Phuntoon Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I set this little bundle of joy up last weekend. This is my first attempt at a reef tank. I started with about 2lbs or so of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand and 3lbs of the best live rock I could find. For the water, I robbed 3 gallons of crystal clear, fully established, cycled water from my Octopus tank. I added a Rio 50 powerhead and put the adjustable nozzle on and slowed the flow just a bit. Also of course added a thermometer. I'm gonna leave the stock lighting and filter on for now and see how far that gets me. I will also be adding a heater soon. As of now, salinity is 1.025 and 79 degrees. Since I started out with "live" rock, sand, and water, the cycling process is moving along pretty quick. I think I might get a cleanup crew this weekend. I was thinking 2 blue legged hermit crabs and 2 astrea snails to start. After all that gets settled, I'll start with the corals. Coral wish list: zoanthid (will probably start with this) xenia ricordea a few other mushrooms Small open brain sun coral (possibly) Here's some pictures of the new setup. Please forgive me for the picture quality because all I have is a camera phone at the moment. I will buy or borrow a "real" camera as soon as possible. Let me know what you think, and any suggestions you might have. Link to comment
exigency Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 good start, i like the tonga branch in your tank. keep us posted. Link to comment
SaVeThEeELs Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 what brand kit is that??? what kinda phone are you using?? my tank pics are from a 1.3 sony ericson phone still fresh eh? i love how clear your water is! no rushing i take it.... Link to comment
Phuntoon Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 what brand kit is that??? what kinda phone are you using?? my tank pics are from a 1.3 sony ericson phone still fresh eh? i love how clear your water is! no rushing i take it.... This setup is the JBJ Picotope 3 gallon aquarium. You can find it at www.marinedepot.com and do a search for pico and it's the only thing that comes up. The camera phone I'm using is a Mororola V551. Oh, and believe me I'd love to rush things along, but it's been setup for less than a week. Even though the cycle should be done fairly quickly, I'm sure it will take longer than a week. But once the cycle is done........look out! I live less than 2 minutes away from Atlantis Aquarium. They have some really cool looking and rare coral. www.atlantisaquarium.net Link to comment
azoo4g Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I have been contemplating this tank, nice to see one set up. Looks good and keep us posted so i can decide if i want to try one. What type of light is it? Link to comment
Bluelegs Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Welcome to the long arduous journey of reefing. Some don't make it; you just gotta leave'em where they drop. But that's not the point. The point is that you look like you'll do well in this hobby. Good luck to ye. I'm buying zoas and a toadstool mushroom tomorrow. Link to comment
drowsyfirefly Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I set this little bundle of joy up last weekend. This is my first attempt at a reef tank. I started with about 2lbs or so of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand and 3lbs of the best live rock I could find. For the water, I robbed 3 gallons of crystal clear, fully established, cycled water from my Octopus tank. Okay, this is off subject, but I want an octopus more than anything in the world--do you have pics? Is it a nocturnal or diurnal one? What are you using to keep your tank secure? Do you run a UV sterilizer on your tank? What kind of toys do you have for it to play with? ...Sorry for all the questions...I just haven't had a chance to talk to anyone who's kept them before. --Meghan Link to comment
pico1 Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I live less than 2 minutes away from Atlantis Aquarium. They have some really cool looking and rare coral. Lucky! It takes me 2 hours to get there! It's one of my favorite shops. Link to comment
Phuntoon Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 I have been contemplating this tank, nice to see one set up. Looks good and keep us posted so i can decide if i want to try one. What type of light is it? The light is the stock light that came with the tank. the specs are: Power: 9W Kelvin: 50/50 CF Lamp (Half Blue/Half 10K) Ballast type: Magnetic/Remote Right now I have it set on a timer switching on at noon and off at 10pm. Link to comment
Phuntoon Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 Okay, this is off subject, but I want an octopus more than anything in the world--do you have pics? Is it a nocturnal or diurnal one? What are you using to keep your tank secure? Do you run a UV sterilizer on your tank? What kind of toys do you have for it to play with? ...Sorry for all the questions...I just haven't had a chance to talk to anyone who's kept them before. --Meghan Aha, Curious about the Octo eh? Hands down one of the coolest and amazing pets you can ever own. "Ocho" is a nocturnal Octopus. Most people own the Bimac species which is day active but I had no choice on the species when I picked this one up. So, I see her in the morning roaming around until afternoon, then she retreats to her lair. I do not have a UV sterilizer and shouldn't need one. Octos don't like a lot of light and all I use is the single flourescent strip that comes in the stock hood. This is very unorthodox for an octo keeper, but I don't keep my lid secure at all. I've kept them for coming up on 10 years with different species and never secured a lid and never had an escape. My theory is: keep them feeling safe with places to hide, and keep their minds busy with puzzles and toys and you'll be ok. Some people believe they escape out of boredom so I keep their brain working. For toys, most use legos and such. I use the plastic containers that hold the toys in gumball machines. I fill them with tank water so they bob around almost weightlessly. Also have a few plastic toys on the bottom as well. If you're serious about an octopus, visit www.tonmo.com Here you will find everything you want to know about Octopus and all Cephalopods. They have numerous articles, care sheets and of course a very helpful forum to get you started. Here's a few pics of Ocho... I would be glad to answer any and all Octo questions so don't be shy........but, oh yeah this is supposed to be about the pico reef. I should have another update about my pico later today......... Link to comment
SaVeThEeELs Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Okay, this is off subject, but I want an octopus more than anything in the world--do you have pics? Is it a nocturnal or diurnal one? What are you using to keep your tank secure? Do you run a UV sterilizer on your tank? What kind of toys do you have for it to play with? ...Sorry for all the questions...I just haven't had a chance to talk to anyone who's kept them before. --Meghan akkk!!! save the octopus!!! too bad they dont live long no matter what........ Link to comment
Phuntoon Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 Ok so the temp outside has been colder so I got a heater for the pico. I didn't want the temp to drop too much at night and have too big of a temp fluctuation when the lights come on. I picked up the 25w Hydor Theo heater. Fully submersible, and the knob clicks with each temp increment for accuracy. Also has an indicator lamp to know when it's on. Since I'm not gonna have a fuge or sump, I was trying to find a place to hide and stash this thing cause even a small 25w heater in a 3g looks big and clunky. Arranging this heater felt like arranging the rock work but after careful "heaterscaping" I think I found a good spot where it's not touching anything or in the way. The bottom heating end sits near the bottom between the sand and the bottom of the powerhead with at least an inch clearance on either side. Then diagonally goes up behind the rock work and the top knob sits a few inches beneath the lamp clip. Here's a few pics... the heater: front view: closer front view: side view: top view: Next up, cleanup crew....... Link to comment
whitney Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 How do you like the light fixture that came with the picotope? It looks like its putting out a fairly good amount of light... Link to comment
Phuntoon Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 How do you like the light fixture that came with the picotope? It looks like its putting out a fairly good amount of light... So far I like it a lot. It brightens up this little pico quite nicely. It's a 9w 50/50 bulb. Reef tanks require at least 2-5 watts per gallon as a general average and this supplies 3w per gallon. It should be alright for my needs which is: zoos, mushrooms, xenia and maybe a few other low to medium light corals. Definately no Acropora or anything like that. I may at some point upgrade the lighting if my "needs" change. The backdraw of upgrading the lighting would be increased evaporation which there is already due to the open top, and also the bright lighting heating up the tank too much. So for now, I'm stickin with this and gonna see how far it takes me... Link to comment
SaVeThEeELs Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 akkk!!! save the octopus!!! too bad they dont live long no matter what........ found out that if you neuter an octopus it will live longer, somethings about its reproductive cycle causes it to die.....believe thats what seaworld does.....LOL good luck on that! Link to comment
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