eaquarist
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Posts posted by eaquarist
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Hi there, just to add on that it is always good to try new products and to listen for feedback and advice.
I have been using Geoliquid and similar products like Easylife for some time now and it really works to keep the water crystal clear. I cannot be sure about any special benefits to the corals like mineral supplementation (as claimed)as I have not done any scientific experimentation to prove otherwise. So far, my corals have responded well especially for desktop nano-reef set-ups, they 
(I should not be encouraging this)...delay water changes. I am also impressed by the informative booklet that accompanied the bottle and the precise instructions given to layman. One thing though...a friend conveniently poured some Geoliquid for plants into his reef and thought it will work the same but everything was wiped out, it affects the pH apparently if misused.
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If the whole tube is gone and your shrimp looks pink and healthy, it could have been eaten
However, featherduster worms can still live without the tube which they abandon and can still bury themselves "######" in the sand. The tube could have been eaten but till the body is found.... 
just to raise hopes a little -
Coco worms and fan worms are actually all tube building polychaetes, while fan worms make soft tubes of sand and mucous, Coco worms, like Christmas tree worms secrete calcareous tubes. The same applies to Coco worms, once they drop the feathery head, don't dump the tube if you can see the operculum(red plug thingy), they are still alive and will re-grow in two to three weeks. I always put them in the sump or refugium for re-grow.
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Hi there, I have a 1.5 ft Lionfish FOWLR set-up some time ago at the shop but dismantled already due to changes in retail space use...it was fun
Some things I learnt from the set-up that I hope will be useful.
1. Do not put lions of very different size together, the smaller will be eaten if it fits the mouth.
2. I would advice not to put them with triggers or big wrasses, tend to nip at their fins and snatch their food, Anthony's lucky to have a nice clown trigger
3. Try to give them subdued lighting, Lions are naturally nocturnal fish
4. Feed sparingly, once in three days or a week as they often overeat and die
5. The hardiest that I have kept is the P.Volitans (the black version) but they grow big. The dwarf zebras are also quite tough. Avoid the P.antennae with the nice thin white finnage as they often fail to survive the collection process. Fish with white entrails and blur eyes should never be purchased
Enjoy your set-up, it will capture lots of attention, just don't overfeed them to please curious spectators.
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Hi Calvin, no CSI
but I have a few suggestions as to what might have happened. Featherduster worms secrete their own tube to live in, and have the tendency to abandon home when threatened, they often bury themselves in the sand and will re-appear to feed some time later...these fellows don't own a tube no more and are prone to attacks (though rare) by your boxer shrimp. If they are still alive and in the tube (can feel with your fingers), that means they merely dropped the feeding appendages(the feather) and will re-grow in time, dead worms are often found hanging limp out of their tubes. Hope that helps!
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very interesting idea indeed, such collaborations between hobbyists and retailers can indeed be possible if the new equipment is feasible for manufacture, the cost of production can be high sometimes because of material costs or just simply making the cast or mould.
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Hi there, making your own LR is indeed a small but significant step towards conservation,
there are actually some farms off Fiji and Hawaii that are "planting" these man-made LR in the seas (harvested after 2 years). I tried myself with the artificial lava rock (residual haematite I think) which is very porous but somehow, calcareous red algae just wouldn't grow.
However, will be happy to actually try it out with the cement and stuff as I have an empty 6Ft Fibre in my backyard...all of you interested can come do this as a tiny project to provide an alternative LR source for reefers. .....its a small step, but all journeys start with one small step, ... as a retailer who started off as a hobbyist, I want the marine hobby to go on..and on ...and on... 
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Hi, I hate to say this but I think the poor fellow has clownfish disease
or Brookylnella hostilis. According to references from "Dr Aqua" affected fish develop body lesions, excessive slime secretion, and increased respiration. In the early stages of the disease all that is noticed is an abnormal paleness of color and a rapid breathing rate. As the disease worsens, lesions will be observed on the body, with sloughing of the skin and mucus. The development of a secondary infection with bacteria often accompanies infestation with the parasite. Clownfish Disease is capable of killing fish within 24 to 36 hours after appearance of the signs of scratching and heavy respiration. Recommended medication : Formalin or Malachite Green (reef safe), normally sold as a medication for ectoparasites. Can try AZOO or Myxzin..if contain copper, make sure you have no invertebrates in tank
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Well, have to agree that simplicity helps and following the old "water change on a regular basis" advice puts things in balance and extends the life of our aquatic pets....as hobbyists, i think we need to give our pets a little more attention and time..
the guilty one speaking here... -
Hi there, just to add my two cents worth...
The filter box at the bottom can serve as additional space for biological filtration, some hobbyists have converted it to a refugium for microbes and macroalgae to break down the waste and suck up the nitrates...it also aerates the water since most people allow a trickle plate to exist over the filter wool(sea water holds 20 times less oxygen than freshwater at the same temperature). If you want a FOWLR tank, pack it up with LR for the biological filtration, I have over 100kg of LR and of sand in my 6ft at home. Add a good skimmer to take out the urine and excess proteins., pack good activated carbon to take out the yellowing compounds in the water and on a personnal note, add a good UV sterilizer switched on 24x7 to keep the disease out.
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Hi there Power Blue, looks like you have caught the "back to nature" wind started by Leng Sy for the mud refugium...great to know that hobbyists are concerned about the usefulness of nature's cleaners, the red mangroves. I stay in Pasir Ris and if you need seedlings and hate to get wet, go into the nature walk near the resort and you can pick them from the sides of the board walk...mangroves can be effective removers of excess nitrates and should work well...want more info, go read up the March issue of Aquarium Fish Magazine at Kinokuniya...got a good article on Mangroves, apparently, they use them in freshwater tanks too in US.
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Oh forgot...
anemones have predators, butterfly fishes eat them and munch on the stinging tentacles for snacks....some slugs(nudibranchs) eat them to get their stings. Give anemones enough light, try PL or higher intensity FL and you can give them supplemental feeding...I use a long wooden chopsticks and stuff a little piece of frozen or freezedried prawn into their mouths once a week to keep them happy -
Well, if you are sure it has not disintegrated, then it must be deflated and in some crevice somewhere. Anemones deflat to expel "dirty" water and that brownish slime from their insides periodically. They have the habit of roaming around and have a liking for strong current, especially pump outlets. They move around by detaching their base and simply float in the current... that sometimes lead to their base or tentacles getting stuck in pump inlets and they get disintegrated alive
Some species however, move less..eg like the sand anemones, tube anemones and carpets...tend to stick to the sand bed. Those with purple or red backsides(bubble or sabae species) roam around more and reach out for the light from some tight contorted position in a crevice in the LR.
Monitor the conditions of your tank...if the fellow is dead and disintegrates it fouls and collaspes the system...and the floating stings(nematocysts) can still sting your fishes when they dislodge and float in the water.
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Don't give up yet....
I have a solution to help hobbyists with problems looking after their pets while away...a new service is in the pipeline for our customers...look out for the news in our website at www.eaquarist.com...like what they say in the movie Galaxy Quest, "NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER!" 
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Hi there, so sad to hear that the fellow is not feeding...
If the live ghost shrimps don't work...the fish is in trouble....I have to agree with kelstorm that the lionfish could have been caught by cyanide, as a retailer, I have cut orders for them whenever the suppliers are suspected of cyanide use. How to tell...this is what I think you should look out for before buying one...DO NOT BUY IF...
Look at the eyes, are they blurr when they should be clear
They cling to the sides of the tank all the time, even when the net comes near. Cyanide has affected their nervous response, too weak to care. They should be repositioning themselves to strike with their spines
Got white faeces clinging to their backsides--liver failure
Got a bulging full stomach when the rest of the body looks emaciated--internal organs damaged and inflammed
Hope these info are useful
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Wow..glad to see the mass inflow of advice from hobbyists, this forum is really getting HOT!
Very good advice I must say and to add my two cents worth, I totally agree that feeding of lionfishes should be done periodically...I feed mine (volitans, mandarin and zebra)just once a week or else they overeat and die. This mimicks more of their natural behaviour as food does not come by easy and they hunt in packs at night. Research on mice have also shown that periodic starvation actually forces the body to adapt and survive longer....interesting eh? I have weaned my lionfishes to take even freeze-dried prawns from the surface but to train them you must starve them a day or two first...
Feed them all sorts of sea food, they need the balanced diet of proteins and lipids from sea sources. They love a little action so I feed them live ghost shrimp once a while.
And another point to note...never keep a small lionfish with a big one, especially not "mouth size", these fellows are cannabalistic
and eat their kind. -
Was offered a chance to own one by a "private collector" some years ago at just $300, but delined the offer because I had no idea
how to keep it. Bought a VCD later (BBC Doumentary) at $1.99 and found out more about their feeding and breeding conditions...not easy...anyway, just to let you know, keeping the leafy sea dragon is ILLEGAL without a licence from the Australian government....please don't try...not worth the risk! See it at the underwater world, they got it because of special approval from the Aussies.
Query on T5s
in Product Reviews
Posted
Hi, I have T5 lights installed for all my retail displays and no, they are cool like normal FLs and not scorching like MHs. The lights are called T5 because of their thinner diameter than the normal FLs. They are energy saving and produce more output for a lower wattage. As regards to spectrum, I noticed a pinkish hue in my Arcadia T5s too when switched on....could be the coloured phosphorus powder coating's reaction to the starting up process.
Not a technical person really but can read more in last year end issues of FAMA or TFH on this, remember seeing some reviews.