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Islandoftiki's Mantis/Pest Tank Pico Contest Winner!


Islandoftiki

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Islandoftiki
Gears are turning? That is magic to my ears!

 

I have several options. I deconstructed the BoostLED fixture, so I have that to work with, and it will work, but I think I just figured out an easy way to make the existing fixture really shine (pun intended).

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Islandoftiki

I'll be busy with Urban Golf for the majority of Saturday, and if I'm not too inebriated by the end of the afternoon, I'll run by Home Depot to pickup what I need to finish the light fixture.

 

"Urban Golf?" you say?

 

This is what we do for fun in Portland, OR:

 

And my video from last year:

 

 

By the way, those crazy clubs you see at 0:49 are mine. Custom made!

 

Note: This is a drinking event that involves playing golf through the city of Portland.

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Islandoftiki

Sneak peek...

 

46EC2B53.jpg

 

I have a good friend who is a professional photographer coming over Monday evening to do the official FTS and FES shots since I'm not that good at taking pictures. :-)

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Islandoftiki

The light is finished and I'm very happy with the result. Amazing what two dollars and fourty-six cents worth of plumbing parts can do to modify the light! That's one of 1 1/4" PVC coupler painted textured black and four o-rings spaced down the length for a somewhat space-age/deco look. It looks really sharp!

 

Before/After:

C843AFEA.jpg

 

And that, my friends, completes the final details of the of the tank. My friend Chris is coming over tomorrow to help take the FTS and FES.

Edited by Islandoftiki
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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Major improvement, me like!

 

I feel like I was watching one of those reality shows where the best friends do a major makeover with their questionably misunderstood friend! :P

 

Awesome change!

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Islandoftiki

Mike,

 

I've been watching the series Overhaulin' on Netflix the past couple days. Hehe. I guess that gave me some inspiration. :)

 

If I have one strong point in my abilities, it's finding creative solutions to problems.

 

The tank is looking spectacular. It's hard to imagine that it's full of stuff that people wish they had never put in their tanks! I'm exited to see how it's going to grow out. May the heartiest and pestiest corals win!

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Remember,

 

Key to the success of a pico:

 

1. Dose with additives daily or weekly

 

2. Don't let evaporation catch you off guard

 

3. Keep your water changes on schedule

 

4. Clean your windows daily

 

5. Prone anything that overgrows

 

6. Don't overfeed

 

7. Keep filter sponge clean

 

8. Don't push beyond 8 hour lighting period.

 

9. Use chopstick to break up debris buildup on all four corners of tank

 

10. Watch an episode of Discovery channel "Tanked" to appreciate the size of your pico! :lol:

 

Happy reefing!

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Liking the modified light fixture. Very clean look.

 

Also, the Ubran Golf looks awesome. I could see it being a lot of fun.

 

I think next time you go, you should take your "pet" mantis along. It should complete the look and feel.

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Islandoftiki
Liking the modified light fixture. Very clean look.

 

Also, the Ubran Golf looks awesome. I could see it being a lot of fun.

 

I think next time you go, you should take your "pet" mantis along. It should complete the look and feel.

 

Thank you, I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I think it looks even better in person that it does in the picture.

 

Urban Golf was a blast as always. I should get some tiny little golf balls for the mantis shrimp to practice with. He's got a nice set of clubs. ;-)

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Islandoftiki

Ok folks, the official FTS and FES shots have been posted. Here they are:

 

FTS:

FTSApril302012.jpg

 

FES:

E3C72577.jpg

 

Let me take a moment to outline the final equipment list and the current list of livestock.

 

Equipment:

 

Tank: 2 Gallon Fluval Spec AIO.

Heater: Hydor Theo 25 watt.

Pump: Mini-jet 404

Media Racks: Custom made from egg crate and plumbing parts.

Chiller: Iceprobe chiller.

Light: BoostLED Par 30, three Royal Blue, one Cool White and one Neutral White LED.

Light fixture: Ikea Lerstal Floor lamp, shade removed and aesthetically modified with plumbing parts! Base removed and attached to cabinet with U-brackets.

Cabinet: Elite Home Fashions Chesterfield Collection Shelved Floor Cabinet with Glass-Paneled Door, Espresso. Modified for chiller, ventilation, wiring and aesthetics.

Tank controller: Reef Keeper Lite

Filtration: 2lbs live rock, 1/2 unit Chemipure Elite, 2 tablespoons Purigen, Filter floss.

 

Livestock as of April 30, 2012:

One Gonodactylellus Viridis Mantis Shrimp (AKA: Shadie)

One mexican red leg hermit.

Three dwarf blue leg hermit crabs.

One florida cerith snail.

One small nassarius snail.

Several dwarf cerith snails (AKA: snacks)

Green majanos with red tips (many of them!)

Brown majanos, two varieties.

Huge aiptasia anemones.

Pulsing Xenia

Blue Xenia

Green star polyps

Yellow colony polyps

Blue clove polyps

Common invasive green mushrooms.

Irritatingly heavy growing boring red mushrooms.

Invasive sea-foam green palythoa.

Poop-brown zoanthids.

Poop-brown palythoa.

Bright Green pretty-but-invasive palythoa

Mud brown palythoa

Devils hand leather coral.

Caulerpa macro algae.

Bryopsis.

Some sort of strand algae.

Bubble algae (popped about 30 of those suckers in there!)

 

So far, growth has been what I would term explosive in comparison to my 10 gallon tank. I'll continue to look for more irritating, ugly or invasive corals to add to the mix over the next month.

 

 

I hope you enjoy my little project! I can assure you this is the most fun I've ever had building a tank! For a tank full of unwanted pest corals, it's truly beautiful. As beautiful as even the most expensively stocked aquariums that I've see to date.

 

Cheers!

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Psychosis

You know, when blasted with enough light at length, Aiptasia actually look half decent. Weird observation.

 

If you don't win, this contest was rigged. < FACT. Brought to you by the aluminum helmet society; Yea, you really are being watched.

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Islandoftiki

Since Shadie didn't want to pose for the FTS, I thought I'd give you all a little video of him eating tonight.

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Oh my!

 

I felt it was October 31st watching that video! The choice of music was awesome! Clarity of that water, just superb!

 

B)

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Since Shadie didn't want to pose for the FTS, I thought I'd give you all a little video of him eating tonight.

 

 

 

Nice little video.

 

May I may a suggestion though; If you can, try and use bamboo skewers instead of the metal tongs. I only suggest this because if he hits the tongs, there would be less of a chance for damage done to him if it was bamboo or wooden, etc.

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Islandoftiki
Do you always make him work that hard for his meals? :lol: He's so cute. Vicious, but cute.

 

No, he usually just gets his meal, but he's also usually a lot more game to come out in the open. I think he molted recently so he's being a little reclusive. It looks like his coloring may have changed a little. You can see in the video that his raptorial appendages have bright white spots on the ends now.

 

Nice little video.

 

May I may a suggestion though; If you can, try and use bamboo skewers instead of the metal tongs. I only suggest this because if he hits the tongs, there would be less of a chance for damage done to him if it was bamboo or wooden, etc.

 

Funny you should mention that. He attacks bamboo skewers and chopsticks. I've been sticking with the long forceps because he never strikes at them. Weird, huh? I can move things around in the tank with the forceps and he could care less, but put a chopstick in there and he gets very upset.

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