newdamsel

Wow thanx guys for the input, is softie very sensitive to salinity changes say 1.022+-2 ??? and dkh changes? asking this because i have not been successful with leather and the so called cauliflower, all unerected!!! Ganna feel like throwing ###### into the tank hahaha... 20ppm nitrates also... but my alveopora, xenia and mushrooms are doing fine.... mind boggling situation.... :

lona Not sure if i'm correct, but just a observation i have made.. salt that are exposed to air too long or salt that is kept too long tends to give cloudy water... so take care that your hands are very dry when handling with the salt....

dunno why i have no luck with leathers leh, tried once and it is always in its unerected state, after one week, it broke off its base and became powdery

hahaha not that i wanna be exaggerating but you should have seen the state of my wrought iron stand after 3 months, I've notice the worst part of the rust eating into the stand, its about 2mm deep... you wouldnt be able to see this unless you scrape the lose rust away. I was shocked~! Perhaps i have too many spilling accident thats why that rusting rate?? heh heh Anyway Rust are porous and will flake off to expose internal uncorroded iron. Though your stand will not dissolve away just like that, it just takes a little weakness in the joint to have the setup tumbling. Note that these iron are center hollow and we are dealing with saltwater. So just a point to note about it, not to ask you to throw it away, but simple steps like oiling (what victorp has done, if he dun mind doing it like every fortnight) and painting will see your stand through years.

alfaman, Besides those things that you have mentioned, note that you need about 40~50kg of liverocks at $8/kg.. so that works out to be about $320 min already... since you are going for a fowlr tank and in budget constraint, perhaps you can stick to FL lightings which is cheaper abit, else PL lights for 4 footer should cost about $200... plus minus...

hahaha.. u guys.. all out huh???!!! Need this? I have quite alot heh heh

Hi Victor Bet you must have gotten your stand from the fw lfs.... watch out.. in a month to come, your stand will fully turn brownish with rust~~~ I know, coz mine is the same.... everyday you will collect alot of rust flakes around the stand.... if nothing is done, your tank might come crashing down maybe in a year's time... so i suggest you quickly go get a tin of "hammerite" paint and coat your stand with it... else you will literally have a tank crash... regards

The mushrooms that i have spews these white strands once in a while when i move the mushrooms about, accidentally banging them against the rocks... after a while it retracts back into the mushrooms and they are all well again... I guess its nuthing really.. They will be back in bloom in no time

Do you hear "tick tick" at night?? Or do you have trigger fishes??? SOunds like a pistol shrimp man.. borken crab bodies....

IMO, I think everything in your tank is alright... if you have detectable nitrites, the LPS wun even extend their polyps...They are quite sensitive to water parameters.... you have quite nice extensions there so i think besides lights, your water chemistry should be ok... For your tank and those corals, you need either 2x150w MH or 4 x 55w 10k PL... 2 cents

Its a surprise that while we are all removing crabs here, henry from marine life says he actually do not care about them and leave them in his tank to do tidying up... he says the crab would not touch the corals and harm the livestock if it is not too big... When i was listening to him at his shop, this crab came out of hiding from one of the 1.5ft display tank and waved, perhaps saying thank you to henry for not killing him... hahaha As in to believe him or not, I still think better not to take chances.... heh heh

Hi phang can i come over tom(Thurs) to have a look??

Just to share my experience, I got this seasquirt which came along with the liverock... imagine it even survived 2 major cycles... but maybe there are many variants of such sea squirts and coincidentally the one in my tank is the hardy kind??? .. and of coz its not as beautiful as what you guys have shown.... I do mix soem freeze dried phytoplankton into the water every other day...

I've also used one of the FW wrought iron stand for my 2 ft tank.. din care about it and the paint peeled off like mad and rusted like hell.... I was also very worried about the integrity of the stand in the long run, as rust though a external thing, would expose the inner parts to corrosion too as rust is porous.... Anyway, I bought this paint call "hammerite" which is to coat over rusty metals and give it a good waterproof coat.... I applied 2 thick layers onto the stand w/o removing the tanks... and indeed no rust ever~!!!!! I would recommend this paint if u r lazy to dismantle your tank...

Hmm a 55wPL is 21", add the connection clip another 1 inch.. so thats about 22" already... if it really comes in a hood, the ballast would be on top of the bulb... can fit exactly into a 2 footer in this way

My false is residing in my pink H malu though... but only after 2 weeks since introduction

You are referring to clementi 328... they HAD been rather cheap, but nowadays their stuffs are getting more expensive... do have knowledge of prices before you go....

Do u have a pic of the coral? It would help, how much are u selling also?

If I'm not wrong, your tank would still be in the cycling stage right? Did you test for nitrites? That could be the main reason why its not erected

For a 2 footer, 2 lionfishes is abit too small for them. Unless you get dwarf lions, which is the smaller versions... and Xjapan is correct, your cleaner shrimp will be eaten up by the lions at some pt in time... u can however try hermit crabs to do the tidying up in yur tank... if u can, opt for the 3footer.. 3 feet with overflow will be a good starting tank

nleong, ok #1, #3 are different grades of sand, usu we go for #1 as it is finer thus more suitable for a dsb setup. Saltmix wise, you can try brands which are commonly used by fellow reefers like instant ocean and coralife. Hope that answers your ques

Are the hermit crabs shell purple in color??? It has specs of orange on its legs also... I got 3 from them, but one killed one of the astrea, lived in its shell for a day and died... why? I dunno.. maybe due to snail poisoning?? anyway the remaining 2 has been in my tank with 2 astrea for quite soemtime.. nothing really happened though... try to get a bigger hermit and smaller snail so that the hermit would not eye the snails home.... My hermit doesnt touch the cleaner that I have.

Oh issit?? Hmm its time i go visit Op again, long time since I've been there... thx Tanzy

I've spoke with the auntie b4 and she's so proud to say that she have been in marine for 20 years..... live stock wise, i recommend that you should know the market price b4 going there... after all in the west, there's only marine life and this shop... can buy their seachem pdrts also, coz the auntie dun even know what she's selling~!!! hahaha... ANYWAY THEIR ATTITUDE SUX

There is, just that I cant find... bluebeard where did u see it?