SubzeroLT

Thanks. I'm likely to get them. Right now they are generally under control but if the tank is neglected (like what's been going on the past weeks), then thge aiptasia show up again.

+1 on AquaUV 25w for 3ft tank. Bulb life is 14 months

You can have a valve on the reactor. Slow down the flow to maintain the right levels Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Lovely!! Next will need to show how full your frag tank is.

I have an Apogee PAR meter. Sent you a PM

Lovely! Even though you mentioned no direct sunlight, there is still good levels of light reaching the corals. Very sure the corals are benefitting from it. All looks to be doing so well. More pics please

The past 3 water change weekends (once every 2 weeks) has been about attempting to remove pest growth from the tank. i.e. aiptasia, vermatid snails & bubble algae. Realistically i don't expect to get rid of them entirely using 'manual' method but objective is just to keep it under control. Looks to be working. Bubble Algae : I saw this idea online & decided to 3D print it. Its basically a long tip with a sharp from edge for lifting bubble algae from the rocks. All of it is siphoned through a 9/12mm hose that goes into a bucket. I don't have major issues with bubble algae. No huge chuncks but just some sporadic bubbles here & there. If these are not removed, they will continue to grow. To reduce the risk of the waste bucket overflowing because I may be too busy concentrating with siphoning stuff in the tank, I use a DIY water level alarm (float switch with a buzzer). Verdict of the tool : Makes it a lot easier to confidently remove bubble algae. Almost of of the bits get siphoned out & little or non drifts away. For aiptasia, I prefer to use a pipette & not the syringe/needle that comes with AiptasiaX. Pipette is longer (easier to inject at difficult to reach places) and does not clog so easily. Use about 3 pipette worth each time for my tank size. General method is apply before water change. Wavemaker & return pump off. Lights off entirely & shine with super bright torchlight (easer to see than with tank lights on). For vermatid snails, this tool that came with the Ecotech fragging kit works best. The design is referred to as a "sponge forecep" in case you want to search for it online. Long enough to reach in to break off the vermatid snail shell. Then leave it to the leopard wrasse to pick them off.

Saw this idea online & decided to make one. Bubble algae removal tool. Connected to a hose. Dig out the bubble algae with the sharp tip & siphon the bubble out whole. Or if its broken, the bits is siphoned out immediately.

I really envy how clean your sump is.

IMO, investing in an RODI system just makes things more convenient - a critical factor to enjoy the hobby. ICP done on local tap water shows some levels of phosphate & other salts. Having an RODI system helps ensure you reset it to a known baseline (i.e. 0TDS water). Not a must.....but good to have. RO filters will generate some waste water. That's simply how it works. But do remember that the 'waste' water can also be collected to be repurposed for other use (and not waste it). The other way to look at it is that water in SGP is not all that expensive. 1000L of water is about S$1.46

Thanks. I think tank transfer method is the least stressful for the fish. No harsh chemicals like copper is used (which suppresses appetite). Prazi will suppress appetite but its not administered all the time when incorporated with tank transfer method. You just need to make sure the temperature/salinity of the new water is the same as the old water. The only 'stress' is when you catch them out. Anthias are finicky eaters but they should take to mysis shrimp quite quickly.

Good choice of equipment & Waterbox tank! For quarantine, my personal preference is not to medicate with copper. One safe method is to use tank transfer method for ich irradication (stay ahead of the ich life cycle) + incorporate with Prazi (dewormer) towards the end of the tank transfer cycle. The process can be found on the regular US forums.

Lovely!! Must see in person one day

Memorable & possibly last visit to Coral Farm over the weekend. Going to miss the place. Got a couple of invertebrates Got a tiny serpent starfish (ophiolepis superba) to take care of detritus in the rocks. A sea cucumber (holothuria edulis) And some bumblebee snails to take care of vermatid snails and detritus. Did some relayout of equipment in the sump. Moved the ATO container outside the cabinet & moved the Kalk stirrer inside. The sulfur reactor is working well so far. The black stuff seems to appear when its exposed to light. The other side of the reactor that faces the sump is clean & yellow. Nitrates running around 2-5ppm. Not bad for quite heavy feeding. Right now i'm feeding frozen food equivalent to about 5 mysis shrimp cubes a day + pellets.

Congrats on embarking on this journey. Fun days ahead. A couple of points : Refractometer - I hope you got the optical refractometer (not the swing arm type which is inaccurate). Since you will be using a cooling fan, there will be a lot of evaporation per day. An auto top off system is probably necessary. For corals, what do you have in mind? Suggestion is to start with zoanthids, Green Star Polyp (GSP) & duncans. Then proceed to other colorful LPS later on. It really depends on your system setup to be able to support it. Personally I'd avoid things like leather toadstools (release a lot of toxins in a small tank)

There was discussion recently with reefers about calcium reactor setup. Some advocate not requiring a PH probe but rely only on Carbon Doser or 'tuning' methods only. My opinion is that pH probe is not required for 'normal' operation. But it a pH monitoring is still required to catch issues. In this example, the CR is running perfectly fine for a long time. But suddently experienced a slowdown & finally clogged. Perhaps its its a snowball effect. Once the effluent starts to slow down, the internal pH decreases & the effluent becomes more 'concentrated'. It then tends to precipitate more easily leading to further clogs? With Apex Neptune, you are able to be notified when it clogs, shuts off the CO2 & sends you an email. The issue can then be rectified immediately. The corresponding effluent slow down affected tank alkalinity level & the effect was also observed on Alkatronic's KH reading. Typically KH will be about 8.4dKH at 8am in the morning. But with the clog triggered at 12.30am last night, alkalinity was at 8.14dKH this morning instead. Usually i'll open up the effluent a little more for half a day to alkalinity catch up. Then reduce it back to original set point to maintain.

Yes...its about open palm size now. Big bully.

Maintenance weekend update. Checked my phosphates about 3 days after the rowaphos change. Dropped from 0.22ppm to 0.110ppm. Good rate of drop. Not too drastic. Cleaned up the wavemakers. Simple soak in AE Cleanse (Citric Acid solution) for about 2hrs each & just scrub off all the coraline algae with ease. I noticed my Clarisea filter fleece alarm going off a couple of times this week. But this time, it was because the water level didn't rise & did not trigger the float switch for extended periods of time. Found out the root cause -> The fleece was flipped up at one corner allowing water to pass through without going through the fleece. Caused by a large vermatid snail on the bottom roller. A closer view Its a good time to give the clarisea a thorough clean up. All resolved after that. Glad to see all 9 recent fish from Pinnacle (4 blue eye anthias, 2 blue star leopard wrasse & 3 firefish goby) make it & feeding well on pallet food now. Pic of the resident fish eating seaweed.

Measured phosphates today at 0.22ppm. Its been hovering around the 0.2ppm range the past month. Time to replace the rowaphos. As mentioned before, best to use a tall reactor. This allows space on top for the rowa to tumble without exiting the reactor. For me, i'll typically fill it up to about this height (1/3 of the reactor). Then rinse thoroughly with RODI to get rid of fine dust. After about 3-4L of rinsing, its ready to go into the tank. Recently I don't rinse it that thoroughly anymore as I found a way to just filter out the fine particles as it flows out during the 1st 1-2 minutues. I make a small disposable filter sock out of extra Clarisea fleece material (25 microns) using an impact sealer. Then hold it at the outlet of the reactor as the flow is turned on. Slow slow initially until full flow is reached. If the filter is fully loaded (clogged) before the reactor is clear, I'll just rinse it under the tap & reuse. The clarisea filter fleece is perfect for catching the fine particles. Quick rinse under the tap and its good to go again.

Got 9 fish over the weekend from Pinnacle (Thanks Edwin for picking nice ones! ) - 1 male + 3 female Blue Eye Anthias, 2 Blue Star Leopard Wrasse & 3 Flame Firefish Goby. I actually have resident fish of all 3 types in my tank but wanted to add more to mimick a vibrant and thriving reef (wishful thinking). Thankfully there wasn't any serious agression beyond the initial 30 minutes. All peaceful now. And all fish are feeding already. Blue Eye Anthias : Blue Star Leopard Wrasse Current fish stock : Purple Tang Yellow Tang x 2 Atlantic Blue Tang Blue Tang Blue Eye Anthias 1x male, 4x female Blue Star Leopard Wrasse 3x female 6 line wrasse x 2 Yellow watchman Goby 1x male, 1x female Yellow Firefish Goby x5 Starry Blenny Adam's Damsel - 8 Mandarin Dragonet 1x male, 1x female Red Scooter Mandarin 1x male, 1x female Ocellaris Clownfish 2x male, 1x female Flame Hawk Banggai Cardinal x2 Hmmm... 41 fish Other recent addition are Cristata torch. They have shorter tentacles and a unique translucent color. Here are some pics of the ones from Coral Fanatics :

I'm using Alkatronic, Mastertronic & Apex on my system. Each does a different thing. Specifically for Mastertronic, it simplifies the testing regime. One key factor in this hobby is to prevent mistakes or at least to catch it early. Both the Alkatronic & Mastertronic do this effectively. As I've often said, what gets measured gets done. One nice thing about the Mastertronic is that you can set the interval to whatever you like and not forced to test too regularly. Interval for each parameter can be different depending on the needs of the tank. Accuracy so far is spot on.

Switching off the light for few days can reduce the algae growth rate. I meant you can reduce the light level long term as well.

Is this a FOWLR or do you have corals as well? Look into ways to reduce nitrates. 100 is quite high. Not good for the livestock long term as well. Are your lights very bright & on for long hours? Light is a key contributor to this green algae. Also look into livestock that eat algae. Tangs, snails are good options.

Did some housekeeping of equipment in the sump. Took most of the external reactors out for a good wipe down & inspection. Installed a set of AquaUV clips. This design is slim yet robust. Holds up very well. Close up Installed a 2nd set of holders for the power supply as well. The power supply is lighter than the main UV unit and placed on the narrow vertical pillar of the cabinet. Hence i'm using another design that has a narrower foot print and the screws on the side (less convenient). But that's OK since the power supply does not need to be removed for maintenance. I also got a new CO2 regulator by CO2 Art. I've used brands like ANS, Ocean Free & Intense. The CO2 Art one is by far the best regulator so far. Key features : 12V DC solenoid (runs cooler). Replaceable regulator in case it spoils (no need to change out the entire regulator). The silicone O ring is very thick. Looks robust. And a 2nd replacement O ring is provided as well Comes with an integrated bubble counter Adjustable working pressure. Though this is useful for freshwater planted tank who use high pressure diffusers, we marine keepers don't really need this feature. The default 'low' pressure setting will suffice. Most importantly, the needle valve knob is very smooth. It has some kind of friction feature within that does not allow it to run off on its own. The only downside of the CO2 Art solenoid is that its quite big. Note its sticks out horizontally by quite a bit. So make sure you have space for it. The brand has several models. This particular one is CO2 Art PRO-SE. Got it from ReefmarketSG for $193.

Your tank looks to be doing very well. Love the flame hawks. They have such interesting personality especially with their moving eyeballs.