Dr. Seuss's Truffula Tank - 2.5 Old School Pico

[ChristopherDido]

So I'm in... This will be my second pico reef, wife gave me the go ahead. I'll be building this pico reef through the eyes of a child.  We just had our son just over 7 months ago and watching him discover and be fascinated by the simplest of things and reading to him at nights got me thinking of all the wonderful fairy tale like aspects there can be to reefing. So this build will be devoted to my son and recreating a scene from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, so I present to you Dr. Seuss's Truffula Tank. I hope to build a whimsical little world that my son will be fascinated by and Dr. Seuss would be proud of. Here's my official entry shot, tank should be wet today:

 

Hardware:

Aqueon 2.5G - $14

Aquaclear 30 - $0

Cobalt heater - 5W, probably gonna have to replace this - Changed to Tetra HT10 $20

Par38 not sure if it's the 12W or 23W I bought both during the reef jar contest and can't remember which stayed over the converted jar (anyone know how to tell by looking at it?) - $0

Still need to find/make a lid that will work with HOB on there (any ideas?)

Planning to do manual top off

Stocking:
Still deciding on lots of things...
Plan for corals at the moment, Truffula Trees (AKA different colored hammers) and trying to grow green, grassy mats (thinking green star polyps) over the "hilly" rocks. Will also keep looking for other corals that will keep the Lorax theme. 

[seabass]

Awesome theme!  Looking forward to watching it come together.

 

I could see a shaving brush fitting in well.

[ChristopherDido]

10 minutes ago, seabass said:

Awesome theme!  Looking forward to watching it come together.

 

I could see a shaving brush fitting in well.

I will have to keep my eyes open for these here! Thanks!

[WV Reefer]

14 minutes ago, seabass said:

Awesome theme!  Looking forward to watching it come together.

 

I could see a shaving brush fitting in well.

 

I was thinking that too or mermaids cup. 

[Wingy]

I love the theme.  The Lorax was a favorite of mine as a child.  

[Tigahboy]

Love the theme as well!  Welcome to the contest.  Looking forward to showing your tank to my son.  

[ChristopherDido]

1 hour ago, Wingy said:

I love the theme.  The Lorax was a favorite of mine as a child.  

Thanks!  It's honestly still one of my favorites and I am glad I get to share it with my little one now!

58 minutes ago, Tigahboy said:

Love the theme as well!  Welcome to the contest.  Looking forward to showing your tank to my son.  

Thanks!  I'll try not to disappoint you or him! 😎

2 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

 

I was thinking that too or mermaids cup. 

I just spent a few minutes searching for those, no clue where I would even begin to look to find them, not too much info on them other than wikipedia, but I'll keep my eyes open.

[seabass]

LiveAquaria has shaving brush in stock: https://www.liveaquaria.com/category/3752/marine-plants-algae?c=497+3752&r=

 

Not currently in stock, but Aquarium Depot may occasionally have mermaid's cup: https://aquariumdepot.com/tea-cup-macro-algae-acetabularia-sp/

or possibly check Gulf Coast Ecosystems: https://www.live-plants.com/wineglass.htm

 

Candy cane (trumpet) coral might be a coral choice that you can consider.  Looks a bit Dr Seuss to me.

 

[SeaFurn]

This is neat! I had thought of something very similar for the 100 Days of Nanos contest tank but didn’t pull the trigger on it so I’m anxious to see how yours turns out! 

[yoshii]

What a great theme! You have lots of coral/macro/other options for creating your whimsical look, I'm looking forward to how this turns out

[seabass]

I read in another thread where someone used purple PVC primer to color their rock.  Dying dry rock purple might be a cool look for this tank.

[pricewayne]

Lovin’ it!!

Duncans may be a great fit, too.

[ChristopherDido]

6 hours ago, seabass said:

LiveAquaria has shaving brush in stock: https://www.liveaquaria.com/category/3752/marine-plants-algae?c=497+3752&r=

 

Not currently in stock, but Aquarium Depot may occasionally have mermaid's cup: https://aquariumdepot.com/tea-cup-macro-algae-acetabularia-sp/

or possibly check Gulf Coast Ecosystems: https://www.live-plants.com/wineglass.htm

 

Candy cane (trumpet) coral might be a coral choice that you can consider.  Looks a bit Dr Seuss to me.

 

I was considering Trumpets, I'm still playing around with whimsical ideas. I'll keep an eye out for some macros like those. I like that idea too, may need to add more sand.

5 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

This is neat! I had thought of something very similar for the 100 Days of Nanos contest tank but didn’t pull the trigger on it so I’m anxious to see how yours turns out! 

I'm a little anxious myself, I've never tried something like this.

5 hours ago, yoshii said:

What a great theme! You have lots of coral/macro/other options for creating your whimsical look, I'm looking forward to how this turns out

Me too! Hoping it doesn't fall flat on it's face.

5 hours ago, seabass said:

I read in another thread where someone used purple PVC primer to color their rock.  Dying dry rock purple might be a cool look for this tank.

Don't think I'm even going to attempt this lol, but good idea, maybe when I feel more experienced.

4 hours ago, pricewayne said:

Lovin’ it!!

Duncans may be a great fit, too.

I've never had Duncans, this could be a good opportunity to try if I find the right ones 🙂

[This guy is extra salty]

Definitely going to be fun especially that background 

[seabass]

18 hours ago, ChristopherDido said:

Don't think I'm even going to attempt this lol, but good idea, maybe when I feel more experienced.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try it out.  Granted that there are a number of ways that you could do this which might result in different outcomes.

For this test, I had rinsed the rock and dabbed it dry with a paper towel before dabbing on the PVC primer.  The outcome might be different with a completely dry piece of rock.

 

I also tried diluting some primer in water (using an old bleach bottle with the top cut off), but it just clumped together.  I didn't experiment with the clumped purple, but it's possible that you could use that to achieve some intense purple splotches.

 

The composition of the rock will also make a difference, obviously bits of quartz won't adsorb as much primer as calcium carbonate.  So you'd want to try a few samples before attempting it on larger (or more) rock.

 

Anyways, just thought I'd share.

[748S911]

welcome to the contest!

[ChristopherDido]

3 hours ago, seabass said:

Out of curiosity, I decided to try it out.  Granted that there are a number of ways that you could do this which might result in different outcomes.

For this test, I had rinsed the rock and dabbed it dry with a paper towel before dabbing on the PVC primer.  The outcome might be different with a completely dry piece of rock.

 

I also tried diluting some primer in water (using an old bleach bottle with the top cut off), but it just clumped together.  I didn't experiment with the clumped purple, but it's possible that you could use that to achieve some intense purple splotches.

 

The composition of the rock will also make a difference, obviously bits of quartz won't adsorb as much primer as calcium carbonate.  So you'd want to try a few samples before attempting it on larger (or more) rock.

 

Anyways, just thought I'd share.

That's an interesting idea, I wish I was brave enough to try it, but I'm just not sadly. Maybe some other time I will.

1 hour ago, 748S911 said:

welcome to the contest!

Thanks excited to be a part of it.

[ChristopherDido]

21 hours ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Definitely going to be fun especially that background 

Yeah I was pretty excited to do that. Wish I had the skill to etch something, but it'll work.

[ChristopherDido]

Alright quick update. Got the rock in and I'm halfway pleased, may need to get one more piece of rock to fill out what I'm trying to do. Now for the downside. One piece of rock I am already seeing Aptasia on! I pulled it out and literally killed one or two with fire. Maybe I'll make a video on my next fire excursion. But here is the tank with rock. The right side rocks should fit together nicely after I am done killing all the Aptasia on the far right rock. Let me know what you think! 

[This guy is extra salty]

4 hours ago, ChristopherDido said:

Yeah I was pretty excited to do that. Wish I had the skill to etch something, but it'll work.

Lol it will work and love the theme

[748S911]

4 hours ago, ChristopherDido said:

Alright quick update. Got the rock in and I'm halfway pleased, may need to get one more piece of rock to fill out what I'm trying to do. Now for the downside. One piece of rock I am already seeing Aptasia on! I pulled it out and literally killed one or two with fire. Maybe I'll make a video on my next fire excursion. But here is the tank with rock. The right side rocks should fit together nicely after I am done killing all the Aptasia on the far right rock. Let me know what you think! 

background looks like cocoworms lol

[yoshii]

8 hours ago, seabass said:

Out of curiosity, I decided to try it out.  Granted that there are a number of ways that you could do this which might result in different outcomes.

For this test, I had rinsed the rock and dabbed it dry with a paper towel before dabbing on the PVC primer.  The outcome might be different with a completely dry piece of rock.

 

I also tried diluting some primer in water (using an old bleach bottle with the top cut off), but it just clumped together.  I didn't experiment with the clumped purple, but it's possible that you could use that to achieve some intense purple splotches.

 

The composition of the rock will also make a difference, obviously bits of quartz won't adsorb as much primer as calcium carbonate.  So you'd want to try a few samples before attempting it on larger (or more) rock.

 

Anyways, just thought I'd share.

I tried it out this weekend too, forgot to take pics but it looked similar to your pics if I used white dry rock. It got a little darker purple if I did multiple layers. It looked infinitely better on a piece of dry light gray rock, much darker and more natural looking. I did have to use more than expected, since it's so watery and soaks into the rock

[yoshii]

Love the fun background 🙂

[Wendy]

With your rock scape the background really pops! Are you going to try to emulate that inside your take?

That'd be really cool to see!

[ChristopherDido]

On 4/8/2019 at 10:03 PM, yoshii said:

Love the fun background 🙂

Thanks! I'm hoping I can do it justice and bring it to life.

20 hours ago, Wendy said:

With your rock scape the background really pops! Are you going to try to emulate that inside your take?

That'd be really cool to see!

That is my goal, with maybe a free flourishes of extra whimsy 🙂

On 4/8/2019 at 9:49 PM, This guy is extra salty said:

Lol it will work and love the theme

Thanks! Glad people like the theme, was afraid I was gonna get some hate for it 🤣

On 4/8/2019 at 9:52 PM, 748S911 said:

background looks like cocoworms lol

Not sure if that's a compliment or not lol

 

Not much to update right now, hoping to get a test thing of macros this weekend to see if everything is good! I did notice that the small heater is giving me too much fluctuating in temp, so gonna need to buy a different heater this weekend, what heater fits in the AC30 HOB?