Cookiemunster
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Posts posted by Cookiemunster
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Sneak preview.
Wow Tanzy thats a really beautiful tank. Great collection.
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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
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baby cat I'll pass you some special colour food the next time I see you. It will help.
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I Heard from the supplier that there are maybe purple ones in this Sat
Shipment.
Bro please reserve for me if got purple or red ones.
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Yah I've used those tubes for my computer before.. I think u can buy them with the inverter and all at around 10-12 bucks if I remember correctly from Kaichi* SLT 3rd floor...
But problems are:
1. White, so have to add something to colour it (eg. blue cellophane)
2. Very fragile, a little twist and it snaps
3. Inverter can give a rude shock if touched (also a little bulky)
4. Overall more ex than LEDs, but better spread of light (LED very concetrated)
Someone try it out and see how?
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
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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......
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yes but I never saw a octo which looks this white.
However the frogspawn (so named because it looks like a bunch of frog eggs) I am looking for looks like a very luminous green jelly. Similar to the bleached octo picture above.
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Here's a friend's white ones... or are they bleached?
Bro thats a bleached octo. Frogspawn is one lump base. And tentacles are shorter and more bulbed.
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I got my friend, who has the license to import, to get in some unique
Ricordea Yuma species.
I shipped in about eight individual polyps. - supposed to be turquoise (blue) in color.
Will be arriving Singapore tomorrow at about 3.00pm
A sample photo of the Yuma from the supplier below.
I will be keeping two and the rest may be selling.
Can't wait to see them tomolo.
I would be interested if you can get red or purple ones.
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Dispar:
pls do let me know if you see it available again. Many thanks.
Dodo:
Yeah how about fragging a piece to give me. hehehe
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A method recommended by Julian Sprung and Charles Delbeek is to lower the tank sg to 1.017 for 2 days. This low sg kills the parasitic eggs and larva of ich.
However this method is only recommended in a fish only tank as the fishes will be able to tolerate thislow sg for a short period but not corals. If corals are involved, only 24hrs of treatment is recommended at max and even then under careful monitoring.
Please do not mess around with temp. Before it can have much or any effect on itch, everything else would have been dead. It is never advisable to have a temp above 30 degrees for anything more than 8 hrs. And anyway the benefits are not proven unless a temp of 35 degrees and above can be maintained in which case, yes ich will definitely be gone but so will everything else too.
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Wow bro,
thats one really ###### fish. (wolf whistle) hahaha Can't wait to get one too.
Cheers
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iou eamnea IDRA
Huh? Bro can speak english or not?
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Please note new pricing. This will apply to all who already confirmed orders and all future orders.
Ladies and gentlemen,
after much discussion with Alvy, we realised that the kalk reactor requires us to deliver and install it simply because it is not as simple to setup. Especially for those who are not good with plumbing stuff and fittings.
And as a result, in order to cover Alvy's cost and time, it has been decided that the kalk reactor price has to be increased to $180. This new price includes delivery and installation and a SICCE IRDA external pump for kalk circulation.
To keep it short,
Auto top up price: $120 (no change)
Kalk reactor : $180 (increase $30 but now using SICCE IRDA+installation)
Package price: $280 (increase $30 but now using SICCE IRDA+installation)
There will not be any installation for auto top up device as it is a very simple device and profit margin is very low.
However, the kalk reactor and combo package will include delivery and installation and a SICCE IRDA external pump for the kalk reactor.
I sincerely apologise for this price increase but we have no choice and this really is the best we can do as installation and delivery as well as SICCE IRDA is now included.
For those who ordered the auto top up device only, there are no changes.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
after much discussion with Alvy, we realised that the kalk reactor requires us to deliver and install it simply because it is not as simple to setup. Especially for those who are not good with plumbing stuff and fittings.
And as a result, in order to cover Alvy's cost and time, it has been decided that the kalk reactor price has to be increased to $180. This new price includes delivery and installation and a SICCE IRDA external pump for kalk circulation.
To keep it short,
Auto top up price: $120 (no change)
Kalk reactor : $180 (increase $30 but now using SICCE IRDA+installation)
Package price: $280 (increase $30 but now using SICCE IRDA+installation)
There will not be any installation for auto top up device as it is a very simple device and profit margin is very low.
However, the kalk reactor and combo package will include delivery and installation and a SICCE IRDA external pump for the kalk reactor.
I sincerely apologise for this price increase but we have no choice and this really is the best we can do as installation and delivery as well as SICCE IRDA is now included.
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Hi guys,
I have been searching for the illusive green luminous jelly frogspawn since April this year.
Everytime I am too late and its either not available or totally snapped up.
Recently I went to T9$ and was quoted $100 for a palm sized specimen. My GAWD!!! The price is ridiculous. When did frogspawn become so expensive or have I been living in the countryside for too long?
Please show me your green frogspawn here. And I would greatly appreciate if any kind reefer can inform me whenever a nice frogspawn is available. 6 mths already and I cannot even find a single good piece.
I know Dodo has a great specimen. Hey dodo you want to sell me yours?
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Hi, is that the one you bought from CF the last time we met on 26 Jul?
Sigh ... even pygmy angels are so unpredictable ...
Hahaha bro you remembered.
Yup agree with AT. Sometimes we see fishes that are so cute and irresistable that we often lie to ourselves and say he probably won't eat corals. But......
Anyway luckily I managed to catch him. Eblis are extremely shy and cautious too. He landed up in my old 3ft fish only tank now.
But I never had problems with pygmy. I guess its better to be safe than sorry if you are keeping angels....expect the worst.
Cheers
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I posted a review on why you should wash your sand before the virus wiped out the last forum.
Here is a photo of a very small fraction of what I got out from each bag of sand also from petmart. It was enough to build 5 2 inch nails per bag.
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Ok for those who pmed me regarding the dimensions. Here are the precise dimensions.
The dimensions of the auto top up box are
12cm(breadth) x 20cm(length) x 6 cm (height). But add another 6 cm (total 18cm breadth) for pump 2 pin plugs which is plugged to the top up device.
The kalk reactor is:
74cm height (inclusive allowance for hoses on top), 13cm diameter. Base area inclusive of pump is 20cm x 13cm. However, height can be varied depending on your requirement.
An additional word of caution, I've received many pm regarding how you can place the top up device hidden near the sump or on the sump itself. Please becareful as all electrical devices is strongly not advised to be placed near water splashes or where it can have the tendency to drop into the tank itself. Please anticipate situations where accidents can occur such as pump connection broken loose splashing water everywhere, sump overflows, possible drops into the tank.
The 2 float switches are built with 2 metres of cable to allow you to place the top up device as far away from the tank as possible.
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Cookie has answered the 2nd question ....).
Is it really possible to add vinegar to the Kalk Reactor....
Isn't it difficult to determine the amount of vinegar to administer to the Kalk in the reactor to get the proportion for dosing???l
Thanks for the support guys. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.
1. I will not pretend I know about vinegar usage as I have never tried it before. So I really have no idea how you can add vinegar to the reactor and yet control it. However, since kalk is dumped into the reactor, I assume vinegar can be too as it will be diluted with water which is then forced out to drip in the main tank. After discussing with alvy, we feel it is alot safer to have a g-clamp to control the flow rate into the tank. As every tank is different in rate of evaporation, for some reason some tank may be super fast and as a result replacing evaporated water with kalk solution may be too dramatic and cause a super raise in pH. So he has decided to implement a g-clamp. But as to adding vinegar, I think its entirely at your own risk and experience cos I have no idea how it can be controlled or even what is the right amount.
But I am thinking, even if I am using chiller, I will want my water to evaporate faster now since I have this setup so more kalk solution can be added. And the benefit is that I can do that using fans. Meaning my tank temp will not raise so much ===> great savings in chiller efficiency. WOW
2. Yup
as Joe_p pointed out, its in the essays above. hehehe but to save you the trouble.......a timer has to be connected to the external pump of the reactor and set to activate every 45 mins or so to allow stirring of the kalk. -
Hi bro,
Hmm, it sounds good. May I know how much does it cost and would it be effective to my tank as mine is really really small; just 5gallon. Can I use a really small container to hold the freshwater.? And, please help to clear this doubt of mine: The water level in my tank has been decreasing day by day. I know it's partly due to evaporation. However, how about the loss of water thru protein skimmer.? Is the water collected by the protein skimmer salt water or freshwater.? Im kinda confused of which to top-up with, whether freshwater or saltwater. Please advise. Thanks.
Rgds,
hi bro,
5gal is a really small tank. Is that a 1ft tank or a 2ft tank? In my humble opinion, you should try a bigger tank if this is your first setup. Reason is the bigger the volume of water, the more room for mistakes.....such as fish death, water conditions, ammonia spike etc.
Actually the auto top up will work for any amount of water tank. Its just a device which will sense the level of your tank water. The moment it drops due to evaporation (or even taking rocks out) it will activate the pump(located in another fresh water container of your choice) connected to it and water will automatically flow into your tank.
This allows you to place as many fans you want to cool your tank plus it allows you to go for days without having to actually be there to top up any fresh water. But I would recommend to use as big a freshwater container as possible. Not only do you not have to keep pouring freshwater into the container but it will last longer. And a bigger container can be used to 'prefilter' the freshwater by additions of seachem prime or antichlorine or using a carbon bag to absorb metals or toxic traces in the freshwater.
Evaporation looses fresh water. But the salt remains in the tank so salinity(gets more salty) increases. Hence there is a need to top up fresh water.
Skimmate from skimmer is salt water with all the yucky stuff skimmed out from the tank. Removal of skimmate removes salt water but very slowly and hence occasionally you need to monitor your salinity levels and add additional salt into some fresh water before adding to your main tank. But you should not use a auto top up for this purpose.
Auto top up is only meant for replacing evaporated water from your tank. And the kalk reactor is a further enhancement to make adding kalkwasser alot easier.
Auto top up device alone is $120. Kalk reactor is $150. If you get both, its $250.
Cheers
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If I want to increase calcium levels should I get a kalk reactor or a calcium reactor?
Actually if you are keeping a tank full of sps and clams like morgan or Joe_p etc, you should have both. Because as you know from them, even their calcium reactors cannot maintain the calcium intake.
So it greatly depends on your calcium demands of your tank. If its not so high, a kalk reactor will be more than enough. But if its super calcium demanding, then a calcium reactor together with a kalk wasser reactor will be needed.
These two compliment each other. They are used for different purposes. Calc reactor concentrates solely on replacing and increasing calcium and maintaining dkh as well as releasing trace elements when using aragonite or coral chips. But pH is lowered so a buffer is needed. And constant tweaking of the bubble count (CO2) is important so that pH is not reduced too much.
Kalk reactor only maintains the calcium and dkh levels and buffers the ph at 8.3. To increase calcium you will need to add calcium additives like seachem reef calcium. Once calcium is increased to the levels you want, kalk will maintain it there. The same thing with dkh. You will need to use seachem reef builder to increase dkh and use kalk or calc reactor to maintain it.
However, kalk additions improve the water quality as it precipitates phosphates and buffers the water to maintain at 8.3ph. Somehow (anyone care to elaborate?) water quality improves in the sense of coralline algae growth, less unwanted nuisance algae etc.
I hope you understand what I am saying cos its quite complicated and it took me a damn long time to understand what the heck all this jargon is about too.
I am still not completely clear about the benefits of kalk compared to calcium. So perhaps the experts may want to clarify or correct any misinformations. There are more complicated issues such as adding vinegar to allow more kalk to dissolve. (thicker concentration) But I only recommend this if you know what you are doing as vinegar is acidic and too much can cause your tank ph to drop below 7.9.
To maintain a balanced tank, salinity, ph, dkh and calcium has to be in balance. A kalk reactor only aids in maintaining the ph, dkh and calc. The auto top up helps to ensure the salinity does not swing too much due to loss of water by evaporation.
But ultimately, proper reef keeping (slow stocking, knowing your corals and fishes, knowing their requirements, knowing which are compatible, understanding nitrogen cycle) is still important.
I need to stress that this Auto Top Up With Kalk Reactor is not a miracle solution to a balanced reef tank. It only helps to make reefing easier. There are many other methods.
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hi
By using auto top up+kalk reactor, will there be too much kalk pump into the tank? Since the rate of dripping kalk depends on evaporation.
I use a fan blowing into the water to reduce temperature thus I am concern if there would be too much kalk if using your method.
Thanks
It is only a problem when you pour large doses of it into the main tank direct all at once. Thats why people drip it in.
However it is never a problem to replace evaporated kalk. And especially since it is only kalk solution with very very minimal undissolved kalk in it, it will never be a problem. Just make sure you don't use vinegar together with it. In fact this method adds kalk in a smaller rate than dripping. The pump is not activated all the time and only comes on when the water level is below a preset level (determined by placement of float switches).
Remember evaporation does not occur suddenly at one go. It is very very gradual and constant. Hence the replaced kalk water is slow and constant too. Of course you must not use a iwaki 70 to power the replacement water.
Just a small pump like a SICCE NOVA will do.The kalk that is released into the tank by the kalk reactor goes out from a air hose. Hence the kalk solution is released in small amounts dependant on evaporated rate. If you are keeping exceptionally small tanks and still want to use the kalk reactor, no problem, just get a g-clamp to control the rate of flow out to restrict the output to an even slower rate. But even if you do not do that, its fine too. Simply because you are only adding dissolved kalk solution to replace evaporated water.
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Latest update:
1. Fearing for further deaths of my pratas, I've moved my prized specimens (one orange and 2 reds- one red slight tear at the side after being 'pecked' by this fish) into my refugium for refuge. Due to lack of space in the refugium, could only move my most treasured ones into the refugium. My refugium lighting is a generous 56W worth of PLCs (daylight) so they should be OK for the time being
2. Most likely Course of action- I've decided against shifting the rockwork cos' it's just too much. Most probably will look for some ich-infested fish like common clowns to purchase and intro into my tank. Will set my chiller at 26 to ensure the ich cycles maintain and have the target die of natural courses. Thereafter, tank will be quarantined for 3 weeks with no fish to ensure ich life cycle is discontinued.
3. Lionfish route- what do u guys think? Considering the golden angel hides in the rocks most of the time, will the lionfish have a fair chance of 'hunting' down the bugger? I'm scared the lionfish will die of hunger before the angel does, as the angel has not taken any fish food for a whole year, living only on coral flesh.
Bro,
try to build a partition using eggcrates at a corner of your tank. Then place the pratas inside. Cut a opening in the eggcrate just big enough for the angel to swim through. Make sure the entrance is near the rocks.
Stop feeding your tank for 3 days.
You will find the angel swimming into the partition after usually the 2nd day. Place a net nearby and get ready to block the entrance with one hand and use the net to catch him.
Thats what I did to catch my pesky used to be cute ebli angel. It was pecking all my corals. When it pecked my clams it was the last straw.
If you need to borrow eggcrates for this purpose, I can lend you mine. Mine is cut 1ft by 2ft with a slit just big enough for a angel to swim through.
Cheers
Plenum Construction
in General Reefkeeping_
Posted
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.