My first 3g Picotope

[JayPagi]

Seems like your getting bored... any progress with the new tank?

[jgpico]

wow sorry to hear about the losses pj. The tank is already starting to look great. Are you just going to keep it bb?

[.Newman.]

needs some monkey tunicates, colonial tunicates, a red sea fan, and some others. I say yes try it out.

[pj86]

Seems like your getting bored... any progress with the new tank?

 

Not boredom just school at times forces me to put less time. Quite good progress, my other tank now houses the corals that survived, so it filled up nicely. My other tank is running as simple as possible, only a water change every week and once daily feeding. Will update soon.

 

wow sorry to hear about the losses pj. The tank is already starting to look great. Are you just going to keep it bb?

 

Thanks. Yea, bb because when I cleaned out the sand and it was extremely dark at the bottom, most likely from detritus and bacteria that accumulated there.

[pj86]

The build has begun, I purchased an electric flame scallop and a tunicate Polycarpa aurata. Also started the gradual increment of feeding will hopefully bring it up to what I want in 3 weeks.

Also, made a DIY check valve for the automatic water change pump so it doesn't back siphon again.

[.Newman.]

picsss

[castiel]

Agree - I just GoogleImaged that tunicate and it looks amazing!

[PinkDamsel]

Also started the gradual increment of feeding will hopefully bring it up to what I want in 3 weeks.

 

Could you give some detail on the gradual feeding increment and rational?

[pj86]

Could you give some detail on the gradual feeding increment and rational?

 

I begin by doing a .5 ml phytofeast/ .3 ml rotifeast / .2 oyster feast dosing over a 24 hour period. I also include ~.5ml of min F. I gradually increase this to about double the dosage. I also use to feed various pellets for the fish and inverts that were in the tank.

 

The increments is just to have more control over water chemistry. I usually offset any increment of nutrients with increased water changes. With an automatic water changing system, I can adjust how much water is exchanged each day.

 

Hope this helps out.

[pj86]

NPS madness has begun. So will house mainly nps, If I can get my hands on tunicates I would like to house a few. Pics coming hopefully soon.

[.Newman.]

you already have that monkey tunicate...now all you need is the colonial type

[pj86]

Teaser

 

[castiel]

So ...

[pj86]

yep

[euphoricgear]

Great thread! Had to take a few hours just reading from start to end. hehe

I'm also restarting my 3gal picotope. We'll see how it goes. :-)

[pj86]

Great thread! Had to take a few hours just reading from start to end. hehe

I'm also restarting my 3gal picotope. We'll see how it goes. :-)

 

Thanks. Cool, any corals in particular?

 

Found a colonial tunicate in one of the NPS corals I bought, it has already tripled in size. Ill try to take photo this week.

[euphoricgear]

Thanks. Cool, any corals in particular?

 

Found a colonial tunicate in one of the NPS corals I bought, it has already tripled in size. Ill try to take photo this week.

 

It's going to be mostly zoanthid and I'm thinking acans.

 

I already have 2 sexy shrimps, 2 pom pom crabs, a cool transparent goby, don't know the name and bumble bee snails and a couple of zoanthids.

 

:-)

[thadscottmoore]

can you describe your auto water change system? I am looking at building one for my picotope and have sat down and drawn multiple ideas out- even thought about utilizing the single float switch setup currently used by the ATO- perhaps, timing the water change setup and ATO setup with the RKE and using the same float switch. During water change time of day- the ATO would be turned off and returned to action following the completion of the water change. or, to use a dual peristaltic pump to do a continuous water change through out the 24 hour day. just trying to get some ideas....

[Fearlessmoto]

man thats a great picotope! i got to page 9 (interesting floating sun coral) and skipped to the last page i wasn't expecting 35 pages! i am tracking the thread for tips on my own nano, im building my own custom setup , let me know if you ever have any frags of that red blost for sale! keep up the good work!

[pj86]

Just got back from break

 

thadnscottmoore, yes I do use the ATO float switch to do the water changes. You have the idea down. I will post more details later today.

 

Thanks, Fearlessmoto

[thadscottmoore]

cool! I look forward to learning more about your auto water change setup.

[PSYS]

Lookin' amazing!

[pj86]

cool! I look forward to learning more about your auto water change setup.

 

The setup equipment is

1 float switch

2 Aqualifters

1 Neptune breakout box

Apex lite

 

In the Apex I have programmed the ATO to turn off for an hour. During that hour I remove water with one aqualifter for 10 minutes. After the ten minutes I have a minute of both aqualifters turned off. Then the second aqualifter turns on which carriers pre-made saltwater and is programmed to stop with the float switch.

 

I have made an anti-syphon vile for the hose that removes the water. This allows me to remove water without worrying about syphoning occurring. If interested I can take a picture.

 

Hope that makes sense and helps in building your automatic water change.

 

Lookin' amazing!

 

Thanks

[thadscottmoore]

The setup equipment is

1 float switch

2 Aqualifters

1 Neptune breakout box

Apex lite

 

In the Apex I have programmed the ATO to turn off for an hour. During that hour I remove water with one aqualifter for 10 minutes. After the ten minutes I have a minute of both aqualifters turned off. Then the second aqualifter turns on which carriers pre-made saltwater and is programmed to stop with the float switch.

 

I have made an anti-syphon vile for the hose that removes the water. This allows me to remove water without worrying about syphoning occurring. If interested I can take a picture.

 

Hope that makes sense and helps in building your automatic water change.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

Thank you! that is pretty much what I had in mind except utilizing a Reefkeeper Elite controller instead.

 

would appreciate a photo of the anti-syphon valve.

[pj86]

Thank you! that is pretty much what I had in mind except utilizing a Reefkeeper Elite controller instead.

 

would appreciate a photo of the anti-syphon valve.

 

Here they are

 

 

 

There is a tiny hole at the edge were the cap meets the vile that I made by heating up a needle and pearcing the vile. Make sure that this tiny hole is always above the water level of the tank, if not it will still create a syphon. Do not make the hole to large, because then the aquaclear will not have enough power to draw the water up. If you have any questions let me know,

 

 

 

New camera means new pictures. Currently I have a slight algae battle going on. But Im sure it will stabilize once more water changes are done. Many of the corals did survive the crash and I am restocking the tank with mainly NPS. Feel free to make suggestions or comments.