3 Gallon Picotope!- Clean Slate

[JoeR]

3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Sure, that'd be great!  I don't facebook much but do use it to look at pages sometimes.

 

I think Columbia's about 2hrs from here.  The place I went to had $15, $35, and $40 frags but the selection was pretty small.  There was a nice green cabbage leather in the $40 section that I was tempted by.  I didn't get to check out their inverts cuz of course that's the corner they were doing maintenance in.   Might also be that I'm picky and like weird things lol.  Or would never pay $70 for a mostly-bleached colony of mediocre birdsnest...

 

Hey, gotta start somewhere!  Fast food jobs aren't very fun but any job you can stick out for a while when your young should look good on your resume when it's time to look for a "real" job.  I used to work at a Dairy Queen in a state where it's a full-on fast food restaurant and ice cream is almost an afterthought.  Got pretty good at blizzards and cones though lol.

That's odd, no one here ever gets actual food at DQ, just the ice cream.But yeah I'm only there to get experience and make some money while in school. I reealllly despise everything about it though, all my coworkers suck and alot of the customers can be super rude for no particular reason. Well, actually a lot of times it's the person taking orders with a bad attitude that makes them mad at me. That, and people have no limit with the amount of food they will order through the drivethru regardless if there's 10 more cars behind them. Ruins my 'time', which my manager actually monitors....

 

Anyway lol, here's the link:

https://www.facebook.com/Fintasticwc/

 

this week is a little boring, some weeks are like that while others are amazing- just gotta keep checking

[Lula_Mae]

17 minutes ago, JoeR said:

That's odd, no one here ever gets actual food at DQ, just the ice cream.But yeah I'm only there to get experience and make some money while in school. I reealllly despise everything about it though, all my coworkers suck and alot of the customers can be super rude for no particular reason. Well, actually a lot of times it's the person taking orders with a bad attitude that makes them mad at me. That, and people have no limit with the amount of food they will order through the drivethru regardless if there's 10 more cars behind them. Ruins my 'time', which my manager actually monitors....

 

Anyway lol, here's the link:

https://www.facebook.com/Fintasticwc/

 

this week is a little boring, some weeks are like that while others are amazing- just gotta keep checking

lol yeah it was strange after only like hotdogs at DQ here.  But they had some amazing burgers and chicken finger and steak finger baskets and these little things called jalitos that were jalapeno strips battered and fried and dipped in ranch and OHMYGOSH they are so good!  I miss them lol.  I hated drive thru cuz I couldn't hear over the headset so I usually did front counter.  Shame your manager clocks your time even on the massive orders (what, an order for 12? nbd...).  Maybe you can find a better fast food job or something somewhere lol.

 

Thanks for the link, will have to check it often!

[Lula_Mae]

Oh my gosh, they have feather dusters for $1.99!!!!

[JoeR]

52 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

lol yeah it was strange after only like hotdogs at DQ here.  But they had some amazing burgers and chicken finger and steak finger baskets and these little things called jalitos that were jalapeno strips battered and fried and dipped in ranch and OHMYGOSH they are so good!  I miss them lol.  I hated drive thru cuz I couldn't hear over the headset so I usually did front counter.  Shame your manager clocks your time even on the massive orders (what, an order for 12? nbd...).  Maybe you can find a better fast food job or something somewhere lol.

 

Thanks for the link, will have to check it often!

That sounds AMAZING lol I've never heard of them! And I know, they make me work drive through even though I cant hear anything! I'm not from the south originally so I have a really hard time understanding them even if I can hear them. I applied all sorts of places but this is the only one that called me back, it's realllyyyy hard to find a job here. So I'm stuck with it

 

i dont know what the $2 dusters look like, but I've been impressed by all of their other stuff so I'm sure it's a good deal! They turn inventory allll the time cuz it's a small store.. so if you see something you like, you better be there early that weekend or it'll be gone. I think I only paid $3.99 for my damsel?

[Lula_Mae]

40 minutes ago, JoeR said:

That sounds AMAZING lol I've never heard of them! And I know, they make me work drive through even though I cant hear anything! I'm not from the south originally so I have a really hard time understanding them even if I can hear them. I applied all sorts of places but this is the only one that called me back, it's realllyyyy hard to find a job here. So I'm stuck with it

 

i dont know what the $2 dusters look like, but I've been impressed by all of their other stuff so I'm sure it's a good deal! They turn inventory allll the time cuz it's a small store.. so if you see something you like, you better be there early that weekend or it'll be gone. I think I only paid $3.99 for my damsel?

Yuck I bet that is a challenge!  Well the upside is if you can stick it out a few months you have a better chance of getting other positions you apply for just due to having some work history.  Never too young to start building that resume/CV

 

That's a great price on the damsel!  Dusters are usually $15-20 or more so that's a fantastic price for them.  I want a green banded goby.

[JoeR]

On 5/13/2017 at 4:33 PM, Lula_Mae said:

Yuck I bet that is a challenge!  Well the upside is if you can stick it out a few months you have a better chance of getting other positions you apply for just due to having some work history.  Never too young to start building that resume/CV

 

That's a great price on the damsel!  Dusters are usually $15-20 or more so that's a fantastic price for them.  I want a green banded goby.

Not sure how I missed your post, sorry. Yeah it's especially sucky cause I'm in MT visiting relatives, and fast food chains here (like Taco Bell) pay $11-$12 an hour!! Plus no sales tax! So if I lived here with relatives I could earn and save a ton of money compared to in NC. But alas, my college, bonsai, and fish tanks are in NC.

 

those Goby are nice!!

[Lula_Mae]

2 hours ago, JoeR said:

Not sure how I missed your post, sorry. Yeah it's especially sucky cause I'm in MT visiting relatives, and fast food chains here (like Taco Bell) pay $11-$12 an hour!! Plus no sales tax! So if I lived here with relatives I could earn and save a ton of money compared to in NC. But alas, my college, bonsai, and fish tanks are in NC.

 

those Goby are nice!!

Wow nice!  Min wage is higher in the northeast as well (like $10/hr in CT).  NC wages are lower than they should be for a lot of professions, sadly.

[JoeR]

I was at one of my lfs today, and I saw sexy shrimp for the first time and I LOVE them! They're so cute! What about adding one to the pico? They won't eat or bother coral, correct? And my damsel won't be too aggressive towards them will he?

[Weetabix7]

5 minutes ago, JoeR said:

I was at one of my lfs today, and I saw sexy shrimp for the first time and I LOVE them! They're so cute! What about adding one to the pico? They won't eat or bother coral, correct? And my damsel won't be too aggressive towards them will he?

 

They are very cute. 

Honestly don't know how the damsel would be toward them. 

Ok, I think?

They are mostly ok with coral but some of them do sometimes nibble things like Zoa Skirts. 

Feed 'em good so they don't turn into Skirt Nibblers. 

[JoeR]

10 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

They are very cute. 

Honestly don't know how the damsel would be toward them. 

Ok, I think?

They are mostly ok with coral but some of them do sometimes nibble things like Zoa Skirts. 

Feed 'em good so they don't turn into Skirt Nibblers. 

Man I don't know then, I REALLY don't want them eating coral after what those peppermint shrimp did. They seriously decimated my coral. Maybe some type of crab instead? I didn't much care for the emerald crabs I've seen, poms look good but again can sting coral.

 

any other invert recommendations?

[Clown79]

My peppermints destroyed 2 acans and half a favia. 

[Weetabix7]

4 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

My peppermints destroyed 2 acans and half a favia. 

 

Peppermints are worse than Sexy Shrimp, in my experience, they cause more damage. 

 

You could have a couple of these guys: https://www.kpaquatics.com/product/anemone-shrimp-pederson/

I've had two in a Pico before. 

[JoeR]

Those shrimp are nice, though I worry they may be overlooked even in a pico. I'd have to see one in person, as they may be like the sexy shrimp.

 

I think I may have two yellow sponges forming, on top of the pineapple sponges in the filter; anyone know for sure? I hope so, because I want a sponge really bad lol and have been looking at buying one. It's hard to tell, but here's the larger one:

[Weetabix7]

2 minutes ago, JoeR said:

Those shrimp are nice, though I worry they may be overlooked even in a pico. I'd have to see one in person, as they may be like the sexy shrimp.

 

I think I may have two yellow sponges forming, on top of the pineapple sponges in the filter; anyone know for sure? I hope so, because I want a sponge really bad lol and have been looking at buying one. It's hard to tell, but here's the larger one:

 

Looks spongey to me. 

 

Also, as an obscure bit of DQ fact, the food at the DQ in Sandusky, Ohio is quite good. 

[Lula_Mae]

Do pom pom nems really sting coral?  They're so tiny I wouldn't expect them to do any real damage if it's true.  Porcelain crabs are another nice choice imo.  Sexies are neat but yes, watch out for the nibbling!

[JoeR]

1 hour ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Looks spongey to me. 

 

Also, as an obscure bit of DQ fact, the food at the DQ in Sandusky, Ohio is quite good. 

How do I know for sure if it's a sponge? The bigger one has an opaque "tube" looking thing protruding which doesn't seem like a sponge.

 

thanks for the tidbit, could have used that a few days ago lol

25 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Do pom pom nems really sting coral?  They're so tiny I wouldn't expect them to do any real damage if it's true.  Porcelain crabs are another nice choice imo.  Sexies are neat but yes, watch out for the nibbling!

I read that they can, but obviously I have no idea. Porcelain crabs, I look those up

[Clown79]

Never seen my pom poms hurt a coral

[Lula_Mae]

I haven't had any issue with pom poms bothering anything, with the exception of Shelby (who was a very unique, bold and pugnacious pom pom).  Most of them are very cryptic and will hide in the most impossibly tiny crevices in your live rock rather than bother anything.  Totally worth getting imo as when they do their pom pom dance it's so cool!  Look on my 1.6 thread for a video I posted of Shelby doing her dance.

[JoeR]

Soooo I picked up some new stuff the other day! I got a purple birdsnest, a large and really nice green plating monti, and a Favia which the man at the store forgot sadly. BUT the guy, whose name I didn't catch, was super nice and very helpful other than that. I also added three sexy shrimps... one of which definitely didn't make it, and the other two are nowhere to be seen during the day. The one that died was stuck on the bottom of the lid in the condensation some how??? Either way I believe that the damsel is bothering them... I'm thinking I'll move him to my bigger tank and get some gobies or something instead to go with the sexies.

 

The tanks doing well, and I think the monti fills in an empty spot nicely and will have tons of room to grow. You can't see much of it in the photos though. Don't know where to place the birdsnest and the other orange one yet

[Lula_Mae]

Bummer about the sexy but tank is looking nice!

[JoeR]

Oh and I forgot to ask,

 

what ATO would you guys recommend for such a small tank? I've been looking at a few but I can't decide, the reviews are all mixed. I also don't want to spend $150 on an ATO... I might be able to pull off a DIY one though who knows

[Lula_Mae]

I've never used an ATO lol.  For a cheap option, look into the pet/hamster water bottle DIY ones.

[JoeR]

27 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

I've never used an ATO lol.  For a cheap option, look into the pet/hamster water bottle DIY ones.

Man I forgot that people used those! I'll definitely look into that! You got any picosyourself? If so, do you just top off daily instead?

 

The reasons I believe I should get one are:

1) I think it will keep my tank more stable, which is the main issue in a pico, thus healthier and

2) It'll help take some pressure off of me. I work 30 hours a week, go to all my church's events, and I'm taking 4 summer classes (legitimately equivalent to 8 regular classes, no joke) so I don't have much time to fuss with them. I also have a massive garden that requires daily attention (consisting of 100+ bonsai, 50+ tomatoes, several potted citrus, grow beds full of other stuff like peppers, melons, onions, etc etc). I know I make life hard on myself, but I can't help it . I need to set up an auto watering system for that too now that I think about it...

 

Anyway, thanks for the continued responses Lula, I know my questions are annoying and boring lol. 

 

Bonus top-down pic so y'all can see how big the monti is

[Lula_Mae]

lol no problem--you sound like you have a LOT on your plate!  Too much for me to keep manageable right now lol.  I do have a pico, link is in my sig but if you are on mobile you can't see it, so here's the link. 

[fishfreak0114]

That sounds like an awesome garden!  Got any pics?  The top down looks nice, I like the zoas