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Thepaintbox's 2.5g Pico


thepaintbox

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Hey! I've been a lurker and a reader for a while now, and I decided to finally get salty. This is my first time doing salt, so lets plan on some mistakes. Like how I forgot to turn off the AC30 before dumping in the sand. Oh yeah. Should have seen that coming.

 

This is day 3 with the little guy. The rock is 2 lb. from the LFS' live rock tank, and doesn't show any hitchhikers yet. I plan to do what I can with the LFS' selection of $10 frags and a small CUC. I don't expect there's enough room for a fish, but let me know if there's a species I could consider.

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Actually, I do have a question:

 

That heater's internal temperature sensor is about as accurate as a Stormtrooper's aim. In the winter, I can usually find a sweet spot and keep it around 80, but it tends to overshoot (84F) in the summer. If I turn it off, the tank will settle around 74-76F.

 

Any recommendations?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Updated tank shots. We now have light, some additional colors filling in the rock, and some green algae.

 

Also, I plan to pick up that recommended heater soon. Otherwise, things seem good.

 

Edit: ...and, yes, my glass looks awful.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I took a 5 day vacation to see some family. My housemate was topping off the tank while I was gone, and I came home to a pretty significant algae bloom.

 

I assumed the CUC had died, and the hermit did look very dead...for a second. Nope, they're just freeloaders. I cleaned it up with a toothbrush and a siphon.

 

I think i'm going to be doing some daily spot cleaning to get this under control, and the first corals (along with some macroalgae) will be coming soon.

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Algae is status-quo, improving with water changes.

 

I did have a salinity spike that I've not been able to explain. It's back at .023 now; I'll be monitoring more closely for a while.

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Updates:

On Monday we added two corals. The Zoa frag ($10!) has 8 heads and looks lovely under blue at night. I've noticed that 1-2 heads are closed at any time, but it's not always the same ones. I'm not too worried about it. The mushroom ($25) seems to be doing really well.

The crab and snail aren't dead. I also picked up a really nice brittle star (and 3+ of those tiny CUC stars) with my chaeto - yay for hitchhikers. The brittle went into hiding the second he got into my display, and he's not been seen since.

I took the advice on heaters - that thing is awesome, thanks. Also, I contact-papered that back black. It looks nice enough for the work involved.

Yes, we still have a pretty rocking algae situation. <_<

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Gotcha. Do you have a top on the filter, or does it get light?

The problem with the rock is that it's in clumps often larger than 2 lbs. You almost need smaller pieces.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Everything is still doing alright. The algae situation is status-quo, and I've added another coral.

Also, I did get a really awesome copepod bloom! :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

How cool is this! I have a coral and it's very clearly growing!

 

Also, the pods have over run the tank and the algae is pretty much gone.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A couple pictures:

 

1) Updated FTS

2) A crab climbing the glass wall.

 

3) What is this thing? It's about 3/4 inch long. Sorry for the awful photo quality.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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