marcvelous

Hi Cedric and All, I currently have a 5" DSB of grade 0 sand and 45 kg of live rocks in my main tank. In my refrigium, I have a 6" DSB with the 4 rocks of marco-algae that I mentioned. The coral sand/chips that I bought is placed in the first section of my sump where the overflow first contacts. In fact, with the two bags of the sand/chips that I bought, I am able to get a 5" thick bed of sand/chips. (Can anyone tell by the picture if I have coral sand or chips? ) Are all these sufficient to help my nitrate problem? Sorry for my last question... shot it off without much thinking. I have been told that I can put fishes in already coz my NH4 = 0 and NO2 is 0.3. Just wanted assurance so that my pets-to-be don't suffer. No offense meant but I think I am quite right to say that with sufficient time, all questions pertaining to this hobby will have been covered by the members here. If asking questions that have already been answered is frowned upon , what is the purposes of setting up a forum? Might as well start a knowledge base a.k.a. Microsoft with all the answers! Will we end up with a forum that no ones asks and none answers coz of this "use-the-search-engine" policy or will this site evolve into a knowledge base with people only talking about ######, politics and objectionable subjects in the Kopi-Tiam? Was that why the setting up of an Adults-Only section is needed? Or wanted? I don't know that 's why I ask. Anyone who answers my questions are already superior to me (in knowledge). No flames and no need to put me down. I kow-tow to all of you first

No offence meant, AT. Just what is he supposed to know by smelling the rock? How does it help answer his qn and help remedy his problem?

Hi All, Have a tank for slightly more than two weeks already. Still left it in the cycling stage even though NH4 is zero and NO2 is 0.3mg/l. Went to a LFS with a friend last week and managed to talk to the guy about my high nitrate problem. The guy at the shop recommended that I use some coral sand. Novice and gu-gu me bought two bags and put in my sump. Actually they look like coral chips to me but since I don't know anything so just bought. My questions: 1. is it true that coral sand help GET RID of nitrate problem while coral chip ADD to it? 2. LFS also recommended that I buy a bottle of AZ-NO3. Anyone heard of this product? Is it any good? 3. What is the difference between coral chip and coral sand? 4. I have 4 rocks of macro-algae in my sump/refrigium. What other ways to get rid of nitrate naturally? 5. How will I know when is it absolutely safe to put in fishes and corals?

when I saw the title of the thread I thought it's the result of my gf knowing how much I spent on my tank, or for that matter, the result of reefers' partners knowing how much they had spent on their tanks ... heheheh

IMO, you can easily get a 3 MegaPixel camera with zoom from either Canon and/or Olympus that will sit comfortably within your budget. Also, these two brands are by far the easiest to start with for beginners. Try to refrain from Nikon or Fuji until and unless you are looking for some special features. The slim types you see usually advertised on TV no doubt look nice and are very handy to carry around but you need a very steady hand to operate the functions and while taking pictures as they are no ergonomically designed. Most of your zoom shots will not turn out nice. For your consideration

thanks bro, any idea how much does the resun cl300 costs? Also, what and how much is the next available alternative? Since the temperature only goes up in the weekends when the centralised air-con is not on, I only intend to activate the chiller in the weekends, especially Sunday (with an electronic timer)

Hi all, Happy New Year To Everyone (and let's say keep it that way...!) Currently owns a 3 x 1.5 x 2ft tank with a 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5ft sump. I am using a Eheim 1200l/h power head as return pump. My Questions are: 1. Is my return pump powerful enough to support my tank? (I was told it isn't enough and that explains my post in the pasar malam looking to buy more powerful return pumps) 2. The water temperature howvers around 26~28 degrees during the day ON WEEKDAYS as I have the tank in my office. Once, I noticed that the water temperature was 30 degrees on a Sunday (centralised air-con). Do I need to get a chiller? If yes, what power rating and can anyone recommend a cheap and reliable brand? 3. Am also told that I need light for my sump's refrigium. What should I use? How much does it cost? Please pardon me but I am so new at this and have started to become terrified at the seemingly never-ending cost of my setup. So any experienced, penny-wise and constructive inputs are most welcome!

HI, Need to buy a return pump for my 3 x 1.5 x 2ft tank as don't think current Eheim 1200 is enough. Any advice? Potential sellers pls post pics and cost. If you can advise on period of ownership and condition will be best!

I've got 11 snails (7 small and 4 big, and that's not counting the many small baby snails that popped out of nowhere) I don't have this probem. Mmm.... hope never to have this problem!

Hi All and thanks for your help so far! As mentioned before, I left my tank to cycle with only sand (5 inches worth in the main and 6 inchces in the sump), live rocks and water to cycle for the past 2 weeks. I did dump two dead prawns to try and kick-start the ammonia levels. They have since disintegrated into nothing... There was basically nothing in my tank until 3 days ago when I added the snails. Since then, I have noticed more and more baby snails appearing on the glass walls of my tank (gosh they are so tiny that I probably wouldn't have noticed them on the rocks or sand anyway ). Which is why I asked if they are spawning and seeing that my water parameters are not great, just how and what induced this appearance of baby snails? As for the suggestion on getting a denitrator, well, you can call me idealistic or cheapo but I wish to setup a tank where things are more or less balanced the natural way (is this even possible?!?!?) without the excessive use of machines. I already have 2 rocks of macro-algae in my sump. How many more should I add? Is tere anything else that I can add or do? Thanks again!!!

Forgot to add that my PO4 levels are 0,1mg using a Sera test kit Anyone can shed light on question 2? BTW, how long is the cycling going to take? Is there really no way to speed up the process? Some LFS guy told me that having more marco algae and sea lettuce in my refrigium will help me bring down the nitrate level. Is this true?

Hi All, Just started this hobby recently Here's my setup: Main tank 3 x 1.5 x 2ft with internal overflow (handful of bio-balls in my overflow partition) Sump tank 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5ft (3 partitions; centre partition trying to setup refrigium with 6 inch sand bed and 2 rocks of macro algae) Weipro protein skimmer (in sump) Eheim return pump (in sump) Astro power head (in main tank) 45kg of live rocks (main tank) 5 inch DSB (main tank) 4 x big snails (main tank) 2 x small snails (main tank) My water parameters are: NH3 - Not tested yet NO2 - 1.0mg N03 - Off the chart Salinity - 1.022 pH - 8.3 Temp - constantly between 26~28 degrees Notes: My tank has been cycling for 2 weeks already. Just added the snails 3 days ago. No fishes or corals yet. My questions are: 1. I noticed several carcasses of small crabs on the sand bed and believe that they must be from the rocks. Why did they die and is this a bad sign? 2. I also noticed a "worm" around 7cm long (it escaped before I could catch it). The body of this "worm" is somewhat flat and many small/fine legs can be observed at its sides. IMO, it looks somewhat like a centipede. What is this? Will it harm my other lifestock when they are eventually introduced? If so, how do I get rid of it? 3. What are turbo snails? Are there any difference between normal snails and turbo snails? 4. I've noticed that small baby snails has been appearing in my tank ever since I added the snails in 3 days ago . Are my snails spawning? Considering my water parameters, how is it possible that they find the condition healthy enough to spawn? 5. Any suggestions to speed up the cycling process, especially to get the nitrate levels down so that I may add some fishes in soon? Any constructive suggestions or helpful opinions are very very much appreciated!!! Many thanks in advance!

To adopt a cat, simply grab some kittens off the streets. It's better than to have them run around the estate and get squashed by cars (seen too many times liao) Best is if you can get them immediately after they are off their mum's milk. sterilize them too or you will find your female cats caterwauling when they grow bigger. As mentioned, many cats will also visit your home in search of a mate. No such problem if they (both male and female) are sterilized Good luck

dunno if you are talking about the 1 x 150MH my friend bought off one of the reefers. if so, then too bad!!! kekekeke

Ahhh... But since I will have no use for the triggerfish I don't want to buy one only to have to dispose of it (humanely, of course) at a later date

Thank you all for the useful information. Please keep it coming if anyone else has anything helpful (i.e. NOT pouring kerosene or Dettol). But I know RAV-65 personally so that's just his kiddy-ness at work. Please take no notice! There's a reefer who mentioned in one of the threads that some of the "weeds" are a form of anemone that replicate very quickly thus my concern. One thing that hasn't been addressed thus far are slugs/worms. As mentioned, I found one who escaped before I can capture it. Are these useful or should I try and evict it?

Me thinks the first procupine puffer died due to stress and not coz it wriggled into a hole. Correct me if I am wrong but when marine fish die, it find itself a nice quiet resting place (where available) to do it instead of floating up to the surface of the water. Well, even if the procupine died as a result of wriggling itself into a hole, you can rest easy knowing that you HAD a real puffer that puffed itself to death!!! Muhahahah!!! And me thinks you forgot to mention the other casualty --- the cowfish

I know... the same place where I went with you to buy your green WHICH SWALLOWED YOUR BABY BOXFISH!!! Muhahahahah!!!!

Wah... your green bubble swallowed your mini boxfish ah?! Wahahahahahah!!! Maybe you can try poking your bubble with pin or needle so that you can burst your bubble to save your boxfish! Be careful though, bursting bubbles can be addictive, much like popping bubble wrap!

Hi, Any ideas on how best to remove these aiptasias? I think I might have the same problem (as I am also new at this) so any advbice would be immensely helpful! thanks

Hi All, Thanks for the help rendered on my thread in DSB. Now that my new tank is filled withy sand and water, here comes the next step --- Life Rocks. Just bought some LRs from LFS. Am told by a friend that red-coloured rocks are better than dull/grey coloured coz of some type of algae. How much will this redness affect my tank? Anyways, the LRs have some weeds on them. Plucked as much as I could while at the LFS and back before putting them in my tank. Some weeds are still apparent (but darn hard to remove) and are rather unsightly. Any ideas on how I can get rid of them safely? Perhaps some fish(es) to eat them up? Will they grow back? If yes, how to prevent this? I also remember reading/hearing somewhere that it is best to remove the various lifeforms residing within the rocks, e.g. slugs, crabs, etc. How will these lifeforms affect my tank? I managed to remove one slug-like creature from one of my rocks but one other (slug) and a tiny crab escaped into the safe confines of the rocks before I could get them. For those interested, I am now trying to run my tank in. I have a 3 x 1.5 x 2ft tank. Sand bed (main tank) is approx 4.5 inches. Water consists mainly of seawater bought from LFS (some parts I mixed myself with seasalt). I now have approx 28kg of rocks. I hope to introduce some LS slowly in only in the new calender year after I have tested the water to be stable and alright. Any advice is welcome as long as it is relevant and helpful! Many thanks in advance!

The DSB I am asking about is for the main tank. Do I need any particular arrangements for the sump too? I have been advised to have a DBS of at least 6 inches for the sump. I am planning to have DSB of approx 4 inches for my main tank. Are these good enough? What are the diferences in DSB for the main and sump? Please enlighten me!

The packaging for the undergravel sand filter (it pumps OUT water to "stir" the sand, not suck water for filtration, as opposed to the fresh water aquarium version) says that it is built for marine tanks. Of course that can be just advertisement material. Now now, since no reefer here knows about or uses it, I can safely reckon it struck out. For the DSB, do I really have to use mesh in-between the layers of sand? How does it help? Can I just use sand and nothing else? Reefers here care to share your (relevant) setups and experience with DSBs with me?

Bro, How many LR you have? Please PM, email or SMS (90234036) me! Thanks!

Hi All, I am a newbie at this and have been talking to several people on setting up a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) for my new 3ft (L) 1.5ft (W) 2 (H) tank. Some has told me that I don't need anything, except to pour grade 0 at the bottom and grade 1 on top (ratio approx. 80:20). I have read somewhere in this forum that some people put mesh or nets for every inch of grade 0 sand. When I talked to the people in Rainbow over the weekend, they recommended that I use undergravel sand filters. These are collections of pipes that when assembled, rests at the bottom of the tank in multiple S-es, covered by the sand. Water is pumped through and escapes from the pipes so that the sand is "rotated". The person claims that this helps prevent buid-up/collection of unsavoury waste in the DSB. (They cost around $90 minus the pumps needed to drive water through them!!!) Now, I do not need very fanciful nor expensive setups. What I want is a healthy living environment for my lifestock so that they don't die as a result of controllable factors. I will upgrade my equipment as and when necessary but basics first, please. Can the experts/veterans tell me what I need? Many thanks in advance!