Cookiemunster

They are good for pvc to acrylic because thats the best option. But compared to perfect seals which can be easily achieved with same plastics...ie acrylic to acrylic, its not the best option. And not cost effective too.

sigh its heart rendering to see my work being sold off like this. Sob sob...cry cry

Bro its not recommended to do sump that way. Although PVC is stronger, the weld joins will not be as strong as acrylic to acrylic. And cost wise is not very much cheaper and will be more expensive if going for welding. Its also not as perfect fit since its outside weld and not internal weld which cannot be achieved in the same effectiveness as acrylic glue when used to melt two pieces together internally. The welder has to do a very good job to ensure it doesn't leak as the area is huge. Best to go for full acrylic using 8mm with bracing at bottom, sides and edges.

Ahhhh....so you are the one. hahahaha.

Actually I have seen OEM versions available in Petmart for only $1.50 each. But it leaks. Its probably the cheapo version. These valves are indeed used originally for irrigation drip purposes. Or hydroponics.

Well I dunno why those shops said that. Perhaps its more to it than I know. However, if you see most high end skimmers, their pipe joints are done this way. I do know its not cheap though. Its amazing, now the cost of any skimmer or calcium reactor will have to plummet cos we can now build anything using acrylic just by asking any laser cutter shop in town to cut it to size for us, then just glue. And best of all it would be super precise. Thanks for sharing all this info weisoon. We should meet up someday to work on more interesting projects. hehehehe

Nope I ask friends to hand carry back from states.

hahaha let me guess. It must be from Alvy. His workmanship and products are truly one of the best. And he doesn't stinge on quality. Price is reasonable too. Too bad he doesn't have time. Otherwise we would be seeing more DIYs from him.

yup...those are welded joints. Strongest in town. Better than any kind of glue....and leak proof and super strong.

I dun think anyone here can do welding. The equipment costs $1000 plus. I checked actually. Wondering about the small portable sets though. If anyone here can do welding, I'd really like to know you. hahaha In the meantime, I'll just use weld-on 16.

Roidan bro, the curved joint is not a pipe part. Its known as welding. This is the strongest method of joining pvc to acrylic or even to any plastic surface. It requires a high heat specialized tool to melt special plastic welding rods to bond them together.....very much like iron welding.

hahaha no prob. Yes I still have the microscope. You can pop by my place on thurs night. Call me.

It depends on how long you want to keep them. These are filter feeders like scallops. See the flame scallop thread. Unless your tank is in the same condition as the sewers, they will not survive. I have tried keeping mussels before in the attempt to experiment if they will absorb trace metals and toxins in the water. Either it was very successful and they absorbed every toxin in the water and died or they starved to death.

Bro, basically flame scallops and electric flame scallops need the same requirements. Its just the electric one is nicer. They require very very very very heavy phytoplankton feeding. They do not need garlic. Think in the range of at least 1000ml every day of dosing plankton. And because we do not know what size of plankton they can consume, its best to dose a variety. from 3micron to 20micron size. Namely isochrysis, tetraselmis and nannochloropsis strains. This is the reason why they do not survive long in the tank because they do not get enough food. They dun have zooanthelea to produce the slime from photosynthesis on which to feed on like clams so they require heavy amounts of planktonic food. Brine shrimp and even rotifers are too big for them. They may survive longer (in terms of 5 months) with constant target feeding of plankton. But its only delaying the inevitable....they are still starving. Unless you can ensure the water is filled with plankton all the time in sufficient quantities, keeping flame scallops beyond 6 months is really hard. In the seas where they live and thrive, its plankton rich to the extent of really poor visibility.

Wow when did this section come up? Its great. Finally that Father Clam added this in. Please share your clam photos here too guys.

Gouldian, if you need a UPS, you can get them from Sim Lim tower. These should be used to power your streams (TUNZE) for water circulation only. And if used for that purpose, it can power them continuously during power trips for at least 5 to 8 hrs. (provided the 12W stream is used).

I said calcium additive. Most calcium additives have a shitload of various mix in it.

It just occured to me that not only worms can produce the mucus skin like effect on your rocks. There is also a family of invertibrates closely related to snails but looks like a worm. Its known as Vermetid snails. They feed by creating a mucus bag which traps phyto and detritus. Photos and more info can be found here: Vermitid snails

The cause of the skin on rocks. Spaghetti worms.

the dreaded fireworm

I never tried aragonite milk. But in my opinion and personal experience, kalkwasser works well for me and many others (AT, morgan, rumor and lots more). We get tons of coralline growth (more than we like) and we dun need to spend tons of money to get it. So I guess the decision is quite obvious. However, adding some kind of calcium additive is always better than not adding any kind of calcium additive at all.

no prob. most likely the worm is a bristle worm. They can grow up to 4ft in length in very established tanks of large volume. They are part of the sand shifters and help to stir the sand and feed on ditritus and other organic foods. So its ok to put them back. However, if its reddish brown in colour, try to throw them away. As these are known as fire worms and they pack with poisonous bristle needles and feed on corals. They also reproduce very very fast. Never touch worms with your bare hands if possible. The hairy spikes (bristles) can have a very painful burning effect and is extremely irritating. Many times when we handle live rocks and get a sudden prickly feeling in the fingers which doesn't go away and you can't see anything in the fingers....this is the result of being stung by the bristles. But dun panic and start stirring everything up. You only need to worry about the really big ones. 3 to 4 inch size fireworms. The rest are beneficial to your aquarium in general. Read here for more info about worms of this family. Bristleworms FAQ Yours, Wormmunster

aritinic lights are poorly absorbed by algae....except for coralline. For algae to really thrive, they prefer yellowish light. Ideal is 5500k. They use more red spectrum for photosynthesis.

no prob bro, I wasn't saying it meant anything. I'm not so sensitive. I'm worse. hahaha nah just kidding. Relax...no worries.

Dun misunderstand thats not my sales talk. In my opinion, dosing kalk is important. Even if you drip it in via the old fashion way. Theres alot of advantages.