HOPPERDOGGY’S SIMPLE PICO

[Hopperdoggy]

Oh man, where to begin…

  I’ve been out of the hobby for the past three or 4 years. 
last tank I had was a IM 20 gal that cracked on me while at work. I had corals in there that were at least 7 ears old. That crushed me and I didn’t have a tank for a min after that. I set up a small 3 gal a few years later but only had that running for a few months before I took it down ( baby on the way and a big move). Here I am now in 2023, post move and now two kids! I’ve always longed for another reef tank… this time I decided to go with something I can move around if necessary and as low maintenance as possible. I started with a lil AIO cube in August 23’ that I set up at my work. While it as a cool lil tank, it wasn’t fitting the vibe I was looking for. It was too crowded and quickly got out of hand w projects and accessories that hindered more than helped. I moved the tank home early November and at that time I swapped the tank to an UN 5N and a HOB filter. I picked up a very cool stand on offer up somewhere in the first three months as well. I battled a lot the first couple months w this tank (mostly due to my incessant tinkering). I struggled keeping anything stable while it was at work. Temp and salinity were swinging  wildly and everything but the mushroom were struggling. The Xenia actually melted on me which prompted the move home but, now there are actually tiny lil Xenia popping up on the rocks. So cool!!! Now that the tank is home I can check on it daily and manually top it off. It seems very happy now (finally 🤣)

 TANK DETAILS

 

HARDWARE:

 UN 5N tank (4.6 gal)

 AI Prime 16

 Aqua Clear 20 (filter sponge only)

 Sicce Jolly 10W heater

  

LIVESTOCK:

  Domino Damsel

  Banded coral shrimp

  various snails ( no crabs)

  

  
Coral:

  GSP

  RBTA 

  St. Thomas shroom

  Pourange Yuma

 

  

 

 

This pic is from day one 😎

[Lebowski_]

Love it!

[Jaren45]

Excited! Ali and his shop are awesome, hope to visit him someday

[Hopperdoggy]

If you ever do… come by my shop and check out the lil cube in person! 

[clownfish14]

Looks great! Can’t wait to see the progress!

[Hopperdoggy]

It’s almost a month since splash down. I’ve added a jar from my buddies aquarium 😂 that’s it for now 

[debbeach13]

 Love that scape it's perfect for zoanthids.

[Hopperdoggy]

 

Threw some Xenia in there along with the classic purple rhodactis 😎 prob just going to let it grow wild in there. Might add one more coral in a month or so. 
 No fish yet, no inverts, no water change. Tank is crusing 

[Hopperdoggy]

Added a Fiji finger leather and a couple small turbo snails. Still no water change. I did put a lil filter floss in the rear chamber and used my pipet to blast the rocks and create a whirlpool to stir up the crud. Here’s the current FTS  9/11/23

[Hopperdoggy]

Did a 2gal water change. Everything is going strong. 

[Hopperdoggy]

Latest FTS 9/21/22

moved the mushroom to the front

no fish yet.  Did get a Mame nano skimmer but it’s not ruining atm. Waiting on a pump. Starting to look like a real tank now 😂

[Hopperdoggy]

Scooped a nice stand for $30 this am. Moved the tank to its new home. The original table it was on is too wobbly for a tank. It was constantly shaking the lil aquarium anytime it got bumped. Also made an ATO out of an old pet bottle.  Here’s a recent FTS 10/2/23

 

[debbeach13]

You stole that stand.

 

[Hopperdoggy]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

You stole that stand.

 

Hahaa right! I was looking at similar stuff for hundreds. This popped up this am and I jumped on it. So stoked. 

[Justind823]

Nice little tank! Jealous that you're right next that shop! I've actually been there a few times, my in-laws live in that area. My father-in-law gets his koi pond goods there. They have a great selection and seem to take good care of their livestock. 

 

You need a little goby for that jar! 

[boscoT]

this is really nice and clean.  Looking forward to following along

[Reefkid88]

Pretty sweet little tank ya got brewing here. Definitely following along. 

[Hopperdoggy]

Lil tank has gone through a couple changes lately… 
 I brought it home from the shop an upgraded the tank to a UN 5nano (4.8 gal) With a seachem tidal 35 hob filter. The Xenia melted on me while it was in the shop. Still unsure of why. I changed the tanks and aquascaping looking for a more open and natural look. I’m very happy with the current setup and will post some pics this afternoon when the lights on. Planing on an ai prime and custom light mount for it as well. It’s still rockin and healthy 😎

[Reefkid88]

Pics or it didn't happen !!! 

[Hopperdoggy]

Pic as promised. Also… there are a couple MICRO Xenia growing back. Only time will tell…

[Hopperdoggy]

Made a couple more changes. I couldn’t stand looking at that big black HOB filter. It was so rattly and noisy and the surface skimmer didn’t work worth a crap. I would not recommend the Tidal 35 to anybody. I replaced it with the ol trusty AC 20. It’s awesome and sleek and quiet and somehow keeps the surface cleaner than the tidal ever did. I also upgraded the light to an ai prime HD and make a custom bracket to hang it from. I added a nice orange rhodactis and a couple small frags of gsp. The previous light was barely keeping the mushrooms alive and the gsp never opened under the old light. Soon as I installed the AI it was opening up within an hour. My goal is to let the gsp and shrooms fill in then add a BTA. Here’s some pics of the new set up and I’ll also post a lil inspiration pic of my tank goals. 

Inspo 🥰…

[Hopperdoggy]

I’ll have to figure out how to get better pics w the new bluer light. Any help on that portion would be greatly appreciated. 

[Hopperdoggy]

I took out all the fine sand and replaced it with crushed coral. I was so sick of that fine sand blowing around. Got a couple new corals… a nice St Thomas mushroom a yuma mushroom and a small frag of goblin on fire zoas. I’m waiting on a orphek filter to take some pics. Untill then here’s some dirty water from my water change today 😂

[Reefkid88]

If you buy from offline,I suggest QueenCity Corals if you are into well everything lol. They have super good pricing too !!! Especially when they do sales (which is often),the pricing is crazy good. They have some super nice shrooms (plutonium bouces for $40 and sunkist for $50 right now). 

[Hopperdoggy]

I finally got a filter to get some pics. Here’s a FTS from today 12/12/23