Cookiemunster

The shop is in SLT basement turn left corner shop. From the outside you can see its full of probe like thingies.

Hi, I got a brand new unused OSRAM T5 eballast for sale. Wanted to DIY for a 3ft tank but bought a two feet instead. Bought from SINTER in SLT. Selling $55 never used before. Its for 3ft T5 tubes. (double tube)

I dun want to get into the legal or moral aspects of this issue. But to contribute my viewpoints..... I do not think PB is trying to be a conservationist. He is more concerned about how the corals are obtained and whether the person who tries to sell them is holding them in a proper setup and knows what he is doing. Personally I would buy corals from CITES or non CITES, I don't really care as this is just a means for many LFS to jack up their prices. Very very few LFS are actually honest about it. However, I am concerned about how people are selling their corals....ie the proper setup holding area for the sale of the corals. As reefers we can also play a part in conservation by successfully keeping corals and fragging and propagating them. Yes we do need to obtain it from the sea in the first place but we can play a direct part in demanding that we want it to be harvested in the proper way thus ensuring the good health of the corals we buy. We can demand by not buying unless we see the conditions are setup properly, eg, proper skimmer filtration setup with proper lighting etc. Even as a hobbyist, it is not true to say we cannot play our part in protecting the seas. Proper education and introduction of the reef and its inhabitants to people will bring awareness to the beauty of the seas. I really believe most divers and reefers want to protect the coral reefs in the seas once they see the beauty of it. Hence I really do not agree that keeping a marine tank in the house (as long as its setup properly) is detrimental to the environment or harmful to the seas. The more people who see the beauty, the more the awareness, the more they will feel a need to protect it. And the next time someone goes to a seaside resort for some snorkelling, he will not want to step on that ugly looking multipronged stick thingie because he knows its a kind of acropora and it takes a damned long time and proper environment for it to have grown to this size. I am more dismayed when I see good corals placed in sloppy holding tanks without proper systems whilst waiting for sales to be completed. And many many LFS which used to be Luo Han shops are now doing this too. So in my personal stand, it doesn't matter whether its CITES or no CITES but I am more concerned that it is treated as it should be in a proper way and in proper holding areas. As for how much AT can do, I think he has already done alot by creating a forum to bring about the awareness and education of how to create a good environment for these corals and fishes. This awareness is important and seeing the marine hobby industry growing, nothing is more important now than to teach and educate reefers on the proper care and setup of a good environment for their corals and fishes. Just my 2cents.

Sigh no wonder my poor firefish and purple fish have all disappeared. I had 6 of them and now left with two.

ok thanks hon and metals, but since we are on this topic, what kind of anti chlorine do you guys think is best? I am now using seachem prime in my top up water which goes through my kalk reactor. Thanks

Bro are you selling that green button/blasto thingie and the red encrusting thingie in the photo above? Pls pm me if you are. Thanks

Guys, this doesn't make much sense to me. I really think its the skimmer itself rather than additives. Its not like anti-chlorine is soap or detergent. Can anyone else verify this? Anyway can you guys also specify what kind of skimmer you are using which causes the overflow?

yeah bro, with the kind of stuff my skimmer is churning out (i got to wash and empty it every 7 days max), I am getting worried if it can really handle my tank. I cannot imagine if I am away for a month. Tank will be flooded with skimmate. I really hate washing the skimmer so often. Its STINKS like HELL!!!! And yup the main reason I designed my sump wrongly is to have a compartment for the return pump. It should have been placed outside of the sump. Generates too much heat.

Who me???

Hmmm with the way AT gets horny over his fireworms, I really wonder who the daddy of the snails is.

so far there is no known creature that eats cyano. Only rumours. One particular method is to use kalkwasser to push ph to above 8.4 (around 8.5 and never more) for a week. It kills all cyano. However this would be quite stressful to your corals too. Try at own risk. However I want to stress. Removing them is still not solving the root of the problem. They will still grow back. Get rid of your phosphates(use rhowaphos) and reduce feeding or bio load.

yes I am but every bit of heat/energy conservation helps.

I think Ian's overflow box is the best in the market as alot of reefers have bought it and so far none has complained. Regarding the cycling with LS...ie fishes, yes its faster but you should not do it as its not ethical to sacrifice a fish to do this. And furthermore most likely you will get a cheap damsel to do this which just means if he survives the cycling, you're stuck with a stupid damsel bully in your tank. Cycling with fishes or LS is totally unnecessary. Its best to use live rocks which will decay in the tank and provide enough dead material to start the cycling process. Its not even necessary to use dead prawn meat. The live rocks you should use is about at least 40kg for a 4ft tank. Dun cycle with dead rocks cos it will not start any significant cycling due to not enough organisms rotting on it....ie too little die offs and no beneficial hitchhikers like brittle stars, pods, algae etc. You will need to get test kits (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) to know when the cycling starts and stops.

Hi Anthony, I was thinking of that too but I think 1 bigger pump is more efficient than 2 smaller pumps cos all the pipes...more chances of leaks and more heat too. I kinda regret my sump design. The space for return pump was too big and the skimmer side too small. Now I wish I could place my return pump out of the sump to prevent heat.

Hon, dun give up. It took me a full week before the #$@#@ fishes realised they are not going to get anything else to eat unless they show me they LUVVV the stuff. hehehe Soak the nori in some tank water, garlic guard and zoecon(or some other vitamin and amino acid additive for those lucky bastards). And yes nori is purplish almost redish in colour after soaking. Its the high iodine content (phosporus too I think) that gives it the red colouring. And dun forget to cut it into very very small pieces. These spoilt brats seem to prefer small pieces slightly bigger than the largest brine shrimp. Cheers

Hi Fluberrina, I do not understand why you want to use a ioniser. Yes it does improve the skimming efficiency alot but its really too much trouble. And the cost of even a cheap ioniser is around $200. I feel this should be invested in a better skimmer instead. Using an ioniser has alot of problems which I assume you are aware? Such as corrosion of silicon in the tank, plastic parts eroding especially tubes and too much ozone in the water will kill your fishes, corals in fact everything in the tank. And cheap ionisers (also known as ozonisers) are the taiwan brands which don't work well and spoil very very easily. Anyhow, if you still want to look for a new ozoniser and check valve, I recommend petmart in serangoon north. Its beside rainbow. By the way, a check valve is used to only allow water to flow in one direction. It has an arrow on it indicating the direction of flow. If water backflows, the check valve will block it and prevent it. However as mentioned, the plastic ones are not as good. And sometimes, it may be safer to use even two check valves in line. Cheers

Hi Kalib is right. I really do not recommend 8mm for bigger than 3ft tank. Its just too risky. Even with 12mm for 4ft marine tank, the normal practice is to have eurobracing. ie the strip of glass along the sides front to back. You have to understand its not just about cracking the glass. Its about how much holding strength the silicon glue will have. Imagine gluing a coin face to face compared with side to side and you get the idea. That is why 12mm is preferred as it has bigger surface area along the sides for better grip. Even then, eurobracing is a must for top and bottom. But of course even without all this its still possible. Its all about how much peace of mind you want and how much risks you want to take. Regarding cycling, its simple but you have to read up. Its more complicated than just add LR and stuff. You need to know why you should be doing what you do. It makes the hobby much more satisfying and prevents anyone from conning you or telling you some ###### and bull story. As for lights, I strongly recommend you go for at least PLs. For 4 ft, you need 4x38W or 2x56. Bright lights add to the beauty of a tank. Trust me, go compare a tank lit by FL and a tank brightly lit by MH and you will see the difference in visual appearance. (not even talking about benefits yet). If you are on a tight budget, you can DIY your own PL lights. Eballast and light tubes can be purchased at a good price from a reefer here, Orgasbt. Also when you go into lighting, marine tanks need 6500kelvin lights and above. Most use 10000k. I assume you know whats all these numbers about. If not then once again, you need to read up and know why. Marine hobby requires alot of reading and knowledge. But its very satisfying once you know what you are doing. Cheers

Planetg, I keep it in a air tight tupperware. Those cheap cheeky bunny brand from NTUC. It has to be refrigerated otherwise it will go bad. Bwilly, Yup I got a Kole Tang, Yellow Tang, Purple Tang and last night I just got a powder blue. And guess what!!! It started to eat a little of the soaked nori after only half an hr of placing him in the tank. I even gave him a freshwater bath over the running tap.

We have AT to thank for this wonderful idea!!! I really really appreciate this cos this is the main thing I feed to my fishes now. And it was only after knowing this method of feeding with garlic soaked nori, that I developed the courage to keep ich infested tangs. Its the big difference between knowing what to give them to eat to prevent or reduce ich. And this method really really rocks!!! And best of all its SO SO CHEAP!!!! One pack of 70cent nori can last me 1 month at least. No more paying $$$ to famous amos branded foodstuff. Thanks AT.

Hey bro dun hear hear. MAKE IT HAPPEN MAN!!!!

Bro, you're right. But unfortunately these are very very expensive. And no replacement parts. I already am using a Tunze stream for circulation. I just want the overflow rate to be much faster.

Mark, dun buy the one AT recommended. hehehe no offense AT bro. What I mean is you can get it cheaper plus bigger pack from medical shops. They sell the unpreserved made in china stuff for $0.70 and almost 3 times more than NTUC pack. I'm using that for almost 3 months. All my fishes are eating it now. It takes about a week to get them used to it. Starve them enough and they will eat it. My flame angel,orchid dotty, firefish, 8line wrasse, purple tang, yellow tang and kole tang are all eating it. Even my cleaner shrimp too. I cut the dried nori into tiny bits, then soak it in alittle tank water together with alot of garlic guard and kent zoecon. Feed the next day and it will not float anymore. Keep refrigerated. Cheers.

I trust eheim. I'm using 1262. But I find its still not powerful enough. I wish they sold 1264 in singapore. Sigh.

Fully agree with pacificbetta, one man's meat is another's poison. Meaning we should keep what we really enjoy and not due to peer pressure or what everyone else is keeping. However, most of the time what most people consider beautiful generally will be. I just look for what I like visually and what I find to be attractive to my tank personally.

Hi Welcome to the reef hobby, to answer your questions..... Your tank size is good for a beginner tank. Beginners should always go for as big as possible so more room (water) for mistakes and tolerance. However, considering your tank was FW, please check and ensure your tank glass thickness is at least 10mm. 12mm and higher is better. This is because salt water, sand and live rocks corals can increase the weight of the tank much much more than FW. And of course the stand it is on....wrought iron will rust in a week. Make sure your stand is strong enough. A 4ft tank fully stocked can weigh up to 800kg. 1)Ian is selling an overflow device he made. Can check with him 2)Get as big a sump as possible (whether it can fit below your tank). You will then have more room for return pumps, skimmers etc 3)There is no need for live sand but you will need live rocks. 4)A mechanical filter (cotton/sponge) would be good to remove larger ditritus. You can make that in your sump, just a compartment where the overflow comes down into first. 5)Skimmer is the most important item in your tank next to live rocks and lights. Get the best you can ever afford. Go for H&S, EuroReef, AquaC or Schuran. All these are available from SL, PR, Eaquanature respectively. 6)If you are rich and got money to spare, RO would be best. But tap water will do just as well. Anyway ML is selling a damn good prefilter for $290 plus. I just use tap water, dun even bother with antichlorine. However my top up fresh water I use antichlorine (seachem prime). 7) You forgot about point 7. Which is lighting. Get the most powerful lights you can afford too. brightness is from lowest to highest.....FL, PL, T5, MH. For corals, its best to get as bright as possible. Fishes however can do with just PL. 8) You also forgot about point 8. Which is cooling. If using MH, best is to get a chiller. Water temp for corals should be optimum around 25 degrees plus minus 2 degrees. If not using MH, just use fans to blow across the water. However evaporation rate would be high. Then a auto top up device for fresh water can be gotten from yours truly too. Cheers