Mantis Pico Rebuild (Evo 5) Opinions needed!

[lkoechle]

Even though this tank isn't part of the 100 days of nanos contest, I've kept it like it was with minimal changes.  Emotionally I feel like its apart of the contest since it was started because of the contest and getting Yoshii with my package.  But now its time for Yoshii's tank to come into its own form! I'm tired of Yoshii's tank looking so ugly.  I've upgraded the pump to the hella loud aqueon 606, but I don't think the flow is enough although on paper it should be.  I'm not good with picos.  So help me out.

 

Problems:

A: The tank is pretty much one giant detritus trap.  It's ugly, so there's algae.  Now, the algae isn't out of control (shockingly).  but it does come back... frequently.  The entire tank being a detritus trap I think has something to do with this since I feel that water changes are pretty ineffective with this tank. My suspicion is more flow would be the answer since I only feed a couple times a week and its with tongs directly to Yoshii, so there's little food going in and I do weekly 1 to 2 gallon water changes. 

 

B: It's ugly.  I just don't have anything pretty in there.  So, give me suggestions.  I'm tapped out on ideas between all my tanks.  I do have two other reef tanks so I want to keep it simple.  I don't do a lot of soft corals or LPS, so give me some names of nice colorful pieces of those types.

 

What I want opinions on:

 

1. Flow upgrade options.  

    -I'm thinking about replacing the 606 with its weak 82 gph predecessor that came with the tank so it can be quiet again and free up some space in the back.

   - Even if I don't, I think adding more flow will help with the detritus issue by keeping the gunk suspended long enough to get in the overflow. What are good options for a tank this small? The Jebao PP4?  Is that too much? A Koralia would be too big I think (unless you have a different opinion)...  What are your thoughts?

 

2. Coral options

   -Mainly looking at LPS and Softies for this tank.  I want flowy movement and I want color.  What are your favorites?  He punches zoas, but he's left the GSP (once he moved it where he wanted) and the Kenya Tree alone.  

 

Oh and the light will be upgraded, just haven't decided to what yet. (maybe ai prime, maybe something else, I like the stock look so I'm going to have to do some digging)

 

I don't have an updated FTS, you're just gonna have to trust me that it's ugly. lol

 

Will someone help this little guy out?

[WV Reefer]

13 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

Even though this tank isn't part of the 100 days of nanos contest, I've kept it like it was with minimal changes.  Emotionally I feel like its apart of the contest since it was started because of the contest and getting Yoshii with my package.  But now its time for Yoshii's tank to come into its own form! I'm tired of Yoshii's tank looking so ugly.  I've upgraded the pump to the hella loud aqueon 606, but I don't think the flow is enough although on paper it should be.  I'm not good with picos.  So help me out.

 

Problems:

A: The tank is pretty much one giant detritus trap.  It's ugly, so there's algae.  Now, the algae isn't out of control (shockingly).  but it does come back... frequently.  The entire tank being a detritus trap I think has something to do with this since I feel that water changes are pretty ineffective with this tank. My suspicion is more flow would be the answer since I only feed a couple times a week and its with tongs directly to Yoshii, so there's little food going in and I do weekly 1 to 2 gallon water changes. 

 

B: It's ugly.  I just don't have anything pretty in there.  So, give me suggestions.  I'm tapped out on ideas between all my tanks.  I do have two other reef tanks so I want to keep it simple.  I don't do a lot of soft corals or LPS, so give me some names of nice colorful pieces of those types.

 

What I want opinions on:

 

1. Flow upgrade options.  

    -I'm thinking about replacing the 606 with its weak 82 gph predecessor that came with the tank so it can be quiet again and free up some space in the back.

   - Even if I don't, I think adding more flow will help with the detritus issue by keeping the gunk suspended long enough to get in the overflow. What are good options for a tank this small? The Jebao PP4?  Is that too much? A Koralia would be too big I think (unless you have a different opinion)...  What are your thoughts?

 

2. Coral options

   -Mainly looking at LPS and Softies for this tank.  I want flowy movement and I want color.  What are your favorites?  He punches zoas, but he's left the GSP (once he moved it where he wanted) and the Kenya Tree alone.  

 

Oh and the light will be upgraded, just haven't decided to what yet. (maybe ai prime, maybe something else, I like the stock look so I'm going to have to do some digging)

 

I don't have an updated FTS, you're just gonna have to trust me that it's ugly. lol

 

Will someone help this little guy out?

 

Why not just use " the bad stuff" like GSP, Xenia, Cloves...... especially if you don't know how he'll react to any given piece. 

[lkoechle]

Just now, WV Reefer said:

 

Why not just use " the bad stuff" like GSP, Xenia, Cloves...... especially if you don't know how he'll react to any given piece. 

I've been thinking about it.  I've also been thinking about getting a giant rock covered in softies and cutting and gluing stuff down like some horrible living preschool art project.  I do like pulsing xenia... and my lfs has $5 frag tank of the "unlovables" lol  

[WV Reefer]

1 minute ago, lkoechle said:

I've been thinking about it.  I've also been thinking about getting a giant rock covered in softies and cutting and gluing stuff down like some horrible living preschool art project.  I do like pulsing xenia... and my lfs has $5 frag tank of the "unlovables" lol  

That's what I did with The Creep.... give him things to tear up that won't tear up the wallet. . 

[lkoechle]

This is what I want to do:

 

It's @Islandoftiki's tank.  I just don't know how to make it beautiful! 

[WV Reefer]

Just now, lkoechle said:

This is what I want to do:

 

It's @Islandoftiki's tank.  I just don't know how to make it beautiful! 

Yes, that one is awesome!

[lkoechle]

And I'll be honest, I think your worm's cool and all, but I'd never keep it.  I'd have nightmares it'd eat me in my sleep. lol Sorry it died though, it's definitely not something you can replace.  

[WV Reefer]

5 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

And I'll be honest, I think your worm's cool and all, but I'd never keep it.  I'd have nightmares it'd eat me in my sleep. lol Sorry it died though, it's definitely not something you can replace.  

That's why I kept him. He was scary but soooo cool.  Odds are I'll probably never see one again. Now his story is out there so maybe others won't be quite so quick to kill them.  

[lkoechle]

2 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

That's why I kept him. He was scary but soooo cool.  Odds are I'll probably never see one again. Now his story is out there so maybe others won't be quite so quick to kill them.  

 

Do you have any thoughts on light or flow?  I need more flow to get the crap up.  Once I clean up the tank, I'm thinking about going to the LFS and asking if they can scoop some of their aipstasia out of the sand for me.  How weird of a request will that be...   At this point though I'm pretty sure they're used to me being weird... I've made some abnormal requests. lol

[WV Reefer]

7 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

 

Do you have any thoughts on light or flow?  I need more flow to get the crap up.  Once I clean up the tank, I'm thinking about going to the LFS and asking if they can scoop some of their aipstasia out of the sand for me.  How weird of a request will that be...   At this point though I'm pretty sure they're used to me being weird... I've made some abnormal requests. lol

 

I am no help on equipment. lol. My tanks are powerheads only. 

Hey!  We are HOT! all by ourselves! lol

[lkoechle]

1 minute ago, WV Reefer said:

 

I am no help on equipment. lol. My tanks are powerheads only. 

Hey!  We are HOT! all by ourselves! lol

Chica, I can turn the temp up in a room by 10 degrees from walking in.    j/k for now.  I just started p90x to lose this baby weight... That I think is just my weight now. lol

[Weetabix7]

This tank is small isn't it?

Like 5g?

I'd think a Jebao RW4 would be way too strong, tho I'm just going by what others have told me. 

I've had a Jebao SW2 recommended to me as a lower flow alternative to a RW4, but again, don't know how it'd be in a small Pico.

Here's a linky: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS8782D/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_13?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A7SIQ2Y2T11UM

 

Going with Xenia and Mushrooms and Kenya Tree, stuff like that, seems pretty safe. 

[lkoechle]

Just now, Weetabix7 said:

This tank is small isn't it?

Like 5g?

I'd think a Jebao RW4 would be way too strong, tho I'm just going by what others have told me. 

I've had a Jebao SW2 recommended to me as a lower flow alternative to a RW4, but again, don't know how it'd be in a small Pico.

Here's a linky: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS8782D/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_13?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A7SIQ2Y2T11UM

 

Going with Xenia and Mushrooms and Kenya Tree, stuff like that, seems pretty safe. 

Yeah, it's 5g.  Oh! And I have a dinky clown too.  He has to eat smaller food than my hi-fin pair!  I'll update that page later so you can see how tiny he is.  He's maybe half the size of Xena lol

 

Maybe I can keep the stock light if I stay with the "pests"... I just don't know how it isn't strong enough for cloves yet is fine for kenya tree and zoas... and GHA... it is spot on for that. lol

[Weetabix7]

1 hour ago, lkoechle said:

Yeah, it's 5g.  Oh! And I have a dinky clown too.  He has to eat smaller food than my hi-fin pair!  I'll update that page later so you can see how tiny he is.  He's maybe half the size of Xena lol

 

Maybe I can keep the stock light if I stay with the "pests"... I just don't know how it isn't strong enough for cloves yet is fine for kenya tree and zoas... and GHA... it is spot on for that. lol

 

I think you should try to keep the stock light and upgrade the flow.

[lkoechle]

Yeah, I have a koralia 240 coming next week and we will see how xenia like the light... I hope my lfs has some.  I do like them. Today I do a big scrub on his tank and clean up the sand bed of all the shells from murdered things and just try to make it presentable lol

[Weetabix7]

35 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

Yeah, I have a koralia 240 coming next week and we will see how xenia like the light... I hope my lfs has some.  I do like them. Today I do a big scrub on his tank and clean up the sand bed of all the shells from murdered things and just try to make it presentable lol

 

You should make a little Graveyard Corner with all the murdered critter shells. 

[lkoechle]

5 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

You should make a little Graveyard Corner with all the murdered critter shells. 

I could super glue them all together so the dont get stolen... and figure out how to make a little cross and add to it periodically... lol

[Weetabix7]

3 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

I could super glue them all together so the dont get stolen... and figure out how to make a little cross and add to it periodically... lol

 

Yes, you MUST do this!!!!! 

[lkoechle]

30 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Yes, you MUST do this!!!!! 

Actually, I think I will keep it outside th tank, maybe.  He has too many victims.  the pile might be too big.  haha!  Hubby says I should try and build a predator camp, like from the movies. lmao

[Weetabix7]

23 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

Actually, I think I will keep it outside th tank, maybe.  He has too many victims.  the pile might be too big.  haha!  Hubby says I should try and build a predator camp, like from the movies. lmao

 

OMG, Predator Camp would be awesome!!!

[kimberbee]

I have RW-4's in both my tanks, they are pretty small, but not sure if small enough for a 5 gallon tank - depends on the dimensions. 

 

I did buy new power supplies for both, that take it down to half power. They are 12v power supplies rather than the 24v they come with. Works really well for my IM10 gallon. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JRGOCM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

You make me want a mantis soooooo bad!! 

[lkoechle]

Before: 

After:

[lkoechle]

Kill Glass:

[Friendly]

kill glass? those are his snail trophy's? 

[lkoechle]

9 minutes ago, Friendly said:

kill glass? those are his snail trophy's? 

and hermits