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My first pico! Dymax IQ3 now 5 YEARS OLD!


andrewkw

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I fit two float switches in the small (2" x 2") rear chamber. I had to do a little searching to find nonstandard 3/4" diameter float switches, though.

 

Two switches let me sleep at night without flooding/hyposalinity nightmares...

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Upgrade !

 

: 180gallon-L.jpg

 

Seriously though as soon as I get someone to help me get this out of the garage and into my basement I'll get back to work on the pico.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I got the 180 up and sorta running almost. Back to the pico

 

Colour on most things less a couple of LPS has returned. The duncans are really puffy and starting to point down because they don't have enough room.

IMG_7434-L.jpg

 

the tank turns 4 on Wednesday and will have some moderate changes done before then.

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IMG_7440-L.jpg

 

You can see he's almost back to normal just the center is a bit bleached still. Cyclopeeze helping. Also you can catch a sneak peak of some new chalices on the right.

 

2 more days till pico birthday!

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Showing how to weather a storm makes this the forums top sticky

 

 

sent pm request to el fab

Fab isn't on here anymore. Hasn't been in a while. I doubt it'll change. We may have to get CM involved on this one.

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I can summarize everything.

For now I will just say in a lot of ways a pico tank is just like a big tank, but in a lot of ways it's so different.

 

Also some new guys :

IMG_7457-L.jpg

 

I removed one rock from the tank, it had a lot of gsp some mushrooms i forgot about on the back side but also some hydroids. If I never lost a few pieces a few weeks back I might not have done this but getting a tiny bit of yellow into the tank while still staying with the purple pink and green look has really pleased me. I am going to have to scrape a few inches of gsp off the front eventually though.

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Well I did it. 4 years old. The last few weeks were probably the scariest.

I just took a sloppy fts last night as there are still a few things I want to do. I've got like 3-4 weeks and then the tank should be back on autopilot. After removing that rock I was able to squeeze in 3 new chalice corals. I got some really nice frags that are fully encrusted, one is completely covering the plug. My pink guy has been in there almost the entire 4 years so I hope to still have these guys 4 years from now in the tank. Still going to rearrange a bit more and add a few more things.

I am almost thinking about upgrading the lighting. Maybe just a better gooseneck and the same bulb I'd like to be able to angle the bulb a bit better as there are some corals not getting enough light with the top so full. Still plan on scraping the GSP off the front to get a better view. I am also working on writing down some thoughts and tips for long term pico success.

Here are a few pics, and there is much much more to come. As they say on election day 4 more years!

 

Itty bitty fungai IMG_7459-XL.jpg

Seriously the size of a quarter and round. Whoever fragged these did a nice job.

 

chalice-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7486-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7474-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7472-XL.jpg

4yroldfts-X2.jpg

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I truly wonder if there is a point where you have to upgrade or retire a tank.

 

Sure there is.

 

I just took down my 112 gallon setup in 2006.

 

Eventually you upgrade, move, grow richer poorer, and certainly one day die. I don't imagine this tank will last more then 20-30 years but we'll see.

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I can tell you this

 

the only thing that limits pico reef lifespan now is physical space inside the tank until its a sealed cube of limestone, literally thats the truth. you can absolutly go 20 years on this, 30 if you have heck of a plan for power outages heh

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Cameron6796

Yeah I think it will get another 4 atleast. I truly hope so. I wanna see some really old reefs 15+ years

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4 More Years! Looking good. I'm thinking of adding a couple Flaming Prawn Gobies to a 5G. I have heard they do well in established tanks potentially from grazing on a number of things on the rocks (omnivores). Have you seen him pick at any algae by chance?

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4 More Years! Looking good. I'm thinking of adding a couple Flaming Prawn Gobies to a 5G. I have heard they do well in established tanks potentially from grazing on a number of things on the rocks (omnivores). Have you seen him pick at any algae by chance?

 

Sorry for late reply. I see him for about 1 second every 10 days. Sometimes when I do water changes and there is just a little water on the bottom I see him. Sometimes. When I first got him I saw him eat cyclopeeze a few times, but other then that don't really see him at all. I would not add them to a 5 gallon.

 

If you want to see these fish they need a sparely decorated pico or a shot glass and an air pump (kidding) they're just far too secretive to be enjoyed.

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Cameron6796

I'm pretty sure he does almost 100% we also having corals touch the air for a few minutes is not bad for them at all. When you think about it tides naturally can do this in a reef

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  • 3 months later...

Tank is looking a little dirty, the old acrylic isn't so easy to clean. I have put the tank on a new custom built stand. Just 20$ worth of wood and some stain. Everything is doing well but not much has changed. Except I have added a tiny tiny damsel. Not really my idea, but he's smaller than a dime. It might do the LPS some good to get some food too.

 

Looking for a choice frag or 2 to add to the tank but after the next water change I will scrape the acrylic and get some much needed new pics up. Pico forever!

 

 

post-17657-0-57713500-1413674817_thumb.jpg

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