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Orangutran's 2g Cube - Non-contest pico. :(


Orangutran

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cfaye@Delaware

Hi, I'm in, a little late......I clean my small tank w/ a turkey baster and red plastic party cup.......LOL

Living in a cold place w/ a Betta ain't easy.......LOL......

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Here we go... I got a couple pieces of LR at lunch, but could only fit one into the jar. Slight miscalculation. 

 

When my coworker saw it, she thought the mangrove was an asparagus! Lol, it actually does! I should call this the asparagus pico. :) 

 

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Obviously I can't put the lid on, so crossing my fingers evaporation is not too bad over the weekend. Ideally I would set it up on Monday and monitor during the week, but I know I will be too busy next week to do it! I mixed the SW a bit lower salinity in anticipation for this...

 

I got the 5w cobalt heater (it's so cute!) in the jar, but afraid to plug it in--waiting till Monday. The room temp water over the weekend should also help reduce evaporation.

 

Sad to leave work... :( 

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Came in to work this morning, with the pico at 68F. Not a big deal cus I don't have anything in the tank, and the heater wasn't plugged in yet. And over the weekend, there was only 1/8" of evaporation from the container!

 

37733795341_acaa5b60f6_z.jpg

 

Plugged in the Cobalt 5w mini heater at 9:30, and it has risen to 76F at 3:30. So far so good!!

 

Just wanna say that the 5w Cobalt heater is only 4" long! The description online says 5"! Rated for up to 1.2 gal.

 

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One thing I learned about this pico jar is that the magnifying effect of the curved glass is pretty extreme! Can't wait to see how it looks with corals or inverts in it!

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On 10/8/2017 at 4:23 PM, Orangutran said:

Yeah I checked the aqua forest link Felicia posted?, unfortunately  I'm not in the states. Was checking all the Betta bowl ones last night, I will only need a 5watt unit! Learned that most of those small heaters are always on! What a crazy concept, but guess it does the job!

In Toronto. You?

This contest has opened my eyes to pico reefs. 

 

DUMB QUESTION:

How does one do a water change on something so small? Use an airline tube? 

I use a gravel siphon...same one I use on my ten gallon, only I popped off the hand pump thing and have to start suction with my mouth omgomgomg.  It's tricky business, let me tell you.  I DON"T want a mouthful of sea water LOL.

 

That's a pretty cute little heater. 

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48 minutes ago, gena said:

I use a gravel siphon...same one I use on my ten gallon, only I popped off the hand pump thing and have to start suction with my mouth omgomgomg.  It's tricky business, let me tell you.  I DON"T want a mouthful of sea water LOL.

 

That's a pretty cute little heater. 

I have gotten the mouthful before lol.  YUCK!

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3 hours ago, gena said:

I use a gravel siphon...same one I use on my ten gallon, only I popped off the hand pump thing and have to start suction with my mouth omgomgomg.  It's tricky business, let me tell you.  I DON"T want a mouthful of sea water LOL.

 

That's a pretty cute little heater. 

Umm... Let me try the cup first... Lol at least until my sand gets dirty and needs vacuuming. And I'm gonna practice at home, before I try it at work!  

 

Yeah seriously! If there's a cute piece of equipment, this heater is it!

2 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

I have gotten the mouthful before lol.  YUCK!

Hope you didn't swallow! Lol

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2 minutes ago, Orangutran said:

Umm... Let me try the cup first... Lol at least until my sand gets dirty and needs vacuuming. And I'm gonna practice at home, before I try it at work!  

 

Yeah seriously! If there's a cute piece of equipment, this heater is it!

Hope you didn't swallow! Lol

Nope I spit that right out and rinsed with freshwater and probably went straight to brush my teeth lol.

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4 minutes ago, Orangutran said:

Umm... Let me try the cup first... Lol at least until my sand gets dirty and needs vacuuming. And I'm gonna practice at home, before I try it at work!  

 

Yeah seriously! If there's a cute piece of equipment, this heater is it!

Hope you didn't swallow! Lol

You'll have more control with a cup.  My siphon pulls water out SUPER fast.  Makes for a quick water change I suppose LOL.  It's a little difficult holding the tube while trying to mix up the water to get the detritus and not banging into corals :wacko:.

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15 minutes ago, gena said:

You'll have more control with a cup.  My siphon pulls water out SUPER fast.  Makes for a quick water change I suppose LOL.  It's a little difficult holding the tube while trying to mix up the water to get the detritus and not banging into corals :wacko:.

Hmm... Fast is good though! I only have 30 mins lunch break! 2 mins water change and 28 mins for eating.

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11 hours ago, gena said:

 I DON"T want a mouthful of sea water

 

11 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

I have gotten the mouthful before lol.  YUCK!

 The struggle is real! 

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Woohoo! Pico temp is a constant 76F, since my company keeps the office at around 70-72F. So if someone is looking for an "always on" heater for a 1 gallon pico, I would recommend the Cobalt 5w mini heater. 

 

Next step is I might look into adding some nutrients to feed the mangrove, since I'm not feeding any critters. Seachem has a good line of freshwater fertilizers. :D 

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24 minutes ago, Coral_chef said:

Just saw the mangrove I was thinking of getting one as well, been trying to find a slightly older one though

They're hard to come by here, but yeah, I would like an older one too. 6 months is not very long for a mangrove to grow ...

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2 hours ago, Orangutran said:

They're hard to come by here, but yeah, I would like an older one too. 6 months is not very long for a mangrove to grow ...

I found some big ones on eBay for $120....

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On 10/16/2017 at 11:45 PM, Lula_Mae said:

Nope I spit that right out and rinsed with freshwater and probably went straight to brush my teeth lol.

Nutrient rich--consider it a meal replacement shake! :D 

 

Here's a quick shot, not much has changed. I feel like a slow poke compared to everyone else's pico. May drop by the LFS tomorrow at lunch to see if there are any rics!

 

Sun lit shot. It's too bad the windows at my work are tinted, so I'll never get full-on sunlight!

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I have to say, it's super relaxing to have this reef jar at work. I can just stare at the rock and it makes me happy. :)

 

And here is the make-shift glass cleaner/scraper I used inside the jar, made of takeout chopsticks and paper towel:

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2 hours ago, Orangutran said:

Nutrient rich--consider it a meal replacement shake! :D 

 

Here's a quick shot, not much has changed. I feel like a slow poke compared to everyone else's pico. May drop by the LFS tomorrow at lunch to see if there are any rics!

 

Sun lit shot. It's too bad the windows at my work are tinted, so I'll never get full-on sunlight!

37767688812_1da786952b_z.jpg

 

I have to say, it's super relaxing to have this reef jar at work. I can just stare at the rock and it makes me happy. :)

 

And here is the make-shift glass cleaner/scraper I used inside the jar, made of takeout chopsticks and paper towel:

37089977744_ff4a53ba41_z.jpg

Blegh haha.  Looks good though!

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On 20/10/2017 at 12:57 PM, gena said:

Looks awesome already!  I love all the white surrounding it :).

Thanks! Everything is white at my work! But there is a blue glow from the par light, so I tell all the non-reefers that I'm tanning! 

 

20 hours ago, Mariaface said:

I wish I could reef at work :P  I can't even tell what's causing cyano in the work betta tank, though...

I hope I can keep this reef jar at work long term!  ( It's very ambitious of  me) If it becomes too much I'll get a Betta bowl instead! Lol (didn't know cyano exists in freshwater!)

 

Will transfer a couple of zoa rocks on Monday. :) I added 3 blue leg hermits on Friday, but LFS sold outta rics. 

 

One of the zoa rocks has mushrooms on it that were hitchhikers, plus a couple of baby bi-valves which I hope will survive in the jar with limited flow. I'm having second thoughts now, cus I don't want them to die. :(

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On 10/22/2017 at 1:32 PM, Christopher Marks said:

Great setup @Orangutran, it's so bright and cheerful in your office! Natural sunlight is a nice amenity during the day, even if it is filtered, reef tanks just feel so different under sunlight.

 

Do you miss it over the weekends yet? :D 

Thanks Chris, and I agree, natural sunlight on a reef tank can't be replicated by any kind of light fixture! 

 

I do all my pico planning on the weekend! lol And make a list of everything I need to bring on Monday morning. Added a rock this morning, but not happy with the aquascape yet. I'm just itching to stick my hand in to re-scape it at 5 o'clock when most people leave!

 

First coral added! 

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(The hermits were pissing them off)

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So my mangrove isn't doing too well. Maybe I need to do my first water change (it's been over a week!). So much for good husbandry, but it's a bit of a hassle being at work. And speaking of which, I will need a small heater to heat up the new water. I don't normally heat up my new SW at home since it's only 10%, but this is going to be 100%! 

 

I forget how much hermits poop. Very noticeable on the new white sand! I might bring one of the hermits home, only wanted 2, but the girl at the LFS said there was a deal if I bought 3. lol

 

Here is the final scape of the jar... final for this week at least. ;)

 

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Looks like a pile of rocks, but it's got tons of holes and crevices. I like it. Notice the sad mangrove...

 

And a better top down shot of the zoas! (good ol' eagle eyes!) Really liking this point of view, something new to me!

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