Paly Peninsula: 2.5G Pico Contest - New Pics

[kimdawg]

Love it, that is my daughter's name.

[Christopher Marks]

Hi @caas1496! 👋 Can you believe it has been 7 months already?!

 

This is a friendly reminder to post your final competition FTS and a 1 to 2 paragraph recap of your experience in the pico reef competition. Be sure to share your future plans for your pico reef as well, will it continue forward or get an upgrade? The competition ends on Sunday October 27th at midnight, thank you for being a part! ❤️ 

[caas1496]

Pico Contest Final Thoughts

Its hard to believe the 7 months has already flown by! It has been awesome watching everyone's tank progress and interacting with this great community. I'm so glad this contest gave me a "reason" to set up another tank. It has been a great opportunity to experiment and has changed my outlook on a couple aspects of reefing. I want to share my takeaways and thank everyone who has taken the time to follow along and share advice.

 

But first... FTS time! All three views of the Paly Peninsula.

 

 

 

Bare Bottom!

Probably the biggest takeaway for me from this tank is I LOVE BARE BOTTOM TANKS. This has really surprised me. I was firmly in the camp of reef tanks need to have sand before this little experiment. I decided to try the bare bottom to give myself more real estate for coral in such a small tank. It's also so nice to be able to easily see and siphon out detritus. As the zoas grow out over the glass I like it more and more everyday. It has sparked so many ideas for covering the bottom of my up and coming 40 breeder build. Encrusting corals everywhere! I highly recommend giving it a try if you are on the fence.

 

Zoas.. Not Just for Beginners

Part of my reasoning for focusing on zoas and palys in this tank was I assumed they would be "easy" for a small, somewhat unstable tank. In some cases yes... but I have found that some of the varieties are very finicky. As with many varieties of coral I think the species tends to get generalized care recommendations but preferences can vary wildly by each different morph, and it can take some trial and error to pick spots that will make them happy. And for some reason palys seem to like my tank more than zoas... go figure

 

Multi Polyp Frags are Key

Over the course of the contest I have lost a few different varieties that I have tried in my tank. Most of these losses have been of varieties that I got as a single or double polyp. I have found that it is much harder to get a single or double polyp frag to take hold in your tank than a small colony. I have one frag that has been a single small polyp for months (since the contest began). I'm not usually one to pay more for a bigger frag because I always think I can just grow it out, but with a lot of these zoas and palys I have found that its worth it to get a frag of 4+ polyps.

 

Whats Next?

I am going to keep the tank going for the time being and keep this thread updated as often as I can. Once my 40 breeder is up and running this may become part of the aquascape for that tank. After that this tank may become the home for some freshwater shrimp. Thanks again to everyone who followed along with the journey of this tank! Lets finish this post up with some more pictures, cause who doesn't love pictures.

 

 

 

 

[Reefkid88]

I love it !!! I would hate to see this tank go away 😰

[caas1496]

On 10/25/2019 at 5:59 PM, Reefkid88 said:

I love it !!! I would hate to see this tank go away 😰

Thanks! It will be kept running for a while. I dont want to risk transferring anything until the new tank is really stable. I am growing very attached to my zoa collection. The only problem is that it is filling up... but maybe I can squeeze a few more varieties in there. 

[debbeach13]

Those zoa's are so beautiful. Great job with them.

[caas1496]

19 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Those zoa's are so beautiful. Great job with them.

Thank you! There are a lot of incredible zoa gardens out there that I drew inspiration from. 

 

The Yodas are doing well and just about to sprout a couple new polyps

 

A couple weeks back the King Midas and Blondies werent looking too hot. I gave them a dip in Revive and they seem to be recovering nicely. 

 

[caas1496]

Voting has begun! Dont forget to vote for you favorite pico reefs! There are a lot of amazing entries in the contest. 

And some more zoa shots as always (Nightmares and Rastas)

 

 

 

[debbeach13]

It has been fun and informative to watch your pico. Congratulations on making it to the end of the contest. I have never had a bare bottom tank. Even my QT had sand. Your tank and some others makes me think I should give it a try. The variety of colors is very impressive. Also impressive is the amount of growth. You mentioned finding the right conditions for the zoas does vary more then you might expect reading some general descriptions and care instructions. You seem to have found the right place for each variety. Well done! good luck with your new set up.

[caas1496]

On 11/2/2019 at 10:33 AM, debbeach13 said:

It has been fun and informative to watch your pico. Congratulations on making it to the end of the contest. I have never had a bare bottom tank. Even my QT had sand. Your tank and some others makes me think I should give it a try. The variety of colors is very impressive. Also impressive is the amount of growth. You mentioned finding the right conditions for the zoas does vary more then you might expect reading some general descriptions and care instructions. You seem to have found the right place for each variety. Well done! good luck with your new set up.

Definitely give bare bottom a try. It isn't as appealing as sand on day 1 but as you cover it with corals I think it adds a lot to the tank. 

I am still struggling with a making a few varieties happy in the tank but the challenge is part of the fun right?

 

Anyways finally got a decent shot of Muffins the peppermint shrimp. The newest inhabitant of this tank. 

I think he is slowly helping with the aiptasia. I have noticed a couple of them go missing and they certainly arent spreading as fast. I think he prefers to munch on the smaller ones.

[caas1496]

I noticed that the polyps that were struggling the most in this tank were all in the really low flow areas where the HOB filter really wasnt creating much water flow. 

 

So I added this mini pump! Time will tell if it improves health and appearance of the struggling zoas.

 

[caas1496]

Had some free time for tank photography tonight 🙂

 

 

 

 

[Reefkid88]

I love the clash of colors in the last pic,so awesome. 

[Tired]

Ugh, color me jealous.

[caas1496]

3 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I love the clash of colors in the last pic,so awesome. 

Thank you! Its really interesting the red ones are technically rainbow incinerators but they are a much darker morph of them. I think they should get their own name. They look very christmas to me with the red and dark green skirts.  Anyone have suggestions? With zoa names it seems like the more ridiculous the better haha

[caas1496]

The best view of the tank

 

[debbeach13]

Looks fantastic.