NEWBIE from Manila

bikethief · 09-17-2003, 12:37 AM

Hi fellow reefers! I've been browsing your forums since I got my salt water tank aroung a month ago for useful tips and info. Now that it's up and running I think it's time to sign up and be part of your web community. I have a 75gal. glass tank with around 40 kilos of live rock. I'm running a queen turbo skimmer rated for 150gal. with an oceanfree 2200 powerhead and forced air intake. (sounds like my street racing integra.) YOu will all probably castigate me for saying this but... I'm operating without a SUMP! I have two overhead trickle filters powered by JEBO powerheads which hold around 5gal. at any given time Livestock would be a couple of damsels, a banded eel, a small wrasse , an unknown anemone, and two corrals which I have yet to identify. Lighting is from a 30watt 2-bank fixture running an ordinary pink flourescent and a Philips blue actinic. Everything looks great but I still cant manage to keep perculas and some less hardy fish for some reason. I'm waiting a while for my tank to mature before adding any more livestock. GREAT SITE PEOPLE! Hope to hear from you guys soon! Any other Pinoys in here? BTW, just to give you an idea of how cheap and easy it is to set up a tank here at home, my whole set up (including livestock and synthetic salt) set me back less than 200 US dollars.

It's my first reef tank but I have several other fresh water tanks which all cost under 75 bucks each! Come on over! I can take 'ya shoppin'!....

Joel · 09-17-2003, 12:54 AM

welcome to TRT. My first saltwater tank 75 gal FOWLR to reef had 2 Penguin 330s for the first 4 years and a hob skimmer. It did fine, just more convenient with a sump.

Alice · 09-17-2003, 01:40 AM

Welcome to TRT

Glad to have you join us!

Sumps aren't essential, just handy.

It sounds as though your tank was probably still cycling and the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites were too high to allow the survival of the more delicate fish. Waiting to add more live stock is a wise decision at this point.

You are going to need more light for most corals and the anemone in your tank, more than likely. Think about how bright and intense the Manilla sun is on the water and you get the idea.

Geoff · 09-17-2003, 10:51 AM

Welcome to TRT!!

sounds like a good idea to wait another month before adding anything else in there. i also agree that more light will be needed for the tank if coral are going to be added. if it were to be a FOWLR then it would be fine.

got pics? we like pics.

i think there may be one or two other people around from your neck of the ocean.

G~

Casey · 09-17-2003, 01:34 PM

Welcome Welcome glad you decided to join us.

mtkas29 · 09-17-2003, 11:34 PM

welcome to tft...kamusta

i just converted my 125 f/w to reef...
i had it set-up for 2 weeks now...
got 150lbs. live rock...(600 bucks)
lights (300 bucks used)
2x 150w halide (4hrs/day)
2x 30w actinic blue(6hrs/day)
jebo protein skimmer (rated for 150 gal) (60 bucks)
2 fluval 404 canister filter (from my f/w)
2 powerheads (30 bucks)
2 150w heater (f/w)
i have 20 snails and 20 hermit crab(mix)...for algae control...

used to live in caloocan city...

toddrudolph · 09-18-2003, 06:10 AM

Welcome to TRT!

Junkzoo · 09-18-2003, 08:31 AM

WELCOME TO TRT!

kram138 · 09-18-2003, 09:40 AM

Welcome to TRT. One of my best friends is living in Manilla right now. Keep a good eye on that anenome. I think your tank is still too young to support one. The chemical shifts that you will experience over the next couple of months can stress an anenome out pretty quickly. If it starts to go, it will die quickly and that could be trouble if it decides to die under a rock or something and you don't notice right away.

Anenomes also need more light. A really general rule of thumb would be 4-5 watts per gallon for a 20" deep tank. I have seen them trive under less light but in tanks that had been established for at least a couple of years.

In the next couple of months, if you see it start to shrival or not open all the way consistantly, you might want remove it and either give it to a friend to keep for a while or return it to the LFS.

You never know. You could get lucky and the thing will survive all the peaks and valleys. They actually can be quite hardy with stable water conditions. But they die quickly when over stressed. I always like to err on the side of caution.

BTW, can I give you a shopping list?

bikethief · 09-18-2003, 09:41 AM

thanks for the warm welcome y'all. MTKAS29, 'musta pre! Nice to see someones starting out same time as me. Compare notes tayo!

dark horge · 09-18-2003, 09:30 PM

If you need help, just holler, bikethief
I'm in Quezon City me'self

A sump is not really necessary.
It is a great convenience though, as it gets all that equipment out of the display.

dark horge

horge · 09-18-2003, 09:33 PM

Yes, just let us know if you need local info on where to buy, or where to collect primo specimens for your tank.

I agree with dark horge on the sump.

horge

bikethief · 09-19-2003, 07:20 AM

That would be mighty useful! Saan pa nga be nakakabili ng reef stuff? Cartimar has been my only supplier of livestock and equipment.

dark horge · 09-19-2003, 08:16 AM

Cartimar is tops for livestock in Metro Manila, though prices are up 400% from a few years ago. Even if you're a suki of long standing, 4 inch navarchus angel can set you back P700 or so (that's about $14 U.S.) --it's just getting out of hand, haha... but that's good for the collectors, who are slowly but surely turning to 100% net-caught (they have to charge more for the more labor-intensive method, I guess)

Live rock from Mang Jun (back street, halfway from the deadly stink of the dumpsters) about P25/kilo. Romy Liwag's Majestic sells clean fish. Sturgeon for salt and hydrometers and the like.

I really prefer to catch my own fish and build my own stuff these days.

For test kits and digital measurement devices, try looking under aquaculture in the yellow pages --there's one outfit in the Scout area (QC) where you can get Pinpoint pH or O2 meters for up to 15% less than Cartimar charges ---or you could order online from some of the vendors sponsoring TRT --have your credit card reasy, hehe.

You can get bulk calcium hydrochloride near Nepa Q Mart palengke --best to check the yellow pages under laboratory supplies or chemicals-- to help prepare calcium replenishment solution if you need it. Or buy Kent/Red Sea from Liwag (I think his wife Jenny stays at the shop these days).

Bio Research's warehouse along Quezon Avenue (left side, going to Manila), near the intersection with Araneta Avenue, is sub-par for marine fish and about okay for equipment.

blablabla....

bikethief · 09-20-2003, 12:51 AM

Thanks! Mang jun IS my supplier. Nice to hear that he has a good rep. Where do i find mr. Liwags shop?