Mr. Microscope's JBJ Picotope

[scythe]

That is an awsome paperweight. I wish i had that resin laying around all sorts of stuff i would encapsulate!

[Mr. Microscope]

That is an awsome paperweight. I wish i had that resin laying around all sorts of stuff i would encapsulate!

Thanks. It's often tempting when I have some left over, but I never have anything to embed.

[molsen187]

sweet paperweight, that's a great idea.

 

as far as emeralds go i had one in my 55g and it was a model citizen. it took care of all the algae on my rocks in about a week. it never touched any coral or other citizens of the tank. i've heard that the goal is to keep them from eating meat. once they eat meat i've heard that is what they prefer. really they are crabs so they are going to take the easiest meal they can get. i got mine about the size of a dime and in a couple moths he was bigger than a quarter easily.

[Mr. Microscope]

sweet paperweight, that's a great idea.

 

as far as emeralds go i had one in my 55g and it was a model citizen. it took care of all the algae on my rocks in about a week. it never touched any coral or other citizens of the tank. i've heard that the goal is to keep them from eating meat. once they eat meat i've heard that is what they prefer. really they are crabs so they are going to take the easiest meal they can get. i got mine about the size of a dime and in a couple moths he was bigger than a quarter easily.

 

Thanks!

 

Wow. Dime size? That's tiny! I hope I can get that lucky. Thanks for the input. Perhaps if I suppliment it's diet with nori like Meganistkreig suggested, I could keep it tame.

[Mr. Microscope]

Who knew? I poked my Nassarius snail today to get him out of the sand to feed, and he started crawling up the side of my tank! I didn't know they could do that.

[meganistkrieg]

Who knew? I poked my Nassarius snail today to get him out of the sand to feed, and he started crawling up the side of my tank! I didn't know they could do that.

 

I didn't know they COULDN'T do that! Any time I feed the tank, mine zoom all over the glass. Love those guys.

[Mr. Microscope]

Hello All,

 

I've been working on my zoa garden a little more. One of my goals recently has been to get my corals off the plugs and onto the rockwork. I'm trying to get the most natural look I can. I'm also hoping to get most of my racks out of the tank aside from maybe one with zoas that I want to trade. Here's how the garden looks now:

Love the Tub's Blues!!!

Here's a top down:

Finally, here's a nice, however very low res shot of some Whammin' Watermelons that I've had since the beginning. These were the first ones that I had attached to any rock work. It was kind of a happy accident. You can see how much nicer they look than the ones in my garden that have been messed with.

[.Newman.]

yes they do look nice. how do you get them off the plugs tho ? I wanted to do that too but i cant see a way w/o damaging the zoas so i just gave up and will allow them to take over the plug =/

yours is going to look better tho, more natural as you sway xD

[badfish816]

nice garden micro!!

[Mr. Microscope]

yes they do look nice. how do you get them off the plugs tho ? I wanted to do that too but i cant see a way w/o damaging the zoas so i just gave up and will allow them to take over the plug =/

yours is going to look better tho, more natural as you sway xD

Thanks.

If you want to take them off the plugs, you just have to bone up on your fragging skills. I use a really sharp scalpel and try to cut under them and into the rock if possible. Many frags come already on a rock that has been glued to the plug. Then, all you have to do is pry the rock off and then glue that to your scape, or stick it in the sand. If you need to cut into the zoas, just make sure not to hit the heads. You may lose one or two, but the stress from fragging usually causes the zoas to bud new polyps. Some people purposely poke or frag their zoas in order to get them to produce more. I admit, I've been experimenting with that.

[Gerber77]

Nice little zoa garden, the tank is looking good.

[Mr. Microscope]

nice garden micro!!

Thanks badfish. I'm thinking about adding my Pink and Golds to the mix and possibly some Horizons. I also may have a spot picked out for the Magicians.

 

Nice little zoa garden, the tank is looking good.

Thanks gerber77! Long time no see. I see you're planning a huge reef in the future. Do you have plans to bring your pico back too?

[cadre]

Nice. The zoa garden will look great once everything grows out. Those tubbs blues do look really nice, I may have to pick up a frag.

 

As far as getting frags off rocks goes, I've never cut under them really but that's a good idea. I usually take a dremel tool and just cut away most of the frag or unwanted rock. That way makes a big mess though.

 

Keep up the good work!

[Mr. Microscope]

Nice. The zoa garden will look great once everything grows out. Those tubbs blues do look really nice, I may have to pick up a frag.

 

As far as getting frags off rocks goes, I've never cut under them really but that's a good idea. I usually take a dremel tool and just cut away most of the frag or unwanted rock. That way makes a big mess though.

 

Keep up the good work!

I like the dremel tool idea. I'd guess you'd have to be quick though. I've found on a few recent frags I've got that there is a thin layer of coralline algae between the rock and zoas. You can kind of shave it off the rock without touching the zoas. Also, it makes glueing easier since it never touches the zoas directly, just the bottom of the coralline.

[.Newman.]

stop poking your zoas lol

[Mr. Microscope]

stop poking your zoas lol

[.Newman.]

srsly tho they might get zoa pox =S

[echopiece]

Nice zoas Mr. M! I too am not a fan of the frag plug look. When at all possible, they come off. I really want some tub blues next, that and another lunar eclipse as mine just melted away

[Mr. Microscope]

Nice zoas Mr. M! I too am not a fan of the frag plug look. When at all possible, they come off. I really want some tub blues next, that and another lunar eclipse as mine just melted away

Awe, buggers! I love the lunars. Sorry to hear that man. I feel your pain. I have some King Midas that started melting on me. There used to be six, then they were all closed for several weeks. Recently three opened back up, but are so tiny. I'm not sure if they'll make it.

[Gerber77]

Thanks gerber77! Long time no see. I see you're planning a huge reef in the future. Do you have plans to bring your pico back too?

 

I dont think I will ever have a pico as a display tank. I am a fan of reefs loaded with fish, I enjoy the movement. Otherwise to me its just another frag tank. I think picos are great and an excellent learning experience but Im now ready to tackle the larger reefs.

[Mr. Microscope]

Cool. I've also been thinking about upgrading in a year or so. I kinda want to do a cube or a long tank. It would be nice to be able to keep a clown or something.

[Gerber77]

I love the look of long shallow tanks. I feel that the high tanks have a lot of wasted space. I really want a school of anthias in the future, they are just awesome to watch.

[Mr. Microscope]

I love the look of long shallow tanks. I feel that the high tanks have a lot of wasted space. I really want a school of anthias in the future, they are just awesome to watch.

 

Agreed about the shallow tanks. They look just awesome! A cube, however, does offer advantages for space saving; something critical in a NYC apartment. Also, lighting is cheaper for a cube.

They are really pretty. I've never see them outside of the LFS. Do they have good personalities, or do they school well, or what? What is the temperament of anthias?

[molsen187]

a 40g breeder is a sweet smaller/large tank. they are pretty wide and offer a ton of space for coral and live rock. anthias are a beautiful fish. i've read they need to be fed a lot though, like a couple times a day.

[Mr. Microscope]

a 40g breeder is a sweet smaller/large tank. they are pretty wide and offer a ton of space for coral and live rock. anthias are a beautiful fish. i've read they need to be fed a lot though, like a couple times a day.

 

That would be fun, but I don't think I will have the funds or space for a tank of that size and volume any time soon. Right now, I have it down to either a Mr. Aqua 7.5 gallon 12" cube, Mr. Aqua 25 gallon 18" cube, the Mr. Aqua 12 gallon long shallow, or a standard 20 gallon long. My top choice is the 12 gallon long followed by the 7.5 gallon cube.