Snow's 2.6G Little Monsters Picoreef - Retired!

[Snow_Phoenix]

Harvey just chillin'. 🤗

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Scavenging for pellets:

 

 

(Was too lazy to use my clip on lens so everything is blue)

[WV Reefer]

9 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Harvey just chillin'. 🤗

 

That’s such a great pic! 😊

[Snow_Phoenix]

17 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

That’s such a great pic! 😊

Thanks! 😛 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just added to tank:

 

Bird of Paradise Seriatopora

Forest Fire Digitata

Japanese Neon Green Nephtea

Captain America Palythoa

AOG Zoas

 

Full update later. Pics of new pieces in the upcoming days, when everything is (hopefully) open. 

[Ratvan]

Just now, Snow_Phoenix said:

Just added to tank:

 

Bird of Paradise Seriatopora

Forest Fire Digitata

Japanese Neon Green Nephtea

Captain America Palythoa

AOG Zoas

 

Full update later. Pics of new pieces in the upcoming days, when everything is (hopefully) open. 

Excited to see that Forest Fire!!

[Snow_Phoenix]

2 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Excited to see that Forest Fire!!

Well, I pissed off everything in the tank so there is nothing but a bald, dull stick to look at atm. Will post some pics up once it has some PE. 

 

I exhausted myself from the trip to my primary LFS (drove there alone for the first time ever and it was stressful & tiring) but it was worth it. 

 

Already scouted a lot of future frags to fill up my 60G in Dec. The Forest Fire was actually a free gift - I stretched my budget, and couldn't afford it. Store manager picked out one and let me have it. 🤐

 

I love my primary LFS. They're so nice & awesome. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Pics of the new corals as promised earlier - most of the pieces still are moody and don't have good PE, but here they are anyway:

 

Pink AOGs (to replace the ones I lost) :

 

 

 

Captain America paly (not fully open yet) :

 

 

Green nepthea (still floppy & moody) :

 

 

Bird of paradise seriatopora (minimal PE) - also, if you take a closer look at my brown milli below it, you will notice that the base of the milli is slowly turning pink 🤗 : 

 

 

Forest fire digi (partial PE) :

 

 

All corals were quite healthy & had full PE at the LFS. Sideview shots don't really show much, so I took some topview shots of the SPS pieces. 

 

I still have some film algae in this reef. And I watched Sapphire (damsel) tail-slap Harvey (shrimp) when he came too close to her burrow. 😄

 

Tank overall is doing okay. Can't wait to upgrade, because I need the room to work/put my hands in without knocking frags over. 

 

Also, I peeled off a small blob of coral glue from thumb and a small chunk of my flesh came with it. Had to clip the skin off, because for some reason, the glue was refusing to unstick from my skin even after running my hands under warm water. 😕

 

I'm not too happy with the current placements of 3 of the frags but I had to rush and glue/drop them in the tank because my mother needed me to drive her somewhere (emergency). 

 

I have a small Jebao wavemaker & new PAR 38 bulb otw to my house. Just waiting on the courier service. 👍

 

Will try to pick up the new tank in late Nov. It's going to be a bit expensive since it is custom-made, but I think it's worth it. Just need to slowly shift the cabinet upstairs, and plan out the TTM carefully to minimize any potential losses from the transfer. Will need to pick up some sand too. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Bonus pic: Dragon soul favia colony at the LFS. 

 

 

Beautiful, but the frags were very pricey. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Moved the orange leptastrea temporarily to the sandbed, behind the brown toadstool. I shifted it next to the cyphastrea to accomodate the new forest fire digi, and in that short period of time, both the leptastrea and cyphastrea stung each other. 

 

Damaged doesn't look too bad from what I can see. The cyphastrea has proven to be pretty resilient, so I think it can heal. As for the leptastrea, only time will tell. 😕 

 

I also noticed my trumpet coral isn't doing well because it's being shadowed by the Zoa Tower. It appears to have shrunk even more. 😞

 

Due to the way the bottom of the coral is shaped, it's quite difficult to place this coral properly anywhere in this tank. So I *might have to shift it back to the 60G and hope for the best. 😕

[Snow_Phoenix]

Everything is still waking up in this reef, so most corals don't have full PE/not fully open yet: 

 

Captain America paly:

 

 

Nepthea standing upright today, but no PE yet:

 

 

Rainbow brain:

 

 

Even the inverts aren't super active yet. Memphis settled on my tubbs blue zoas overnight, apparently:

 

 

Harvey & Benny having a conference under the rocks:

 

 

Kraken (brittlestarfish) & Prowler (goby) are staying well hidden, but Sapphire (damsel) is already out & actively scouting the tank. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

My new PAR38 bulb has arrived, and it is bright! 😄

 

 

I actually think this is more than enough for the upgraded tank. There might be shadowing in the corners, but my LED light strips should take care of that. 👍

[A.m.P]

Definitely be cautious at first, parabolic aluminized reflectors are still capable of producing an impressive amount of light.

I have mine nearly 15" off the surface of the tank and it still cooked an iron man shroom 12" below the water line.

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Definitely be cautious at first, parabolic aluminized reflectors are still capable of producing an impressive amount of light.

I have mine nearly 15" off the surface of the tank and it still cooked an iron man shroom 12" below the water line.

I agree. The handle is adjustable, so I can keep at least 12" above the waterline if need be. I'm not planning on clamping it to the tank though - I was thinking of clamping it to two bookstands with a thick book in the middle. The knob area takes up a lot of space in the water otherwise, and the light is quite heavy - just worried that even with thickened aquarium glass, the glass will be stressed enough to crack over time.

 

Also, not planning on using this light on the pico (it's overkill for that tiny tank), but I will use it for the 10G long tank in Dec. Just figuring out how best to position it, and how high to position it so that it doesn't fry/melt anything. 

 

My previous PAR38 bulb was only 30W and quite bright. This is even brighter. Also, might stick a piece of black tape of the red LED to minimize its intensity (don't need extra algae popping up all over the tank later on). 

[Snow_Phoenix]

A couple of quick shots of some of the corals today morning. Tank is still a bit sleepy & waking up slowly. 

 

Setosa has grown quite a fair bit since I first got it:

 

 

 

Bird of Paradise seriatopora:

 

 

^One of the sticks of the brown milli started declining overnight. I'm not entirely sure why. Granted, this piece wasn't healthy to begin with, but I was hoping it'd bounce back. 😓

 

Forest fire digi:

 

 

Pink/Green milli:

 

 

 

Red pavona:

 

 

More to come! 😊

[Snow_Phoenix]

Tenuis:

 

 

Tricolored blasto (I think the vermetid snail next to it is irritating it and preventing it from opening up fully - need to break that tube) 🤔 :

 

 

Jack-O-Lantern lepto:

 

 

Blasto merlettis: 

 

 

The Zoa Tower is still sleepy. But the Captain America Paly is slowly waking up, and I can see the Rasta trying to open up too! 🤗 :

 

 

I'm actually quite nervous & excited for the new build. I know it's around <1.5 months away, but I already have most of the equipment (the wavemaker is in transit from the parcel sorting hub) and I only need to pick up the tank. 

 

Will have to pick a day to move the cabinet, and also buy some sand (!). Hopefully everything pulls through smoothly - I'll be taking rocks from the fuge of my 60G & 10G nanocube downstairs. 😊👍

 

I'll have to put Sapphire in a breeder box first, to give Prowler & the other animals a chance to settle in their new environment. I think 2 fish are more than adequate in that tank. Was initially planning on adding my bicolor blenny as well, but perhaps not. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Breaking this up into two updates. 

 

Update #1:

 

The monti piece has made a full recovery. No more white edges or patches spotted:

 

 

New UC polyp has grown a *bit bigger:

 

 

This leather is actually outgrowing this tank rather quickly: 🤔

 

 

Yuma getting cozy under the rock:

 

 

A very unflattering sideview of my digi:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #2:

 

Harvey & Memphis had a small clash of territory in the evening. Harvey tried to steal a pellet from the rainbow brain which is hosting the crab, but Memphis chased him off with a tiny wave of his claws:

 

 

 

Neither party was injured, thankfully. 

 

Here's some bad news. All corals that have *yellow colors in them appear to be fading. I only realized how bad it was until my rasta opened up for a short while just now:

 

 

Which prompted me to check on the LA Lakers & blue hornets:

 

 

They look awful. 😭

 

I'm either missing some vital trace elements that keeps yellow corals yellow, or my lighting isn't strong enough. 

 

I think it is a mix of both issues. I can rectify the lighting issue, but I'm hesitant over dosing any further buffers into this system - I already dose Mg, Ca & Alk daily, and WC 100% every week. 

 

So I'm stuck on this one. Do any of you have any suggestions on what I should do to bring the yellows back up? 

 

I thought of texting my store manager for help, but he's very busy, so I'm a bit reluctant to reach out to him. He is way more experienced than I am though, so if there is a problem or solution with the pico, I'm sure he can help. 

 

Strange thing is that none of my other corals have lost their colors. Some have actually regained their original vibrancy or are still retaining full colors. I'm confused. 😓

 

And of course, this just *had to be a zoa problem. I'm just glad it's not the pox. Again. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Memphis filter feeding from the water column: 

 

 

Sapphire: 🥰

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Fed the little reef some rotifers. The brain coral definitely enjoyed it! 😄

 

 

 

 

Memphis was actively feeding as well. If you look closely,  you can see rotifers being picked up by his little filter feeders and he quickly eats them, before stretching out his little front legs (?) again:

 

 

He also apparently learnt how to levitate: 😂

 

 

I'll be doing a full WC later in the evening. And probably replace the floss tomorrow (I already replaced it & added a new sock of carbon yesterday to the HOB). 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Tossed a few pellets into the reef and that brought Harvey & Benny out: 😅

 

Harvey:

 

 

Benny:

 

 

 

Benny's central disc looks very plump and big. I wish Kraken (the brittlestar) would eat more so that he can grow big too.

 

Will perform a WC shortly. 😊👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

WC time! 💦

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

And we're done! 😊👍

 

 

Sandbed stirred, glass scraped, water changed. It's never over until you're left with a tank full of pissed off corals. 😅

[Ratvan]

1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

WC time! 💦

 

 

What do you use the blue tub with the hole in it for?

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

What do you use the blue tub with the hole in it for?

Ah, friend. That's actually a mini stool that I sit on while measuring & mixing salt in the container.