A New Community...

[Nitro]

Nitro, keeping maroon clown and true percs isn't such a good idea, they will in time become very territorial to other clown fishes. Experinced it before and had to remove both maroons!

Oh this 2 pairs are with me for a long time so I've not decided to remove them since they're not giving much prob

[Nitro]

This is my refugium where the biological system is establishing and where new corals/fishes are acclimatized, injured corals/fishes can take shelter, corals are frag and hopefully can allow some shrimps to breed.

[Ketchup]

wah, nitro, i think u have the nicest refrigum! so many nice supersunnies.. Let me know if u letting those go

[craftsman]

This is my refugium where the biological system is establishing and where new corals/fishes are acclimatized, injured corals/fishes can take shelter, corals are frag and hopefully can allow some shrimps to breed.

Bro Nitro, your sump ###### fuge is really very nice! Wow! Giving me some ideas!

[peacemaker]

Very colorful fuge! Nice...

[Nitro]

Been a long time since I last updated here. Lessons learnt in this upgrading so far...

1) Cycling of tank is def a must do regardless if one is using old live-rocks/sand with added new rocks/sand or dosing of beneficial bacteria.

2) Cycling duration must be at least 3-6 months if one wants a successful setup on the first time, every time basis. Usually days or weeks of a quick set-up can still be done but success rate of all the fishes surviving will be slim or zero!

3) Adding of new LS to the existing LS must be done slowly or best if left till the 3-6 months cycling is over.

The above 3 points are based on the re-using of old LR/sand adding with new LR/sand ("Live" sand or any marine sand) and even if "aged" water is used. Of cse with the used of "Live" sand, it does hasten the establishing of the eco system.

Water conditions...

1) If salinity is too high, usually this will caused sudden death of fishes (swimming/eating well one day and dead the very next day). The symptoms (of the dead fish) can be harden/stiffness of the fish, bloated stomach, faded white patches on body etc. High Salinity can also encourage high growth of itch attacks on fishes. Fresh water dips are known to get rid of these itches but care has to be taken cuz fresh water dipping can caused shock to fishes if not done correctly. There other ways of getting rid of itch is to douse anti-itch. Do not over dose if keeping a mixed reef.

Feedings...

1) Watch ur feedings or reduce feeding during the initial set-up. Give the system some time to build up it eco system. Do give garlic dose during feeding time to strengthen the fishes immune system.

Tell tail signs of a stabilizing tank...

1) The appearing of new feather worms, pods etc, in the sump tank or main tank is an indications that water conditions are establishing well or good. The other tell tail sign is the breeding of shrimps such as cleaner shrimps, anemone crabs etc.

[MarcoVan]

Been a long time since I last updated here. Lessons learnt in this upgrading so far...

1) Cycling of tank is def a must do regardless if one is using old live-rocks/sand with added new rocks/sand or dosing of beneficial bacteria.

2) Cycling duration must be at least 3-6 months if one wants a successful setup on the first time, every time basis. Usually days or weeks of a quick set-up can still be done but success rate of all the fishes surviving will be slim or zero!

3) Adding of new LS to the existing LS must be done slowly or best if left till the 3-6 months cycling is over.

The above 3 points are based on the re-using of old LR/sand adding with new LR/sand ("Live" sand or any marine sand) and even if "aged" water is used. Of cse with the used of "Live" sand, it does hasten the establishing of the eco system.

Water conditions...

1) If salinity is too high, usually this will caused sudden death of fishes (swimming/eating well one day and dead the very next day). The symptoms (of the dead fish) can be harden/stiffness of the fish, bloated stomach, faded white patches on body etc. High Salinity can also encourage high growth of itch attacks on fishes. Fresh water dips are known to get rid of these itches but care has to be taken cuz fresh water dipping can caused shock to fishes if not done correctly. There other ways of getting rid of itch is to douse anti-itch. Do not over dose if keeping a mixed reef.

Feedings...

1) Watch ur feedings or reduce feeding during the initial set-up. Give the system some time to build up it eco system. Do give garlic dose during feeding time to strengthen the fishes immune system.

Tell tail signs of a stabilizing tank...

1) The appearing of new feather worms, pods etc, in the sump tank or main tank is an indications that water conditions are establishing well or good. The other tell tail sign is the breeding of shrimps such as cleaner shrimps, anemone crabs etc.

YIKES! Those are quite some painful lessons bro!

Sorry for your loss!

[yikai]

good experience. i love the cycling 3-6 months part. ideally if we all could wait that long it would be perfect. imagine cycling your tank for 1 year. imagine how matured your rocks will be!! plenty of growth which will feed your fishes for months.

[pokmingsheng]

Been a long time since I last updated here. Lessons learnt in this upgrading so far...

1) Cycling of tank is def a must do regardless if one is using old live-rocks/sand with added new rocks/sand or dosing of beneficial bacteria.

2) Cycling duration must be at least 3-6 months if one wants a successful setup on the first time, every time basis. Usually days or weeks of a quick set-up can still be done but success rate of all the fishes surviving will be slim or zero!

3) Adding of new LS to the existing LS must be done slowly or best if left till the 3-6 months cycling is over.

The above 3 points are based on the re-using of old LR/sand adding with new LR/sand ("Live" sand or any marine sand) and even if "aged" water is used. Of cse with the used of "Live" sand, it does hasten the establishing of the eco system.

Water conditions...

1) If salinity is too high, usually this will caused sudden death of fishes (swimming/eating well one day and dead the very next day). The symptoms (of the dead fish) can be harden/stiffness of the fish, bloated stomach, faded white patches on body etc. High Salinity can also encourage high growth of itch attacks on fishes. Fresh water dips are known to get rid of these itches but care has to be taken cuz fresh water dipping can caused shock to fishes if not done correctly. There other ways of getting rid of itch is to douse anti-itch. Do not over dose if keeping a mixed reef.

Feedings...

1) Watch ur feedings or reduce feeding during the initial set-up. Give the system some time to build up it eco system. Do give garlic dose during feeding time to strengthen the fishes immune system.

Tell tail signs of a stabilizing tank...

1) The appearing of new feather worms, pods etc, in the sump tank or main tank is an indications that water conditions are establishing well or good. The other tell tail sign is the breeding of shrimps such as cleaner shrimps, anemone crabs etc.

great advice!!!

and thanks for your help in the choice of my pair of clownfishes at RB..

they're happily in my tank now

[Nitro]

great advice!!!

and thanks for your help in the choice of my pair of clownfishes at RB..

they're happily in my tank now

Great to know that the 2 clowns are doing great in your tank. I realized this black clowns are one of the least aggressive, even True Perc are more aggressive then them.

[MarcoVan]

Been a long time since I last updated here. Lessons learnt in this upgrading so far...

1) Cycling of tank is def a must do regardless if one is using old live-rocks/sand with added new rocks/sand or dosing of beneficial bacteria.

2) Cycling duration must be at least 3-6 months if one wants a successful setup on the first time, every time basis. Usually days or weeks of a quick set-up can still be done but success rate of all the fishes surviving will be slim or zero!

3) Adding of new LS to the existing LS must be done slowly or best if left till the 3-6 months cycling is over.

The above 3 points are based on the re-using of old LR/sand adding with new LR/sand ("Live" sand or any marine sand) and even if "aged" water is used. Of cse with the used of "Live" sand, it does hasten the establishing of the eco system.

Water conditions...

1) If salinity is too high, usually this will caused sudden death of fishes (swimming/eating well one day and dead the very next day). The symptoms (of the dead fish) can be harden/stiffness of the fish, bloated stomach, faded white patches on body etc. High Salinity can also encourage high growth of itch attacks on fishes. Fresh water dips are known to get rid of these itches but care has to be taken cuz fresh water dipping can caused shock to fishes if not done correctly. There other ways of getting rid of itch is to douse anti-itch. Do not over dose if keeping a mixed reef.

Feedings...

1) Watch ur feedings or reduce feeding during the initial set-up. Give the system some time to build up it eco system. Do give garlic dose during feeding time to strengthen the fishes immune system.

Tell tail signs of a stabilizing tank...

1) The appearing of new feather worms, pods etc, in the sump tank or main tank is an indications that water conditions are establishing well or good. The other tell tail sign is the breeding of shrimps such as cleaner shrimps, anemone crabs etc.

Bro, do you mind if I add additional points to your above advice? (:

[Nitro]

Bro, do you mind if I add additional points to your above advice? (:

sure, go ahead

[Nitro]

Jus did a normal partial water chg and the nest day water started to turn cloudy. Salinity and water temp all are normal. Only thing diff is I replaced my Rowa in the FR to Bio-pellets. Had read in the forum that some of the reefers experienced cloudy water and no skimming after using BP. Not sure if my case is due to this. I've experienced sudden cloudy water before in my old tank before the upgrade. That was due to all the worms in the tank mating at the same time, releasing sperms and eggs all at one go for a long long time. Tank took abt 3-4 days to clear. That was after a water change too.

Anyone with the same experience care to shed some lights on this???

[Guest]

It is normal for tank to turn cloudly for first few day after using NP pallets which happen to me. My skimmer stop skimming for 7 day before it started to skim again. Almost gave me a heart attack..

[Gouldian]

Jus did a normal partial water chg and the nest day water started to turn cloudy. Salinity and water temp all are normal. Only thing diff is I replaced my Rowa in the FR to Bio-pellets. Had read in the forum that some of the reefers experienced cloudy water and no skimming after using BP. Not sure if my case is due to this. I've experienced sudden cloudy water before in my old tank before the upgrade. That was due to all the worms in the tank mating at the same time, releasing sperms and eggs all at one go for a long long time. Tank took abt 3-4 days to clear. That was after a water change too.

Anyone with the same experience care to shed some lights on this???

Bro,

Hope all is well for your tank.

Thanks for the pseudocarynactis, it is doing well in my tank.

Cheers,

[Nitro]

It is normal for tank to turn cloudly for first few day after using NP pallets which happen to me. My skimmer stop skimming for 7 day before it started to skim again. Almost gave me a heart attack..

Thanks for your reply. Today the skimmer had started skimming but it's very clear foam, not the dirty green or brown kind. Water is still cloudy. One clam died and all new neon gobies died too. Will continue to monitor condition and update here for lesson learnt.

In the meantime, do continue to share your experience if anyone had the same.

[jackywongto]

Thanks for your reply. Today the skimmer had started skimming but it's very clear foam, not the dirty green or brown kind. Water is still cloudy. One clam died and all new neon gobies died too. Will continue to monitor condition and update here for lesson learnt.

In the meantime, do continue to share your experience if anyone had the same.

bro,

recently, there were np pellets that had been wrongly packaged by the manufacturer.

these wrongly packed pellets had 2 different shapes.

yours are not of that batch right?

also for NP pellets usage, it is recommended that the output of your FR be placed near the input of the skimmer.

is this the case for your setup?

rgds

Jacky

[Nitro]

bro,

recently, there were np pellets that had been wrongly packaged by the manufacturer.

these wrongly packed pellets had 2 different shapes.

yours are not of that batch right?

also for NP pellets usage, it is recommended that the output of your FR be placed near the input of the skimmer.

is this the case for your setup?

rgds

Jacky

Yaaah... mine is the defective package. According to some reefers and LFS, it can still be use, so I try it but guess I'm a dumb dumb if all these cloudiness is caused by this!

Yes I've put the outlet of the FR at the intake of the skimmer's pump. I've even placed a filter sock before that. Observation is that the sock clogged up just in 2 days time. Goes to show how much fine particles caused by the NP pellets.

[Nitro]

Updates... water in tank is still cloudy as of this morning (11/06/10), 0900hrs and also detected a foul smell from the air holes of the skimmer cup. Checked the FR with the NP pellets and noticed the water is cloudy inside and also what appears to look like film of slime.

11/06/10, 0930hrs...

Confirmed those NP pellets that are mixed with the defective pellets are causing the cloudiness in the tank and also a foul smell. This morning, I've to painstakingly removed those defective pellets from the whole batch. After I removed and place the correct ones back into the FR, the water in the tank started clearing up. Now in the evening, the tank looks clearer and all LS seems to be doing fine. In this incident, I've lost 2 clams and some fishes. Some of the survivals also got white spots.

The "one" who distributed this batches of NP pellets in SG is really irresponsible caused till date I heard there is no action taken from this party! Really sabo the NP pellet brand and those poor LFS who trusted this party. Imagined my tank almost got NUKE by this case, tank almost crash!

For those reefers who has the defective NP packages, PLS do not use them. Get them replaced and if not, sort out the odd pellets before using. TRUST me.

[Nitro]

Updates...

Totally replaced all the NP pellets. Water clarity returned to clear after one nite, after switching back to ROWA. Dun know if it's just me or the NP pellets got problem! When I was removing the rest of the pellets from the FR, the water inside was smelly and chalky with abit of foams. I'll be def giving this NP pellets amiss in the future.

Just returned from my overseas trip and there was no casualty. Guess a big tank is indeed very forgiving. Was away for 4 days. Will post some pics soon.

[yikai]

Updates...

Totally replaced all the NP pellets. Water clarity returned to clear after one nite, after switching back to ROWA. Dun know if it's just me or the NP pellets got problem! When I was removing the rest of the pellets from the FR, the water inside was smelly and chalky with abit of foams. I'll be def giving this NP pellets amiss in the future.

Just returned from my overseas trip and there was no casualty. Guess a big tank is indeed very forgiving. Was away for 4 days. Will post some pics soon.

the NP pellets are supposed to be like this. not suppose to remove it. it will slowly melt and become like chalky and sludge like if i'm not wrong.

[Nitro]

the NP pellets are supposed to be like this. not suppose to remove it. it will slowly melt and become like chalky and sludge like if i'm not wrong.

Well chalky and sludge-like... Ok that I can accept but foul smell of the water and LS starting to die... this I dun think is normal.

During that few days of switching to NP, I've reduce feeding to almost zero as I thot it might be a good idea for the system to take a break from all the nitrate and such. Well anyway this is my experience and I'm not saying that all reefer should switch out of NP ;-) Juz that those who face the same symptoms as what I've shared, can take a cue from here. Also spoken to one LFS and they too experienced one of their tank's water being fouled after using NP. But this was only observed in one of the 2 tank switching to NP.

[Nitro]

As promised... here are some photo updates of tank.

A FTS without flash, taken with a cam hp.

A FTS with flash.

LSS... (left side shoot)

RSS...

[Nitro]

The "Drop-off"...

The "Island"...

The Island is where I'm trying to populate with mushrooms and anemones. This is also where I place fresh seaweeds (red grapes etc) from time to time for treats to the fishes. Now I'm cultivating my very own red grapes in the refugium.

[Nitro]

Here are my new pairs of TP. Just got them last week from CF. Paired them myself successfully once again.

This pair seems like their black patch will be full coverage!

While this pair is great cuz the bigger one is RED instead of orange!