blueheaven

No prob. I'll post once I have changed the return pump tomorrow

Finally revisited this thread. Just wanted to share that Purple Up is a great product as now, most of my LR are covered with coralline and the short green algaes are gone. But things are not looking well as I noticed a few days ago that my return pump had drastically decreased in output volume. Since the return is one of the main sources of water movement in the tank, I lost 2 SPS colonies and some frags as they received little to no water movement at all. Just bought a replacement pump and changed my lights to BLV 20ks. Other than these, everything remains fairly the same

An interesting trivia to share: Caulerpas are one of the largest single celled organism in the world. Yes, that bunch is all just one cell!!! Anyway, it's good to keep them in 24hr lighting to prevent them from going asexual in the night. I won't use them for nutrient export though as they might crash the tank and some say their toxin acutally deters coral growth.

I think you can order culture plates from the States

Erm, just curious to know, is your account shared as in the whole team uses it? I asked because you post in different tones and structure. Anyway, the important point is that well, I think you got to make sure a proper SOP is done up and the team members know very well what they are doing. I'm not sure whether you've been in this hobby before but if the institution is just starting on this field, then I think spending more time doing research first would be better. Being educated in the field does not necessarily mean success. You'll need to learn from reefer's experiences as well and IMO, a fusion of both would be best. Looking at your proposed systems, it is going to be a BIG project and with that, comes big responsibilities when managing funds. To me, it is quite surprising to know that you are able to apply for funding for these projects which is definately going to cost a lot. Oh and I think it'll be good to state at least what you guys hope to achieve from these projects as well to avoid unnecessary arguments arising. It is good that you are working with AVA and NEA but ultimately, it is the individual that is in control of the project. Working with non-photosynthetic corals are really THAT MUCH harder than even SPS. Talking about that, I was also wondering why you needed MH since you are doing non-photosynthetic corals? And like the reefers mentioned, 3 MH is not enough spread for a 12ft system. For that you'll need about 6 MH. Anyway, hope to see some pictures up soon and good luck on your setup. "May your reefs grow as fast as our hair and last longer too!" -Anthony Calfo

Next Aquarama is next year in May

Hi guys, anyone know where I can custom print a shirt? I'm thinking of printing sport singlets (dri-fit material) with a design I came up with. Anyone knows where I can get that done and whether I can print only a couple of pieces as I'm only making it for some of my friends. And maybe what is the estimated cost of printing such a shirt?

These guys are hardy buggers. You can literally blend them in a blender and they regenerate back. Of course, proper sterilization must be done in order for this to happen. Just some additional info to let you know

I used to feed my fishes (which includes tangs) Formula One and Formula Two pellets which contain garlic but I heard the recent batches have some complaints so I've changed. But from my experiece with Formula pellets, they do help a lot in preventing white spot in tangs. Of course, another factor might be stress if they are kept in smaller tanks and that stress could lower their immune system, allowing the white spot to attack them

Some people get brittlestars to help sift the sand But generally they are not harmful

Now, compare that with the smooth shell of Atlantis's crocea

Ok, just in case I'm not clear about what I said just now, here's a picture of my maxima Take note of the shell

Does it have many appendages or does it have only a head and a tail? If it has many, then I guess its a brittlestar like AT said

I don't think they'll be attracted to pellets. If its only one, nuke it with kalk paste and do a water change after that

Hey you got the same name as the little brother of a very special friend of mine. Nice name Anyway if you ever want to remove those green algae, I'd suggest you get an emerald crab to do it as it release spores when the bubbles are burst and then you'll have an outbreak

T. maximas usually have very conspicuous scutes (those plate like things protruding from the shell) and T. croceas usually have very much less conspicuous scutes due to their burrowing nature

Yeah I initially guessed a britttlestar too but it looks like its one long thing

I'm interested to find out what it is too Maybe you can try pulling it out using a toothpick?

I think it meant add market prawn to kick start the cycle

I'm not really sure the extent of whether the amount of scum collected on the bubbles would actually affect the bubble bursting prematurely. Maybe someone can share some info on this?

Yeah the article by Randy is good and I recommend as stated in my introduction. This is just a brief walkthrough from what I understand of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry and just as a disclaimer, I am not extracting from his article. This is just for new reefers who might be interested to know and for advanced reefers like you, it might not seem too impressive

By understanding the reaction of these molecules in air-water interfaces, the skimmer works by the same concept. The bubbles in the skimmer provides a air-water interface and the amphiphilic molecules would react the same way and the hydrophobic portions would want to be in the bubble as it is the only place without water. Thus, these molecules actually cluster all around the bubble with their hydrophobic portions in the bubble. For those science students, I'd like to think of it as an inverted micelle. This also explains why we want to increase the surface area of this air-water interface by either having smaller bubbles or more bubbles. The stuff that are collected in the bubbles are then deposited into the skimmer cup.

Therefore, in our systems, we have an air-water interface at the surface of our tanks. The hydrophilic portion of the molecule will want to be in water but the hydrophobic portion wants to get away from water. Therefore, they form a layer on the air-water interface with the hydrophilic portion in the water and the hydrophobic portion out of water in the air as that is the only place without water. This is the surface scum that some reefers encounter

Hi guys, I've just started my holidays so I decided to do this brief intro for new reefers about how a skimmer works. This is really brief and if you want to learn more, there's a great article by Randy on RC. Firstly, I'll intoduce the amphiphilic molecule. Most proteins, soaps, fats, etc. have a portion of the molecule being hydrophilic (loves water) and a portion being hydrophobic (hates water). Such molecules are known as amphiphilic molecules and these are the stuff that gets skimmed out.

Firstly, could someone close that thread because I think with all the expletives throwing around, it is not good for anyone at all. And to the person behind all this, for the sake of the community here, please do note that whatever you are posting are spoiling the image of the forum, whether you censor the expletives or use upper case text. Although I am not involved in any of your dealings, I do not wish to see this forum bearing all these nonsense whether it is from you or any other people. Some of us here have been with SRC through the years and it does hold a place in our hearts so if you want to get back at anyone or gain attention, I'd suggest you do it in private or somewhere else. Right now, your postings have not only affected your target audience but the members of this club whom I can see are trying to give you good advice. The way I see you reply to these samaritans just comes to show that you are trying to push the limit, to see how far you can go before you get down. If you just want to have fun and disrupt the well-being of the club, please, we have already seen our share of troublemakers. And do be weary that the law on defamation can apply on online forums too and that you can be tracked via your IP. I'm sorry to say this as I do not usually put my comments on such incidents anymore but I just cannot tolerate your postings. We do not have to meet you in person to see who you really are but your online persona just shows it all, true or not. And no, I do not want to call you