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Nemesis Pico 1.5 Gallon DIY - Tankcastrophy - sprung a leaker.


Sunstar

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April 26, 2:30pm

 

tank temperature is at a chilly 76.8f right now but after yesterday, this is desirable. Yesterday I was greeted by an 88f tank and a heater that refused to shut off. I need to order a new heater - and by suggestion of other reef owners, I should invest in a heater controller. I'll get the new heater soon - when I find a suitable replacement and I have to get it mail order. I will look into getting a controller. - Thanks to all those who gave advice. As I stated in my HELP!! thread, I have had a situation where my tank over heated due to equipemnt failure and I lost stock. Stock in that case is drop in a bucket compared to the stock I have in my pico. My beautiful little pico. I hope my stuff starts to grow out in here and I can put frags in my 10 gallon. I hope some of my better things grow well so I can trade them in.

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No fish tonight, just food...

 

Balinese duck.

 

two duck legs, cut into drums and thighs. Skin on or off is preference. If skin is removed, render the fat. Duck fat is liquid gold.

 

paste/marinade

Half an Onion

1 red thai chili

dry toasted corriander seeds - roughly a tsp.

1/2 of peeled cut u p ginger

2 cloves of garlic

some lemon grass paste (optional)

 

about a cupish. Coconut milk

toasted unsweetened coconut

 

make that into a paste and rub over the duck, wrap and refrigerate. I do 24 hours for real flavour penetration.

 

Take duck legs and thighs, take off the paste and reserve that - cooking that is at the end.

 

Place duck bits into a baking pan and preheat the oven to 325f - this is where it sounds weird, but trust me, I am a professional cook. wrap the baking pan with plastic wrap then cover that with tin foil. The wrap won't actually melt but it really keeps the juices in and makes for a very tender cook. cook the duck this way for about 2 hours. (Long and slow, long and low)

 

Near the 20 minute mark I start cooking my basmati. (I wash my basmati, drain for 30 minutes, then heat a pan with oil and some spices, stir fry the basmati and then add water at the rate of less than 2:1 (2 water 1 rice) with some salt in the water - or use chicken/duck stock.) I bring it to a boil, drop it to a low low barely simmer for 10 minutes, then take off the stove for about 30 minutes leaving the lid on the entire time. I get good results.

 

Take the paste and cook it in some oil or rendered duck fat. Cook it for about 2 minutes and then add in the coconut milk. Cook that for two minutes.

 

Drain any fat and juices from the duck pan and then pour the coconut milk all over the pieces, then sprinkle with some toasted coconut. Cook this for 20 minutes.

 

Place leg portions on a bed of basmati rice and serve. This feeds two.

 

Now trick I found recently with coconut milk Use dry shredded unsweetened coconut. How that works.

 

Ratio is roughly 2:1 Two liquid to 1 Coconut. I make more than I need generally it makes for a richer result.

 

Pour boiling water over the dry coconut and let it steep. Take a stick blender or food processor and blend the frag out of it until you get a pulpy mush. Strain that using cheese cloth and a mesh strainer. Roll up the cheese cloth and squeeze every last bit of coconut milk out. It keeps better than tins and lacks the tin flavour. I haven't decided what to do with the used coconut. Only thing I generally do is eat the cold damp mess, or compost it.

 

Sorry if my portions are a bit vague. I generally eyeball it. Its my favourite duck recipe. I do not generally like coconut but this has an appeal.

 

 

Tonight I will make chocolate pudding for tomorrows dessert!!

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...

 

That was my first thought when I got home this evening.

 

...

 

Where is my sticky tape? Its not where it was. Of course she's a nem and she'll walk. So, where did she go. look in, look about and saw some red... Oh scrap she's worked herself into a filter intake. Pulled the intake off and then carefully got her out, stuck her in a fish bowl (one of the tiny ones you lob ping pong balls into to win a goldfish that likely will never survive. I have a couple of these when I entertained the concept of trying to do a micro planted something - I still may. In any event it worked well for removing betta briefly to change water when I had the other tanks. Or holding hitch hikers such as the isopod and bobbit worm. So she is in the bowl, tulle covers her to keep her in for now - mostly to recover.

 

I was worried as she was busy spilling her guts. Now she is walking around.

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May 2nd, 2015 World naked gardening day - my feet were naked today.

 

My 10 gallon is finally running with new t5HO lights. This means what is left is to get my 6.2 gallon (10 gallon cut down) frag tank setup. I just need parts, including an ATO. That means I will be disabling my ATO at some point so I can take it up to the place to buy parts. I have enough float switches, I need another pair of pumps.

 

I have removed the green Star Polyp "bushes" from the base of the pink rock - looks so naked. This is because I want to make frags of the coral by growing it on a glass sheet. Also the GSP has finally spread onto the base of the large rock, so I am hopeful it may grow upward.

 

I may move the hammer toward the GSP rock, and the fluffy stuff back to the middle.

 

I hope to make frags of some of my little goodies, although my zoanthids appear a bit slow.

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May 8th 2015 1:44am

 

The benefits of little bugs in the tank.

 

I have noticed a change in my tank since the addition of the beautiful little goby. I had hundreds of small isopods that were algae grazers munching on the glass and rocks, the little fish came along and ate the bugs. Now I am seeing the return of pest algae. I am sure in a larger tank this could easily find a balnace, or if my macro algae would be able to grow faster in the refugium, perhaps it would harbour more of those little isopods. It is possible that, if my snail ever gets ot that side, he can nibble it off. I suppose manual removal with sypon is my best bet.

 

Sometimes bugs are not bad. Sometimes they do a job and when they are gone, they become missed.

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Hello newman, thanks for stopping by again! o/

 

Its gonna be fluffy hair again. It is not a major issue, just my goby ate the things eating it.

 

On a side note. I was browsing my 10 gallon today and spotted tiny orange coloured tentacles attached to a bit of something. I specualte it was a bit of skin attached to a dendro skeleton and it has become a new dendro. I have taken this super tiny fragment and attached it to a frag plug. I hope to keep it alive. This is way too cool.

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May 12th 2015 10:45pm

 

I pissed the tank off royally today. Because I am moving stuff around. Why am I moving stuff around?

 

My adorable little zoas first image below, started to shrink. I don't know why. I can only speculate it is because there is a mushroom up flow of it that could be being toxins being a bit more concentrated? ID on them would be great.

 

And another colony just down flow from those were also being affected in a similar manner. the Zoas that were above the mushroom was doing well. So I moved both plugs, but them toward my GSP rock. There is a patch of paly below that lot which seem to be doing well.

 

I wonder if it could be an affect of light. I am gonna run out tomorrow and get some small frag plugs and maybe shift a polyp or two into the 10 and the 6 gallon

unknowns.png

 

Also I think I have an IDd two of my paly.

 

I tried to enhance them a little - well a lot. because its hard to really see. they are lovely orange, with fine flecks. I see hint of yellow as well. I am hazarding a guess they may be Sunrise Sakura paly and the ones next to them might be green people eaters. ALthough i want to see closed pictures of the green ones online to see if they have hte light dots around the head when they are closed.

 

Anyway liver and onionf or snack

 

 

unknowns2.png

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May 8th 2015 1:44amThe benefits of little bugs in the tank.I have noticed a change in my tank since the addition of the beautiful little goby. I had hundreds of small isopods that were algae grazers munching on the glass and rocks, the little fish came along and ate the bugs. Now I am seeing the return of pest algae. I am sure in a larger tank this could easily find a balnace, or if my macro algae would be able to grow faster in the refugium, perhaps it would harbour more of those little isopods. It is possible that, if my snail ever gets ot that side, he can nibble it off. I suppose manual removal with sypon is my best bet.Sometimes bugs are not bad. Sometimes they do a job and when they are gone, they become missed.

I preach and preach to spare hitchhikers, you are correct, they give balance and will be missed when gone.
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I generally try to give bugs and things a chance. I hate to destroy life. The bugs are thriving in my 10 gallon - trying to move some to my newly setup 6. Other bugs, I take out and attempt to keep for as long as possible. I generally want to see them and learn about them .

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I generally try to give bugs and things a chance. I hate to destroy life. The bugs are thriving in my 10 gallon - trying to move some to my newly setup 6. Other bugs, I take out and attempt to keep for as long as possible. I generally want to see them and learn about them .

if only they all were like you
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I removed a red eyed crab, and kept in the HOB refugium. I wish I had a better tank for the mantis. The bobbit and Isopod got a fish bowl to sit in on my desk. I added a bunch of fireworms to my pico on setup. Rescued any that got hit by my peroxide doeses. I squeeled with delight in finding that mr. nipples my peanut worm is still alive and put that rock in the refugium. i wish I could get mr. nipples out so I can put him in the pico.

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haha mr. nipples

 

I too dont get why people kill off their fireworms. the more common ones are kinda harmless.

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I find them to be awesome CUC because they can get into places that snails and hermits can't. I think it is because when they are grabbed they can kinda hurt. However I am carefull where my fingers go.

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Awesome a bobbit worm, how big is he? I love my fireworms, and they are pretty funny to watch sneaking around getting food, I couldn't imagine how filthy my setup would be without them.

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The bobbit worm died about 3 years back, just before my tanks crashed. It was small about 5 inches.

 

Oh for fun of it...

 

IMG_0297.jpg

there is a pic of a bird looking in the tank earlier in the thread... that is him on my face.

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His name is rundown. But he is actually a she. I try not to remind him though.

 

 

Question for LED owners.

 

Coraline Algae. Excuse the lack of caps in places my shift key is dying. getting my spare from mums tomorrow.

 

My pico really does not grow it. my 10 gallon does grow it, but primarily the green coraline. although I have changed the lightbulbs, I hope pink will follow. i was gonna get a alk test today but my bank's interact failed so i had to put all my shopping back... including some corals :( [i hate my shift key it is so stiff - O hey I found a temp fix... yay!]

 

Anyway LED Coraline... any aid here?

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Heavily edited image of my tanks under actinic in effort to show up the actual colours... I think my job was passable.
coral.jpg

The lights on.
IMG_20150513_235255.jpg


and just for fun, the unedited version of the first.IMG_20150513_235831.jpg

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May 16th 2015 1:01am

 

Forgive the windex pictures.

 

(these are the unwell ones)

IMG_20150516_010454.jpg

My bright ones that were sold to me as KO utter chaos - Might actually be horizon zoa. I am very sure, and the other ones might be ultra rastas. However both these are "sick" with something. not sure what. I did drop them into a furan-2 bath tonight for 15 minutes. I also raised them onto a very small frag rack so they are closer to the surface and flow. They opened up really fast after the dip, the fastest they have opened all day.

 

two new colonies found their way in today. One could be a reaper zoa. huge oral disks about the size of a quarter, very dark center, finely flecked nearly black lovely skirt of orange and black. They basically look like what is found on planet zoa. And another zoa that is pink with pretty yellow center. The zoa plug was huge for that one. I managed to slip two colonies off it and get them on teh big rock in my tank, and the third that remained on the plug, is now in the frag tank.

 

IMG_20150516_010328.jpg

reapers?

 

IMG_20150516_010411.jpg

??? Pink with a peachy yellow center

 

 

Basically what I want to do is get the mothers to spread onto my rock, then remove the mother colony and put into the frag tank. From there I will attempt to propagate them.

 

A mushroom I got a few weeks ago is moving from its original rock and I am putting it onto the rock so it might find purchase, then rip off hte bit it is trying to leave behind. I will remove the original rock and the remaining foot and put it as well into the frag tank. Although I admit one zoa I am tempted to put on a plug because my slaggin hermits keep digging it up.

 

 

The zoas I think could be sunrise Sakura might be purple haze zoa. I guess the true answer is: I haven't a fraggin' clue.

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Clarinet_Reefer

Gotta love all the wacky crazy names for your zoas! Hope the new ones adapt quickly and start to grow! I'd say the 'reapers' are my favorite both in name and in apparence.

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Thanks I was just writing a list of what I think I have. I spend hours comparing searches with the zoas I have. Some I am quite sure about, others - not so much.

 

Livestock:

Zoas - unknown - orange (maybe fairy dust, Sunrise Sakura or purple Haze)

Zoas - unknown - green (maybe green people eaters0

Zoas - unknown - orange skirts - yellow-green oral disk (punk rockers?)

Zoas - Horizon Zoa

Zoas - Sunny D

Zoas - unknown - green skirts - orange oral disk - Likely Green bay packers

Zoas - unknown - yellow-green skirts blue, teal to green center - 9possible ultra rasta?)

Zoas - unknown - black lightly flecked center orange and black skirt - size of quarter - (reaper zoa?)

Zoas - unknown - pink skirt with pink to peachy yellow oral disk

Zoas - Purple Hornets

Zoas - unknown - purple/black lime green center with alternating green and blue skirt.

 

Metallic Green Star Polyps

Candy Cane Coral

Gold Hammer Coral

Blastomussa

Mushrooms - Unknown - blue with lime center

Mushroom - Unknown - green fleck under some light, under others neat yellow patterning.

 

Anthelia?

 

Green Flower Anemone

 

Nassarius Snail

Blue Legged Hermit

Black and White Legged hermit (unknown)

trochus snail

Emerald Crab

neon Goby

 

Macro Algae

caulerpa brachypus

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Not my reef, but the other things I am growing.

 

I live in a highrise and it tends to put limits on what I can do. So I won the lotto for a community garden. I will post pics of my gorgeous goods when it starts to take off.

 

IMG_20150517_143435.jpg

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