Jus Anglin' (CC pico contest thread)

[Tamberav]

Loving this build! So creative!

[Harrisonbored]

1 hour ago, gena said:

How clever is that????

 

 

Thanks G!

 

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

Loving this build! So creative!

Thanks...Your build is pretty rockin' too!

[Christopher Marks]

How's your pico coming along @Harrisonbored?

[Jaremiah25]

Subscribed !

[Harrisonbored]

NOTICE:   Boring update.   No pichurs, just a bunch o' blah blah blah

 

So I'm temporarily back from time traveling...well really it's more like being in "Groundhog Day"

Things came up and I've been working far too many hours at the salt mine to do anything with the pico.

The upshot of this has been that during these past weeks I've noticed corrected some flaws.

 

1. The AZOO pump keeps the water temp 2 degrees higher than room temp, which will be great during winter, BUT...I live in Lost Angels, CA and our temps were steadily in the upper 90's the past 2 weeks. 

This meant that with the hour of morning sunshine the pico was getting the temps were swinging from 78 to 84/86!

     Luckily I don't have anything other than the cup full of live sand in there yet so no damage was done.

     I did end up moving the tank over a few feet to where it doesn't get direct sun anymore (this brought temps down to a steady 80) but will likely move it back once Winter officially arrives.

    This week the local temps have been in the 70's and if they continue to stay that way next week then I'll pick up my live rock from my friends sump.  I'm really in no hurry because I figure the longer the rock stays in an established system the better and I'll just have a soft cycle.

 

2. Evap has been crazy!  If I keep the teeth cover on the temps rise and the dome gets salt creep. With no teeth I'm losing close to a cup a day to evaporation.

    I don't have the space and I'm trying to stay low tech so an ATO is out of the question. Right now I'm still trying to dial it in with a combo of manual top off, teeth on at night and then manual top off and teeth off during the day. I'll eventually find the pattern,  but once again I'm really just waiting for Summer to GTFO!

 

3.  If I can't dial in the temps I'll be forced to get a heater.  I have this idea for a custom stand that would allow me to inconspicuously incorporate one and considering ALL the great entries that have amazing stands it may be necessary.  But I most likely won't get to that till the end this month.

 

So all in all things are coming along slowly but surely.

Once my work schedule goes back to normal over the next 2 weeks I'll hopefully be able to get a tester NPS and start the feeding regime and thus start the process of working out the inherent problems associated with water changes on this tank.

    

Thanks for checking in and I promise more eye candy pico pron on the next update.

[Lula_Mae]

3 minutes ago, Harrisonbored said:

NOTICE:   Boring update.   No pichurs, just a bunch o' blah blah blah

 

So I'm temporarily back from time traveling...well really it's more like being in "Groundhog Day"

Things came up and I've been working far too many hours at the salt mine to do anything with the pico.

The upshot of this has been that during these past weeks I've noticed corrected some flaws.

 

1. The AZOO pump keeps the water temp 2 degrees higher than room temp, which will be great during winter, BUT... I live in Lost Angels, CA

         and our temps were steadily in the upper 90's the past 2 weeks.  This meant that with the hour of morning sunshine the pico was getting   

         the temps were swinging from 78 to 84/86!

     Luckily I don't have anything other than the cup full of live sand in there yet so no damage was done.

     I did end up moving the tank over a few feet to where it doesn't get direct sun anymore (this brought temps down to a steady 80) but

     will likely move it back once Winter officially arrives.

    This week the local temps have been in the 70's and if they continue to stay that way next week then I'll pick up my live rock from my friends

     sump.  I'm really in no hurry because I figure the longer the rock stays in an established system the better and I'll just have a soft cycle.

 

2. Evap has been crazy!  If I keep the teeth cover on the temps rise and the dome gets salt creep. With no teeth I'm losing close to a cup a day to

    evaporation.

    I don't have the space and I'm trying to stay low tech so an ATO is out of the question. Right now I'm still trying to dial it in with a combo of

    manual top off, teeth on at night and then manual top off and teeth off during the day. I'll eventually find the pattern,  but once again I'm

    really just waiting for Summer to GTFO!

 

3.  If I can't dial in the temps I'll be forced to get a heater.  I have this idea for a custom stand that would allow me to inconspicuously 

     incorporate one and considering ALL the great entries that have amazing stands it may be necessary.  But I most likely won't get to that till

     the end this month.

 

So all in all things are coming along slowly but surely.

Once my work schedule goes back to normal over the next 2 weeks I'll hopefully be able to get a tester NPS and start the feeding regime and

thus start the process of working out the inherent problems associated with water changes on this tank.

    

Thanks for checking in and I promise more eye candy pico pron on the next update.

I wonder if you could incorporate a hamster bottle type ATO?

[Harrisonbored]

3 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

I wonder if you could incorporate a hamster bottle type ATO?

I toyed with that idea earlier but I'm really trying to keep the aesthetic look going. I also thought of using a doser to just add top off throughout the day but once again I decided to force myself to stay low tech.

If I can't find the sweet spot though I'll most likely have to go with your good idea.

[Felicia]

Hi!  Just a reminder to please pm me your November full tank shot (FTS) along with the link to your build thread by the end of the day on November 30th.

[Harrisonbored]

Whew...with my work schedule returning to normal and all the holiday family obligations in the rear view mirror it's finally time to give this project some love.

I'm now on the hunt for Tubastrea to populate this.

Of course Diver's den was full of them when I wasn't available to have them shipped, and now that I am they're out.

The closest LFS I've been to are a bust...but I will probably be making a drive down south to score some if DD doesn't flash any soon.

 

Here's the most recent shots of the tank

[YaBoyLaj]

[Lula_Mae]

Positively electrifying!

[dmw913]

Love this tank!!!  Super creative.

 

Here's a low tech idea for the evap.  Just a thought.

 

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/aqua-gadget-accudrip-acclimator-one-pack.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAu4nRBRBKEiwANms5W0_ZLoAIPk6bzB-ozyrXxE6oVO9qaewy9Komn00qfnXchj6LVjIEphoCavUQAvD_BwE

[Felicia]

Just a friendly reminder that if you haven't already, please pm me your December FTS and a link to your build thread by January 5, 2018.

[Harrisonbored]

So this little pico has just been one fail after another ...which has left me with no energy to update this thread.  

But I realize that documenting the trials and pitfalls are more important to someone looking to start one of these picos so here's whats happening now.

 

So as of my last post I was:

*keeping my live rock rubble in a buddy's sump for cycling, but still had live sand in the Angler

*desperately trying to find some Sun Coral (Tubastrea)...but not having any luck

*and also working a ton of hours.

 

Then:

On Xmas eve Diver's Den magically posted 2 nice looking Suns that I quickly bought up...scoring free delivery...a Festivus miracle indeed!

Xmas day I swing by my friends house to drop off some presents and finally pick up my live rock.

      As I go to his sump to bag up my rock I see Planaria....EVERYWHERE....UGH!  Needless to say I left without the rock and my buddy

      threw his yellow Coris from the main to fix the problem over the following weeks.

The corals shipped on the 26th and arrived promptly on the 27th.

      Upon opening though I noticed the bags were pretty cold, even with 2 heat packs in the box so I started the float.

      The day before I had placed some water in a bucket with another Azoo pump to match temps so I could have a float station for the coral 

      seeing as I can barely get my hand let alone a bag through the mouth of the fish.

      So while inspecting the coral I notice the smaller one has a bleached node on one edge. The other is in great shape.  Stupidly I just throw

      the smaller/bleaching one in with the other thinking I'll just nurse it back to proper health. Not thinking about the fact that this tank is 1.5ga.

      and only has live sand with no filtration other than water changes.

On the 28th I add a few drops of Oyster Feast and Phyto to the tank. An hour later I add a tiny mix of Rotifers, Cyclops and Roe to see if I can

      initiate a feeding response. An hour later the small one is still sucked in pretty tightly but the larger one has 2/3 of its heads out.

      I feed each open head some mysis and am pretty pleased. 3 hours later I do a 1 gallon water change and add some MicroBacterX.

29th and 30th I'm slammed with work and am only home to sleep and shower.

NYE morning I wake to find the little one has a few more bleached nodes and the larger is pissed. I then do what I should have done on day 1

      and grab a pyrex bowl, Azoo and some Prime and set up the smaller one in that.  I then do a 1.2 ga. water change on the Angler and add

      MB and Prime and hope that it recovers.

Jan. 3rd the smaller is dying. The larger is still withdrawn. I try initiating feeding response but nothing...I later do a water change.

Today 1/5 the small one is almost completely bleached (I'll call for credit tomorrow) The larger is still unchanged...withdrawn and won't eat.

 

We'll see how it goes from here, but I don't have high hopes.

     

 

[fishfreak0114]

I really hope it comes back around for you.  Good on you for documenting the less than perfect experiences you're having!  It still looks really cool!

[MainelyReefer]

Festivus!

nice job recalling what happened, even if it wasn't fun.

 

[Lula_Mae]

Sorry to hear about the troubles. If you have any Lugol's iodine, try a dip to see if it might help. A couple drops of Lugol's in a cup or so of tank water (adjusting proportions as needed) for 3-5 minutes. Do it a couple of days in a row and it might turn things around, or it might not but I always figure it's worth a shot. 

[Felicia]

Hi!  I have not yet received your January FTS for the contest.  Please pm it to me as soon as possible.

 

[Sean T]

Don't mean to revive an old thread, but what is the name of the electric blue light stripe you have over the tank?