Herptile Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Latest FTS (March 20, 2015) Hello everyone, my name's Micko. I've been lurking here for more than a year now and decided to start a tank shortly after (February 2012). I didn't have the space for a bigger tank so I went with an 8 gallon. Later on you'll see why a fellow hobbyist jokingly called my tank a "cyborg" tank (though it doesn't look much like it now) and it stuck with me. As you'll see from the pictures, I've made mistakes along the way and lost some animals (and probably still will) but will try not to anymore. Equipment: Tank: Aqua One 45 (8 gallons) Filter: Eheim HOB power filter (removed filter sponges and placed bags of Phos-Zorb and Biochem-Zorb instead) Water circulation: 3 small powerheads Lighting: 2 Dymax robot LEDS (now used for night lights) and 2 PAR38 bulbs Fan DIY refugium (if you can call it that) with small pieces of live rock and Chaetomorpha DIY airpump-powered protein skimmer Floating-type hydrometer Current livestock: A pair of ocellaris clowns and one purple dottyback (overstocked, yes. Not a wise move on my part. I have no excuse) One maxima clam SPS LPS Soft corals Mushrooms Zoas and palys Turbo and nassarius snails Two small hermit crabs Red macroalgae Miscellaneous hitchhikers (tubeworms, micro brittle stars, pods, assorted worms, sponges and two (?) white Aiptasias which I can't get at. They've been there since the beginning but thankfully I've had no outbreaks....yet) Maintenance: Water changes at 2 gallons per week (using Red Sea Coral Pro salt). Drip Kent's Nano Reef Parts A and B daily and Kent's Purple Tech once a week. Wipe the glass inside and out daily. Manually top off daily. Manually turn the chaeto daily. Siphon detritus from the tank as part of the water change. Siphon detritus from the filter and refugium (it's more of just a holder for the chaeto and skimmer really) every 2 weeks as part of the water change. Clean the main power head weekly and the other two every 2 weeks as part of the water change. Clean the skimmer and wooden air stone weekly as part of the water change. Change out the chemical media according to the manufacturer's recommendations Feed the fish daily (Omega One pellets) and invertebrates weekly (Kent's Zooplex). Sit down and watch the tank (as often as I can). Pictures: Equipment: First refugium attempt (goshawfully ugly) Second refugium (better looking but still....) Lights Tank shots showing things that grew, were moved, were fragged, taken out and/or died: February 2013 January 2013 October 2012 1 Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 September 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 Finally, the obligatory pics of a cat/other animal with the tank Thanks, Nano-Reefers. I really hope to learn a lot from you guys. Wow, awesome tank! Thanks a lot. 2 Link to comment
BoCoMo Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Looks like everyone is enjoying it! Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Wow! I love your aquarium!!!!! and your animal pics are awesome too. Following along Link to comment
eitallent Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 When I saw the DIY pictures my heart skipped a beat! I admire people who make stuff. Please share how you made the refugium and skimmer! But THEN I saw your corals and fish, they just wowed me. What a spectacular array of colors, textures and variety! I just love your tank. Kudos! I am so glad your house pets get to enjoy the tank. Has you kitty ever been tempted by the pretty fish? Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Looks like everyone is enjoying it! Wow! I love your aquarium!!!!! and your animal pics are awesome too. Following along Thank you both. When I saw the DIY pictures my heart skipped a beat! I admire people who make stuff. Please share how you made the refugium and skimmer! But THEN I saw your corals and fish, they just wowed me. What a spectacular array of colors, textures and variety! I just love your tank. Kudos! I am so glad your house pets get to enjoy the tank. Has you kitty ever been tempted by the pretty fish? Thanks. But that's the extent of my DIY skills (which is not saying a lot). For the second refugium, I used a fish breeding trap, covered up the bottom, made two holes, attached the PVC elbows and used some tubes from an old overhead filter to attach the small pump. Later on I placed some zoas on the tube to hide it somewhat. I should have gone bigger but it was the only thing I had lying around. For the skimmer, I used a drink container, cut off the bottom and made a small hole for the wooden airstone. The collection cup is one of those small plastic containers for sugar or coffee. I made a hole to fit the drink container and hot glued them together. The skimmer works well enough but doesn't really get to collect a lot. No she doesn't hehe. She'd rather hunt for mice. She did let one of my geckos loose once but thank goodness she didn't harm him otherwise. 2 Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 How do you drip your Kent A & B parts -- auto or manual? Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 How do you drip your Kent A & B parts -- auto or manual? Just manually according to the directions. So far so good. Link to comment
JR! Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Wow thats so much life in 8 gallons. well done Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Wow thats so much life in 8 gallons. well done Thank you. I started fragging the cespitularia (?) and the toadstool. I need to do the same on some zoas, just not sure exactly how since I can't take the rock out anymore. I also have to get rid of some of those individual green palys. I think I just need 2 more zoa varieties, a magician paly and 1-2 frags of blue/purple sps and I'm done. I'm also looking at having a 15-gallon AIO tank built in the future. Link to comment
JR! Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Pico aquariums does an amazing job on tanks might wanna take a look into them. I'd love to have frags of whatever you have extra of. Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Pico aquariums does an amazing job on tanks might wanna take a look into them. I'd love to have frags of whatever you have extra of. Thanks. I've seen a lot of products, corals and fish available here. Sadly all are quite out of reach. I was lucky enough just to get the PAR38s. The last time I fragged my toadstool, I just gave them away. I wish I could do the same with you but the plane fare/shipping isn't going to make it worth your while. Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 Today I finally had the guts to frag my green sps. Here's the frag. I also had to remove some individual paly and zoa polyps last week (and today) underwater. Of course I just had to cut myself. No ill effects so far. 1 Link to comment
eitallent Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 What is your procedure for removing zoas and palys off the rocks underwater? Do you propagate those or are you just trimming them? Love your tank! Kudos. Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Wow you have soo many pets ahah!! Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 What is your procedure for removing zoas and palys off the rocks underwater? Do you propagate those or are you just trimming them? Love your tank! Kudos. Thank you again. I use a scalpel and forceps. I made a small frag of the zoas but had to discard the palys since I pretty much mangled them in the process. Wow you have soo many pets ahah!! Thanks. I guess you could say that. 1 Link to comment
Rehype Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Wow that tank is beautiful awesome job! Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Thanks Rehype. I've been lurking around long before I joined and your tank was one of the most awesome ones I saw. Sad it's gone now but it's good you're back with a new build now. Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Thank you again. I use a scalpel and forceps. I made a small frag of the zoas but had to discard the palys since I pretty much mangled them in the process. Thanks. I guess you could say that. Wait............are you serious? You own all those? You've got to be kidding me.................................................. ............... ..............lol I was looking at this page only where you posted your lizard, parrot and cat.... And you're telling me you have porcupine and some other pets? Amazing. Lol Really lolol, how do you do that? Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Wait............are you serious? You own all those? You've got to be kidding me.................................................. ............... ..............lol I was looking at this page only where you posted your lizard, parrot and cat.... And you're telling me you have porcupine and some other pets? Amazing. Lol Really lolol, how do you do that? Well, the bearded dragons, iguana and turtles are in the garden outside. The leopard gecko, hedgehog (not a porcupine haha), cockatiel and mouse are small, they don't take up a lot of room. Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Well, the bearded dragons, iguana and turtles are in the garden outside. The leopard gecko, hedgehog (not a porcupine haha), cockatiel and mouse are small, they don't take up a lot of room. Omg, you're serious!! Amazing. Lol, your backyard. They seem to be chilling together having a tea cup party or something ahaha. Ridiculous, who takes care of all those pets? The food costs must be ridiculously high. Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Omg, you're serious!! Amazing. Lol, your backyard. They seem to be chilling together having a tea cup party or something ahaha. Ridiculous, who takes care of all those pets? The food costs must be ridiculously high. Nah, it's not a big backyard. Yes, tell me about the food costs. But eh, what are you gonna do. Animals are my life. Graduated with a BS in Zoology. Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Nah, it's not a big backyard. Yes, tell me about the food costs. But eh, what are you gonna do. Animals are my life. Graduated with a BS in Zoology. Ohhh I see. So do you work at a zoo too? That makes perfect sense now ahah. Link to comment
Herptile Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Ohhh I see. So do you work at a zoo too? That makes perfect sense now ahah. Uh, no. It's a premed course. About half of my batch mates took up medicine. Though it's pretty much a zoo here anyway, what with all the feeding and cleaning. 1 Link to comment
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