3gal Mantis Reef

[Gerber77]

Are you having any trouble so far with the firefish jumping out. I may be wrong about this but I think I have read that they are jumpers.

 

They are definately jumpers

[kkyyllee]

it depends on the fish whether it will jum,p or not

[avalanche1201]

dont know how i forgot to mention....the firefish passed the other day. He never showed a risk of jumping while I had him though...He showed no signs of sickness either...the day before he was out and swimming around, i just figured he got use to the tank....next day he was barely moving or breathing...thank god it was in front of the tank and not the back, otherwise the entire tank may have crashed.

 

As for the sexies I dont think I will get another. I have around $20 credit for LA so I think im going to use it towards some nice rics or another nice coral. To replace the shrimp I will be getting a Skunk Cleaner. Im leaning towards Invert only right now and was wondering if anyone has some good suggestions.

 

Ill be getting some more snails, but I want a good variety of shrimp so it stays interesting, ill also get 2 porcelin crabs....I just need my shrooms and zoas to get bigger for now..need some more action in the tank

 

edit: my rocks are kinda green...any idea on how to fix this? Im thinking of getting purple up and getting the nimble so the glass will stay clean, so the snails focus more on the rocks

[avalanche1201]

Quick Update:

 

I picked up a few things today....I got a skunk cleaner, 1 scarlet hermit, 1 blue leg hermit, a cerith snail, and some trubos.

 

The turbos are huge though...might give them back to my roommate since they look kinda outta place...but im not to sure yet.

 

Ill try to get some decent pics of the additions once the shrimp is done acclimating and I clean up the tank

 

 

o yea...some of my zoos are slowly dwindling and I couldnt find any meds at the LFS today...Im thinking of taking them out of the water and knocking off the dead/almost dead zoos in hopes of stopping whatever it is thats killen em.

[avalanche1201]

Just some shots

FTS

Few pics of my Cleaner

My Sexies just chillen

 

my summer plans:

Shroom and Zoo fragpack from LiveAquaria

Set up my ATO kit

Try my luck at some beginging SPS once I have the ATO

Purchase RO/DI

 

Cant wait to get a job again so I can get some more stuff for my tank

[avalanche1201]

quick update (if anyone checks this anymore): So I moved my tank back home and that mushroom finally settled down and attached to a rock.

 

The aquascape is more open now b/c I didnt re-add some pieces of LR....dont have a digi cam anymore since school is out and it was my roommates, so Ill try to get the best pics I can w/ my cell phone 2morro

 

 

 

also im prob gonna make another more organized thread b/c this one is all over the place

[Gerber77]

This tank is looking awesome. You come a long way since the start.

[avalanche1201]

thanks alot gerber I didnt think anyone checked this anymore

 

I just noticed a hitchhiker today, a stomatella snail..I hear there pretty sweet so im excited.

 

Im going to start worken on my ATO soon so I dont have to battle that anymore, and since ive got a job now Ill be placing an order w/ live aquaria in the comen weeks for some zoos or shrooms.

 

I also stopped by the LFS to see if they could try to get me some pom pom crabs, so hopefully that will come through as well

[avalanche1201]

I purchased an AC 50 for more flow from 1 HOB then from 2 HOBS. I should have done this from the start...but live and learn.

 

It will become an AC50 fuge mod, I will be getting some silicone 2morro to finish the project, then pictures will be attempted..I promise!

[avalanche1201]

I have finished my AC50 fuge mod, just need to get some more LR rubble now to add back there.

 

Here are some pics, sorry for the poor coloring in the pictures, I have to use my camera phone right now since I dont have a digital cam anymore....I also want to get some purple up so my rocks get some more color quicker.

 

 

Im still looking for a red hi fin goby and some pom pom crabs. I think I might have to go to Ebay for those guys....Im planning on getten either the zoa or ric pack from Liveaquaria to fill the tank in some more

[cruisaire]

I don't know, 'Lanche. Your rocks are showing fine color now. Are you just hankerin' for Deep Purple? Looks good, Dude.

[avalanche1201]

I don't know, 'Lanche. Your rocks are showing fine color now. Are you just hankerin' for Deep Purple? Looks good, Dude.

 

Yea, Ive got some ones that are nice and purple now...but the other ones are slow comen...I want some crazy purple in this bad boy....and I need to fill up the back corner w/ some nice frags....my scape is looken this tank look huge compared to what it actually is

[Joe b]

Hey great tank. I too have a pico. I was wondering if you dose with anything? I have a few mush and also 4 feather dusters came with live rock. I want to make sure I have proper supplement for tank

[avalanche1201]

I oredered some new livestock for my tank the other day, it will be arriving tomorrow and I cant wait.

 

I ordered a red hi fin goby and a nano polyp pack from live aquaria...I just checked my checking account and I figured that after I pay off some money I can still afford some Pom Pom crabs...so im gonna search ebay for some

 

Pics to come 2morro!

[avalanche1201]

My frags and goby arrived the other day, added everything smoothly but of course my sexy shrimp is ###en everything off....so I have to rescape b/c some frags are on tonga branch and there just randomly placed.

 

Unfortunatly I cant find my goby and I was looken forward to him more then the frags...o well, I guess I need to get a new one

 

also...i think the sexy shrimp will be going into the back of my AC fuge for a little bit

 

Ill try to get some pics soon once I can get my hands on a digi

[avalanche1201]

Just a few quick pics of the tank. Ill get some better ones soon and clean the tank etc.

 

 

enjoy

[vtysl]

I like it! Hope your zoas open up very soon.

[cruisaire]

Pull those zoanthids, give them a 2 minute distilled water rinse, and stick 'em back in the tank. They should open up nicely. I did this to my zoanthids and they responded well to the "shock" treatment.

[avalanche1201]

that pic was taken right after the cleaner shrimp was all over them...but I have another colony that isnt opening up all the way, and some tonga branch pieces havnt opened yet....I dont know if its b/c the sexys are ###en them off, or b/c they just arnt opening...when I move the sexys to the AC fuge or to another tank if they still dont open ill give them the shock treatment.

 

Thanks for the advance cruisaire

 

vtysl im glad you like it

 

i just wish my goby wasnt gone

 

however...i still feel my tank has come a long way and im pleased with it just need to redo some scapen and toss some smaller rocks into the AC fuge to make some room

 

edit: i have some GSP i believe, ill have to get the pics of my other frags and shrooms....sry if rambling right now, ive had a bottle of wine

[Chebon]

Nice setup! I have a picotope as well, its been up and running stock with a power head for added flow with a soap dish of live rock rubble and some dwindling/dying chaeto. I know I need a lighting and filtration upgrade and you happen to have almost the exact setup I'm looking at getting so I have a few questions for you...

 

I'm thinking I'll get an AC70 to mod into a fuge/sump to hold my heater, a baffle to hold back some sort of mechanical filter media, more live rock rubble, and a light to grow chaeto. Are you happy with the size of the AC50? Would you recommend going with the AC70? I figure the bigger the better and I think I'll still end up with enough room on the back to still run the stock filter if/when chemical media is needed if I can't just cram it in the AC's intake area.

 

What do you think of that light fixture, you have the Current Satellite Dual 2x18w right? I found them on petsolutions.com for $70, it seems to be the best off the shelf lighting option without going metal halide. I'm thinking 12w per gallon should make most things happy, I don't really plan on keeping sps or clams. Well, maybe a baby clam one day...

 

Are you having any issues with your Sexies? I'm beginning to hear more and more people say they're not really reef safe, I've seen posts on here about them tearing up softies?

 

Right now all I've got in the tank are ~3# Tonga branch rock, ~8# live sand, a couple of blue leg hermits, a nass snail and a green stripped shroom (watermelon?). I've found a great LFS here in Tulsa that has pretty much my whole wish list: baby fungia/plate corals, pom-pom xenia, green star polyps, neon green candy canes, sexy shrimp and my favorite orange tubastrea. I'm going to need more of a clean up crew, I'm thinking maybe a cerith, another nass or two, a turbo and a margarita.

 

So what do you think, do you like your setup? Is there anything you wish you'd done differently? Any comments or critique on my wish list? Now that my thread hijack is complete, back to your regularly scheduled programming....

[avalanche1201]

haha dont worry about that chebon. thanks for the questions

 

I really like the setup, if I could do one thing over though it would be to drill the tank so I could set up a real fuge instead of an AC fuge mod, however, I am still happy with what I have...extremely happy in fact

 

as for the Sexies I sent them over to my roommates tank b/c they were attacking my shroms and new frags...everything is opening up much more now and my mushroom that was getting eaten is now back in the main display.

 

For the light I am very happy with it...I know some of the easier SPS can be kept but they are not the most colorful, and as for a clam a guy at my LFS near my school says he had a clam in a pico at the very top of the tank, so maybe one day you can try it, I might try it once I get my new tank built b/c Ill have MH so if it goes downhill in the pico I can move him.

 

for the AC fuge I wish I had a bigger AC, bigger filter more water better fuge. The 70 i felt though would be to much flow...Id suggest sanding down the prop a bit so you wont get as strong a flow but will still have more over all water. For mechanical filtration you can just drop a bag of carbon or whatever in the AC fuge, ive just got Filter floss before my "baffle" (messed up the silicone so its not a perfect baffle but no complaints) but i could lower a small bag of carbon if needed or purigen or whatever

 

if you have anymore questions just ask, also very soon I will get some more FTS and some dated pics so over the summer I can track growth/healing process

 

hth, enjot the tank chebon, i love mine very much

[Chebon]

if you have anymore questions just ask

 

Oh you asked for it, this is my first marine tank! Don't worry I've done my research, so I usually don't ask very many stupid questions. My lil slice of reef has been up and running since the middle of Feb with the normal trials... the loss of a nass snail that apparently climbed to the rim and dried/died there and a piece if brown xenia that fell over while I was on vacation and a cyano outbreak that has never completely gone away.

 

I only thought about drilling the tank after I'd already set it up. Can the Picotope be drilled? Is it tempered glass? I'd designed a fuge/sump to sit behind the tank using a tube hooked up to the intake of a pump to draw water from the tank and return via an overflow but the black cast acrylic I wanted (to prevent light spillage from a reverse light cycle) is prohibitively expensive.

 

What do you think of the noise level of the AC filter itself? I've seen a couple of complaints on the AC110 and this tank is in my bedroom... I was thinking about buying an impeller from an AC50 to replace the stock one, I'd seen a thread on here about someone who'd purchased the impeller from an AC30 for a 70 fuge mod and felt it needed more flow.

 

Do you constantly run carbon or some sort of chemical filter?

 

Did you see any temp increase with the lighting and fuge setup? Its getting into the 90's almost daily here in Oklahoma and I'm trying to avoid using a chiller or fan. I'm hoping to get away with just the central a/c.

 

I think I've settled on a CUC besides the 2 blue leg hermits and single nass I have now I think I'm going to get another nass or 2 (I'll be feeding mysis), 2 astraea or nerites, and 2 ceriths or maybe just 1 if I can find a money/ring cowrie.

 

Thats about all I have for now, I'm sure I'll have other things to pester you about soon... thanks!

[avalanche1201]

I have not tried to drill the picotope, but I believe I saw a thread where one member drilled his pico for a sump/fuge. So I think it can be done, however, you should look into this to be 100% sure so you dont crush your tank.

 

My AC is completely silent, the only noise I hear from it is when the level in my tank drops so its the waterfall effect, as for the filter itsself i believe its silent, if it does make some noise its nothing annoying, also for the AC110 I dont think you can swap out that impeller for a diferent one...you would have to shave it down. If you want to go w/ an AC70 id suggest using an AC50 prop of the AC30 is to slow, The reason I went for the 50 instead of the 30 was because of more GPH, but now I wish I went for a bigger AC and bought a smaller prop off ebay or NR....live and learn in this hobby, live and learn

 

I use to run carbon, I havnt used it lately but I may add it later again. My water is pretty clear so I dont see the need to run it. As for your cyano you might want to think about purgien or chemipure. But when I had cyano I just siphoned out the cyano and it seemed to have fixed the problem...for now at least (been some time since Ive last seen it)

 

to my surpirse when I added the 36w light I did not notice a temp increase, however, the algae increased b/c I didnt acclimate my tank to it since I didnt have corals at the time, just a shrimp...so the algae loved it, I however, hated the algae.

 

and as for the summer heat I think central AC would be just fine. I use the window AC in my room when its hotter out, and if its cool a run a fan just to be safe. But I think you should be fine w/ central AC since the tank would be room temp w/o the heater.

 

hth, just ask some more questions if you think of any, glad you like my setup

[avalanche1201]

Here ya go...

 

FTS:

 

Shrimp Closeup

 

Frags

[irishtexan]

Nice tank!

 

Where are all the sexies? Is there one coral they hang around the most at?

 

 

-texx