Ramblings at Random

"My Lord! I seek refuge with You from the whisperings (suggestions) of the Shayatin (devils). And I seek refuge with You, My Lord! lest they should come near me. "  -(Surah Al-Mu'minun, verse 97-98) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Button Polyps Apparently, there are many types of Button Polyps, ours is Brown Button Polyps, I think, though not sure. What's polyp you asked? We keep reading about it when it comes to corals, right? Surprise, surprise, corals are invertebrate animals . Button Polyps when light's on @ awake: Button Polyps when light's off @ asleep: Just so you know, certain button polyps will release palytoxin when it feels threatened, careful not to touch with bare hands, or better yet, don't take that species (@_@) Eat to Live Today's dish? Kitchen's close today (-_^) Charity Suggestion for Today Serantau Muslim Bank Details: Maybank 5641 0042 1083 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"My Lord! Cause me to land at a blessed landing-place, for You are the Best of those who bring to land. " -(Surah Al-Mu'minun, verse 29) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Blastomussa I always confused myself, calling this coral Blastoise, that's a Pokemon. If suddenly your Blasto detached itself and went somewhere, maybe you should check your lighting or waterflow. They said, Blasto does best under moderate lighting and low water flow. Blasto when light's on @ awake: Blasto when light's off @ asleep: Blasto tried to enjoy its food before being snatched away: Eat to Live Today's appetizer:  Samosa Charity Suggestion for Today Malaysian AIDS Foundation Bank Details: Maybank 5141 0542 1257 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment and boldness). And ease my task for me. And loose the knot from my tongue (incorrectness from my speech). That they understand my speech. " -(Surah Ta-Ha, verse 25-28) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Green Star Polyps (GSP) Before we discuss further about aquarium light, let me share our corals that are still alive, and show you the comparison when there's light and vice versa so that you'll appreciate the light more. First coral, Green Star Polyps also known as GSP. They look like fluorescent grass, we bought it when it's just that tiny with few polyps, and now look at how it flourishes, almost covering the top life rock. As long as there's light, water flow, and at times feed them with liquid food, these GSP will be in good hands. GSP when light's on @ awake: GSP when light's off @ asleep: Eat to Live Today's main dish made:  Tom Yam Ayam Sayur Charity Suggestion for Today National ...

"Our Lord! Bestow on us mercy from Yourself, and facilitate for us our affair in the right way!. " -(Surah Al-Kahf, verse 10) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Filtration System Our DIY sump has two columns. The right column is where water will enter, inside it contains; -sponge: washed during major cleaning -frozen packs of water: when needed for controlling water temperature -activated carbon @ charcoal: to purify water and remove odor -ceramic biobead & ceramic ring: helps to hold beneficial bacteria that can remove ammonia and change nitrites to nitrates The left column is where water will return back by means of return pump, inside it contains; -submersible pump -tubes to and from chiller Eat to Live Today's dessert:  Bubur Kacang Jadi Aiskrim Charity Suggestion for Today Persatuan Kebajikan Anak-Anak Istimewa Selangor Bank Details: Maybank 5626 8320 0189 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"My Lord! Bestow on them (parents) Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young. " -(Surah Al-Isra', verse 24) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Saltwater Sump Apart from corals, we only have fishes, snails and shrimp. I want starfish like Patrick, but in the absence of Sea Urchin, it'll eat corals. I want Seahorse but then we'll have to prepare another special tank for it. I want Anchovies, at least if we want to cook, I can just fish it out, but they live in brackish water. And the list goes on. So before I continue on with corals, 2 utmost important equipment to breed corals; filters and light. Today I'm gonna share about saltwater sump. It's where you store all kinds of filters in one place, to hide those filters from viewers for aesthetic purpose, I'll share in the next chapter what's in our sump. Basically, water will enter the sump and returned back to the tank by means of sump return pump.  You may buy it or do it yourself. Video below shows ...

"Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and (all) the believers on the Day when the reckoning will be established. "  -(Surah Ibrahim, verse 41) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Nassarius Snail Part of the cleaning crew as well, but it has a distinct feature compared to other snails. It can submerged itself inside the sand (maybe burrowing is the right word) and just leave its siphon (I think it acts as a nose) out, and you can imagine it looks like a submarine or a snorkel. It will emerge from the sand when it smells food nearby. Speaking of submarine, sending healing prayers and comforting hugs virtually to affected families: Indonesia-finds-wreckage-of-lost-submarine-nanggala Eat to Live Today's appetizer:  Keropok Ubi Kayu Charity Suggestion for Today Malaysian Association for the Blind Bank Details: Maybank 5140 5763 7836 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"O my Lord! Make me one who performs As-Salat, and (also) from my offspring, our Lord! And accept my invocation. " -(Surah Ibrahim, verse 40) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Bumble Bee Snail Some say its yellowish and black stripes, hence the name bee, but from what I see, its black and white stripes. Like any other snail, it likes to roam around and clean things along the way. Last year we chased away the Boxer Shrimp from eating both Bumble Bee and Turbo Snails as its combo meal, it even looks like those snails are protecting each other. For now, we can't find it anywhere, and not sure if it's still alive and hiding or already been eaten by the shrimp (@_@) Eat to Live Today's main dish made:  Bihun Singapore Charity Suggestion for Today National Kidney Foundation Malaysia Bank Details: MAYBANK 0140 1145 0041 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"Allah is sufficient for me. None has the right to be worshipped but He, in Him I put my trust and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne." -(Surah At-Taubah, verse 129) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Turbo Snail We love to have Turbo Snails because they seem very effective in helping cleaning the glass tank, rocks, sand. Though the name given is Turbo, it moves like any other snail, slow. They even struggle to get up like the video below. Nevertheless, I've found out that the word Turbo is more because of its shell shape looks like a turban,  www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk . But so far, all 3 of them succumbed in the hands of the Boxer Shrimp and we even managed to caught the shrimp eating the snail bits by bits. ='( Eat to Live Today's dessert made is  Kek Batik Charity Suggestion for Today Pertubuhan Kasih Umat Malaysia Bank Details: CIMB BANK 8603 5463 76 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"Our Lord! Place us not with the people who are the Zalimun (wrong-doers). "  -(Surah Al-A'raf, verse 47) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Gobiidae We call it Goby fish. It helps clean our tank. At times, you'll find it hard to spot it maybe because it can camouflage itself with the rocks or sand. The way it moves around sometimes looks like it is jumping. To think about it, maybe that's the cause of sometimes our corals topple over from the rocks. Eat to Live Today's main dish made: Patin Tempoyak + Sambal Gesek + Ulam Charity Suggestion for Today National Stroke Association of Malaysia Bank Details: MAYBANK 5122 3152 0534 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers. " -(Surah Al-A'raf, verse 23) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Wrasses Once we had a Yellow Wrasse, it was very unique in a sense that when it's night time (lights turned off), it'll dive into the sand bed probably to sleep. Then we add another similar species by the name of Bicolor Wrasse. It was suspected that these two can't live together which led to the death of Yellow Wrasse and Boxer Shrimp having it as a meal. Bicolor Wrasse must be that territorial. Wrasses are cleaner fish, good for pest control among the reefs. Eat to Live Today's dessert made is  Caramel Pudding Charity Suggestion for Today Yayasan Amal Malaysia Bank Details: CIMB BANK 8600 2961 90 Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"Our Lord! Grant us what You promised unto us through Your Messengers and disgrace us not on the Day of Resurrection, for You never break (Your) Promise. " -(Surah Ali 'Imran, verse 194) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Nemo Did you know? All Nemo @ Clownfishes are born as male and can change to female. They are considered as hermaphrodites. Clownfish perform an elaborate dance with an anemone before taking up residence, gently touching its tentacles with different parts of their bodies until they are acclimated to their host. A layer of mucus on the clownfish's skin makes it immune to the fish-eating anemone's lethal sting. In exchange for safety from predators and food scraps, the clownfish drives off intruders and preens its host, removing parasites. -( https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ ) Though we don't have Anemone, it can be seen that our two Clownfishes are having a good time playing with the Torch Coral. Must be because the coral has more or less the same ch...

"Our Lord! Verily, we have heard the call of one (Muhammad peace be upon him) calling to Faith: 'Believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and expiate from us our evil deeds, and make us die (in the state of righteousness) along with Al-Abrar (the believers of Islamic Monotheism, the pious and righteous). "  -(Surah Ali 'Imran, verse 193) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Boxer Shrimp We're gonna talk about Boxer Shrimp, since it was mentioned yesterday. Also known as Coral Banded Shrimp, Banded Prawns, Boxing Shrimp, you can call it whatever you want. It may look petite, but it has eaten a number of our fishes (Nemo, Yellow Wrasse) and Turbo Snails, some kind of predator you are. You're suppose to help clean parasites on them (=_=') Figure above shows the Boxer Shrimp devouring our Nemo, caught in the act, once upon a time. I've always wanted to see the ongoing molting process but never got the chance, so here's one fro...

"O my Lord! Grant me from You, a good offspring. You are indeed the All-Hearer of invocation. "  -(Surah Ali 'Imran, verse 38) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Wave Maker Watch the video below to see how fish and corals are enjoying the underwater current. This is our wave maker, nah, the one that got stuck behind it is just a Boxer Shrimp's skin that got shed, it just molted. The skin will dissolve naturally. Is it necessary to have one? I meant the wave maker, not the shrimp. One main reason we use it, is to imitate the underwater waves. Just so you know, the ocean is never still. Second main reason, is to make sure every part of the aquarium has water moving, thus helping to circulate liquid food, distributing it to all. Uniquely, you can control the type of waves, speed and mode. Eat to Live Today's main dish made:  Ayam Kurma + Mixed Vege Charity Suggestion for Today Multiracial Reverted Muslims Bank Details: AFFIN BANK 1065 8000 9580 SWIFT Code: AIBBMYKL Till then, ...

"Our Lord! We have indeed believed, so forgive us our sins and save us from the punishment of the Fire. "  -(Surah Ali 'Imran, verse 16) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Cooling Fan Remember I wrote, the alternative for an aquarium chiller is a fan? The cooling fan, uses the concept of blowing across the water surface to increase the evaporation rate thus decreasing water temperature @ evaporative cooling. What does evaporation has anything to do with decreasing the water temperature? Imagine when you want to drink or eat something and its too hot, subconsciously you blow it to cool it down, the same thing. Let's rewind a bit of our Physics knowledge, shall we? When a liquid evaporates, its molecules convert from the liquid phase to the vapor phase and escape from the surface. Heat drives this process. In order for the molecule to leave the liquid surface and escape as a vapor, it must take heat energy with it. The heat that it takes with it comes from the surface from which ...

" Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower. " -(Surah Ali 'Imran, verse 8) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Chiller Out of all saltwater aquarium equipment, chiller uses the most current electricity, but of course, depending on the type of chiller and manufacturer's note. That's part of the reason why we only turn it on when the weather is extremely hot. However, we'll always opt for other options; put frozen packs of water in the aquarium or the usage of fan (next chapter). Does it matter if the water temperature rises? Imagine this, if we can feel extremely uncomfortable during sunny days, then those fishes/corals, they're suffocating. Warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen (because the molecules are moving faster thus allowing oxygen to escape from the water), leads to marine life stress, leads to their death. What if the temperature is lower than the range? So we...

"We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your Forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all). "  -(Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 285) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Skimmer What do you imagine when you read skimmer? A cooking utensil? When it comes to aquarium skimmer, usually you'll find 2 types, surface skimmer (for freshwater) vs protein skimmer (for saltwater). For us, we use protein skimmer, and since it's a cheap version, we seldom turn it on because it's a bit noisy and those bubbles produced, kind of disrupt the peaceful scenery. What's the function of a protein skimmer? Mainly, it helps remove tiny waste that are not visible to human eyes (organic compounds) from the water. These organic compounds can be fish waste, uneaten fish food, dead corals, algae, etc. Although it can be considered as a food source, an excessive amount may lead to few problems, such as smelly and cloudy water, fishes/corals dying. This is how a protein skimmer works: You can also observe...

"Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire!. "  -(Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 201) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Water Level Having an indoor aquarium, it needs to have a screen top to avoid the fish from accidentally jumping out. Since we use glass as a screen top, we can only close it partially in order to allow sufficient oxygen dissolved in the aquarium. The cons? The water level in the aquarium will bound to be reduced due to evaporation after a few days. What can you do? Set a minimum mark at your aquarium, so that whenever the water level reaches that point, it indicates that water needs to be added. How to prepare the water? Use reverse osmosis (RO) or filtered water, add in coral reef pro salt, and circulate the water for around 3 hours using a submersible pump before measuring it using a Seawater Hydrometer to reach 1.024 specific gravity (recommended coral reef tank is between 1.023-1...

"Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and show us our Manasik (all the ceremonies of pilgrimage - Hajj and 'Umrah), and accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful. "  -(Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 128) Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Acclimation So you're ready to start your first saltwater aquarium, and eager enough to start buying fishes/corals. Image from Google What next? Do you immediately welcome them to their new home? Or you got distracted and left them in the oxygen filled water bag for days? (Oh dear, hope not!) First things first, you need to acclimate them, so that they won't die out of culture shock or get bullied by the seniors in the aquarium. What's acclimation you ask? According to Google, it means "the process or result of becoming accustomed to a new climate or to new conditions". In layman's terms, it's to balance the water temperatur...