Diver's Ranch

[Felicia]

Tank started on May 26, 2012.

 

Most Recent FTS - 5/29/12

 

• Tank
  
• 3 gallon glass JBJ Picotope
  - 11.8" x 8.9" x 8.1"
   
  Lighting
  
• 9 Watt Compact Fluorescent
  - 50/50, blue/10,000k white
   
  Filtration
  
• Aquaclear 20 HOB
  - sponge, activated carbon, Aquaclear Biomax media
  - max 100 gph (currently on lower flow setting)
  - will be wrapping intake with mesh or a fine sponge
   
  Heater
  
• EHEIM Jager Aquarium Thermostat Heater 25W
   
  Rock and Sand
  
• 4 lbs of Live Black Aragonite Reef Sand
  
• 2-3 lbs of BRS Reef Saver Dry Rock
   
  Livestock
   
  Macroalgae
  

[Jacob042426]

cold water?!

[Felicia]

Nope, the plan is up on my other thread. I'll get this one updated later when I have a few minutes.

[surgicalsense]

[Jacob042426]

yaay! ponies!!!!!!

[Felicia]

Hey guys! So here's a quick rundown of the plan for this tank. The overall idea is to have a nice assortment of macroalgae with pairs of dwarf seahorses. The livestock plan is:

- 6 Dwarf Seahorses (Hippocampus zosterae) (3 pairs)

- Nassarius Snails

- Small Nerite Snails

- Dwarf Ceriths

 

I'm going to take the tank to a local place that does custom cut acrylic to see if they can make me a lid. I already have little plastic clips that sit along the rim of the tank to hold the lid in place, so it shouldn't be that hard to just have a flat lid cut to the shape of the aquarium. After that, I will be filling the tank up to start the cycle. Since the rock is dry rock, I'm going to add some bottled bacteria and frozen mysis to get things going.

 

I expect the cycle to last several weeks and then I will be ordering my macroalgae and snails, the supplies for hatching brine shrimp, and Fenbendazole (for killing hydroids). My plan for hatching brine shrimp is to use two mason jars; one as the hatching jar and one as the enriching jar. I'll be putting airline tubing hooked to an air pump down into each jar for aeration. I plan on buying a bottle of decapsulated brine eggs which can last up to 6 months, as well as the enrichment mix for the brine and a small brine net. I'm going to be following these instructions:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_...mp_hatchery.php

 

Once the macroalgae and snails are in the tank, everything has been treated for hydroids, and the brine hatchery is up and running, then I will order my dwarf seahorses. Surprisingly enough, they're hardy enough for priority shipping so ordering them online is actually a reasonable price.

 

In terms of equipment, the stock JBJ CF lamp should be enough for the macroalgaes since I won't be keeping any coral in this tank. Instead of using the little HOB filter that came with the JBJ picotope kit, I'm going to use my old AC 20 HOB. I'll be wrapping the intake tube in a piece of pantyhose to prevent seahorses from being sucked into the filter. I won't be running a heater on this tank since dwarf seahorses do best in temperatures between 72F and 77F, which is about what my apartment stays at most of the year. When it does get cold, I've got a small 50W heater I can put in the tank if needed.

 

I think that's all for now. I ordered a book called "The Complete Guide to Dwarf Seahorses in the Aquarium" that got great reviews on Amazon, so I'll have that early next week to start reading up on all things dwarf seahorse

 

Here's a shot of my desk where the new tank is set up:

[Joe Dirt]

So excited for you. My wifey would just die if I made a small tank like that. She loves 3 things saltwater: starfish, puffers, and seahorses. Maybe I'll take some notes.

[JoelRHale]

[Felicia]

So excited for you. My wifey would just die if I made a small tank like that. She loves 3 things saltwater: starfish, puffers, and seahorses. Maybe I'll take some notes.

I'll make sure to post all the details as I figure things out so that you can learn with me. Then maybe you can set one up for your wife! So far it's not looking like it's going to be too expensive. Especially since I had an AC 20 and some dry rock laying around.

 

You shocked?

[JoelRHale]

No, more of an "Oooooo pretty."

 

 

Carry on.

[siwelk]

Yeehaw!

 

 

 

Hey Dude.

[Felicia]

No, more of an "Oooooo pretty."

 

 

Carry on.

Ah ok. Glad I have your permission to continue

 

Yeehaw!

 

 

 

Hey Dude.

Giddyup!

[Felicia]

I just ordered the first couple macros I figured I'll let them hang out in my main tank while I'm waiting on the little one to cycle. I ordered blue octodes and red grape from keysdiver here on N-R. He says they'll ship out on Monday and should arrive on Thursday.

 

His blue octodes:

 

His red grape:

[metrokat]

following!

[Felicia]

following!

[Felicia]

Update Time!

First off, I needed a lid for this thing because with a little 3 gallon, keeping up with evaporation if the top was open would be pretty insane. Also, Lily might decide to take a swim or go fishing for seahorses. My first thought was to ask Glazer (N-R member that made Gena's lid and my custom overflow box) to make one for me and ship it, but after checking his thread on custom acrylic work, it seems he's been inactive since January and no one can place orders with him.

 

So I'm thinking I'm screwed because I just bought this tank operating under the assumption that I knew how to get a lid made for it. Well after some serious googling, I found a place locally that does custom cut acrylic. I walked in and this place is like aquarium hobbyist heaven! They can make anything you want out of acrylic and they've got every thickness, color, etc. you could ever want. They'll even do custom cutting for you while you wait! So in about 30 minutes and for only $11, I got a custom cut lid for my picotope that even has a nice little acrylic handle to make lifting it off the tank easy. When I was in the LFS buying the actual tank, I picked up some acrylic clips to hold the lid in place for when I had one made. It all works perfectly!

 

First, aquarium hobbyist acrylic heaven

 

The new lid on the tank!

 

During the whole set-up process, Lily had to inspect the tank to insure it met her high standards. Mostly I think she was just thinking, "Oh no! Not another box of water for her to pay attention to!"

 

After getting the lid made and doing a serious scrub job on my old AC20 (YUCK!), it was time for water! ...and the resulting sand storm of course.

 

I added several mL of tank starting bacteria to try to speed up the cycle and building up the bacteria population. The AC 20 is running on the lower setting with a sponge for mechanical filtration, carbon for chemical filtration, and the AC biological filtration media. Now to sit back and let the tank cycle.

 

The new set-up on my desk:

[gena]

That looks like a NICE lid!!!!! So cool!!!! Mine just sits on top and can easily slide around, not to mention it has slightly warped. It's still ok though.

 

I like your rockscape, btw

 

Oh....if El Fab was around, he'd tell you to remove that picotope sticker I did that with mine.

[Felicia]

That looks like a NICE lid!!!!! So cool!!!! Mine just sits on top and can easily slide around, not to mention it has slightly warped. It's still ok though.

 

Glazer makes nice stuff, but I noticed it just sat on top. When I was debating which tank to buy at the LFS yesterday, both my options were rimless with no lids. They had another larger tank that came with an acrylic lid with those clips and they had some spare clips, so they sold them to me for a couple bucks. Seems to work a bit better than just sitting on top. I ended up going with the 1/8" think acrylic, so that may end up warping a bit. We'll see.

 

I like your rockscape, btw

Thank you! I think it turned out pretty decent considering it was just the leftover little pieces of rock from when I scaped the 30 gallon.

 

Oh....if El Fab was around, he'd tell you to remove that picotope sticker I did that with mine.

I totally forgot it was even there. Hold on....

 

Ok, its gone. Man was that thing stuck on there good. Now to scrape off the sticker residue.

[gena]

Glazer makes nice stuff, but I noticed it just sat on top. When I was debating which tank to buy at the LFS yesterday, both my options were rimless with no lids. They had another larger tank that came with an acrylic lid with those clips and they had some spare clips, so they sold them to me for a couple bucks. Seems to work a bit better than just sitting on top. I ended up going with the 1/8" think acrylic, so that may end up warping a bit. We'll see.

 

 

Thank you! I think it turned out pretty decent considering it was just the leftover little pieces of rock from when I scaped the 30 gallon.

 

 

I totally forgot it was even there. Hold on....

 

Ok, its gone. Man was that thing stuck on there good. Now to scrape off the sticker residue.

Yeah...if I had a Lily, my lid would totally not work

 

I'm glad you removed the sticker! I had it ingrained in my head a few years ago that the stickers have to go

 

I just got the "Diver's Ranch" after I saw your seahorse photo at the top....cute!!!!!! Ponies

[Felicia]

Yeah...if I had a Lily, my lid would totally not work

 

I'm glad you removed the sticker! I had it ingrained in my head a few years ago that the stickers have to go

 

I just got the "Diver's Ranch" after I saw your seahorse photo at the top....cute!!!!!! Ponies

Yeah Lily would knock your lid off constantly with her nosiness. That's another reason I'm glad I couldn't order from Glazer and discovered the awesome local place.

 

I always remove the stickers off of everything. It really bugs me when people leave all the stickers on their laptops. That reminds me that there is another Picotope sticker on the light that I need to take off.

 

And yeah, Diver's Ranch was me trying to make a name similar to my other thread but I was also being a bit cheesy. I'm not sure that is what it will stay as permanently, but I think I like it. I'm glad you got it

[Paigee]

I'm so essited for tha ponies

[Felicia]

Me too! We'll have to be patient though since it will take a while before the tank is ready for them.

[Joe Dirt]

Update Time!

The new lid on the tank!

Wow, that looks pretty awesome. So exciting. Can't wait for ocean ponies. BTW, that acrylic shop looks awesome. I wonder if they could fab custom sumps?

[surgicalsense]

 

... so far this has come together very nicely.

 

I will also try to get the pictures to you asap. L is now studing for his finals, so it has been tuff trying to get him to do that for me, quickly.

[Felicia]

Wow, that looks pretty awesome. So exciting. Can't wait for ocean ponies. BTW, that acrylic shop looks awesome. I wonder if they could fab custom sumps?

Thanks! I can't wait for the seahorses either. I'm thinking in about a month or so.

 

That shop could definitely cut all the different sized pieces of acrylic youd need for a custom sump. I don't know that they'd silicone it together to be waterproof though. I know they make custom acrylic display boxes and stuff, but that's gluing not silicone. If you got everything cut though it's pretty easy to silicone everything.

 

 

... so far this has come together very nicely.

 

I will also try to get the pictures to you asap. L is now studing for his finals, so it has been tuff trying to get him to do that for me, quickly.

Thanks, Danielle! And no rush on the photos. I can make the sig for you whenever, so no worries.