Lalani Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Ah you suck, now cut it in half and send some to me. Neener neener neener Quote Link to comment
Withers Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 It's really hard to believe this is a 3 gallon pico. To think that you can grow a monti cap like that in a pico is mind boggling. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 A friend of mine decided to go on a little road trip to visit his family around Fresno, CA and invited my reefer friend (the keeper of the M9 tank) and I to come along. I was hesitant at first but felt that I needed to get out of Vegas badly. While I'm no stranger to SoCal and the Bay Area, the interior parts of California is largely foreign to me aside from the little rest stops between here and San Francisco so I figured this would be a chance for me to explore. My friend's family lives in Hanford, a small town about thirty miles south of Fresno that's trapped in time like Pleasantville. We passed by a fish store and my reefer friend and I were ecstatic and of course we had to stop. Not even an hour in this town and we were already buying corals. lol We were definitely amazed by the availability of certain types of corals and cheaper prices than what we pay for out here in Vegas! This set the tone for our trip and decided to seek out fish stores throughout our trip and make pit stops at each one. We got a styrofoam box from Walmart and heating pads (the kind you use for back aches next to the Bengay) to keep our corals warm. After spending a night and half the day in Hanford/Fresno we headed west towards the coast. To say the drive was scenic is an understatement as it was nothing short of beautiful. Rolling hills and lots of greenery especially once we hit the Santa Maria Valley with all the vineyards around Paso Robles. We passed through San Luis Obispo where we hit up two other fish stores that I had already looked up on my Blackberry on our way there. The guy at the first store we visited was incredibly helpful and friendly and picked up a couple more frags. Once again we were surprise to see the amount of livestock available and their reasonable prices. We definitely pay up the nose for corals here in Vegas. The second store wasn't so friendly nor was their stock impressive but it was a fun stop nonetheless. Next stop was Pismo Beach. We had a fish store we had plan on visiting but we ended up spending a long time on the beach to watch the sunset so the place was already close by the time we got there. No worries though, I'll just have to plan out another trip. From there we drove the long way down the Ventura Freeway down to Santa Barbara, through Pasadena and back to Vegas. This post would be completely useless without pics so here are some pics from the trip. Hanford, CA, 30 miles south of Fresno: We found the Windows XP desktop wallpaper in Paso Robles! As you can see happy cows come from California, not Wisconsin. Sorry Scott! I really like San Luis Obispo and would love to go there again. One thing I can't get over though is their excessive use of "Shrek letters" everywhere, even on their street signs. It was really annoying trying to find our way around while at the same time trying to make out the names in funky letters. But at the same the style was also kinda fitting considering some parts of the town looked a great deal like Ireland. Or at least how I imagine Ireland would be. And finally, sunset at Pismo Beach. The water was freezing cold but the contrast between the rolling hills and the pastel colors of the water was breathtaking! So that's where I've been these past two days. It was interesting to see fish stores in other places and the kind of setup and livestock they have. I still can't believe how much cheaper corals are in California! SPS frags here in Vegas typically run at around $60–80. I picked up a nice bird's nest frag in San Luis for $30 with a small acro frag to boot! I definitely gotta plan more trips like these because road trips are way more fun when you're stopping for corals. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 Just curious what type of camera do you use to take pictures of your tank? My camera is a Casio Exilim EX-Z750. It's an old point and shoot that they don't make anymore. It's a pretty good camera for a point and shoot with an easy menu to navigate. One thing I really love about this camera is that unlike most consumer cameras where settings are buried deep inside the menus, all the settings are accessible with one button—white balance, ISO settings, shutter speed, etc. It has also held up a lot of use and abuse so as much as I would love to upgrade to a newer camera, this one works well for me. Look what I got Yay! They look great! I'm so glad they made it. Thanks for being my guinea pig. Ah you suck, now cut it in half and send some to me. Don't worry, I might do some spring cleaning soon and I should have a few frags to go around. Fab la pecera esta super nice como siempre! mucho exito amigo. ¡Muchas gracias! It's really hard to believe this is a 3 gallon pico. To think that you can grow a monti cap like that in a pico is mind boggling. It really boggles my mind too. When I started this tank I never anticipated seeing this much success with this small of a tank. I've got a few new corals in my tank that I'm experimenting with and will post some new pics once they get settled in. Quote Link to comment
SmittyCoco Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 So I see you made it up to my backyard ! Well almost anyways. It has been some time since I have been to Pismo. I used to travel there ever summer with my family for vacation. I forgot how much I miss that until I saw that pier pic . It really is so amazing over there. Did you guys walk the whole length of the beach? I remeber being a kid, it seemed like FOREVER to walk it. We would go boogie boarding out in the ocean. One time a big fish ( at least I hope it was a fish!) brushed my leg and I was so scared . Ah the memories. Thanks for the pics Fab ! Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 I wasn't in Pismo for very long. Just a quick stop and enough time to walk around the beach a little but it was nice nonetheless. I definitely wanna make another trip and spend more time out there. Especially in San Luis Obispo. Quote Link to comment
danktank Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Look what I got he he we have many patches of that in my teacher's 150 reef Quote Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) Im new to NR plus this is a great site anyone. most recommended! All i could say about this entire post thread about your sexy pico is "OMG" lol you are a very dedicated person with an artisian designer skills. i haven't got to read your entire post but most like i will when i get a chance but by the looks on the first page was breathe taking.. My pico doesn't look to shabby nor upscale like yours but it do floats my boat and i enjoy having a small reef tank at home. hopefully i can get a journal thread going on here. my tank been runnng strong for a great 5 months but i was concerned about the corals growth and daily basis of maintenance but with the help of your post script that you have written out has help me much alot. i definitely following along your posts and experience new things for my pico. P.S. you have a yellow tail damsel just like i have one in my pico.. Kudos! -davit Edited February 27, 2009 by d'Espresso Quote Link to comment
RLC Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 This is such a great thread. The amount of pics is great. You get my vote for POTY .....Pico Of The Year Quote Link to comment
Nanobuds Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 lets see an FTS Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 I'm currently in the process of doing some remodeling and a lot of new stuff. I'll have some new pics up in due time. Quote Link to comment
PSYS Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Oooooh.... remodeling. Quote Link to comment
SmittyCoco Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 What/where are these new corals that you scored on your trip ? Any hints? Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 Let's just say I'm trying to dabble with some more SPS. The success with my monti has encouraged me to try my hand at some other types which could end badly, we'll see. My big concern is that I might be pushing well beyond the threshold of what my PC lights can support. If only I can get that LED fixture sooner. Quote Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 My big concern is that I might be pushing well beyond the threshold of what my PC lights can support. If only I can get that LED fixture sooner. Start hustlin and get that new fixture. Quote Link to comment
justdewitt Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 So, this might be a dumb question, but where do you find straight airline tubing connectors? I can't seem to find any at any of the pet/fish stores around here. Just T-connectors and valves...but no plain straight connectors. Do they sell things like that at Home Depot/Lowes? Quote Link to comment
PSYS Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Let's just say I'm trying to dabble with some more SPS. The success with my monti has encouraged me to try my hand at some other types which could end badly, we'll see. My big concern is that I might be pushing well beyond the threshold of what my PC lights can support. If only I can get that LED fixture sooner. The success of the monti speaks volumes though... clearly not only is it surviving in your pico... it's thriving! The growth is commendable. Perhaps the growth would've been a lot more if it were under stronger MH lights... but clearly, it isn't necessary. I don't know how much further you can branch out into other SPS species... but I'd be curious to know and see how it pans out. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 So, this might be a dumb question, but where do you find straight airline tubing connectors? I can't seem to find any at any of the pet/fish stores around here. Just T-connectors and valves...but no plain straight connectors. Do they sell things like that at Home Depot/Lowes? I got mine from Petco although you may find a similar one from Home Depot or Lowes. The success of the monti speaks volumes though... clearly not only is it surviving in your pico... it's thriving! The growth is commendable. Perhaps the growth would've been a lot more if it were under stronger MH lights... but clearly, it isn't necessary. I don't know how much further you can branch out into other SPS species... but I'd be curious to know and see how it pans out. I don't know how much I can branch into other SPS but the success with the monti is giving me enough incentive to find out. The next big upgrade to this tank is a LED retrofit fixture that I'm waiting on so I'm dying to see how much of a difference that makes over the PC lighting I currently have. The natural progression towards SPS was to find a nice bird's nest since I've heard how hardy they are (compared to other SPS). Unfortunately most of the ones I find at my LFS are either far too large for my tank or overpriced frags that don't look all that exciting. Also to make things more difficult I've been specifically looking for a nice pink specimen since I already have enough green in my tank from my GSP and most of the ones I encounter are green. Remodeling Nothing too drastic just some minor adjustments to make room for stuff as well as weed out some of the blue cloves that have spread out all over the place. I moved a big chunk of cloves from my rock work along with a couple of Xenia stalks to the M9 tank to clear up some space. I scraped the patches of blue cloves that were climbing up the front glass hoping I could frag them but instead they just dissolved into the water and floated off everywhere. So now I have more blue cloves sprouting up on the other side of the tank. On the other hand my galaxy coral went rogue overnight and started stinging the hell out of the palys directly over it so I've had to push the entire top rock back further to keep stuff away from the galaxy's angry sweeper tentacles. As you can see the palys are none too happy right now and you can actually see some battle scars on the center of the paly. It's amazing how much damage a cute little coral can make! The area behind the galaxy has always been problematic for me (the spot where the crab is in the photo below). It's a lot of wasted space that I can't do a whole lot with given the galaxy's angry temperament. I was ready to lose all hope in finding something to put back there until I found the perfect piece. Happy Corals Come From California I was thoroughly impressed with the coral selections in California. Overall I found better selections and better prices than what we typically have here in Vegas so I was like a kid in a candy store and I couldn't resist splurging. Here's one of the first things I picked up: It's a pipe organ coral and it's the perfect size, shape and specimen to fill that awkward spot behind the galaxy coral. Not only does it fill that spot nicely but it also helps brace the top rock keeping the palys away from the galaxy. The pipe organ also adds a different splash of color and added structural interest in my tank. I've thought about adding something yellow in my tank (which I don't have much of) and although it's not a bright neon yellow it's enough to breakup some of the colors. I also picked up some yellow polyps that I had planned on adding to this tank but I decided at the last minute that they would look a bit out of proportion in this tank so I have it in the M9 tank. Then in San Luis Obispo I found the perfect pink bird's nest I've been looking for. It's not bright neon pink but it's healthy and has a lot of potential. And at $30 it wasn't a bad price either. I hate ORA flag plugs so right now I have it wedged behind the rock on top of the powerhead. It's not the most secure spot but it's a good temporary spot while I wait for my Frag-Mags to arrive. Ultimately I want to mount it on the back wall where it can't be bothered by anything. I was a little anxious putting it too close to the Xenia and the Ricordea which brush up against it every now and then but the bird's nest doesn't seem to be faze by them and is showing full polyp extension. The other SPS is a tiny 1" Acropora frag that was a freebie so how could I say no? It's a little brown frag with tiny green polyps but like the bird's nest, it too seems to have a lot of potential. So far it seems to be doing great and showing good polyp extension. I also plan to mount this on the back wall although cutting it off from the frag will be a little tricky considering the base has already grown over the top part of the frag. Hydrocoral As some of you already know I've been hiding something in my tank for some time now. About three weeks ago I ran into a specimen at my LFS that was too rare of an opportunity to pass up. It's a lace coral (Distichopora) and despite its appearance is not an SPS or a coral but is in fact a hydrocoral. The bad news is that it's non-photosynthetic and requires regular feeding. The impulsive decision to purchase this thing is well worth the specimen's structural interest and looks like something out of of Sponge Bob. The good news is that it seems to be responding well to regular doses of microplankton and has extended its dactylozooids (tiny hair-like tentacles) at night. I haven't decided on a permanent spot for it but for now I keep it in a low light area with lots of flow to keep it from getting overgrown with algae. So that's all I've got under my sleeves! February was a busy month with lots of new additions. I may be biting off more than I can chew with the additional SPS and the non-photosynthetic "coral" but it'll be an interesting experiment that will keep me busy for the next few months. I will try to get some good FTS shots this week once everything has settled in. Quote Link to comment
weeber Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) Wow love the galaxy. P.S. how much was the lace coral? Edited March 2, 2009 by weeber Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks! The lace coral was a $50 gamble. It should've cost more but my LFS gave me a deal on it. Quote Link to comment
weeber Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks! The lace coral was a $50 gamble. It should've cost more but my LFS gave me a deal on it. More than $50 for a coral you could make outta playdough! Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 It totally looks like it's made of Play-Doh. The first time I saw it I didn't think it was alive. Quote Link to comment
weeber Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 It totally looks like it's made of Play-Doh. The first time I saw it I didn't think it was alive. LOL imagine if it really is made out of Play-Doh and ur LFS just made it and any ideas where its from because i think i might be able to get it here when i go diving. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 I believe they are found worldwide and are related to fire corals except they're totally peaceful. The one I got is supposedly aquacultured so that gives me a little bit of hope in terms of its survival. Quote Link to comment
weeber Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thats good that its aqua cultured and even better is that their found world wide maybe i can find them and sell them. have you noticed any growth? Quote Link to comment
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