Bobyboy's 2.5g AGA

[Bobyboy]

CURRENT FTS and FES

 

FES and FTS 7-1-12

 

 

 

 

Well here is my entry.

This is my first pico and second saltwater tank.

I picked up a 2.5g AGA tank with a custom canopy that looks pretty nice from a fellow member(aaron) on here.

 

Equipment

2.5 AGA tank

custom Canopy with 2 50/50 24w PC bulbs

AC20 with inTank media basket; chemioure, ourigen, and cheato.

7w betta bowl heater

2.5lbs Carib Sea Aragonite Live sand

about 2lbs of dry rock left over from my BC14 build

 

I haven't got a clue as to stocking plans possibly a mini mini anemone setup, I was also pondering the idea of Panda gobys but I'll look into those more some time in the future.

 

Here are some pics of the setup from arron

[11GTCS]

Looks sweet man! I like the hood!

[MetaTank]

Subscribed! Welcome to the competition, glad to have you on board! Good Luck!

 

contest judge

Meta

[Bobyboy]

well i was on the edge of pulling out but have decided to stay in so here is a quick up date.

 

I got it setup with about 2lbs of sand and 2lbs of rock 1lb cured and 1lb dry.

It is now 4 days in and i have .50 ammonia reading so my cycle is on it's way.

I also bought a ac20 media basket from a member on here.

I bought new light bulbs 2 8in 50/50 20w PC's and 1 6in 64000k(?)

Looking at different chiller options as I know I'll have heat problems in the summer.

 

I'll update with more pics during the week.

[dallasprstn]

sweeet! glad you're staying in, and i like the hood!

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Wood always stands out, and your tank will make an impression with this design!

[Bobyboy]

Wood always stands out, and your tank will make an impression with this design!

 

Thanks

 

I am drawing up some plans to try and create a matching bottom to go with the canopy.

 

 

Update

My ammonia reached 0 this morning and my trites are at 1ppm my mini cycle is about done.

[Bobyboy]

Well I spent the day working on 2 projects for this tank.

 

First being a stand, I suck at drawing and designing in general and haven't made much progress so after 3 hours I decided to work on another idea I had.

 

Second is a PVC surface skimmer, I've had a film on the surface of my water since I added the water.

I found THIS thread and after failing to get ahold of the OP and some hours on google I decided to try a DIY surface skimmer to go with my AC20 filter.

I bought a 2ft piece of 1.25" ID black PVC tube and cut it down to about 6.5" and drilled 3 rings of 6/32 holes around one end and plugged the other end with a 1.25" PVC end cap.

I stuck this PVC tube in the tank and placed the intake tube of the AC20 inside and submerged it.

So far it has been performing great for the past 4 hours the water level inside stays around 3/4 full after tinkering and adding the third row of wholes.

I'll add some photos tomorrow as I'm to tired to upload them from

My iPhone at this time.

 

If this works out I'll probably go over to the I laws and use a table saw to connect the holes into solid lines.

I'm also debating about adding a ring of 6-8 holes towards the bottom just incase evap causes the water line to drop below the surface skimmers bottom line.

[Bobyboy]

I was finally able to get some pictures uploaded.

I still have not managed to create a suitable base, the first picture is a rough prototype similar to what I want to make.

I am trying to build something that covers the ugly green AC20 and gives it a nice polished look.

 

Here is a FTS with the PVC surface skimmer installed, as you can see between the second and third pic it is almost invisible and conceals the AC20 tube perfectly and has enough room behind it for me to add my heater.

The glass was not cleaned before I took this picture so it is a mess.

[Bobyboy]

My craftsman skills are crap so I didn't get the stand finished in time.

 

Finally got some live stock from the 5$ frag tanks.

 

1 head of red candy cane

1 green 1 red 1 purple mushroom

Small yellow gonipora/flower pot coral.

 

And a twin spot goby.

 

Plus the small CUC.

[Bobyboy]

My twin spot has vanished with out a trace, probably died and became food for my snails and hermit.

 

Temps have jumped from 78-79 last month up to 79-80, sadly a fan doesn't help with the hood that I have.

If the temps rise and I can't add the chiller I bough in April, I'd rather quit the competition then let everything die.

[Bobyboy]

Hey can I get a response

 

yeah, sorry........ the chiller is fine. go for it!

 

 

 

 

Got a response form Dallas in regards to my chiller question.

[Bobyboy]

Well I can't seem to keep anything alive in this tank besides softies and CuC.

I added another emerald crab and a yellow watchman goby, this past week along with a small frag of frogspawn.

The crab and goby just disappeared within 2 days and this morning the frogspawn was melted.

I believe it has to do with the salinity shifts during the day going from 1.027 to 1.024 in the morning when I top off and it being 1.028 when I get home from work and taking it back down to 1.024.

I am assuming this is because of the evap caused by the small fan I now have on it. With out the fan my temps peek at 85-86 with it they peek at 81-82 during the day.

Other then that my params where great until the recent die off.

So I'll just leave it as and hope nothing else dies as nothing has grown.

 

here are the FTS and FES for July.

 

[Bobyboy]

here are the August tank shots

 

 

Right now the pico is sorta in limbo, it is small enough that i could drain it half way and move it with me so i will see.

[Bobyboy]

noticed my smaller mushroom vanished overnight, I picked up every rock and found nothing. I hope it wasn't eaten by my snails and hermit.

 

My 50 cent sized cheato has grown to almost a softball size and no longer fits in my ac20. I have it in the display below theac20 lip as of now.

[Bobyboy]

well my laptop died on me while i was on vacation and I couldn't upload until i got home this morning but here is my FTS and FES.

 

FTS

 

FES

[Bobyboy]

 

 

not a huge difference my mushrooms finally started to spread i have about 3-4 tiny ones.