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Innovative Marine Aquariums

5.5g Reef Islands


Sandeep

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Yes for a stronger bond, I pull the rock out of the water place it on a tray. Attach super glue gel to frag/coral. Press and hold in place for about 30 seconds and place back in the tank.

 

Given your rockwork, if you can physically do this I recommend this method over gluing undersea, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

 

Are you pulling the rocks out of the tank when you are gluing the corals to the rocks?

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I tried it for a few weeks, but I'm getting better results with the Kent Microvert. The Microvert is similar to the Reef Plus with the trace elements and amino acids, but in addition it has about 3% protein. With my weekly water changes a lot of the trace elements are being replenished anyway, but adding the extra protein food to the water column is the difference maker, especially for the zoas.

 

On my 50 gallon tank where water changes are only done once a month, I'm using Seachem's Aquavitro Fuel which is just a re-branded Reef Plus as the depleted trace elements may not be replenished fast enough.

 

you no longer use seachem reef plus?

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Wow! This tank is just phenomenal. Definitely will be keeping up with it and using it as a plan for my newly setup tank. Now you have me contemplating using my new HOB fuge housing some chaeto and chemipure. Not to mention wanting to add some sand now. Good luck with everything and keep up the good work.

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Excellent tank! I remember your old 5.5 quite well, and when the fluval spec came out I thought that it seemed like a copy of your tank. I really enjoy the simplicity of this set up. I have been looking for a fixturefor a par38 from rapid led, I think I will have to copy you!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nothing much new, just growing out.

Some of the zoas have been closed up for awhile while others are open. I find zoas to be pretty temperamental.

Carbon in the AC30 in addition to the sponge is working well.

 

Working on the planning stages of a new 8g Reef Islands tank, (new tank, not replacing this one). Stay tuned and I will create a thread for it soon!

 

dsim AC30 is being used at full throttle, plenty of water motion for the tank, no more needed.

 

mascott, I'm glad that someone commercialized the pico tank concept that I came up with all those years ago. These new pico-tanks with built in chambers are great for the hobby. I prefer the staples lamp for my par bulb to the gooseneck fixture because when I want to clean or feed the tank, I just rotate the lamp to the side without affecting its precise alignment height over the tank. With a gooseneck you can't do this and have to readjust your alignment over the tank.

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Just a couple of elegance tentacles and a sliver of skeleton glued to a rock base. Over time it will develop a mouth and a complete disk of tentacles like its micro-elegance brother behind it which is about 4 years old and the size of a silver dollar, one of the center pieces of this tank.

 

pico5g_20140130_1.jpg

 

Patience...

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I really like how the cantilever stand that I built for my new 8g Reef Islands tank turned out so I'm building a similar stand for this tank as well.

 

This is what the 8g stand looks like:

pico8g_20140125_1.jpg

 

The heater that I use is a 50W Ehiem Jager. By far the best and most reliable long term heater based on my experience.

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Just finished building my cantilever stand for the tank to match the stand I built for the 8g Reef Islands tank.

 

This is what the tank base looked like before, pretty ghetto:

pico_20140205_1.jpg

This is what the new stand looks like

pico_20140205_2.jpg

pico_20140205_3.jpg

The large dendros at the front right is meant for the 8g Reef Islands tank and is just temporarily here while that tank cycles.

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Sweet Man.

 

Great tank.

Can you post a picture showing the location of your heater install?

Also, where did the clown go?

And why did you switch to Chemi pure since you were originally not going with any chemicals/additives. Water changes only?


Just curious

Tim

btw, just started a 3 gal pico, (3rd tank) and will start posting pics within days....

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  • The heater is in the back left corner of the tank
  • Clown has been moved to my new 8g Reef Islands tank
  • Just running a AC30 with foam & carbon, weekly water changes are the key

Sweet Man.

 

Great tank.

Can you post a picture showing the location of your heater install?

Also, where did the clown go?

And why did you switch to Chemi pure since you were originally not going with any chemicals/additives. Water changes only?

 

Just curious

Tim

btw, just started a 3 gal pico, (3rd tank) and will start posting pics within days....

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When you first setup this tank, did you begin running a sponge immediately? Also, can you elaborate on how much of a cycle you will see when using dry rock and sand in combination with established water?

 

The tank looks fantastic!

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  1. Still chasing the holy grail acan. Hey if it were that easy to get it would not be called 'the holy grail'.
  2. Yes my original concept compartmentalized pico which has now been commercialized by a number of vendors does have narrow deep chambers which are hard to clean.
  3. No different colours with my Coral Compulsion Par 30 bulb. Since I'm using 120 degree optics it really diffuses the light very well, so no spotlight effects.

Time for some new pics of the tank!

 

One new acan added, just resting on the tank bottom for a couple of weeks before getting added to Acan Island

pico_20131217_5.jpg

pico_20131217_4.jpg

pico_20131217_3.jpg

pico_20131217_6.jpg

Dendros & micro-Elegance want food, not their picture taken

pico_20131217_2.jpg

Finally FTS

pico_20131217_1.jpg

 

WOW is that acan amazing! I'd love to know where to get that. Amazing tank btw, I hope to have an amazing acan garden like yours soon!

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To answer questions:

 

Setting up the new tank

  • Yes I ran a sponge in the filter, just did not clean it for the two weeks.
  • Cycle lasted about two weeks. The key has been to use Seachem Stability added every day for 7 days at the required dosage and adding a fish on day two
  • It's not so much how much old water you add that contributes to the cycle ending quickly, but the establishment of bacteria in the gravel and rocks of your new tank. This is where the combo of Stability and the fish come in.
  • After two weeks, I clean the sponge, scrape algea off the glass and do my regular water change

Acans

  • Lucky for us living in Toronto, there are a lot of local LFS which carry acans
  • Just be patient and see what comes in any any given shipment or week at the LFS, don't try to buy everything at once
  • Most or all of these are not classified as ultra (5 or more colours), so they are pretty cheap to boot, as you can see fewer colours in a acan can look just as beautiful.
  • All of these came from Aquatic Kingdom and Big Show Frags, now I am getting a few from Canada Corals for the new 8g Reef Islands tank
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Wow man, I absolutely love your concept of this tank! I've been considering doing something like this with my new build coming up in the next few months and this just kinda put the nail in the coffin on the idea lol.

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Interesting, so the fish is required for a proper cycle? When do you put in a clean up crew? I setup my tank on Sunday (the 9th) with water from the LR tank at the LFS and my water parameters were: pH was about 8, Ammonia between 0 - .25, Nitrite 0, Nitrate between 10 - 20, the salinity (from a Instant Ocean swingarm hydrometer) was about 1.026. I will be testing today to see if parameters have changed. I have been using PetSmart's TopFin Bacteria Supplement because it was way cheaper than the SC Stability but this may have been a bad idea...

 

I am thinking of picking up a clown and a crab or a clown goby and a crab on Friday, would this be a good idea or a bad idea? Currently, I have nothing living in my tank.

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Yes, the fish breathing, eating and pooping help the cycle along rapidly.

 

The TopFin probably does the same thing.

 

I would hold up on a cleanup crew for at least 8 weeks, you be the cleanup crew. Clown is OK, but crabs, shrimp or snails are not, they are very sensitive to water parameters and can die easily. In fact they are kind of like the canary in a coal mine and a early warning sign for reef tanks.

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Yes, the fish breathing, eating and pooping help the cycle along rapidly.

 

The TopFin probably does the same thing.

 

I would hold up on a cleanup crew for at least 8 weeks, you be the cleanup crew. Clown is OK, but crabs, shrimp or snails are not, they are very sensitive to water parameters and can die easily. In fact they are kind of like the canary in a coal mine and a early warning sign for reef tanks.

Good to know - I've been waiting on a CUC as I've only now put coral into my tank. I've got a diatom bloom it seems, but I'm hoping it goes away with a proper water change, etc.

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