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Cultivated Reef

TSTB's 0.9G SPS Pico "Desktop Reef" *ONE YEAR OLD! WOO!*


thesmallerthebetter

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thesmallerthebetter

Let's see that pickleweed!

ill snap some pics tomorrow when i get into work

 

the last batch of stuff was all from the same seller (one i had never worked with before) and one by one the zoas i added melted away, and the milli also rtned today. i think its a case of "snip and ship" as all the other inhabitants are in excellent shape. i wont be purchasing from that seller again and have already located replacements for the peices from a more trusted seller ive worked with before.

 

tis just a minor setback!

 

anyway, pics of the newly planted pickleweed and teaser shots of another project were working on at work comming up manana

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thesmallerthebetter

Pics as promised (albeit a little late, crazy weekend):

 

I built the walls of the little planter up a bit with some rubble i had lying around and lined the "pot" with a bit of filter floss to keep the sand in. The sand is kept pretty wet since the pot is roughly 1/4 submerged. hopefully the pickleweed roots well over time. I also plan to add a bit of salty susan i have rooting at home in the coming week.

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-2-1.jpg.html'>photo-2-1.jpg

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-1-1.jpg.html'>photo-1-1.jpg

 

Also have a nice shipment of frags coming on Wednesday so thats exciting too! ill update with FTS when that all happens too

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  • 2 weeks later...
thesmallerthebetter

so i worked a tradeshow for the aquarium this weekend and went a little crazy with the frags ;) its been a few days and everything seems to be holding in there well see how much of it makes it i guess.....most of my first batch of palys have at least a single new head (the wobbegongs have 2). the purple bonsai is showing great polyp extension....things are lookin good so far :) i think a couple more frags in the coming months and ill be all done and time to watch 'er fill in :)

 

also removed the pickleweed in favor of a different halophyte.....stay tuned

 

updated stock list on first page....its insane just so ya know.....

 

pics:

 

FTS:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-4-1.jpg.html'>photo-4-1.jpg

 

Top Down:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-3-2.jpg.html'>photo-3-2.jpg

 

Right Side:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-2-2.jpg.html'>photo-2-2.jpg

 

Left Side:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-1-2.jpg.html'>photo-1-2.jpg

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thesmallerthebetter

So what's the secret to keeping sps in such a small tank ?

 

No secrets, just frequent large water changes to keep up the basic params and good quality equipment that can keep everything stable temp and flow wise. that and patience and attention

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thesmallerthebetter

Took some photos of everybody all settled in :)

 

FTS:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-13.jpg.html'>photo-13.jpg

 

Corner FTS:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-1-3.jpg.html'>photo-1-3.jpg

 

Top Down Right Side:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-7.jpg.html'>photo-7.jpg

 

Yumas:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-7-1.jpg.html'>photo-7-1.jpg

 

 

Lokani, Setosa, Blue Flower, Speciosa, Frogspawn:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-4-2.jpg.html'>photo-4-2.jpg

 

Frogspawn and Ponape, Grubes gorg in the background:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-6-1.jpg.html'>photo-6-1.jpg

 

Paly Rocks:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-9.jpg.html'>photo-9.jpg

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-2-3.jpg.html'>photo-2-3.jpg

 

Bonsai:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-8.jpg.html'>photo-8.jpg

 

Granulosa, Blue Flower, Setosa:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-11.jpg.html'>photo-11.jpg

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-10.jpg.html'>photo-10.jpg

 

Silunaria tucked in the back to avoid spreading:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-12.jpg.html'>photo-12.jpg

 

Seasons Greetings Cap, Sponge:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo-3-3.jpg.html'>photo-3-3.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...
thesmallerthebetter
thesmallerthebetter

what happened to the salt plant?

 

it got yanked and replaced with a black mangrove pod that you can see in the FTS. the smaller cuttings of pickelweed didnt take/went dormant for the winter. im still growing some in mats at home hoping to step up the application for colder water systems where it might thrive a little better

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  • 1 month later...
thesmallerthebetter

Time for a photo update!

 

Some new stuff and some growth on older stuff, as always stock list is in the first post :)

 

Also, notice those little white specs everywhere, theyre little micro tube worms! still getting just a little bit of coraline but these guys are growing like weeds. i take it as an indicator of my alk/calc being in line as they have calcified shells.

 

FTS:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo2.jpg.html'>photo2.jpg

 

Gorgonian:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo4-2.jpg.html'>photo4-2.jpg

 

LPS:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo4.jpg.html'>photo4.jpg

 

Polyps:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo5.jpg.html'>photo5.jpg

 

Calcification:

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/1G%20SPS%20Pico/photo1-1.jpg.html'>photo1-1.jpg

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thesmallerthebetter

this is a cool little tank. just curious, why so little LR?

 

i didnt use any live rock, used dry rock to avoid hitchhiking nuisances

.

i just like the look of the open spaces and it allowed for more 3 dimensional flow and better variation in placement of corals. also i have never liked the look of rock heavy tanks very much.

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  • 3 weeks later...
thesmallerthebetter

Time for another update:

 

Did a little shopping over the last couple weeks, think im pretty close to final stocking now...might try another red dragon and ponape birdsnest but maybe not, just depends.

 

Everything is growing, at least a little bit, even my lokani is finally showing a pale growth edge around the base.

 

Polyps are going berserk as expected

 

Birdsnests are branching out

 

Montis are encrusting

 

GSP is climbing the wall, as are the Blue Cloves

 

Micromussas and Acans are going berserko too

 

Sympodium has literally doubled in size, so has the sponge

 

Gorgonian has gone from one single branch to 3-4 new branches

 

Old acros are growing still

 

New Acros are coloring up

 

So heres the pics of the everything.

 

 

IMG_5251.jpg

IMG_5258.jpg

IMG_5252.jpg

IMG_5255.jpg

IMG_5255.jpg

IMG_5254.jpg

IMG_5256.jpg

IMG_5260.jpg

IMG_5259.jpg

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thesmallerthebetter

I absolutely love this tank, how long do you plan to keep it?

 

Forever is the plan. Theres not very much about the build i dont like, and aside from maybe at one point needing to service/replace the wet side of the pump i cant forsee any issues. this is a keeper.

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thesmallerthebetter

Do you still have the write up on your pump ?

 

pm me ;)

 

I'd like to see what your ato setup is like. Awesome lil tank.

 

The ATO is just a hamster bottle and tube with the end in the tank. you can see the tube end in the right side of the FTS.

 

when the water line lowers air gets into the hamster bottle and forces water out until the water closes off the end of the tube and flow stops. pretty simple. it lasts about 3 days on a full fill.

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