Kickin' It Old School 2.5g Pico Reef Competition! 😎🎓

[This guy is extra salty]

Indeed! I’m chowing down on venison jerky right now

[MetaTank]

2 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Indeed! I’m chowing down on venison jerky right now

Screw the "like" button...where's the "love" button? LOL...Mmmmmm Venison Jerky and Apple Slices.

 

Seriously. yum.

[spectra]

5 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Hmm i will have to make those soon when they’re in season..

Hell yeah.......love my dehydrator........

 

 

5 minutes ago, MetaTank said:

You do jerky too?

 

I do that to......used to use the dehydrator but  now it's all on the smoker.......

[MetaTank]

Just now, spectra said:

Hell yeah.......love my dehydrator........

 

 

 

I do that to......used to use the dehydrator but  now it's all on the smoker.......

Ya'll making me wear out the "like" button here...lol

 

 

[spectra]

3 minutes ago, MetaTank said:

Ya'll making me wear out the "like" button here...lol

 

 

To be honest it's not that hard to make yourself..

 

I got tired of spending way to much for crappy jerky.......

I think I now it may cost me 4 to 5 dollars a pound to make.....

[This guy is extra salty]

12 minutes ago, spectra said:

Hell yeah.......love my dehydrator........

 

 

 

I do that to......used to use the dehydrator but  now it's all on the smoker.......

Ugh I wish I still had my smoker

i have to settle for the liquid smoke crap..

[spectra]

3 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Ugh I wish I still had my smoker

i have to settle for the liquid smoke crap..

I don't even use that anymore.......

 

I have a pellet smoker and love it.....had a Weber bullet and ran that for years. 

[Tmr8188]

Build thread is up:

 

Ordered a late night snack while the family is in bed.

[Reefnectar]

@Christopher Marks does it count if i just use equipment and livestock from my store? i work at a reef shop and I’d love to set up a little pico for funsies, or is actually purchasing the stuff one of the rules 😂

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Reefnectar said:

does it count if i just use equipment and livestock from my store? i work at a reef shop

There are no restrictions on livestock.  However, it might be interesting to know the value of the corals that you add (for comparison).

[Clown79]

Anyone thinking of keeping a tiny goby in their pico?

[MetaTank]

2 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Anyone thinking of keeping a tiny goby in their pico?

Only if it comes paired with a tiny shrimp

[Snow_Phoenix]

48 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Anyone thinking of keeping a tiny goby in their pico?

If you're okay with the price tag, look into Whitecap gobies. They form symbiotic pairs with shrimp. Problem is they're also extremely rare and expensive. I originally planned on adding a flaming prawn goby in my pico but none of my LFS expressed interest in bringing them in for me. So I settled for a tiny TSB, which I think might just be a better choice. 🙂

 

There's not many goby-type fish that'll 'fit' in a pico this size. Maybe GCG, YCG, Whitecap goby, Flaming Prawn goby, Hi-Fin (this can be paired up with a pistol shrimp) - those are the very limited choices I can think of. 

 

If you want something unique, I guess you can try a Clingfish (not to be confused with the Urchin clingfish) like the little black one going on DD few days ago. They're adorable. 🙂 

[seabass]

Not that I'm encouraging people to keep a fish in their 2.5 gallon contest pico, but @lgreen created a guide which might help if someone feels the need:

On 12/25/2005 at 1:42 AM, lgreen said:

0.5g Pico (1.9 L) (Includes Red Sea 0.5g Deco Art) (1 extra small fish)

• -Blue Neon Goby**
  -Catalina Goby [cold water]
  -Clown Gobies**
  -Eviota Gobies
  -Panda (Clown) Goby
  -Redhead Goby**
  -Trimma Goby
  -Yellow Neon Goby**

2.5g Pico - 5g (9.46 - 18.93 L) (Includes 2.5g Minibow, Eclipse Explorer, JBJ 3g Pico, 5g Minibow) (1 fish)

• All of the above plus:
  -Citron Goby
  -Green Banded Goby (added by c'est ma)**

** = Available Tank Raised

 

[MainelyReefer]

4 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Anyone thinking of keeping a tiny goby in their pico?

3 actually! Granite’s unethical Dropoff!

[Snow_Phoenix]

24 minutes ago, seabass said:

Not that I'm encouraging people to keep a fish in their 2.5 gallon contest pico, but @lgreen created a guide which might help if someone feels the need:

** = Available Tank Raised

 

According to the guide, you can keep 1 of those fish in a tank as small as 0.5G, but 0.5G is super small and I'd be very, very uncomfortable putting in any fish in a tank that size. I think the guide needs to be updated (JMO - feel free to ignore). 

But depending on the dimensions of our 2.5G++, it might be possible to get away with 1 tiny fish with minimal bioload, I suppose. Plus, some of us have slightly larger tanks because we couldn't get the exact dimensions for the contest, so maybe, 1 fish = yes...? 🤔

[seabass]

I agree, one of the extra small gobies listed for a half gallon pico would be fine in our contest tanks.  Others might choose to keep only inverts.  There are a surprising number of good options for these picos.

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

I agree, one of the extra small gobies listed for a half gallon pico would be fine in our contest tanks.  Others might choose to keep only inverts.  There are a surprising number of good options for these picos.

Yes. I personally can't wait to see what sort of various stocking arrangements people come up with. It'll be quite interesting. 

[asting]

What does anyone think about tiny gobies and nems? Specifically maxi mini, ugly ass RFA. I like the idea of a clown goby but assume it will be snacked on.

 

I've seen yellowtail damsels kept in picotopes and 2.5s before but am not entirely sure if I want to do that.

 

I guess sexy shrimp are an option.

[Snow_Phoenix]

8 minutes ago, asting said:

What does anyone think about tiny gobies and nems? Specifically maxi mini, ugly ass RFA. I like the idea of a clown goby but assume it will be snacked on.

 

I've seen yellowtail damsels kept in picotopes and 2.5s before but am not entirely sure if I want to do that.

 

I guess sexy shrimp are an option.

I think if you're doing a percher-sort of fish, you'd have to be extra careful if you're putting a mini maxi in as well. I'm not sure how 'predatory' RFAs are, but I have lost two dartfish to a mini maxi in my 20G before. In both cases, the fish was caught in the nem and managed to free themselves by died less than a day later after they began to exhibit white 'burns' on the sides of their body.

 

In a 2.5G, a percher is more likely to sit on a nem by accident since there's less room for the fish to perch. This is why I kept hesitating over the idea of transferring my red mini carpet into the 2.5G. I'm not sure if my future TSB will accidently perch on it and get stung/eaten. 🤔

[asting]

12 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I think if you're doing a percher-sort of fish, you'd have to be extra careful if you're putting a mini maxi in as well. I'm not sure how 'predatory' RFAs are, but I have lost two dartfish to a mini maxi in my 20G before. In both cases, the fish was caught in the nem and managed to free themselves by died less than a day later after they began to exhibit white 'burns' on the sides of their body.

 

In a 2.5G, a percher is more likely to sit on a nem by accident since there's less room for the fish to perch. This is why I kept hesitating over the idea of transferring my red mini carpet into the 2.5G. I'm not sure if my future TSB will accidently perch on it and get stung/eaten. 🤔

Yeah that's exactly my fear and why I'm assuming something like a yellowtail damsel would be safer, but less appropriate size wise.

[asting]

Fish muncher in question:

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

3 minutes ago, asting said:

Yeah that's exactly my fear and why I'm assuming something like a yellowtail damsel would be safer, but less appropriate size wise.

I kept a Yellowtail damsel + purple spot mantis in a 3G+ before. It is doable, but my tank was temporary and eventually I upgraded them both to a nano. You just have to keep a very, very close eye on your nitrates and phosphates. I think a 2.5G *might be a bit cramped though, for any damsel. I understand the temptation. Before I purchased my TSB, I saw these super ultra tiny Talbot damsels (each one was around 0.75" only) and it was tempting to bring them back for my tank. But I settled on the TSB because I knew a percher wouldn't need that much room to swim. 

4 minutes ago, asting said:

Fish muncher in question:

 

 

Yep - mine was exactly like this but green instead of orange.

[Christopher Marks]

9 hours ago, Reefnectar said:

@Christopher Marks does it count if i just use equipment and livestock from my store? i work at a reef shop and I’d love to set up a little pico for funsies, or is actually purchasing the stuff one of the rules 😂

Well, technically there's no rules against borrowing equipment or livestock, I think you'd be fine! 🙂 

[billdeluz]

10 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Anyone thinking of keeping a tiny goby in their pico?

Im thinking of a clown i have in qt he is 1/2 inch maybe i hand feed him mush nothing fits in his mouth hahaha not sure yet ill see how i set this up new tank is coming today so 🤤