RDA's 1.2 Pico

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

1 hour ago, JohnTheReefer said:

How are you liking the Autoaqua lite ATO? Has it been reliable?

I really like them! I've had two of them for just about a year now and have had zero problems. Money well spent imo.

 

I got mine off of ebay, but you can get them off of aliexpress for around $50.

[alfredt]

1.2g Birdseye view.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

New little friend 😁

[JR!]

sick.

You think the Jebao DC650 will fit in the 4.1?

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

4 minutes ago, JR! said:

sick.

You think the Jebao DC650 will fit in the 4.1?

Haha thanks. 

 

I tried. (The return pump chamber is the same dimensions as the one in this tank). There isn't a really good way to fit it. Also even at the lowest setting it really rips in the 4.1 and kind of overwelms the overflow a bit.

[debbeach13]

7 hours ago, The Rainy Day Aquarium said:

New little friend 😁

What is that? It looks like a tiny eel. I love the colors.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

2 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

What is that? It looks like a tiny eel. I love the colors.

It's a teeny weeny Snowflake Eel 👶

 

My LFS had them in at around ~3". Since my Golden Tail Moray passed a while back, I couldn't overlook the chance to get another eel, especially this small 😁

[Daniel92481]

Awesome eel! Is that your 4.1 or new 1.2? Looking good my man! 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

1 hour ago, Daniel92481 said:

Awesome eel! Is that your 4.1 or new 1.2? Looking good my man! 

He is a pretty active little guy haha!

 

This is in my 1.2.

My 4.1 has been taken down.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Also before someone sends me a nasty message this is a very temporary thing. It'll be moved to an appropriate sized tank when it is eating and has been quarantined. I needed to keep a closer eye on it to make sure it's doing well before it gets lost in my larger display 😊

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Figured I'd give an update on this tank since it's been a while. We are currently overhauling our living room, which has been fun, but a lot of work. As consequence, all but this here pico reef has been cut from the team (previous projects, tanks, etc. Goodness even my planted tank was sold off).

 

Ironically even with only one tiny reef left it hasn't seen much love. I'm coming up on 2 months without doing as much as glancing at it I've been so busy (really trying to get this renovation thing done asap). I guess it doesn't help that my ato container is more than 2x the size of this tank which has enabled me to forget about it for so long. Notwithstanding some hair algae and an apparent aptasia outbreak, I'd say things are going pretty well. Funny enough my LPS corals are doing great and all of the zoas look pretty poor. (Probably something to do with the aptasia and hair algae growing through their space) my tiny snowflake eel has been moved to a larger home and the only residence now are some small cerith snails so pretty quiet in all. I have some aptasia x on the way so hopefully our little friends will go away.

 

In the spare time that I do have, I've been thinking about adding some macro algae to help scrub the water. Also, a blueberry gorgonian really caught my eye as a centerpiece for this tank, but if I ever get my hands on one that will come when I actually have time to keep up with maintenance and such. 

 

In all, things aren't too bad. Tonight smells like a water change though and then I'll be set for another 2 months, see you all then😜

 

[Daniel92481]

Your tank is awesome! That gorgonian will be a nice contrast to your green corals.😁 

[debbeach13]

Tank looks super. Good luck with the rest of the renovations.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

On 5/7/2021 at 5:52 PM, Daniel92481 said:

Your tank is awesome! That gorgonian will be a nice contrast to your green corals.😁 

Hey thank you!

I think so too. The right side of my tank is green heavy and the left has too many reds/oranges haha so I'll eventually move some things around and try to get a better balance of colors (which I think a neat blue gorgonian will help with that 😅👌).

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

On 5/8/2021 at 5:10 AM, debbeach13 said:

Tank looks super. Good luck with the rest of the renovations.

Thanks Deb 😊 lots of things indeed to finish up. It'll get there one day.....maybe haha.

[CD_Scapes]

On 5/7/2021 at 5:26 PM, Chowder's Reef said:

Figured I'd give an update on this tank since it's been a while. We are currently overhauling our living room, which has been fun, but a lot of work. As consequence, all but this here pico reef has been cut from the team (previous projects, tanks, etc. Goodness even my planted tank was sold off).

 

Ironically even with only one tiny reef left it hasn't seen much love. I'm coming up on 2 months without doing as much as glancing at it I've been so busy (really trying to get this renovation thing done asap). I guess it doesn't help that my ato container is more than 2x the size of this tank which has enabled me to forget about it for so long. Notwithstanding some hair algae and an apparent aptasia outbreak, I'd say things are going pretty well. Funny enough my LPS corals are doing great and all of the zoas look pretty poor. (Probably something to do with the aptasia and hair algae growing through their space) my tiny snowflake eel has been moved to a larger home and the only residence now are some small cerith snails so pretty quiet in all. I have some aptasia x on the way so hopefully our little friends will go away.

 

In the spare time that I do have, I've been thinking about adding some macro algae to help scrub the water. Also, a blueberry gorgonian really caught my eye as a centerpiece for this tank, but if I ever get my hands on one that will come when I actually have time to keep up with maintenance and such. 

 

In all, things aren't too bad. Tonight smells like a water change though and then I'll be set for another 2 months, see you all then😜

 

DUUUUUDE I SHOULD NOT HAVE READ THIS...I want to get one of these (although probably the 2.6 size). I have an ONF Nano+ LED that I plan on using as it is 9000K if I remember right. Stocking wise I was thinking maybe like just some sofites and a clown goby? Who knows, but I want a reef on my dorm desk to contrast my 2 freshwater tanks

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

They are neat little tanks for sure! The return nozzle, however, leaves much to be desired IMO. A softy dominated pico would be fun 😄

[CD_Scapes]

21 minutes ago, Chowder's Reef said:

They are neat little tanks for sure! The return nozzle, however, leaves much to be desired IMO. A softy dominated pico would be fun 😄

I was thinking a softies or a mini maxi tank with sexy shrimp 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Thursday is close enough.

Here's a FTS for your enjoyment 🐒

 

 

 

 

[Daniel92481]

3 minutes ago, Chowder's Reef said:

Thursday is close enough.

Here's a FTS for your enjoyment 🐒

 

 

 

 

Looking good man! Cool setup with the cactus.😎

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

We made it to Friday 😰

 

The Alveopora has definitely claimed it's space lol. I had to move the Acan out of the way because it was being irritated.

Here's a video for your enjoyment.

 

Make it a great weekend and happy reefing 😎

 

 

 

[JamesQ]

Love this little tank! 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

It's about time for another update on this tank. 

 

It really has been on auto pilot for some time now. No water changes, minimal feedings (if any). Pretty simple stuff.

To be honest I was a little bummed months back, when I made a hefty purchase of coral including a WD acro and some other things. Most things came to me dead (like algae on the skeletons and bleached white for months kind of dead). I only have two of those corals that I managed to save in my tank today. It was one of the worst experiences dealing with a seller that I have had in a long time. Since then, with my pockets drained, and feeling like a chump, I have kept to just local sources and reliable shops here and there for small frags and such, as well as not really doing much with this tank due to other pressing matters. 

 

A few days ago I picked up a few frags that were on sale and naturally that spurred more of an interest in my tiny box of water. Let me tell you that gluing frags to specific places on the rock in a tiny tank can be a massive pain haha, but we got the job done. I added a few types of zoas, a golden hammer, and a purple pocillopora (one of my favorite sps). I also added a few hermit crabs and snails to help me with the hair algae and uneaten food/detritus laying around. I did find some acropora eating spiders so I do my best to snag them at night before I go to bed. Luckily I don't see too much damage if any on my existing sps in the tank.  I have also started up a more religious regiment of water changes this past week in an effort to clean this little tank up. With everything in this hobby, though, things happen slowly, especially in a 1.2 gallon pico reef 😉. But maybe one day we'll get this little tank looking right 🙂. I think my plan going forward is to really make this a cool little SPS garden with a few accent corals. So here's to better days haha. I was messing in the tank before I took pictures so most things are closed up ha, so sorry for the lousy photos. 

 

Happy reefing everyone. 

 

 

 

[debbeach13]

Sorry about the bad experience with the on line purchase. With shipping delays it is a bigger risk than ever. Local shops and local reefers may not always have exactly what you are looking for but I always manage to find some nice frags to bring home. Have you found a local reef club? With the pandemic activity for many clubs is on hold like no or less meetings but individuals are often still offering corals for sale. Then again when what you have grows in a bit more you may not have a lot of room. This might be a good time to look for a few must have special pieces. Any way looking good.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

On 8/17/2021 at 5:43 AM, debbeach13 said:

you may not have a lot of room

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ROOM.

 

Haha in all seriousness, though, you do have some good points. Considering the growth habits of the coral I put in here is vital for long term success and health of the tank. I may just add a few more types of zoas and then some sps and call it good; wait for everything to fill in. As for reef clubs and such there hasn't really been much activity due to current events. Even so, the FB group is pretty cutthroat and snobbish and I tend to keep my distance you know? I have a few friends that maintain large frag systems and such which makes it nice to shop with them as you know exactly what you are getting, in this case I've been pretty spoiled so shopping online for anything now is hard for me, BUT their selection is pretty limited to soft corals, zoas, and maybe a few LPS types. It's kind of funny because they supply a lot of the shops around here with their frags and it's interesting to see the markup on some types. SPS coral are a rarity where I live it seems, so I'll need to do some digging to get a few good pieces.