tigerkayu

U're right. Its a Taiwan brand. I guess u get what u pay. The brown blotches I think are signs of stress. The message here is: just another something for us to check other than the standard water quality, when ur fish do not look well.

I lost a powder blue, juvenile emperor, long-nose butterfly & a saddleback, all within a space of 1 week. I previously posted two related topics prior to this: brown blotches on powder blue & frayed & torn fins. I think I finally know why. At the risk of starting a debate (because the LFS did not agree), my conclusion: not water quality (0 nitrite & low nitrates), not diseases (no white spots), but electricity!! And the culprit: a submersible powerhead that is faulty. I stumbled on this when i first notice a 'tingling' sensation, almost like an ant bite when I touched the water of my refugium (mine is a 6ft tank with overflow). Apparently, salt water can conduct electricity and the water flow almost 'acts' like an electrical wire to my top tank. Glass tank is a non-conductor, hence the electric voltage remain in the tank until u touch the water. Your body then acts as conductor for electricity to flow to the ground. The 'brown blotches' on the powder blue I believe were stress signs. The frayed & torn fins were bacterial infection as a result of weakened body condition of the fish. Apparrently, the bigger fish were more affected. All the fish that died were at least 4". Smaller fishes were spared. My flame angel were starting to have torn tails. Fortunately, that was when I discovered the problem. After changing the powerhead, the flame angel have completely recovered & I've no more deaths for almost a month now. I just wanted to post this to raise the awareness & not to take submersible appliance for granted. I understand that submersible heaters (rare in our climate) can even threaten your life.

Well, just when I thought I had ich under control, a number of my fishes starts to have frayed/torn tails & fins. Are these bacterial infection, fungus or what? Also noticed some of the fishes often stay stationary against the powerhead. What's bothering them?

Hi, I do have some experience with flame angel. Can be quite aggressive once they've established themselves, but usually to new additions after them. So, the rule is, add the most aggressive fish in your long term plan last. Plenty of hiding places help, but if u have meek fish like chromis or anthias, they'll just hide without eating. Since u are adding flame angel after having the anthias, I don't think there will be trouble. Not sure about the firefishes.

Thks AT, Do u advocate regular water change? I thought the advantage of large systems is that there is less need for water change. Since my nitrates are rising, I have no choice but to do water change & large tank ( 6ft x 2 x 2.5)= large water changes!! But most books still recommend regular water changes regardless of tank size. Do u still need to do water changes if u manage to control nitrates with macroalgae in sump? Do u also advocate lowering specific gravity to 1.017 to get rid of parasite?

Hi, anybody with experience with powder blue tang. Mine develop brownish blotches on the skin after one week. Mine is a fish only 6ft tank set up 1.5 month old. The PBT is about 5 - 6 inch, very aggressive, good appetite. When I bought it, the complexion was very pale blue, but very even. Now, the skin looks the equivalent of acne. It scratches occassionally, which I think added to the skin damage. I'm stump whether its water quality problem, parasite problem or diet problem. Nitrite is low. Nitrate is low but rising (I think algae in sump have not taken off yet). I feed frozen & live brine shrimp, frozen mysis, flakes & seaweed. Lately, I've started soaking food in crushed garlic. Help anybody?

Tanzy & all, there may be hope for me. Managed to extract this from a website. "Corals tolerate a narrow temperature range between 25 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius depending on location. Corals bleach in response to prolonged temperature change and not due to rapidly fluctuating temperatures. Lab experiments show that corals bleach when water reaches a constant 32 degrees Celsius (Brown and Ogden, 1993). Experiments have shown that an increase in UV light causes coral bleaching. UV light experienced by corals can increase in calm waters. The amount of mycosporine-like amino acids in a coral's tissues helps to determine how much UV it can withstand without bleaching (Gleason, 1993). " I think worth experimenting.

Harlequin, I see that we can be immediate friends. (there I go offending Luo Han fans again) I see many adverts of people giving up Luohan hobby & trying to sell them away. What are these people thinking of? If as cheap as ikan bilis, I might try them with nasi lemak. AT, I see u are a diver. I just snorkel to appreciate the corals & have snorkeled at the more popular areas like Redang & Tioman. A friend told me Phi Phi is nice. From ur experience, which one u say is the best in M'sia & Thailand? Maybe wishful thinking...I was hoping there's a 'designated' area and 'non-designated' area. Wouldn't it be good to have another cheap source of LR?

Hi Phang, just want to ask about ur LR stacker. I'm keen to try this, so wanted to know if u satisfied with the stability & strength. Can they take a few kg of live rock? Will it topple easily if u accidentally brush hard against it? thks,

Tanzy, did u buy all those books? U have lots of money. Charles Delbeek & Julian Sprung book so expensive. Is it much more worth it than Eric Borneman which is much cheaper? I have Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner which I think is also good for beginner, & is not in ur list.

AnakJoh, just curious.. how's the interest in Marine fish/reef in M'sia, especially KL? I do not mean to offend LuoHan fans, I know Luohan has a following in M'sia too and I just don't get it. Don't see the beauty of a fish with a bruised head (just take a hammer & knock ??) M'sia have plentiful coral reefs. Anybody making a living collecting liverocks, corals, fishes? Is it legal?

for those with lots of experience with corals. If we intend to keep corals from warm tropical & shallow waters, do we need chillers? Any idea what's the temperature like in this condition and how does it compare with our room temperature? Reason I ask is this. Chiller is an expensive investment. As a newbie, I'm not ready yet to throw money on a chiller. My water temp. without chiller can be maintained around 29 - 30 deg C. I'm trying to challenge the assumption that u need chiller to keep corals, because surely there are many available corals able to survive in warmer waters? I'll be happy if anybody can provide a few species that can.

Hi everyone, Tigerkayu here. Age 39, hitting the big 4 very soon. Am I the oldest or what? Married with 3 kids & working in a bank. A friend asked me to check out this site. I expect him to join soon. But really, I've been very impressed. With the site, & the knowledge & experience of the members. I think the pioneers like AT is doing a very good job. My marine aquarium experience is just about 4-5 mths. But sadly, I was already responsible for a number of fish death... I've got a number of books: Robert Fenner, John Tullock & Michael Paletta. But there are things here u wouldn't find in books & I do believe knowledge & experience shouldn't come from ang moh only. So...ok. I definitely will start posting on some threads soon.