Jump to content
Premium Aquatics Aquarium Supplies

El Fab's Pico Reef: 2007–2010


el fabuloso

Recommended Posts

Wow I wish there was local coral even half as nice as what you have pictured from the convention. Can't wait to see the new additions.

Link to comment

What light are you using for you tank? I want to start a pico in my office but want to make sure what the total cost would be. Did you buy the light after market or was it part of the package.

Link to comment
el fabuloso

MAX was really crazy. I can't stand to look at frags anymore and the stock at my LFS are now second rate by comparison. Didn't see anyone there from N-R or at least no one came up to me. I'm sure there were a few there wandering around. I did run into my local reef club who were also there and chatted with them for a bit. The next event is IMAC which I think is in August in Long Beach aboard the Queen Mary. That could very well be a fun trip!

 

Oh, I wish I could have seen that. Our LFS owner was down there I think giving a talk, I dont know if she had an exhibit too or not. I cant wait to see what you got. So you gonna move all your stuff into the M9 and start over with the pico SPS dominated tank? I am not gonna be able to sleep tonight I am so excited. Ok, I step out now to make room for the master of suspense...enter El Ninja Fabuloso ----> :ninja:

Who's your LFS owner? Was he a speaker? The plan is to move some things to the M9 for a while but eventually everything in the M9 will be moved into the new RSM. My tank right now is about 50/50 LPS and SPS. Everything is acclimating nicely so far and should be ready for its first photo shoot next week. :)

 

hiding dead bodies? Whats happened here?

Nothing. :ninja:

 

Dude Im so bummed I couldnt make it to MAX, I heard the zoas there were insane. So bummed man, but I cant wait to see your tank.

There were crazy zoas there, you would've gone nuts! I got some really good LPS and SPS frags, a couple of nice ones from Vivid. I was really impressed with their stock.

 

What light are you using for you tank? I want to start a pico in my office but want to make sure what the total cost would be. Did you buy the light after market or was it part of the package.

Hi and welcome to my thread! :welcome:

 

I upgraded my light fixture twice. The first time it was to a 36W PC fixture and the second time to an LED retrofit. Most tank kits like the JBJ Picotope (which is what I have) come reef ready with a light fixture. The fixture isn't the greatest but is enough to get you started with some easy corals. Check out my Pico Guide thread in the Pico Reefs section to help you get started. :)

Link to comment
Who's your LFS owner? Was he a speaker? The plan is to move some things to the M9 for a while but eventually everything in the M9 will be moved into the new RSM. My tank right now is about 50/50 LPS and SPS. Everything is acclimating nicely so far and should be ready for its first photo shoot next week. :)

Her name is Barbie, great owner. I saw her the other day and she wasnt there for the max afterall, she was giving a presentation in LA for something else at the same time as the max and didnt have time to even go to the expo, I thought that was why she went. She did bring back this crazy lobophyllia that really got me excited, but I think it would barely fit in my tank, and it was 90 bucks. Sure was pretty though. Kinda got me thinking....

 

50/50 lps? the lps makes me so nervous in these small tanks. I am getting some tomorrow though. I am trading for some candy canes with a local for one of my monti frags. Can hardly wait for your unveiling...acans? chalice? There were alot of nice lookin blastos and scolies in some of those pics. ok, I cheated a little bit.

Link to comment

Nice! I do see quite alot of frag exchange/selling convention or exhibition oversea. :happy:

 

How I wish my country have more of this kinda convention as I almost seldom or never sees one happening here before except for the Aquarama which happens only once every 2 years. -_-

Link to comment
Nothing. :ninja:

 

 

Is the ninja emoticon a clue that ninjas killed the yellowtail? Have you ever seen the juvenilles in an lfs? I am well keen for a juvi for my tank once my clown has to be rehomed in a bigger tank.

Link to comment
el fabuloso

The Stony Transition

 

The tank has been up for a year and five months and is currently undergoing its biggest change yet. The success of the Montipora cap. and the recent upgrade to LED lighting have inspired me to push forward and explore the realm of SPS and LPS corals. This required a lot of preplanning and forethought on my part especially considering how full my tank already was. I ended up letting go of my "capstone" which was covered with GSP and random zoas and palys, and transferred it to the M9 tank which itself will also go through a big transition.

 

I waited for the Marine Aquarium Expo (MAX) to get some ideas and came home with some nice pieces to get my experiment moving along. The result was more challenging than I previously thought! While the structural integrity of hard corals makes for easy placement, their sensitive and temperamental nature is not so forgiving and have resulted in some stings and burns in the process. This made for some frustrating trial and errors which was made even harder by the fact that I'm trying to cram them into a pico. It's like building a ship in a bottle!

 

I know you all have been dying to see the new pics so without further ado, I present to you El Fab's Sexy Pico v2.0:

 

CIMG9338.jpg

 

 

The New Additions

 

Green maze brain coral: Fell in love with this guy the moment I saw it. Its nice dome shape add structural interest to the tank. This thing is dense and heavy and it was a little hard to find a stable spot for it at first but eventually found a nice spot for it to balance on. While shuffling things around I didn't notice that one of the new acros fell over it so there's a small dead spot on top of it. Hopefully it'll recover over time.

 

CIMG9294.jpg

 

Color tip Acropora: I can't wait for this thing to grow out!

 

CIMG9296.jpg

 

Yellow sunset millepora: Pictures don't do this piece justice. It has a nice iridescence that's hard to capture on camera. I had a hard time placing this at first as it's pretty dense and heavy not to mention stingy and stung the brain coral and part of the monti cap in a short amount of time.

 

CIMG9319.jpg

 

Purple Montipora digitata: Not much to look at but I see a lot of potential with this piece.

 

CIMG9320.jpg

 

Hollywood stunner chalice: I'm typically not big on Echinophyllias but saw this piece and was instantly drawn to it. It'll be interesting to watch this thing grow.

 

CIMG9348.jpg

 

Acan lord: This guy's a little beat up at the moment and is currently in limbo as far as where I want to put it. I had planned on placing it on the sand but the big ugly plug he's on has made that rather difficult to do not to mention my sand bed is already full as it is. I had put it up on the rock work at first but my emerald crab kept knocking it over so I decided to place it in the back corner for now to let it recover while I figure out exactly where I want to put it.

 

CIMG9308.jpg

 

Green Favia: Found this massive slab of Favia at Zoanut's exhibit and I was intrigued by its size and shape. I figured this would cover a lot of space and at $75 wasn't too bad of a deal.

 

CIMG9350.jpg

 

Candy Cane: Not exactly new as this used to be in the back of my tank. Finally brought it out to the front of the tank and just discovered two new heads on it. The piece itself is awkward and has a lot of dead space so I may end up splitting it down the line. Evidently some GSP have gotten a hold on some parts of it so I haven't totally rid myself of GSP as I thought. :rolleyes:

 

CIMG9297.jpg

 

Yuma: Also found this nice little yuma at MAX with a smaller one attached under the frag that went unnoticed. Two for one, score!

 

CIMG9301.jpg

CIMG9299.jpg

 

 

Close-Up Shots

 

CIMG9288.jpg

 

CIMG9292.jpg

 

CIMG9298.jpg

 

CIMG9307.jpg

 

CIMG9305.jpg

 

CIMG9303.jpg

 

CIMG9290.jpg

 

 

Top-Down Shots

 

CIMG9321.jpg

 

CIMG9325.jpg

 

CIMG9326.jpg

 

 

FTS

 

CIMG9287.jpg

 

With all the new additions I've definitely noticed a big drop in calcium and alkalinity so I will need to start dosing soon. The galaxy has probably outgrown this tank and could very well be on its way out which should open up some room for other things or maybe even a spot for the acan. This layout isn't necessarily final but is a good starting point as my tank transitions into the next level and will evolve and take form over time just as it always have. :happy:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
el fabuloso

Thanks guys! :)

 

Damn dude. I don't think you can cram any more in there!

 

How are the yumas dealing with the LEDs?

I still have room for a clam! :lol:

 

The yumas are doing really well under LEDs. My orange yumas in particular have opened up a lot since the transition to LED and the new ones seem to like it as well.

 

the pico is stunning! oh...and I got my cloves, thank you! they are doing great :)

I was just gonna ask you about that. I'm glad they made it and I'm glad they're doing great. :)

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...