Cookiemunster

yup I've seen his chiller in action personally. all I can say is I had to touch it to see if it was on. Other than the heat from the fan blown at me, I could not tell if it was on. Its that silent. Efficiency wise, alvy has a 8x2.5x2.5ft tank with an almost equally large sump. So the amount of water we are talking about is really large. He still manages to maintain his tank temp at 26degrees. The only thing is, the entire unit is huge. Its slightly bigger than a commercial 1hp chiller. But then thats the thing that makes it so much more efficient. truly the DIY guru.

Hi, thats a very nice tank you have. And great looking DIY lights. However, I would recommend you change the FL to T5 instead. It would be alot better for your corals. FL (even 3 of them) is not bright enough. Even T5 is barely enough lights for certain corals such as clams. With your great DIY skills, T5 should not be a problem. Plus you can squeeze 4 tubes into that 3 tube fitting. Cheers

Thats the amazing thing about H&S. While other skimmers are busy trying to get more air into the unit for more bubbles, H&S has way way too much air going in such that you have to restrict the air in so it does not overflood the unit. If I simply let the air tube fully open, I would get so much bubbles that it would flood in minutes. And all this without using any air pump. Just the powerhead that came with it....ie a 18W aquabee. If only I could get the cylinder to be slightly taller, this skimmer would be even more efficient. The skimmate you see is what it collects in 5 days. I need to wash my skimmer every 5 days to clear the thick smelly goo. Its thick and I need to use my hands to actually scrape it off all sides. And when I wash it, the whole house will know!

yeah I wouldn't mind giving it to you to eat but its only 10cent coin size. Really small.

The shellless slug like creature. Found two of these. One below one of my clams.

Bottom view

Hi, I found this snail like creature hiding beneath a rock. took him out and But I really want to know what he does. I found another similar one without a shell. Another one was found lurking below one of my clams which looked distressed (which was how I found him).

Hi, 1)Because you did not use cured rocks, uncured rocks will tend to take longer. You will know when its ok, when you stop seeing whitish spider web like stuff on your rocks. Or you can just take it out and smell it. Cured rocks will just smell of sea water. Dead rocks.....well lets just say you will be able to tell. 2)15kg of live rocks is not enough. I would advise you to add up to 25kg at least. 3)You don't need bioballs if you have enough live rocks. Pls read up about nitrogen cycle. Bioballs/ceremic rings are not recommended as these become nitrate factories (trap ditritus). 4)I think its ok to use other brands for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate testing. But try to stick to salifert for calcium, phosphate, ph, alk and other tests. PS. The moment you add in new uncured rocks, the cycle will start again and you will have to wait another week at least again. cheers and hope this helps.

Hi, personally I would recommend you upsize your tank to a 3ftx1.5ftx2ft. Its only 1 ft difference but it allow more room for mistakes. Additionally, the light combo you chose is excellent. You will be able to keep anything you want provided you manage to keep the temp between 26 to 29degrees. Which is quite unlikely due to the fact that you are using MH. Fans will help but in a 2ft tank, you will find your water evaporating much too fast to maintain a healthy balanced system. If you can afford it, I would strongly recommend you get a chiller. Go for an overratted chiller meant for a 4ft. ie 1/2 horsepower so you can still use it next time when you upgrade to a bigger tank. A reef relief is a good choice. If you really want to remain on fans, the only option is either go for T5x2 (limited coral choice...ie no corals with strong lighting requirements, eg clams) or upgrade to a 3ft tank (has more volume for evaporation and topup) with 4 fans.

A few questions first: 1)What did you use to cycle in your tank? 2)Are your live rocks cured? 3)What kind of filtration are you using? 4)What brand test kit are you using?

Hi, I would agree judging from the skimmate that the weipro produced is indeed an excellent skimmer for its price compared to higher priced skimmers(around $100) such as macro and prizm. However I would not agree that irregardless of bubble size, as long as produce foam is a good skimmer. Sorry I don't mean to denounce weipro or anything. But I feel there is a need to show the difference between why we should be paying so much more for a so called branded skimmer such as a H&S, EuroReef, AquaC etc. Yes these are much much more expensive but the ones who use these skimmers are not fools either. So there must be a reason (other than having $$$ to spare), why reefers would prefer to go for so called branded skimmers. Bubble size and quantity is extremely important and has direct impact on the quality of skimmate. Using an under rated or over rated pump can reduce efficiency too. An under rated pump will not enable enough tank water to flow through the bubbles, hence low cleaning rate. An over rated pump will not allow long enough bubble/water contact time and hence reduce cleaning efficiency too. That is why you see those powerful skimmers using extremely long tubes. The reason being it has a longer contact time with the bubbles. However, to add on, as a budget skimmer, the weipro is indeed one of the best <$200 skimmers around I've seen. But as far as possible, I strongly recommend you go for the AquaC, H&S, schuran or Euroreef for tanks 3 ft and above. Don't stinge on skimmer because this is your livestocks only life line. Save up and get the best skimmer you can absolutely afford for your tank. Here is a photo of skimmate produced by a H&S using a 18W pump only.

hi golden tooth, how did you get your clown to host? What kind of clown is that? a maroon? I could never get my perculars to host with mine.

Guys, actually I would like to hear from you guys why OHF is not suitable for marine? I am using a OHF which I use only as a mechanical filtration for my 2 ft. IMHO, if space is limited, no sump tank, and want to save money from buying canistors, OHF is good enough. OHF is only not good if you intend to use it as a trickle (wet dry) filter. Which basically means its going to be a nitrate factory. But the same thing can be said of a canistor. Placing all the bags of carbon or bio balls or ceramic rings create the same effect, ie a nitrate factory in a canistor. But then again any kind of trickle filter is not the best option in the long run. However if you only use it as what Spicyball has said...filled with sponge only. Then it becomes a purely mechanical filter which is cheap and easily accessed for change of sponges (when it gets too dirty). For filtration purposes, I think OHF is good for 2ft. But for 3ft and above, a sump tank with cotton/sponge compartment is the best. I really do not recommend canistors in any way for any tank size as it is too costly and too good a place to become a nitrate factory. Unless you wash it regularly (ie weekly). This then brings up the point that it is troublesome to maintain. Spicyball if you want to place active carbon (chemipure) or phosphate removal (rhowaphos) it would be best to place it in a mesh bag into the tray of the OHF. But make sure you don't stuff it in till it floods. To add on, a mechanical (cotton/sponge) filtration is important to aid in the removal (nutrient export) of ditritus. Biological filtration is the most important. And that is achieved via sufficient live rocks, proper cycling, and a DSB of >4 inch. Cheers

Bro thats a great looking design. But some personal comments. It would be great if the sponge filter could be bigger as that would most likely clog up in a week. Also the use of bioballs is not recommended as this would be a nitrate factory. It would be better to leave that compartment for more sponges or to incorporate a skimmer in there (dunno if that would be possible or not). I have been looking for a good hang on filter mainly as a mechanical filter filled with sponge or cotton fibre for trapping ditritus. The best designed one was eheim liberty but I had a big problem with splashing. Cos it would wet everything especially the lights. Hence I switched to using a top trickle filter (common brands are taiwanese such as Dolphin etc but I chose a japanese made one). I filled it with cotton fibre instead. It still had splashing problem but alot less than the eheim. However now I need to find a surface skimmer to clean the surface of the water. Oops sorry I've gone off topic. Perhaps a new thread can be started?

Thanks berry but I would not get from them as they also get from the farms. Anyway price is the same as what I seen in T9$. Except T9$ ones are really big and healthy in their show tank.

AT that would be great!!! pacificbetta: Bro I told you to bring in but you wouldn't listen. sigh.....Theres lots of people waiting for quality calcium media. Robe: I don't think its a good idea to make all grey PVC. How would you know when it runs out? It would be better to place the whole thing in a dark place like a box or wrap black laminate around it. The prices in the market now for good media are just ridiculous. Cheers

Hi AT any chance of doing a bulk order for ARM from your sources? I think many of use are looking for it, (add on to list pls) 1)Joe_P 2)Cookiemunster 3)Morgan

If I was staying in Penang, I'd just rent a boat out to monkey island and take the live rocks and catch the fishes there myself. And bring back jerry cans of sea water to build a marine tank. So much variety to get from those off shore islands. All you need is to rent a speed boat which only costs like R$200 per day. And you can get everything to start, live sand, live rocks, water, fishes, corals. Man can even start immediately without cycling. Why don't you guys do that? Just curious. I would have done that in Singapore but the water here is like

Hi expat, where in singapore did you see fiji live rock? If its really fiji, and its light and porous, it would make better live rock compared to local ones and at the price of $12-$16 is a really good deal. Alentino, as what AT said, plenums are not necessary, a DSB of >4inch works equally well if not better. If you really want to do plenum make sure you build a good one that can last. Mistakes made and it will become a normal DSB. You will need to use really fine mesh to completely wrap around the entire eggcrate. In between the 2 eggcrates, cut several 1/4 inch pipes and lay them horizontally. Make sure they are sufficiently spaced as you are going to place live rock and sand ontop. Any weak spots and the rocks will cave in and topple whatever structure you made. Another layer mesh above the grade #1 to #3 sand is needed as Tanzy mentioned and this is very important. On top of this layered mesh, you can place grade #0 sand. From what I've read, a plenum can only last 2 yrs before it becomes useless. Back to DSB. Cos the plastics crack, mesh disintegrates and sand starts filling up the water space.

Wow Tanzy thats a really beautiful tank. Great collection.

yup these snails are really cool. I like to play with them by throwing in some pellet food and watching them race for it. They rise out from no where in the sand and race at top speed towards the fallen pellets. Beats horse racing anytime. hahahha

baby cat I'll pass you some special colour food the next time I see you. It will help.

Bro please reserve for me if got purple or red ones.

I have been thinking of doing a DIY on one but the wavelength of the light doesn't seem to be right. It looks way too blue for a moonlight. If only I had more time, I would build a 1W LED moonlight. But that will have to wait till end oct when I am less tied up. Its too troublesome using inverters. However, cold cathodes are quite energy efficient and bright but of the wrong wavelengths. Cheers

Wow guys these are all very nice octos. Deepblue Octo and frogspawn is loosely called. Actually octos have branches and you can see the mouths which is located in the centre of each branch. Frogspawn commonly have similar colours but you cannot see the mouths, they have short or no tentacles and have more rounded tips. They look like a spawn of eggs. The frogspawn I have been looking for is available in the T9$ show tank. But price wise......