Java's 5 Gallon AIO

[JavaJacketOC]

Haha good enough.

I'm up in Santa Monica

 

Nice, Any good LFS's by you? I recently found Reef Lounge in Anaheim, formerly Fish Collection in Yorba Linda. They have a lot of coral and a log of frags. Their setup is very clean and although the prices are retail they're relatively reasonable.

 

They don't have a lot of nano or pico fish options at the moment but in speaking with who appeard to be the manager (not the owner) he stated they're working on nano/pico options but just didn't feel like his overall setup was ready for it yet, tells me he'd prefer to do it right not just fast.

[Justind823]

 

Nice, Any good LFS's by you? I recently found Reef Lounge in Anaheim, formerly Fish Collection in Yorba Linda. They have a lot of coral and a log of frags. Their setup is very clean and although the prices are retail they're relatively reasonable.

 

They don't have a lot of nano or pico fish options at the moment but in speaking with who appeard to be the manager (not the owner) he stated they're working on nano/pico options but just didn't feel like his overall setup was ready for it yet, tells me he'd prefer to do it right not just fast.

Jim's exotic fish isn't too bad, they're in el Segundo. The only real local place to me with somewhat decent stuff is The Aquarium. They tend to have a lot of pests on their frags though so watch out for that.

If you like long car rides you could check out Vivid. They're setup is always impressive

[JavaJacketOC]

I picked up a National Geographic PF20 HOB Filter from PetSmart today. I plan to mod it by adding a piece of acrylic or glass in the first set of grooves (where the carbon filter would normally go) forcing the water to the bottom of the return area where there will be a media bag of Carbon and a bag of Puragen before the water flows out. Also, will plan to mount an iceprobe chiller through the top panel if necessary.

 

Filter specs:

• 4.4 x 5.4 x 7.4
• 2.5 Watts
• 100 gallon per hour (able to be dialed down significantly)

 

Pics:

 

Will probably use the area around the intake for filter floss if needed. The acrylic/glass will go in the groove where the sponge is in the pic.

 

 

 

FTS

 

[pismo_reefer]

Thats... Well....ive never heard of a National Geographic HOB.

Hmm...

 

Rock looks good.

[JavaJacketOC]

Thats... Well....ive never heard of a National Geographic HOB.

Hmm...

 

Rock looks good.

 

Yeah, apparently it's a PetSmart only brand...I didn't see it anywhere else.

 

Also...all this happened today....time to get to work:

 

[ninjamyst]

really like ur rockscape

[pismo_reefer]

Well, that escalated quickly.

[JavaJacketOC]

I flipped the wire stand on the fan around and made a few bends so I could mount the fan on the back of the tank

 

[JavaJacketOC]

really like ur rockscape

Thank you!

 

 

Well, that escalated quickly.

 

IKR, luckily it's not really that much stuff. I picked up the following from cal3v:

• Sour Apple Monti Cap
• 2p of Nuclear Greens
• 2p of Pink and Golds
• 2 Astroturf Green Rhodactis

And I picked up a frag of about 15 small, ice blue zoas with kinda long skirts. No idea what they are but they were a unique color and only $5.00 so I figure what the hell.

 

I did a H2O2/saltwater dip for a couple pieces that had some algae strands and then the a Seachem ReefDip on everything just to be safe. Of course, everything is pissed so I'll get pics before the lights go off if they open.

[JavaJacketOC]

I flipped the wire stand on the fan around and made a few bends so I could mount the fan on the back of the tank

 

 

 

Between this original post and now this fan has dopped my tank temp from 81.5 to 79...I think I'm going to set it up on the same 12 hour cycle my light is on.

[pismo_reefer]

....And, evap went up 30%.

[Justind823]

Thank you!

 

 

 

IKR, luckily it's not really that much stuff. I picked up the following from cal3v:

• Sour Apple Monti Cap
• 2p of Nuclear Greens
• 2p of the Pink and Golds
• 2 Astroturf Green Rhodactis

And I picked up a frag of about 15 small, ice blue zoas with kinda long skirts. No idea what they are but they were a unique color and only $5.00 so I figure what the hell.

 

I did a H2O2/saltwater dip for a couple pieces that had some algae strands and then the a Seachem ReefDip on everything just to be safe. Of course, everything is pissed so I'll get pics before the lights go off if they open.

 

Nice. I've ordered from him before. Good stuff.

[JavaJacketOC]

....And, evap went up 30%.

 

Yeah, it probably will, lol. The fan is adjustable so I I will play with it until I get the right flow so I can turn my heater down a bit.

[JavaJacketOC]

A couple of the new additions. These pics are from my old camera which is the only thing that seems to white balance decently, although the colors pop more in person

 

Sour Apple Monti from cal3v:

 

 

$5.00 Zoa frag from the LFS...not sure what they are but I like the color, very mint green in person:

[JavaJacketOC]

ReefCleaners order game today....ffs, no idea how John stays in business sending out this much of an over-count.

 

I ordered the "Quick Crew (2.5, 3g JBJ, other Picos)" which consists of:

• 2 Dwarf Ceriths
• 1 Nassarius
• 2 Florida Ceriths
• 3 Small to Medium Nerites

He also sent me some Zig Zag Periwinkles and I'm pretty sure some Dwarf Planaxis as well. Needless to say I have a pretty diverse CUC, which is what I wanted, thanks John!

 

After dumping everything out and picking what I wanted to put in my tank, I still have this left over:

 

 

Sadly my Pink and Gold Palys are struggling for some reason, the Nuc Greens and everything else seems to be fine...I hope the P&G's make it, they were the cheapest but I kinda like them the most.

 

Some other shots of this week's additions:

 

Astroturf green Rhodactis

 

Poor Man's Fire and Ice?

:

[JavaJacketOC]

After adding the CUC last night, of course snails were all over the place. I haven't had a chance to get the screen top made yet and I didn't expect such large nerite snails so I decided to make a snail guard for the ATO. I'm already working with limited space but I happened to find a container that seems to work fine.

 

Operation Snail Guard Complete

[Clarinet_Reefer]

Very nice tank. Did you ever share your info about the lfs' rodi TDS levels?

[JavaJacketOC]

Very nice tank. Did you ever share your info about the lfs' rodi TDS levels?

Thank you.

Yes I told them about the RODI and offered to bring in my meter, he said he's been waiting on the filters and membrane to be delivered...not sure how long they've been waiting but seems their water shouldn't really have been that bad if everything was being replaced on or close to schedule.

[JavaJacketOC]

Did a water test today, slight spikes across the board due to addition of the CUC and cheato. Did a 3 gallon water change and set up the NatGeo HOB FIlter to run through carbon and Chemi-Pure. Will be watching water quality closely over the next couple days.

 

The Fan I added has been holding the tank pretty stead at about 79 degrees and it's only on about 35% power. I set it up on the same timer as the lights so it's on 12 hours.

 

 

HOB

 

New FTS

[JavaJacketOC]

Retested water again on Sunday and nitrites had still spiked as well as nitrates showing a little high so decided to do as close to 100% water change possible. I also scoured the tank for any dead members of the CUC I added last week. All were alive when I dropped them in the tank but have about 6 small snails dead.

 

Waterflow: I decided I didn't like the flow of the tank and with the Koralia Nano on the left side below the return outlet the space just felt off balance. I moved the Hydor to the other side of the false wall and now there is a lot of nice swirl movement in the water but sand is not being kicked up.

 

Coral Placement: I decided to mount the sour apple monit on the large rock to the right. I placed is angling up but toward the back, I hope as it grows the majority of what will be seen is the top side. Unfortunately it is slightly hidden at the moment.

 

Updated FTS

[Red_Blenny]

Looks sweet. What other corals are you planning add into your pico?

[JavaJacketOC]

Looks sweet. What other corals are you planning add into your pico?

 

Thanks! I don't have any definate plans but currently I have the following:

• Nuclear Green Palys
• Poor Man's Fire and Ice zoas
• Gold Mouth/Orange Skirt zoas
• Mint Green zoas
• Sour Apple Monti
• Astroturf Green Rhodactis musthroom

 

I would like to add at least 1 of the following:

• Small Gold or Pink Wall Hammer (unless I find an amazing green version)
• Yuma mushroom (no specific color but would like something that compliments the rest of the inhabitants)
• Gold Tipped Torch
• Anything I come across that I can't live without

[JavaJacketOC]

Got some stuff today

 

 

 

This take is starting to look a Frankenstein situation in the back...all functional and necessary at the moment thought. I will clean some stuff up as soon as possible.

 

FTS

 

Top Down (had to color correct after pic taken, was way too blue)

[Justind823]

Ah you got some coral! Looking good

[JavaJacketOC]

Ah you got some coral! Looking good

 

Thanks! The left side of the tank is just a holding area until I figure out where I want them to ultimately be so all that stuff still needs a permanent home in the tank. I'm thinking of moving the Rhodactis to the very front of the large rock on the right but I'm concerned that here may be too much flow there.

 

I picked up my screen lid today. Ordered an 18" x 36" piece of 1/4" clear mesh netting from aquariumoverload.com and a local screen store made the frame and screen it all in for me. about $19.00 total cost plus I have a lot of mesh left over for another project, should one arise.

 

Also, rocks are starting to turn green with coraline