My first pico! Dymax IQ3 now 5 YEARS OLD!

[pj86]

Nice, looking good and I'm liking the new arrangement. Yep those are a male and female sexy shrimp.

[andrewkw]

Thanks, the layout change bad to be done, well I guess I could have moved the light higher, but this was a more appealing solution. I also love the idea of a fully mixed reef in such a small space. I have close to 30 different types of corals in this tiny tank, softies, lps and sps.

 

I am still planning on adding a few more things, but this number should shrink over time. As things grow they will kill off other things and I'm fine with that. I should be left with the strongest corals in the end.

 

It is a little disappointing to find out I have 2 male and 1 female sexy shrimp. I almost bought a harlequin shrimp or 2 yesterday but got the goby instead. They looked so nice, but I'm not sure how the sexy shrimp would react and I am pushing the bioload a bit, although I'm not really convinced these little creatures add much if anything to the bioload. If I fed the corals less that would have more of a difference then adding 10 shrimp imo.

[iPico]

everything is looking amazing.. as always.

 

i have a question for you; where did you get your Two Little Fishes NanoMag Cleaner?

i found one on bigalsonline.ca but it says nothing about acrylic (it just comments on glass).

thanks in advance

cheers

[Mr. Microscope]

Keep an eye on that clown goby with your acros. I believe they are know to nibble at the polyps and won't stop if they get a taste for them.

 

Awesome pics BTW. What's your camera?

[andrewkw]

The Nanomag is the one from bigalsonline. Honestly I'm not sure its 100% acrylic safe, my tank has some small scratches that are not really noticeable unless you look at the right angle at the right light that may have been caused by this, but I have used several other things to clean the acrylic so I can't say for sure. It will not leave anything serious though.

 

Do you think the clown goby could have ate the monti polyps? Something has removed most of them although it may have been the sexy shrimp. It was a fresh frag from a fresh shipment but it doesn't have monti eating nudis and both the second frag I made in my frag tank and colony in my big tank are doing fine. Just this one has suffered. Also the acro and milli are fine showing good polyp extension. I will probably have to remove the monti.

 

For camera's I use an old pentax k100d I have a 100mm 2.8 macro lens. Years ago I got this camera wet with salt water and now only this lens works with it and only with AA batteries that are not 100% new. It's weird, but since I basically just use it for tank shots it's fine.

 

I also have a canon rebel xti which I use for normal stuff and occasionally tank photos when I need something other then a macro lens. I find the pentax lens gives a better white balance probably because it's not a cheapo stock one.

 

Here are a couple of top down pics taken just after yesterday's water change. Some things don't look that great but remember they were out of the water for about 10 minutes just before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[andrewkw]

So adding SPS has been hit and miss. The monti died almost right away, one of the stylo frags died but it also fell to the back for a while. The blue milli is doing well as is the tiny green acro frag. The other acro is not doing great but it's not overly poor.

 

It's funny because all the colonies are doing great in my big tank, in my frag tank the frag of the monti is doing great, but the frag of the acro that is doing well in the pico died in the frag tank! sps fun! While I like them they can be a headache for something that is not my favorite. Still I love the idea of a truely mixed reef in this tiny tiny footprint.

 

Today's test results :

dKH 8.0 - not bad I've dosed 1.4ml of alk twice this week

NO3 : less than 1ppm but not quite zero

MG :1150

 

I don't test calcium since coralife salt mixes to 500+ppm

 

PO4 : 0.25!!! I tested twice and the other time I got 0.28!!! I have a milwaukee digital photometer which I got long before those little hanna's came out. I stopped using it because I have no problems in my reef and change GFO every 2-3 weeks. It looks like I'm going to have to find a way to add some to this tank. My other tank never reached 0.10 and usually is in the 0.07-.0.03 range (the meter has a +/- of .04 I think)

 

I added a couple more florida ricordias. I got some colonies yesterday real cheap and they had 15+ polyps so I carefully cut a few off. It's a good thing I did cut them because one colony had a baby euncid worm inside which was eating them. The last thing I need is a 10 foot monster. While doing the water change I got stung by a regular bristleworm and that was no fun, at least it was on the back of my hand where it's just annoying not hindering.

 

I will probably wait until tomorrow for new pics. One other thing I did notice is in the back chambers all kinds of sponges are growing. Hopefully keeping them out of water for a few minutes won't be too big of a deal. In a larger tank I wouldn't worry but it's getting to the point where I can't drain any water for a water change without leaving sponges exposed to air.

 

Finally does anyone have any suggestions for controlling phosphates in such a tiny aquarium? 1/2 tablespoon of gfo? vodka dosing? what are you doing?

[.Newman.]

try the ferric oxide. I use chemi pure elite which has that component. vodka dosing in such a small tank is oddly difficult

[andrewkw]

try the ferric oxide. I use chemi pure elite which has that component. vodka dosing in such a small tank is oddly difficult

 

 

The reason I was thinking vodka is a) they don't make pico phosphate reactors I have no room for one.

 

Here is the solution that I am trying.

 

I cut a fish net to use the netting, and I cut a breeders box so I could use a suction cup to attach it. It's not really in a great spot, there isn't much flow but I don't have a lot of choice. I guess I could move it to over the powerhead in the display section at night but that's a lot of work.

 

I'm using half a tablespoon of GFO and half a table spoon of rox .08 carbon

 

 

 

If this works great, if it doesn't I'm going to try making a tiny reactor with a water bottle and a aqualifter pump.

 

New rics

 

clown goby is starting to eat maybe he'll make it after all..

 

 

if you look close you can see his teeth

[pj86]

^ +1, very true, I forgot to mention, I do use chemi pure elite.

[andrewkw]

What do you think about making a pico media reactor? If I make it real small an aqualifter pump should work right? I don't think they are designed for constant use but at 15-20$ a pump I could give it a go and see how long it lasts.

 

This is probably more of a job for you PJ then me but I'm willing to give it a go. Even if most of my projects end in DIY disasters...

[pj86]

Sounds like a great idea. I have so many DIY projects in my head that I want to do, but currently med school is just running me over. Maybe after summer.

[DjZ0rKy]

Question...

 

In your back chamber you just have mangrove?

 

If i cannot have mangrove whant can i use to replace the stock filter...

 

Thanks

[brandon429]

andrew its really amazing. do you really leave it emersed for 10 mins wow thats even more amazing

[andrewkw]

You can add whatever you want to the back. It's a super small area so there aren't many options. I choose mangroves as they appear to be the best nutrient export for the space provided. They also look nice. There just isn't enough surface area to make cheato worthwhile imo. I'm sure you could make it work but I don't want to be trimming it all the time.

 

I don't have much choice but to leave the top 30-40% of the tank out of water. How else am I going to do a water change? There is no sump. I don't really want to do more then a weekly water change so this is how much water I take out. It's mostly for replenishing trace elements. Also not keen on a series of dosing pumps that would be on for a minute per day.

[WRH]

Hi Andrew, I'm ready to upgrade my lighting for my own dymax. The Robot LEDs have lost their appeal and their intenisty already. While I had planned and hoped to already have ordered an Evilc66 Picolamp from Nanocustoms, it just isn't in the newly revised "ball & wallet clenching" budget for this tank.

 

As I understand it, you think your PAR38 is slightly too intense for more of your coral yes?

 

I am looking at a 5LED PAR30 bulb, that is 13W and with 3 Royal Blue and 2 Cool White CREE LEDs. Like yours' this one is available at Rapid LED.

 

Do you have 60 or 80 degree optics in yours, and also, can you tell me the measured distance across two adjacent LED optic covers from outer edge to outer edge? Know what I'm asking?

[andrewkw]

Yeah those lights don't last long....

 

I am using a par 30 it has 60 degree optics. It's too intense to keep low light LPS near the top but it seems fine to maintain SPS and other soft corals / lps don't mind the more intense light.

 

I have no idea what you're asking? The distance between LED's?

 

Also my GFO seems to be working but some of this is no doubt due to the water change

phosphates are down to a much more reasonable 0.13

 

I'm going to feed a bit of frozen food so that will bring it up and I'll test again tomorrow and see what the results will be.

[.Newman.]

odd that your plant isnt doing its job o_O

he means the distance between each LED to the adjacent LED. just the edges.

60 optics is more intense than 80 degree and not needed at all on a shallow tank like this, it just makes the light very intense and like you said some corals cannot handle it. no optics or highes optics possible is best so that light is spread out more.

[andrewkw]

I only have 2 mangroves though. Id like to do 3-4 but there just isn't room. There are so many things working against you in a pico..

 

I dunno there isn't much space between them, a couple of cm? I don't have a measuring tape nearby. It might be my imagination but my water looks a little clearer now that I'm running carbon as well. I'm curious to see what tomorrows phosphate reading will be since I've fed frozen brine and I NEVER rinse my frozen food (imo it not only takes the flavor but a lot of juices corals eat).

[WRH]

when you bought the lamp you posted;

 

I choose a 60 degree bulb but maybe I should have choose 80 degrees? The display area of the tank is only about 6x6 so I didn't want the spread to be greater then the tank.

 

after having the bulb for a while, what do you think about this now? can you tell how high the bulb has to be to spotlight into an area of 6x6 (ie. the lxw of this tank.)

 

Id like to have the bulb closer to the water, and also minimise the light spilling off the desk the tank sits on (which would shine onto my bed and pillow.)

 

Maybe I should have no optics instead.

[andrewkw]

My bulb is only about 4" above the water. again no tape beside me but this I'll actually measure later. I think someone already asked me once.. Generally most people seem to be running the bulbs higher. The coverage I get from this height is fine for my tank. The only thing I don't like is the crazy amount of shimmer led's produce. It's really NOTHING like MH, 100x more intense. Although lately I have been getting used to it more. I don't always have that diffuser screen above the tank I used initially to combat the shimmer.

 

This is the only par bulb i've ever used. I just took a random choice and went with it. If this bulb really lasts 15 years I may never try another. for the price they are I suggest you just order whatever you think would work best and go from there.

[WRH]

I understand, I just only have enough money to get it right the first time, and I am quite concerend about the light shining far beyond the 6x6" tank and into my eyes while im in bed.

[.Newman.]

not your imagination, the FO and carbon do polish the water, similarly to chemi pure.

[andrewkw]

If you don't want light spill I suggest you build a hood. I personally don't find the spillage that bad but if there are no lights on in this room from outside you can see the blue glow. There are also times I don't use the room lights because the tank light is sufficient.

 

todays phosphate reading is 0.23 how disappointing. I want to feed my thin clown goby but I also want to see the phosphates drop. After yesterday's feeding I almost gained back the entire amount I started with.

[.Newman.]

the FO isnt doing its job either? get an phosphate absorption pad and cut it to size to fit in your back chamber. that stuff works.

[andrewkw]

the FO isnt doing its job either? get an phosphate absorption pad and cut it to size to fit in your back chamber. that stuff works.

 

Well it worked for a day in combination with a water change (at least this means it's not leached into the rock) but as soon as I add frozen food it shoots back up.

 

It still has likely gone down. I will be testing again tomorrow, I'll also be feeding so I'll retest after that and we'll see. If it actually is still going down then it might just take some time. It's not like gfo is a miracle product. It does work but only when it's running continously.