tuajia

Hydrometer quite inaccurate in my personal experience Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

The protein skimmer is a different technology from surface skimming, though they are technically removing similar organic waste. Protein skimmers use small bubbles to trap organic waste in water and this bubble turn to foam and is removed from water. This helps to remove waste even before it has a chance to decompose. This method of waste removal only works on marine tanks due to the higher density of saltwater reducing the size of bubbles to be small enough to trap waste. As for freshwater surface skimmers, they skim the protein waste that gathers on the surface and force it through the filter media to be trapped, decomposed and digested by bacteria. So technically they are not removed but are broken down instead. I do know some people who do this for marine tanks as well the usual protein skimmer, just to keep the surface clean. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

As for saltwater, I just use my own water as you won't know if the saltwater from the lfs is polluted or not, since they usually just grab it from the sea nearby. Don't forget that Singapore is a port, so our waters are not that clean. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

I don't think there's an exact way to make the cycle faster or slower, although in my own experience, just cycling with live rock is faster as there's already bacteria there. If you soak your live rock in freshwater, the beneficial bacteria will confirm die, which defeats the purpose of buying live rock in the first place. If you're worried about pests, you should just get dead rock and cycle it yourself. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Or else just leave your tank without fish for a few months and the ich will die off eventually Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Everything will die. But no choice if you want to make sure no more ich left Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Pm'd you bro Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Thanks bro, will try it out and post updates! Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the info bro. I'm not sure if it's bryopsis, I just assumed it's hair algae with very stiff stems with tree branch patterns. I usually manually pull it off but it's difficult as it's quite stiff. Snails seem to like it though but not enough to clear it off Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Quick update. The macroalgae is now really huge. At the same time, this caulerpa also started sprouting from nowhere, along with a huge hair algae bloom. It looks really untidy now, any experts have advice on how to trim it down to look nicer? Thanks Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Hi all, please forgive me if this is the wrong place to post. Anyway, due to space constraints and family commitments, i sadly need to give up my some of my livestock to free up space. I am starting with my freshwater livestock, will move on to marine later. 3.5" Congo Puffer - Very aggressive, will try kill and eat any tank mates, even those bigger than him. May even target your finger and can bite to the bone, so beware. Better to keep alone. Will eat Hikari pellets, frozen shrimp etc but you have to target feed him as he is an ambush predator. It is best to feed small frozen shrimp with shell on, to help grind down his razor sharp beak. Enjoys a sand substrate to bury in and ambush unlucky fish. Messy eater, can use feeder shrimp to do clean up, they are (usually) too fast for him. $20 7" Chaca Chaca catfish – Peaceful, but can and will eat anything smaller than a golf ball (pellets, mp, sotong, mussels, glass shrimp, other fish etc). Please don't feed meat, as it will kill him because of the high fat content. Better to keep alone, unless his tank-mates are monster fish at least triple his size. Enjoys a sand substrate to bury in and ambush unlucky fish. Produces a lot of waste so try not to feed too often. I feed him only once a week. $10 6" Albino Senegalus Bichir (longfin variant, male) - Fins a bit torn, $20 5" Ornate Bichir (female, i think) - $10 4" Albino Senegalus Bichir (normal, female) - FOC with any purchase All of them are used to staying with each other so i prefer if you can take all 3 of them. Peaceful but will eat small fish, shrimp and worms if they can. Ornate is a bit fussy and will not eat pellets, only frozen / live food. The other 2 are garbage bins and eat everything, even algae wafers. All prices negotiable and I’m also open to trade for corals or equipment instead of cash. My priority is not to make money but to find them a good home soon. Please pm me, thanks.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is T95? Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Most silicone take 24 hours to fully cure. Especially if it's those meant for use with water. It will be better to wait, in my opinion. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Lol I have the same dilemma now. My red macroalgae and the caulerpa from you are doing well, but there's stiff hair algae as well. Damn ugly! But if I use an ATS, it'll fight with the red algae for nutrients. How?! Hahahaha Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

More of cost and functionality I feel. I use both kessil and AI products, so I can see the pros and cons of each. Kessil A360 series features a very simple knob adjustment of its LEDs. Some reefers who prefer to be able to customise intensity at different times etc will not like it. You CAN hook it up to a control system but that requires extra cost and effort, so you might as well get AI products that already come with customizable features. For me, I appreciate the simple fuss free controls of the kessil, so i don't mind. Plus kessil produces nice shimmer. So it depends on your reefing style. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Agree with DottyClown. After a while you more or less can agar agar estimate how much salt ti put in. I use a standard red pail worth of water, add about 4 cups (the kind for scooping rice) worth of salt to get salinity of 1.023-1.025 Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Yeah should be ok, I imagine. Eventually you'll replace out all the original tap water Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

I'm using that with tap water cos I cannot accommodate a DI unit at home , eventually kena algae problems. Have to prepare yourself for that. I'm using an algae turf scrubber to compensate. But so far livestock seems ok except torch corals keep dying. Just fyi Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Er I don't know about other practices but I just mix before I do a water change. One full bucket with a 1000l/hr wavemaker churning the water takes me maybe 30 mins? As long the water is clear and the salinity is correct then I just use it. Some sediment might be left behind though, so I just discard that Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Very useful advice. Thanks. Anyway it seems that the cloudiness has faded after my filter wool caught all the precipitate. Everything still looks fine but I threw out the remaining batch anyway. No use using salt already deprived of calcium and magnesium Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to try to sieve out the white stuff and use the unclouded parts. Luckily I'm doing wc for my softies tank so it shouldn't be too big an issue. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

On a related note, I bought some salt from a fellow reefer but I just noticed it has become contaminated with water and is now watery like slurpee. I mixed it anyway but the water seems to be quite cloudy even after 2 hours of mixing. Is this safe to use? Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Yeah bro, I'm using a few lights but Kessil is really the king of shimmer, shimmer damn strong even at 40% intensity on my 20 gal. Surprisingly, the shimmer from my humble green element lights also quite intense. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Had the fortune of seeing this tank in person. Very beautiful setup bro! Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Wah bro, 2000 litre will be a typhoon! Your sand will fly everywhere. My 20 gallon uses a 1000 l/hr and my poor fish look like they're running on a treadmill lol. Usually just 20 times your tank size is sufficient. So for your case a 100-200 l/hr should be enough Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk