Midwest Industrial CC Pico Reef - Upsized Pico Now w/Sexy Shrimp

[ChristopherDido]

First Coral Added!!!! Temp Fluctuations figured out!!! Did lots of Adjusting to get it just right, holding pretty steady at about 76.  

 

One thing I had not thought about with this Container tank, was acclimating corals, had to dump out almost all the water out of the bag so that when I floated it it did not overflow the tank.  Hopefully won't have that problem with the next corals.  

 

I added a Rainbow Clove Polyp, first of these that I have seen in a LFS around my area, may not be exciting to some people but to me was very exciting to see this and add it.  Plus side the frag only cost me $10!!!!

 

FTS:

  

 

Closeup of first Coral, it hadn't fully opened yet when I took this last night, but i think it came out pretty good, photography will be very tricky on this tank as it is blown glass and has some imperfections, but I can be creative and figure this out too.

[duderubble]

Looking good. I really do love this container. I'd have been all over that frag too. 

 

I never acclimatize corals I dip in straight tap water for a couple minutes and throw them in. 

[Lula_Mae]

57 minutes ago, ChristopherDido said:

First Coral Added!!!! Temp Fluctuations figured out!!! Did lots of Adjusting to get it just right, holding pretty steady at about 76.  

 

One thing I had not thought about with this Container tank, was acclimating corals, had to dump out almost all the water out of the bag so that when I floated it it did not overflow the tank.  Hopefully won't have that problem with the next corals.  

 

I added a Rainbow Clove Polyp, first of these that I have seen in a LFS around my area, may not be exciting to some people but to me was very exciting to see this and add it.  Plus side the frag only cost me $10!!!!

 

FTS:

  

 

Closeup of first Coral, it hadn't fully opened yet when I took this last night, but i think it came out pretty good, photography will be very tricky on this tank as it is blown glass and has some imperfections, but I can be creative and figure this out too.

Overflowing is a constant struggle in pico-land haha.  If I get an online shipment I can only float a couple bags at a time so it takes forever lol.  I highly recommend always dipping new corals, I use Lugol's iodine (also good for ailing corals) but there are other dips too.

[ChristopherDido]

6 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Overflowing is a constant struggle in pico-land haha.  If I get an online shipment I can only float a couple bags at a time so it takes forever lol.  I highly recommend always dipping new corals, I use Lugol's iodine (also good for ailing corals) but there are other dips too.

Yeah, this is a new experience. I already dip corals in Reef Dip, well I do now anyway. My main tank in the house, I didn't do it at first, didn't know being new and all. Luckily didn't introduce anything horrible, just some Aptasia that I can't seem to kill permanently and some nuisance snails. Lesson learned.

7 hours ago, duderubble said:

Looking good. I really do love this container. I'd have been all over that frag too. 

 

I never acclimatize corals I dip in straight tap water for a couple minutes and throw them in. 

What? Straight Tap Water? I've never done anything in my tank using straight Tap Water, not even rinsing Chemi-Pure Elite bags, always rinse it a final time using RO.

[duderubble]

It probably depends on your source. I use tap even to mix saltwater. Just add dechlorinator. 

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, duderubble said:

It probably depends on your source. I use tap even to mix saltwater. Just add dechlorinator. 

Definitely need to have very clean tap water for that lol.

[MainelyReefer]

2 hours ago, duderubble said:

It probably depends on your source. I use tap even to mix saltwater. Just add dechlorinator. 

Noooo!!! RODI only, in a pinch expensive distilled.

[duderubble]

Lol. I have a theory that my good rural Missouri tap water is better than rodi that has been stripped of everything. It's got a nice reasonable hardness to start with. 

[Lula_Mae]

12 minutes ago, duderubble said:

Lol. I have a theory that my good rural Missouri tap water is better than rodi that has been stripped of everything. It's got a nice reasonable hardness to start with. 

Well, I believe salt mixes are designed to be used with pure, stripped-of-everything water so they don't account for anything that may be in your water to start with.

[duderubble]

Yeah, that's true, but the proof is in the pudding. My stuff seems to do pretty well. I intended to do the RO/DI thing but I can't find any reason to. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

[Rene]

Heh. I've used distilled in jugs for years, never had an issue.  But I keep pico tanks so the expense and inconvenience with that has been minimal. 

[fishfreak0114]

1 hour ago, duderubble said:

Yeah, that's true, but the proof is in the pudding. My stuff seems to do pretty well. I intended to do the RO/DI thing but I can't find any reason to. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

I used tap in my reef for the first two and a half years, and followed the same logic.  Things did well.  But then something happened and I started mixing water with 15+dkh alk!!!  Keep and eye on it, you never know when it could change!

[jahnje]

5 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

I used tap in my reef for the first two and a half years, and followed the same logic.  Things did well.  But then something happened and I started mixing water with 15+dkh alk!!!  Keep and eye on it, you never know when it could change!

My personal favorite are the seasonal "burns" we get around here. They'll bump the chloramine and sodium hydroxide for a week or so to burn out any lingering life in the pipes.   Nothing like a dhk of 1.5 and a ph of 10 coming out of the pipes.   So Then I have to sit on the water for almost a week or use ph down to acid out the hydroxide, before it drops all the way back to 7.3 or so, then buffer it back up to where I need it.  Probably could have just bubbled some co2 in and saved time, but in the end was just easier to go RO/DI.  What makes this really awesome is that I was putting Prime in my water at the beginning of the process.   But it only binds to chloramine for 48 hours, so by the end of the week when he water had aged, the binding was gone and I'd dump basically untreated water into my tanks.    Wonder why the fish keep dying...?   So now on two of my tanks that aren't anywhere near my RO system. I WC with just tap going straight into the tank, then Prime for the whole tank, which gives the bacteria time, 48 hours,  to convert all of the bound ammonia to nitrate. Can't do that with salt though. The thing i love about RO is that it gives you a consistent starting point each time for treatment and conditioning.  RO/DI is a cornerstone in the foundation of stability required for reef keeping.  

 

 I've really got to get more sleep....

[ChristopherDido]

I'll be staying away from the tap water here in St. Louis, who knows what's in the water around here lol. 

I've had good luck with RO so I'm sticking with it, like said previously if it's not broke don't fix it. 

[jahnje]

12 hours ago, ChristopherDido said:

I'll be staying away from the tap water here in St. Louis, who knows what's in the water around here lol. 

I've had good luck with RO so I'm sticking with it, like said previously if it's not broke don't fix it. 

what!?! you don't trust the river water?  I'm sure they carefully filter it through the superfund site out by the airport...

 

offtopic: I'm down by carbondale, IL, what LFS do you have that are worth checking out, they next time I'm up there? 

 

[samnaz]

I too would have been very excited about a rainbow clove polyp!

[ChristopherDido]

5 hours ago, jahnje said:

what!?! you don't trust the river water?  I'm sure they carefully filter it through the superfund site out by the airport...

 

offtopic: I'm down by carbondale, IL, what LFS do you have that are worth checking out, they next time I'm up there? 

 

I have bought from 3 different places.  I buy from Seascape Studios, Gateway Aquatics and the Corner Reef (Columbia, Il) and want to check out Corals & More in St. Charles hopefully I'll get out there someday.  The owner of Seascape has been amazing with helping me with a classroom tank and helping me get it stocked, been going to them a lot lately, they joke I should just get a job there... Honestly considering it for extra money in the summers.  There is a new place that just opened near Tower Grove Park called Art of Aquaria, he is still getting his feet on the ground, but he's a great guy to talk to.  Sorry I can't endorse just one, they all have pros and cons.  Shoot me a message if you get up this way and I'll try to meet up with you at one of them, it would be nice to meet another reefer out this way.

[jahnje]

46 minutes ago, ChristopherDido said:

I have bought from 3 different places.  I buy from Seascape Studios, Gateway Aquatics and the Corner Reef (Columbia, Il) and want to check out Corals & More in St. Charles hopefully I'll get out there someday.  The owner of Seascape has been amazing with helping me with a classroom tank and helping me get it stocked, been going to them a lot lately, they joke I should just get a job there... Honestly considering it for extra money in the summers.  There is a new place that just opened near Tower Grove Park called Art of Aquaria, he is still getting his feet on the ground, but he's a great guy to talk to.  Sorry I can't endorse just one, they all have pros and cons.  Shoot me a message if you get up this way and I'll try to meet up with you at one of them, it would be nice to meet another reefer out this way.

Will do! There's a hole in the wall over in fairview heights, il near petco called saltwater paradise that had a pretty nice selection of frags FWIW.  

[ChristopherDido]

I just added an RFA to my Pico!  I am so excited!  Hopefully this will be the start of a truly beautiful tank! Enjoy!

[ChristopherDido]

So I need some help here now. I do believe my RFA that I agreed yesterday had a baby! Let me know if that's what you think too. Question, I looked up what to feed (thank you nano-reef.com!) and planning on buying some tomorrow as all the LFS are closed right now. My question, how exactly should I feed it, just like a dropper? And how often? Anyone with some experience that can help? 

Two pics let me know if you think it's a baby RFA. Sorry best I could get with the round container.

[ChristopherDido]

Still not sure if I have a baby Nem or something else... Anyway wanted to give a quick couple of pics update. Did my first water change with corals in the tank this past Monday, will do another tomorrow. But for now a couple of pics! ?

FTS

Close up of RFAs

[fishfreak0114]

LOVE the RFA's!

[vlangel]

12 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

LOVE the RFA's!

Me too!  They are beautiful.

[ChristopherDido]

1 hour ago, fishfreak0114 said:

LOVE the RFA's!

Me Too! Only one place near me has them right now, and they're pretty pricey :-( I'm thinking in a few weeks do an online order for a few more to polish off the RFA rock! 

[Felicia]

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.