illumnae
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Posts posted by illumnae
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Now that the tank is cycled, I've added in my first CUC - 15 fenestratus snails, 10 nassarius snails and 5 cerith snails. Will add more in future as required. Now that it's time to stock the tank I'm in a little bit of a dilemma. Should I do a lionfish reef with clams, LPS and NPS or a full FOWLR with beautiful non reef safe butterfly fish and wrasses? I wish I could do SPS, but I suspect nutrient levels will be high. Reef would look much nicer and less boring, but I'm scared I may get poked by the lions if I have to maintain corals and stick my hands in often. In other news, the bubble magus NAC 9 is hard to tune
I keep lowering the adjustment knob by 0.5 and still no skimmate! At least it's not overflowing anymore though. -
I dosed 1 entire bottle of ATM colony at the start, with daily dosing of Prodibio Biodigest, Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7, Microbe-Life Nite Out II and Seachem Stability. Was trying to establish different strains of bacteria, and I guess the copious dosing (each brand alone is supposed to be enough, so I was dosing 5x the required amount of bacteria) helped to establish the bacteria colony much more quickly! Will continue daily dosing for another 1-2 weeks just in case.
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Will try and remember to get a picture of it tonight.
Cycle is complete! Just 4 days to get 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 2-5 nitrate since throwing in a 2+ inch huge ass prawn (that is now covered in 1 inch thick biofilm!). I guess dosing several different cultures of bacteria works well
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Added Seachem Stability to the bacteria dosing regime today... Hope to have diversity in seeding bacteria. Hopefully it hastens the cycle too!
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Thanks! I hope he makes it through qt
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Yup! Lion fish are reef safe since they don't touch corals, clams etc. However, any crabs or shrimp you may keep are touch and go and may be consumed by the lions at any time. Some have had success with cleaner shrimp, some haven't
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Thanks
I'm excited to get the fish into the tank too! Currently doing QT + cycling at the same time. -
Time for the grand unveiling...here's one of the stars of the show, currently in QT: Pterois mombasae!
I currently have 3 species in QT, 1 species on order for delivery this week and suppliers helping me look out for the last 3 species common to the hobby. Hope to be able to keep all 7 species and maybe more in future!
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Bad habit of mine la,like I mentioned to bro Evo. I tend to just set up "once and for all". Buy the best I can afford now and next time can easily switch projects with no hassle. I also have 2 freshwater 2ft dwarf cichlid biotope tanks running razor 8000K 120w literally at 10% power. Just in case I switch the tanks to planted I can just do it without upgrading gear. I may still put some corals in to colour uo the tank as the predators are reef safe. Im toying between that or adding butterflyfish as tankmates for colour. See how, but its definitely not a reef themed tank.
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bro! nice to see you back! your equipments sounds good for SPS dominated leh!
Haha bro, I just get good enough equipment setup for anything, then can easily change projects anytime without having to get new equipment. Its definitely overkill for a predator tank.
The rocks are nice,guessing lion or frog fish?
Yes! One of the above
Nice tank set up! May i ask whats the light setting on the razor you had on that picture? Seems like alot of shading on the lower portions, defeating the rock work / platforms at the lower tank. Seems like only 4 or 5 areas getting normal amount of light
Switched the lights to max for the photo. Why does the shading defeat the rock work? Depends on the purpose of the rock work ma. My purpose is a predator tank for crepuscular predators so for me, the shading is ideal. As mentioned previously, the rock work was specially scaped with the tank inhabitants in mind
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The predators I'm keeping got large, medium and small types. I'm collecting medium and dwarf types as in the long run the dwarf types can get eaten by the large types. This scape was specially designed by Iwarna with my potential inhabitants in mind, so the structures are meant to emulate the kind of structures theses guys like in nature. Enough clues yet?
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After 8 years of keeping discus, including 6 years of wild discus tanks, it is time for a change. Was recommended against using my current 422 for a marine setup due to it being made of 10mm glass so I sold it to a friend at a good price (for him, haha!) and commissioned a new 422 using 12mm glass, with crystal glass front panel. My old 422 is the subject of another journal in this forum
Ordered the tank and almost all equipment via Iwarna and the entire setup process was awesome. They were very responsive and gave me good and practical advice, helping me save money where possible based on my needs. Despite my many questions and changes along the way, they never lost patience and kept up with the top quality service. Definitely highly recommended for anyone looking to do a new setup.
As I already have kind of a reef tank at home (my wife's) plus I dabbled in nano reefs previously, I decided to head a different direction this time and went with a predator comm tank instead, keeping as many different species of a certain type of predator as possible. What predator is this? Watch out for updates!
Specs are as follows:
Tank: 4x2x2 120 gallons with 40 inch sump (inc refugium compartment)
Return pump: Eheim 1264
Lights: Maxspect Razor 300W
Chiller: Hailea HS-90a with Eheim 1260 pump
Skimmer: Bubble Magus c9
Wavemakers: Jebao WP-40 x2 with twin controller
Sand: Caribsea Aragonite Reef Sand 80lbs
Hardscape: Aquaroche ceramic designer live rock
FR: Enductor FR-45 with Eheim Compact+ 2000 pump running NPX biopellets
Here's a picture of the tank now. I'm cycling it using ATM colony, Prodibio Biodigest, Microbe-Lift Nite-Out II and Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter 7. Will dose the latter 3 daily till cycle is complete.
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Thank you for the lion update slayer! I was at tfc buying cerith snails when I saw your update. Managed to go down and grab 2 lions. Missed the radiata lions though
hopefully next week I can grab one before it runs out again! -
Anyone know what lionfish are left at ah beng from Thursdays shipment?
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Wow so many from Ah Beng! My friend picked up 2 Fu Manchu Lionfish from Ah beng today, didn't see that on the list. Many of the lions listed my friend didn't see though
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Anyone know which shop stocks or can order in mombassae lionfish?
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BC82, can share more about your overflow design? Can't see clearly in your thread
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Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately, I think my tank maker is more a bespoke maker than custom, so he may not know how to do the BeanAnimal drain system properly. Last time I got him to do a durso and it ended up not 100% accurate either. Full overflow from the back is not feasible as the tank will be braced, neither is going without a tooth weir as I am possibly keeping snowflake eels. A centre trapezoid overflow is possible, but what are the benefits? What's a standing wave and how does the overflow create it? Finally, is my sump design OK? Do you think I'll be able to fit all my listed gear in?
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Split from main drain line, 75% to go to skimmer compartment, 25% to refugium, controlled by a ball valve
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Hi all, I'm getting a new 4x2x2.5 tank to replace my current 4x2x2 freshwater tank (have to make a new tank as my 4x2x2 is using 10mm glass, and I was recommended to use 12mm glass for this size of tank for marine to be safe). As my tank maker is primarily a fresh water tank maker, I am designing my sump to be optimal for marine use. Tried using a freshwater style sump for my other marine tank before and ended up having to replace it - hence, I want to get it right the first time round for this tank.
This is the design and dimensions that I have come up with so far, based on a design I got from Melev's Reef webpage. It's also similar in concept to the sump that Iwarna did for me previously, except that this design is more "linear" while the Iwarna one divided the sump into back and front instead of side to side. What do you think of the dimensions I chose for each compartment? Should I make any of the compartments bigger or smaller? I decided on 3ft as the length of the sump to leave space within the cabinet for jerry cans for ATO and dosing liquids (Ca and Mg). Equipment that I expect to use are:
1. Left compartment - Skimmer (Bubble Magus Curve 7/9), 7" filter sock + holder
2. Middle compartment - Return pump, chiller pump, biopellet reactor (JNS Alpha II) and optional 2nd reactor for Rowa or Carbon (JNS Alpha I)
3. Right compartment - Refugium light(s)
The other query I have relates to the overflow compartment within the tank. Typically for freshwater, the overflow compartment is triangular and takes up quite abit of space in the corner of the tank. Many people pour bioballs into the compartment to reduce the water splashing sound plus to act as a wet/dry filter compartment. Is this necessary for marine? I find that this takes up alot of tank real estate space, plus bioballs will be a nitrate factory due to dirt/mulm accumulation. What is the best placement for the overflow compartment (center or corner), and is it necessary for it to be a large compartment that takes up alot of tank real estate or would a small one do? What's the best way to reduce water splashing sounds?
Thanks for your advice!
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Item sold. Thanks all for your interest!
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Looking to sell a very new unit of Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO. I purchased it from N30 sometime in May or June this year, but have switched my nano back to freshwater and hence not much use for it. It's still working perfectly well. Will throw in a 10L water reservoir (blue container) with the unit - it's what I've been using to hold my top up water.
Looking to let go at $70 for this really new unit.
Collection either at Bt Merah area near ABC Market, IKEA and Queensway Shopping Centre.
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Looking for bi-colour Bubble Tip Anemone - preferably similar to the ones Henry brought in a few months back.
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I'm using it. I just bought it last week in Hong Kong at great pricing (about half price).
It's a 200W TEM chiller that's supposed to be able to chill up to 60 litres, so a 55L tank would be just below its limits. There is a smaller 100W version available in HK as well that's for tanks up to 30 litres.
I'm using it on my 30 litre freshwater tank and have it set to 22 degrees, so it switches on at 23 degrees. It takes about 20-25 minutes to cool my tank 1 degree (from 23 to 22 degrees) and kicks in every 2-2.5 hours.
All in all I like it alot, and it really fills a niche in the market for nano chilling.
illumnae's 422 adventure
in Members Tank & Specs
Posted
Good news! The lions in QT have started eating frozen ghost shrimp using a stealth stick (ref: http://www.lionfishlair.com/feedingtechniques/toolsofthetrade.shtml)! The Fu Manchu ate 2 small shrimp, and the Mombassa ate 1 big one. The hardest part of the battle is over and now I just need to wean them onto other frozen foods before they're ready for life in the main tank!
Here's a picture of the sump, sorry it took so long! Behind the refugium area and blocked by the lights are the 2 drain pipes. Each drains into a 7" filter sock and there's an acrylic cover to prevent splashing. Not a very efficient use of space I know, as 1 filter sock only would give me much more room to play with. Just hope I won't need to add much more equipment!
Thanks bro Ashwin! I'm aware of the skimmer break in period, I've kept reef tanks before
It's past that stage and it's now a matter of tuning which is unfortunately rather frustrating as I've not been free at home lately to tune and observe, so I just do a daily adjustment every morning before I head off to work and observe the next morning before tuning again. Had very good experience with Bubble Magus previously when I had time to do proper tuning over 1 day in 3 previous setups, so I'll just hang in there I guess.
A non-lionfish setup is not an option for this tank
As mentioned, I've already dabbled in reef setups before so I want to do something fresh, plus my wife already has a reef tank in another room. 2 reef tanks in the house is just boring. In terms of space, I'm not keeping volitans or any of the other large lions, but a mix of the dwarf and medium size species. As you would notice, my scape is done up with lots of ledges for them to perch on/under and rest. I've checked my stocking plan with lionfish/scorpionfish pros on international forums and it's ok. They also encourage mixed reef setup (LPS/NPS/Softies) with lionfish as lions are definitely reef safe, so I wouldn't say that it's "plain wrong". The only real valid concern is maintenance with the lions in the tank. I'll have to make sure that the corals are glued properly so they won't fall, and maneuver around the tank using long tongs and turkey baster if I do end up doing it.
Besides, I already have a number of lions in QT and waiting to go into the main tank