bluefunelement Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Here's the beginning of my 2nd Pico - my first was a 1/3Gallon that was impossible to keep stable - this 5.5G is already a joy. Here's the first Front Tank Shot we need for the contest, nearly 20 of us bought or built the same custom acrylic 12"x12"x9" cube All-In-One with built in refugium. Quick background: I started with saltwater 15yrs ago with a standard 55g fish only - kept many types of fish but loved the wrasses/parrots the most. From there worked in a LFS and then the National Aquarium in Baltimore as an aquarist assistant for the 3000G pacific reef tank. One day after we trimmed a 5G bucket of Tree Coral I was asked if I wanted to take it home vs putting in the garbage and that (along with VHO) started my reef keeping journey in which I've personally kept as large as a 150g and as small as a 1/3g and also started my own business, Creative Aquaria, where I've looked after many species of marine fish. After a long hiatus I am back in the game with a Nano and Pico and wondering when Actinodiscus became Discosoma, where were Rics and Zoa's in my day, and why does the best color coral have to be across the globe in Australia? Hardware: Erik custom acrylic 12x12x9 with built-in fuge MJ900 CurrentUSA Dual Satellite 2x18w JBJ Pico 7w fuge light Loc-line plumbing Koralia-Nano <free> JBJ ATO/Aqualifter AW-20 <free> Corallife dual timer <free> PC fan Livestock Green Clown Goby- died:-( Juvenile Perc Clownfish - $15 $10 1lb aqualcultured live rock w/ algae $7 1lb live rock w/ orange corraline algae, sponge, feather duster worms $30 LPS 1 baby fungia $55 Mushrooms morphs $5 1 purple mushroom 1 red mushroom 1 red mushroom 2 superman mushroom 1 electric green mushroom 1 green spotted mushroom yuma/rics $10 1 orange/green yuma 1 blue ric $10 Cloves 1 blue cloves 1 cloves $5 Xenia 1 red sea xenia $13.8 NO NAMES Zoas($.30/pp) 10 ugly drab green zoas 8 green button polyps 20 orange zoas 8 brown zoas $111 COMMON Zoas($1/pp) 7 fire and ice zoas 14 green people eater palys 30 whammin watermelons zoas 45 eye of ra zoa 12 great gatsby palys 3 radioactive dragon eyes zoa $335 NICE Zoas($5/pp) 15 armor of gods zoas 23 Red People Eater Paly 9 nuclear greens 20 black lotus eater palys $4 Macros- $4 red macros lots of free hitchhiker macros $6.70 CUC and Invertebrates 5xAssorted hermits- $.69 each 5xCeriths- $.25 2xAstraea snails- $.25 each 2x Nerite snails- $.75 each 3x Sexy shrimp-died :-( 1x Porcelain crab- hitchhiker :-) 1x Decorator crab - hitchhiker :-) Contest thread here: Unofficial nano-reef 12" cube contest FTS 3/15/2010 (final) 1/25/10 Pico PAR readings FTS with dual Satellite 36w total 3/8/2010 FTS 2/22/2010 FTS 2/8/2010 FTS 1/25/10 FTS 12/28/09 FTS 12/14/09 FTS 11/30/09 FTS 11/16/09 FTS 10/18/09 FTS 9/26/09 FTS Link to comment
nosser Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 finally started nice... Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted September 27, 2009 Author Share Posted September 27, 2009 Here's what it looks holding my temporary rock - might evolve from this or change completely based on what happens in my nanocube - since the NC is MH and this is 36W PC it makes sense to move over corallamorphs and zoanthids. FTS before FTS current Green Clown Goby Sexy Shrimp Link to comment
got2envy Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Looks freakin' sweet so far Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Holy macros! Looks freakin' sweet so far What she said! Link to comment
JoeD Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Looks good, cuttings? My emerald crab made a feast of the macros I ordered for this contest while I was on vacation Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 I purposely got a tiny emerald crab like you in my NC which is molting like every 2weeks and is double sized already - equipped with newly hardened scraping claws I thought he'd keep my rock clean till I caught him today pick up a whole clump of feather caulerpa out of the sand and munch it down while hanging off the rock - amazing! I'll keep the macro farm going on the side and he'll get a constant supply - might swap him out for a Ruby Crab and or Purple Porcelain though? Can't wait to see this hitchhiker pom-pom molt again - he's only 1/4" right now so we'll see how he comes along - try to get photos when he ventures out. Looks good, cuttings? My emerald crab made a feast of the macros I ordered for this contest while I was on vacation Link to comment
1337TANKHAX Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 WOW. Great start Link to comment
harthag12 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I like it, can you move the glass thermometer & what appears to be a temp probe to the back compartment? Get it out of the display? Nice use of macro though to hide the loc line. Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I purposely got a tiny emerald crab like you in my NC which is molting like every 2weeks and is double sized already - equipped with newly hardened scraping claws I thought he'd keep my rock clean till I caught him today pick up a whole clump of feather caulerpa out of the sand and munch it down while hanging off the rock - amazing! I'll keep the macro farm going on the side and he'll get a constant supply - might swap him out for a Ruby Crab and or Purple Porcelain though? Can't wait to see this hitchhiker pom-pom molt again - he's only 1/4" right now so we'll see how he comes along - try to get photos when he ventures out. If the ruby crabs are the same as red mithrix (I think they are) then they will do the same as emeralds. Sadly I had to get rid of my emerald because he did more than just clean my rock. That is a crazy looking tank your got there. I love it! +1 to moving the probe to the back chamber. Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 I like it, can you move the glass thermometer & what appears to be a temp probe to the back compartment? Get it out of the display? Nice use of macro though to hide the loc line. Your wish is my command Much in this tank is just temporary so expect alot of changes - I appreciate any/all suggestions. Here's my actual goal for the loc-line - I have a zoa covered loc-line output I want to add and hope to add more colorful zoa's up the entire loc-line as my rock gets settled. Link to comment
lajz9 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Looks GREAT! (FYI - going price for Sexies in most people thread is $10/ea.) Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 Probably cause they aren't counting shipping - I got mine from the LFS who is charging me shipping+ but I got to pick them out and no more bag stress for them :-) Speaking of stress the first night with the new Green Clown Goby (hereafter known as GCG until he's named) he must have jumped over the divider wall or went over the overflow and I hate to fish him out of the pump section of the sump:-( I decided to make a screen hoping it wouldn't happen again and found that a $1.99 black fish net cut to fit works perfectly - I used the seam on the top with one side of the net on the front and a slightly longer portion of the net on the back of the overflow - works great but probably will need to be cleaned during water changes. Also took some clear plastic and laid it ontop of across the sump acrylic so nothing can jump back again. Fun. Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 I've named him Fred after the Flintsones' open window homes Link to comment
oceanbreeze Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 great pic`s love fred!!!! tagging along to this one looking forward too this tank brill!! Link to comment
opy01 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Fred is lucky to have a nice home like that. Benny (the blenny) has a ledge he hangs out on and thats it. It looks ghetto but he looks happy lol. Great job on the DIY fish saver. I lost a shrimp to my overflow without one. Glas to see Fred survived. Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 nice tank! its a great start, but im too OCD for all that clutter in there..... Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 its a great start, but im too OCD for all that clutter in there..... yeah - it's a hospital tank right now for those electric green mushrooms - and cause it's only a week old soon the macro algae will be covered with micro algae and will have to pruned back - BEFORE anyone talks about cycling or such - the chaeto, rocks, and sand were cycling in a 3gal container for a month with a dead snail to get things going. v2 of this tank could be fun - just hope to get some growth within 6mths Link to comment
got2envy Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 That orange on the rock is of the chizzain Looks fantastic so far Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 That orange on the rock is of the chizzain Looks fantastic so far Thanks! Once all three sexy shrimp decided to jump in the QT cup and walk all over my healing mushrooms I decided hospice time is done. Pulled that and all hardware and added a few zoa's. I'll add more once I'm sure the params are stable. Most interesting part is the delicate macroalgae thats till not identified/ not the red or green grape- had a small ring of brown algae that it's outgrown from the cycling - you can read it like an ice core. Aparently my tank is from the late Palyozoaic era FTS 10/5/09 Link to comment
Nirvana875 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 hahah im liking fred man! haha looks great! Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Fred is getting more comfortable as he's more often perching on his rooftop lounge - often on his mushroom couch just sightseeing. I'll try to catch him but my fast camera is in Europe with the wife so all I have is my iPhone - slow photos - best closeup I could get is my sexy and mini-blue hermit stealing Fred's food - boohoo Link to comment
plantarms Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 sweet pico! sexy shrimp are so much fun to watch Link to comment
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