5.5g pico

[ACBlinky]

I think this little tank is coming along nicely, wanted to start a thread for it so I could post updates and look back to see how it develops over time.

 

This pico is housed in the stand, beneath my 30g nano. I used it as a place to house rescued corals for ages, but it was strictly functional and pretty ugly to look at. February 10th I decided to improve its looks so I bought some sand along with 8lbs of LR and got to work.

 

Tank: 5.5g

Lighting: 80W Satellite (40W daylight, 40W actinic, moonlight)

Circulation: Aqua-Tech 5-15 HOB filter, small powerhead

Inhabitants: Rippled clown goby, mini blueleg hermit, Hawaiian zebra hermit, 3 Astraeas, 1 Cerith, 8 Nassarius vibex snails

Corals: frilly leather, torch, neon GSP, open brain, Xenia, candycane

Macro: Chaeto, Caulerpa racemosa, Caulerpa peltata (this one grew out of the LR)

 

Here's a pic from February 18th - the clown didn't stay in the tank for long, the bioload was too high and I was doing water changes every 48h; as soon as he was eating well I moved him into the 30g.

 

Here's a picture from today (March 3) - one of the crabs just walked over the Xenia so it's not looking its best!

[brent-konieczny]

Nice! I just got a clown for my 5.5 and he acclimated real nicely. What else are you going to put in there? I suggest some purple acro or ricordea.

[ACBlinky]

Thanks

I'm leaving the tank for now, it's going through some growing pains - a little hair algae here and there, a little cyano on the sand - so I'm trying not to disturb things. Once it settles down I'll try to find some more frags. I'm thinking of maybe blastomussa, ricordia, blue shrooms or some colourful zoas. I want this little tank to really pop with colour

 

Things are going well. The goby is FAT on pods, he's adorable and I'm glad he's finding so much to eat, it means I can feed him less to reduce nutrients. I have a neverending supply of live food in my 65g FOWLR's canister filter - the sponges are full of amphipods so every time I clean out the filter all the tanks get restocked with 'pods

[Daemonfly]

Looks good. Good growth so far. As for adding something, the rock on the left needs something on it. Looks like there's some small blue thing that hasn't grown much already on it, but could use something more.

 

Keep an eye on that caulerpa & keep it trimmed. It's not as prolific as grape caulerpa though, but it's still a caulerpa.

[ACBlinky]

Thanks for the feedback! The racemosa is gone, I've left the smaller Caulerpa that sprung up out of the rock, it's more to scale with a tiny tank and easier to manage. I'm not sure what that little blue spot is, even up close - most likely a spot of coralline.

 

I added a few little zoas today, I was thinking that exact spot needed something and found these guys randomly floating around a tank at work (most likely fell off a piece of LR, we just got lots in). They're closed up, so I have no idea what colour(s) they are but they're glued in place and I'm hoping they'll open up tomorrow.

 

I also replaced the PH with an Aquaclear 30 filter for more surface movement and circulation, not to mention it gives me more space for things like carbon or floss if I need them. The candycane wasn't impressed with the increased flow and pulled its tentacles in when I started the AC up, but overall the circulation pattern is better so hopefully it works out.

 

I'll post pics if/when the new zoas open up

[ClowningAround]

Nice little tank there!, how is your clown doing in there? how big is he? just wondering because i am thinking of having a baby clown for about 2-3months and then upgrading him to a 10g

[Daemonfly]

Didn't think that was racemosa, i.e. grape caulerpa. I have that in my 5.5g, but also a slightly similar type, but the "nodes" aren't as round, slightly lighter green, and deffinately not as weed-like as the racemosa.

 

 

ya, some zoos would look nice in that spot.

[ACBlinky]

ClowningAround - the clown was only in the tank for a little while. Between him and the clown goby, the bioload was too high and I was doing water changes every other day to keep up. One green clown goby seems to be about right for this size of tank, JMO.

 

On the Caulerpa, I think what I've got is racemosa (larger) and peltata (smaller); both look like grapes, and I know either species can have perfectly round, flattened, or almost diamond shaped 'grapes' depending on where they're growing. I'm guessing the species based on Baensch's aquarium atlas, I could easily be wrong

 

The little zoas were starting to open up this morning, I think I saw some green skirts before I left for work; I can't wait to get home to see what colour the middles are!

[ACBlinky]

Okay, it's update time! The tank is doing fantastic, I'm very happy with it. Unfortunately the green clown goby died a while back, I'm not sure why - one day he was fine, the next he was dead. Shortly after that I found a small, cherry-red mantis in my 30g. He'd been there for at least six months and done no harm, so I couldn't kill him. I put him into the 5.5g, but I haven't seen him since (not surprised, it took more than half a year to see him in the other tank, and even then it was only because I removed a rock he was hiding in). Hopefully he's snacking on pods somewhere; so far he hasn't touched the snails or hermits.

The little powerhead stopped working, so I replaced it with an AquaClear 30 HOB filter. The corals seem to appreciate the more even flow from the two small HOBs, rather than having a PH in the tank.

The open brain has been recovering for months, and seems to really like this tank. It eats very well, and has it's symbiotic zooxanthellae back now. The torch, also a rescue, is dividing and will soon be two heads There are some new zoas and shrooms, all rescues or odds 'n ends from the LFS, and I removed the Xenia, sold it back to the LFS, and replaced it with a smaller frag.

Enjoy

 

FTS:

 

Close-up of the smaller stuff:

[Daemonfly]

Looks great