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Merth's 3g Grass-covered hills


Merthynia

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Haven't heard back from Chris yet, I'm sure I'll hear from him this week though! :) I got in a PicO Skimmer 2.0 that I haven't decided if I can wait until the 5g gets back or if I will break down and set it up in the 3g to test it out! I also got some frags yesterday that seem to be very happy, almost everything is open! Still no luck with the Green banded gobies, I may see if trimmas are an option or maybe a pink streaked wrasse. I had a tiny one for a long time until he decided to carpet surf. :angry:

 

I can't wait to get the 5g set up so I can glue everything down and get the picotope cleaned back up. I have decided that I will keep them both running. The picotope will be a more barebones set-up with most of the equipment moving to the PicO. I really would like to trade or purchase a grandis paly polyp and a scrambled eggs polyp. Those are two of my favorite corals but they seem to be hard to find.

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Well I got a new cobalt heater for the PicO from a fellow reefer on here! :happy: I really like the slim profile on these heaters. I also heard back from Chris and I can pick up my tank on Tuesday!! My rock has been cycling in a 5 gal bucket just waiting for the tank to finish. B)

In other news, the corals I got are all looking great. I got a blasto, a favia, a ricordia, an sps frag and 3 different zoa frags. Today I plan on doing some big tank cleaning. It looks like I've pretty much destroyed all my hair algae, but these stupid vermetid snails have got to go. :angry: For one, their shells are very sharp if you happen to brush against them while cleaning or rearranging anything, then the mucus strands they put out during feeding bother all the corals in the tank. It has been an ongoing battle with them since I set the tank back up after the move. I've been removing them at the base and I seem to be slowly winning the war. :mellow:

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Little bit of an update. Picture prior to waterchange.

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I've never ran a tank barebottom before. I can't believe how much junk accumulates every day. I think I'll continue to keep a small sand bed in my future tanks just for the way they look and cleaning the sand is still a way to remove the junk. In my opinion, it is too hard to make the bb look good all the time without having your hands in the tank. Maybe there is an easier way but with two mini hermits an emerald and two snails...I can't imagine the increase in junk from a fish or two! How do you people keep the bottom looking good?

 

I am beyond excited to be able to move these frags into a permanent spot in the PicO. They look so silly laying all over the glass like that right now. There are a few frags that have really seemed to blossom while sitting on the glass though, one of which being a piece of rock with 6 or more baby blue spotted mushrooms. They are really increasing in size, I may need to figure out a good way to pop one or two off the rock to spread the love around.

 

I feel a little silly for talking to myself on here, but at least it gives me something to do in my downtime. I've been doing a bit of research and I'd like to add two items to my wishlist. A nanobox tide with Bluefish and an mp 10. I've also been looking at those tiny harlequin starfish from KP Aquatics, maybe one for each tank.

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I was able to pick up my tank today. Since the rock had been cycling for several weeks, I chipped a bit more off of one side and placed it in the tank. It is pretty much ready to go, however, I think I'll still give it a little while to see if anything happens parameters-wise this week before adding anything.

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I haven't decided yet if I should start an entirely new thread for this tank, or post updates for both on this thread.

Sorry for the bad photo, but I thought I'd give you guys an idea of what my stand looks like inside. I have everything neatly arranged in there and the cords are all managed as neatly as possible.

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Lastly, it has been quite a journey moving so far away from home. Thankfully I have my aquariums to tinker with and to keep me from losing my mind. I also have another companion who likes to roam around in her ball, run up and down my arms, or eat peanut butter if she can talk me into giving her a tiny bit. Her name is Pippa :wub: (I am not pinning her tail by the way, she likes to curl it around my fingers)

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HarryPotter

Love the new tank! Start a new thread with "PicO 5g" or something :)

 

I don't know why this thread isn't more commented on! Awesomeness and a hamster

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Pippa's so cute!

Haha, I think so too! She certainly keeps me entertained!

 

Love the new tank! Start a new thread with "PicO 5g" or something :)

 

I don't know why this thread isn't more commented on! Awesomeness and a hamster

I shall start a new thread then! :lol: I feel like I'm chatting with myself mostly, but it is nice to be able to look back and see when I added things or when I bought a new piece of equipment. Pippa is actually a little mouse, I'll have to take a better picture of her this week if she will sit still long enough! ;)

 

In other news, I made a long round-trip drive for a very unexpected funeral of a co-worker. I didn't stay very long but I did have a chance to stop by my old LFS and pick up a mangrove. I've always thought they were interesting. It has three leaves, so I'll be doing a bit more research on them to make sure I've got enough light and how often I should be spritzing it. I also stopped by my parents house and checked on my youngest brother's salt tank. I gave him my 14 gal biocube when I upgraded and he has been doing a great job taking care of the little reef he started in there. I had left a tiny sprig of dragon flame macro with him originally, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed at how well it has been thriving in his tank. I trimmed most of it off and brought it back with me for trades and to put a little in my tanks. I'm not sure if anyone is still interested in this particular kind of macro, but I have probably two grapefruit sized bunches worth of it! :blink: Pictures and updates tomorrow after clinical.

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Well it was a long week with everything that went on. Even with a funeral and frustration at clinicals, I can always look forward to working on my tanks. Something about pruning corals, cleaning the sand bed, and scraping the algae off the glass can be so helpful in releasing stress. I spent the day moving around the corals, trimming frag plugs down and moving the zoas over to the PicO. I've been trying to decide what is the best course of action for the picotope. I'm mostly leaning towards a growout/mushroom tank since they don't really require a lot of work. I'm not sure where I'll get cool mushroom types locally, but that can be a work in progress.

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This picture looks bad with all the pissed off corals, lack of corals and just general messiness..... :unsure:

 

One of the main efforts this week or next week will be to get a small sand bed into this tank. I just can't get the bare bottom to look nice regardless of how many times I vacuum the detritus.

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This tank looks pretty sad this week. Is it dedication or madness that I've went and sold plasma this week in order to afford a few things to upgrade this tank? I think a coral compulsion PAR30 would help it out. Few more corals left to move before I can put the sand bed in comfortably. I have no idea how to get my mushrooms off the rocks though. They seem stuck tight so the mushroom garden may be a reality. Along with the lid for the PicO, I am also getting a mat to put under this tank, that will be a nice change also. :P Just on hold until the weekend!

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This tank looks pretty sad this week. Is it dedication or madness that I've went and sold plasma this week in order to afford a few things to upgrade this tank? I think a coral compulsion PAR30 would help it out. Few more corals left to move before I can put the sand bed in comfortably. I have no idea how to get my mushrooms off the rocks though. They seem stuck tight so the mushroom garden may be a reality. Along with the lid for the PicO, I am also getting a mat to put under this tank, that will be a nice change also. :P Just on hold until the weekend!

Selling plasma to get hobby stuff? You're awesome. (No sarcasm at all) :)

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Selling plasma to get hobby stuff? You're awesome. (No sarcasm at all) :)

It pays pretty good as long as you have the toughness to get over the needle part. I don't honestly think it hurts, so it seems like a good way to save up for a few things I've been wanting. (mp10.....)

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It pays pretty good as long as you have the toughness to get over the needle part. I don't honestly think it hurts, so it seems like a good way to save up for a few things I've been wanting. (mp10.....)

I think it's admirable lol,good dedication. You will love the mp10 I got an awesome deal on one here from Lawn and it's bad ass.

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I think it's admirable lol,good dedication. You will love the mp10 I got an awesome deal on one here from Lawn and it's bad ass.

Hahaha thanks! It is certainly not how I originally intended to fund this hobby. Did you happen to get one of the new quiet drive ones? I've read some good things on how much they improved the noise.

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Hahaha thanks! It is certainly not how I originally intended to fund this hobby. Did you happen to get one of the new quiet drive ones? I've read some good things on how much they improved the noise.

Nope,old style blue box actually. It's really quiet I hardly ever hear it unless I'm next to the tank honestly

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Nope,old style blue box actually. It's really quiet I hardly ever hear it unless I'm next to the tank honestly

Awesome, they seem to be made with quality materials. Or at least I hope so with the price tag they have!!! I want it for my 5 PicO to add additional water movement. I'm sure it'll have to be on the lowest setting.

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Awesome, they seem to be made with quality materials. Or at least I hope so with the price tag they have!!! I want it for my 5 PicO to add additional water movement. I'm sure it'll have to be on the lowest setting.

Yea no doubt. I run my mp10 at 50%reef crest mode and my rw4 Jebao at else mode and have a 375 gph return pump. It seems to keep everyone happy,more of my flow is at the topish area of the tank for my sps ridge but enough for my lower laying lps and z's&p's.

You'll love the mp10 for sure

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Yea no doubt. I run my mp10 at 50%reef crest mode and my rw4 Jebao at else mode and have a 375 gph return pump. It seems to keep everyone happy,more of my flow is at the topish area of the tank for my sps ridge but enough for my lower laying lps and z's&p's.

You'll love the mp10 for sure

I'm hoping so! I'm selling body fluids for it! Haha, I think it'll be great, and I can use it on my large tank when I get it set back up if it is too powerful. Do you have a thread for your tank?

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Nice tank! I really like all the purple coralline, and the RFA's are beautiful.

 

I know you said you moved the Nanobox over to the new tank and are thinking about a CC PAR 30. I've used mine of all three of my tanks for months at a time and I've been able to grow everything including SPS with it. Really, the only downside to it is that you can't dim it and you can't control the individual channels. But you can't beat the price :)

 

I used to have an MP10 in my 4g pico, but I moved it to my 10g tank. Now I run a Hydor Flo Water Deflector with a slightly larger than stock return pump, and I get plenty of flow, as long as I clean out the return pump every couple months. Good luck!

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