finbir

R u referring to methylene blue? If so, go to website on it n u'll know all about its usefulness.

Hi bro, From what I'd experienced, most fishes will jump if spooked. Better to have some kind of mesh over the tank if one wants long term enjoyment. Hooked 4 life, Finbir.

NB. Decided to withdraw from buying. Pls ignore HP no. given. Thks, Finbir.

Hi, Interested in Seio 1500. Call 97555258. Thanks, Finbir.

My 4'x2'x20" system runs on a chaeto filter and the occasional Macro 250 venturi skimmer. It's been almost 1.5 yrs n currently houses 2 bi-colors, a blunthead wrasse , three blue-eyes cardubals, a pyjama cardinal, a lo , four dispars as well as six ocellaris in the sump tank. I like fishes more than corals, hence only keep 3 to 4 clusters of ricordia-like mushrooms and they r open daily. In fact I only enjoyed this peace of mind after converting first to St. Monica's algae filter and using chaeto s a stand-by. I intend to go back to the St. Monica's module when I stop experimenting with using led lighting for my tank. Good-bye to canisters, fluidised filtration and filter-wool packed partition sumps. This through-flow system is, I believe, something which most reefers should try as it will enable a lot of small organisms to thrive and enable one to keep anthias, the copperband, the Moorish idol and the Mandarin in good health. These fishes usually don't eat mysids or brine shrimps but will do so after a period of living off the 'goodies' produced by algae filtering. Sit back n enjoy the scenario. Finbir.

Let's just say I'm giving some feedback on light usage after having played with T12,T8,T5 and metal halides. Time and again I follow written articles by the experts on reef keeping and make adjustments to remain active in this hobby. Nothing personal. Finbir.

I'm for leds 'cos the broken lights will not pollute the environment with mercury vapour (used in tri-phoshor lamps), it's also value for money in terms of electrical bills, the bigger wattage leds can also be dimmer controlled and I definitely think the heat generated as compared to T5s is negligible.

My latest attachment uses a varnished 3.5cm aluminium bar (only the side exposed to the 3M tape that comes with the 1m led strip). So far it's been more than a month and things r okay. I still use the 12v 2000mA driver recommended by that basement shop n m keeping my fingers crossed.

It's my pleasure. We r here 2 share.

Not sure if it's the top flr or the 3rd flr of SLT. But s u leave the escalator (ascending), to ur right is a shop that sells a type of pretty thick aluminium bar with punched square holes . I bought a 6' length bar from the proprietor , a couple of mths back. Pd only $6 for it. Similar bar available at a couple of shops on the left side but on the lower floors. Shudder....their price. U can check it out. The bar allows u to stick 2 strips of flex leds side by side,after diy sawing, of course. Happy shopping. Finbir

Aha, 'tis the shop that sold me the blues as well as the white leds. Also went to the other shop u'd mentioned ....the $288 for sale one... Now left with only one blue strip and one red strip. At the moment, m using 2 sets of complete 4' led-flourescent tubes from Light Vision costing $60 each. Currently it comes in frosted covering and non-frosted. Each tube is rated 18w and appears like cool-white normal flourescent when switched on. Using a hand-held light meter sends the needle shooting over the 20 x1000 lux line at a distance of 15 inches from the light. So far, no problem with the 2 complete white light sets. Light Vision (previously on 2nd flr of SLT) has relocated to Toa Payoh Industrial (check on the Net). Actually more shops r springing up with similar offers and r posting on the Net. Just for added info. Finbir

Hi bro, Thks 4 the detailed info regarding Bond-ply and current usage. S mentioned earlier, I trusted the SLT chaps 'cos I'm no electrician. Even after showing them the mishaps they still insisted that it's "my fault" n that I should've used another layer of insulation (which I did with another new strip but to no avail) to prevent the burn-out. BTW those led strips come with the 3M tapes n one is supposed to just peel off the seal n stick to wherever one wants to light up. That simple or so it seems. I'd even mentioned the duration of usage to them n they said 10-15 hrs per day is no problem. Thks once again for the interest, Finbir.

When u remove the non-stick cover of the 3M tape behind the flexible 1m led light strip u can see the layout of the circuit s the glue is quite thin. Like I'd mentioned earlier, I wanted the heat generated to disperse quickly s it can affect the performance of the lights. Hence I opted for an aluminium bar to attach the light strips. Unfortunately, the heat melted the glue and allowed the back of the strip to come into contact with the bar. At first u'll hear some crackling sounds (initially I thought there was a pistol shrimp in my tank) and that's the beginning of worse things to come... a sudden burnout of some of the leds on the strip. U won't have this problem if the support is pvc or acrylic (but they r poor heat conductors ) and it's all a matter of getting rid of the heat in my case. Hope the scenario is much clearer now, Finbir.

Hello fren, Wouldn't the tape prevent the heat from dispersing? BTW I did buy the thick 3M double-sided tape from NTUC but the outcome was far from suitable. S mentioned earlier, I've a 2-feet ready-made led-tube being used s a ceiling light. Time and again I've touched the surface of that light n it's just warm. But the surface of the led strip is hot, man; just like that of an ordinary flourescent lamp. NB. Driver for ceiling light is 9v 3A and that for the led strip is 12v 2A. Diff is only 3watts. Out of curiosity, I've connected the ceiling light to the driver of the led strip n it turned out really bright and hot after a few seconds. The 2 types of drivers came with the purchases. That's why I'm sticking the led strip to an aluminium base, only to find out that the glue can melt n cause the light to short-circuit. I thought my problem was solved when I glued another strip with "No more nails' paste but again it's the heat factor. Thks 4 the reply, Finbir.

The idea of attaching the led strip to a metal base is to enable the heat produced to dissipate, hence the use of heat sinks. NB. The strips do produce quite a bit of heat else I'd be using PVC rods to support the strips instead of aluminium bars; resulting in the possibility of a short-circuit.

Most of the SLT shops r open from Mon - Sat after 10.30am.Sunday is a lost cause. The 3M glue for the flexible 1m led strip requires a layer of insulation viz. a layer of thermal paste or similar, when mounted on an unpainted metal bar support as the heat will cause the glue-backing to melt n cause a short-circuit. They usually leave out this point. Those made to order type do not have this problem. Hope this helps u 2 save some money. NB. Lost 2 blue strips due to the above-mentioned setback.

I'm using three 4' tubes rated 18w each supplemented by 1m of blue leds hanging about 10 " above my 44x24x20 tanks.All purchased from SLT and ve been on for nearly a yr. So far, my mushrooms and fishes r doing fine. BTW I'm not fussy n expect the inverts to expand 3 or 4 times like under metal halide. Overall I'm pleased with the brightness n it's great savings on the bill! Good day, Finbir.

Hi there, To the best of my knowledge, I've seen M'sian buyers visiting local fishshops to get their marines. Hence u may end up looking at things from our side of the causeway. Good day, Finbir.

Run an earth-probe using one of those titanium rods for bicycle spokes and connect other end of wire to earth of ur three pin plug. Ensure connection in sump is sealed with silicone.

It's one of the best fish to put in a marine aquarium in terms of hardiness (last to be affected by white spots n seemingly able to laugh off the infection ), usefulness (eats algae if other food not available)and none aggresive (although armed with poisonous dorsal pines). Will eat chopped shrimp, artemia or mysis but has left my skunk shrimp alone and likewise the corals and small feather-duster worms.

Strongly suspect a mantis shrimp lurking among the rocks. Or the horror of horrors...a bobbit worm (this jerk may start small but can grow to 1 m. It's a fierce bugger and has jaws like that of a centipede. Had a few in my tank a couple of years back. Tagged along with some uncured rocks. What I did was to painstakingly remove the rocks and thoroughly checked them piece by piece. Yup...it's total demolition; but I got those damned b****** after losing some precious fished. Give it some thought. Finbir.

Hi fren, Check out problem under : Disease/treatment/parasite/pest control on reefers' opinion and especially detailed info by Harlequin Mania. S 4 me I followed the 1mth lay off and tank is now ich free. Bought even tested with a couple of new fishes, namely, the rainbow wrasse and two ruby-coloured anthias. Still alive and eating after 3 wks. Cheers, finbir.

Problem is my 2 buddies bought the stuff sold by that shop ( it's been in this business 4 donkey yrs. and have been getting fish n inverts from Pinnacle and Ah Beng)n poured it into their fish and invert tanks. One of them noticed a strong lingering odour after that but their flowerpot corals and soft mushies don't seem to be affected and best of all the white spots 'disappeared'. Personally, I'm waiting 4 them to put new fishes into their tanks n see what they have to say. Only $8++ n really it's a miracle. Just thought maybe u guys out there ve bought the same stuff and used it. Thks 4 the input, folks. Finbir.