Sandeep Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 Clown goby refused to eat and eventually died. I've had no success with them eating anything, even though I've tried three times before using delicious cyclopeeze and garlic. Yellowtail damsels are fantastic, very hardy, active and intelligent. Skunk cleaner shrimp got moved to another tank, I'm planning on getting a fire shrimp for this tank as they look pretty spectacular and the bright red will contrast nicely with the bright blue of the damsel. Current inhabitants include: 1 - yellowtail damsel 3 - blue porcelain crabs 1 - porcelain anemone crab 2 - hermit crabs in main tank 2 - hermit crabs in sump Quote Link to comment
soundcrd Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 So I know I'm kind of jumping on the bandwagon here, but I set up a tank very similar to this after seeing yours. I was looking at a 4g tank, as my apartment complex has a 5g limit, but I figure they won't notice the extra half gallon. Anyway, mine isn't quite as clean looking as yours, but it's coming along. I was thinking about adding a porcelain crab as well. Check my tank out and let me know what you think! Quote Link to comment
John Hopkins Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 Here are the latest updated pictures of the tank. is that bubble algae just under the mushies ? Quote Link to comment
Mynameskenny19 Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Any updates lately Sandeep? Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 (edited) Everything and everyone in the tank is doing great. Just did some pruning of the xenia as it was infringing upon some of the zoas. In terms of weekly routine, this is what I do Sun: Change 1 gallon of water, use Trop Marin salt Mon: Add a bit of Kent Superbuffer-dKH to bring up the alkalinity to the 8.0 range Tue: Add a bit of Kent Turbo Calcium to bring up the Calcium to around 400 Wed: Add 1ml of Kent Essential Elements & 1.5ml of DT phytoplankton Thurs: Small bit of Formula 2 Flake Food for the damsel & target feed the porcelain crabs with a flake Sat: target feed ricordea and blasto with some mysis in each mouth, mixture of cyclopeeze & remaining mysis for entire tank Each day add about 60ml of fresh water to counter evaporation. Edited October 9, 2008 by Sandeep Quote Link to comment
edge121212 Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 great tank!!!!! is the silicone still working ok? Quote Link to comment
monosyth Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I am in love with this pico! Great job! Very clean looking. Quote Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 is that bubble algae just under the mushies ? Yes, it is. Quote Link to comment
tinyreef Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Here are the latest updated pictures of the tank. now that there's one purty tank! i love the sunny zoas and the two lps at the ends. suuuweeet! Quote Link to comment
14GNANO Posted October 19, 2008 Share Posted October 19, 2008 best Pico I have ever seen, so I, like everybody else, am going to try to make my own! Quote Link to comment
rainmkr07 Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 best Pico I have ever seen, so I, like everybody else, am going to try to make my own! I agree. Question about the lighting. First you had the Current USA 12" Satellite with one 18watt bulb, then the fixture with two 18watt bulbs. I like how they look over the top (being 12") more than the 18" T5 you have now. How long did you use the single bulb Satellite, and how long did you use the dual bulbs? What kind of growth did you see with each? Was the extra bulb noticeably better? If I want to grow softies only - mushrooms, zoos, rics, would either fixture work? The light is the most expensive part of the setup, and I am trying to keep costs down by getting only what I need. So it comes down, what's the lowest PC wattage I should get, 18W or 36W? Thank you in advance! Quote Link to comment
ash71089 Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Awesome tank! Was wondering about where you drilled the hole for the maxi-jet to come through? Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 I drilled the hole for the maxi-jet as high as you can while still being able to have the entire pump housing be under the top of the tank so that the glass top can sit in the groove over it and the tank without the pump housing touching the glass top. In terms of lighting, I found the single 18W PC was not that great and better suited to a 2.5g tank where it fits perfectly. You could probably get by with the 2x18W unit that I had although I did not notice any growth of my macro-algea in the refugium partition. I know that lighting is expensive but I find the 18" T5-HO Current unit that I'm using now to be perfect. It has a lower and smaller profile and is a lot brighter. Also something you have to consider is the PC bulbs have a lot shorter lifespan than T5-HO tubes. Something to consider and it's only about $20-$40 more than the PC twin tube fixture. The silicone seems to be holding up fine so far, 1 year 1 month so far since the tank has been running. No new pics, as the tank looks pretty much the same since my last photos. It's a fun tank but it requires discipline, don't think that small tanks are less work than larger ones. Quote Link to comment
nick021892 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I was wondering how the Yellowtail Damsel has been doing, as I have been considering getting one of them for my nano. I have heard some bad things about them, but yours is so beautiful in your tank and seems to be the perfect size. Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted November 27, 2008 Author Share Posted November 27, 2008 The little yellowtail damsel is doing just great, he's still about the same size and I think they are an ideal fish for small tanks. I have him in my 5.5g pico and a couple in my 20g nano with no issues. They are tough and hardy, not fussy eaters, I only need to feed them once or twice a week, active and intelligent. They don't bother any corals, snails, crabs or shrimp either. And the story of them being aggressive towards other fish are overrated. I added a tomato clown to my damsel established 20g nano and they left him alone. I was wondering how the Yellowtail Damsel has been doing, as I have been considering getting one of them for my nano. I have heard some bad things about them, but yours is so beautiful in your tank and seems to be the perfect size. Quote Link to comment
milkman Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Sandeep, What you you think of using the 70 wat Viper light instead of the fixture sitting on top of the glass? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...fm?pcatid=15489 Quote Link to comment
travisurfer Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Wow, your tank looks great! Makes me want to put some more attention into my pico. Quote Link to comment
Jenna Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 I drilled the hole for the maxi-jet as high as you can while still being able to have the entire pump housing be under the top of the tank so that the glass top can sit in the groove over it and the tank without the pump housing touching the glass top. How did you go about the drilling without cracking the acrylic? What type/size drill bit did you use for the right fit for the Maxi-jet 400? Jenna Quote Link to comment
Jenna Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Sandeep, I just love your design! I'm going to do one myself but am still trying to choose between the 5.5g and the 10g aquariums. My mother is going to be watching my progress carefully as she's considering setting up a reef tank herself. So in all likeliness, what I build, I'll have to make 2 of them. One for me and one for her. For any reefers who've built the 10g version of the SAIO, how are they coming? Do you have threads up? I'd love to see them. I've already seen the frag tank set up which is very cool! Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 1) Diamond Viper is a highly regarded light in the nano community, should work out fine. I personally prefer glass tops as they help stabilize salinity changes due to evaporation in such a small volume of water as well as providing a barrier to dust and other room contaminants. 2) Cracking acrylic is always an issue to worry about. I just heated a Phillips screw driver and melted the hole through. Then I used one side of a needle nose pliers twisting it in the hole to scrape the acrylic until the hole was the precise and snug fit for the maxi-jet. Make the hole too big and the maxi-jet will slide out with vibration, it has to be a snug fit. 3) The larger the volume of water, the easier it is to maintain sea water parameters. I would recommend that you go with the 10 gallon design. Small tanks like this 5.5g pico are very challenging with absolutely no margin for error. Also you will be able to have more than one fish, a pair of clowns would look great in the 10g. Quote Link to comment
Jenna Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 What is the thickness of the acrylic you all are using? I'm finding 1/8" and 3/16" thicknesses. It seems the 1/4" would be too thick. I want to order black acrylic online instead of painting it. Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 I got it from Home Depot (clear) and I think it's the 1/8" Quote Link to comment
quickfinger Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Hi Sandeep First, let me say your 5.5 tank is incredible. At the risk of sounding corny, it really is poetic in its own little way. Anyway, being an abject noob, I have a noob question. Is the baffle strictly necessary? Let's say you had all the same stuff in the aquarium, but with no overflow or chambers at all (say you clipped the macro to the side or something). Wouldn't the tank function basically the same? Or do you definitely need that flow through the macro and the LR rubble for the biological filtration to work 100%? Thanks for the pleasure of following this thread. No thanks from my wife once I let her know I'm thinking of moving from FW to SW in large part because of it. Quote Link to comment
cuboy Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 you can just toss the chaeto into your tank, but people like to keep it out of their display so you don't get bits and pieces all over the place and have an outrageous breakout. Plus it keeps it cleaner when placed in a chamber. Quote Link to comment
rainmkr07 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Is this the same 18" T5 Fixture that you have, except that they've raised the wattage from 36W to 40W? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...fm?pcatid=16770 Quote Link to comment
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