Peter's petite pair of picos

[chippwalters]

Interesting that lights are assessed by their price rather than capabilities! =0)

<snip>

I am sure Dave's lights are awesome but a) more expensive than I wanted to spend (I imagine) and wouldn't have an Australian plug or voltage setup (I imagine).

 

Couple of points, Dave won't just push his products on you. I believe he will give you the straight scoop on what he thinks. He mentioned to me about some Chinese coloring of LEDs which end up creating a nice spec, but lights which won't grow SPS.

 

I asked him about my Panorama Pros, and he said they weren't as good as his, but they would certainly do the trick for me. So, it might be worth a question. Whatever-- it couldn't hurt. FWIW, I had already purchased a Marineland LED and I now regret spending the money.

[karisma]

Interesting that lights are assessed by their price rather than capabilities! =0)

 

But yes, there is a CREE option available for $199 direct from eshine which I might investigate further too. I won't necessarily want a full SPS tank, but having the option would be nice.

 

 

I am sure Dave's lights are awesome but a) more expensive than I wanted to spend (I imagine) and wouldn't have an Australian plug or voltage setup (I imagine).

 

 

i used to own that exact light. its a knockoff to the SWC branded one. i took it apart to investigate a little, it did have Cree Xr-E leds. (mine was an old model) the new ones use xp series i think. honestly for that price plus shipping, and all you can do is manually dim and has seperate power cords. the leds are in two straight lines running the length of the fixture. 10 blue in line 10 white. Its "ok" just not what i wanted. i like automation. i like a better looking light fixture as well. to me that one made me want to puke lol

 

i will tell you though a guy here in my city is using 3 of those over his 120 gallon and its working out for him nicely. He keeps a mixed reef, including some sps.

[ribbie]

I'm looking forward to seeing your led setup on the new tank. I looked at led but couldn't justify the cost. I'm also unsure as to how long they last. The T5HO bulbs cost me about $100 a year.

 

What's the shelf life on a led?

 

Thanks for stopping by my thread. I'll be sure to follow yours mate

 

Cheers

[tylernt]

What's the shelf life on a led?

LEDs typically last 50,000 hours, but over this time they gradually dim to 80% of their original brightness.

 

Some LED fixture manufacturers "overdrive" their LEDs, either with cheap driver circuits or just to increase brightness beyond rated specifications. These LEDs will dim much more rapidly and may only last 10,000 hours.

[castiel]

So my upcoming dilemma. In November I will be leaving the country for just under two weeks. As we are new to Australia, we don't really know anyone that lives in our area that we could ask to take care of the tanks ... and given their nature, I think it's a pretty big ask anyway. Plus we have a freshwater tank, so it's actually three to look after.

 

I looked into auto feeders, but really don't think they will work on a pico with one tiny goby to feed. So honest opinion, and this might be a stupid question ... would it be possible to make the tanks last for two weeks while I am away? Is that a stupid idea?

 

I guess alternative two is to pay someone to look after them. Maybe I will ask one of the guys at the LFS where we get our saltwater if they would look in twice a week.

 

In good news, I got my phone fixed, so will be adding more photos soon!

[tylernt]

Hmm. Picos can last 2 weeks without attention no problem minus fish and plus an ATO. Maybe you could build an ATO and "board" your fish at the LFS until you return?

[amiralisomji]

Maybe you could build an ATO and "board" your fish at the LFS until you return?

 

tylernt, build another ATO and sell it to me pls..

[tylernt]

tylernt, build another ATO and sell it to me pls..

I'd love to except I'd hate to end up getting sued for damages, injury, or death should the thing malfunction. Then there's the sad reality that the parts + labor for me to make one would approach the $100 it costs to just buy the mass-produced JBJ ATO.

 

I'll offer free technical support who wants to build their own, though -- what parts to use and where to get them, and how to assemble them.

[castiel]

Actually, given the miniscule top off required for these tanks I think they could run for two weeks without top-off. Could I even cling wrap the tops to make them more evap-proof?

 

But yes, the fish are a problem. Not only our clowns, but our 20 freshwater fish too! Though I think an auto-feeder could work in their case.

 

I'll work something out.

[.Newman.]

fish feeders for the pico tanks? why would they not work? (the fish need to be eating dry foods)

Also if you cling wrap too much, be aware that the oxygen needs to be coming from you room into the tank.

 

maybe your gobies can eat the live pods in your tank while you are gone?

[DonnieP]

I would not worry about the fish, if they are in decent shape a good feeding before leaving and they will be ok for two weeks. I would rather let them go without the two weeks rather than try a mechanical means that might fail and kill the tanks. Newman is right about the wrap, you don't want to seal them tight, they got to have air especially if you have no Chaeto or plants to furnish it. I'm posting a link below to a DIY top off. I built one of these about a year ago for my 28g JBJ and it still works flawlessly, I used an $12.99 Aqualifter pump for the return. This is setup for U.S.A. current, not sure if yours is the same but it works great. Float switch cost about $6.00.

DIY ATO

[brandon429]

de gassing the co2 is perhaps more important because the oxygen can be generated by daytime activities under the wrap

 

buildup of co2 would get ya first I think, chaeto binds/removes that from solution when its ran opposite of photoperiod like in Donnie's sealed tank

[castiel]

Thanks for the comments. I am definitely going to try the 'tank sitter' angle first, but no touch alternatives are good to know of.

 

How about if I create an ATO of some kind (DIY probably), and have some cyclopeeze dissolved in the water used for topoffs to feed? As cyclopeeze floats I tend to mix it with some water before putting in the tank anyway, or use tweezers to place lower down and so the fish/shrimp can pick off it.

 

Would cyclopeeze last okay in RO for 14 days?

 

EDIT now that I think about it, a gravity ATO would be easy with these tanks as they sit beneath a shelf. So I could have one container, two tubes with float valves and voila. Maybe I'll try and make something this weekend ...

[Builder Anthony]

No i dont think that would last more then a day.Thats a long time not to feed the fish i hope someone could stop over and feed them.Otherwise maybe take them back for the petstore to hold.Heck you could take your whole tank to someone you trust.

[castiel]

Yeah that's the trouble, not sure I know anyone here yet that I can trust. But maybe someone at work ... if I give them an idiot proof guide.

 

Twice per week monitoring should do it? Top off, pinch of Cyclopeeze for the fish. Done.

 

And a dash of flakes for the freshwater tank (35G, ~20 fish including swordtails, platys, tetras, cories, etc).

[brandon429]

as a helpful reference in the diy forum pinkdamsel has a very reliable topoff method, hamster bottle technique, she uses for her tank. with a larger bottle it could run nicely in between visits from your caretaker, makes them come around less. less to mess up.

 

if it were my tank the most important job of the caretaker would be

 

a. phone contact w me at service times

b. a water changer, dont want to come home to a tank of algae or algal beginnings

 

agreed on taking the small tanks physically to some fish store as well, thats solid, trained tank cpr techs on site

[castiel]

Well if I can sort out the ATO (and pinkdamsel's DIY looks awesome), I think I am just going to get the sitter to feed the fish a couple of times per week. I'll risk going two weeks without water change ... that I would only trust to someone that really knew what they were doing.

[chippwalters]

Hey Pete,

 

You also may wish to take a look at this Pico ATO:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65554

[castiel]

Thanks, Chip - that build is interesting too.

 

So it's been far too long with no pics because my damn phone was broken, so even though they aren't all awake yet here are a few:

 

My FTS with some sun hitting it (probably should stop that happening every morning, but no issues so far):

New addition is the favia towards the top of the rock which was shaped almost perfectly to mould against the rock. Seems to be doing well so far (as best I can tell).

 

Ang's FTS:

Bit of a rescape and new additions are the bubble coral in the middle, which was slightly bleached when we got it from the LFS but seems to be regaining colour, and the clove polyps right at the top which I am quite jealous of.

 

I'll post some better pics of the tanks and inhabitants a bit later.

 

Also I am concerned that Ang's tank is on the verge of being overrun by aiptasia. There are quite a few whispy organisms that I can't 100% identify as aiptasia, but my guess is that they are. May well be getting a peppermint shrimp this weekend to try and sort that out.

 

Which reminds me, the ghost shrimp we bought are still going strong! They seem to do a decent job at cleaning things (including a very pissed off crab the other day who didn't seem to know what to do with a shrimp on its back, haha) and are pretty cool, coming up to feed with the fish.

 

Anyway, pics to come. And maybe more new additions this weekend too.

[tylernt]

My FTS with some sun hitting it (probably should stop that happening every morning, but no issues so far):

Looking good. If there's no nuisance algae growing and the tank doesn't get too hot, the sunlight only helps things.

[brandon429]

absolutely it does its steroids for the reef

 

I get mine every summertime and let it hit full on direct from 7pm to 800 pm it blasts the polyps, grows them with a power boost

 

 

The frozen cyclopeeze should not be thawed and stored in ro water it will pollute the vessel, its under the same food safety rules as the food we eat, storing any fresh proteins at room temp will concentrate bacteria

if its the powdered dry cylcopeeze it still does the same thing when rehydrated.

[castiel]

Yeah I thought it was a long shot regarding the cyclopeeze (it's freeze dried).

 

Here are some further shots from Ang's tank - some are for IDs that are pretty bad quality, but bear with me =0p

Bubble:

Clove polyps

Xenia looking past the gorgonian

One of the two ghost shrimp in Ang's tank, plus the two snails (turbo I believe?)

The other one peeking out

Yellow feather duster

Shot of the rock showing what I believe must be a barnacle tube? Just up from centre. To the left is a worm that pokes out, has two fine antennae/tentacles. There are a couple more of the bigger tubes, and the worms, in other parts of the tank

Shot of the bubble algae, and just right of that what I fear is aiptasia but not totally sure - looks much finer than any I have seen before. Again there are a couple more bubble algae spots and several others of these fine 'aiptasia' across the tank

And finally a shot showing the red growth that is also popping up in a few places - good or bad? And to the left, another suspected aiptasia

 

I'll post my tank shots in the next post =0)

[.Newman.]

last pic definitely has an aptasia. the pinker, fine looking ones might be some other type of coral but could be hydroids if they have a tube that they retreat into.

[castiel]

Yeah I figured that one probably is (though it is much whiter and flatter than most I have seen). A Peppermint Shrimp is definitely on the cards for next weekend.

 

OKay so now my updates. As well as the favia I added a few weeks ago, today I picked up ...

 

Five heads of Caulastrea (ID for sure, please?). These were all on the same piece, along with two dead ones ... and my attempt to break off the dead ones split a live one off too. I also have no glue or putty, so had to position these in the best places I could so they would stay.

Also came with a free HH - some kind of leather I think? Guy at the store when I asked said he forgot the name but 'it is related to xenia'

Squirt already decided he likes the new perch

 

 

And ... four heads of duncan coral (more specific ID?). I was amazed at how quickly they started coming out after being introduced.

 

A few other shots

Brain looking huge and puffy

Ghost shrimp stealing Brain's pellet (you can actually see the pellet in its gullet, just between its eyes!)

 

Xenia with pumps off

 

Mushrooms nicely opened

 

 

 

Finally also wanted to comment on my algae. Remember the red hair algae I was so unsure about what to do? Well it hasn't grown a jot since then, while still seeming to be healthy. Although ... see above it, the green tree type algae? That popped up last week ... and hasn't grown much since then but is a concern.

[.Newman.]

that is a trumpet coral (or candy cane which ever one you prefer) and that is a duncan coral. the bonus is a kenya tree perhaps?