Saltyliving's Desktop SPS Pico (now w/ MP10)

[saltyliving]

So heres is my first attempt at pico. I think its going pretty well.

 

Equipment:

 

JBJ picotope

Par38 by Evil

AC 70 fuge mod

Karolia 1

5lbs live rock(figi and tonga)

5lbs live sand

 

Livestock:

 

ORA pink birdsnest

Blue milli

6 other SPS that i dont know the name of

Fire and Ice zoos

other zoos with unknown names

Duncan

Purple Xenia

2 sexy shrimp

 

Its late I will add more info later

 

[smokey_the_bear]

this is nice

[Apoptosis]

this is nice

 

Si.

[nano-reefer1]

cool man how many gallons are those jbj tanks

[smokey_the_bear]

cool man how many gallons are those jbj tanks

 

3 gallon

[DulcyDoll]

cool man how many gallons are those jbj tanks

 

3 gallons of sexiness!

 

Tank looks fantastic!

Are you running any chemical filtration?

[nano-reefer1]

yup they are clean for sure. im stuck with modding walmart tetra tanks lol

[DulcyDoll]

yup they are clean for sure. im stuck with modding walmart tetra tanks lol

 

They are on sale at Petsolutions.com.. $38.00 I was going to get mine there, $10 cheaper than where I got mine, but they were on backorder. Day after I bought mine they were back in stock.

[saltyliving]

Ok so i got some better pics (i think). Couple different angles.

 

It was late when i first posted and neglected some live stock.

 

Small Acan frag with like 4 1/2 heads

GSP (dont know why)

Green toadstool leather thats not very green.

 

Im having a bit of a nutrient issue my NO3 are like 20+ Everything looks ok minus a little color loss. I was wanting to add a couple mangroves to the fuge and up my water change frequency and stop feeding till i can get on top of this.

 

These are my Params

 

Amonia=0

NO2=0

PH=8.2

Phos=undectecable

Calcium=400

DHK=14 (down from 18 after a buffer OD)

NO3=20

 

i think what happened is i was intially feeding my acan and duncan alot try to get some growth but i over did it.

 

So here are some better pics bare with me i cant get the lighting right colors look better in person. I'm amazed at some of the pics taken on here.

 

Thanks for the compliments and enjoy

 

 

alot of pics for 3 gallons lol

[lovelandbmxrider]

Do you have to use any additives, or just wc?

[saltyliving]

right now im maintaining calcium with single part calcium supplement i cant think of the brand of the top of my head. using reef buffer for the top off water.

 

My mag, strontium, iodide are being maintained by my water changes. The calcium supp i use says it maintains mag, strontium.

[saltyliving]

disater!!!! one of my acros fell on my acan frag and it looks pretty bad. What do i do should i remove it or leave it so see if comes back to life. HELP!!!

 

[ulver982]

Niiice! I love the SPS, are you dosing or just changing water??

[saltyliving]

Niiice! I love the SPS, are you dosing or just changing water??

 

thanks buddy

 

i have to dose calcium the high demand was unexpected in a small tank. My DHK is still high and i know it has an effect on the calcium.

[saltyliving]

I am working on an idea to add an overflow and 10g sump/fuge. I thinks its funny to have a sump larger than display but i would really dig the little tank all grown out with the sps. and a sump would allow me to better ensure that.

 

I put the baffle in the sump tonight but I changed my mind on the setup.

 

will post pics as it moves along.

[saltyliving]

got rid of those bastard sexy shrimp. stripped the polyps part of my ORA pink birds nest. Had quite a time catching them with a turkey baster

[Fratitude]

love the tank. ur having luck with the PAR 38 and sps? im not really yet. I think im going back to MH. Love the lamp, dont get me wrong. just seems to be frying my SPS(even with light aclimation)

[brandon429]

yep I decided against sexies when I saw they wouldn't get off the polyps. that coral will grow back but it will take about seven months.

 

In my tank a frogspawn is stung via gut mesenteries every 5 or so months from a lobophyllia just above it, its the lobos way of turf clearing for a while when the frogspawn starts to cut the underside of it with its little sweepers. the point is, this frogspawn is stung to the core, the whole polyp rots white/brown and falls off, leaving a stark white skeleton. The only reason its not yanked every time, when Im just sure its dead, is because I can't get to it without breaking some stuff so I leave it to turn purple in the system.

 

The frogspawn always comes back, in one month tiny green flesh is in the center again. There's progenerative material in the bottom of the corallite we can't see that doesn't die...from that, I learned to hardly ever give up on a coral. In the case of burned SPS, the original polyp holes don't fill again they are plated over with thin skin, that produces new corallites from the tissue that was left unburnt so I wouldn't give up on that frag.

 

Your tank is outstanding, the ideal example of my new fav topoff technique does it work perfectly>

[saltyliving]

love the tank. ur having luck with the PAR 38 and sps? im not really yet. I think im going back to MH. Love the lamp, dont get me wrong. just seems to be frying my SPS(even with light aclimation)

 

 

I have been having pretty good luck with the par38. No bleaching or anything. My colors are pretty good minus some color loss from high nitrates. I use the 20k 60* no real light acclimation needed for me.

 

 

The top off works perfectly

[saltyliving]

I just found put that i set my light timer wrong and my lights have been on for 4 days straight. AWESOME

 

My corals are not very happy a few have bleached but surprisingly my zoas look awesome.

 

Weird

[saltyliving]

Just ordered a vortech MP10 its not for my pico but will find a home in there for a while. Any body have experience with the in picos

[Mr. Microscope]

Awesome. I've also contemplated the mp10 even though I have no place to put it. I'd guess it'd be way too much for a pico, but it's an amazing piece of technology and design.

[el fabuloso]

Cool tank! I'm seeing too many of those pet water bottles for ATO's lately. How exactly does that work?

[Mr. Microscope]

Cool tank! I'm seeing too many of those pet water bottles for ATO's lately. How exactly does that work?

Air pressure holds in the water like a watercooler. If air is let into the ATO, water flows out until the opening is covered. I did it because I didn't want to rig up a floater. It's an extremely easy and reliable DIY. The major disadvantage is the small volume. You're right, they have been the standard for the last few months. I wish a had a float switch ATO so I could leave it for more than a weekend.

[el fabuloso]

And it makes your tank look like a hamster cage.

 

I kid. That's a nifty idea.