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U reinsert the cuvet with the reagent and tank water into the holder and ensure that the notch on the cap is positioned securely into the groove. U press and hold the READ button for 3 seconds and the display will show the countdown to completing the measurement. Alternatively you can wait 3 minutes after placing the cuvet in the holder to press the READ button.

You get 100 packets of the reagent in the case and replacement packets are available.

U replace the cap and swirl the cuvet gently until the powder is completely dissolved.

U then remove the cuvet with the 10ml tank water and open the cap. Add one packet of the MI152-0 reagent into the cuvet.

The LCD will blink 'SIP' and after a few seconds the display will show '-0.0-'. The meter is now zeroed and ready for measurement.

U place the cuvet into the holder in the colorimeter and ensure that the notch on the cap is positioned securely into the groove and aligned with the blue triangle. U then press the ZERO button.

U first open the cap of the cuvet (glass bottle) and remove the stopper in the cuvet. U then fill the cuvet with 10ml of water from the tank up to the mark on the cuvet, and replace the cap.

First u turn the meter on by pressing the ON/OFF button. When the LCD displays '---' , the meter is ready.

I thought I would give a step by step description of how to use the Colorimeter to measure phosphates. The Milwaukee Phosphate Low Range Colorimeter (Model MI412) measuresphosphates from 0 to 2.50 mg/l + or - 0.04 mg/l. It uses a 9v battery which is supplied in the case. It was a tight fit at the backfor the battery.

Thanks for the encouragement dr evil. Un fortunately my Earspot lasted another 4 days and did not make it too. I am restocking. I already have a Gray, a Goldflake, a Koran and a Fishers Angel in my 3 quarantine tanks. In 6 weeks time, these will be the first residents of my FOWLR tank. Patience and Persistency are essential ingredients for success in our hobby.

If u have a 2.5' deep tank, then get the 3' gravel tube. This gives u a bit more reach and u never have to have your hands in the water. Marine Depot generally sgips to the door via FedEx in 5 to 7 days if there have evrything u order in stock. Shipping is expensive for oversized products, so u may want to play with the shopping cart to see what else u can ship with no extra shipping costs. Hope this helps.

I got a new toy to test for phosphates. Its a Milwaukee Phosphate Low Range Colorimeter (Model MI412). Included with the colorimeter in the very nice case is a couple of glass cuvets with caps and stoppers, a 9v battery, 100 packs of phosphate reagents and a cleaning cloth. The instructions are from Martini Instruments, so I dont know if Milwaukee instruments OEM this or its a related company.

I am posting GPS coordinates of LFS that I have visited. If u have a GPS navigator, u just have to put in the coordinates and u will be able to find the LFS. I hope others will post GPS coordinates of LFS not on this list so that reefers with GPS navigators can easily find LFS in unfamiliar territory. KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA Oceanic Aquarium N 3°03.441’ E 101°38.262’ 88 Pets Mart Sunway Mas N 3°07.166’ E 101°35.972’ 88 Marine SS15 N 3°04.640’ E 101°35.208’ Pusat Akuarium Batu Karang N 3°04.641’ E 101°35.257’ Aquatics International N 3°08.672’ E 101°32.918’ East Aqua Ikano N 3°09.449’ E 101°36.831’ SINGAPORE Reef Depot N 1°21.186’ E 103°50.167’ AquaMarin Aquatic Pets N 1°23.868’ E 103°52.395’ Sea Life Aquarium N 1°19.296’ E 103°51.210’ Aquarium Irwarna N 1°23.373’ E 103°55.728’ Ericsson Pet Farm N 1°23.043’ E 103°55.727’ Pacific Marine N 1°22.945’ E 103°55.680’ J & J Marine Life N 1°18.277’ E 103°53.788’

I got it from Marine Depot. The url is: http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_mainte...cts.asp?CartId= There are lots of attachments and even extension hoses. Have fun.

Thanks Bros. I will restart the tank in a couple of months after the velvet has gone its course without a host in the water. Currently working on lowering the phosphates and nitrate levels in the tank. Patience is a not just a virtue but a necessity in our passion.

Yeah bro. I am absolutely devastated. It took a lot of time and effort to accumulate and acclimatise all those beautiful angels to live peacefully together. I am glad I did not move all my tangs and surgeons from the coral tank to the new tank. I now truly regret moving my fat achilles tang to the new tank.

After 18 days of battling the parasite outbreak, I have lost the war. All my treasured residents except my earspot angel have gone to fish heaven. I tried very hard to break the reproductive lifecycle by 1) attacking the free swimming dinospores stage of the oodinium parasite with ozone and uv, 2) using hyposalinity to make the trophonts to drop from the fish to encyst, 3) daily multiple sand sifting and water change to reduce the cysts or tormonts that are in the sand, 4) raising temperature to 30.5 C to speed up the reproductive cycle, 5) increase feeding with garlic soaked foods to help build up the fishes strength and immunity to fight the disease, 6) Dosing immunovital to help the fish with their protective mucous layer In the end I did not succeed to break the life cycle and only managed to delay the outcome. I was reluctant to nuke the tank with copper. I managed to catch the earspot and it is being treated in the hospital tank which is dosed with chelated copper. The earspot is being freashwater bathe daily. the earspot will remain in the hospital tank for the next 60 days. As for my main tank, it will be "going fallow" for two months at 31 degrees Celcius to eliminate the parasite from my tank. Having a large tank makes it very difficult to catch infected lifestock and limits the treatment options. The main lesson is never allow any corals, rocks, macroalgae or invetebrates into the tank that has not been quarantined as velvet can get into your system via any wet surface. I guess I now have two months to focus on converting my old FOWLR tank to my new sps tank.

I have not actually used it yet but I loaned it to a LFS customer to catch a fish that was misbehaving. It worked well and the guilty fish was caught. U tie the supplied fishing line to the square door. U place food in the trap and place the trap in the water. The acrylic tube is invisible to the fish. U wait for the the guilty livestock to enter to feed on the tasty morsel and u release the fishing line go to close the door. U can use it to catch not just misbehaving fish but crabs, prawns, eels, etc. The trap that I have has a 4" diameter and is 9" long. I will probably post a pic of the trap actually in use later.

Another fish keeper equipment to share. Its a trap to catch unwanted inhabitants safely and easily such as fish, shrimp, crabs. It is made of 100% clear acrylic providing durability and is virtually invisible to the inhabitants of the aquarium.

My extremely difficult to photograph African Pygmy angelfish (Centropyge acanthops).

I have posted a description of my methods here: http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?...ic=55446&st=135 I have a very blurry pic of my Golden Angelfish (Centropyge aurantius)

Here is apic of the Gravel tube in action. As u can see the sand does not reach the top of the 4 feet long tube but the destritus will rise to the top. There is a valve at the top that also allows u to adjust the flow or stop the flow completely.

Yep, u can do that. There are lots of ways to suck water out of a tank. What I like about a Python is that it can suck water up against gravity. That means u can syphon water from the floor up to the sink if u want. This is useful to me as it allows me to suck water up from my sump to my sink which is a good 3 feet higher. The Python has a valve that allows u to stop suction and then continue syphoning water just by turning the valve. Although I have never used the refill capability of the Python system, it would be a convenient way to hose down and area. I actually bought the Python system because it had a 48 inch gravel tube and I needed a Gravel tube that was long enough for my 3.5 feet deep tank. I love the quality of the components, the flexibility of the various adapters, the non kinking transparent hoses and additional extenseion hoses,, the variety of different length gravel tubes. For me, the Python system is just what I needed to complete my "easy maintenance and water change" tank.

Sorry for not posting earlier but I have been preoccupied with an ich outbreak in my main tank. If u want to have a lot of angels, u have to have a very big main tank. U also have to have a few quarantine tanks. I guess it starts with choosing a HEALTHY specimen that is FEEDING preferably on pellets. I may take a chance on a desirable angel even if it feeds on brine shrimp as I have now had some success in training angels to feed. I freshwater dip all fish for 5 min before putting them in a quarantine tank. U have to watch the fish and if it looks very distressed, remove it earlier than the 5 min. Angels are tough and can take the fresh water dips. I keep the fish in the quarantine tank for between 2-6 weeks. This the time that I get the angels to eat various pellet food, brine shrimp, blood worms, krill, macro algae, nori etc. I use saeachem Entice to make the food smell inviting to the fish. I also use kent Marine Garlic additive as well as Selcon on the food. In the quarantine period is also the time I get the fish to get use to COMPETING with other fish for food, territory etc. Just like kids, u have to let them fight a bit and just be a bit zen about it. If things get too bad u can still separate them in the Quarantine Tank. I have almost 30 large angels and about 12 pygmy angels in the same tank. The trick is to add the less aggressive fish of the smaller size first. At a certain point u will not be able to add 1 angel at a time as all of them will gang up on the newcomer. U will then have to add 3 or more newcomers at a time to ensure not one angel is targeted. This is where having multiple quarantine tanks make it easier to get the angels to be in a community of 3 or 4 first before they are introduced to the general population. In the main tank u have to provide lots of caves for the angels to call home. Angels need their private space. The more space u give them the less likely they will fight. The more space u have, there is space to run and hide if there is conflict. After a while the angels will lose interest in fighting. Making sure that every angel has enough to eat is another way to reduce territorial aggression. There are no guarantees that the angels wont fight with each other in the long run but if u have enough space it will always work itself out. Disease and parasites is another story and the main risk in my opinion to keeping large numbers of angels. I am battling a ich outbreak in my main tank and so far I have 4 fatalities.

Where the water comes out, u can change the faucet pump from removing water to pushing water into the tank. If u pull the bottom piece out and turn on the tap, the tap water creates a suction. This enables tank water to be sucked out from the gravel tube through the hose and out the faucet pump . If u push the bottom piece in, it stops water from coming out the bottom. This changes the Python system to passing tap water through the hose to the gravel tube and into the tank. So the Python faucet pump is an all in one suction water removal and a water refill tool. A closer pic of the Python Faucet Pump