Texas 3.5G Pico

[chippwalters]

You could try branching coral but i find it hard to take care of and for being new to saltwater it really isnt a good idea.Even with the right equipment you have very little room for error.Try to find hardy corals to start with.

Agree 100%. I plan on starting with LPS and waiting until everything is stable before considering anything risky.

 

Auto top offs are a must.I dont have one myself but i dont keep branching corals.I need one though.

I believe one of the 'modules' could be an auto top off module?

 

 

 

Wow....are these drawings free hand? Or do you use some kind of program?

The pics are drawn on my iPad using a program called Neu.Note.

 

One thing you might consider is adding a way to direct the flow. And have you found a solution for chilling/ato? I'm looking for a solution myself lol

The idea is there's a fan in the rightmost Thermo module. The switch for it is at the top.

[wildmanzeke]

Wow!!! i really love your second idea. Your blowing my mind here.

[chippwalters]

 

I notice there's not much in the way of enclosure designs for DIY lighting. I'm thinking of using a Ecoxotic Panorama LED module, but don't know how to mount it. A bit of research turned up a few different aluminum enclosure designs like this one:

 

 

They can be anodized black and cut to whatever length needed. Does anyone know of any other enclosure designs which are ~12-13"L x ~4-5"W ?

[xxbrianxx]

What about an ato then? A fan in a pico will give you a ton of evap and honestly I think having to top off the tank two to three times a day will be a huge turn off to a lot of beginners/lazy people.

 

As for the lighting enclosure, I would go with a simple project box. They come in pretty much any dimension imaginable and can look very clean if done right.

[chippwalters]

What about an ato then? A fan in a pico will give you a ton of evap and honestly I think having to top off the tank two to three times a day will be a huge turn off to a lot of beginners/lazy people.

 

As for the lighting enclosure, I would go with a simple project box. They come in pretty much any dimension imaginable and can look very clean if done right.

 

Thanks for the advice. I agree about the ATO, and it could be another 'module.'

 

Finding a 13" x 3" x 3" project box is not easy. I've looked. Do you have any fave sites which might sell such an animal?

[chippwalters]

Hey folks, I have a question.

 

Check out this picture of my LR. Notice the one on the far left is red and green. I don't remember seeing as much red and green on it as before.

 

 

My water readings have seem to stabilized, (see below) but this concerns me. Is there anything I should do?

 

[xxbrianxx]

I wouldn't be too concerned. Looks like some cyano and algae growing. You're still going through your cycle to a certain extent so looks pretty normal. Although you may want to get some more flow on that area if it's already growing cyano. Astrea snails can take care of it too.

[chippwalters]

Thanks a bunch for replying! Much appreciated. Funny, I picked up a couple snails for my CUC just today, and also put in a small powerhead. Didn't know those two things would be good for this.

 

I also have an extremely small feather duster hitchhiker at the top who seems to be having a blast. And I think the hermit crab hitchhiker was actually a snail. He doesnt move much-- perhaps he's sick.

 

I saw a house fly at the bottom of the aquarium. Is it going to hurt anything? I'll get a turkey baster tomorrow and suck him up.

[xxbrianxx]

Happy to help! Do you know what snails you bought? I'm not positive if all types of snails eat cyano, but I've personally witnessed my astreas mow through a cyano breakout lol. And keep in mind the cyano may be because of insufficient lighting as well, but you're getting your new fixture soon anyway.

 

Unless the fly had some chemical or contaminant on it, I'm pretty sure it would just be natural "fertilization" just like anything else dying in a tank. I've had flies in my tanks before and just let them be

[castiel]

Dead fly = ammonia = helping the cycle.

 

Or alternatively, crab/worm food =0)

[chippwalters]

FYI, I've updated a Lighting Design for Pico Reefs using Panorama Pros at:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=280868

[chippwalters]

Some close up pics of the only coral I have currently in my tank. Showing closed and open zoas, and some interesting green polyps (which are only green under bluish light).

 

Actually, I purchased both of these at my LFS, and they were larger than expected, so I split each into different frags. I haven't done any interior decorating yet as I'm awaiting my long tweezers from Amazon before gluing these crags to the LR. Once comp,eyed, i'll upload a full tank shot (what's the abbrev for that?)

 

Questions:

 

1. Better to keep them low or high? I'm planning on having a Panorama Pro 50/50 with a royal blue stunner for lighting. Is there a chance any of these will burn?
   
2. Is it wise to frag larger corals, or is it like cutting down a large diamond into smaller ones-- aka losing value?
   
3. Any suggestions for other LPS? I suspect hardy and not too large (or expensive) would be best.
   
4. Also, I'm thinking of getting a PomPom crab. Is that a good idea?
   

 

[karisma]

i like your first pico design best, if only an ato could be added to it. and as for the pom pom crab, i absolutely adore mine! i have two of them now, one hides alot until its lights out, then he comes right out searching for food scraps. the second one in my nano tank i see quite often, even when lights are on. either way, they are one of the most interesting creatures ive ever seen

[chippwalters]

Howdy folks!

 

Went to the LFS today and added a couple more corals-- but I think I may have picked up more than I originally bargained for!

 

The Bubble coral (or is it Frogspawn?) has what looks like to be some kind of worm peeking its head out now and then. Sure didn't see this at the store as the specimen was at least twice the size in this photo. Is this good, bad or not a problem? I believe I paid around $25 for this little guy and I'd hate to think he's not going to make it because of some killer hitchhiker..

 

Any suggestions on what to do?

 

PS. FWIW, I did dip this guy for about 90 seconds in a bowl of my local rainwater (pH ~9) thinking it might get rid of this sort of thing.

 

PPS. How much light should this guy get?

 

[castiel]

My noob suggestion is Torch, with some kind of tunicate or barnacle attached that shouldn't be harmful. But I could be wrong.

 

Beautiful coral though.

 

EDIT: Barnacle: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=89932

[amiralisomji]

That coral is beautiful.. post a FTS when possible.

[chippwalters]

That coral is beautiful.. post a FTS when possible.

 

Will do this weekend. Need to clean up the glass a bit and I want to position the coral.

[amiralisomji]

once placed and glued on, how do you re-position the corals?

[chippwalters]

once placed and glued on, how do you re-position the corals?

 

And that is the 64,000 dollar question. And if you don't glue them, then they're destined to be forever on the floor of the tank. Any ideas? I'm all ears

[amiralisomji]

haha...

not that i am an idea man in this dept... but what i do is place a new frag in different areas of the tank until i find the right one. once confirmed, its glued in place forever.

[castiel]

I have currently placed my corals using putty only, which means they stay put but are ultimately moveable. Now I am 100% about a couple of them I will probably glue them, but putty provides a good test solution. Or as amir said .. just wedge them in suitable areas temporarily.

[chippwalters]

I have currently placed my corals using putty only, which means they stay put but are ultimately moveable. Now I am 100% about a couple of them I will probably glue them, but putty provides a good test solution. Or as amir said .. just wedge them in suitable areas temporarily.

 

What kind of putty are you using?

[castiel]

Just Two Little Fishies' Aquastik, the grey variety.

[chippwalters]

OK as promised, here are some pics of the Aquarium. I did a 30% water change today, took out the powerhead and filter and cleaned them, along with a hanging on the side fan. The water is still a little cloudy, and some of the corals are still a bit 'reserved,' as I ended up moving them to their new permanent homes-- I had to. I've a Mexican Turbo snail who's a great algae eater, but keeps knocking over the 'not affixed' corals. And, I have no non-permanent putty-- so things will just have to stay where they are for now.

 

I also added, for short times, my new Panorama Pro 50/50 and Royal Blue Stunner. I'm still trying to figure out how to manage the heat, so I may go back to the fluorescent and cheap LED I was using before. In anycase, I'll show the designs of my new enclosure in the next post.

 

I've successfully got everything centered enough so I can get around with my magnetic glass cleaner. I need to find a skinnier one!

 

Here's the FTS:

 

 

And a close up of my Green Open Brain:

 

 

And here is one of two Zoas, a Green Star Polyp, and my Torch. The Zoa and Torch were just 'planted' on the rock today, so they're pretty shy right now.

 

 

 

 

And here's the latest design for the enclosure for my lighting. The first prototype is out getting built right now.. I'll post pics when I'm done. In this design, I've decided to cut out the top area and lift it up. That Panorama is seriously hot-- and there's no fan, so I'm hoping I can keep it from heating up the tank too much.

 

I'm researching a way to automatically control small tank temperatures, as it seems it may be one of the hardest factors to manage in a Pico.

 

[chippwalters]

Just Two Little Fishies' Aquastik, the grey variety.

 

Thanks, Peter. I'll look for them in my LFS.