fongster

you can get those big boxes from Sealife in Balestier one box contains 3 big pcks

s/n nick Location 1. bukitimah Bukit Timah 2. minireef bukit batok 3. Reddevils Holland Grove 4. Sapp - Boon Lay Drive 5. Xersion Jurong West 6. Dleecool - Clementi 7. iantoh- bukit timah 8. dominik - bukit batok central 9. kusboy - Jurong West 10. Hobgoblin - Bukit Batok East 11. Idefix - Pasir Panjang 12. TntR2 - Bukit Panjang 13. brian38 - Bukit Batok 14. fongster - clementi west

there are a few things inside the control gear, capacitator, ignitor, ballast so it could be one of the different parts, not necessarily the ballast. my mh also did not light up so i opened up the control gear and spotted a melted cable and a malfunctioning ignitor so i went and got a new one and TADA working again.. only $20 if you send for repair, they would probably charge at least $30 including the labour cost, depending on what is spoilt.

it could be that the cause of the tiny particles are actually micro bubbles from your skimmer being introduced into your tank via the return pump you could try to filter the outflow from your skimmer using a filter bag so the bubbles will dissapate or line your return pump with sponge material, so that it does not suck anymore bubbles, if in fact micro bubbles is the cause. No harm trying !!

a few ways to mitigate the algae problem reduce nitrate and phophate by reducing feeding and introducing phosphate remover via FR use DI or distilled water mixed with synthetic salt to perform water changes reduce lighting hours increase water flow introduce sea hare, they are quite ferocious eaters and frequently they will clean out everything and have nothing left to eat, then starve slowly. so maybe can pass on to someone else. Warning sea hare frequently gets sucked into pump and die, so cannot have any strong pumps inside the tank itself.

they move very slowly, sifting the sand for food. Maybe those in the lfs were not healthy ? anyway they need sand to sift, if they are in an empty tank they will just stay still. you could also get sea urchins, sand gobies, sand dollar to clean up the sand if u do not fancy the stars

i heard that can get glass works done at kelantan road it would be good if you could get a sump done, sumps have alot of benefits... -protein usually collects at the top of the water column, but due to the overflow nature of the sump system, this is mitigated -a bigger system, in litres means a more stable system, the sump increases the volume of the marine system -more area to put pumps, skimmer what not -can include refugium or dsb even a few benefits of a sump

good advice from jem just a few things to add on.... singapore ambient room temp is about 30+ deg, so a mini fan could be used to bring down temp 2-3 deg anemone requires alot of light, you would require a strong light source. probably a mh

thanks bro

any pics to show?>

as above all replies much appreciated

Hi all replies much appreciated my 150mh ignitor short circuited so i need to find another one to replace no idea where to find many thanks

1 and a half weeks seem rather short, however it could be that the dosing of the bacteria starter helped alot. are you using a dsb or de-nitrator ? seems queer that even nitrate can drop. the way to test is to add an ammonia source again, either pure ammonia or decaying matter, if ammonia and no2 is 0 then cycle is complete, can do big water change and ... stock up fish at 1 fish per week.

that is a big change being 300L per week 10% weekly or a 15% fortnightly is actually enough provided that your water parameters are good, the change will replenish elements such as calcium and carbonates used up by coral. however you will need to test to keep up with changes, test kits such are calcium, alkalinity, magnesium is needed if you are keeping hard corals. you can add in trace elements and iodide to help the corals in general, but not absolutely required. Some would recommend adding a cap full of eco-bact water conditioner, not necessary if you have sufficient live rocks and substrate. important to keep tank ph and alkalinity stable, avoid major fluctuations.

if your tank is an empty tank then there is no need to run the chiller during cycling, true although the evaporation rate would increase but the speed of bacteria build up will be slower, so to hasten the process (i assume you want it to be faster) the chiller being off would benefit more. high nitrite shows that one portion of the cycle is complete. you do not want to reduce the nitrite in order to be able to continue cycling. different types of bacteria convert the different elements into nitrite and nitrate respectively. nitrosomas--> ammonia into nitrite nitrobacter--> nitrite into nitrate thus you will need nitrite to complete the cycle at least until the nitrate stage. you can theoratically further speed up the process by purchasing off shelf bacteria, however best is to leave the tank to its own devices and increase water contact with atmosphere, via airstone, etc, you will need places for bacteria to establish, be it, rocks, sand, bio-balls, bio-homme or even filter wool. after cycle is complete the bacteria will be residing in those materials. the bacteria will build up accordingly, waiting time about 2 weeks to a month depending on different tank situations. when ammonia and nitrite is 0 cycle is complete, nitrate will be higher and a significant water change can be performed. Subsequently fish can be added in at a recommended rate of one fish per week.

from west can get from polyart 24 hrs at c328 central can get from reborn

went there once before not many things there can get sand all grades some odd fishes, few tanks only so quite sparse then in the centre of the marine section there is a big container with soft corals nothing much

yes there is such a size, in freshwater fishkeeping a 2 by 1 by 1.5 is quite a common sight, esp due to many wrought iron stands also having a 2 by 1 footprint however the glass at 6mm is a tad thin, safer for marine tanks to be at least 10 mm you would need mechanical filtration, like pump and filter wool skimmer and lighting this is the minimum www.wetwebmedia.com is a good site for more knowlegde gathering

most likely the cause for the low ph is due to a low kh for immediate cure you can get seachem reef buffer 8.3, it stabilises your ph at 8.3 without fear of overdose. note during lighting hours and application of kalk its normal for ph to rise. you could buy seachem reef builder to boost your kh salifert kh+ph is also good suggest you get the alkalinity test kit asap to confirm low levels, you do not want to harm your tank more adversely

to test if tank is cycling, 1.test for ammonia and nitrate record findings, amm should always be 0 2.add ammonia, can buy ammonia, or can add decaying matter like a bit of few days old market prawn or something along that line(little bit will do; like a 1/8 of a prawn, do not overdo it) 3. if tank is sufficiently cycled, ammonia will remain at 0 and nitrate will go up. if tank is sufficiently cycled then no problems carrying out the rest of your plan, no need to purposely drain out 100% of water just make sure it is a significant change will do. when changing water do not leave your liverocks or sand exposed to air too much; if not will start to die.

In this case it is a unfair case as yet you need to add more salt to bring sg to 1.024-1.025 you do the tests again, that is a better measure of the salt the weight of the salt you added is according to the instructions but then again every single commercial salt is mixed to around 1.019 according to instructions on the packet. So if the packet says you can mix 190 litres, most probably you are looking at around 160+-, it is a manufacturers gimmick, no big deal however your salt at 1.017 is still very low Ca, kh also is down a bit you can invest in a better salt. better salts to choose would be marine environment or tropic marine but the price of course commensurate the better quality.

the nitrosomas and nitrobacter bacteria is contained within the liverocks, the sand and filtration sytems not the water thus even a 100% water change is possible. but more common are up to 75% and 90% changes "After the ammonia and nitrite levels drop to zero, as soon as possible or at least within 5 days, perform a complete water change." -http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerscorner/a/aa061703.htm "After the tank completes cycling, it will be time for your first major water change. Although the amount of water you change is really up to you, it should be a significant portion of the water. Something like 40 to 50%, with 100% of the water not being uncommon." -http://faq.thekrib.com/sbegin-longterm.html "The last thing you need to do is a big water change. A 60% to 90% water change is necessary before adding fish. All that ammonia you have added has now turned into nitrate, and its level is simply too high for your fish. After the water change, don’t let the tank sit empty for a long time. The bacteria you have just cultivated in the tank will need ammonia as food to stay alive. " - http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=31

dsb no, it is a ticking time bomb, dirt will get trapped in the sand and in time to come.. like 6 mths or more may stretch the limits of your tank survivablilty. nope it does not trap nitrates, nitrates are in the water not in the sand for the dsb to be effective to convert nitrate to nitrogen gas, the bacteria need a anaerobic condition, so at least 6 inches of sand. that is alot of sand.. and alot of wasted space for your nano tank

wah no skimmer ? cannot make it leh.... your nitrates will rocket i can understand your apprehension if you have to include a pump inside your tank but ever considered hang on top skimmers? yah can add your sand anytime no problem any questions just ask k ? or check out www.wetwebmedia.com informative site

no you do not need to wait to add livestock, you can start to add after your water 100% change, but do add slowly recommended is one fish per week you have skimmer already? you also can get some activated carbon to make your water clearer and free of smell.