onefish2fish Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 lol, not for the people whos tanks crashed. Quote Link to comment
clownfish1124 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 wow fab! You and Lani really make me want gsp! Also how is squishy the Nirvana baby? I hope he isn't polluting your tank too much... Quote Link to comment
saltman123 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) Everyone is right, this tank sure is sexy, and those shrimp rock! What a great setup. I'm sure you've answered these questions before, but can you run down everything you have into the setup, and what your routine's are? I am considering starting up a pico similar to this in the winter and want to get an idea what I am getting into. So you have the jbj picotope, and the Sunpod 2X18 light setup. Did you go with the AquaClear? What power head and heater do you have? Anything else in the setup? Do you do weekly water changes? About how much evaporation goes down in a day? Do you test your water regularly or not really? Do you feed daily or every other day? Some specifics will be sweet! Edited October 25, 2008 by saltman123 Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 lol, not for the people whos tanks crashed. I want to say that my tank is bulletproof at this point but I'd hate to jinx it. It's definitely pretty stable and maturing nicely. So I'm knocking on wood! wow fab! You and Lani really make me want gsp!Also how is squishy the Nirvana baby? I hope he isn't polluting your tank too much... I have a love-hate relationship with GSP. I love its lushness and the fact that it can easily fill up any gaps in your tank. I hate that it can really fill up ALL the gaps in your tank and can grow over corals if you don't watch it carefully. Like I've said before, I have some palys that are buried under GSP and the neighboring patch of daisy polyps are pretty much all gone now. It didn't happen over night, just over time. p.s. squishy is doing great. Updates From the left… From the right… My orange yuma is one of my favorite pieces in my tank. It has been incredibly successful and has grown to about three inches across with five babies underneath its skirt. Feeding it half a silverside every week probably helps in its growth. Orange Fungia—the centerpiece of my tank. They're fun to have just to watch them eat. I love my zoas but I've never been the one to get caught up on rare and exotic varieties which I like to call "designer zoas" but I was curious to investigate what I have. Apparently these are Martian Reds: Reverse Gorilla Nipples: Fireball: Blowpop: Neon Green: All cute names aside, my zoas have been doing really well and spreading nicely to fill in some of the empty gaps in the front. It's amazing to watch them grow from a small frag to a nice thick garden. I can't get enough of them and can probably use more to fill in some of the gaps in the sides. I finally found a good permanent spot for the blue clove polyps and placed them right next to the Xenias. I'm definitely impressed by how well they've taken hold and are already starting to spread on the rock I glued them on to. I'm hoping for them to spread out more and cover the entire rock which means I'll have to keep my eye on both the GSP and the Xenias to make sure they don't smother them. Quote Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Nice pics! Something in my tank keeps picking at my blue cloves. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 Everyone is right, this tank sure is sexy, and those shrimp rock! What a great setup. Thanks! I'm sure you've answered these questions before, but can you run down everything you have into the setup, and what your routine's are? I am considering starting up a pico similar to this in the winter and want to get an idea what I am getting into. Awesome! You won't be disappointed with the Picotope. So you have the jbj picotope, and the Sunpod 2X18 light setup. Did you go with the AquaClear? What power head and heater do you have? Anything else in the setup? Yes, I have the JBJ Picotope with the 36W Current Dual Satellite and an AquaClear 70 moded fuge. I have a Rio 50 powerhead for added flow and a 50W Hydro Theo which I only use during the winter. A lot of people replace the AC70 impeller with an AC20 impeller or even trim it down to reduce the flow. I have the stock impeller running full blast. Combined with the powerhead this gives me a maximum flow of ~360gph. Arrange your rocks so that it deflects the turbulence from blasting your sand all over the place which also makes a good spot for corals that like high flow such as GSP. Do you do weekly water changes? About how much evaporation goes down in a day? Do you test your water regularly or not really? Do you feed daily or every other day? I started with half-gallon water changes a week but once I started adding a lot of LPS and especially SPS, I up my water changes to twice a week to keep up with nutrient export and to maintain calcium levels. Evaporation isn't too bad, I top off twice a day once in the morning and once at night and I probably lose a cup a day. A lot of people use glass covers to prevent this but I prefer leaving it open for better gas exchange. When I first started my tank I use to test my water religiously. But nowadays I hardly test if at all. I do test for calcium and alkalinity regularly just to make sure those levels are where they should be. But as long as the corals look good and are happy then I pretty much just assume that everything must be right. I feed the inverts every other day with shrimp pellets. It's important to feed sexy shrimps on a regularly to keep them from preying on corals. I also feed the the emerald crab and the peppermint shrimp to keep them from stealing food from the sexies therefore maintaining peace in the tank. Once a week I feed the entire tank with some frozen foods and spot feed the LPS (Blasto, galaxea, plate coral) and the ricordeas. The tank literally turns into a feeding frenzy as I deliberately make a bloody mess which is why I feed the tank the night before I do a water change. Hope this all helps! Nice pics! Something in my tank keeps picking at my blue cloves. Thanks SDT! Sorry to hear about your blue cloves. One thing I forgot to update on is the monti cap! It's actually doing surprisingly well and has shown a lot of growth even under 36W PC. Just thought I'd point that out since you have such amazing montis. Quote Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 One thing I forgot to update on is the monti cap! It's actually doing surprisingly well and has shown a lot of growth even under 36W PC. Just thought I'd point that out since you have such amazing montis. Thanks! I have seen that your cap is doing very well, good job! Quote Link to comment
Lalani Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Fabulous, as always. I want some of those cloves... Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 If you were close by I'd give you some. My friend and I found it at one of the LFS that we almost never go to in the back corner of their tank. The rock was the size of a baseball and we tried breaking it with a hammer and caused it to shatter so we ended up with like a hundred frags. The bigger pieces are in her M9 tank and I got the few small pieces that are now in my pico. Quote Link to comment
Lalani Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 What if I took a trip to Vegas? Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 Then I'd say go for it. Plus I'll show you how I roll. Quote Link to comment
Lalani Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) Like that pic of you hugging the porcelain throne on the Halloween thread? Edited October 25, 2008 by Lalani Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 Oh that was just the tip of the iceberg my friend! Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted November 2, 2008 Author Share Posted November 2, 2008 Yeah who woulda thunk? I'm so not worthy! lol Quote Link to comment
Aqua newbie Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Your tank is eye candy. Quote Link to comment
Lalani Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Yeah who woulda thunk? I'm so not worthy! lol Oh bull, it's one of the best lookin' tanks on the site. Quote Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 I have been watching this tank for a long time! Your eye for placement and position is a big part of what really makes this tank, IMO. grats! Quote Link to comment
blues_drummer Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Congrats on TOTM - yours was one of the tanks which made me want to get back into Nanos (after having an original JBJ 12G which cracked, moved up to a 70G from a friend, and am now back to a 5 week old Pico!) Just waiting for things to really stabilize before joining the sexy shirmp club. If my tank ends up being 1/4 as good looking as yours, I'll be happy! Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted November 3, 2008 Author Share Posted November 3, 2008 I have been watching this tank for a long time! Your eye for placement and position is a big part of what really makes this tank, IMO. grats! Thanks! You're absolutely right though, there's a certain formula that I figured out which is not that easy to do in a pico. Aside from position there's also shape and size that has to be taken into consideration. It's a PITA but rewarding once you finally get it together. Congrats on TOTM - yours was one of the tanks which made me want to get back into Nanos (after having an original JBJ 12G which cracked, moved up to a 70G from a friend, and am now back to a 5 week old Pico!) Just waiting for things to really stabilize before joining the sexy shirmp club. If my tank ends up being 1/4 as good looking as yours, I'll be happy! That's awesome! I'm happy to hear about the pico, make sure to start a thread. I can't get enough sexy shrimps, they're absolutely perfect for picos just make sure you feed them. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 Anniversary Update My tank has officially been up and running for an entire year and what an incredible journey it has been! It's been a great learning experience and being recognized this month is an affirmative reminder that somehow I've done something right. I could go into more details about my experience but I feel like I've already done that so instead I've decided to post FTS shots of my tank throughout the year, showing its progress as it evolved over time. November 4, 2007 November 7, 2007 November 30, 2007 December 16, 2007 January 3, 2008 February 6, 2008 February 23, 2008 March 20, 2008 April 14, 2008 April 27, 2008 June 17, 2008 June 29, 2008 July 28, 2008 September 28, 2008 October 23, 2008 November 4, 2008 Quote Link to comment
saltman123 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 AMAZING PROGRESS PICS!!!! This Tank Rocks! Quote Link to comment
AdriftQuasar Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Wonderful tank! Thanks for reminding me that I need to work on mine. Quote Link to comment
clownfish1124 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MR. TOTM!!! Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Wow congradulations TOTM you deserve it. Those progress pictures are great, love em. A year old very cool. Quote Link to comment
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