PS

[hirowen]

Hi Kelstorm,

Just wanted to ask what is the function of protein skimmer? Bcuz i heard that by keeping a fish only tank, there is no need for a PS. I heard this from a fish shop vendor near my place. He said that only when keeping LR and corals, if not no need for PS. Is it true? I also saw small tanks(1ft) without putting skimmer. Their fishes are doing well too. And no need water changes. This is what they told me.

[kelstorm]

that is absolutely not true.. u definitely need a PS. With filter, u can only remove what is undissolved in the tank like fish food etc, but not the dissolved waste..

I'm having a fish only tank but after every couple of days, i have to remove a cupful of liquid waste, almost the color of kopi-o... can u imagine that such stuff are inside the tank?

wat is the size tank u are talking abt? no water changes? not possible. unless u get a denitrator, or have a refugium that has lots of macroalgae to absorb the nitrate, it is almost impossible not to do water changes.

with PS, perhaps u can reduce the # of times u do your water changes. Mind u, the smaller the tank, the lower the tolerance of error, meaning that the margin of error is very thin and any mistake will be escalated very quickly.

[hirowen]

[quote:2be7242120="kelstorm"]that is absolutely not true.. u definitely need a PS. With filter, u can only remove what is undissolved in the tank like fish food etc, but not the dissolved waste..

I'm having a fish only tank but after every couple of days, i have to remove a cupful of liquid waste, almost the color of kopi-o... can u imagine that such stuff are inside the tank?

wat is the size tank u are talking abt? no water changes? not possible. unless u get a denitrator, or have a refugium that has lots of macroalgae to absorb the nitrate, it is almost impossible not to do water changes.

with PS, perhaps u can reduce the # of times u do your water changes. Mind u, the smaller the tank, the lower the tolerance of error, meaning that the margin of error is very thin and any mistake will be escalated very quickly.[/quote:2be7242120]

Hi kelstorm,

kelstorm: wat is the size tank u are talking abt?reply: i saw at bukit timah shopping centre the marine shop, they keeping 1ft fish only tank, using the most traditional filtration undergravel. Without any PS leh. And also their display tank, 4ft i think, using a PS and a normal ehiem canister filter only. They keeping alot of LR and coral and fishes. They said to me 1 year already, they nvr change water. Or maybe they are trying to deceive me so that i will buy from them ba.

kelstorm: Mind u, the smaller the tank, the lower the tolerance of error, meaning that the margin of error is very thin and any mistake will be escalated very quickly.
reply: ya lo i agree. now i m starting my second marine tank(1ft). Using undergravel filter and rainbow hanging filter. A few days ago i juz threw in a dead tetra and 2 pellet food into the tank to increase the grow of bacteria in the filter. Previously i m keeping a 2ft fish only tank, using OHF, without PS also, my picasso trigger and blue trigger seems to be ok too. Hehe, nvr change water also, for half a year, until i giv away. I guess becuz trigger fish is more hardy ba.

And also 1 more thing i need to ask u kelstorm. When i want to make saltwater, i add marine salt into the dechlorinated water, how long it needs to run until the saltwater can be used? Cuz i ask some of the fishshop vendor they told need to run for 1 month in order to fully dissolve the salt. But i read from books it only takes 2 days. I am confused. Please help.
Thanks in advance

[kelstorm]

reply: i saw at bukit timah shopping centre the marine shop, they keeping 1ft fish only tank, using the most traditional filtration undergravel. Without any PS leh. And also their display tank, 4ft i think, using a PS and a normal ehiem canister filter only. They keeping alot of LR and coral and fishes. They said to me 1 year already, they nvr change water. Or maybe they are trying to deceive me so that i will buy from them ba.
that shop.. sigh.. give u a hint, when u go to the shop, take a pic of the tank, 1 month later, go down take another pic and compare.. count the number of fishes and id them.. u will probably see that the LS are different.

[color=darkblue]
reply: ya lo i agree. now i m starting my second marine tank(1ft). Using undergravel filter and rainbow hanging filter. A few days ago i juz threw in a dead tetra and 2 pellet food into the tank to increase the grow of bacteria in the filter. Previously i m keeping a 2ft fish only tank, using OHF, without PS also, my picasso trigger and blue trigger seems to be ok too. Hehe, nvr change water also, for half a year, until i giv away. I guess becuz trigger fish is more hardy ba.
UGF is a no no.. it will compact your gravel and once the max capacity of filtration is reach, it will leach back to the tank. Nobody uses this form of filtration anymore. Dun understand that if u can do with a 2ft, y u want to downsize to 1ft. . Yes, ur trigger are probably very hardly.. try that with other fishes like Tangs and u realise that they will meet their maker very soon..

And also 1 more thing i need to ask u kelstorm. When i want to make saltwater, i add marine salt into the dechlorinated water, how long it needs to run until the saltwater can be used? Cuz i ask some of the fishshop vendor they told need to run for 1 month in order to fully dissolve the salt. But i read from books it only takes 2 days. I am confused. Please help.
Thanks in advance use a powerhead to mix the salt.. once u dun see the salt crystals, u are pretty safe to dose the new mix. if u not comfortable, keep it running for 1 day... run for 1 month?? that is something new!!! hahaha... never heard of it... and it is not feasible. if u have 200+litres, where to store them??? [/i]

[hirowen]

kelstorm: that shop.. sigh.. give u a hint, when u go to the shop, take a pic of the tank, 1 month later, go down take another pic and compare.. count the number of fishes and id them.. u will probably see that the LS are different.
reply: haha...ok.. i pretty sure now that the owner r trying to cheat me to buy

kelstorm: Dun understand that if u can do with a 2ft, y u want to downsize to 1ft.
reply: cuz i wanted to clear away some 2ft tank as my brother is bringing back his 3ft tank... no space le my hse...haha...i got 8 tanks in my room and 2 tank outside living room..ppl come my hse tot that i open fishshop sia ...moreover as what u say...nano tank right? dun u think is quite nice...so small..so cute..haha ... altot is extremely hard o maintain...but i feel like taking up the challenge...dun think can add PS in..i think frequent water changes will do..

kelstorm: use a powerhead to mix the salt.. once u dun see the salt crystals, u are pretty safe to dose the new mix. if u not comfortable, keep it running for 1 day... run for 1 month?? that is something new!!! hahaha... never heard of it... and it is not feasible. if u have 200+litres, where to store them???
reply: hey really thanks for your advice!! haha...u killed my confusion..now i hav a better understanding le...i think i will run the water in my another tank...when i doing water changes then i juz transfer the water from there.

haha now then i realise not every fishshop vendor are expertise...juz kidding... no offence pls :P

[kelstorm]

nano tank right? dun u think is quite nice...so small..so cute..haha ... altot is extremely hard o maintain...but i feel like taking up the challenge...dun think can add PS in..i think frequent water changes will do.. yes, cute.. but rem, watch your bio-load

[hirowen]

erm... actually i keep on seeing u all saying bio load...what is bio load? is it the waste products that excreted by the fishes? can be clear juz by changing water right?

[kelstorm]

[quote:be3d9cd06e="hirowen"]erm... actually i keep on seeing u all saying bio load...what is bio load? is it the waste products that excreted by the fishes? can be clear juz by changing water right?[/quote:be3d9cd06e]

bio-load refers to the # of fishes u have inside your tank and the size of it and the amt of waste. Generally, carnivorous fishes tends to excrete more waste. Tangs are another. Changing water helps.. but wouldnt it be better to watch wat u have inside.. keep changing water also very siong on wallet and bills leh.. :P

[hirowen]

[quote:3bba819511="kelstorm"][quote:3bba819511="hirowen"]erm... actually i keep on seeing u all saying bio load...what is bio load? is it the waste products that excreted by the fishes? can be clear juz by changing water right?[/quote:3bba819511]

bio-load refers to the # of fishes u have inside your tank and the size of it and the amt of waste. Generally, carnivorous fishes tends to excrete more waste. Tangs are another. Changing water helps.. but wouldnt it be better to watch wat u have inside.. keep changing water also very siong on wallet and bills leh.. :P[/quote:3bba819511]

oic...i m keeping 2 fishes...1 wrasse/or royal gramma and 1 small clown...bo bian...gf likes it...if not i go for demsel...haha
what do u think? wont exceed right? and also juz now i juz bought the nitrite measuring kits(Tetratest), result shows that i hav <0.3 mg/l....so can i add my LS liao??

[kelstorm]

3 fishes in a 1ft? too much already.. how long have u cycled your tank? i dun think it is advisable if ur tank is not matured. Furthermore, your ammonia and nitrite should be zero before u start adding LS.

[hirowen]

no la i keeping only 2 fishes...small size 1...i cycled for abt 1 n half week le...i done a nitrite test, it is less than 0.3mg/l. dunno the exact figure...the measuring kit uses colour to compare 1

[kelstorm]

1.5 weeks is too short... the # of fishes dun matter, it is the size that it will eventually grow into.

[hirowen]

ok...i will continue to let the water run...what if i m to keep 1 gramma n clown?

[kelstorm]

[quote:47eca483ad="hirowen"]ok...i will continue to let the water run...what if i m to keep 1 gramma n clown?[/quote:47eca483ad]

i would not go for that but u might want to consider risking it.. gamma tends to be a bit aggressive...

[hirowen]

bo bian gf likes...

[kelstorm]

[quote:ccce41bd77="hirowen"]bo bian gf likes...[/quote:ccce41bd77]

how often this is the case?? sigh.. i know how u feel.. u might want to compromise on this.. rem, u should be providing the best environment for the fish.. not stress them.. also, the maintenance factor.. might need to change water more often... gf like, but u do the work.. hahaha..

[hirowen]

haha what to do...love is blind haha...