gen's 365 AIO challenge *closed*

[gen]

Well I saw the challenge thread I thought that I could use my pico to enter the contest : I started adding the first frags last week and wasn't entirely happy with the outcome. So why not take everything out of the tank, dry it, take a shot and start again to join the aventure?

 

Here is the dry tank (yeah, I kinda like mustard).

 

It's a Superfish IQ13, around 13 liters / 3.5 gallons : 

• Light : Asta 20 (should be enough for what I plan)
• Pump : upgraded the original one in the return chamber with a cheap one from amazon, around 300l / 80g per hour (cheap but silent)
• Heater : small superfish 50w heater
• ATO : cheapest one I found on ebay
• Small thermometer

 

 

Made some adjustments, espacially to provide a real flow in the back chamber : had to seal some holes allowing water to run trought the return pump directly.

 

The hidden and ugly truth : outlets and ATO tank (old salt bucket, but small enough to get under the furniture)

 

What it looks like with light on.

 

 

 

I haven't changed plans for this pico, I want to make it a sexy shrimp tank with soft corals (sinularia, zoas, GSP). The challenge should force me to stay focused on that rather than messing it up every few weeks.

 

[Ratvan]

Yay another competitor. 

Look forwards to seeing what you do

[seabass]

Neat little tank.  Good luck!

[Smurf]

I read through your old journal and want to follow along! 

 

We will be around the same tank size. 

Still thinking of the Thor set-up?

(Also, finally someone with a better condiment)

[devaji108]

off to a great start!

[ef4life]

Looks like a good start, I can’t wait to see more

[gen]

Thank you guys

2 hours ago, Smurf said:

Still thinking of the Thor set-up?

Yeah, that's my goal. I want to "mimic" a freshwater tank, hence the GSP (if I can control its growth). 

[gen]

Since I already had a cycled system (waiting in a bucket while my tank was dry) I added some corals, they seem happy so far. 

 

Now I just need to wait fot them to grow. 

 

Also added a snail to take care of the algae. 

 

 

To help with natural filtration the back chamber is full of rocks. 

 

The plan for now is simple :

• Wait for things to grow on the main rock (especially GSP and sinularia) 
• Find a place for the ricordea, it didn't like my 60l tank, so I hope it will thrive in the pico. 
• Find something to do with the magnet thing. 

[gen]

Quick update :

• Things are going well, the red zoanthus (actually my first coral ever) never looked so good. Polyps are fully opened. 
• Took out the ricordea, he wasn't happy in that tank. 
• Added a second snail to help cleaning

Probably gonna try to find some more zoanthus to grow on the bottom. 

I m trying different light setup on the Asta, will how corals respond. 

 

 

[Ratvan]

Starting to look real nice, how many heads do you have in the tank of the red zoas? My Utter Chaos Palys started popping heads out after a week under the Asta 20. Think I was at 60% on all channels, whites 80%. Couple clicks at least. 

[debbeach13]

Looking good. I have a love hate relationship with zoa's. I love them they hate me

[gen]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:10 PM, Ratvan said:

Starting to look real nice, how many heads do you have in the tank of the red zoas? My Utter Chaos Palys started popping heads out after a week under the Asta 20. Think I was at 60% on all channels, whites 80%. Couple clicks at least. 

I think I have around 20 polyps on each rock (that was one colony before I cut them in half). Will definitely watch them closely to see if they pop new heads. 

 

On 2/19/2020 at 10:11 PM, debbeach13 said:

Looking good. I have a love hate relationship with zoa's. I love them they hate me

That was my case for at least a year. When I got them, half the colony disappeared after a month, then they seemed to barely survive and now they are finally growing. 

Yours will eventually start to show some love too one day 😁

 

I bought some Thor shrimps online (among other things) , they should be here by wednesday. I m still considering if I should add them in that tank right away or wait till I had more corals / hiding spots (they would join my others shrimps in the 16g then). 

 

[gen]

Thor shrimps are finally in the tank. I also added some frags I had laying around. 

 

I think I ll keep adding whatever frags I can find (softies / mushrooms) to cover the bottom and back wall over time. I want a coral forest. 

 

[gen]

Fed a big chunk to the rhodactis yesterday, the shrimps followed. 

 

[debbeach13]

So cute. Did they get the food out of the coral? Don't forget your FTS today. 

[gen]

One of them ate from the coral. I think it's always the same acting like I don't feed the tank... 

Some FTS (not my best work). 

 

[gen]

Time for an update on the tank. It looked a bit empty so I switched some corals from the nano. 

Flow was an issue with only the small return pump. The toadstool would open but not look as happy as he was in his previous tank. So I added a spare pump to help (on the left).

 

This is the current look of the tank (corals are a bit upset since I just plugged everything back). 

 

I m waiting 1 or 2 days to see if all inhabitants get happier, if that's the case I m probably gonna order a better pump. 

Will update a better shot if the toadstool opens up. 

[gen]

I still have some minor adjustments to make (espacially about the zoas in the shade of the toadstool) but overall it looks better. 

 

[debbeach13]

Looks good, big and fluffy now

[gen]

A full tank shot, before a good cleaning. Switched the light for a stronger I had laying in the basement. It's a bit big for this tank but I like the color. 

 

 

And a shot from above, for a better view on corals. 

 

[SaltyGallon]

Cool set up mate, that's going to look really cool once the GSP starts going nuts!

[gen]

Thanks.

I m not sure yet I want the GSP to go nuts. Might add more soft corals. 

 

The frags seem to like the current setup too. 

[debbeach13]

Looks great 

[gen]

Some close up shots :

 

Some sort of clam under the toadstool. That small GSP gonna get glued somewhere else, dunno where yet. 

 

Love the pattern

 

Polyps forest

[gen]

Keeping this pico tank was fun but I realized I was starting to lack time and motivation to ensure a good maintenance. 

While I was planning to transfer the 60liters (16g) inhabitants in a newly received Nuvo 20 peninsula, I guessed it would also be a good time to transfer the pico stuff in it. 

My only goal at this point being to keep my shrimps and corals happy. 

 

So that's it for the challenge. It was really fun to join.