decom.. thanks for the advice on every point that i made now i've to reduce my feedings, harden my heart and remove some fishes, and get those N-P down...

AhSiang: agreed! always spend like few mins on his display tanks before i even walk in and take a look at his other LS..

**once again, appreciate all the comments that you've given me.. i just need someone else to say it in my face.. haha.. shall slowly come back, and hopefully my tank would be up soon... i've no regrets taking up this hobby, and i dont think i'll ever have any in the future..