agak nya berapa ringgit nak start basic marine tank setup? tak sure myself .. hehhe

ok lets start item list with price

1- aquarium 2x1x1 - RM 50 (china mari)
2- garam 4kg (red sea) - RM 28 (mungkin lagi murah)
3- batu 10 kg - 10 x RM 8 - RM 80
4- pasir 15kg - 15 x RM 4 - RM 60 (tak perlu pon ok)
5- buble type skimmer - RM 10


Note : harga batu dan pasir tak sure, itu cuma anggaran, can be more expensive!

so total cost : RM 228

cost tu boleh kurang kan lagi dengan tengok forum, cari jek 2nd hand item, batu dengan pasir boleh dapat dalam 20-50 dengan jumlah lagi banyak dari kat atas tu. skimmer lagi canggih.. aquarium free pon ada :D .. tapi garam kenalah beli sendiri .. :D

This cardinal fish has been with me around 1 year. So far dun have any problem and very hardy! .. has been bullied around 1st week in the tank and still doing great up to now.

Not much daily activity has been spotted, always stay at the same spot during day time and only swim around after light off.

Pajama Cardinal Fish

This time i decided to try RDSB method to maintain my nitrates level low.

Purpose
- to keep low level of nitrate

Item used
- 1 x empty Red Sea (25kg) bucket
- 20kg fine sand
- 3 tank connector 15mm
- 4 elbow 15mm
- 15mm pipe secukup rasa
- atman 103 pump

Steps
- create 2 hole for return (i only have drill for 15mm ngam ngam) nak pakai 1 bigger return 25mm lagi bagus
- create 1 hole top (buat kat penutup)
- lastly plumb it together
- tadaaaa siap

Other
- i just cycle it about 1 week until ammonia level 0ppm

Problem
- at the beginning, return water direct to last section of sump, but its create a lot of problem since a lot of sand dump into the sump and return back to aquarium.

Solution
- make return to 1st section of the sump.. problem solve! .. make sure put a sponge/sock filter at return to minimize sand entering to sump
- other solution decrease sand volume :D

since start i only have 2 different species for this fish. Previous 1 was sixliner, die after whole day blackout. Lesson learn .. buy battery powered air pump! .. hehe tak tau bila nak gi beli :D. 2nd species is red bar fairy wrasse.. until now still inside her cocoon .. last seen was yesterday .. dunno still alive or not!

Red bar fairy wrasse



from now on .. i might buy wrasse fish only

These fish are great addition to my aquarium... agree they are a bit ugly and funny looks but its really help to keep my sand and rock clean.

Algae Blenny (LMB)



Diamond Goby/Orange spotted goby

Currently i've several clownfish species... tried to pair them up but failed. Either die because of fighting or not response well to feeding.

2x Ocellaris Clownfish


-1x Orange Skunk and 1x Pink Skunk



1x Clarkii clownfish

Tang
All the tangs has been around with me about 1 year. So far they dun have any serious issue regarding health, fighting etc.

The only problem they keep growing very fast specially blue tang. The health related issue regarding these tangs only white ich. This happened twice, once in very beginning after introduced to tank and one more after moving to new aquarium(blue tang only). Both has been handle by cleaner shrimp and strong antibody(think so) so they are ok after several days. The ich maybe related to stress issue when i introduced to new environment.

- 1x Yellow Tang



- 1x Blue Tang



- 1x brown tang



Feeding
currently i just feed them with several type and brand of pallet and nori sheet. At the moment i just set auto feeder 2 times everyday and 1 manual feeding times :D. Normally each time they finish the food within 5 second!.. so its not much food given.IMO this is important to keep phosphate and ammonia level in check.

Ikan mati so far :

Today 29/01/09
- 1x cleaner shrimp - unknown reason

No date recorded
- 1x clownfish (fish used for testing water parameter)
- 1x chromis (dead after several hours, maybe tak sihat dah kot!)
- 1x turbo snail (dead after 1 hour in aquarium!!!)
- 1x cleaner shrimp (unknown, maybe has been attack by something after its mold (very vulnerable at this period)

list will be update again if mati lagi :D

New aquarium setup
- aquarium 4x2x2
- sump 3x1.5x1.5
- live rock (more than 40kg)
- fine sand (80kg)
- flow - return pump (5500 lph) + 2 x wave make (3000 lph)
- skimmer - weipro 2013 + rio 14
- DIY sulphur reactor
- 2x 54W T5 light (white + blue)

1- Cycle period
- 1 week + only (suppose to be at least 2 weeks!)
- water has been moved from old aquarium + new
- adding 1 spoon of sugar (do not follow!!)

2- Adding life stock
- adding chromis after several days cycle
- adding clownfish to test :D (since i think nemo the weakest + cheap fish to try)
- moving fish from old aquarium 1 by 1 for several days (after clownfish survive bout 4 days)

3- Things regret after setup
- overflow box locate at wrong side
- no proper electrical wiring setup

4- Planning
- RDSB
- Algae scrubber
- Refugium
- Phosban Reactor
- adding more 4x T5 light
- chiller

My previous marine FOWLR aquarium setup :

Tank Size : 2x1x1 footer
Sump Size : 2x1x1 footer
Flow : Atman 103 + 3000 lph wave maker
Skimmer : Boyu
Light : 2 x T5 (white + blue) + 2 x PL

This tank started since January 2008 till January 2009

Life Stock
Tang
- 1x Blue Tang
- 1x Yellow Tang
- 1x Brown Tang

Clownfish
- 1x Ocellaris Clownfish
- 1x Clarkii Clownfish

Cleanning Crew
- 1x Turbo Snail
- 1x Algae Blenny

Fish Lost since start:

Bad specimen
- 2x Ocellaris Clownfish
- 1x damsel

Blackout
- 1x Clarkii Clownfish
- 1x Six Liner

Not suitable
- 1x Cleaner Fish

Unknown
- 2x Turbo Snail
- 2x Cleaner Shrimp

Disease
- 1x star fish