TheCauldren

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

Hi All

 

Hope you and your reefs are doing well.

 

I've been lurking for quite a while picking up useful info along the way, thank you.

 

I've been admiring S/W aquariums for some time but never had the time or space to get into the hobby. 

Lots of people saying how difficult it is to keep a S/W aquarium running but the pico reef contest showed that it could be done reasonably cheaply

with  enough supervision.

 

A few months ago, Early August I decided to trip the big toe in and with the  help of a work colleague set up my own Pico "TheCauldron", hope fully there are a couple of pics in this topic if they uploaded OK, on my desk.

 

Equipment wise its pretty straight forward:

 

Eden 511external filter with heater

 

A no name aquarium light, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8KG52D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it seems pretty good for this small tank.

 

Some lily inflow glass pipes, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8KG52D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Plus all the usual test kits and accessories you need to keep it looking good.

 

 

TheCauldren has been up a  few months now, we started it with some water and some food from my Colleagues setup, dry rock and some bacteria starter.

Seemed to cycle quite quickly. We did put some challenged Zoas and Palys in from his tank as they were probably going to snuff it or were being hassled by his shrimp and we used The Cauldron as a safe house. These corals seem to have recovered quite well solar and the tank is quite stable. 

 

Live stock 

 

Herman the blue legged hermit was introduced to her control the hair algae, which he did a Stirling job on, now there is more algae in there I'm sure he's stuffed to the guns, time for a few snails.

 

I introduced some clams muscles and some other Zoas a few weeks ago only to find a few Nudibranch hitchhikers, several treatments of Salifert worm exit later and all seem to be recovering.

I did get a couple of brittle stars as hitch hikers as well though. Initially I wasn't aware the clams ere actually alive I thought it was just a couple of shells embedded in the rock, but they seem to be opening and closing ok.

 

2* Turbo snails, Bob and Bob.

Frogspawn

Armour of God Zoa

Granny apple smith Zoa

Eagle eye Zoa

 

 

Hitch hikers

 

Brittle stars

Spagheti  worms

amphipods

Some thing else I'm not sure what it is can't get a good picture yet.🙂

 

I found that over the weekends the evaporation was a bit too much so ordered a perspex lid and 3D printed some brackets, a massive improvement, very little evaporation now.

Started feeding corals etc once a week with reef roids, Herman can shift when he gets a taste and scammpers across the tank the the dripper and hangs on while he scoffs as much as he can 🙂

 

Thats all for now, I'll get some better pics as things develops

 

Update:

Fragged the utter chaos as these will be going back to there original tank along with the Pallys.

Added the Zoas mentioned above.

 

Coraline algae is coming along, a lot more spread around the rock.

Hair algae continues to be an issue on the muscles, Herman and the Bobs don't seem to want to touch it 😞

Frogspawn seems to be quite happy for now.

Tanks in need of a good clean up, next weeks major task.

 

Once I see a few more heads start to appear on the frags I'll move them to the rock and make room for a feather duster and something of interest at the front.

 

 

EDIT: That lovely Forgspawn is no longer 😞

 

I'm not sure what caused it but it detached from the skeleton, basic chemistry looked fine, everything else was happy, but did a 90% water change anyway.

It did have some Hair algae growing through it which may have irritated it

 

It settled in a hollow at the back of the tank and looked like it might recover as it was expanding its limbs, so I left it there.

However the next day it had gone!

Even though it had remnants of its skeleton attached it managed to get sucked up the outlet pipe, yes there is a cage on it.

 

Sad but I think if I get another I'll do a more regular water change to ensure unmeasured chemistry is a bit more stable.

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2019 by TheCauldrenKeeper
Tank update (Sad News :()

[WV Reefer]

5 minutes ago, TheCauldrenKeeper said:

Hi All

 

Hope you and your reefs are doing well.

 

I've been lurking for quite a while picking up useful info along the way, thank you.

 

I've been admiring S/W aquariums for some time but never had the time or space to get into the hobby. 

Lots of people saying how difficult it is to keep a S/W aquarium running but the pico reef contest showed that it could be done reasonably cheaply

with  enough supervision.

 

A few months ago, Early August I decided to trip the big toe in and with the  help of a work colleague set up my own Pico "TheCauldron", hope fully there are a couple of pics in this topic if they uploaded OK, on my desk.

 

Equipment wise its pretty straight forward:

 

Eden 511external filter with heater

 

A no name aquarium light, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8KG52D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it seems pretty good for this small tank.

 

Some lily inflow glass pipes, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8KG52D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Plus all the usual test kits and accessories you need to keep it looking good.

 

 

TheCauldren has been up a  few months now, we started it with some water and some food from my Colleagues setup, dry rock and some bacteria starter.

Seemed to cycle quite quickly. We did put some challenged Zoas and Palys in from his tank as they were probably going to snuff it or were being hassled by his shrimp and we used The Cauldron as a safe house. These corals seem to have recovered quite well solar and the tank is quite stable. 

 

Herman the blue legged hermit was introduced to her control the hair algae, which he did a Stirling job on, now there is more algae in there I'm sure he's stuffed to the guns, time for a few snails.

 

I introduced some clams and some other Zoas a few weeks ago only to find a few Nudibranch hitchhikers, several treatments of Salifert worm exit later and all seem to be recovering.

I did get a couple of brittle stars as hitch hikers as well though. Initially I wasn't aware the clams ere actually alive I thought it was just a couple of shells embedded in the rock, but they seem to be opening and closing ok.

 

I found that over the weekends the evaporation was a bit too much so ordered a perspex lid and 3D printed some brackets, a massive improvement, very little evaporation now.

Started feeding corals etc once a week with reef roids, Herman can shift when he gets a taste and scammers across the tank the the dripper and hangs on while he scoffs as much as he can 🙂

 

Thats all for now, I'll get some better pics as things develops

 

 

 

Hi! Very interesting shape! What is that container?

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

WV Reefer, I was going to do the usual drinks dispenser but it looked untidy. While browsing in a discount household shop I came across this in the vase section. 

Its just a large glass urn, about 10mm glass thickness and about 13 ltrs in volume. I think in total, with filter,  its about 15ltrs - rock etc. 

There are some distortions in the glass and the curvature makes things look closer to the front than they really are. Its easy to rotate to get a better view, within limits of tubing.

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by TheCauldrenKeeper
spelling as usual

[WV Reefer]

1 minute ago, TheCauldrenKeeper said:

WV Reefer, I was going to do the usual drinks dispenser but it looked untidy. While browsing in a discount household shop I came across this in the vase section. 

Its just a large glass urn, about 10mm glass thickness and about 13 ltrs in volume. I think in total, with filter,  its about 15ltrs - rock etc. 

There are some distortions in the glass and the curvature makes things look closer to the front than they really are. Its easy to rotate to get a better view, within limits of tubing.

 

 

Its pretty awesome. Can’t wait to see how it grows. 🙂

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

Me too,

the two small rocks on either side I plan on attaching magnets to and site them closer to the back and sides 

[Lula_Mae]

to Nano-Reef! Neat looking tank, picos are fun!

[SeaFurn]

5 hours ago, TheCauldrenKeeper said:

Hi All

 

Hope you and your reefs are doing well.

 

I've been lurking for quite a while picking up useful info along the way, thank you.

 

I've been admiring S/W aquariums for some time but never had the time or space to get into the hobby. 

Lots of people saying how difficult it is to keep a S/W aquarium running but the pico reef contest showed that it could be done reasonably cheaply

with  enough supervision.

 

A few months ago, Early August I decided to trip the big toe in and with the  help of a work colleague set up my own Pico "TheCauldron", hope fully there are a couple of pics in this topic if they uploaded OK, on my desk.

 

Equipment wise its pretty straight forward:

 

Eden 511external filter with heater

 

A no name aquarium light, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8KG52D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it seems pretty good for this small tank.

 

Some lily inflow glass pipes, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8KG52D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Plus all the usual test kits and accessories you need to keep it looking good.

 

 

TheCauldren has been up a  few months now, we started it with some water and some food from my Colleagues setup, dry rock and some bacteria starter.

Seemed to cycle quite quickly. We did put some challenged Zoas and Palys in from his tank as they were probably going to snuff it or were being hassled by his shrimp and we used The Cauldron as a safe house. These corals seem to have recovered quite well solar and the tank is quite stable. 

 

Herman the blue legged hermit was introduced to her control the hair algae, which he did a Stirling job on, now there is more algae in there I'm sure he's stuffed to the guns, time for a few snails.

 

I introduced some clams and some other Zoas a few weeks ago only to find a few Nudibranch hitchhikers, several treatments of Salifert worm exit later and all seem to be recovering.

I did get a couple of brittle stars as hitch hikers as well though. Initially I wasn't aware the clams ere actually alive I thought it was just a couple of shells embedded in the rock, but they seem to be opening and closing ok.

 

I found that over the weekends the evaporation was a bit too much so ordered a perspex lid and 3D printed some brackets, a massive improvement, very little evaporation now.

Started feeding corals etc once a week with reef roids, Herman can shift when he gets a taste and scammers across the tank the the dripper and hangs on while he scoffs as much as he can 🙂

 

Thats all for now, I'll get some better pics as things develops

 

 

 

Really cool!  

[KNelson]

Looks really cool!  Only concern I'd have is chemicals.  Do you have a cleaning service/staff that cleans your work areas or do you clean your own?  Do your cubicle neighbors have anything that would cause a problem like air fresheners? 

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

KNelson, My desk is cluttered on purpose, the cleaners only clean what they can see:)

There is a lid, not shown in the pics, so that helps a little.

We have desks here but few of us use them,we are mainly lab rats.

 

I wanted something to drag me away from the lab so I could focus on some coding I have to do, other wise I get stuck tinkering and answering questions, not sure TheCauldren is the right thing though 🙂

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

I think I've found out what my new critter is, a Sea squirt, see pic below, at the bottom between the Zoas

 

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

The original Cauldren is no more :(

 

There was an infestation of hair algae that I couldn't get under control, then there was a zoa die off that didn't respond to dips etc.

 

Pretty much lost every thing apart from Herman, the hermit and a Bob, snail.

 

Restarted from scratch after a good clean.

 

Have a couple of Mushrooms and some Zoa's  will wait patiently to see hoe these do before investing more.

 

I'll get some pics up when things start growing into the space a bit more.

 

 

 

[WV Reefer]

2 hours ago, TheCauldrenKeeper said:

The original Cauldren is no more 😞

 

There was an infestation of hair algae that I couldn't get under control, then there was a zoa die off that didn't respond to dips etc.

 

Pretty much lost every thing apart from Herman, the hermit and a Bob, snail.

 

Restarted from scratch after a good clean.

 

Have a couple of Mushrooms and some Zoa's  will wait patiently to see hoe these do before investing more.

 

I'll get some pics up when things start growing into the space a bit more.

 

 

 

So bummed to hear this. ....... good luck with the restart. 

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

Here's a fuzzy pic, need to get a nice bit of rock for a centre piece

 

[kimdawg]

Just read the entire thread and thought you got rid of Cauldren  shape totally.  Glad to see that you didn't.  I think it will look really cool when it grows out some.  The top down pics will be awesome looking.

[TheCauldrenKeeper]

8 hours ago, kimdawg said:

Just read the entire thread and thought you got rid of Cauldren  shape totally.  Glad to see that you didn't.  I think it will look really cool when it grows out some.  The top down pics will be awesome looking.

There was a stage where everything was looking great, I think I maybe rushed the inclusion of other critters. I'm taking my time this time, have a few frags in, expecting a few more in a couple of weeks, then I'll wait for them to stabilise before adding much else. The shape is a bit awkward for frag racks etc but overall I quite like it.