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Coral Vue Hydros

El Fab's Pico Reef: 2007–2010


el fabuloso

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MAN!!! Your tank ROCK!!!! Keep up the good working... I will be working on a my tank soon I will be doing 10 gallon coarls in my tank.. This will be my first doing this saltwater >.>..

Edited by midnight720
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wow, what a beautiful tank you have. im still in the process of functioning mine. i have a question, when is it a good time and safe to added sexy shrimp, and yes can i join the sexy club? i been going to the LFS each week 3 different place but no one seem to carry sexy shrimp :( but im not in a rush just waiting for the right time i guess. Also i notice you have a monti cap, my question is does it need alot of flow and lighting? my friend gave me a piece of the monti and was wondering what i need to do to keep it healthy and what to feed? I do not have any powerhead exceptional of my AC70 modded. is it necessary to have one? i know this seem to be all unnecessary question but opinion and suggestion is nice, thanks n so much inspiration from your journey!

 

-Kong

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clownfish1124
¡Tengo miedo! No me gusta los colmillos... Ja ja ja! :lol:

no me gusta usar 'colmillos' porque aprendé la palabra 'dientes' primera.

 

 

y lo siento para 'de rail' tu hilo.

Lo puedes continuar.

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Your tank is FABULOUS (as if that even needs to be said)! :happy:

 

I came to this thread to read your instructions for converting your HOB fuge (which, I loved, btw -- very easy to follow), and I stayed to see how your tank developed. I just love it -- I just started my nano today. I'm definitely in awe of your tank . . . but you make it seem so easy.

 

Oh, and I'm also a fan of sexy shrimp now -- they're adorable.

 

:)

 

Congrats on TOTM.

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  • 1 month later...

So I bought a picotope to just to keep my last living fish from my 18 gallon Via Aqua, which I planed on selling. Freckles(named by my girlfriend) a Falco Hawk I have had for almost 3 years. He is the hardiest fish I ever purchased and I only paid $10 dollars for him. At first I thought he was kind of boring but now I almost treat him like a dog, he will even let me pet him :lol: Then I saw your tank and read your thread and I am totally hooked to nano reefing again, your tank is awesome!! I already had an AC70 and I am going to get the Current 2x18 watt asap. I have to break the rules a bit because I don't want the fish to die so I had to do a water change within the first week because the ammonia level. I will have to wait a while longer to add corals because of this.

 

I have a question, how important is it to have chambers in your AC70? does it really matter if the contents touch each other like if the cheato was placed on top of the chemi-pure bag.

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Thanks for all the comments! :)

 

I have to break the rules a bit because I don't want the fish to die so I had to do a water change within the first week because the ammonia level. I will have to wait a while longer to add corals because of this.

Looks good! How many pounds of rock do you have in that tank? I must warn you though, people on this site can be really sensitive about fish in picos so watch out. But it sounds to me like you know what you're doing, just be sure you have a backup plan if things don't go too well.

 

I have a question, how important is it to have chambers in your AC70? does it really matter if the contents touch each other like if the cheato was placed on top of the chemi-pure bag.

The chambers in the AC70 isn't so much about keeping the contents from touching each other as it is about keeping those contents organized. You can stack everything vertically but you'd have to take everything out of the filter box just to change a filter floss or a media bag and that can get messy.

 

UPDATE

 

2008 is finally over and it's been a great year with new experiences, making it through the first year and TOTM selection so I couldn't have asked for a better year. As my tank enters its second year I hope to keep learning as I try to expand new and different options for picos even more. There are some really amazing tanks on this site and hopefully we can all keep inspiring each other as we continue to grow in this hobby. And now, onto the pictures. :lol:

 

The obligatory FTS shots:

 

CIMG6442.jpg

 

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CIMG6452.jpg

 

From the left:

 

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From the right:

 

CIMG6395.jpg

 

 

If you think you're seeing blue, you'd be right. Meet Blu, the recent addition to my tank:

 

CIMG6421.jpg

 

CIMG6392.jpg

 

The death of my green clown goby left a big void in my tank and for the longest time I couldn't decide if I wanted to get another goby. After much deliberation and indecisiveness I decided to take a different direction and went with a yellowtail damsel instead.

 

At first I was worried that putting such an active fish in a pico might add too much of a bioload so for the first week I monitored my water closely to check for any changes in parameters. To my surprise I found no changes whatsoever even with regular and additional feedings.

 

He's adapted well to his new home and gets along with everyone which I find kinda surprising for a damsel. His active movement and bright coloration has definitely added more life to my tank. :happy:

Edited by el fabuloso
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nanoreefnate

WOW...you should be rechosen for the TOTM :lol: nice tank. what fish do you have in this tank? just that damsel? also i find it amazing that you are being able to keep that monti under that lighting...it must really like the water quality of your tank! good luck with whatever courses you chose to take with this tank. ill be tagging along!

 

PS hows your friends Finnex 9g doing?

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Thanks! I only have the yellowtail damsel in this tank and nothing else. I almost went with a neon goby pair but I'm so happy I found Blu. :wub:

 

Nanoreefnate: my friend's Finnex 9g is pretty much a tank full of mushrooms at this point. She's thinking about possibly upgrading to something bigger, maybe an AquaPod or a 20g long. We'll see what happens.

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nanoreefnate
Thanks! I only have the yellowtail damsel in this tank and nothing else. I almost went with a neon goby pair but I'm so happy I found Blu. :wub:

 

Nanoreefnate: my friend's Finnex 9g is pretty much a tank full of mushrooms at this point. She's thinking about possibly upgrading to something bigger, maybe an AquaPod or a 20g long. We'll see what happens.

lol yeah Blu is a pretty cool fish! :D

 

oh...alright then thats pretty cool ill go look for that thread and see whats happened since i last looked at it. :happy:

Edited by nanoreefnate
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Looks good! How many pounds of rock do you have in that tank?

 

I have a little over 3 pounds. It's one big piece that looks like a skull. When I bought I was not planning on doing a reef tank until I saw yours.

 

I must warn you though, people on this site can be really sensitive about fish in picos so watch out. But it sounds to me like you know what you're doing, just be sure you have a backup plan if things don't go too well.

 

I know :scarry: but all this fish does is perch himself on rocks or hides behind them even when he was in the bigger tank. If he needed a lot of swimming room i would not have put him in a pico, plus he's full grown.

 

 

The chambers in the AC70 isn't so much about keeping the contents from touching each other as it is about keeping those contents organized. You can stack everything vertically but you'd have to take everything out of the filter box just to change a filter floss or a media bag and that can get messy.

 

Thats what I thought but wanted to make sure. Thanks.

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Deleted User 6

Just finished reading all 18 pages - and I'll add my congrats in there with all the rest. I'm in the process of planning out my own picotope and rest assured I'll be borrowing many of your ideas.

 

A few questions:

 

1. You said you've left the tank without a top for better gas exchange. Do you think the gas exchange outweighs the work and danger of evaporation?

 

2. I didn't see any kind of big algae bloom or problem - what do you think attributed to your success there?

 

3. How do you go about gluing your frags (those that you do glue)?

 

4. How did the xenia back wall turn out? Looks like you haven't mentioned it for a bit.

 

5. What salt mix did you eventually settle on? Now that your tank is stable, what's your salinity/pH/kH? Do you test for calcium or any of the other nutrients, or just let the salt mix do the work?

 

Again, beautiful work. Thanks for the inspiration. All the accolades have been well deserved. Best wishes for '09.

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Just finished reading all 18 pages - and I'll add my congrats in there with all the rest. I'm in the process of planning out my own picotope and rest assured I'll be borrowing many of your ideas.

 

Awesome! I'm in the process of creating a thread that will help everyone set up and maintain a pico tank. I'll be sharing a lot of my experiences on it so be sure to tag along. Link

 

A few questions:

 

1. You said you've left the tank without a top for better gas exchange. Do you think the gas exchange outweighs the work and danger of evaporation?

 

I really haven't been away from my tank for that long and even then I prefer to have someone top-off the tank for me while I'm gone. With that, I would rather use an ATO than a glass cover which will probably be the next thing I add to my tank.

 

2. I didn't see any kind of big algae bloom or problem - what do you think attributed to your success there?

 

I guess I didn't have as big of an algae bloom as some people get but I still had them and it plagued me. It really tried my patience and all I could do was hope it would go away and stay on top of maintenance and I don't know if it was plain luck or if my diligence finally paid off but they eventually went away on their own. Maybe it's a combination of both. :lol:

 

3. How do you go about gluing your frags (those that you do glue)?

 

I use putty and good old super glue. Nothing special there.

 

4. How did the xenia back wall turn out? Looks like you haven't mentioned it for a bit.

 

I was really bent on having that Xenia wall but over time I've come to accept the fact that Xenias have a mind of their own and will pretty much do what they want regardless of your plans. I've pretty much allowed them to do as they please just like all my other corals and I find that they're happier that way and it's also interesting to see them sort of interact and grow around each other especially in such a small space.

 

5. What salt mix did you eventually settle on? Now that your tank is stable, what's your salinity/pH/kH? Do you test for calcium or any of the other nutrients, or just let the salt mix do the work?

 

I started with Oceanic then experimented with Instant Ocean and Reef Crystals but now I'm back to Oceanic. One thing I've learned about this hobby especially when it comes to salt is that it's best to stick with what works for you. I see a lot of people constantly chasing after that perfect salt mix (if there is one) only to end up stressing out their corals and livestock in the process. Oceanic works best for me because it's readily available and it's what my LFS uses so it's better in terms of stability and consistency and I really like that it's high in calcium. But that's not to say that I wouldn't go out and try something different. If I were to experiment with a salt mix right now it would most likely be H2Ocean mainly because it's new and it sounds promising.

 

Now as for parameters I keep my salinity at 1.025 which is a little higher than what most people keep but I find that my inverts and Xenias are much happier with it. My pH is pretty consistent at 8.3 and my alk can be anywhere from 6 to 8dKH, with the low end typically right when I'm due for a water change along with calcium which ranges from 480 on the high end to around 380 by the time it's depleted. I do two water changes a week (Mondays and Thursdays) to maintain those levels and I test for them regularly. I don't really test for anything else unless I'm worried about something or just plain curious.

 

Again, beautiful work. Thanks for the inspiration. All the accolades have been well deserved. Best wishes for '09.

Thank you! :)

 

UH OH! call the damsel police!

JK, the monti is growing nicely, and keeping it's color too!

Is there a damsel police? :lol:

 

Like I said I really thought long and hard about adding the damsel but it just seemed right. Plus I didn't want to come off as a hypocrite preaching to people about how they shouldn't put a fish in a pico and here I am with a damsel in mine. I think the important part is to focus more on keeping the tank stable than trying to add a fish right away, which is what a lot of people do after running their pico for only a month. As for the monti's tremendous growth, I'm just as shocked as everyone else.

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  • 2 weeks later...
So I bought a picotope to just to keep my last living fish from my 18 gallon Via Aqua, which I planed on selling. Freckles(named by my girlfriend) a Falco Hawk I have had for almost 3 years. He is the hardiest fish I ever purchased and I only paid $10 dollars for him. At first I thought he was kind of boring but now I almost treat him like a dog, he will even let me pet him :lol: Then I saw your tank and read your thread and I am totally hooked to nano reefing again, your tank is awesome!! I already had an AC70 and I am going to get the Current 2x18 watt asap. I have to break the rules a bit because I don't want the fish to die so I had to do a water change within the first week because the ammonia level. I will have to wait a while longer to add corals because of this.

 

I have a question, how important is it to have chambers in your AC70? does it really matter if the contents touch each other like if the cheato was placed on top of the chemi-pure bag.

 

Whoa there, that poor fish looks miserable. :o

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Slow down Fiction, if anyone knows what he is doing with his picotope it is definately Fab.

 

Fab, what the heck are you doing with that fish in there??? :P:lol: :lol:

 

Your tank is doing awesome by the way. I have been missing for a long time but I am trying to catch up. Congrats on the TOTM by the way and your writeup for the picos is excellent. I am going to update my thread soon. I bought a T-5 fixture yesterday so I am waiting for it to arrive and then I will post some pics and stuff. Nothing too exciting though. My ricordea has been doing well, I have about 20 babies off of it right now.

 

Anyway, I didnt want to hijack curriculum's thread too much so I thought I would hijack yours.

 

So if I cant have a Rainfordi or a mandarin, and you have that awesome damsel I am wondering about the Hi-Fin Red Banded Goby. Its a shrimp goby, pretty small too. Now to do some research....

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