my picotope update :) WITH PICTURES!

[new-b-reefer]

so an update on the picotope. made a few changes and additions. i ended up using my AC50 to help up water volume and biofiltration. i put some floss on the bottom and then stuffed it full of fully cured live rock rubble. no light on the ac50, i went the cryptic fuge route. tank is clear as ever and the inhabitants so far are doing very well. i have some galaxy coral, some green mushrooms and a small taro tree coral (i may be mistaken on the name but that s what the lfs had it listed as). i also made a custom glass cover for the pico which greatly cut down on evaporation im still running the stock lighting but still planning on low light corals. here are some pics.

ps: the taro tree coral was open but the hermit pissed it off just before i took the pics

[RedMan25xl]

I like circled corals

[.Newman.]

stuffing filter floss on the bottom and then packing the AC with live rock is not something I would have personally done o_o

let us know how that works out for you!

My main concern would be debris getting trapped in all that you have in your AC50.

[dday80]

Looks good.

[RedMan25xl]

stuffing filter floss on the bottom and then packing the AC with live rock is not something I would noy have personally done o_o

let us know how that works out for you!

My main concern would be debris getting trapped in all that you have in your AC50.

 

+1. the filter floss is supposed to grab debris as it flows thru, no let it settle on top

[RedMan25xl]

I just have a clump right over top of the impeller. It catches quite a bit and I change it about 4-5 days

[new-b-reefer]

I just have a clump right over top of the impeller. It catches quite a bit and I change it about 4-5 days

 

oh ok that works. but am i correct in my impression that the water in the aqua clears is supposed to flow bottm to top so the floss should be on the bottom right? cause i know normally with the regular ac media, the ceramic bio media is on top of the sponge so shouldnt the love rock rubble be in the same place?

[RedMan25xl]

honestly I dont have much experience with placing rubble in the fuge. I dont really see the point tho. I say only floss, macro algae, and carbon or purigen that type of thing

[.Newman.]

haha, then how will you replace your floss if its all the way at the bottom? you have to move out all your rocks just to do that.

 

yes your flow idea is correct but packing the filter so full of rocks can still cause major debris buildups and will actually cause your nitrates to rise. so this would mean the setup will damage you in terms of algae blooms, more than help the bioload. the AC50 is not a very powerful filter to begin with and all that rock just slows the flow even more. slower flow over more live rock doesnt necessarily give you a bigger advantage than faster flow (if you removed all that rock in the filter) on the live rock in your display.

 

This is why I would like feed back on how this method does for you. I may be wrong, so I would like to see how well your idea works

[new-b-reefer]

honestly I dont have much experience with placing rubble in the fuge. I dont really see the point tho. I say only floss, macro algae, and carbon or purigen that type of thing

 

yeah this cryptic fuge thing is a new thing i have been reading up on. just using lr in the fuge area and no lights. that was the big thing is that i didnt want to have a light on all night for macro algae cause the tank is right near where i sleep and i like it dark when i sleep

i have heared of people placing live rock rubble in the hob filters before. i think it makes sence to add to the bio filtration. and its a dark area for small filter feeding pineapple sponges to grow too. its also a seperate safe places for small critters like pods and all that to fluorish, which is what a refugium is all about right? a safe place

[new-b-reefer]

haha, then how will you replace your floss if its all the way at the bottom? you have to move out all your rocks just to do that.

 

yes your flow idea is correct but packing the filter so full of rocks can still cause major debris buildups and will actually cause your nitrates to rise. so this would mean the setup will damage you in terms of algae blooms, more than help the bioload. the AC50 is not a very powerful filter to begin with and all that rock just slows the flow even more. slower flow over more live rock doesnt necessarily give you a bigger advantage than faster flow (if you removed all that rock in the filter) on the live rock in your display.

 

This is why I would like feed back on how this method does for you. I may be wrong, so I would like to see how well your idea works

 

ok i see where you are coming from. the rock i have in there isnt really tiny pieces so i would imagine less deadspots but still i see what you are sayin. and after i had set it up i realized that to change the floos would be a pain so i have been going over what to do in my head lol, to be honest, i realized i goofed a bit

so would it be more benificial for me to just put the live rock rubble in the diplay and run the normal ac media?

or just remove the floss and keep the rubble?

or should i move the floss to a different spot and continue with this mini cryptic fuge idea and keep everyone posted

[.Newman.]

you should move the floss (just a small bit is enough you do not have to use a lot of it) ontop of the rocks. then keep us posted. keep testing for nitrates and all other levels too.

 

interesting to hear what this cryptic thing is all about

[new-b-reefer]

you should move the floss (just a small bit is enough you do not have to use a lot of it) ontop of the rocks. then keep us posted. keep testing for nitrates and all other levels too.

 

interesting to hear what this cryptic thing is all about

 

ok, i will move the floss to the top tonight. the idea of the cryptic fuge is similar to a regular fuge only instead of requiring light to grom macro algae to absorb nutrients, there is no light, it is supposed to be dark and promote the growth of small sponges and other filter feeding critters to help increase water quality

i guess any dark place that gets no light at all in the tank could be considered a cryptic area. like the back of my nano cube 28. i have a nano glo and chaeto in the first chamber so the macro is growing, and in the same chamber as the pumps where there is no light at all, there are all these little pineapple sponges growing on the rear chamber walls in those dark areas. so i guess my nanocube gets the best of both worlds. before i was running chaeto i had those sponges growing to and my water quality was always great knock on wood and then adding the chaeto was really just to have it there for the extra help if needed

 

so i figure in a picotope, an ac 50 in proportion to the size of the tank... thats a large area that will be colonized with filterfeeders and sponges to help out. and it couldnt be a bad idea to have just that much more live rock for denitrification im still researching more and more.