Stock entry of a UK tank, not bought any bits and pieces yet, will be using an 18w power compact, no HOB and undecided what to use for circulation.



looking forward to this!!
brianm

can-he-do-it? yes-he-can!

i love bob the builder. especially when i'm force-watching 8-hours/day on the weekends. <thud!>

anywho, good luck br1!

So those are the UK tanks...

I actually like those dimensions a lot better than the 2.5g tanks. Looks like more depth to them, so could offer better visual depth to the rockwork.

Hi there,

I'm in the UK and would like to give this a whirl, I already have a spare 12x8x8 lying around too.

However I am stuck for lighting options. Where are you getting your 18W PC?

Best regards

Ann

BOOOOOOOOOO! 12x8x8... BOOOOOOOOOO!


J/K!

Good luck,
Jared

hi,
im using the interpet t5 18w control gear with either the mixed daylight / actinic or just daylight lamp from ASL. you can get both from "coral garden", (online shop)
brian

actually, stock competitors are only allowed compact fluorescent lights

Not all stock competitors are, so the rule has already been "broken" by others.

Why follow others who aren't following the rules.

???
i am/will be using a compact fluorescent light!!
cheers
brian

Brian,

Thanks, I performed a search last night for lighting and pulled up those. I would have to build a hood for the light though which was something I was hoping to avoid doing as time is getting tight for entering this comp now.

You guys in the US are so lucky having access to all this purpose built nano equipment. Sigh!

Good luck with your set ups everyone.

Best regards

Ann

after waiting and waiting, finally i have started putting it together



im using kent refugium substrate because i want to put in loads of critters from my 2ft cube sump - although i think its going to be a real pain but i dont expect to have any livestock which will stir it up too much.



making use of that unfair extra 3 inches as i found some thin(ish) plates of rock and cut to size.



murky!



aaah still murky

im using a newattino heater (non adjustable) but only 4-5 inches high and slim and a hydor powerhead - smallest one i could find - would have loved to have run a pipe down and to the centre then pointing up to give me an upwelling of more unpredicatble current but that would have counted as a mod so may try it after the comp has finished.
power compacts have just arrived and will post pics later and get rid of old fluorescent tube

will post more when the murk has settled.

livestock - i havent tried a sun coral so may include one, zoos and im tempted to try a caulastrea / candycane in this if i can keep it stable enough.
fishwise will be one small fish from my main tank if i can catch it! thinks its described as a red coral goby, but its not a goby

cheers
brianm

I wish they sold those tanks here. Nice start.

prompted by the check in pics, a few of my set up, will take more with proper light tomorrow.
just watching to see if it is approaching stable and probably will stick with stocking to date but if i see something more unusual i may yet change my mind. You can make out a green/white serpent star and 2 ?scissortail shrimp?











brianm

Rockwork looks great!

yeah,
i need to practise taking pictures / work out the best angle, i wanted a rock wall at the back and a slab/shelf in front but it doesnt give any impression of depth!!
oh and take the polyfilter sponge out!
brian

I think you have good depth in there and the rock wall worked great. If it were me I might try some small rock and build it up around the heater and powerhead to complete it(may look good may not), but it looks great just the way it is.
I was going to say something about the sponge but figured that you would be removing it.

more pics, probably should have wiped the salt creep, and still working on the best angle for pics or possible rearrangement.



great job on fitting the lights, all of 2 minutes - most of that to find some scissors


18w mixed actinic/daylight




no flash


with flash


zoos


shrimp and green star polyps

brianm

Damn you ....you have the same anemone shrimp as me!!! JK now i have to go and find something else cool and unique!

Wow!! What a cool shrimp, I want one.

The tank's looking good.

Regards

Ann

wow last post so long ago!
shortly after last post i decided that having the rock slab on the sand shortened the foreground so i had another go at aquascaping (envious at the look of Ann UK's tank) and also managed to find a hob which means that rather than a narrow jet of current i have a much wider flow. Unfortunately this resulted in another and longer diatom bloom which the tank is just getting over.

FTS

i think this looks a lot bigger, you can make out the jigsaw of rock from its previous incarnation. yeah i know is should take the scraper out

i decided the sun coral and candy cane were too large together (yeah and it couldnt hold a candle to the sun coral in zoo girls pico!) so i have kept the caulastrea in the pico and put the sun coral into my main tank and put some more star polyps and a bit of xenia into the pico. along with a couple of small zoos which i am hoping will colour up.



and less welcome guests - not sure whether these will just crash or whether i should use flatworm exit, chemical killer.



other pics








not sure about this, it hitchhiked into my main tank sump on a caulerpa rock, only 1 inch across, so its in my pico tank for now until i get an id.



cheers brianm

to get the greatest impression of depth use the widest angle lens you can as close as you can.

Looking really good!
I would stay away from flatworm exit, but that's just my opinion.
Flatworms are not such a big deal anyway and may for the most part just go away on their own.
The hitchhiker looks like a bleached florida ric. It will be interesting to see what colors it develops, but that may take a while to happen.

Thanks Nednai, im just using a digital point and shoot, with usual fixed settings, any idea of the best for the job, portrait, panorama, sport etc?? or what manual settings?.

sorry icenine i should have said the hitchhiker is an anemone, just wondering what type. once identified it may stay or go back into the main tank which has halides and will be more stable!



cheers
brian

The anemone is a rock/flower anemone, they do not host clownfish and prefer to stay in sand, they are usually very hardy and do not get very big since the tentecles are very short. An anemone shrimp or sexy shrimp will probably like it. I would not toss it but I would put it in the sand.

Did you say you had an 18 watt PC or T-5? I see you have SPS is it doing fine with the PC or T-5? I want to put SPS in my new 2.5 i am starting any suggestions on light and feeding?

rock/flower anemone? Thats a common name for starters... and I doubt that is what it is. It's a corallimorphidae of some sort, id would be hard from that pic as whatever it is, it's bleached and a idea of what tentacle distribution is would help id from a picture. From looking at it? My money is on 'shroom.
What does it feel like when touched? Is it tacky or slimey?

Hey Brian,

Good to see that your tank is progressing nicely, I like the new rockwork. It's funny but I thought that aquacaping a small tank would be easier than a big tank but it's not the case at all is it!

Interesting anemone, the banding on the tentacles makes me think that it's not a corallimorpharian. Looks pretty cool whatever it is, I hope that it regains its zooxanthellae. Have you tried offering it some food?

Best regards

Ann

nice rockwork. love the shrimp too.

Rock/Flower anemones can be found on any website from Dr. fosters to Aquacon, etc... One thing is for sure it is not a Mushroom. The banding on the tentacles, and the dappled coloration seems to look like a Rock anemone. Trying to entice the anemone with food should show its mouth and might help it acclimate and color up a touch.

Awsome rock work, hope the tank keeps progressing the way it is.

Hi,
I havent poked or prodded it but I have been feeding every 2-3 days, a v. small piece of mussel and it has been grasping with tentacles and feeding. i am now waiting to see if it colours up and an ID.
Yeah Ann, i thought a great opportunity to aquascape but its really difficult to match the reality to the vision. i think i need a miniature hammer and chisel!.
in the meantime i need to practice taking pictures (must remember, take out magnet)
cheers brianm

OFFICIAL PICO CONTEST NEWS

New Task... Read about it here...
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=75620

YOU MUST COMPLETE THE TASK!

More Pics,

FTS


Angled FTS


Slightly from above


Centre


Zoos and star polyps attaching to rear wall


Rock / Flower ? anemone

This is accepting food but not colouring up yet

SPS

Hard to tell but i think its shoiwng growth


This is just a piece i thought i would chuck in when i knocked an end off in my main tank

And finally for now - i managed to catch from my main tank
a velvet coral croucher

who has taken up residence between a wall and the filter inlet - lovely looking fish

Cheers Brian

Looking good!
Hmmm....might that anemone be a Heteractis aurora? If so, it might not be as bleached as we would think.

What a cool fish!! Is it some type of goby? The tank's coming along great, the new pictures (at a higher angle) show how nicely laid out the rocks are.

Best regards

Ann

Thanks Ann, Im just leaving the tank alone as much as possible now, the fish - common name velvet coral croucher, a good article on them in a recent(ish) marine world magazine. Not a goby although similiar bodyform - supposedly related to scorpionfish (if i remember right)
brian

looks great!

Hi all - this is just part 1
i am really enjoying this small tank - so few problems compared to the maintenance i put in on the larger tank. i have even set up a smaller tank at work and i will post a pic after school holidays. back to this one!

Updated pics

Full tank shots





Nice view of birds nest into zoos and GSP





definite growth on this sps



new peice of xenia


The brown xenia on the right wall isjust going mad and has spread over most of that side and ive had to pull it off zoos and other peices of rock - i am tempted to scrape this off and encourage the paler xenia to spread over that wall

loads of life in this compared to my main tank - loads of pods and worms



algae



flatworms



these are starting to get into silly numbers now - but the tank looks so nice and is doing so well i am loath to use chemicals

Anemone colouring up



next reply for part 2



Part 2

some lovely zoo pics - these have intensified in colour

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2039.JPG[/img]

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2041.JPG[/img]

hammer coral - a lovely small frag

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2042.JPG[/img]

and growing on another branch of this

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2044.JPG[/img]

serpent star - i may be removing this

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2047.JPG[/img]

and the reason why - 1-2cm in length - feeding on small asterina stars from my main tank

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2049.JPG[/img]

one problem, i hadnt noticed this small frag was knocked into some zoos

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2052.JPG[/img]

another new entry to the tank - a very small boxer crab (yeah you do need a lot of imagination to spot him behind the rear wall

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2054.JPG[/img]

couple of more FTS

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2056.JPG[/img]

[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/pico%2057.JPG[/img]


a very long post and a few opinions required

should i scrape off the brown xenia and encourage the pale to take its place?
will i get away with the small serpent star in with the very small harlequin shrimp (being fed on asterina!)

Dude, sha-nifty! (opinion)
1. go ahead and try, I like the paler xenia because of the contrast.
2. These will be fine

If it were me I'd remove the brown xenia. I suspect that it may be difficult for you now that it's taken a hold though. I allowed some green star polyps free reign in my nano and wish that I hadn't, it gets too much after a while.

I don't know about the serpent star and the Harlequin, I don't think that it would be food of choice for it so it may be safe. But just in case make sure the you keep the shrimp well supplied with Asterina. Very, very cool shrimp btw. How's the other shrimp doing? I was thinking of adding one or two to my Pico if I can get a hold of some small species.

The anemone is looking great, back from the brink I'd say.

Best regards

Ann

Tanks looking nice!

I feel better knowing I'm not the only one w/ Flatworms!

Hi - really enjoyed the competition and i have learned a lot in terms of aquascaping, photography to put to use in future competitions and setups!!!
Thanks for letting UK reefers take part!

The summary post

FTS from start to end where available showing change in aquascaping
November FTS


December FTS


February FTS


April FTS


Looking across from the LHS


Centre closeup


RHS showing a mix of zoos and xenia, the old stuff was peeled off but is starting to come back!


Green Star Polyps spreading over the wall
Nov --> April






Anemone colouring up, wanted a recent one but it has taken to periodically burying itself?
Dec --> Feb


[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(10).f25.JPG[/img]

Zooanthids, searching for different colours has made for interesting trips to lfs in terms of rummaging in the bottom of their tanks for loose / few polyps
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(12).c4d.JPG[/img]
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(14).557.jpg[/img]
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(15).f46.jpg[/img]
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(16).e7b.jpg[/img]
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(17).278.jpg[/img]
[IMG]
http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1 (24).969.jpg[/IMG]
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(29).450.jpg[/img]


Various SPS and LPS frags
Birdsnest? from Dec --> April
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(31).cd6.JPG[/img]
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(30).5bf.jpg[/img]

Candycane, not as successful although it does go through phases of good expansion
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(19).jpg[/img]


Acropora encrusting over its base and recovering from zoos sting
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(22).1f6.jpg[/img]

Torch Coral
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(27).1b3.jpg[/img]

Livestock
Brown and green star polyps
Brown and pale white xenia
Zoos of varying shades of (yes) brown, plus pinks, greens and reds
Rock Anemone?
Candycane coral
Seriatopora?
Acropora
Montipora frags
Torch Coral
Blue leg hermits
Turbo snail
Stomatella snails
Small banded green / white serpent star
Flatworms – Millions of them
Anemone shrimp fell victim to the croucher
Velvet coral croucher
chaetomorpha and caulerpa algae
Valonia
Harlequin Shrimp
Boxer crab

Equipment
Aqua One HOB filter
heater
18 compact fluorescent light

A Final FTS
[img]http://images5.theimagehosting.com/1%20(7).b5e.jpg[/img]

Thanks for looking
Brianm