Ketchup
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Posts posted by Ketchup
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clam's doing great..
opened up alot more since i started feeding it...
a tank full of clams would be quite challenging...
i'm still new to this, so i'll start with 1 first
Good to hear abt the clam! I read that smaller clams are more diff to keep as they may not be feeding well.. so i didnt buy the clam that day,... very tempted though:P
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Hehe... desi posted the msg almost same time as me from home... and we both use SUPER DUPER...
Are we SUPER DUPER or what! LOL...
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I was at Iwarna last night and saw a school of yellow color "trevally looking" fish. They school pretty nice together.
You can say that again, the Tomato clowns are the only clowns that enjoy attacking my UW camera in my diving days.
Is it the YT? i only recall seeing school of the hawaiian YTs... small size.. super duper cute size!
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Nice.. : )
I know what else u can do during the 3 weeks cycling, stock up all your maintenance stuff, like bacteria, test kits, all the trace elements, see where got bulk purchase, maybe set up a quarantine tank as well.
Can feel the excitement u guys are going through from your post liao.
Hehe.. mitlancer, we have been doing that since we ORDER the tank! lol.. anyway, we have most of the test kits (from our existing 2 ft tank). Our 2ft tank can serve as QT once our existing livestocks/corals is transferred.. if necessary, we have a spare 2 ft.. and a small boyu, which are our reservist units!
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you might want to reconsider the chromis. although very nice initially, chromis will tend to not school and look very messy in a tank. sometimes they will fight until left 1. schooling nature is hard to replicate in captivity. sometimes a large predatory fish can force schooling behaviour.
black clown pair is a good choice.
tomato clowns can get very aggressive and might fight with your future black clowns.
the powder series tangs are very tough to get them feeding and are very prone to ich. add them only once your tank has stabalised for a few months with healthy growth of algae for grazing. marine plants such as caulerpa or ulva is excellent. Regal tangs and yellow tangs are fine choice and are hardy. just remember as tangs, regardless of species, are scaleless, they are very prone to ich. and grow very fast. especially the regal blue.
if keeping fairy and flasher wrasses (cirrhilabrus/paracheilinus), a hood is absolutely necessary as this family of fishes are extremely jumpy and jump for no reason or when frightened.
blennies and gobies make fine aquarium inhabitants.
boxing shrimps can get pretty nasty with cleaner shrimps. so add them with caution and separate if anything gets too rough
Hi LemonLemon
Yeah, our initial thought was getting abt 6-8 anthias (preferably Bartletts anthias as they are so nice and colourful) as we would like to have a small school of fish swimming across the tank but we read that they are too aggressive. So we look around and apparently Blue-green chromis are the least aggressive.. (peaceful, as stated in the book) so hence the choice.. we have kept 2 yellowtail damsel as well as blue damsel before and they are pretty hard but like what you say, can be aggressive and in occasion case, suicidal!
For clownfish, we are kinda stuck with going for the black oscellaris.. The background is we bought the tomato clown which is with us for 2 yrs 3 mths and counting
since day 1 in our 2 ft nano tank. we tried to keep some the true percula (or is it fake percula) but i think because of various reasons (tomato aggressive, percula is also orange colour, lack of 2nd anemone, tomato being bigger in size), it wasn't successful.Hence this time we decided to try black oscellaris and we will likely have 2 separate anemone. One for the tomato (we disposed the old anemone, which has bleached badly recently) and 1 for the pair of black oscellaris. We also intend to put the 2 anemone separate side of the tank... maybe one on FT side, one on side or back.
For the warasse, we have yet to decide what type... all desi know is that some help to clean fishes so she wanted it.. will research more.. Hood wise, ours is full length cabinet so should be ok.. unless they jump into overflow, which i intend to maybe DIY some sort of netting on top of the overflow box.
Tangs... they are what really brought us into Marine tank... The mention of ich and velvet(if thats what it is) really scare and anger us... With our 2 ft, we are somewhat successful in keeping a tomini tang (mainly bought to eat all the algae, till our attempt to catch a hitchhiker crab, somehow cause the tang to die (prob due to dust/stress). Regal blue and YT have all succumbed to ich/velvet... till the recent YT (5 mth old now). I think now we have a better understanding of the fish (like what they eat, signs of trouble) and with a better tank, more stable system, we will try. In fact, we keep on telling ourselves that we WILL NOT KEEP PBT unless we have a 4 ft or larger tank.. so here it is..
Anyway, my plan is to add in maybe a smallish regal blue, then maybe our YT... lastly, we will look for a nice Powder Brown (prob not too small so it's feeding and healthy) and lastly prob a Powder Blue, maybe 1-2 mths after most of the live stock is added.. hope this sounds ok? For ich, we kinda accepted that all Tangs will get it but it's rather an issue of whether they can survive through it, either with or w/o our intervention... best way to keep ich away is avoid stress, good nuition
Blennies and gobies, we also kept before but it was a mistake as we have no sandbed and little space for them to hide.. Hence, we decided to incorporate all the space under the eggcrate, in the t-joints, x-joints, so that it will provide them some hiding place.. also, the fibreglass rock and live rocks we chose should provide plenty of small nooks and crevices for them to hide.. I may dig/drill some small holes in the liverock too...
Lastly, the boxer shrimp is pretty ok.. i don't think it's too agressive as we have kept it since day 1. However, we will still add in the other cleaner shrimps 1st, prob 4-6 in pairs, first. if our boxer shrimp (we call it Rocky) is too agressive then i will prob take it out or something... keeping my fingers crossed that he will behave
Thanks for the advice and keep it coming! we need more advice as we go along so we can learn from you guys
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Yup, its about $80. Just give Victor a call and he'll give you a quote based on tank size and prob location. They will pump NSW straight into your tank...much easier than mixing salt with tapwater (which also comes with all the unwanted heavy metals, nitrates, phos, etc.).
I think NSW is good for initial setup, i shudders to think of making like 600-700 litres of saltwater
For our 2ft, we use a RO/DI and mix with salt and it works equally well.. All depends on tank size...
Another reason for using NSW is that i feel it may help the cycling process..
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No the bacteria will not be affected whether you pour the NSW or sand in first. Putting the sand in before the water is more for
more practical reasons.
If you put the water in before the sand you will likely be seeing some seriously cloudy water, and sand all over your LR (depending on how fine your sand is)
Also more sand will end up in your sump or filtration if you put the sand in after the water, a lot of fine particles will be suspended in the water column.
Put the eggcrate, fibreglass, LR etc, then the sand.
Place a large plate or dish on the sand, then gently pour the NSW in over this plate.
It will minimize the amount of cloudiness of your water, and will also reduce the amount of sand ending up in your filtration system.
ok.. make sense to me too
initially i was thinking of using the method i saw online about using the cloudy water to test the wave flow.. but i think i will throw in the fibreglass rock 1st, add sand (fine, then less fine) add in NSW, then add in another pack or 2 of fine sand and on the wavebox/wavemaker.. When all settle, then i add in my liverock -
Thanks guys, manage to grab a pack from AM! My tank is officially wet now
Nice! now, where's the photos!
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oh gosh u are one excited reefer! completed all those! haha! well learning stuff in this hobby is a never ending journey. i'm still learning, and i have lots more to learn too! have fun lol. go memorise all the fishes to make ID-ing them in LFS easier haha. its really very very useful. corals also. wahaha. like school :/
Don't want la.. learn more than more tempted! lol... We did some research based on some books we bought la... so more or less the lifestock like fishes/corals shd be compatible or at least we think can survive in our tank provided we don't screw up.. LOL...
Fish wise, should be chromis (maybe 8 blue-green chromis), 1 pair of black oscellaris clown (if possible), 1 Tomato clown (existing, abt 2 yrs 3 mths), Powder Brown, Powder Blue, Regal Blue, YT (existing, abt 5 mths).... others maybe some wrasses, blenny, gobies.
Cleaning crew - boxer shrimp(existing, 2 yrs 3 mths), 4 cleaner shrimp (maybe peppermint?), snails (a bunch.. i rem is max is 1/gallon?), some small sandshifters...
Corals a bit more diff to decide... more temptations.. but we have some existing corals... super sunnies, bubbles, octopus... a 1/2 dead gonipora.. a pink cauliflower (new) + 7 corals at GO
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Fish list : DONE!!! Corals list : DONE!!! Rockscape : PLANNED! Lifestock timetable to add in : more or less we know!
Die... what else to do during the 3 weeks of cycling... LOL Must be able to tolerate the urge to throw stuff in..
cheers,
Desi
Can throw Prawn..
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good that you develop patience at such an early stage in your reefing life. patience is really the key to success... in this hobby. witnessed many times the total disarray and inevitable failure of a tank from certain impatience. while waiting for everything to be complete and cycling, you can do some fun things like research online for the fishes you might want to keep, corals you might want to keep, plan your rockscape, what kind of rockscape will you like. you can opt for valley, clift face, clearing, etc etc there are tons of possibilities. plan your livestock properly because remember once they go in, its very difficult to get them out. and never blame any livestock for behaving the way they are. many people kill damsels because they are fierce, but that is their nature, and its the owner's fault for not researching.
haha im also very eggcited
for you and your husband. hope to see your tank flourish into something cool.trust me Lemon.. we are "controlling" very hard to not give in and cross over to the DARK SIDE! hehe... I agree that Marine Tank is a hobby that really requires a lot of patience... Well, hopefully, we can achieve what we set out to achieve... If we can keep this 4 ft for at least 3 years... we may just upgrade to something bigger/nicer if we move to a bigger or more suitable place
As of now, i am very contented.. and much poorer! LOL -
FR reader, my tap water reading for tds is 91 leh. must use di for my tank liao.
We tested ours is abt 96ppm.. then we use the J**** RO/DI unit, go down to 89ppm... then Crystal Pro... goes down to 7ppm..
So in terms of PPM count i will definitely say Cyrstal Pro is working... the J**** one prob not working well as this is the 2nd canister and we have used it for like 9mths already..
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drop. dead. gorgeous.
Haha... i wish our tank can be 1/2 as nice as yours lehh.. i see all ur corals so nice!
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Wow! Looks great!
Hehe.. Thanks.. like Desi said... keeping fingers/toes all XXX!
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looks awesome D&K.
Super envious of couples who works on their tank together
Actually no leh... couples who works together PAYS TOGETHER! LOL... no one to control!
Anyway, cabinet and tank is up... piping 95% done, chiller and sump is in... Desi will prob post the pictures shortly..
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haha YT...i oso added 1 tiny mini into my main tank recently hehe
Hmm... lemme guess... from Iwarna hawaiian shipment? I saw they have so many YT!
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The only slight changes I would recommend are for steps 1 - 6.
1) Leak test the tank with treated tap water (Antichlorine/chloramine, then drain out all the water)
2) Place the Fibreglass + egg crate base liner
3) Pour in all the live sand
4) Pour in the NSW
5) Stack the Live rocks on top of the egg crate and sand
6) Cycle the tank with a piece of dead market Prawn
Additionally after the cycling is completed, you might want to consider adding in the cleaning crew and the fish before the corals.
But looks like you have everything planned out! Keep us updated with pictures!
Hi Fuzzy
Thanks for the suggestions! Ya, i think i will have to put in the fibreglass and egg crate 1st before adding live sand/NSW.
Btw, any difference if i add in livesand or NSW 1st? Will the bateria die off if i just pour in Livesand and then cover it with NSW?
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Under estimate the size of my tank.... bought only 4 packet of NSW from Iwarna. Need another packet or so.
I think they are close now as I can't reach them on 6583 3536.
Anyone knows any place sell NSW near AMK?
Thanks a million!
If only 1 pack, why not mix it yourselves? You can try victor (Iwarna) at 92259393 but not sure if he will deliver so little.
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Yes. pray my tank dont leak. i have place the substrate n the LR in liao. water will only be in by sat
Touch WOOD>> Won't leak la!
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Hi neighbour,
Thanks for the nice gesture.
I do see your point on live sand covering live rocks, and I admit I haven't really read up on what's really living on the rocks. If it is only the bacterias that take care of Ammonia and Nitrite, then I guess the lost is not really that significant and Micro organism should be able to remigrate themself (I hope...lol). I would prefer to test for leakage using tap water as I do not want to wake up with a floor full of salty water. Testing the flow sounds interesting and definitely something I haven't thought about.
End of the day, we paid for the live sand, live rock and "NSW" so as to cut short the cycling process, adding key bacterias which would usually take months to appear in a brand new tank. AFAIK, cycling is constant process and is forever changing, you can never leave a tank there for 2 months and proclaim it cycled. Every new fauna added, died, changes in water chemistry, feeding, food type... etc adds to the process everyday. Moreover, this bacterias need "food" to stay alive too. If there are not enough "food", they will simply die of and create more "waste" to the water after which the system will try to re-balance again. This is also why even in very stable tanks, dumping in large amount of faunas will normally result in high casualty, mainly due to the spike of Ammonia and Nitrite which the tank's system are not catered for (not referring to tanks with high tech toys).
I believe the key to zero casualty (for poor man like me) is adding LS at a very slow pace.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful thread again and really hope to see your tank soon. I can't help with marine stuff but maybe help shoot your tank if needed since you should stay somewhere near me.
hi Macrobutt, thanks for the offer... regardless of need help or not, can always come and see tank la! LOL...
Ya, i also wish to cut short the cycling process if possible but thats not the main reason for us to use live sand/live rock and NSW..
I chose live sand because it suppose to have high concentration of biofilm baterias... something like 10m/pound
Also, for vanity reason as i love the look of black sand and DSB! LOLLive rock, honestly, we also using very little as we again decided to purchase 3 pieces of fibreglass rocks as it looks better, have more nooks and crevices for fishes/coral placement.
NSW - one word, LAZY! haha.. when i think of making like 700 litres of water.. i already wanna faint liaoz.. not to mentioned waiting for RO/DI unit, mix salt, carry water by pail.. in contrast, NSW from Iwarna is affordable and convenient..
I totally agree with you on ZERO casualty... but knowing Desi... she wont be able to resist the temptation.. u guys must help me JAGAR and not POISON her go GO or other LFS!
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Before putting anything into the tank, it's best to test for leaks by filling it with water. It's also a good time for cleaning the tank of any residue. Just think about the trouble you'll have if the tank springs a leak with all the rockas and sand in it.
Put in the clean up crew before any livestock (Coral/Fish)
House some bacteria culture in your sump by putting in biohome or other similar products. Look out for bulk group buys in the forum. It'll save you $. The sump sequence is recommended to be: From tank - Mechanical filtration, biological filtration, skimmer, chemical filtration - To tank.
Okies... Well, intention is to fill part of the tank, see got leaks or not then put in more live rocks/live sand and water... I think live sand and live rock also need enough water level to cover it at least right? As for clean up crew, yeah, will buy some 1st.. The reason why i split it is that i intend to buy more when more livestock is added
Also, i worry the clean up crew got nothing to do/eat! LOLBiohome... sounds familar... i bought the bateria culture tablet from AM already... so prob will try that 1st
As for the sequence.. i think the tank maker designed it that way too.. but not 100% sure as i leave it to him to design.. just told him we wanted the sump to incorporate an area for refrigum. -
but using big sand shifter like some star fish may be bad as it areate the sand with too much oxygen killing the bacteria u want in the DSB.
usually worms , and pods doing the sand shifting will be enough
Hmm... prob wont get the big star fishes la... most likely just some small star fishes.. 1-2 inches type max i think.. Will think of the clean up crew while cycling:P Thanks for the advice!
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On a side note, because live rock and sand will "add volume" to the tank, therefore, when filling it with water, leave some volume for the additional of live rock and live sand.
else,easiest way is to add the sand, rock, pump water in.. put filter wool at the water flow, wait few days and wala.. clear tank in progress of cycling.
my 2cents and all the best!
Yups... will bear this in mind..
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i think u should not add sand sifter if u are have DSB
Hmm.... i know that we shd avoid turning the DSB drastically but based on my knowledge.. using sand shifters and snails all these will help to loosen the DSB, which is beneficial..
Kikobananas Marine Tank
in Members Tank & Specs
Posted
I kept some of these before from Henry... but unsuccessful.. based on what i know, they don't feed well... and you must have some crevices/holes for them to hide if you don't have SPS. they like to perch on stones (if no predators), inside the space on the SPS or in holes... later i go home and check what they eat... i think mainly meaty food.. not on pellets or nori flakes etc.. so more like scavenger if i not wrong.