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Fishfreak's C.C. Coffee Pot Pico: Soft reboot complete


fishfreak0114

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fishfreak0114
1 minute ago, Mariaface said:

That's right, be jealous of our Dick!! :P 

 

I honestly don't know what's considered 'too small' for some inverts.. Meanwhile @metrokat is keeping two red cherry shrimp and teeny snails in what has to equate to two cups of (fresh)water...

He's just so cute!

 

I don't really how to gauge tank size for inverts either.  Why can't there be minimum tank sizes listed for inverts on live aquaria?   Bet she can cram a few more cherries in! :lol:

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MainelyReefer

That mushroom has two mouths! Like it forgot it was going to split or something! I wont call PETA if you put a pistol in here, I actually encourage it.  

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fishfreak0114
51 minutes ago, GraniteReefer said:

That mushroom has two mouths! Like it forgot it was going to split or something! I wont call PETA if you put a pistol in here, I actually encourage it.  

I noticed that!  It's kind of weird.  I think I'll be on the lookout for a pistol :)

 

47 minutes ago, metrokat said:

Cute Dick is cute. :lol:

:lol:

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fishfreak0114
7 minutes ago, seabass said:

How about Raymond J. Johnson Jr.?

Not gonna lie, I had to google that.  I'm going with it! :lol: Raymond J. Johnson Jr. it is!

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fishfreak0114
14 hours ago, SaltyBuddha said:

Pistol shrimps are way cool. I love how @Mariaface's Dick (? lol) is moving around so freely. He probably likes being the only one in there for now.

:lol:When I had my current pistol in QT I got to see him all the time and he was certainly interesting!

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fishfreak0114

The weekend brought lots of action for the pico.  I did a 75% water change on Saturday and added a couple loose corals from my other tank.  Sunday morning I dumped in a cube of frozen rotifers and geez did it ever make a mess!  A couple hours later, I did a 100% water change, fragged some zoanthids and glued them in, and added more sand.  Lots of the zoas were still closed when I turned the light off last night, I expect it'll take most of them a few days to recover.  After all, being cut off a rock is quite traumatic!  Raymond keeps knocking things off :rolleyes:

 

Here's the pot full of food.  I think next time I'll put in less....

37343120674_1ba8fcc9cb_k.jpgPA281394 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

One thing I've noticed is that with the ill-fitting lid, some salt escapes when the bubbles pop.  I had turned the flow up for a while to see what it was like, and this is the salt that ended up on my phone after I left it charging next to the pico overnight.  The pot requires regular wiping.

37343119824_66bee7e587_k.jpgPA281399 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

I picked up this blasto a while back, and while trying to cut off some skeleton I broke it into three pieces.  Two of the pieces went in here.  You can also see a lot of pissed off zoas.

37343120564_a461b182e9_k.jpgPA291400 by orb1915, on Flickr

37343120494_120cdba84b_k.jpgPA291402 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

37343120324_ddc9e9038d_k.jpgPA291403 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

When I picked up my yuma from the sand bed In my other tank, I found this one too!  I believe it used to be my orange one, which detached and disappeared quite a while back.  I'm hoping it can recover in here.

37343120194_d555c45818_k.jpgPA291404 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

Crappy pic of the other Yuma.  It's purpleish.  It didn't take too kindly to being picked up, and promptly folded itself in half.  It has since unfurled, and I'm hoping it'll attach to the rock or Raymond will knock it off.

37343120014_6937f5bd3e_k.jpgPA291406 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

24200153868_b4e3aa93d1_k.jpgPA291407 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

37343119964_ca3e4f8507_k.jpgPA291408 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

Full Pot Shot.  I look forward to seeing things when I'm home either tomorrow or the next day.  Hopefully the zoas will be open.  I hope to place a coral order by boxing day at the latest to get some more zoas.

24200153558_9ea808d676_k.jpgPA291411 by orb1915, on Flickr

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fishfreak0114

Not the best news on the pico front.  That mushroom I bought, the first coral I added to the tank?  It died :( Turned to mushroomy moosh. 

 

I think the light might be too strong, and maybe that's what killed it, because I thought mushrooms were supposed to be indestructible.  More evidence to support this: the GSP opens shortly after the lights turn on, but closes up again after a while, and a number of zoas (the ones that have recovered from fragging already) behave similarly.  The mushroom death made things pissed.  Raymond is fine, the asterinas are fine, the zoas are fine, and the toadstool and yumas.  The blasto looked rough, so I moved it back into my other tank to recover.  And actually, I kind of prefer it without the blasto.  The scape has more of a shape.  I suspect ammonia went up and that's another reason things are pissed, aside from the light.

 

Actions to correct:  I just did a 90% water change, removed the mushroom mush, added Prime, and put electrician's tape over half the light bulb.  Fingers crossed things get happier.

 

I'll do another water change and add prime tomorrow.  I'm kind of afraid to leave the light on now!  It's just over a foot away from the pot and with half covered, 7.5w.  Should I tape over more?

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Question, have you ever thought about using a rheostat to put in line and use the standard bottom plate heater of the coffee pot to heat the water, instead of an actual in tank heater?

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2 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Should I tape over more?

It's hard to say, not seeing it in person.  I'm tempted to say no.  I'd probably start with a six hour light cycle and increase it over time to eight hours.

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fishfreak0114
8 hours ago, R_Pierce said:

Question, have you ever thought about using a rheostat to put in line and use the standard bottom plate heater of the coffee pot to heat the water, instead of an actual in tank heater?

I haven't, and I'm not even sure what a rheostat is!  I cut the cord off the machine and threw it out the day I bought it, so it's just a non-functioning shell now.   Maybe if I ever do another coffee pot I'll look into it :). The current heater works pretty well. It doesn't have to stay on long to keep the temp where it needs to be because it's a 50w heater in 0.3g!

8 hours ago, seabass said:

It's hard to say, not seeing it in person.  I'm tempted to say no.  I'd probably start with a six hour light cycle and increase it over time to eight hours.

Ok, I'll keep the lights on less :) I've just been doing it manually because I'm still waiting to hook up a timer.  I'm going to keep a close eye on the corals and see how they respond to half the light.  Hopefully things perk up today. Not that they looked awful yesterday, but things definitely could have been open more. 

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fishfreak0114

Things are looking better after water changes and the light reduction.  I should note that the corals in my tank have only had indirect sunlight and an inadequate light from the light that's usually on my 10g planted for a month and a half.  I suspect it will take them a while to adjust to proper lighting. 

38167282691_95462c12a4_k.jpgPB031422 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

Some more of the zoas are starting to open

38111422306_a174100674_k.jpgPB031424 by orb1915, on Flickr

38167283281_641908673b_k.jpgPB031426 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

The GSP seems to like the new light level.  I had no luck gluing it directly to the pot, so I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it.  Ideas welcome.  I was thinking I could always glue it to the top part of the heater?  Or maybe I'll just let it stay at the front.

24314627168_33db214098_z.jpgPB031428 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

I added some red macro yesterday, and a mushroom that I found floating around in my other tank.  I'm trying to give it time to stabilize before I add more, but I figured the mushroom would just get lost in a crevice if left to float around.

38167282971_c4b224e3e0_k.jpgPB031438 by orb1915, on Flickr

24314626718_c83a68f8f6_k.jpgPB031439 by orb1915, on Flickr

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fishfreak0114

Things have been moving along in here.  I hope to get some new pics up when things are (hopefully) less pissed tomorrow.  The rest of the zoas opened within a day or two of the last pics.

 

Today I put in some mysis juice for the corals and mysis for Raymond.  A few hours later I did a 95% water change.  I added a few more zoas from my other tank, including some nuclear greens that were being stung by my RFA.  I noticed after putting them in that they have some hair algae on them :unsure: Weird because I never really see hair algae in my tank?  Hopefully Raymond chows on down.   This thing is filling up fast!  I need to remind myself to leave a little room for new types of zoas.  I still see a fair amount of particles floating around, so I'll likely do another water change tomorrow.  I also took out most of the GSP, leaving just a small piece which I glued to its own little rock.  It was just looking to large and chunky.  I attempted to re-glue the yumas while the water was out.  I doubt it'll work, but I'm tired of them drifting around.

 

I'm still contemplating inverts.  I have no idea what I'll be able to get my hands on, but I'm hoping a guy an hour and a half away in Kelowna will be able to get some things for me.  Before he started his official business, when he just sold frags out of his house, I got some really nice looking zoas from him. I'd like to see what he has now.  As for inverts, if I can get my hands on a randall's pistol, that's my first choice.   I also wouldn't mind a porcelain or pom pom crab.  I'd rather get a pom pom, seeing as I already have a porcelain in my other tank.  He is a cool little dude though, and I wouldn't mind a second.  Would it be over stocking to get all three?

 

I leave Monday morning for a school trip to Bamfield Marine science center.  It should be fun, I've been once before, but this time I'll be going with people in my grade.  I'll be back Friday, but I'm at my dad's house for the weekend so I may or may not stop by to see the tank at some point.  My mom will be in charge of all my fish.  For the coffee pot, I told her to just top off with freshwater every day or two and make sure everything looks alright.  And if things look bad, take all the water out and dump it into my other tank and refill it again.

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fishfreak0114

Well, I was right.  This morning the yumas are adrift yet again.  Perhaps I'll put them in a small container with rubble and hope that they attach themselves.

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fishfreak0114

Last night I arrived home from my trip to the marine science center.  What a blast!  It was a super cool experience and I got to be my geeky self the whole time!

 

There were some troubles in the pico while I was away.  My mom did her best, but there was a couple losses.  Damn mushrooms.  No more mushrooms.  The two yumas, discoma, and unhealthy St.Thomas I put in just before I left have all disappeared and caused problems. 

 

At least one turned to mush, which made everything else really upset.  The first couple days I was gone, my mom reported that pretty much everything but one zoas polyp was closed.  She did a 100% water change.  By Thursday, a few more zoas had opened, and the toadstool was coming out again.  She did at least one more 100% water change while I was gone.  When I went over today, the toadstool and cabbage leather were out, the GSP was out, Raymond was fine, but the zoas were all closed and the mushrooms were missing.  I found a pile of mush, but no idea what mushroom/s that was.  It reeked.  Did a 100% water change, cleaned the glass for the first time, and added a drop of Prime.  So the lesson here--no more mushrooms.  They drift under things and die.

 

I already saw a couple zoas starting open just after the water change, so I think things are back on track :)

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fishfreak0114

I'm seeing some improvements today.  I did another 100% water change.  Here's a quick pic to show the change.  Note that more zoas were open before I jostled the pot around to get the light over top for pictures.  I can't wait for the hanging socket to arrive!  Then I can finally have it properly lit for photos, and clear some space on my table.

26758708389_1cec50cc02_k.jpgPB190526 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

You can see a few polyps peaking out even after I accidentally made them close

37647022675_6a0865739d_k.jpgPB190527 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

The GSP is forever happy.  I love this stuff

!37818840214_14b78cdb77_k.jpgPB190532 by orb1915, on Flickr

 

I hope to get some better pictures and my November FTS once everything is back to normal and I figure out how to position the light so the whole pot is lit but there isn't a reflection.  I'll probably continue 100% water changes daily or near daily until everything settles down again.

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fishfreak0114

This evening things are looking even better. Most zoas are at least peeking out.  I added another yoda polyp since I found it drifting in my other tank and I figured it would get lost.  I also added two micro brittles.  I finally saw my pistol shrimp in my other tank, and if it becomes a regular occurrence I likely won't get one in here.  I think a pom pom crab is my top contender if I can find one :)

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Christopher Marks

A pom pom crab would be fun! Glad the polyps are starting to settle in.

 

How has the temperature and salinity been on this coffee pot? Do you feel good about the circulation from the air pump in such a small space?

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fishfreak0114
23 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

A pom pom crab would be fun! Glad the polyps are starting to settle in.

 

How has the temperature and salinity been on this coffee pot? Do you feel good about the circulation from the air pump in such a small space?

They're adorable, I really want a Pom pom!

 

The temperature has been alright I think. I haven't actually checked, but I trust that the heater is keeping it stable. As for salinity, evaporation is minimal so I haven't had to worry about it swinging at all. I've also been doing water changes frequently, so parameters stay consistent with my other tank.  

 

The circulation seems pretty good I can see particles drifting around. I can turn it up more too if I ever need it. 

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fishfreak0114
2 minutes ago, Felicia said:

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

Will do!  I'm hoping more zoas open up before the deadline :)

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