my 4x1.5x1.5 super budget tank

[tiger6222]

can i just check wit u guys wat brand of tester is good n how much?? i saw one before is a red sea ard 100++...is this brand good???

[tineng]

salifert....i think its the choice for a lot of reefers here....

I also don't test for Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate ....but i do test for Salinity. Bob is right, you do have to do a lot of reading....that IMO is more important then anything else.....

personally, i think if you 'cheap' fish has been with you for sometime, i think its not really the issue with ammonia....

but adding 3 butterfly and 2 tang at one shot.....might not be too wise a thing to do....also how do you introduce you to the tank? do you drip in your tank water to the bags or just throw the fishes in straight????

[KennethK]

Have u cycle ur tank yet? How long issit since u cycle it?

The skimmer is just sold by RD so i was wondering how long have u cycle the tank.

Salt water is heavier then normal water. I suggest u change to a thicker tank b4 the silicon split.

[tiger6222]

salifert....i think its the choice for a lot of reefers here....

I also don't test for Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate ....but i do test for Salinity. Bob is right, you do have to do a lot of reading....that IMO is more important then anything else.....

personally, i think if you 'cheap' fish has been with you for sometime, i think its not really the issue with ammonia....

but adding 3 butterfly and 2 tang at one shot.....might not be too wise a thing to do....also how do you introduce you to the tank? do you drip in your tank water to the bags or just throw the fishes in straight????

Thanks for your advice....

1st i didn't adding the fish in one shot.....two blue tang 1st n after abt 10 days adding the 3 butterfly....is my mistake not state properly....sorry

i introdyce the fish by leave the bag unopen inside the tank for ard 1 hrs....then throw the fish to the main tank. as wat i introduce my clown fish last time.....after reading so much i found that this is a big wrong......mayb your method is right drip in my tank water to the bags slowly then only intoduce the fish to main tank. i got learn that the best way is to have a QT.

[tiger6222]

Have u cycle ur tank yet? How long issit since u cycle it?

The skimmer is just sold by RD so i was wondering how long have u cycle the tank.

Salt water is heavier then normal water. I suggest u change to a thicker tank b4 the silicon split.

the tank is been cycle for a than a month.....i bought the skimmer is for upgrade for my previous weipro skimmer.....

considering change of my tank but will be move house soon so just waiting for the new house and will built a totally new tank.......this tank is purely for my learning...

[tiger6222]

bro where is the water level of the skimmer? can take apic?

hi bro starting the water level is at the bottom of the neck of the skimmer......after few day nothing come out then adjust the water level to middle of the neck but the result still the same.....below is the pic

[KennethK]

Like abit low. On the other hand, copperband butterfly (if those r the butterflies u got) survival rate is quite low in tanks. Moreover ur tank still new.

[jervismun]

hi bro....got it thanks......

yes...i admin that i am "very" beginner in this hobby... so i am here to learn as much as all your experience.

perhap i will consider buying a tester for all u mention. can i said that if the water parameter can be maintain then the tank consider mature???? and i can start add in new fish???

my initial planning is to have a FOWLR tank....those anemone is just for clown fish to play.....n the LFS didn't tell me that it is high risk.

beside pardon this kind of q (newbie here)....wat i hv to do if the test result is over o below the optimum level...take example for ammonia???

Bro you are so lucky to get so much help from experienced bros here... yes read more... at least now you know what's a QT

Let me reply you since the above was your reply to me...

1) Yes, it's important to admit that. After many months of learning... I still consider myself at the intermediate level... so there's really no need to rush to the expert level... relax and enjoy the hobby too. However, since you have so much more to learn, I suggest you stop adding new LS to your tank.

2) Despite success reported by some bros without testing the pH of the tank... I suggest you get some Salifert test kits (those crucial ones). This is a part of learning... now how can you learn when you do not know what is the condition of your own tank? Actually you do not need to wait till the tank is matured to add new fishes, it may take months if not years... as long as you are confident of your parameters, you can add some hardy fishes slowly. I think the keywords are CONFIDENCE and RESPONSIBILITY.

3) FOWLR is good for learning... try to give away your Anemone, post it under Pasar Malam or SWOP section. Hopefully, a reefer will adopt the Anemone from you. Well... you don't expect an inferior car manufacturer to warn you about the car's lack of safety features

[sunnymau]

IMHO, testing for parameters in the begining of setup is very crucial..

as it give you an over view of how your tank condition is..

only when your tank are more stable then you may not test your water so often.. but, have to observe your Ls very closely everyday..

for me, the secret to success for a budget reef.......... READING,PATIENT&WATER CHANGE!

Get good salt and if possible DI water is best for water change.

stock up slowly, very slowly..

p.s. to have chiller will give you more variety of ls to choose frrom and have more enjoyable reefing experience..

enjoy reefing

[jervismun]

p.s. to have chiller will give you more variety of ls to choose frrom and have more enjoyable reefing experience..

Also the thrill of putting your hand inside chilled water... I like the feeling... very refreshing

[nakazoru]

Bro Tiger;

Not to worry too much as it really a learning process. In the beginning, I came to SRC and RC with abundance of information, some too technical to understand. We all understand the pain. Most LFS will not bother too much but tell you the basic and start killing LS.

You have a good skimmer already so not too bad. Temperature at 30 alone is not gona kill LS like that. So I believe it is the water. Bear in mind, your tank and sump is quite large so it takes longer to cycle. For me, I will not start my skimmer until large enuf bioload, but that juz me.

Any fish, if not feeding will perish.

See if any bro near ur area and see if they can help take a look. Reefers are all very friendly.

[tiger6222]

Hi good morning to all......many to all of your guys advice and suggestion...will learn hardy n read as much as i can....

beside i really dun understand wat the biolad o bioload means??? is the two are the same??

[jervismun]

Hi good morning to all......many to all of your guys advice and suggestion...will learn hardy n read as much as i can....

beside i really dun understand wat the biolad o bioload means??? is the two are the same??

Haha... they are the same thing... typo.

Bioload!

[nakazoru]

It all meant bioload.

It meant the waste or by products of all the LS in your tank.

Eg:

1 clown fish - poo poo / left over food -> low bioload

5 clown fish - 5 x poo poo / left over food -> Medium bioload

20 clown fish - 10 x poo poo / left over food -> High bioload

Juz an example

[sunnymau]

Is bioload...

It means how many ls you have, in simple term.

Bio load is build up by the waste from fishes and corals.

The more ls you have, the higher the bio load is and you need good equipment to cope with the bio load. good skimmer is one of those equipment you need, and believe you have a pretty good one. frequent change of water can also help.Good, cure LR play a vital role too.

Stock up slowly, don ever over stock and don over feed is the key to reduce the bioload of you tank!

just a very brief explanation, hope it will help:peace:

[tiger6222]

ok...get it now.....thanks..

bro jervis just finished ur thread on ur tank setup...... is amazing.... i am so envy u have such good tank n equipment....can i just drop by to visit u (hahaha actuall more interested in ur tank)

[jervismun]

ok...get it now.....thanks..

bro jervis just finished ur thread on ur tank setup...... is amazing.... i am so envy u have such good tank n equipment....can i just drop by to visit u (hahaha actuall more interested in ur tank)

Of course you are invited over... yeah make sure you are only interested in the tank... I have a lot of female designers here

[tiger6222]

hi bro jervis.....any suggestion that i can make my tank better......cos after reading ur and others thread i feel that my tank is just a toy to a child in kinder garden. really envy that ur all have those high tech equipments and good quality tank.

now i found that to start a marine tank...1st thing must do is having a good planning...(like u bro jervis)...so that we can step by step to setup a successful tank more importantly with no regret.

my mistake is no planing at all.....lack of knowledge to this hobby.....so shame..

so thanks again for u guys give me so many advice and suggestion.......

[jervismun]

hi bro jervis.....any suggestion that i can make my tank better......cos after reading ur and others thread i feel that my tank is just a toy to a child in kinder garden. really envy that ur all have those high tech equipments and good quality tank.

now i found that to start a marine tank...1st thing must do is having a good planning...(like u bro jervis)...so that we can step by step to setup a successful tank more importantly with no regret.

my mistake is no planing at all.....lack of knowledge to this hobby.....so shame..

so thanks again for u guys give me so many advice and suggestion.......

Hehe... thanks for mentioning my name so many times Well... just to make things clear... a lot of reefers successfully keep their LS happy without the use of high-tech equipments. IMO, high-tech equipments will help achieve a higher changes of success... but in the end of the day... it's still planning and knowledge (and a lot of lucks).

If I'm not wrong, you will set up a proper tank soon right? Plan properly... if you can afford Germany products... by all means... if not... alternative products will work just as well... so do not be constraint by the $$$ factor too much.

Continue to talk to us... and what's important is also to make up your mind in the end of the day... as there is no absolute right and wrong in reefing methods... sometimes you will find a lot of ideas that contradict each other. But that's part of learning

Give yourself 6 months

[tiger6222]

now in the middle....n dunno wat to do now....think of adding some equipment but not enuf space ( n $$$ also lah).....perhap will just run the as wat it is now...cos no more motivation now compare to starting.... but will not give give up....will give me some time to learnn collect as many information as i can so that hope the next tank will successful like u guys.......

[tiger6222]

hi bro nakazoru...thanks for your example here.....i know wat is bioload now....

[KennethK]

Of course you are invited over... yeah make sure you are only interested in the tank... I have a lot of female designers here

Oh then i MUST go! Can jio them cheong MS after work since so nearby.