rocksmom Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 such a cute tank. do you really need mp10? i have the PicO 12 gallons shallow tank and have the MP10 at the lowest setting. I really only chose the mp10 because of the lack of wires in the tank. I don't think just the return pump is enough, and while I like the rw-4 I would have to drill the tank lid for the wire. That's still a possibility, which I mention in my review thread, because I really love how quiet it is. Link to comment
NanoFever Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Did you get it locally or online? Been waiting for the Gyre Nano but might get one of these in the meantime. Link to comment
rocksmom Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 I got it on Amazon from a seller called Frag Freaks, however it was actually drop shipped from Reef Breeders. They used priority and it only took from Sunday night when I ordered until Wednesday to get here. Link to comment
rocksmom Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 Three mini-updates and some dog pics. Update #1: Spent 45 minutes today trying to get the RW-4 to work in my husbands nc12, but no matter how I positioned it the sand kept getting blown. Since he can't use it, it's getting more and more tempting to go with the rw-4 and sell the mp10 when the frag tank gets torn down. Update #2: The cycle is taking forever. Nitrates showed up really fast, but it's just been stuck for what seems like weeks now. Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates all showing, with nitrites off the charts. No diatoms or anything. Update #3: Placed my "final" coral order today. Ordered with Cultivated Reef using their 15% off code and spent way more than I was planning. Got some fruit loops to replace my emeralds on fire that melted when I first got them, a few acros, a couple montis, and a cyphastrea. Rocky turned 7 today. Made them a special dinner of chicken breast and baked sweet potatoes (although they normally get raw, so not sure how "special" it really was to them). Bought the tiniest cake ever. Took them for a walk. New toys. They are both exhausted now. And yes, I am one of those crazy people, although I did stop short of getting party hats. DSC00457 by rocksmom9, on Flickr DSC00455 by rocksmom9, on Flickr DSC00437 by rocksmom9, on Flickr Link to comment
gena Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Too cute....Happy Birthday, Rocky!!!! That cake is adorable. I swear, if I only had some cake in the house LOL. This is the second thread I've read tonight with cake in it . Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 3, 2014 Author Share Posted September 3, 2014 Finally there is life in the tank! It's diatoms, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Got my Cultivated Reef order in today as well. Here are some of the sps right after acclimation: DSC00485 by rocksmom9, on Flickr They won't be going in the tank for quite a while. I figure when I start stocking I'll work my way from the bottom up. Start with the acans and mushrooms and go from there. That will also allow me to gradually bring up the intensity of my light until it's at the point I want it to be when the acros finally go in. I'm considering ordering a couple pounds of the marco "prime cuts" that are flat on one side to mount my acans. I have some of the real reef shelf and I think I was able to beat the bryopsis, but it still makes me nervous. Only downside I see to the marco rock is they look really thick on the website. The shelf rock I have looks considerable thinner and I think would be a better match with the bonsai. Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 Doing taxes makes rocksmom a sad girl I'd much rather be staring at all my pretty corals. Some good news came for Rocky though. His test results finally came in this week and his cancer was the least aggressive type, with something crazy low like a 2% recurrence rate. No further treatment now. In the longterm we will just be watching for other lumps or any lymph node swelling. The king of lounging took the news rather nonchalantly: https://flic.kr/p/p4HueB'>https://flic.kr/p/p4HueB'>rockbed by https://www.flickr.com/people/126988861@N05/'>rocksmom9, on Flickr Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 So I've seen plenty of pictures of snails wearing corals. Cloves, zoas, gsp. But how about the opposite? My pokerstar frag I just got had encased around a snail! I fed the frag tank and noticed something moving. I found a snail poking out, trying to eat the food floating around. I tried to cut him out thinking it would be cool to have a snail covered in monti, but unfortunately his shell broke. Sticking out: https://flic.kr/p/p4Skpb'>https://flic.kr/p/p4Skpb'>snail1 by https://www.flickr.com/people/126988861@N05/'>rocksmom9, on Flickr Sucked in: https://flic.kr/p/oMpA1d'>https://flic.kr/p/oMpA1d'>snail2 by https://www.flickr.com/people/126988861@N05/'>rocksmom9, on Flickr Link to comment
NanoFever Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 So I've seen plenty of pictures of snails wearing corals. Cloves, zoas, gsp. But how about the opposite? My pokerstar frag I just got had encased around a snail! I fed the frag tank and noticed something moving. I found a snail poking out, trying to eat the food floating around. I tried to cut him out thinking it would be cool to have a snail covered in monti, but unfortunately his shell broke. Sticking out: snail1 by rocksmom9, on Flickr Sucked in: snail2 by rocksmom9, on Flickr HA poor little crabby! The weird stuff like this is one reason I love reefing. Always something new to see! Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 Did some work on the tank today. Nitrites were still at 5+, so I did a 3 gallon water change to try to drop them to a measurable level. It's still reading 5. Also installed the mp10, added some cpe to help with the early algae blooms, and cleaned the glass inside and out. If the nitrite ever drops, there is definitely enough film algae in there at this point to support the single trochus I plan on moving in. My fishy is still waiting in the QT too. Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Did another water change today and afterwards the nitrites were around 1ppm. Ammonia has been at 0 for awhile so I added a couple drops which should put it around 1ppm also. I want to see how much the tank can process in 24 hours. Once they are both at zero I will add my snail and let him go to work on the diatoms and gda. The rock and glass are covered at this point. Ordered a few pounds of of the marco prime cuts today. I'm sure I'll only use a fraction of what I ordered. I wrote in the comment box what I was using it for, so hopefully they send a few smaller pieces instead of one big one. I think I'm losing my pink micro I don't know why. All my acans are happy as can be. Big and fluffy and colorful. I would have thought that a micro would be happy in the same conditions. I thought maybe it was a too much light so I moved it further away, but it's still looking dark and the older/larger polyps are receding. I've been trying to feed it, but it doesn't eat as readily as the acans either. Maybe I will try some pellets. Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 DSC00551 by rocksmom9, on Flickr Finally! After I did the two water changes the nitrites dropped very quickly and finally reached zero. Just to make sure I added more ammonia and in less than 24 hours both ammonia and nitrite were again at zero. My marco rocks came today. While they ship very fast and I think I got more than the 4 pounds that I ordered, I don't think they read the comment box. I asked for a few smaller pieces, noting that I would be using it in a pico. Basically prime cut rubble. What I got was two giant, thick pieces. The one was bulky enough that it could have been the entire scape for me tank! DSC00552 by rocksmom9, on Flickr I took a screwdriver and hammer to it tonight, but had a hard time getting anything relatively flat. I got a couple pieces in there. Not really digging it. DSC00560 by rocksmom9, on Flickr DSC00561 by rocksmom9, on Flickr Especially from the side where I will be looking at it from my desk. I don't like that gap behind the bonsai. I want to only use the bonsai, but I won't have anywhere to put my acans which are my favorite. I do have that shelf rock that I was afraid to move in because of the bryopsis. I haven't seen any since the tech m. Hmm, what to do... #whitepeopleproblems Link to comment
chrisinator Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I think you did well honestly! i put together a bunch of small rocks in a similar way! Link to comment
gena Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I think it looks great. You might even like having some height on the side rocks as opposed to just flat. Gives it more dimension. And your rainbow of acans will be easier to see (I think so anyways ). Link to comment
Simone Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Hmmm... I think compositionally it looks pretty good now. However, if what you're trying to do is make a focal point for the tank to display some of your favorite corals (acans), I think the scape now doesn't accomplish that because the small rocks are in the background secondary to the bonsai. I would maybe try breaking the rocks down a little more and putting them as separate very small islands in the foreground. Got to be careful to avoid too much symmetry with that approach though; keep the bonsai slightly off center, have the small rocks be perceptibly different in size, and place one closer to the front glass than the other. I think it would also create a feeling of depth in the scape which is nice. I don't know just my personal opinion, maybe I'm just babbling lol. Could end up looking cluttered. Also, you could just have the bonsai for the mean time and look around for some corals you like that comes on nice small pieces of live rock. That way the rock looks more mature also. Sometimes they have nice corals on rock rubble at Unique Corals. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I agree, bonsai maybe in the back. But I think they are good sizes for the tank. Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 I think you did well honestly! i put together a bunch of small rocks in a similar way! Thanks! The rocks broke very easily, but never where I wanted them too. Haha. I just ended up with a bunch of little pieces and after trying many arrangements, thought this looked the best. I think it looks great. You might even like having some height on the side rocks as opposed to just flat. Gives it more dimension. And your rainbow of acans will be easier to see (I think so anyways ). Thanks gena, but I think the issue I'm having with this scape is that the height kind of takes away from the bonsai look. I wish I could stretch the "trunk" another inch or two higher. Right now it's not bad, but once I epoxy the acans in place they will be tucked right up under the branches. Hmmm... I think compositionally it looks pretty good now. However, if what you're trying to do is make a focal point for the tank to display some of your favorite corals (acans), I think the scape now doesn't accomplish that because the small rocks are in the background secondary to the bonsai. I would maybe try breaking the rocks down a little more and putting them as separate very small islands in the foreground. Got to be careful to avoid too much symmetry with that approach though; keep the bonsai slightly off center, have the small rocks be perceptibly different in size, and place one closer to the front glass than the other. I think it would also create a feeling of depth in the scape which is nice. I don't know just my personal opinion, maybe I'm just babbling lol. Could end up looking cluttered. Also, you could just have the bonsai for the mean time and look around for some corals you like that comes on nice small pieces of live rock. That way the rock looks more mature also. Sometimes they have nice corals on rock rubble at Unique Corals. I agree, bonsai maybe in the back. But I think they are good sizes for the tank. The bonsai is unfortunately back as far as it will go. The branches hit the back wall before the base does, leaving little space up front. I like your idea Simone, but I don't think there is room. I could maybe move the bonsai to the right and do an island in the front left. Or maybe just keep the left rock where it is, but remove the right one and shift everything to the right. Hmm. I'm planning on covering a lot of the bottom with corals anyway, but all low growing/encrusting stuff. The only issue at the point is just finding a home for the acans since they are big and bulky and need somewhere to grow. If my husband's 12 gallon wasn't already so packed I might just consider some to him and only keeping one or two. I think right now I have... five plus the micro if it makes it. Time for another tank Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 So after posting I decided to go ahead and pull those rocks out. Looks soooo much better. I'm thinking I'll just stick the acans in there on their plugs and deal with them needing more space when the time comes. I'll have my little rainbow soccer balls (I forget where I heard that soccer ball term, but it's very fitting) near the back and mushrooms and encrusting corals up front. Those rocks were kind of a waste, but at least they were only $18 with shipping. The only thing that kind of bugs me is all the little rock crumbs in my nice, empty tank. I guess I'll do a small water change tomorrow to suck them out. The water level is a little low now anyway. Link to comment
Simone Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 The bonsai is really nice on its own and once you have some corals in the tank and it starts to fill out it will be easier to figure out where to go from there with the acans I think. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I really really REALLY like that bonsai you have! I keep checking the aqua-tecture website to get a rough estimate on pricing, but their stock doesn't seem to have changed for weeks. I'd really like to use the VidaRock for my PicO once I get it, so hopefully they keep making more! Link to comment
gena Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Thanks gena, but I think the issue I'm having with this scape is that the height kind of takes away from the bonsai look. I wish I could stretch the "trunk" another inch or two higher. Right now it's not bad, but once I epoxy the acans in place they will be tucked right up under the branches. Got it...I totally get what you are saying now. It will take away from the bonsai look. Nothing wrong with just having them grow as a garden on the bottom. I've seen that and it looks way cool! Link to comment
rocksmom Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 I really really REALLY like that bonsai you have! I keep checking the aqua-tecture website to get a rough estimate on pricing, but their stock doesn't seem to have changed for weeks. I'd really like to use the VidaRock for my PicO once I get it, so hopefully they keep making more! I read on another thread about a member watching the site too, and someone actually contacted me asking if I wanted to sell my piece. I had no idea so many people were after these things. When I got mine a new batch had just been added and quite a few were already sold even though they were still showing on the site. Mine was actually my second choice. Good luck finding one Link to comment
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