alfieFIVE - 5g Pico Build

[alfiefive]

Sweet deal! It'll be a plastic soap dish on steroids!

 

That is EXACTLY what I was planning. Going to hook some tubing up from the pump into the box and blast through it.

[Drift Monkey]

That is EXACTLY what I was planning. Going to hook some tubing up from the pump into the box and blast through it.

Awesome, it'll be a tumblin' phosphate/nitrate eatin' machine!

[alfiefive]

Sweet deal! It'll be a plastic soap dish on steroids!

 

That is the idea. The tank is so cute and I couldn't stand to put a soap dish from Target in it. Had to have something custom. LOL.

[.Newman.]

!!!!!!

I just realized what all those red lines in your FTS mean, that is awesome!

[alfiefive]

!!!!!!

I just realized what all those red lines in your FTS mean, that is awesome!

 

Sort of makes me want to put a mushroom or ricordea on his head like a beanie, but it would likely be too close to the lights ><

[alaskan84]

Sort of makes me want to put a mushroom or ricordea on his head like a beanie, but it would likely be too close to the lights ><

 

 

hows your cuc doing alfie? hopefully they are still all alive and munching. I am just astonished at how much of my gha the 3 blue legs have eaten in my tank so far. I would bet I will need to be supplementing their diet by sometime next week, unless they try munching the chaeto

[alaskan84]

hows your cuc doing alfie? hopefully they are still all alive and munching. I am just astonished at how much of my gha the 3 blue legs have eaten in my tank so far. I would bet I will need to be supplementing their diet by sometime next week, unless they try munching the chaeto

 

 

 

hows the battle alfie? how about some new pics

[alfiefive]

hows the battle alfie? how about some new pics

 

I am phasing out my margaritas for two blue leg hermits. Put them in today. I need something that attacks GHA without remorse. Going to give them to my LFS next time I'm there. For the time being my tank is very stocked in terms of CUC but there is plenty to eat so I'm not too worried about it. Pics to come soon. Also added a few dwarf ceriths, two BABY (like 1/8'') nassarius and two florida ceriths.

 

I have a HOB filter I am considering using. About to bite the bullet on that but not sure.

[alaskan84]

I am phasing out my margaritas for two blue leg hermits. Put them in today. I need something that attacks GHA without remorse. Going to give them to my LFS next time I'm there. For the time being my tank is very stocked in terms of CUC but there is plenty to eat so I'm not too worried about it. Pics to come soon. Also added a few dwarf ceriths, two BABY (like 1/8'') nassarius and two florida ceriths.

 

I have a HOB filter I am considering using. About to bite the bullet on that but not sure.

 

sounds good, i hope your blue legs are hungry buggers like mine are. What is your reasoning for wanting the HOB? I thought about it in the beginning but with the light, heater,temp probe and 2 powerheads going over the back I figured it would be more of a HOS(hang on side) which i didnt want. The only thing I wish I could have would be an integrated filter/overflow so that i could have some surface skimming going on, but a hob wouldnt accomplish that. Looking forward to your next pic update

[alfiefive]

sounds good, i hope your blue legs are hungry buggers like mine are. What is your reasoning for wanting the HOB? I thought about it in the beginning but with the light, heater,temp probe and 2 powerheads going over the back I figured it would be more of a HOS(hang on side) which i didnt want. The only thing I wish I could have would be an integrated filter/overflow so that i could have some surface skimming going on, but a hob wouldnt accomplish that. Looking forward to your next pic update

 

They are already DESTROYING it. It's incredible.

 

Regarding the HOB, basically I'm just thinking about being able to include some type of phosphate reduction or other filtration, together with some flow and being able to use something that is easier to change the floss in (and ditch the stock pump). I'll decide on how necessary it is after a week with the hermits. If the GHA is finally being consumed then I will probably shelve the HOB.

 

Agreed 100% on surface skimming. I take a paper towel to the surface of my tank every so often (I have a dog that is shedding too, somehow it gets EVERYWHERE).

[alaskan84]

Yeah, i have all 3 of my blue legs in currently, and I think by next week I will remove one and add him to my 125 gallon just due to the diminishing amount of gha. I'm gonna bet that if you hang in there for a bit you wont really have a need for phosphate remover or extra filtration. I do despise the stock pump/filter combo though....who knows maybe i will be able to ditch the floss pump combo for just another pico powerhead and just let the rock do its duty. I do run Purigen and Chemipure Elite, one at a time in my 28 gallon, and I have the larger bags of CPE ready for my 125, but I just dont think it'll be necessary in a 5 gallon. I've only paper toweled my surface once and it was a pretty messy attempt so I stuck a small piece of plastic under the bottom of the stock pump which angles the return more twords the surface and seems a bit with the film buildup. I've got two large dogs at home as well, and I could see the hair becoming a nuisance with my topless 125, but its the price we pay

[alfiefive]

Yeah, i have all 3 of my blue legs in currently, and I think by next week I will remove one and add him to my 125 gallon just due to the diminishing amount of gha. I'm gonna bet that if you hang in there for a bit you wont really have a need for phosphate remover or extra filtration. I do despise the stock pump/filter combo though....who knows maybe i will be able to ditch the floss pump combo for just another pico powerhead and just let the rock do its duty. I do run Purigen and Chemipure Elite, one at a time in my 28 gallon, and I have the larger bags of CPE ready for my 125, but I just dont think it'll be necessary in a 5 gallon. I've only paper toweled my surface once and it was a pretty messy attempt so I stuck a small piece of plastic under the bottom of the stock pump which angles the return more twords the surface and seems a bit with the film buildup. I've got two large dogs at home as well, and I could see the hair becoming a nuisance with my topless 125, but its the price we pay

 

My issue about the stock pump filter is that somehow, it's impossible to one-handedly remove and replace it. The magnet on the back is quite strong and frankly great, and I've never had any mechanical problems, but it's a pain in the ass to have to use two hands in a full tank just because GHA has totally clogged the filter I'm sure you get what I'm saying.

 

I have my second pump towards the surface and blowing straight up for the same reason that you mentioned. I have a little cavalier king charles spaniel and he is ... productive re: hair this time of year. Having the second pump blowing up definitely helps to put more things into the water column/filter sponge. Sometimes I look into the tank and wonder what strain of algae I'm looking at, and then realize it's probably something that came from my pet

 

I don't want an HOB and have nothing but time to watch these crabs do their business. In only hours I've noticed a visible disappearance. Having put two in my tank, I'm almost sold on a crabby type of CUC over snails for a tank that is only a few months old and dealing with GHA because of low filtration/flow/water exchange/what ever. I see so much more personality in crabs than in snails, too.

[alaskan84]

My issue about the stock pump filter is that somehow, it's impossible to one-handedly remove and replace it. The magnet on the back is quite strong and frankly great, and I've never had any mechanical problems, but it's a pain in the ass to have to use two hands in a full tank just because GHA has totally clogged the filter I'm sure you get what I'm saying.

 

I have my second pump towards the surface and blowing straight up for the same reason that you mentioned. I have a little cavalier king charles spaniel and he is ... productive re: hair this time of year. Having the second pump blowing up definitely helps to put more things into the water column/filter sponge. Sometimes I look into the tank and wonder what strain of algae I'm looking at, and then realize it's probably something that came from my pet

 

I don't want an HOB and have nothing but time to watch these crabs do their business. In only hours I've noticed a visible disappearance. Having put two in my tank, I'm almost sold on a crabby type of CUC over snails for a tank that is only a few months old and dealing with GHA because of low filtration/flow/water exchange/what ever. I see so much more personality in crabs than in snails, too.

 

 

hows your emerald doing? I have two in my 28 gallon and wouldnt mind having one in here as well for more diversity.....I saw a cool decorater mushroom crab online yesterday that I thought could be fun

[alfiefive]

hows your emerald doing? I have two in my 28 gallon and wouldnt mind having one in here as well for more diversity.....I saw a cool decorater mushroom crab online yesterday that I thought could be fun

 

Doing GREAT. I've recently identified it as a female. She picks from time to time at the GHA but primarily finds food on the greenish-matte algae that I see and on the remains of recently picked/brushed GHA. She is RAVENOUS, though. Had a little stint a few days ago where she was behaving very unusually (picking at her abdominal flap a lot, which it turns out is something that the females do).

 

Sometimes I will feed her a tiny piece of seaweed and she will eat it right out of my hand. Was merely a 1/2'' when I got it and its bigger now; I'm expecting it to molt soon, and maybe its appetite after that will motivate it to eat more of the edible materials in my tank.

 

Whenever there is movement near the tank she comes to a visible area of the tank and waves her claws; very personable little animal. Hasn't caused any issues with other inhabitants either.

 

The nice thing about emeralds in such a small tank is that you can usually see what they are doing, and they're great to watch.

[alaskan84]

Doing GREAT. I've recently identified it as a female. She picks from time to time at the GHA but primarily finds food on the greenish-matte algae that I see and on the remains of recently picked/brushed GHA. She is RAVENOUS, though. Had a little stint a few days ago where she was behaving very unusually (picking at her abdominal flap a lot, which it turns out is something that the females do).

 

Sometimes I will feed her a tiny piece of seaweed and she will eat it right out of my hand. Was merely a 1/2'' when I got it and its bigger now; I'm expecting it to molt soon, and maybe its appetite after that will motivate it to eat more of the edible materials in my tank.

 

Whenever there is movement near the tank she comes to a visible area of the tank and waves her claws; very personable little animal. Hasn't caused any issues with other inhabitants either.

 

The nice thing about emeralds in such a small tank is that you can usually see what they are doing, and they're great to watch.

 

 

very cool alfie, I just went home and fed my 28 gallon a few broken algae wafers and my emeralds always seem to be the first to snag a chunk, but i rarely see them actually eating/picking algae(probably because there isnt much at all).In regards to the emerald molt, i hope that you get to see one soon, as I have yet to have seen either of my emeralds molt in my 28 gallon in the 3 odd months ive had them. My fire shrimp on the other hand, they seem to molt at least every 2-3 weeks. The emeralds and hermits do enjoy munching on the shrimp molts

[alaskan84]

very cool alfie, I just went home and fed my 28 gallon a few broken algae wafers and my emeralds always seem to be the first to snag a chunk, but i rarely see them actually eating/picking algae(probably because there isnt much at all).In regards to the emerald molt, i hope that you get to see one soon, as I have yet to have seen either of my emeralds molt in my 28 gallon in the 3 odd months ive had them. My fire shrimp on the other hand, they seem to molt at least every 2-3 weeks. The emeralds and hermits do enjoy munching on the shrimp molts

 

 

so still waiting on a new fts....are you waiting for the hermits to do their work Any new thoughts on your lighting and possible schedule? I did have just the two white strips running during the day, two blues at night and then the mixed strip for an hour as dawn dusk...but I dont think that was even close to enough "daylight" so I've changed my lighting schedule around and am now running all 5 strips during the day( like I believe you are) and then full blue at night and just the single for 1 hour still simulating a weak dawn/dusk.

[alfiefive]

so still waiting on a new fts....are you waiting for the hermits to do their work Any new thoughts on your lighting and possible schedule? I did have just the two white strips running during the day, two blues at night and then the mixed strip for an hour as dawn dusk...but I dont think that was even close to enough "daylight" so I've changed my lighting schedule around and am now running all 5 strips during the day( like I believe you are) and then full blue at night and just the single for 1 hour still simulating a weak dawn/dusk.

 

I've been busy and have a camera full of pics that I will dig through. Will give you some now but I'd like to clean the tank and do some "pretty shots" for all to see. I was unable to snap some good shots of livestock aside from my extremely gregarious crab.

 

I am running 2x mixed, 1 full white, and 2x actinic all the time. I picked up a dual timer with one alternating cycle switch and built in a one hour dusk/dawn where the 2x white go off. I leave both actinics on at night, but I wish I could figure out the timers to run just one. Pretty sure I'd need another splitter and well, I'm full on wires! The tank is in my bedroom. It's nice to look at the ceiling shimmer but they're bright!

 

Also swapped out a pump with another small pump that had better mounting/placement (I had to superglue suction cups to my previous pump and they weren't really angling it correctly because of how the wire ran off the pump.) and am using a small HOB. Ditched the stock filter and am glad I did. Lost some attractiveness on the tank but am pretty happy with the direction my GHA has gone and don't have to change the floss/clean the intake all the time. Filled HOB with filter floss and a small amount of GFO. The GHA grows slower.

 

I'll take better pictures soon, but here are some to tide you over. Glass was kind of unclean when I snapped these. Included a few closeups and whatnot to show how clean some of the previously very hairy rock has become. GHA actually got really bad, so I lowered my lighting to one mixed light for a day about a week ago. Things are looking pretty swell atm and I'm back to a normal lighting cycle.

 

fts (threw some shells in there for the hermits, none of which are visible)

 

crab eating coraline off of a margarita (fortunately he doesn't touch it on the rocks)

 

this was previously covered in GHA

 

crab!

 

coraline spotting on the rock, new this week

[pmoradi2002]

 

I loled

[alaskan84]

Nice on the new corraline growth, I havent noticed any yet, probably because I still need to swap the two little pieces of LR with two from my 28 gallon that are covered. I've gotten live rock from 3 different places and while they all have nice biodiversity, only live aquaria has had the nice brightly colored plating corraline. I think i have a couple small pink pieces that should fit nicely underneath my shelf/plateau

 

Hows your chaeto growth alfie? mine almost seems to have shrunk a bit since i put it in here, while it just grows like a week in my 28 gallon.

[sephly]

just curious did you change the powerhead? i'm looking for a pico powerhead and was wondering what your using.

 

 

also are you a member of BRS?

[alfiefive]

Nice on the new corraline growth, I havent noticed any yet, probably because I still need to swap the two little pieces of LR with two from my 28 gallon that are covered. I've gotten live rock from 3 different places and while they all have nice biodiversity, only live aquaria has had the nice brightly colored plating corraline. I think i have a couple small pink pieces that should fit nicely underneath my shelf/plateau

 

Hows your chaeto growth alfie? mine almost seems to have shrunk a bit since i put it in here, while it just grows like a week in my 28 gallon.

 

i am next to positive that the crab scraping algae off my snails is helping to seed the rocks with coraline.

 

i have chaeto from my LFS and chaeto from reefcleaners. the former is dark green and doesn't grow. the latter is light green and grows like a boss. however, the fast-growing reefcleaners chaeto doesn't do well AT ALL (it is smaller pieces, seems to break and fly everywhere very easily) in my display while the LFS dark-green chaeto does great.

 

I have an acclimation basket hanging on to my tank where i have been putting whatever i prune. seems to keep growing.

 

just curious did you change the powerhead? i'm looking for a pico powerhead and was wondering what your using.

 

 

also are you a member of BRS?

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/powerheads_pump...ct_pump-ap.html, 300 model is what I am using in addition to flow from AC50 HOB.

 

and yes, i am. i have the same username there, although i post infrequently.

[Builder Anthony]

That is so funny your liverock really does look like someone sitting down thinking.

[sephly]

i am next to positive that the crab scraping algae off my snails is helping to seed the rocks with coraline.

 

i have chaeto from my LFS and chaeto from reefcleaners. the former is dark green and doesn't grow. the latter is light green and grows like a boss. however, the fast-growing reefcleaners chaeto doesn't do well AT ALL (it is smaller pieces, seems to break and fly everywhere very easily) in my display while the LFS dark-green chaeto does great.

 

I have an acclimation basket hanging on to my tank where i have been putting whatever i prune. seems to keep growing.

 

 

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/powerheads_pump...ct_pump-ap.html, 300 model is what I am using in addition to flow from AC50 HOB.

 

and yes, i am. i have the same username there, although i post infrequently.

 

 

Thanks a bunch!

[NUWildcat928]

Glad to see the LR so clean, it's funny how much cleaning just one or two aggressive CUC members can do. That fern-like algae I had turned out to not be bryopsis, just GHA. A single turbo snail is mowing it down like there's no tomorrow, nearly cleaned off a rock that was basically covered in it 2 days ago.

 

Wondering what he'll eat after he finishes cleaning up, actually...

[alfiefive]

Glad to see the LR so clean, it's funny how much cleaning just one or two aggressive CUC members can do. That fern-like algae I had turned out to not be bryopsis, just GHA. A single turbo snail is mowing it down like there's no tomorrow, nearly cleaned off a rock that was basically covered in it 2 days ago.

 

Wondering what he'll eat after he finishes cleaning up, actually...

 

Good to hear about the algae!

 

My issue was that the length of the GHA was too much for my snail based CUC and the hermit really destroyed it once introduced. The snails eat the remains. I would toothbrush the GHA from time to time, but I think that actually contributed to the spread of the GHA when I was just using the stock filter and before I put a HOB on that would prevent more GHA strands from staying in the system/settling somewhere.