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Yoshii's Old School 2.5g Hawaiian Pico 🌴


yoshii

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1 hour ago, yoshii said:

Maybe a beefy HOB will do? 

There are several which will provide all the flow that you'll need.

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1 hour ago, yoshii said:

Got snacks and stopped by the LFS today!

 

IMG_20190331_161128023_HDR.thumb.jpg.e2089c20643834b7c2faaf70c5354d95.jpg

 

 

Picked up some dry rock and sand. I would have liked sand that was not so coarse, but I also didn't want to buy a 15lb bag of sand just for this tank

(don't mind the driftwood, that's for a different project)

IMG_20190331_161422855.thumb.jpg.3c58b873e0902d00638d5dea73aa68a0.jpg

you had to pay for sand???? lol

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16 minutes ago, seabass said:

There are several which will provide all the flow that you'll need.

I just need to pick one lol

 

8 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

you had to pay for sand???? lol

Haha yeah you can't collect live sand here

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Just now, yoshii said:

I just need to pick one lol

 

Haha yeah you can't collect live sand here

What?? what about sand in a jar? you could make two trips lol

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That reminds me, I did look into the regulations more, and it turns out as long as your fine mesh net is under 3ft in size, you can use it to collect fish for your aquarium! So I can use a hand net. The only other regulations that apply are the species-specific fishing regulations such as min size, bag limit, season, etc. However I don't have any interest in keeping food fish in this pico so I don't have to worry about that much. I'll just avoid protected areas, and stick to tide pools for fish collecting. I'm probably the only person who is purposely going to catch tiny tidepool blennies and gobies lol

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1 minute ago, yoshii said:

Haha yeah you can't collect live sand here

Being a pico,you could probably accidentally bring home enough in your shoes.

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1 minute ago, 748S911 said:

What?? what about sand in a jar? you could make two trips lol

Lol it still counts as live sand if you take it from the beach!

 

We have extra sand at work but it's a darker color which I don't want

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1 minute ago, yoshii said:

Lol it still counts as live sand if you take it from the beach!

 

We have extra sand at work but it's a darker color which I don't want

WAO..... I would look like the guys from escape from Alcatraz with the sand coming out of my shorts while I walk back to my car....lmao

  • Haha 1
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Someone posted a link to a nice DIY live rock video in another thread, and the guy used PVC primer to make the rock purple - GENIUS!! I already have PVC primer, I might have to try it with these rocks, although they are pretty white so I hope it wouldn't come out too bright purple.

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5 minutes ago, seabass said:

Being a pico,you could probably accidentally bring home enough in your shoes.

If only I wore shoes to the beach lol

 

Since moving here I almost never wear real shoes anymore :lol:

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1 minute ago, yoshii said:

Someone posted a link to a nice DIY live rock video in another thread, and the guy used PVC primer to make the rock purple - GENIUS!! I already have PVC primer, I might have to try it with these rocks, although they are pretty white so I hope it wouldn't come out too bright purple.

is that safe?.

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Just now, 748S911 said:

is that safe?.

Yeah you just gotta make sure it's 100% dry before adding it to your tank. You'd "paint" it on dry rock, it comes off in water when it's wet. We use pvc primer and glue on plumbing for our tanks, so it makes sense

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1 minute ago, yoshii said:

Yeah you just gotta make sure it's 100% dry before adding it to your tank. You'd "paint" it on dry rock, it comes off in water when it's wet. We use pvc primer and glue on plumbing for our tanks, so it makes sense

okay, I see where your going with that....hmmmm. maybe I should do it to my dry rock.  (which I picked up off side of road in Cozumel in 2006) lol. Customs was ok with it cause it was dead coral tho.

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1 minute ago, yoshii said:

Here are the videos, a very nicely done DIY rock tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCXDQpA-KkA&t=3s

Part 1

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rukLoEMZso

Part 2 (pvc primer use and instructions towards the end of the video)

I looked into that but they said it takes months for that rock to be tank ready... by that time the contest would be over lol....I do like the idea of getting my purple quick

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12 minutes ago, yoshii said:

That reminds me, I did look into the regulations more, and it turns out as long as your fine mesh net is under 3ft in size, you can use it to collect fish for your aquarium! So I can use a hand net. The only other regulations that apply are the species-specific fishing regulations such as min size, bag limit, season, etc. However I don't have any interest in keeping food fish in this pico so I don't have to worry about that much. I'll just avoid protected areas, and stick to tide pools for fish collecting. I'm probably the only person who is purposely going to catch tiny tidepool blennies and gobies lol

That's awesome!  Looking forward to seeing what you are able to catch.  I've tried a few times to catch blennies with a small net with my son and we always end up empty handed.  Those little buggers are fast!

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1 minute ago, 748S911 said:

okay, I see where your going with that....hmmmm. maybe I should do it to my dry rock.  (which I picked up off side of road in Cozumel in 2006) lol. Customs was ok with it cause it was dead coral tho.

Yeah I saw your coral skeleton piece on your thread. In the video, the guy uses it on his dark gray rock, so the purple comes out darker and looks more natural. I think I'll have to test a tiny piece and see if looks too bright on the dry rock

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Just now, 748S911 said:

I looked into that but they said it takes months for that rock to be tank ready... by that time the contest would be over lol....I do like the idea of getting my purple quick

Curing DIY live rock (or other concrete stuff for your tank) only takes months if you're curing very large pieces or a bunch of rock. It depends on the mixture, but usually at least 1 month to be safe. At my work we cure concrete for use in saltwater tanks and it takes a few weeks, although we use a flow through system and a different cement mix.

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3 minutes ago, Tigahboy said:

That's awesome!  Looking forward to seeing what you are able to catch.  I've tried a few times to catch blennies with a small net with my son and we always end up empty handed.  Those little buggers are fast!

There are a surprising amount of juvi fish that hang out at the beach in 2" of water and in tide pools. I saw a super cute little mamo (like sergeant damsel, endemic to Hawaii) at the beach yesterday in a very small and shallow tidepool. And some small black blennies, probably juvi Zebra blennies (also endemic to Hawaii). Next time I need to go back with a net and jar!

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1 minute ago, yoshii said:

Curing DIY live rock (or other concrete stuff for your tank) only takes months if you're curing very large pieces or a bunch of rock. It depends on the mixture, but usually at least 1 month to be safe. At my work we cure concrete for use in saltwater tanks and it takes a few weeks, although we use a flow through system and a different cement mix.

sounds like you have my dream job... working with saltwater aquariums, and living in Hawaii so jelly. Yeah sounds like way to much work for me, but im really intrested in the whole primer stuff.. LMAO if I end up having bright pink rocks im blaming you!!!

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5 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

sounds like you have my dream job... working with saltwater aquariums, and living in Hawaii so jelly. Yeah sounds like way to much work for me, but im really intrested in the whole primer stuff.. LMAO if I end up having bright pink rocks im blaming you!!!

Honestly didn't even know this kind of job existed until I applied lol. All those years of goofing around on NR finally came in handy :lol:

I'll let you be the tester...let me know what you do with that pink rock haha

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1 minute ago, yoshii said:

Honestly didn't even know this kind of job existed until I applied lol. All those years of goofing around on NR finally came in handy :lol:

I'll let you be the tester...let me know what you do with that pink rock haha

Well im happy your the only one that made it out of all us...lol  I will test it, from what I remember (and I hate plumbing) the first pass was light purple then the next pass it would be darker, then the next couple after that it would be deep purple. So yea... it should look good.  Stealing this thanks!

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8 hours ago, yoshii said:

Suggestions for flow/HOB?

I passed on an AC20 at the LFS today. I want to support them but I'm also cheap and know I can get it at Petco for half the price 😕 I'd like to keep the HOB on the end of the tank though, instead of the back, so I can get flow across the tank.

However, I'm thinking I might even want to go with a larger AC, for better flow. One of my favorite macros in Hawaii is Turbinaria ornata (below) which requires high light and high water movement. In the wild it is often found in the splash zone in the intertidal (which is where I will probably be collecting it). I would like to try to keep it in this tank, but I need higher flow. I want to try to get away with not adding an ugly powerhead. Maybe a beefy HOB will do? Add an airstone? Just put it right in front of the HOB outflow? What do you guys think?

Turbinaria-ornata.jpg.97b0e98fd14d05fc4629326994117f9a.jpg

I can see why you like the turbinaria ornata.  Its very attractive and I hope you can keep it in the pico.  It has that same nice color as sargassum which I have always wanted to try.  Sargassum also needs high light and fairly good flow.  I have never met an aquarist that has had success with it however.

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1 hour ago, vlangel said:

Sargassum also needs high light and fairly good flow.  I have never met an aquarist that has had success with it however.

I had some, but it seemed to die off; however, then it sprouted all over on a number of rocks.  I proceeded to make it wither to almost nothing with low nutrient levels.  As nutrients increased, it has taken off again.  I'm not saying that I have any secret method, but I've been keeping it since before the last pico contest.

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