El Fab's Pico Reef: 2007–2010

[danktank]

hey el fab LOVE the tank and the new corals, sorry about the damsel. put me down for a frag of that maze coral, please

[Pico pupil]

what is THAT!?!?!?!? HUH? empty space? tsk tsk

you NEED more coral!

 

 

 

lol

[el fabuloso]

Hey Fab.. i am still in love with your tank. Sadly my tank is down and sold the tank and equipments. also another sad news is that the blue cloves didn't make it and i tried everything to save it but it just wont open up so i guess i wait again and go on the hunt for it.

The good news is that i got my old setup back up and running but thinking about upgrading again to a Solana? hmmm.. but here is the fts ( sorry to hi-jack your page. hehe) here is my 12 gallon PICO

Oh no! That sucks that the cloves didn't make it. You should've told me. I'm still trying to cultivate more frags so that I can send out another batch. I'm sorry that you had to take down your pico. That makes me sad.

 

On the other hand, a Solana upgrade would be exciting!

 

hey el fab LOVE the tank and the new corals, sorry about the damsel. put me down for a frag of that maze coral, please

Thank you! I'm still fishless and I'm not sure if I want to replace with another damsel or go with another clown goby. Sorry but not touching the maze coral. Even if I wanted to I'm not sure how I would frag it.

 

what is THAT!?!?!?!? HUH? empty space? tsk tsk

you NEED more coral!

You're right, I don't know what to stick in that empty shaded part. I'm thinking it would be a good place for a sun coral or something non-photosynthetic. We'll see.

[evilc66]

I have a decent sized colony of black sun corals if you want something a little different. I can get you a few heads if I can figure out the whole shipping thing.

[el fabuloso]

Hm. I'm intrigued. You got any pics?

[evilc66]

I'll see what I can do.

[el fabuloso]

18 Months Later

 

About a year and half up and running and this thing is still kicking. I finally got my new camera (Canon Powershot SD 990) and even though I haven't figured out the right white balance and settings that works best with my tank, it's an amazing camera and I'm confident that over time I'll be able to get acquainted with it. In the mean time here are some first shots of my tank taken with the new camera:

 

 

 

SPS Growth

I've been dosing with C-Balance two part solution twice a day, 6-8 mL in the morning and another at night (approximately 12 hours apart) to keep calcium and alk in proper levels. I've also started using an Elos calcium test kit and can't get over how easy it is to use not to mention highly accurate.

 

The monti cap. is growing at a faster rate than ever:

 

 

 

The millepora growth isn't as noticeable but it's growing at a steady pace. I'm also seeing incredible growth with the aussie delicate frag:

 

 

This one was broken off the original frag and you can see it starting to grow over the plug. The original frag isn't nearly growing as fast although it might get a little happier now that I've found a permanent spot for it where it doesn't get knocked around by my emerald crab.

 

The encrusting monti is still looking a little rough after getting too close to the favia and is starting to regain its color:

 

 

The birdsnest growth is second only to the monti cap and has grown tremendously in the past couple of months. This is what it looked like back in February:

 

 

And this is how it looks today:

 

 

The favia below it is also doing well and really appreciates the weekly servings of silversides and brine shrimp. The unidentified acro frag on the other hand was almost stung to death by the galaxy but is otherwise doing okay.

 

 

LPS Progress

I've finally decided to part ways with the galaxy as it was taking up too much precious real estate not to mention upsetting a lot of the corals with its long sweeper tentacles. Removal of the galaxy has also given the Hollywood stunner its final resting place:

 

 

I was warned about its long sweepers and have finally seen it now that it's happy. Not nearly as bad as the galaxy though. The candy canes were also attacked by the galaxy and have made a quick recovery:

 

 

A piece of Xenia decided to move in on one of its stalk as you can see but the candy canes don't seem to mind. You can't tell from the picture but there's also GSP stowed away on one of the candy cane stalks so I haven't exactly rid myself of GSP like I thought.

 

The acan on the other hand has had it the worst and was beat up by the galaxy first and then the favia. Now it too has found a permanent resting place on the sand bed after weeding out some of the zoas and I'm beginning to see some recovery:

 

 

After weeding out some zoas I can finally see the plate coral in its entirety and just how big it's gotten:

 

 

Some Softies

My softies are pretty much now limited to yumas, rics and zoas and Xenias which I don't think I can ever get rid of even if I wanted to. And of course there's the ever increasing blue clove explosion that has taken over my tank though I don't really mind.

 

 

 

 

And there's one of the sexies stealing the spotlight. Speaking of inverts, here's the emerald crab hiding out under the monti cap:

 

 

Nothing really special about this shot other than how amaze I am at how well the camera captured the crab in the shade. Some more cool shots:

 

 

 

 

The SPS are doing great under the LED fixture and as much as I want to add more, I think I'm just gonna let everything grow out and fill in. I do want to possibly try my hand at a clam though and have given it a lot of thought. I also don't have a fish in the moment and will probably keep things that way for a while. With my friend moving and all the changes taking place between her two tanks, my pico should be taking a back seat for a while which should let things settle in and recover.

[pismo_reefer]

okay....so, watching this tank grow over the past year that ive been on NR has been awesome! the changes, growth, and overall beauty of this pico is inspiring. thanks for sharing it with us fab...(especially in such great detail!)

 

i cannot wait to see the next phase of this pico's journey....GO, FABBY,GO!!!

 

edit: this shot is jaw-esome....

Edited May 29, 2009 by pismo_reefer

[adolfo425]

Haven't commented in a while but you have a very sweet tank and glad it has made it this far. I like the fullness and the maturity of this tank. can' wait to hit this point with my tank.

 

 

Keep up the good work.

[latteslave]

...and again - AWESOME!

 

You know, you could probably use some fishing line and suspend some frags from your light fixture (you know - if you're running low on space.)

 

Always love seeing what you got goin' on!

 

B

[el fabuloso]

Thanks for all the kind words!

 

This has been a fun adventure. When I started this tank more than a year ago I was pretty sure I'd be upgrading in no time, to bigger and better things but instead this tank has been my pride and joy even after having set up and managing bigger tanks. Something about the smallness of picos intrigues me—maybe it's the challenge or maybe it's the cool factor of condensing an entire ecosystem into one cubic foot. Whatever the reason, I'm happy to see this tank grow and I can't wait to see what else I can do with it.

 

You know, you could probably use some fishing line and suspend some frags from your light fixture (you know - if you're running low on space.)

Fishing line. Never thought of that but that's definitely a nifty idea.

[gena]

Looks fantastic/fabulous! I assume you have had to cut the monti at some point...how did you go about it? I have one that is growing mad and I know I'll need to cut it soon and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it. I can't easily remove it from the tank so I'm hoping it can be done in tank. Do you know?

[evilc66]

 

Dude, that yuma looks amaizing under the LEDs. That was the one that I was most concerned with when you put the fixture over the tank. Seems to be enjoying the new light though.

 

I glad to see your tank going so well. I'm also glad to see that you like you LED fixture There will be a few more joining your ranks here soon.

[Nanobuds]

best tank ever!!!

 

ur pico inspired me. however it wont ever be as good!!

[DBTReefer]

Awesome fab! when your weeding some blue cloves, lemme know! i love how they fill in the little empty spaces and make the tank look even more natural.

[el fabuloso]

Looks fantastic/fabulous! I assume you have had to cut the monti at some point...how did you go about it? I have one that is growing mad and I know I'll need to cut it soon and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it. I can't easily remove it from the tank so I'm hoping it can be done in tank. Do you know?

I actually have not had to cut down the monti or at least not intentionally. They're really easy to break off even with your fingers and have accidentally broken off some pieces during maintenance or while trying to move things around. I keep the broken pieces in my fuge and they're growing under 9W PC! In fact that's what I'm going to do next, post some updates on my fuge which is almost like a whole separate tank in itself.

 

Dude, that yuma looks amaizing under the LEDs. That was the one that I was most concerned with when you put the fixture over the tank. Seems to be enjoying the new light though.

And that's not the best pic of the yuma either. In that pic it's a little irritated from the sexy shrimp otherwise it looks much bigger and fluffier. There isn't a single coral in my tank that doesn't look amazing under the LEDs.

 

ur pico inspired me. however it wont ever be as good!!

Do it! I'm sure it'll look amazing.

 

Awesome fab! when your weeding some blue cloves, lemme know! i love how they fill in the little empty spaces and make the tank look even more natural.

Will do. I caught them spawning again last week so I should get another explosion soon.

[Weetabix7]

Wait, Blue Cloves spawn???

I thought they just grew by forming a mat and growing out at the edges.

Mine seem to anyway.

[el fabuloso]

My blue cloves spawn regularly and is usually followed by a population explosion about a week or two after.

 

 

 

[Weetabix7]

WOW, that's wild.

[evilc66]

Thats bizzare. Never seen mine do that.

[DBTReefer]

Ha ha, blue cloves growing IN the sand.

[Pico & Guac]

I love this tank. It's inspiring and infuriating trying to replicate your success in my tank, but all your info has allowed me to enjoy some success of my own. Thanks a lot El Fab

[AdriftQuasar]

El Fab, I'm finally getting around to setting up my picotope which I received as a gift the same time you started this tank. Thanks for the inspiration. Now I just need that LED retro.

[Lalani]

Wowz, they must be happy.

[el fabuloso]

ohai kim!

 

I guess my blue cloves are happy considering they spawn at least once a month. And yes, they grow IN the sand, on the glass, on the rocks, on the powerhead, on just about anything they can touch. The good thing is that they're easy to take out. Just a just gentle scrape and they're gone but this also makes them rather difficult to frag.

 

AdriftQuasar, I can't wait to finally see your pico!