New Project

25 Oct 2006
Was told that 8 men is required to get the tanks and cabinets through my window, as such I have to incur another $120. What to do....

24 Oct 2006
Thank God. The window opening is big enough but it's 1.6m above the ground. Phew!!!! Got my fish room painted. The room is bare now, but I can already imagine how it would look like. Can't wait. Spoke to Jeff, who is a graduate from NAFA School of Fine Arts. He is keen to help me with the DIY aquarium background. The challenge is to be able to get all the necessary equipement.

23 Oct 2006
SMSed GD. No go. The tank has been built. By hook or by crook, must find a way to move the tank in. !@#$@#

22 Oct 2006
Collected the keys to my house.
Hit with a double whammy. Re-measured the main door opening, only 28". I didn't take into account the extra space the door and frame will take up. My tank is 30"!!! Have also decided to change the position of my 4 footer. Hence the height of the tank has to be lowered. LPPL!

21 Oct 2006
Bought my stuff. First round of damage, almost $800just on filter media. For two tanks, this is not a lot, but will start with these first and see how it goes. Have never used a sump, cannot even picture how big the compartments will be.

10 kg of Biohome
25kg of Mr Aqua CR
3 kg of Bacteria House
2 kg of Coral Chips
4 bottles of Fritz #7

18 Oct 2006
Getting restless waiting for the big day. Started to read up more on DIY aquarium backgrounds. Very tempted.....

14 Oct 2006
Spoke to brother Occellatus. Am convinced that Ceramic Rings can do a good biological filtration job as well. Did some research and concluded that Mr Aqua is probably the best around. Decided to order $30kg of it.

13 Oct 2006
Managed to get the contact for the main distributor for Aqua Medic products. Mr Goh, quoted me $640 for both pumps. Went down to C328 at 10:30pm to cancel my order. The boss was very nice, didn't question me and even continued to answer my other queries.

12 Oct 2006
Have been browsing through the web for more info on sump tanks, BB, filtration media and pumps. Have a rough idea of what I would be putting into my sumps. Final composition: fine wool, jap mats, coral chips, biohome plus, and bacteria house. Started a spreadsheet to monitor project spending.

Have decided to go with the Aqua Medic OceanRunner pumps. Damn expensive! Went down to C328 and was quoted $700 for a unit of OR6500 and OR3500. Imagine$700 for just two pumps. Was very tempted to give them up and just go for the equally recommended Eheim 1262 and Eheim 1260 respectively. Howeverly the shopping spree poison got into me and I got the boss to reserve for me. Have also reserved 10kg of biohome, 4 bottles of Fritz #7 BB. Originally wanted to get 30kg of BH, that would cost a whopping $1.2k! My pockets are not that deep.

11 Oct 2006
Met up with GD to go through the details. Gave him the measurements that I took in my last visit to the new place (it's still being occupied).
Tank confirmed to be delivered on 28 Oct 2006. Plan to cycle for about a month before my livestock will be transferred in.

10 Oct 2006
Can't decide between a 6x2.5x2.5 or 7x2x2.5. Chose the former eventually as volumn wise it's bigger. All 280 gallons! GREED GREED GREED.

9 Oct 2006
Commissioning of New Project
After visiting the new place and putting the the deposit the previous night, CFO gave the green light for me to have a room for my hobby. Finally, my dream is realised! Emailed my requirements to two reputable tank makers in the AF forum for their quotations. WY made my existing 180x40x40 tank and I am still quite happy with him though it was quite pricey. Had intended to go with him on this project but after scanning through the forum and reading many good reviews for the other tank maker, I decided to try out both.
GD came back to me very promptly and was keen to discuss the details while WY only replied the next day and with a much higher quote. I have decided to go with GD on this one.