The Pico Under The Stairs!

[Nixperience]

7 minutes ago, pal said:

Yikes ,  pico under the stairs could have burned them down. Glad you caught it in time, 

Yup. Lesson learned. I’ve never made this mistake before and won’t again. 

[Squid_reef]

Glad you found out in time! 🙌 Adrelanine must have kicked in on that day.

[debbeach13]

Dam that could have been a disaster. After reading this I checked my power strip. 

[Nixperience]

I have now learned the importance of keeping a drip loop in the cables and to make sure the outlets are above the loops. 

[Nixperience]

I had some chaeto stuffed behind my rock, but I got sick of the little pieces floating around, so I made a pod hotel for the back chamber. I put a few brightwell biocubes in the bottom of it and stuffed the chaeto in there. It gets enough light to grow, but not so much that it will grow too quickly. I want it for the pods more than the nutrient export. 

[Nixperience]

I picked up a Frogspawn, Green Sinularia, and some Halle Berry Zoas. Time to let the tank grow in. If I get anything else, it will probably be more Zoas or Yumas. Pod population seems to be sustaining itself and I’ve been feeding live phyto every other day. Everything seems to be thriving and doing well so far. Will be ready for a fish soon. I’m thinking I’ll be cliché and just go with a small clown since everything else is a definite jumper. Only other fish I would risk in this tank is a panda goby, but I can’t find them anywhere. 

[ReefTaco]

More mushrooms "this is the way"

 

 

[Nixperience]

26 minutes ago, Instant_taco said:

More mushrooms "this is the way"

 

 

No way. This tank will be overgrown in a month if I do that 🤣

[mitten_reef]

4 hours ago, Nixperience said:

No way. This tank will be overgrown in a month if I do that 🤣

too late, that yuma probably already dropped 3 babies you're not seeing yet.  🤣

[Nixperience]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

too late, that yuma probably already dropped 3 babies you're not seeing yet.  🤣

Actually, it did 🤣 Exactly 3!

[ReefTaco]

4 hours ago, Nixperience said:

Actually, it did 🤣 Exactly 3!

Throw some rock rubble next to them or some frag plugs. Keep that amount you want. The rest you can sell or trade for more corals ,fish, upgrades or chicken tenders.

 

In all seriousness Yumas are pricey in my area and I live in a major city with a giant reefing community and they still got for $40+ a head

[Nixperience]

42 minutes ago, Instant_taco said:

Throw some rock rubble next to them or some frag plugs. Keep that amount you want. The rest you can sell or trade for more corals ,fish, upgrades or chicken tenders.

 

In all seriousness Yumas are pricey in my area and I live in a major city with a giant reefing community and they still got for $40+ a head

Ya everything is pretty expensive now. Yumas are easy to trade. Once this tank fills out, I’ll probably upgrade to an 18x18x10. I’m confined to the under the stairs location, but I will maximize that space. 

[Nixperience]

So I went to get some food out of my basement freezer and I took a peak at the tank. One of my nassarius snails tried to commit suicide. I grabbed it off the floor and tossed it in the tank. It started to move soon after. I checked again 5 minutes later and it was on a mission again wtf! I flicked it back in when it got to the top and when I checked on it again later, it went down instead of up this time. 

[Nixperience]

I added a tiny clown yesterday. He’s about the size of a small kidney bean. Seems to be doing well. I tried feeding him small 1mm pellets, but he almost choked. He didn’t really go for flake, so this morning I gave him some frozen spirulina enriched brine out of a pipette and he enjoyed that. This tank will be 3 weeks running on Tuesday. The pods are everywhere in here and I have some serious bristle worms. Knock on wood. I am refurnishing my workout room in the basement and the area under the stairs will be primed and ready for an upgrade when I’m ready. I’ll continue to grow out this pico and when then I’m going to an advanced acrylics 18x18x10 aio next. I’m really enjoying the space I’m setting up down there and its a nice escape from my wife and daughter. 

[Nixperience]

I modified an IKEA Havsta cabinet by bracing the backside and taking the base platform off so the tank wouldn’t be too high under the stairs. I can now accommodate up to a 30x18x10 AIO tank in this location or a few inches higher if I used a sump. Who knows what the future holds 🤷🏻‍♂️ I need to get an outlet installed in there so I can do away with the extension cord. 

[Nixperience]

It’s been 3 weeks since the start of this tank and everything is doing great! I just did a one gallon water change and got a new full tank shot. This pic is the most accurate I’ve gotten to the actual color in the tank. The monti cap has actually been getting redder and everything else is still holding their color. Toadstool is angry and shedding. Might be a few more days before it’s back to itself again. 

[kimdawg]

The tank looks great.  Glad you have room to put a bigger tank.  You will fill this one up soon.

[Nixperience]

4 hours ago, kimdawg said:

The tank looks great.  Glad you have room to put a bigger tank.  You will fill this one up soon.

Thanks. I’m excited to let it grow in now. 

[Nixperience]

I can’t stress the importance of live pods and phytoplankton. It hasn’t quite been a month running yet and the colors of the frags have either stayed the same or gotten richer. Any slight browning of diatoms on the sand or the walls are noticeably covered in pods and quick to disappear. I think I am going to remove the chaeto from the pod hotel I made, as I think without the proper flow through it, it will just end up disintegrating and releasing nutrients back into the tank. I’m not noticing as much snail poop in the sand, so I’m figuring the pods and bacteria are doing a good job on that now too. 
 

[Nixperience]

A friend came by today and gave me a grube’s gorgonian. I’m not sure I have enough flow to sustain it, but worth a shot. It’s pretty angry right now. 

[Nixperience]

Here’s a top down shot today. 

[Nixperience]

So a local reefer I was getting small cheap frags from is moving all of a sudden and is breaking down everything. I bought 5 different kinds of acans (about 40 heads worth), and 3 different kinds of blasto wellsi (about 12-15 heads) for $100. I couldn’t pass that up, but now my tank is full lol. Stay tuned for the upgrade after New Years 🤣

[Nixperience]

Today I woke up to realize that one of the new acans was not a lord, but an echinata. It did not like it’s neighbors ☹️ You win some, you lose some. 

[Nixperience]

Side tank shot

[Nixperience]

So I need some opinions. I’m going to upgrade to an IM 25 Lagoon as soon as I get wife approval after the holidays. Outside of custom or acrylic, this is the best possible option for this space. 

Option 1: If I leave the tank in the nook, the front will stick out 7”, but I will only have 6.5” of space above the back chambers. I won’t be able to use media baskets and will be limited to filter floss holders or socks and not sure where I would put media. In the 2nd compartment?

 

Option 2: I can have the tank tucked in 6” and have 14” stick out from the nook. I would have 13” of space above the back chambers due to the next stair tread above it. Having the tank protrude 14” from the nook might be a harder sell to my wife.