[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

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.

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..

already learnt some lessons from the pathetic 2 feet we got the last 2 years so hope to not repeat the same sillly mistakes. I just remember how I had to do a FW dip to my precious little tomato clown to save him from velvet and it will be the memory to stop myself from doing rash things. I recall how happy I was when after 2 weeks of Hypo and FW dips that he/she started to eat when I plonked him back to the main tank, almost CRIED!! LOL

thanks for the advice lemon and everyone else! FINGERS CROSSED STILL!

cheers,

Desi

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

no experience la lemon.. wait wait.. patience is a virtue.. Let us learn the intricacies and temperments of our system before cheonging... although I admit I have already reserved coral at a CERTAIN place... STILL.. trying VERY HARD TO TAH HAN!!!!!!!! but but but but but.. sometimes.. it's too difficult to resist!

Desi

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

OUR TANK FINALLY CAME!!!! Day 1 OVER!!!! tomorrow to do more wiring, lights and other miscellaneous stuff to complete.. we are keeping our little fingers and toes crossed that tomorrow would also be a good day. Here's the setup pics...

A portion of the Cabinet came first....

Followed by the TANK and overflow!

1 2 3 HEAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The top portion of the cabinet

Putting in the sump and refrigum unit

Adding in the DOORS!

Cabinet maker finishing up the job and some of them chatting behind!!!! Drinks and offer of chocolates of course provided by me. hahah Must give some form of sustenance for their hard work.

Reborn guys Elvin and Ah Boy's turn to put in the equipment, piping and electrical wiring. Elvin is officially the FIRST LIVE speciman in our tank!!!! And here's the pic to prove it! ok you can't see his face but he's the one with the "ARMY" shirt! Very patriotic!

Both hard at work cutting PVC pipes and other stuff for the plumbing.. look at all the equipment on the floor. .. messy but happy! )

OUr overflow box with 2 return pipes. WE cut 2 holes at the side of the overflow so that the pipes go right through. Using GF+ plumbing

Goes to show that to do up tanks, you need to be SMALL/agile and nimble to climb/ squeeze in to do all the plumbing and Rewiring and SCREWING and gluing and WHAT EVER ELSE! HAH. Kudos to the 2 gentleman who did it for us!

END product of TODAY. 2 side views and the short view

Right now we are feeling little bubbles of excitement ......... Cant' wait for it to be finished and for the water, sand and ROCK to top it all off and then our self imposed 3 week cycling period!!! WE WILL SURVIVE!

Desi and Ketchup.

[Kikobananas Marine Tank]

i'm back!

it feels good getting away for a short trip out of singapore...

yup i believe it was me whom you saw...

i remembered a couple around me when i was choosing a clam for my tank....

the lady beside me is my gf..

always will get dragged along with me to chiong LFS

LOL!!! My husband tempts me every now and then saying : "NEW SHIPMENT from so and so... want to go or not ......" ...

how's your clam doing? I saw the clams that they had.. SO BEAUTIFUL. just imagine, a tank full of clams!

Desi

[Lemon's tank!]

a copperband butterfly! Wah the name already sounds superb! ok.. on my list of MAYBE fish... but that's gonna be WAY in the future.. I"m not that experienced to take a chance... so I won't wanna risk it till I'm more sure of my abilities.

THANKS lemon!!!

Desi

[Lemon's tank!]

ok lol recently spam alot of photos. trigger happy hehe

my hardworking parol officer. loves spaghetti worms, small bristle worms and all other pesty worms. and not to mention aiptasia. in charge of frag clean up before they go into their final display place. good work fish! and also feeding like a pig. well i think pigs are sad. they keep getting sterotyped! ok lah eat as much as ME!! feeds heartily on frozen. fat fat like his owner

Hey lemonlemon,

what fish is this? angel? Me nubby, can't tell! I would also like a hardworking patrol officer in my tank to whack all those pesky buggers and send them straight to the Jail cell of his stomach!

Desi

[Cycling tank]

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!

OOEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

piak piak piak piak piak!!!!

desi.

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

24 more hours ..... gosh..... anyway, did some night before preps... the amount of effort we put in as though getting ready for wedding like that.. aiyoh... /faint..

This is Ketchup's MASTER PIECE... our Egg crate support with 4 way joints and T shape PVC pipes in the center!

Close up of Ketchup's handiwork....

Our proposed rock scape done on our coffee table protected with towels, newspaper and plastic bags! 22Kg of LIve rock mixed with fiberglass!

Front view from when you open the main door..

Side panel short view - it looks a bit cramped but it isn't.. ok ok I'm a bad photographer.

View from sitting on the sofa TV side

The side which wil be facing the overflow /wall

Hope it turns out as we intended! WE are leaving space at all 4 sides for fish to swim and hopefully we have enough nooks and crannies to put corals as well as for fishes to hide in.

Also some clear open sand beds to put some flat corals on as well.

EGGCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ))))))

Desi & Ketchup

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

hah we are taking the rocks out this evening to do some rudimentary rock scaping on our coffee table so that we have an idea how we want to do it in the tank and by end of the week, I am going to throw it into the tank already assuming ALL goes well... still keeping fingers crossed.

At the moment, where I have put the tub with rocks in the limited space I have no more sockets to throw in a wavemaker. nvm, I'd just do slight water change on a daily basis.

Thanks for the advice

Cheers,

Desi.

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

Today after visiting bro sphinx's place to see and admire his tank, we went to buy live rock from IRwana..

Below is a pic of the live rock we got and temporarily storing it in a huge tub we bought with salt water and an air tube to areate the water until we chuck it into the tank.

Drying the 4 way joints and elbow pipes

2 more days to Tank delivery.... *fingers crossed*

Desi & Ketchup.

[Mitlancer's "Miracle" Atlantis Walll Mount]

good for you, you're putting in so much effort to work with what you have. Kudos to you.

And I'm so tickled by what men do to make their wives give in to buy marine related stuff... I would probably have to do the same.. but for me the other way around... since I'm more into the tank than my husband. HAHAHAHAH

btw. nice zoos.

desi

[Lemon's tank!]

wow your tank is WHAT I Want for my tank too.. oh my god........ When when when.....

very pretttttyyy!!!!

/bow...

desi.

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

Yup, seldom see a couple in this hobby together. If you wish to know more reefers in person, do pop by and join us for a talk on corals in Singapore. It's on 2 Jan at 2pm. Venue is in Hougang. For more details, refer to the post under clubs and societies - Marine Aquarist Society.

oooo thanks for the invite...... unfortunately, ketchup is going to cambodia for his photography trip so i'm left alone to tend to the tank.. due to the delay of the tank setup, we have to rescehdule the delivery of the NSW.. waiting till next monday before I rescedule IN CASE, kena delay again I think I will scream till you can hear me in Hougang from AMK. Perhaps next time. Thanks again!

Cheers,

Desi

[Kikobananas Marine Tank]

Hey Kiko, by any chance did you go CF with a lady?

HAha I was there with my husband and I think we were all standing near the clam tanks admiring the clams!

Anyway, have a good trip!

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

Hi all,

a little update. Our tank is coming in on the 29th and 30th of December.. we are praying for no more delays.. haiz! But in the mean time, Ketchup and I have been going on a tour of LFS and buying stuff we think we need!! We also thought up on the rock structure, support and other elements of getting it set up right. Hopefully we did not miss out on anything else!

We were inspired by some reefers using egg crate and PVC piping as their rock structure support so we went around Jln Besar which had those hardware shops to look around for the PVC pipes to use.. Unfortuantely all those PVC pipes meant for plumbing do not come in a 4 way cross format but rather a T format. We were advised to try an electrical wiring shop which sells a 4 way joint which to our delight we found. My husband Ketchup had to hammer out the metal bits which were in the holes of the joint as we were afraid those little metalic bits would rust and poison our fish! We intend to use these 4 way PVC joints as supports of the egg crate in the sand as well as to put rocks on top of it such that there would not be any stagnant water under the rocks which would inherently cause a build up in debris underneath. Our aim is to have the water being able to move around, above, under the rocks. We also got a couple of L shaped pipes to bury partially in the sand for little critters to be able to burrow in and out of from one opening to another.

We don't know whether this is a good idea but we also decided to give it a try with the Fiber Glass rock structures. We're not going to use it 100%.. probably 50% that and 50% life rock. As ours is going to be predominatly a LPS tank, the nooks and crevices of the fibreglass looks really nice and it seems great to stick corals in.

Anyway, here's some pics of the stuff we have bought... hah.. the pocket is hurting now.

THe 8 packs of black Sand for the main tank and a 3Kg bag of fine sand for the refrigum. WE got another 4 more bags of black sand for the main tank but it's not here yet.

The 4 Way joint and the little piece of metal which my husband ketchup had to remove so nimbly..

Ketchup banging away!

THe egg crate and the 4 way joint to give you a perspective of size. The Egg crate measures about 3.5 feet long and 2 feet wide. The tank we have is 4 feet long and 2.5 feet wide.

The 3 pieces of fiberglass rocks we bought and how we intend to place it on the eggcrate. Of course this will be supplemented by LR which we will get as well. So any reefers out there getting rid of LR within next week or so?

The pail of water soaking the pipes ... ketchup had to bang at the 20 pieces of Cross pipes we bought ... hahha he got better and better at it....

All the other nick nacks we bought, power cord extensions, epoxy, plugs, cable ties, digital thermometer, magnet cleaner, plastic tubings, bacteria and even sea monkeys!

THe DI unit which we got and we have hung it in our utility area bathroom with hooks.. lol. Ketchup got the hooks from my KITCHEN which I had intially used to hang my pots and pans!!! ARUGH!!! have to buy again!

ok that's it for now... if we have missed out or anything, we'd be grateful for any other tips all the korkors and jiejies of reefing out there.

Thank you all so much and WE Can't WAIT FOR OUR TANK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers,

Desi and Ketchup.

[Repost with better img: My ultimate 3x3 square]

WOW... I stand amazed.... /bow

/grovel

[Rare Exotic Mushroom for bid]

Desi Bid no. 3 @ $66

[Downgrading sale]

Augh.. I would love to have your puple and blue tang. but my tank will only be ready for occupants end of Jan.. I doubt you can wait that long... GHaizzz.......

[Chris 5 x 2 x 2.5 Tank]

wow I like your rockscape!!! inspiration for when I do up my tank as well...

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

hhhmmm currently.. I have 2 tunze nano 6025 wavemakers in my little 2 feet.. yes I know it's overkill but it helps to keep my bare bottom 2 feet tank clean. LOL or relatively CLEAN la... I point both downwards to prevent build up of dirt on the floor and both on timers so it's not a washing machine 24/7 LOL

and yes, I hate parasites, kena a couple of nunsience crabs and a bristle worm.. and that's in the little 2 feet!!! So I die die wanna avoid that shit in the big set up.

Also since, we have a wavebox already... I am thinking of putting either both nano wavemakers in the middle to provide current for the mid section. I know that the nano is meant for maximum 400L tank and ours is hitting 570L but since there is a wavebox, is putting 2 nanos in the mid section ok? as in placing it at the non viewing panel short side of the glass "blowing" in the direction of the long side of the glass? The flow rate is 2,500L/hour. I want to avoid deadspots. I have to admit that I hate the build up of dirt.. I have walked past my 2 feet tank at 130am in the morning and end up cleaning it when I can't tah han to see the dirt build up on the floor of the tank.

Btw. We intend to keep mainly softies and LPS.. no sps..

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

yeah I would also like to start up with dead rock actually to avoid all those unwanted hitch hikers... I would actually like to boil the rocks in water to KILL off everything before putting them into my beloved setup!

I don't mind the longer cycling time with dead rock as long as I don't have all those irritaing thingys crawling out eons later to haunt us!

Desi

[Desi & Ketchup 4x2.5x2 tank]

Hi all,

after 2 years of maintaining a very small 2 feet x 1 feet tank and going through multiple ups and downs with that setup and ogling plus reading like siow at all the nice big tanks online , we have decided to take the plunge and upgrade!!!

We are using the marine tank to act as a dividor between our living and dining areas such that when we open the main door, the first thing you'd see is the tank.

THe specs are as follows:-

1. LOW-IRON GLASS TANK WITH EXTERNAL OVERFLOW COMPARTMENT Size: 48†x 30†x 24†(LxWxH)

Thickness: 12mm Material:low-iron glass for 3 viewing panel, floating glass for the remaining 2 panel. There will be bracing on the top and below. Will be using Black silicon as well.

2. SUMP Thickness:8mm Material: floating glass, external acrylic box ( can't remember the size of this.. )

3. Floor to Cieling wooden cabinet made of solid kapur wood for structure, waterproof wood panel for doors and panel ( 6 feet long.. 1 feet for external overflow, 4 feet for the tank and the remainder for space to hide the chiller and some shelvings)

4. JBJ Artica chiller DBE-200 1/4Hp

5. DELTEC Protien skimmer TC2060

6. DELTEC Phosphate Reactor FR509

7. 2 sets of ENHEIM Universal 1264 pumps

8. Georg Fischer Plumbing system with angle check valve and ball control valve for the 2 main return pipes, 3 tank adapters, all pipes will be secured firmly to the cabinet of wall. 2 penductor will be used for the outlet nozzle

9. AUto top up : Tunze Osmulator Universal 3155 with a reservoir of about 30-40L

10. Tunze Wavebox 6212 <-- I think. I can't remember the exact model..

11. Lighting : GIESEMANN INIFINITI HQ 1200mm WITH MOVALITE TRACK ( Black)

For the initial salt water baptism, we be probably dumping in 1 25Kg tub of Tropic Marine salt.

As for the sand, is there any reefer out there with experience of using Black Sand? We are going for the Carib Sea Black sand.. haven't picked out whether to go for indo pacific or hawiian. Any reefer used this before? any feedback about using black sand?

Also with a wavebox, any reefers out there can give us feedback whether or not if we choose to rockscape with just 2 islands in the middle of the tank, whether there is still a need for wavemakers to be situated to ensure there is current below? Or is the wavebox really sufficient for our tank size?

In the first 3-4 days to get the system going, can we use normal tap water for the cycling before putting in the sand and live rock? Will that time span be enough for the cholorine and what not to be gone from the water? Or is it better to put in the SAND first then use RO DI water to fill the tank?

Hopefully the setup will be done before xmas and we will begin our 3-4 week cycling depending on the then current mood of kiasu-ism.

Greatly appreciate any senior reefer's advice and comments on the above setup or lack of!

thanks a bunch!

Desi & Ketchup.

[Glass Thickness.. how thick do I need...]

thanks. I"d be putting up another thread of our setup for feedback from all the big brothers and sisters of reefing to comment and give us any tips and tricks as well.

[Glass Thickness.. how thick do I need...]

hi. thanks.. been a while since logging in and we decided to go for a 4 feet low iron glass tank... so 12mm is sufficient.. will be getting the tank plus set up etc all in about 3 weeks time or so.... hopefully things will go smoothly,... now I am getting worried about the wiring of my living room as I have been advised that since all my wall sockets come from 1 circuit, I need to get some rewiring done... oh dear.... any reefer has had this problem before?

[Glass Thickness.. how thick do I need...]

Dear all,

I am in need of some opinions.. I have been running a small tank for a while and I am seriously considering upgrading sooo my QUESTION is...

For a 5 feet x 2.5 feet x 2 feet tank, what's a safe glass thickness I should get? I am aware that 12mm is sufficient however would it be overkill if I went for 15mm instead?

Or is 12mm really enough and the extra 3mm would just be a complete waste of money assuming that the tank is made properly and the only risk of breakage is if there's an internal landslide or the devil decides to vomit into my kettle by making everything else ###### up? ))

I am most grateful of any senior reefer's advice here.

But I do suppose the thicker the glass, the "safer" it is as well?

Thanks,

Desi.