Mr. Microscope's JBJ Picotope

[.Newman.]

oh right, i had a feeling thats what it was for. yea i dont use that lol.

[Mr. Microscope]

Today's post to the Lighting Forum:

Dimmable screw-in LED bulb, For reals?

[jdl]

i know im a bit late on this... do you have and ac70 AND a power head? how high is the flow on the ac70?

[Mr. Microscope]

i know im a bit late on this... do you have and ac70 AND a power head? how high is the flow on the ac70?

No worries,

 

Yes, I have an AC70 and a Koralia Nano. The AC is on about medium to strong flow. The intake is all the way over to the right (with tab removed), but it's not raised very much. It's also been running for about a year. Remember, flow on these slows down over time.

[PinkDamsel]

I'd like to ask where you got the fixture for the PAR38, and are you happy with it? I'm looking for something similar for a PAR30, but I'm finding clamp or screw-on fixtures, or else the ones with a base you can't take the shade off.

I'm in NY, too, so if you found it at a local retailer, even better!

[.Newman.]

I like the AC70 and koralia combo. I run my AC70 on full power (intake pointed all the way to the left)....maybe i need to clean it out lol.

[Mr. Microscope]

I'd like to ask where you got the fixture for the PAR38, and are you happy with it? I'm looking for something similar for a PAR30, but I'm finding clamp or screw-on fixtures, or else the ones with a base you can't take the shade off.

I'm in NY, too, so if you found it at a local retailer, even better!

Hello PinkDamsel,

 

My lamp came from Staples on Lex btw. 86 and 87.

 

BTW, my tank is doing well now. I have some frags for you if you're interested.

[jdl]

No worries,

 

Yes, I have an AC70 and a Koralia Nano. The AC is on about medium to strong flow. The intake is all the way over to the right (with tab removed), but it's not raised very much. It's also been running for about a year. Remember, flow on these slows down over time.

yeah i have to constantly clean mine, weekly almost. ive been lookin into gettin additional flow for my tank. i dont have much room though. do you think a smaller power head would suffice?

[Mr. Microscope]

I like the AC70 and koralia combo. I run my AC70 on full power (intake pointed all the way to the left)....maybe i need to clean it out lol.

I don't know. I've read about people cleaning out their filter weekly. I've taken a peek in there, but never saw any detrius building up. I just change the filter floss every week with my WC and use a fresh bag of Chemi-Pure Elite about every three months.

[Mr. Microscope]

yeah i have to constantly clean mine, weekly almost. ive been lookin into gettin additional flow for my tank. i dont have much room though. do you think a smaller power head would suffice?

Haha! Funny. You posted that at the same time I posted my reply to Newman.

 

I used to have a Mini Jet 404 in there, but it broke after 5 months. It's not that much smaller than a Koralia, just flatter. Worked okay though (while it was working). I would definitely add some flow if you are only using the AC. During the few weeks that I only had the AC, I noticed more algae growth and detrius settling on rocks. I had to use a pipette a couple times a day to blow stuff around.

[.Newman.]

i never noticed detritis on rocks, but i have noticed detritis in my karalia and on the walls of the AC70. I am guessing that some sort of living material is living on those surfaces and is coated with detritis either as food or as shelter. Idk, but i think I will be turkey basting all that stuff out, and from now on before my water change.

 

Micro, we should trade frags someday

[PinkDamsel]

My lamp came from Staples on Lex btw. 86 and 87.

 

BTW, my tank is doing well now. I have some frags for you if you're interested.

 

Definitely interested. I do want to set up the light first - thanks for the tip , I've been to several Staples, but they didn't have much. Will try your store.

 

Frags, whatcha got so I can start drooling?

[JBM]

Micro, we should trade frags someday

 

agreed

----------------------------

 

If either of you (Pink & Microscope) are ever willing to come out to long island, there are to SUPER DUPER AWESOME lfs (well not that local). BUT they rock out with there socks out when it comes to awesome frags & selections.

 

I still need to come & see your tank dude, one of these days, one of these days i promise to make the shlep cross town.

[Mr. Microscope]

Micro, we should trade frags someday

+1

 

 

I still need to come & see your tank dude, one of these days, one of these days i promise to make the shlep cross town.

 

Cool. No worries.

[Mr. Microscope]

Definitely interested. I do want to set up the light first - thanks for the tip , I've been to several Staples, but they didn't have much. Will try your store.

 

Frags, whatcha got so I can start drooling?

 

Okay. I'll post a few shots for you. Sorry, some are out of focus. iPhone pics.

 

Eye of Rah!

Fire and Ice

Ked's Reds (my new favorite)

Magicians

Toadstool and Zombie Eyes

 

 

There's more, but I'm at home any my tank is at work.

[Mr. Microscope]

Here's a little something fun. I noticed the other day that my Whammin' Watermelons are starting to morph. The normal navy-black center dots are getting a neon green mouth! It's the same green as the skirts.

 

Here are a couple images with 20KK and just RBs:

 

I made a 3D stereogram gif out of these. The flashing back and forth is kind of distracing, but you don't need to wear any special glasses for this one.

 

What can I say? I'm a sucker for a plain old Whammin' Watermelon!

[animalmaster6]

That is cool!!

[JBM]

a little freaky, but cool

[.Newman.]

of course I like watermelons! idk if i have any in my pico though...would the ones on the right be considered water melons? or eagle eyes?

[Mr. Microscope]

I'm pretty sure Eagle Eyes and Whammin' Watermelons are the same thing. It was funny, because tue guy that sold them to me was also selling some other polyps that he called Eagle Eyes. The only difference between them was their skirt length. But I've seen these skirts go from very short to weeping willow long in the time that I've had them. It all depends on current. Also, I read a post recently from the guy claiming to be to one that coined the term, "Eagle Eye." He said that later people started calling them WWs (seemed legit, but who knows?). Every pic I see of both are indistinguishable.

 

In fact, I've been noticing a lot of relationships between so called different zoas. All of the morphing I've seen from just my own zoas has made me question a lot of the IDs on zoaid. Not that they're wrong, but I think that a lot of them need to be linked together and labeled as colormorphs rather than individually different zoas. I'm pretty sure Coffee Cosmos for example, are actually Inside Outs that haven't colored up yet (these are some of my Mystery Zoas). Same thing for Organisms and VDMs. I've seen my Fire and Ice look like Horizons, Orange Delights, and at least one other in it's lifetime. Also with Green Bay Packers, Gorilla Nipples, and Eye of Rah/Blowpops (the other zoas in my Mystery zoas).

 

I'm thinking about writing to zoaid. Pretty much everything that's been published in the last two years or so seem legitamitly different, but a lot of the older ones have a lot of these inconsistencies. My thoughts, buy the plainest looking brown zoas you can, put them under intense LEDs for a few months and tell me how many different IDs you can put on them. I'm finding pretty much any zoa will color up well given the right parameters.

[Clavius85]

Hey Micro, how many hours do you run your PAR38 for during the day?

[Mr. Microscope]

From 7-10am and 3pm-7pm. So, eight total broken up by five hours in the middle. Ideally, I'd have them on for 4 hours and off for 8, but I have my tank at work and want to look at it. If I had it at home, I would have it on from 6am-10am and 6pm-10pm.

[Clavius85]

From 7-10am and 3pm-7pm. So, eight total broken up by five hours in the middle. Ideally, I'd have them on for 4 hours and off for 8, but I have my tank at work and want to look at it. If I had it at home, I would have it on from 6am-10am and 6pm-10pm.

Cool. Thanks.

[jdl]

i never noticed detritis on rocks, but i have noticed detritis in my karalia and on the walls of the AC70. I am guessing that some sort of living material is living on those surfaces and is coated with detritis either as food or as shelter. Idk, but i think I will be turkey basting all that stuff out, and from now on before my water change.

 

Micro, we should trade frags someday

turkey baster is the best tool for a pico.

[Mr. Microscope]

turkey baster is the best tool for a pico.

 

Nah! Turkey Basters are for giant reef tanks. "Pico reefers do it with pipettes."

 

Here's my favorite tool.

I really gets into the little crevices without all the pressure of a turkey baster. I tried using a baster once and it was a disaster; 'like using a sledgehammer to put a tack into a wall.

 

_______________

On a related note, my other favorite tool for reefing is this. A 12 inch wooden applicator stick. I use it to probe things in the tank, delicately move stuff, or to point out things to friends without sticking my hand in the tank.

 

Finally, 12 inch tweezers of course.