~LadyBug~'s 2.5 Gallon Mini-bow pico

[fiction101]

pics?!

[Drift Monkey]

uhoh....no, i didn't rinse the sand....

Don't worry, I didn't either. Hopefully your sand will settle and stop getting sucked up.

[Jake42393]

pichas pleezz?

[~LadyBug~]

i'll ask my mom about the sync cord for the camera again after tomorrow

[~LadyBug~]

thinking about picking up one or two dwarf blue legged hermits on sunday.....thoughts?

[Drift Monkey]

You cycled already?

[badfish816]

The dwarfs tend to be alittle more "opportunistic" meaning they aren't really more aggressive but will jump on a snail if its flipped over for its shell. So you really have to watch them.

[~LadyBug~]

You cycled already?

i wasn't sure. i know with FW you have to add something to cycle it, and with SW you put the LR in to cycle it, but i wasn't sure how long to wait before i added other live stock.

the banded coral shrimp are really nice, would one of those work? never mind, seem like more trouble than they're worth. thinking a pepermint shrimp and a scarlet reef hermit.....

 

 

 

 

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

Params are-

Nitrate ppm(mg/L)-20

Nitrite ppm(mg/L)-0.5

pH-8.5

Temp-74F

Specific Gravity-1.025

[Drift Monkey]

i wasn't sure. i know with FW you have to add something to cycle it, and with SW you put the LR in to cycle it, but i wasn't sure how long to wait before i added other live stock.

the banded coral shrimp are really nice, would one of those work? never mind, seem like more trouble than they're worth. thinking a pepermint shrimp and a scarlet reef hermit.....

 

 

 

 

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

Params are-

Nitrate ppm(mg/L)-20

Nitrite ppm(mg/L)-0.5

pH-8.5

Temp-74F

Specific Gravity-1.025

You basically need to wait until your ammonia and nitrite drop to zero, then do a 50% water change before adding any livestock. The other parameters look good, but you definitely need to figure out the ammonia and get the water temps up before adding anything.

 

I'm not sure what you're planning to keep in the tank as a whole, but you may want to try snails over hermits. If you insist on hermits, one would be fine for now and a peppermint shrimp would work as well. Keep in mind that the peppermint might be a little difficult to remove later down the line if you don't like him!

[~LadyBug~]

You basically need to wait until your ammonia and nitrite drop to zero, then do a 50% water change before adding any livestock. The other parameters look good, but you definitely need to figure out the ammonia and get the water temps up before adding anything.

 

I'm not sure what you're planning to keep in the tank as a whole, but you may want to try snails over hermits. If you insist on hermits, one would be fine for now and a peppermint shrimp would work as well. Keep in mind that the peppermint might be a little difficult to remove later down the line if you don't like him!

okay, thanks!

ultimately, i'd like zoas, mushrooms, xenias, some sort of shrimp and possibly a green clown goby or another small fish.

[~LadyBug~]

I finally got livestock! The tank finished cycling late last week and yesterday i got a snail, a mexican hermit crab, a teeny colt coral frag, a 1 1/2 in piece of rock with zoas, one xenia polyp and one small frag on a piece of rock that I forgot what it's called! There's also a tiny featherduster that's popped up on my rock. I also finally got the light bulb-I found out that the 20watt coralife does not fit the mini-bow fixture! After I got the corals home, of course. So we had to go out this morning and get a 10watt. The corals were under the stock lighting last night and the change this morning when I put the coralife in was dramatic-the zoas finally extended their tentacles and the xenia really came to life. It's amazing, I keep running back to my desk to stare at it

Still no pics, life is crazier than normal-last week our almost 12 y/o barn cat-sized kitty Pickles passed away and on sunday we picked up a barely 8 week old kitten. He's a loving(hince the nick-name 'Charming') but also keeping us on our toes, lol!

[Drift Monkey]

Awesome! Sorry to hear about your old cat though...

[1blackchicken]

We want pictures!

[~LadyBug~]

drum roll.....................I HAVE PICTURES!!!!!

Current stocking is

Xenia

Colt Coral

28(ish) zoa polyps

Astraea Snail

Baby Percula Clown(who will not be in this tank permanently, plans for a larger tank are well under way, so no flaming please(!!!).He's has been dubed 'Nemo' by my ten y/o sister )

 

The happy-as-a-clam xenia-

And little 'Nemo'-

 

 

 

Hope everyone enjoyed(sorry, I know the quality isn't the best )

[~LadyBug~]

Added a peppermint shrimp on the 8th, and today I got 5-7 green flame paly polyps and a purple mushroom frag from from a guy in my local reef club. Tank seems to be doing well, I've got some small sponges popping up on the live rock, plus some algae

I'm also getting some zoas(green, I believe) from another local reefer in the next few weeks-It's actually starting to look like a reef and not just a box with sand and rocks, lol!

[.Newman.]

be careful adding all this stuff so fast...but it sounds like your tank will be lively

[~LadyBug~]

be careful adding all this stuff so fast...but it sounds like your tank will be lively

Yeah, it is all starting to sorta pile in really fast. I'm getting a ten gallon in the next week-ish, so I'll have more room soon , plus the zoas didn't work out, so I'll probably wait 2-4 weeks before I add anything else.

When I switch everything over from the 2.5 to the 10, what would the best way to do that be? I don't want to stress the livestock any more than I have to......

[.Newman.]

did you drip acclimate...?

[~LadyBug~]

did you drip acclimate...?

I've normally added water really slowly instead.....

[.Newman.]

did you use a floating bag? I wonder if that's possible...

[Artie1a]

keep the pico and have a 10 gallon

[Mr. Microscope]

I say just put them into a container/bag and float them in the new tank to temp acclimate them for 15 min. The conditions should be similar from tank to tank. Unless you have really touchy corals, they should be fine. Softies should be fine.

[.Newman.]

I don't want to hog the thread, but I'll do it anyway because It *might* help the topic starter:

 

When introducing soft corals like zoas, shrooms, and palys does anyone use a coral dip?

[~LadyBug~]

keep the pico and have a 10 gallon

If I had the room...but I don't, the 10 is gonna be a stretch as is

 

 

I say just put them into a container/bag and float them in the new tank to temp acclimate them for 15 min. The conditions should be similar from tank to tank. Unless you have really touchy corals, they should be fine. Softies should be fine.

Great, thanks