animalmaster6 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Love the formation! Link to comment
jae4571 Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 Well I have been having some pretty extreme temperature swings over the past few days in the Pico. Today I purchased a Marineland 10 watt shatterproof stealth heater for $19.95. We'll see how this works. I am also getting ready to attach some zoa and ricordea and mushroom frags to the live rock in the pico. Since I used live sand from my established 20 gal Long and used water from there as well I have not seen any "cycle". My parameters are as follows: GH-180 KH-240 PH-8.4 NO2- 0ppm NO3- 0ppm SG- 1.023 Once my water temp becomes more stable I will proceed accordingly. Link to comment
ulver982 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 I really like your rock work and that clam shell looks awesome there. I can't wait to see this tank progress, you have a great start! Link to comment
jae4571 Posted February 3, 2010 Author Share Posted February 3, 2010 So its about time for an update and some pictures! Two days ago I attempted my first fragging quest. I guess I really wasn't fragging as some pieces of rubble had broken off from a frag I purchased a few weeks ago and had some polyps of Zoas on them. I super glued them to some live rock in my aquarium allowed it to dry and placed it back into the pico It turned out pretty nicely. Here is a pic of the polyps opened in the tank I also placed 3 shrooms in the tank (that I got for free!). At first I attempted to attach them to the live rock by "pinning them in place" This did not work though. They have sort of migrated to where they want to be and I am imagining they will eventually attach there. If you have any other suggestions feel free to PM me as I am very new to keeping coral. Finally here is an updated FTS: Today I performed my first water change, 50%. All the parameters are fine and the tank looks great! I am excited about seeing it progress. Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 You have to have a FTS by midnight Eastern Time tomorrow on the FTS thread or DQ! The first one we did not DQ people but now we will! Link to comment
jae4571 Posted February 14, 2010 Author Share Posted February 14, 2010 Well the diatoms are gone!!!! and one of my tonga branches is beginning to purple up very nicely! NO2-0 NO3-0 PH 8.2 GH-180 KH-240 Salinity 1.023 Temp 77F Today I visited Marine Warehouse in Tampa for the first time. Very nice store! I picked up a green ricordea with a purple skirt for $10. A metalic blue mushroom for $5 and a colony of zoas that contained fruit loop, whammin water melon and blue ice (a metalic blue mushroom was also attached to the colony) for $15. Not a bad score! I also visited Reef Central for the first time and purchased two(2) pieces of live rock that were completely covered with coralline algea in an attempt to help "seed" my rock. One went in the pico and the other went in the 20 long. All in all it was a "productful" day (productive and successful). I'm going to probably pick up a purple and white feather duster tomorrow I've been eyeing up! I'll probably wait to post a pick until next Sunday for the FTS. Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 really nice start.... Link to comment
jae4571 Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 So I picked up the feather duster today. It is small to medium size and fits the tank beautifully! The price was nice too $13.97. Pics to follow once everything adjusts to the new aquascaping. Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Awesome! Remember to put the price on your first post Link to comment
jae4571 Posted February 20, 2010 Author Share Posted February 20, 2010 Well I am breathing a big sigh of relief! I had not seen my new feather duster come out for a couple of days. I thought no big deal it happens sometimes. Like most of us would be I was still concerned. Well as I was performing my water change today I saw the crown in the sand between some rocks in toward the back. At first I thought that it may have shed its crown due to stress but soon realized that it had left its original tube and is in the process of building a new one. All water parameters are perfect and everything is still moving nicely. The crown/worm is retracting normally I believe to be in good health. I will take pics tomorrow as we have another FTS due. I have really enjoyed this tank and it is amazing how full everything is looking with a relatively low expense. I had originally planned on dismantling the pico after the contest and moving everything into my other tank. However, I'm glad to say that the pico is here to stay! The best part is I caught my wife starring into the tank today. I never thought I would see that day come...lol! Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 The tank sounds like it's doing good! Remember the FTS! Link to comment
jae4571 Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 As I promised here are some pics that I just took of the build. FTS 02/21/2010 Here's a shot from the side window of the tank. I think I like this view point much better. What are your thoughts. Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Tank looks great!!! I like the 2nd view a lot better Remebber to put the pic on your 1st post and the FTS Thread! Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I really like this build. The tonga looks great and that clam in the middle is a nice touch. Good luck! Link to comment
jae4571 Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 So do you ever get that feeling that less is more right after you change or upgrade something...? Saturday I received my 5oz bag of Chemi Pure Elite. Today after feeding all of my corals I rinsed the bag very well and allowed it to soak just to make sure it was not leaching any black cloudy water. I added it to my filter and placed a piece of filter floss between the media tray and the pump to catch contaminates. Needless to say my water still clouded up. While this is to be expected I'm still a little on "edge". I know the water will clear and I am confident that the water will be even more crystal blue with this new addition. Does anyone have any thoughts on CPE? I have read nothing but stellar reviews and some of the most beautiful Picos that I have seen have used this product. I also have been contemplating adding a sexy shrimp to my tank but read some reviews that stated that they have been known to eat zoas and other polyps. Does anyone have any further knowledge about this? Any stocking suggestions on a 2 gal Pico? Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I rinsed my CPE for a web seconds and then threw it in the fuge. the black stuff is actually the good stuff, and the rusty clouding went away within an hour in my pico...ever since I added it the water has been crystal clear, it's great I think you need to feed the shrimp meaty foods frequently to keep the from eating the coral... Link to comment
jae4571 Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 Well it only took about an hour for the dust to settle. The water is sparkling clear! .Newman. I had read that too about feeding the shrimp meaty food I just don't want to take any chances since this is a contest build. Any other stocking ideas...? Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 My Sexy Shrimp hasn't touched any of my polyps. Hopw about a small goby? Or maybe more Sexy Shrimp? Link to comment
jae4571 Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Today I added two(2) more pieces of livestock, one(1) orange/purple Florida Ricordea ($15) and a frag of Metallic Green Star Polyps ($5). They are currently in the tank and I am deciding where I will place them over the next few days. The tank is doing great and has been extremely stable over the past few weeks. I really like the addition of the Chemi Pure Elite! I'm thinking about future stocking ideas; feel free to give some suggestions. I will post pictures on Sunday, 03/07/2010, for the FTS. Link to comment
hlander Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Im thinking about setting up one of these tanks myself because of this one Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Wooo! I bet it looks awesome! Link to comment
jae4571 Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 So I am a huge fan of pictures so I decided to post a quick picture of my brand new Florida Ricordea. I will take it off once I do my new FTS. Thank you for all nice comments and feed back. Its nice to know that I'm on the right track. Just a quick shot from my Blackberry Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.