el fabuloso Posted April 24, 2008 Author Share Posted April 24, 2008 Can I be the King of Pimps? Or maybe Pimp of Kings Queens!! Quote Link to comment
hecsrt-4 Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 Nice shots, love the macros what camera are you using. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 24, 2008 Author Share Posted April 24, 2008 Nothing special, just a small Casio Exilim EX-Z750 point and shoot. The camera itself only has 3x optical zoom so the macro shots are rigged using a small magnifying glass. I'm actually on the market for a nice DSLR which is funny because as a graphic designer, I probably should have one instead of my pico tank motivating me to get one. Quote Link to comment
hecsrt-4 Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 Thats cool I miss my cousins Rebel XTI. I thought you were a bouncer at a strip club Haha. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 24, 2008 Author Share Posted April 24, 2008 I thought you were a bouncer at a strip club Haha. Ha! No. But i use to do a lot PR and marketing for the two biggest strip clubs in town. Now those were some interesting times. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 (edited) Mystery Crab—Revealed! As some of you may know, I have a mysterious hitchhiker crab in my tank that I have never been able to identify. I'm not sure how he manage to infiltrate my tank but I first discovered him after my tank had been running for three months. The fact that he's very reclusive and shy hasn't been helpful in helping me identify exactly what kind of crab he is—good, bad or ugly. Initially I was convinced that he might be some kind of Xanthid crab base on what little body parts I could make out. When my colony of yellow-orange zoas were wiped out I blamed the little guy as the culprit and I was immediately on the hunt. Well this elusive non-hermit hermit crab turned out to be quite the Roadrunner, successfully turning me into the dumbfounded Wile E. Coyote as I was constantly confounded by the failure of my efforts to trap him until finally I just gave up. At first I was wary about adding the sexy shrimps in my tank with an unknown crab on the loose so I was definitely taking a big chance. Later on I found out that killer pods were actually responsible for the decimation of my zoas and with my shrimps thriving prolifically, I officially declared a truce and allowed the crab to live in my tank. And besides, he's actually been very good at cleaning up after things. Occasionally I would catch him out in the open but would instantly take cover the moment he would catch me observing him so I have never been able to capture him on camera. Yesterday I caught him out in the open and was startled by my presence. But instead of taking cover like he normally does, he actually stayed out long enough for me to take pictures! He's a little under an inch across and his cupped claws has led me to believe that he's probably some kind of Mithrax crab. If anyone can confirm my speculation, that would be great. If he's bad news, then at this point I don't know what my options are to remove him as I've pretty much tried every option short of taking my tank apart one rock at a time. As I've said, he's well-behaved but I still get anxious at the thought of one day coming home to an empty tank. New Ricordea While visiting a less-visited LFS today I came across a nice yellow Ricordea florida sitting at the bottom of their frag tank. I haven't been able to find any Ricordeas at my LFS as of late so this definitely made my day. Next to my yuma: Under actinic: I'm hoping to find more in order to achieve my goal of creating a ric garden on the right side of my tank. Edit: More Zoanthids Got some new zoas today from a buddy of mine who no longer wanted them. I don't understand how anyone can part ways with zoas, especially nice ones like these but I guess I can't complain as long as I get first dibs. Edited April 28, 2008 by el fabuloso Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 Xenia Touchdown It's been a slow process but a couple of Xenia stalks have finally made it on the glass. Hopefully it will continue to grow upwards to where it will eventually spread out and cover the back wall. One stubborn stalk decided to reach over to another rock and has taken root. I'm not worried about it though I just hope it won't take over the front of my tank. Quote Link to comment
14GNANO Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 sorry if this has already been asked...but is that crab a relative of the emerald crab? Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 If it is a Mithrax crab like I think it is, then yes. At least I hope so. Quote Link to comment
seagul Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 hello, the pico is looking amazing! nothing short of what i expected from you! haha. as some know..im on hiatus right now.. sorta.. if my liverock bin counts as a tank i guess ive been cheating. BUT im looking into getting the JBJ 3g pico as my glorius return to the hobby tank. (im moving faily soon, so i want something i can part out and put back together very easily) so i just read all 10pages!! and i just wanna give yuh PROPs when yuh gettin that monti cap?!!? i dont see any problem in having a monti cap.. or even a purple(any color) digi frag, with the dual fixture. Quote Link to comment
constantocean Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Finally got my camera to stop being a POS so I started a tank thread, links in my sig! Only put one picture in it til I get it a little bit more filled up but It's a start! up to 5 sexy shrimp so far! I'm thinking I want like 9. Quote Link to comment
f1_racer Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Aaron, Long time no talk (or write I should say).... I beat you to a plate coral. I got a freebie put in my tank last night. I will post pics on my tank thread hopefully tonight. I was also able to pick up a yuma which I also added last night. But other than that not much has changed as I was spending most of my time ensuring that I can keep my params stable before I increase the frequency of my stocking. The only thing that is extremely difficult is cleaning this thing? What tools are you using to keep your's clean? You tank is coming along nicely, everything seems to be happy. They are either growing or reproducing, so that does make it a sexy pico indeed. I noticed that you were rather vague about your strip club work. Are you really a PIMP? Quote Link to comment
hecsrt-4 Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 How is the tank doing, am going to your part of the world this weekend. Quote Link to comment
Lalani Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Comon' Pimp, show us some love. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Sorry, didn't mean to leave everyone hanging. I've been doing a lot of traveling over the past month and finally got settled back at home last week. The good news is my tank did just fine in my absence. I got someone to do top-offs regularly and to make sure the shrimps got fed. Other than the tank looking dirty and neglected, nothing died. It's been getting really hot and for a while there I was getting worried about keeping my tank cool as temperatures started rising up to 85º F. Taking the heater out helped a lot. The tank has been completely dirty so I've had to do a lot of sucking and scrubbing. I'll put up updated pics as soon as things get back in order as I try to pick up where I left off. Long time no talk (or write I should say).... I beat you to a plate coral. I got a freebie put in my tank last night. I will post pics on my tank thread hopefully tonight. I was also able to pick up a yuma which I also added last night. But other than that not much has changed as I was spending most of my time ensuring that I can keep my params stable before I increase the frequency of my stocking. The only thing that is extremely difficult is cleaning this thing? What tools are you using to keep your's clean? You tank is coming along nicely, everything seems to be happy. They are either growing or reproducing, so that does make it a sexy pico indeed. I know I'm way late at responding but I guess it's better than nothing. First off, I'm glad your tank is finally coming together. I still haven't had a whole lot of luck finding that baby plate. My corals are reproducing, even while I was gone. My awesome little yuma has budded off a total of five little ones and my zoas are taking off like crazy. Even my blasto has grown tiny new heads and I've found mushrooms growing in my fuge! As for cleaning my tank, I use a Nimble Nano for cleaning the glass and I highly recommend it. I use giant thongs that I got from DFS to pick up and move things around in the tank. I also use a plastic chopstick to probe and poke at things, a turkey baster for blasting stuff off the rocks and a piece of airline tubing to use for siphoning. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted June 18, 2008 Author Share Posted June 18, 2008 Seven Months Later I finally got some new corals in an effort to get back on track with my stocking plan. The mushrooms were becoming a nuisance so I decided to let go of my striped mushroom rock. This also cleared up some room for more Ricordeas which I've already started to pile on the right side of the tank. I've also found a good place for my zoas and they have successfully attached to the rock on the left next to the Blastomussa. Even more exciting is the addition of an orange plate coral... I stumbled upon this perfect little piece at my LFS which turned out to be just the right size I've been looking for. And it's orange, which is also my favorite color. You can see from the top-down view where I have the plate coral penned at the front of my tank. Also notice the few mushrooms I have left and the final placement of the zoas. Ricordeas The plan is to create a nice thick blanket of Ricordeas on the right side of the tank next to the orange yuma. So far I've added four Florida Ricordeas with more on the way. Xenia Presently there are three stalks of Xenia that attached to the back wall. There are also three other stalks that attached to the rock and are migrating towards the front of the tank... Sexy Shrimps I'm down to two shrimps after one of my shrimps decided to jump out of the tank back in April. I was planning on adding a third member but so far the remaining two—which incidentally happen to be a male and a female (I think)—have been doing well as a duo so I might not add one after all. Especially since the LFS I got them from now want $17 a pop! I'm forging ahead with my stocking plan as I continue to find more zoas and Ricordeas. I'm also continuing my hunt for a nice (and reasonably priced) monti cap to add to the tank. Lately I've been seeing a lot of blue clove polyps in people's tank and would love to get a hold of some but I haven't seen any at my LFS other than the one in their display tank which isn't for sale. I'm also entertaining the idea of possibly adding a fish. Obviously a small one maybe some sort of clown goby? I'm open to suggestions. Quote Link to comment
Md's Finest Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Sorry bout ur shrimp. I just got 2 and they are great to watch. I think adding a fish is a great idea for your tank since it's been up a while. I think you should add a trimma sp. or a trimma cana. I have a trimma cana in my 2.5 and they are tiny. I hear both species do better in pairs or a group. I'm currently looking for another one and think 2 would be ok since these fish are so tiny. Anyways, the plate is awesome and your tank has matured nicely. Cool shrooms too. Quote Link to comment
Lalani Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Lookin' good, Aaron! The female sexy isn't knocked up yet?? Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 Sorry bout ur shrimp. I just got 2 and they are great to watch. I think adding a fish is a great idea for your tank since it's been up a while. I think you should add a trimma sp. or a trimma cana. I have a trimma cana in my 2.5 and they are tiny. I hear both species do better in pairs or a group. I'm currently looking for another one and think 2 would be ok since these fish are so tiny. Anyways, the plate is awesome and your tank has matured nicely. Cool shrooms too. Thanks for the compliments! I've considered a Trimma cana but I'm also worried that it might be too tiny. The last thing I want is waking up to a dead fish stuck to the filter intake. I also haven't see any at my LFS so I wouldn't know where to get them other than online. Are they pretty active? I kinda want a fish that's slightly active and doesn't sit in one corner all day long. Lookin' good, Aaron! The female sexy isn't knocked up yet?? Not yet! But she's been doing a lot of this: But still no eggs. Maybe they don't want children? With the way the economy is right now I wouldn't blame them. 1 Quote Link to comment
Md's Finest Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 My fish sits out front and center all day on my brain or on the rocks and waits for food to swim by. Eats anything too. And is often seen chillin with my sexy shrimp. They are small and my water paramiters haven't changed a bit. If all is still good in a month I will probably get another if I can find one, another tiny trima/evota. Also, Mine has no problem with the current and I keep it full blast. Its a strong swimmer. 1 Quote Link to comment
hijiwii Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Mystery Crab—Revealed! That crab is a handsome young man, I hope he behaves as a proper gentleman. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 My fish sits out front and center all day on my brain or on the rocks and waits for food to swim by. Eats anything too. And is often seen chillin with my sexy shrimp. They are small and my water paramiters haven't changed a bit. If all is still good in a month I will probably get another if I can find one, another tiny trima/evota. Also, Mine has no problem with the current and I keep it full blast. Its a strong swimmer. That's really good to know! Did you get yours from your LFS or did you order it online? I haven't seen them at any of my LFS. That crab is a handsome young man, I hope he behaves as a proper gentleman. Seeing as my corals are still intact, I'd say he does. Except every now and then he'll knock the rockwork around when he's foraging for food. Quote Link to comment
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