Justin_Luke Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Current FTS 01/25/14 http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/P1254256.jpg.html'> FTS 01/19/14 http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/P1194235.jpg.html'> FTS 12/27/13 http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/PC274107.jpg.html'> FTS 3/21/13 http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/IMG_1705.jpg.html'> 3/10/13 - First fts http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/IMG_1655.jpg.html'> Hi all! My name is Justin and i have been a member here for about a year. I havent posted alot, i have just kind of read alot of threads! anyway i decided to go for it and start a thread for my 5 gall ecopico! So i just got my Ecoxotic EcoPico that i ordered from ecoxotic.com today! so stoked So i did a 5.5 gal nano a while back, but i got to busy and had to sell it. However, now that summer is approaching i will have plenty of time to fool around with it. But enough with that here are the specs! Specs - all glass rimless 5.1 gallon aquarium with glass top for evaporation, also im going to put a black backround on it - Led arm light with 3 strips of blue and white leds (total of 6, 10,000K whites and 3, 4nm blue leds) The sight said that these leds will support "your most light loving corals" so i have faith in them. - inline dimmer to control awesomeness effect - Descrete in-tank filter and pump ( it comes with a sponge insert that i am going to try to replace with filter floss and a little bit of carbon) Stocking plans 5-7 pounds of live rock and 5 pounds of white sand - corals I want it to be a mixed reef so heres what i have already to put into it: bird of paradise birdsnest, gsp, a huge blue mushroom from marine extreme and candy cane coral. What i want to have in it: i would love to put some ricordeas in it, not sure where to get any though, acans for sure, more candy cane, blastos, monti cap, more birdsnest, chalice, hammer coral and i think thats it - Inverts clean up crew consisting of: 10 dwarf ceriths, 2 small nerites, 2 florida ceriths, 1 astrea snail, 3 assorted hermits, 2 blue leg hermits, 1 electric blue hermit 2 or 3 sexy shrimp or Maybe! a cleaner shrimp - fish still trying to decide, was thinking of maybe moving my watchman goby into it, but the other 3 fish i am trying to decide on are: spot tail blenny, neon goby, or clown goby. Im thinking 2 fish max. Any thoughts of other fish or in general? Here are the Pics! Let me know what you think! im always open to advice! Link to comment
ALNN Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Will be following im doing a new tank also! so keep us updatedd Link to comment
Hexadron Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I always liked the EcoPico, good luck Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Thanks guys! im going out today to get some liverock and possibly live sand so pics may be coming soon Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 Ok so update! i went out today and picked up some very nice liverock for my aqauscape! So after spending an hour with my hand in the tank i am still not happy with my aquascape, it needs more rock, but i will work on that tomorrow. I also modified the filter by taking out the sponge that it came with, removing half of it and replacing is with filter floss and a diy carbon pack (im actually pretty proud of my self ) here is the current fts, and yes i still need to get a backround let me know what you think, oh and the lights are at about 70% in the pic. and here is the diy carbon pack Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 ok i finally got the rock work the way i like it. I haven't tested the water yet, but it shouldnt be to bad considering i used liverock and live sand. Ill do some testing later and let you guys know. Also, what is the smallest heater that you know of besides the under gravel heaters? i would like to put a smaller one in if i can find one. Anyway more pics! The water is still a little cloudy from messing with it. Link to comment
Hexadron Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Nice scape. I like how you left some open area for the sand Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 ok so slight update, I tested my parameters and the ph was kind of low (7.3 ish) so i added some ph superbuffer and kh builder to help with that. Other than that everything looks good, NO2 - 0, NO3 - 5, NH4 - 0. I am going to do a gallon water change this evening and try to wait a few more days before adding coral. I dis put a nerite snail in their 2 days ago and he is doing fine so thats a good sign. Also, as far as stocking go, i really want to put a mini-maxi nem in there and have a couple sexy shrimp host it. The only thing is i would be afraid to put my favorite yellow watchman goby in the same tank, because i hae heard that it is possible that the nem might eat them because they are a bottom dweller. Thoughts? Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 Ok so after some more research i decided i shouldnt have a mini maxi nem in this small of tank with fish that is. I have heard way to many stories of these nems eating numerous fish in small tanks and even large ones. either i have no fish and a maxi nem with some sexy shrimp or have fish and no nem. Any thoughts or advice on this subject? Link to comment
BulkRate Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Allow some time for your cycle to level out... one week from initial fill's a little quick to be putting corals in, even if you started with live rock. And most anemones tend to need the tank to be more established (at least several months) to do well, although maxi-minis may be an exception to that. As per the startup articles and numerous tank build threads let your tank show you when it is ready for a clean-up crew, then wait at least a couple more weeks before introducing other livestock. You really can't go too slow at this stage. Bit of long-term advice - don't chase after PH with buffering solutions... RO/distilled quality water + a decent salt mix should land your change water in the ballpark of high-7's to low 8's, and your tank's aragonite sandbed + carbonate live rock should be all the buffering you need to keep it there. Trying to adjust it significantly up or down and keep it there can cause much more trouble over time than simply needing to drip-acclimate your livestock for 2-3 hours. I second JDH's compliment on your scape... does a great job of making the tank look much larger that it really is. Negative space is HARD to achieve in these tiny tanks, but you appear to have done so. Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 Thank you so much for the advice! Yes i have been told now not to chase my ph around but to focus on my dkh instead. As of right not i am doing a 1 cup daily water change, and like you said, that should keep the params stable, im using kent salt so no worries with that. I am trying really hard not to add anything, got to have patience hahaha. and thanks on my rockscape! it took me a good 3 hours+ to get it just the way i liked it. Link to comment
Matteo Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 the open area on the sand is going to look great when it gets clustered with lps and zoas! Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 lps for sure! especially acans! however, i dont mess with zoas and palys anymore because my dad was poisoned pretty severely when we were fragging them, hes fine now, but because of that i dont really care to mess with them anymore :/ Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 Update! i added livestock! just corals and snails for now, not quite comfortable enough to add my yellow watchman goby yet. Everything is doing great so far, and i do have algae growth though, so i just added some hermit crabs (5). I picked up some awesome corals from a friend and have a few from my own collection. Here is what i have in the tank so far: very large turbo snail ( not to stay just to help with algae bloom), 5 hermit crabs, and a nerite snail. as for corals i have: Neon green hammer coral (1 head), 2 acan colonies (2-3 heads), green star polyps, Giant blue mushroom, small frag of pink birdsnest, and green trumpet coral..I decided on what i wanted for fish, im going to go with a yellow watchman goby, and a tailspot blenny. Also i decided i needed more flow so i had a very small pump lying around that i placed on top of the in tank filter. Its very discrete there and provides the perfect amount of flow, im very happy with it. Let me know what you think! FTS 3/21/13 Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 its been a while since i updated this thread, so i figured its about time. Had a slight crash a while back but the tank seems to have bounced back rather well. the hammer coral is doing especially well. It started out with one head and now it has 4, and i have dosed very little (A testament that the stock lights on these tanks do grow coral). In the tank i have hammer coral, gsp, an acan echinada frag and a frag of Christmas favia. There is some macro algae in there as well. Will post some pics tomorrow. Link to comment
ALNN Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Cant wait to see pictures! Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 i tested my params today and everything checked out ok, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - 0, Ammonia - 0, PH was pretty low at 7.4 so i dosed some Alk and dKh to try to boost the levels. I also dose calcium and iodine. The system has been set up for 9 months, but the last 4 months i havent done much with it. Only recently have i started to try to make it look nice again. I added a watermelon and a red mushroom today as well. Im not a huge fan of the sand i have in it now and i am thinking of replacing it with premium grade reef floor sand. I tried to upload photos using photobucket, but this site will not allow me for some reason, anyone know why? Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 Figured out how to upload pictures, here is a FTS as of Tonight. Let me know what you think! http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/PC274107.jpg.html'> http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/PC274108.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 still havent been able to add any fish yet, but i have added alot of new coral to the setup and it is coming along nicely. Here is the current stock list: neon green hammer coral, green star polyps, pink birdsnest, red/purple monti cap, blue rimmed monti cap, 2 acan echinada colonys, 2 acan lord frags, some type of watermelon chalice, dragon soul favia, some other green favia, orange/pink ricordea (2 mouths), and a single head of trumpet coral. What do you think? any advice/suggestions. Also i plan on getting a tailspot blenny soon, what other fish would be cool in this tank? Thank! And of course pics! Link to comment
potatocouch Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 how big (in kg) your live rock is? what sort of sand do you use? Do you use any protein skimmer? Looks cool man ..i am loving the aquascape there in your tank. Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 its about 3 kg of rock, the sand I have in there is actually a mixture of 3 different types, aragonite, and black and white sand from petco lol, and no I do not use a protein skimmer, I try to keep this setup as simple as possible. And thanks, its taken way too much time to get it looking just right. Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 FTS 1/25/14 I have added quite a bit more coral to my setup and im really starting to like the looks of it. The frag of monti on the top is only temporary until my other tank is ready for it. I have started doing daily one cup water change to help keep all of the levels straight (especially for all of the sps). Still havent made it down to the lfs to get a tailspot blenny, but i assure you its coming!!! Also check out the second pic, when i turned on the lights a few days ago my dragons soul favia had its sweeper tentacles max extended. not sure if it was just picky about the new additions in the tank or if it was just hungry, either way i made sure its far enough away from other corals. http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/P1254256.jpg.html'> http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/Justin_luke/media/P1234253.jpg.html'> Link to comment
theicepick Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Really like your tank. Do us a favor, when you update w/ FTS add it to your first post. Leave an original and a current FTS, replacing the "updated" FTS each time so we can see the progress and enjoy the pics without having to scroll through all 200 pages which I am sure you will have. Since tank is so awesome! Enjoy Link to comment
Justin_Luke Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Thanks! i updated the first post to show all of the FTS, from the first to the last, hope it helps. Link to comment
theicepick Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yes this helps a lot! I love the progress, the frogspawn has grown up really nicely. Stop moving it! Link to comment
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