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clee123

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Posts posted by clee123

    Green Staghorn

    in SPS and Advanced Reefkeepers Forum

    Posted

    I notice these couples of days that most of my green based staghorn (about 5-6 types of green staghorn) suddently changing colour to brownish and lying...

    I have checked my waterparameters and it seems to be within the constant range... my other colour SPS still looking good and growping except green sps....

    anyone encounter this before or can share some advice on what going on?

    thanks,

    Pasar Malam - Home Tanks

    in Members Tank & Specs

    Posted

    Thanks Bro/Sis for all the complement and encouragement...

    A "Tank with Tangs" surely cannot miss out this little fellow:

    post-16749-0-53482700-1294158443_thumb.j

    It has grown from a size of 20 cents coin to bigger than 50 cents in just 8-9 weeks...

    post-16749-0-51514300-1294158628_thumb.j

    A very hardworking algae eater and cheerful fish

    post-16749-0-21418800-1294158825_thumb.j

    :ThanxSmiley:

    Pasar Malam - Home Tanks

    in Members Tank & Specs

    Posted

    very rare to pair AT successfully.

    Highly territorial and demanding fish and very very difficult to sex. to have a pair (i'm assuming M and F), is truly amazing and very difficult to accomplish.

    not to mention they are not sexually dichromatic and dimorphic meaning u cannot tell the sex from colour or form. and that makes sexing them extremely difficult and can only trial an error.

    good job!

    make sure you give them pristine water quality and PLENTY of wave.

    AT like high oxygenated water in strong surge zones. they inhabit these areas in the wild.

    rule of thumb. AT = SPS.

    need flow

    need good water quality

    need high O2 lvl

    very sensitive

    very beautiful

    need alot of space

    AT do very well in SPS tank because the requirements are very similar.

    good job!

    Thanks bro LemonLemon for the great knowledge on AT... :bow:

    I guess it's just my luck to discover these two ATs at the rigth time and right place..

    I notice one of them is darker colour than the other and behave a bit different... :P

    However, have no luck in seeing them having sex yet... ;) hope is legal to upload their love making pictures here... :evil:

    Pasar Malam - Home Tanks

    in Members Tank & Specs

    Posted

    very nice clee... Love the fishes... :P:welldone:

    Thanks sis,

    If you like fishes.... you will like the following show....

    Over the past few months, been no luck in keeping AT in my main tank mainly due to the following factors:

    1) been acttacked by purple tang, bule tang, and power blue tang, etc..

    2) suddenly change in water parameters and tempeture

    3) easily contracted fish sickness such as white spots (particularly in the fisrt week)

    4) limited food source and stress

    My first AT (about 2") only managed to live for 4 days after being attached by the purple tang...

    My Second AT (about 3" big and fat ) managed to stay in the main tank for 3 weeks and died after a major swing in water parameters as I adjusting my MG, CA, and KH from CR to dosing pump..

    My Third AT stay with me for 2 good weeks, after being chased by PBT of the same size for 24 x 7, stressed and refused to eat..

    My Fourth AT, pullets eating on day one... survived for 3 weeks and was sent to the lord due to a breakdown of my chiller and a wavemaker for 2 days...

    So, decided to take a different strategy this time....

    1) They are a pair and healthy - this makes those big bullies run for their money <_<

    post-16749-0-47342900-1294118758_thumb.j

    2) They must be able to eat pallets already...saw these two in LCK after 1-2 week of shipment and eating pallets...I think this is the key for survival... :agreed:

    post-16749-0-66338600-1294118976_thumb.j

    The following are some interesting dog fight in the tank (or should I say fish fight):

    Two on one ...

    post-16749-0-06660200-1294119541_thumb.j

    post-16749-0-51426600-1294119630_thumb.j

    Two on Two

    post-16749-0-44604600-1294121383_thumb.j

    Two on Three

    post-16749-0-68639300-1294120724_thumb.j

    Keep up the good work..attack..

    post-16749-0-37228900-1294121233_thumb.j

    The emenies are running away ... stay in formation..

    post-16749-0-51792500-1294119956_thumb.j

    Team work...good job.. :welldone:

    post-16749-0-12775700-1294120099_thumb.j

    :groupwavereversed:

    post-16749-0-16629200-1294121538_thumb.j

    Pasar Malam - Home Tanks

    in Members Tank & Specs

    Posted

    Little black knight still going strong leh. Btw: I see an Atlantic Blue Tang. Is that new?

    The little blackie has become a young knight now... I think it has doubled or tripled it size :thumbsup:

    I had just released it to the main tank in x'mas night from the sump and kept my fingers crossed... luckly, after 3 days of hiding, it finally mixing well with the rest of the big brothers and sisters.... :friends:

    BTW, the ABT has been with me for about a year now...the body colour has changed already.. :cheers:

    10 things to know

    in SPS and Advanced Reefkeepers Forum

    Posted

    Just to share some of my understanding on keeping sps. Obviously I'm not the most qualified sps reefer, but just thought of sharing this simplified list for sps beginners as it helped me...

    1) lighting - T5s are generally sufficient. (average of 6-10 tubes) Try to go for 10-12hrs.. However to bring out best coloration, 250w per 2ft length is recommended. (4hrs) and supplemented with T5s..

    2) Ca:420-450, kH:8-8.5, mg: 1200-1300

    3) no3/po4 readings (minimum, but don't need to be zero)

    4) keep temp around 27 degrees celsius

    5) salinity: around 1.024

    6) provide good/random wave movement ard sps. use controllable ones if budget allows.

    7) ensure good skimming or regular nutrient export (weekly 10% is highly recommended)

    8) do prepare salt mix in advance to perform water change anytime u need..

    9) prepare for Murphy's visit. Do prepare backup systems to ensure your treasures are safe from power blackouts or sudden outage (especially when you are not at home).

    10) the key is to maintain constant parameters for the tank. Avoid making any major drastic adjustments... 10 weeks of 10% weekly water change is not equal to a 100% water change once in 10 weeks.

    Disclaimer, everyone's setup is different, and i'm sharing what works for me... And hope it helps you too...

    :friends:

    Bro Wilson,

    Thanks for sharing the info with us! :bow:

    Top of my head, I think point 10 in particular related to point 3, in my experience, is the most chanllenging part of keeping SPS. :thumbsup:

    In addition, I think "Patient" (and a lot of waiting) is the key to achieving all of the above mentioned.

    1. You need to be patient for the tank to mature (In my case > 9 months of waiting time)

    - No panic, No rash, No shortcut

    2. You need to wait for the system to stablised

    - No itchy hands, No messing around, No confusion

    3. You need to wait for the right SPS

    - No implusive buying only insist on good and healthy SPS.

    :groupwavereversed:

    Help with sump tank setup

    in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby

    Posted

    Below is a revised plan without pre-filter compartment(i.e. combining filter sock into skimmer compartment). baffles are added to eliminate bubbles from return chamber.

    Skimmer baffle (orange colour) maintain compartment water depth at 10".

    Refugium baffle (blue colour) maintain compartment water depth at 14".

    The design looks simpler compared to previous ones.

    5123000154_6045f3e50e_b.jpg

    If the skimmer compartment water dept is at 10" and Refugium compartment water depth is at 14", how are you drawing the water into the refugium compartment from? :(

    Help with sump tank setup

    in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby

    Posted

    Hi Clee,

    Two qustions:

    (1) 7500L/H is return pump specs or actual actual flow rate exiting into display tank?

    (2) I see that you have a baffle from refugium/frag directing water downwards into the return chamber. How wide apart are the baffles?

    I need to figure out if my baffles are correctly sized.

    My answer:

    1) 7500L/H is the pump specs NOT the actual flow rate ... the actul flow rate should be slower with the baffles and bubble trap amoung the compartments..the general rule for getting a return pump is 10-12 x the net volume of the tank (e.g. if your tank volume is 750L you should get the pump with 10x750L/H = 7500L/H)

    2) If you are referring to the bubbles trap from the frag compartment to the return compartment, the grap is about 4-5cm between the two baffles..

    Help with sump tank setup

    in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby

    Posted

    One question just popped into my mind.

    The 1st sump compartment after main tank's overflow is typically a pre-filter box containing filter wool & tray.

    So why do I need a pre-filter compartment if I intend to use filter sock?

    Can't I just hang the filter sock in the skimmer compartment?

    :huh:

    It's all up to you how you want to design your sump...one good thing about filter sock is that it saves space and reduce the bubbles...

    For me, the pre-filter box allows me to include Live Rocks (in addition to filter wool/cotton) as part of the filter media as I believe this is a very important factor in the whole filtering processing... I even sack up LRs in the baskets of the skimmers/FR section few months later to enhance the filtered water.

    post-16749-094008600 1288243728_thumb.jp

    Some mistakes I learnt from my current sump design :

    1) Water level of sump (in particular the filter box compartment)was too high which may cause waterflow if the wool are filled... so make there is engough gap/buffer between the max water level and the sump height.

    2) Consider give enough gap for full sump height and the max water level can contain when the return pump is off...otherwise, you will end up clearning the whole flour when there is a power surge...

    3) Give engouth space for the Skimmer/FR to cater for future upgrade of equipmements (e.g. to bigger skimmer or additional FRs)..

    Help with sump tank setup

    in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby

    Posted

    Thanks for sharing Clee.

    Is the water flow rate in your frag & refugium ok? Not too fast?

    I'm asking cause some folks advocate a more controlled slower water flow in these sections.

    So far, the flow rate from the skimmer/Fr section to the refugium/frag are ok... it's also depend on mainly on the flow rate of the return pumps you are using... for me, it's a 7500L/H flow.. :thumbsup:

    Baking Powder vs Baking Soda Powder

    in Product Reviews

    Posted

    can share how to dose the baking soda??

    1) Determine the desired KH (dkh) you want to achieve from your existing KH reading based on your net water volume..

    you can use the following link (http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html) to help you calculate the amount of baking soda needed..

    2) mix the calcuated amount of baking soda (e.g. 2 tablespoon) with distilled water or RO/DI water..

    3) Dose the mixed solution into the sump or high flow area slowly in different time interval to minimise impact

    4) Do not dose all at once and monitor the PH while dosing. Do not allow immediate impact of PH to be more than +/- 0.2

    :thumbsup:

    KH

    in General Reefkeeping_

    Posted

    yeah. but wat make de KH low? wat effect to de coral? lesson to learn ..bro... :thanks:

    my 2 cents:

    1) Cause of low KH - "Alkalinity" (KH) is linked to calcium (CA). Usually, there is a balanced ratio maintained in the reef tank. When you used up some CA you in turn also used up some KH. Like Calcium, KH were used by corals to form their skeletons (a process called calcification), which are composed primarily of calcium carbonate.

    2) Efffect of low KH - affect the calcification process and hence the growth of corals. KH also linked to PH. In general a low KH will result in a low and unstable PH value - which in turn impact/stress the fishes and corals. In worst case, isssue narcosis and dealth..

    3 Optium range of KH - based on my own experience, it depends on the nutrient level of your reef tank

    a) for ULNS (Ultra Low Nutrient System) like Zeovite the good range will be 6.5 - 7.5 dk

    B) Low Nutrient / standard reef tank , the accetable range is 8-11 dk

    4) Lesson to learn - keep an eye on your water parameters (mainly KH, CA, MG) and maintain them as constant and possible..

    Reading the following for general and immediate problem solving... :thumbsup:

    http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

    • Like 1

    Pasar Malam - Home Tanks

    in Members Tank & Specs

    Posted

    hey bro! was still intending to visit HK marine LFS this December! so sad man.. anyway kudos for your effort in cleaning up ur sump! been always wanting to do tt. haha. :)

    any shops listed @ GBD still around? http://glassbox-design.com/2010/fish-street-hong-kong/

    I am going there tomorrow to pick up something... will do a field report if possible on where to get from here...

    Anyone has any suggustion what they would like to look out for over here (equp/fish/coral) that not available in Singpaore or cheaper to buy here.. :thumbsup:

    Pasar Malam - Home Tanks

    in Members Tank & Specs

    Posted

    :friends: Wahahaha...got chance to help moi buy boh ??? :groupwavereversed:

    I were there just now...rushed over after the meeting...

    post-16749-058350900 1285772210_thumb.jppost-16749-072813100 1285772282_thumb.jp

    most of the shops are closed (not for the day but for good)... :thumbdown:

    or converted to furniture shops and beauty shops

    post-16749-024255300 1285773115_thumb.jp post-16749-090546500 1285773128_thumb.jp..

    So you got less place to cover now...just focus on the old fish street...

    Well, at least still got two Marine LFSs there...but not much "special" things..

    what you want?? any of these in your radar range?? :eyebrow:

    post-16749-033669300 1285775073_thumb.jppost-16749-006905700 1285775094_thumb.jppost-16749-046669900 1285775124_thumb.jp

    Pasar Malam - Home Tanks

    in Members Tank & Specs

    Posted

    Bro, is your frag section having any wave maker ( cos i didnt see any ) ? If not, you may wish to consider adding one wavemaker for your sps frags :rolleyes:

    I actually have 2 "U" pipes connecting the skimmers section to the frag tanks by use of gravity (on the left side of the frag section)...

    post-16749-099708500 1285743539_thumb.jp

    there was actually another water outlet directly to this section from the Zeovit Reactor but had changed the outlet to flow near to the new skimmer ...

    post-16749-060244500 1285743812_thumb.jp

    Do you think I should change back??

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