Michael Young

If you live in the East, you can get them at Biostar Aquatics in Downtown East (FKA Superstar). The owner's a real nice guy.

I sell Resun MD series pumps if you are interested. They are $198 and $175 for the MD55 and MD40 respectively. Just check out the thread on the MD55 on my forum to hear what some users have to say about this pump.

$10 is dirt cheap considering what it does.... By the way, I also read that there are other members of the Chelidonura genus that will also eat flat worms, have you seen them before?

Dude, how much you paid for it?

Buy a calcium test kit. if your ca level is below 380ppm, you need to dose ca. supplement.

You're right to say Goniopora don't last very long in captivity. In fact, many scientists are still working on how we can provide these beautiful corals with an optimum environment where they can thrive. There are many hypotheses why Goniopora decline so quickly in our aquariums but none conclusive. One reason for failure with this coral is its susceptible to infection by certain protozoans that will consume its flesh. If you suspect protozoan infection in your Goniopora, you could try dipping it in freshwater to flush out this bacteria and then after place it in another temporary tank with fresh saltwater. Do remember to provide enough water flow around it to flush away mucus and prevent re-infection. I would stay away from Goniopora if I were you.

Its hard to say if there's anything wrong with your bag of Kent Marine salt. Why don't you test it with distilled water first? To stop your salt from hardening, you need to stop moisture from getting into the bag. Which is not very easy in this humid climate of ours. We also introduce moisture into the salt when we scoop them with wet hands; a common occurance among reefers when mixing saltwater. Don't sweat on this. The salt will ultimately end up 'wet' don't they?

This tiny substance sounds to me like calcium carbonate precipitation when you mixed the salt with water. This can happen when the freshwater you use for mixing is pretty hard (alkalinity); and when the salt was put into the water, the excess calcium in it precipitated together with the excess alkalinity in water. The cloudiness is totally harmless but they don't look pleasing the eyes. If you are using unfiltered tap water (ie. non RO or DI), I would suggest you guys buy a 2-litre bottle of distilled water to test the salt. If the water is still turns cloudy with these tiny particles, somthing's wrong with the salt.

Simple really. All you need to do is to silicone another piece of glass about 1-2 inches next to the one from the first compartment. Make sure this piece sits at the bottom of your sump. So, when the water exits compartment one, it will be blocked and force to go upwards and cascade over this new baffle in your new refugium. You can also use 2 smaller pieces of glass, silicone one above the other with a gap in between for water to flow through to your refugium. I actually prefer this as oppose to the former because water will be flowing across and above your DSB instead of splashing down.

There are people who grow macro algae in the main tank but there are also people who thinks they look ugly in the main tank. Its just personal preference really.

The bacteria that lives in your bio balls are nitrifying bacteria that will convert nitrite to nitrate for you. So they actually give you nitrate. Not control them.

If there's nothing wrong with your water source and your pH tester, I suggest you bring the box of salt back to the shop and ask for a refund. The pH of your tank is ok. So you need not worry about that. In fact, you need not sweat about your Ca. and alkilinity levels as well. 360ppm for Ca and an alkalinity of 6 dKh is not too low and you can easily correct that with any 2 part Ca/alk supplement such as C Balance or B-Ionic. I suggest you read this article by Dr Randy Holmes-Farley

They are actually quite hardy. All you need is to feed them with phytoplankton.

where are the drip system or tubby available?? any shop near woodlands checkpoint as i am staying in JB.... I don't thlnk there is any shops near Woodlands that carry any of these but you could actually try getting a dosing pump from any medical supplies shop in M'sia. As for the TUBBY, you need to contact Cookiemunster on SRC.

Definitely not for your fishes but there are some people who claims that the light spectrum emitted by 03 actinic lights are good for certain corals; but I'm not so sure about that. I use acticnics because I like the look of my tank when they're turned on.

You can also replace trace elements by using trace elements additives. I do not recommend that simply because there are no way of measuring trace elements in your tank and hence, you will not know how much you are adding. Weekly or bi-weekly water change with freshly mixed saltwater would suffice. You can either top-up water the conventional way or you can use either a drip system using a dosing pump or a water level sensing top up device like the Tubby (check sponsors' forum). Both are not too expensive.

For a while I thought you were asking about lightning If I were you, I would have the actinic light come on a couple of hours before the main light and have it turned off a couple of hours after the main light. This lighting regiment would be more natural to the animals. Can you imagine someone switching on all the lights in your room after a few hours of darkness? It'd also be better if you leave all the lights off for at least a few hours because fishes are not unlike us humans; they need their rest as well and when blue actinics may seem dim to us, they are actually quite bright to the little critters in your aquarium. Actinics are actually for us humans to admire the luminescense emitted by some of our corals, they serve no purpose to the welfare of the animals you keep.

It's common for different brands of salts to have different pH level after mixing with freshwater but a pH of 9.3 is unheard of. First, you need to make sure that your pH tester is properly calibrated and in proper working. Then, I'd also check the pH of the water you used for mixing the salt with if I were you. Red Sea salt as well, how many tanks do you have by the way? I won't be able to help unless you also provide the following info on your 220. 1. pH 2. Cacium 3. Magnesium 4. Livestocks

If I'm not wrong, Rowaphos acts as an absorbtion media for PO4, silicate etc. and they need to be changed when they are exhausted. Its good to top up using filtered drinking water but it is different from a water change. Topping up does not replace the necessary trace elements that have been depleted by your live stocks but changing with freshly mixed saltwater will.

I believe what you call a 'distiller' is built for purifying drinking water and will not handle the large volume of water needed for an aquarium well. You should check out Sea Life in Balestier of Marine Life in Hong Leong Garden for their DI units. Those at SL are diy units made from PVC pipes. All they do is fill it up with the necessary DI resins. Those at ML used real commercial filter canisters instead. Alternatively, you could check the Yellow Pages for 'water filtration' specialty shops for other DI units. A typical DI unit should last you at least a few months (depending on amount of water changed and topped up) before you need to recharge the resins.

Battery water is distilled water but how many bottles would you need to fill up a tank...? Invest in a DI unit. Is cheaper in the long run.

You need to control the dosage of the ozonizer, not the UV sterilizer. And no I'm not a caucasian.

Reverse Osmosis units will produce water that is between 92% to 98% pure. Distilled water is pure water.

1. Yes, they can be used together but that's overkill. 2. If they are dead plankton that you're feeding it does not matter but otherwise yes, they will kill bacteria and phytoplankton. 3. An ozonizer will pretty much get rid of a lot of nasties like ich larvae, protozoans etc, etc. If overdose, it'll kill your fishes and corals as well. I've always have doubt over the sanitizing ability of the UV sterilizer. 4. An ozonizer must be set at the right dosage so that it does not kill off all the beneficial bacteria and plankton. Use a Redox controller to prevent overdosing.

Try your luck here.