All Glory to the Hypnotoad's Pico!

[Hypnotoad]

Hello NR,

Although I can't say that I am new to this site (as I have been lurking in the shadows for some time now), this is the first I have made my presence known here. Let me first say how fantastic you all have been at helping me to break into this great hobby.

 

Although many might think me a tad overzealous for making my reefing debut with such a small tank, I hope that my dedication and experience with freshwater aquariums, as well as with other forms of life, along with the many helping hands of the weathered aquarists here at nanoreef will help me both to succeed and to ease any hesitant fears you may have of my endeavor.

 

Ok, so I had been preparing for this little tank of mine to finally fulfill its dream and just when I was about to take the plunge I came across this contest and I thought "what better way to start a difficult challenge than to start with a couple dozen of your peers, working in a similar setting and on the same timeline?" Granted, I don't expect to out-compete the pros here, but I figured signing up would be a good way to keep myself honest and perhaps add a little traffic to this thread here.

 

I don't have any definite plans for my tank yet. I figure I'll start off with the live rock and just enjoy a few weeks of observing hitchhikers before I make any major decisions. I'm still not sure if it's going to be an invert only tank or if I'm going to add a small goby or firefish to the mix. I'm on a bit of a budget right now so this tank will be upgraded periodically throughout these first 7 or so months. My lighting right now is a single 20 watt Coralife 50/50 MCF which is the first thing I would like to have replaced in the near future. I realize I am new to this hobby and I appreciate all suggestions and feed back, whether praise or chastisement.

 

Equipment & Supplies:

• AquaClear 50 (to be modded into fuge in near future)
  
• 50W Jager Eheim Heater
  
• MC 320 Microjet
  
• 20W Coralife 50/50 MCF
  
• 5 lbs Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand
  
• Oceanic Salt Mix
  

 

Thanks, and please wish me luck

-HT

excuse the crappy pic

[ReefDreamz]

Welcome!! It seems like you are well on your way!! I think u have a pretty solid set up there...

What r your thoughts about types of coral u want to raise? What type of aquascape u thinking???

 

Have fun and happy reefing!!

[cptbjorn]

Looks like a solid start, the lighting should be fine at first and you can always make a LED fixture for it or do one of the PAR38 LED lamps if you want to upgrade or do some SPS.

 

Welcome and good luck in the coALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD

[Hypnotoad]

Welcome!! It seems like you are well on your way!! I think u have a pretty solid set up there...

What r your thoughts about types of coral u want to raise? What type of aquascape u thinking???

 

Have fun and happy reefing!!

 

Thanks for the welcome! Due to my inexperience I'd most likely just start off with a few mushrooms and other low-light "easy" corals. I really like the look of Ricordeas, which I think are also supposed to be pretty sturdy. A lot of it will depend on when I upgrade my lighting and just how much of a difference my checking account can backup.

 

As for aquascaping, I've honestly never been much of an artist. I do kind of like a low patchy look, but I don't think my tank is right for it. The top would look too bare. I notice a lot of gobies and other small aquarium fish tend to stay near the rock. Are there any fish suitable for a 5 gallon that are known to swim a little higher in the water column?

[Growerguy]

Looking good. Im a little exhausted and way out of it. If you have any questions there are tons of good people here to help.

 

As for fish you can look at getting a Trimma Goby. I only have about 2 weeks experience with mine but Ive heard they tend to swim a little higher in the water column and are not as timid as most gobies.

[c_k_kuehne]

Nice start -- glad to see another reefer attempting a pico -- and the Pico Methodology Contest is a great place to start.

 

[pismo_reefer]

Hypnotoad has already won....

[ReefDreamz]

aquascape......1 structure that looked like a tree with branches would look great in your tank...

 

I like your ideas about "easier" corals...... keep it simple and guess what???? Those "easy" corals are some of the most beautiful!!!!!!

 

Have fun and keep posting!!!

 

PS...We all love pics here!!! Also, if you do something bad, or goof up, someone here will see it in your pics and call your attention to it!!!!

[timdanger]

ALL GLORY.

[Hypnotoad]

Hypnotoad has already won....

 

 

ALL GLORY.

 

Well, this should be easier than I thought . . .

[Hypnotoad]

Thanks for all the welcomes and advice guys. I finally went to the lfs for liverock yesterday and picked out a bunch of pieces I liked. I wasn't able to find many that would help to make that branching tree you suggested RD, or rather my mind couldn't put the structure together in my head while I was browsing the store. Regardless, this is what I've ended up with and I can say that I'm pretty satisfied with it at the moment.

[ReefDreamz]

looks good...nice job

[pismo_reefer]

Thats a pretty sweet scape!!!

Be mindful of flow behind the rocks.

just direct some flow that way, and this shuld be perdy cool!

[Hypnotoad]

Thats a pretty sweet scape!!!

Be mindful of flow behind the rocks.

just direct some flow that way, and this shuld be perdy cool!

Thanks, I just turned my powerhead 90 degrees towards the back. My filter seems to be taking good care of the front anyways.

 

I've got a couple hitchhiker questions/identifications for you guys in a bit. Just have to get back access to my camera first.

[Hypnotoad]

So there's a bunch of these guys on one of my rocks. This is the best picture I could get. You can see them sticking out on the right.

They retract into the rock when my hand goes near them. Are they some sort of tube worm? Or something a little more hazardous? I would hate to have to get rid of them since they're one of the more interesting things in my tank right now, but if I must than I will. Also i know it's nearly impossible to see, but all of the red spots on the rock are little tiny polyps. There must be hundreds of them. Can anybody out there identify them from this description?

 

I haven't been able to get a picture of him, but I also have a small dark red crab that's hides in the rock most of the time. Are most crabs bad to have in a reef tank? I'll get a picture as soon as I can.

[DudE31]

looks like aptasia

[beyondcomp251]

no good, boil some lemon juice and syringe them asap

[cloons411]

Aptasia, better get rid of them while you can.

[Hypnotoad]

no good, boil some lemon juice and syringe them asap

Aptasia, better get rid of them while you can.

Alright, thanks guys. I'll get on that. Any ideas on the small red ones? Or are those Aptasia too? Just want to know what it is I should be trying to kill.

[cptbjorn]

Do the red things retract when you touch them, and is each one a tiny tube (tube may or may not be visible) with 8-12 red hairs coming out? Small red featherdusters are pretty common.

 

To kill aiptasia I just boil RO water, fill a small syringe or pipette and slowly empty it where the aiptasia retracts. Works every time and doesn't introduce anything into the water besides cooked anemone.

[Hypnotoad]

Do the red things retract when you touch them, and is each one a tiny tube (tube may or may not be visible) with 8-12 red hairs coming out? Small red featherdusters are pretty common.

 

Yeah, that sounds like them. Half of the rock seems to be made out of the tiny tubes they are coming out of.

[Hypnotoad]

Well, I just finished up killing off what I hope to be the last of the aiptasia, but I'll keep an eye out should they emerge again.

 

Pistol shrimps! I've been hearing some clicking noises in my tank so I set up one of those plastic bottle traps in hopes of catching a mantis. Got frustrated when I woke up this morning to find the trap empty so I picked up a couple rocks and out popped 2 baby pistol shrimp. Little guys must be less than a centimeter long. I caught them in a bottle to observe and I tried not to laugh when they would snap at each other when one of them ventured too close. It was about this time I heard more snapping elsewhere in the tank, so I guess I've inherited a whole legion of the little guys . . . or there actually is a mantis in my tank . . .

 

I've heard that pistol shrimp are pretty peaceful in a reef tank most of the time. Does this change if there are multiple pistols in one 5 gallon nano?

 

Extremely blurry picture for posterity. Little guy seemed stunned for a bit after I released him. Man i need a new camera.

[Growerguy]

Wow Ive never heard of anyone getting multiple pistol shrimp!

 

Don't know if having that many in such a small tank will work out for you in the long run.... If you can figure out what type they are you may be able to sell them.

[Carnifex]

Well, I just finished up killing off what I hope to be the last of the aiptasia, but I'll keep an eye out should they emerge again.

 

Pistol shrimps! I've been hearing some clicking noises in my tank so I set up one of those plastic bottle traps in hopes of catching a mantis. Got frustrated when I woke up this morning to find the trap empty so I picked up a couple rocks and out popped 2 baby pistol shrimp. Little guys must be less than a centimeter long. I caught them in a bottle to observe and I tried not to laugh when they would snap at each other when one of them ventured too close. It was about this time I heard more snapping elsewhere in the tank, so I guess I've inherited a whole legion of the little guys . . . or there actually is a mantis in my tank . . .

 

I've heard that pistol shrimp are pretty peaceful in a reef tank most of the time. Does this change if there are multiple pistols in one 5 gallon nano?

 

Extremely blurry picture for posterity. Little guy seemed stunned for a bit after I released him. Man i need a new camera.

 

In my experience with pistol shrimp, if you don't keep them fed they like to pick off your snail clean up crew.

If they aren't one of those colorful ones that most websites sell it may also be hard to get them to pair up with a shrimp goby.

[Hypnotoad]

Wow Ive never heard of anyone getting multiple pistol shrimp!

 

Don't know if having that many in such a small tank will work out for you in the long run.... If you can figure out what type they are you may be able to sell them.

 

In my experience with pistol shrimp, if you don't keep them fed they like to pick off your snail clean up crew.

If they aren't one of those colorful ones that most websites sell it may also be hard to get them to pair up with a shrimp goby.

 

I guess I'll just keep observing to see if there are any problems once I add my cleanup crew and as they continue to grow. What is a good time to add a cleanup crew by the way? And should I add them all at once or slowly?