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5.5 gallon spec v. Was all she wrote.


MarieH

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Just now, MarieH said:

I have a very mellow feeling with my 3g pico, that all is well in the world lol. Unlike my 65g, that was more anxiety than enjoyment.

 

That's interesting. 

What do you think contributed to anxiety with the 65g?

Do you think your list of the things you've learned is contributing to your mellow outlook with this 3g?

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I can say I felt the exact same way with my 6 gallon edge. I wasn't worried all. Kept it simple and low tech, no dosing etc and it took off. I'm doing the same with my evo because I feel like if I start worrying about dosing and levels etc it will cause anxiety. Keep up the good work!

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10 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

That's interesting. 

What do you think contributed to anxiety with the 65g?

Do you think your list of the things you've learned is contributing to your mellow outlook with this 3g?

I don't really know but I think maintaining it was the biggest pain. I battled hair algae for awhile, won that battle.  Then it was aiptasia which I never eradicated completely. I had an octopus skimmer hang on 1000, what a heavy pain to clean!  It needed more waterchanges, 12g at a time.  Then I  got a back injury and neglected the tank some.  I spent a whole day cleaning it, and decided to sell.  It was not a pleasure anymore and I hated seeing it looking bad.  The animals were all fine though, the skimmer was not enough for it. As well my ato pump died. I disliked the hang on stuff, it looked untidy.  I needed a sump on it, and I had no compulsion to build one. In the end I think it was for the best. 

 

The new owners were thrilled lol.

 

I am  in a good frame of mind for this 3g, its just so much more fun. I bought 2 trochus snails, (there were no cerith which would of been better) I got a red mushroom, a very small xenia frag and some green palythoa today. All is well. 

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21 hours ago, TinyOcean said:

Pics when they open up!

I will. Only very small frags lol.  All ok though.  I broke my glass hydrometer and bought a fluval swing arm until my refractometer gets here.  It reads 1.023 which is probably not accurate.  I'm  going to leave it since everything is OK.   I saw a brittle star hitchhiker in my mushroom frag rock this a.m. waving in the current after I stirred the sand to feed the corals.  Nice.

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This far. The long leggy zooanthids that I rescued from a dark tank are more short and squat today and starting to open. I looked for corals in shady spots at my lfs, knowing my 9watt lamp would be enough at this point. Seems ok.20170729_111038.thumb.jpg.7adb3cc9078d9e63896d68cf0c3e9618.jpg

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Nothing much to report. I kind of regret getting 2 trochus, the tank is very clean though.  I put down nori for them, kind of strange to have to feed snails. I am thinking about rehoming them, or trading for cerith at least.   I should have taken just one maybe, but even then, big feeders they are one might be too many. So cute though.   They are much busier than cerith snails. I had turbos in my 65, but I prefer the trochus pointy shells and nice colors.  

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11 hours ago, MarieH said:

Nothing much to report. I kind of regret getting 2 trochus, the tank is very clean though.  I put down nori for them, kind of strange to have to feed snails. I am thinking about rehoming them, or trading for cerith at least.   I should have taken just one maybe, but even then, big feeders they are one might be too many. So cute though.   They are much busier than cerith snails. I had turbos in my 65, but I prefer the trochus pointy shells and nice colors.  

Plus the turbo would go even hungrier than the trochus! :unsure:

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Ordered an abi 12 watt 'tuna blue' par bulb  which should be plenty for what I will keep, judging by how the 4 corals,  blue zoa, red mushroom (got a new head) xena, and green palys are doing.

 

Read iffy reviews on the kessil a80, although no doubt on 8 inch shallow pico it would work well but super pricey, I want to save for another project later on as well. 

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32 minutes ago, MarieH said:

Ordered an abi 12 watt 'tuna blue' par bulb  which should be plenty for what I will keep, judging by how the 4 corals,  blue zoa, red mushroom (got a new head) xena, and green palys are doing.

 

Read iffy reviews on the kessil a80, although no doubt on 8 inch shallow pico it would work well but super pricey, I want to save for another project later on as well. 

I think you'll be pleased with it.  I have their 50/50 version and found the optics pretty narrowly focused so I will probably try to remove them when I use it again.  It should be about the perfect amount of light for your tank!

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I have no idea what the spread is, i think 60 degree?   Thanks Lula-Mae.  I can't find much info on this bulb but popular opinion seems to approve it, price wise ok as well.  

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26 minutes ago, MarieH said:

I have no idea what the spread is, i think 60 degree?   Thanks Lula-Mae.  I can't find much info on this bulb but popular opinion seems to approve it, price wise ok as well.  

 

That bulb has been working well for me over my Pico. 

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3 hours ago, MarieH said:

I have no idea what the spread is, i think 60 degree?   Thanks Lula-Mae.  I can't find much info on this bulb but popular opinion seems to approve it, price wise ok as well.  

Not sure, I would say narrower than that.  With the lamp I had at the time, the optics were too narrow to cover all of my 3.5 I was using at the time.  Couldn't get it raised high enough cuz my lamp was too short lol.

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1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Not sure, I would say narrower than that.  With the lamp I had at the time, the optics were too narrow to cover all of my 3.5 I was using at the time.  Couldn't get it raised high enough cuz my lamp was too short lol.

I bought a lamp clamp sò I think it should be height ok.  I could of went for a rapid or coral compulsion bulb but I think this one is more than enough for 3g where depth is not an issue.  If it covers even 8 inch spread that is enough.  My little 3 watt cf is growing what I have now even in partial shade. My red mushy is stretching a bit though and the red will pop under led I think. Looks kind of dull red  under cf.

 

 

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I turned on the little pico cf and saw the tiniest 3 legged brittle star on top of a rock. I watched it for several seconds, no bigger than a pubic hair,  :blink: it battled the current to slip into a hole in the rock to hide from the light.   Little moments like this.   That is what reefing is about Charlie Brown.:)

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It really is the basic tank.  I will forever love the jbj picotope!  I never should have sold the one I had.  It's nice to have on hand..great little tank.  Looking forward to seeing how yours evolves :).

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7 hours ago, gena said:

It really is the basic tank.  I will forever love the jbj picotope!  I never should have sold the one I had.  It's nice to have on hand..great little tank.  Looking forward to seeing how yours evolves :).

I'm enjoying it.  Thank you Gena.

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6 hours ago, HIppieRose said:

Would love to see new pictures.  I wish my tank would settle so I can start to really enjoy it.

I'm going slow.  I have 3 easy corals at the moment.  I'm waiting for light upgrade.  Patience grasshopper it's the key.   In the meantime researching and deciding how to fill this tiny space with things I want.  I'm now trying to train a piece of xenia to colonize the back glass and keep it off the rocks.  I'll see how that goes!

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As of today.  Mushroom has an offshoot on the side. This might be to fast though in such limited space. The ugly zooanthids are kind of a nice teal color and doublet he size they were.

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4 hours ago, TinyOcean said:

Your scape is so unique. You could do alot of awesome things with that. I'm glad the ugly zoas aren't ugly!:lol:

Thanks. I have a middle cave. I'm not sure I won't break the rock up some more. But I think it would be a nice hangout for a yashe goby.  The middle cave does take up space though and I'm wondering about a montipora on top...waiting on my bulb.  Not to say that a kessil a80 is off limits later on.  I decided on a 3 year experiment for this tank so it might be a plan as time goes by.

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