My Return To The Ocean - A Pico Smaller Than Most Sumps

[ChouDawg]

Start Date: 10/12/2012

Hardware
7.5G Mr.Aqua 12" Rimless Cube
Hydor Theo 50W Heater
Hydor Pico Evolution 400 Pump (2x)
Reef Keeper Lite w/ SL1 Module
Digital Aquatics Dual ATO Float Setup
Tom's Aqualifter
DIM4/Inventronics Driven Full Spectrum LED
TwoLittleFishies NanoMag
SpectraPure MaxCap 90GPD RO/DI
HM Digital TDS-3
Glazer Pico Skimmer

Filtration
~8lb Live Rock
Purigen
Filter Floss
Chaeto (TBD)

CUC
1x Blue-Legged Hermit
1x Bumblebee Snail
3x Astrea Snail
1x Cerith Snail
1x Peppermint Shrimp

Livestock
Pair of Ocellaris/Percula Hybrid Clownfish

Corals
Green Tip Octospawn
Green Tip Hammer
Misc Ricordea Yuma/Florida
ID Acan

Green Monti Cap
Green Encrusting Monti
Green Birdsnest
Bali Green Slimer
Blue Green Gomezi
Unknown Mini SPS Colony

Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoas
Armor of God Zoas
Biohazard? Zoas
Watermelon Zoas

So it's been a little over 3 years since my first reef tank and now I'm happily back at it! My first tank was an AquaPod 24G, this is a Mr.Aqua 7.5G 12" rimless cube. I built a custom false wall with 4.0" center overflow, dual Hydor Pico 400 pumps at different heights, and a center media chamber. This is my first time running a rimless, bare bottom tank not using Scripps and with LEDs. The lighting will be a DIY Full Spectrum LED. It has about 9lb of Liverock in there now and I gotta say working with such a small footprint is a pain! Was going for the fruit stand type shelf but that proved difficult with limited depth. I'll be using IO salt with 1-2g weekly water changes and purigen/chemi pure elite. My first time having an RKL as well, excited for all the new gadgets. The tank sits on a 13"x13"x36" stand I built, also quite a pain, next time I'm buying one! 4 weeks later, I finally have the tank up and running with 5G of fresh mixed SW and some from an established tank. Since my lights aren't here yet I have a small 4w RB PAR38 bulb over it just so I can have something to look at. Since I don't have proper lighting I decided to get a bit artsy, more updates to come in the next few weeks.

Current FTS 05/06/2013
http://imageshack.us/a/img7/8388/img4030ssmall.jpg

Thanks for looking :welcome:

[ChouDawg]

Water Parameters:
pH: ~8.1
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~2.5 ppm

Alright so the tank has been up and running for about 4-days now. Still waiting for my LEDs to come in but I figured now is a good time to do a water test. I'm really not sure what to expect as far as cycle goes for this tank which is why I asked about it in my original post. The rock came from an established tank, and was sitting for a few days with heater/powerhead and then in my possession in similar conditions with a fresh batch of water before going into the tank. The rock has a few splotches of coraline algae and unfortunately what looks like lots of Aiptasia :curse:

I'm guessing it's a result of the lack of light but they are all clear, these things really are indestructible. I'm deciding between blasting them with an Aiptasia killer and siphoning out the remains or waiting to add a Peppermint Shrimp and hoping it has a fancy for them.

As far as I can tell, it looks like my my pH is 8.1, zero ammonia, zero nitrite and between 0-5 ppm nitrate? What do you guys think. I took a few shots with / without flash but the flash ones seemed easiest to tell. I did my comparison by eye in front of a window with natural sunlight.

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/622/groupflash.jpg

[ChouDawg]

I was busy all weekend so I didn't get a chance to "feed" or pee into my tank to spike the ammonia but I have noticed a few more hitch hikers as the tank matures, saw a few stomatellas and some baby asterina stars that will be plucked as I see them. My LEDs are here at last! Took exactly 2 weeks from the day I bought them till they were at my door. They are 3x 1W GU10 based bulbs, 2x RB 1x W on each bulb with 60' optics. They will be in a 3x3 cube layout over my tank. Wired them up last night because I was far to excited to not see them lit up. The fixture will be made of black acrylic with a 120mm PC fan exhausting out the top and will be suspended by 1/2" conduit that's adjustable. Here are a few teasers, I'm hoping to have the full fixture done by tonight.

http://imageshack.us/a/img856/4003/img20121022162627medium.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img88/1328/img20121022234724medium.jpg

[slicktoppomp]

Very nicely done on the light fixture. How did you wire those up? Every time I've seen people use these kinds of bulbs it seems so complicated when it comes to wiring it. Great job.

[ChouDawg]

Thanks, at 27W it should be plenty of light for my 9.5"x12"x12" display area. The wiring is very simple actually, there is two leads from each GU10 socket, and you just wire them in parallel to an extension cord. Since all the LED bulbs have reverse polarity protection, you essentially just have to send one wire from each plug to one side of the extension cord and repeat for the other side. For my 2nd and 3rd strings I tried to maintain some consistency with which I used since all the sockets are the same, but I noticed my first row lit up just fine with a random combination of wires so I dont think it really matters as long as each socket has +/- Once I get the fixture made and wired up I'll post some better photos.

[slicktoppomp]

Sweet man that's awesome! Can't wait to see it all come together.

[ChouDawg]

Added a small CUC a couple days ago, all are doing well and happy, did a 2g water change as well. My light setup is finally ready and mounted, I'm probably still going to tweak it a bit, I'm using 1/2" conduit to hang it, the fixture itself needs to be reworked a bit but I was impatient so that will happen in the near future. I'm running a 7 hour light cycle right now, today is the first full "day" of light. Going to go hunting with Aiptasia-X and hope for the best, if they come back, Nudis will be my next weapon of choice. The photos are a pretty good representation of the color, it's pretty much perfect for me, I'd say a little bluer than 14K for sure. Tank is very barren right now have a few spots of Coraline and lots of pods running around so it's maturing nicely.

http://imageshack.us/a/img696/8165/img0958nq.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img31/6774/img0966medium.jpg

[slicktoppomp]

Sexy nano for sure.

[ChouDawg]

Some shots of my new SPS dominated inhabitants, got a few small ricordea as well but they're in a small covered dish with some rubble so they can attach. Light is on from 1PM-10PM now, going to ramp it up an hour a day until I get to a 12 hour cycle, the fixture is 5" from the water's surface.

http://imageshack.us/a/img222/5268/img1050small.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img571/8391/img1092small.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img594/5830/img1101small.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img705/4961/img1105small.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img841/5905/img1132small.jpg

[ChouDawg]

So the tank has been up and running for 21 days now, parameters have all stayed at zero with < 0.2 ppm Nitrates. Clean up crew is all alive and happy. I found out Bumblebee snails do nothing for algae and I have no sand bed so I think I'll be swapping him out for more Astreas, they are by far the best!

Tank is being lit 9 hours a day with full 27W of 60 degree optic LEDs, 5" from the water's surface. So far everything I've added has responded well to the lighting and conditions. I'm getting good polyp extension and the SPS are coloring up nicely. Aside from some rics/zoas on the bare bottom my tank is packed, I'll need to keep the hammer and frogspawn in check so they dont get too big.

Photos from before my 2 gallon water change today, running Chemi Pure and Purigen now. Just added the Frog, Monti and Hammer today so not fully open yet in the photos but already looking great! Bright orange Ricordeas in the shot glass of rubble; patiently waiting for them to grab hold.

Blue Green Gomezi (I think?): compared to shot from 6 days ago
http://imageshack.us/a/img100/3083/img1151small.jpg

SPS Right Row:
http://imageshack.us/a/img690/8831/img1190small.jpg

MIxed Left Row:
http://imageshack.us/a/img689/961/img1193small.jpg

Green Monti Cap:
http://imageshack.us/a/img803/7179/img1229small.jpg

Corner Shot Update:
http://imageshack.us/a/img204/9357/img1209smalli.jpg

FTS:
http://imageshack.us/a/img94/9618/img1197small.jpg

[ChouDawg]

Did another 2G water change today because I needed to drip acclimate 2 Astrea and a Peppermint Shrimp to battle some Aiptasia. Shrimp went straight to work ripping at the rocks and the Astreas happily scooted away. Took out the Chemi-Pure because the 1/2 unit was blocking way too much flow in the media rack, I'll have to look into the CPE Nano size. Running filter floss and Purigen in my media basket now, skimmer coming soon :) Nitrates at zero as expected, getting a little bit of mixed algae that the Astreas will hopefully get to work on. I'll be leaving the tank on Thursday for two weeks, will do another larger water change on that day, make sure the top off will last and hope for the best! Look for a positive update in a couple weeks. No FTS updates but just some random macros.

Green Tip Frogspawn
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/8945/img1319small.jpg

Unknown SPS Mini Colony
http://imageshack.us/a/img17/5532/img1287small.jpg

Bali "Pink" Slimer lol, getting greener everyday
http://imageshack.us/a/img7/4479/img1338small.jpg

PE Close-Up
http://imageshack.us/a/img204/3726/img1341small.jpg

[ChouDawg]

So I came back from a 2 week vacation to a happy and healthy tank, a bit of algae on the glass but all CUC members alive and happy and coral growth was significant. I did a 5G water change the day I left. I now have to frag my Frogspawn in fear of it terrorizing the SPS corals. Did a 2G water change the day after I got back, and another one tonight, going to do another one in a few days, removing algae each time. Blue green gomezi is getting a lot of nice green hue and the Bali Green is coloring up nicely. They were all pissed off post water change so here are a few actinic shots of my Frogspawn and Hammer. Got a Glazer Pico Skimmer in before I left but haven't had a chance to install it, I'll have to modify my overflow media rack to accommodate the skimmer, filter floss and Purigen. Tank is 46 days old today! Still young but doing well and maturing nicely. Oh ya, peppermint shrimp molted and is happy, bonus all my Aiptasia I saw before I left are gone :D

http://imageshack.us/a/img42/7743/img3086small.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img152/8172/img3068small.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img853/112/img3069small.jpg

[ChouDawg]

Here are some growth/comparison shots, roughly just under a month between shots. Green Birdsnest grew a bit but lost all its color. All the other SPS higher up don't seem to be having any issues but it might be because it's a very small 1" frag, we'll see if it colors back up. Starting to want a fishy buddy swimming around. I'm considering either a single clown or a goby or two. Are gobies jumpers? Do any of them swim or do they all just "hop"?

http://imageshack.us/a/img254/5286/growth3small.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img217/9512/growthsmall.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img209/5603/growth2small.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img542/8221/img3184small.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/8020/img3193small.jpg

[slicktoppomp]

Awesome photos! Really sick nano man. Major props.

[leonel619]

Nice tank! really like the clean look

[ChouDawg]

Thanks for the kind words guys...I've learned a lot since my first tank but still have tons more to learn. I have a SpectraPure MaxCap RO/DI on the way and a HM Digital TDS-3. I've been using RO (I dont think it's even DI) water from a water store near my house with IO salt since the tank was setup, I'm excited to 1) test the TDS of the store water 2) make my own 0 TDS water and see how the tank reacts to crystal clean water.

[ChouDawg]

Did another 2G water change today and installed my Glazer Pico Skimmer! It's going to have to break-in for a couple weeks so I'll be tuning it to make sure I'm not skimming too wet. My handheld TDS meter came in and I went around testing waters. The RO water from the store I've been making my ASW with is about 6-7 PPM, my tap water is at 305 PPM. Needless to say my Spectrapure RO/DI will be in tomorrow and I can make my first batch of pure 0 TDS water and stop topping off with nutrient water (even if it's only 6 PPM). That paired with a skimmer should give me crystal clear water. Added a colony of Biohazard? Zoas and a couple polyps of Armor of God Zoas.

http://imageshack.us/a/img204/5499/img3215small.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img6/7987/img3253small.jpg

[ChouDawg]

Tank is officially 70 days old today! :bounce: still in the infant stages but moving along nicely. Added a few more Ricordeas, an Acan colony (ID?) and a True Percula Clownfish, the first and most likely the only fish that will inhabit this reef. Not much to update tank wise, been doing 2G water changes a few times a week. Ordered some Red Sea Salt to try after I'm done with my Instant Ocean. I was thinking I would start making water with a bit of the new salt with the old salt and increasing it over time so ultimately I transition smoothly to the new salt mix. Probably a bit paranoid but I'm worried about doing any kind of drastic change with such a small volume of water. And of course no update would be complete without pictures:

http://imageshack.us/a/img6/2161/img3692small.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/3589/img3677small.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img145/366/img3675small.jpg

[Vince]

Nice snaps--tank looks great!!

[ChouDawg]

So while doing a 2G water change yesterday I noticed a bunch of neon green bits of stuff floating around, now I had found random polyps of obviously either the hammer or the frogspawn littered in the tank before but thought nothing of it. Well this time I look over and my peppermint shrimp is tearing into one of the heads of my hammer coral! so I quickly shooed him away and he actually stayed for a bit, I knew he was eating it because the polyps he had just ate were glowing inside him! Needless to say I flipped out and spent the next few hours trying to catch him. No luck...I even built a little DIY trap since my tank is so small conventional bottle ones are much too big. I baited it with mysis shrimp, nothing over night and today I saw my hermit walk in, eat his fill then walk out. The peppermint still hasn't dived in.....soon....

Anyways, he has no taste for the one baby Aiptasia I put him in there for in the first place and since I have no fish I rarely have any excess food so he's resorted to eating corals, sigh. Hermit crab I can deal with since its easy to nab him and toss him on the other side of the tank as punishment. Needless to say, I'll be selling/exchanging/murdering this peppermint once I catch it.

No FTS to show off since it hasn't changed much since the last; however, I did take a picture of this new SPS that I won in the BF raffle from Shipwreck Cove. Its got blue tips with what looks like brown skin and brown polyps. They told me but I forgot, I think it's an Acro of some sort.

http://imageshack.us/a/img694/6024/img3788small.jpg

And of course I can't just take one photo of my tank, here's one of my prized gomezi in its crazy multi-colored skin and the neon green bali slimer. Oh ya and a cool top down corner shot, you can see some of the melted away branches from the coral warfare and my nicely expanding green monti with blue polyps.

http://imageshack.us/a/img24/9034/img3793small.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img40/6357/img3794smalln.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img32/4394/img3795small.jpg

More updates to come when I get my DIY components in for my new light fixture :bounce:

[nanoreef1]

What kind of camera are u using?Great shots!:D

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[ChouDawg]

Thanks, it's a Canon T3i here's a bonus Actinic only shot of my Acans. Had to mess with the colors a bunch to get "what the eye sees" in the picture.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2301/img3807nsmall.jpg

[bbandu]

Sweat looking pico

[ChouDawg]

So my first update for the New Year! The peppermint went overflow surfing (YES!) so I don't have to worry about him stealing food and eating my corals, I'll leave him back there till I decide what to do with him. My tank is 97 days old today and I've finally started just sitting back and letting it mature without having my hands in it all day.

I finished my Full Spectrum LED build but ran into an issue with one of the drivers so until I get the replacement in I won't be able to swap fixtures yet. No new coral additions, I cut the Orange Birdsnest from it's square frag plug and mounted it on the LR with super glue. I cut off the tip that was melted away in it's battle with the Green Slimer and the polyps are starting to encrust over the exposed skeleton.

Still no fish, thinking about maybe getting a Sixline wrasse or perhaps another shot at a Percula Clown. Anyways, some photos of my reef from a few days ago, FTS is on the first post.

Left/Right Sides
http://imageshack.us/a/img845/2879/img3882small.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img16/921/img3886small.jpg

Top Down
http://imageshack.us/a/img17/7225/img3885small.jpg

Unknown SPS Mini Colony, Orange Skin, Purple Polyps with Neon Green Tips
http://imageshack.us/a/img543/4678/img3864smallr.jpg

Orange Birdsnest
http://imageshack.us/a/img12/638/img3859small.jpg

Unknown SPS #2
http://imageshack.us/a/img443/3264/img3857small.jpg

Acans (7 heads now!)
http://imageshack.us/a/img442/4532/img38455small.jpg

Armor of God Paly (5 polyps now!)
http://imageshack.us/a/img203/8005/img3848small.jpg

Ricordea Buddies
http://imageshack.us/a/img823/4211/img3855small.jpg

That's all folks, thanks for looking!

[bladedrummer]

Wow, I love it! If I won't have room for a bigger tank wherever I move next, this is what I'm going to aspire to! :D

[ChouDawg]

So after a bit more custom work, I finally have my new LED fixture up. Big thanks to Milad @ LEDGroupBuy and Keith @ Flamin Systems Inc

It's a full spectrum MakersLED 6" with 1 OCW, 3x 3-UP (RB/RB/NW), 3x HV, the LEDs except the 6 RB are controlled by a DIM4 controller with sunrise/sunset programming. Just watched my first "virtual" sunset which was pretty freaking awesome Just the RB on now for some crazy actinic pop till full off.

Still need to mess with the color blend but I'll see how the corals do first. I hung the light up 10.5" from the water's surface. Which is about twice as high as my last fixture so they should all be fine. Today was their first day under the new fixture.

This new fixture since it's full spectrum is a lot harder to photograph I cant get the color balance right. But I also realized it could also be because the spectrum of my current settings might not be correct anyways.

Anyways, more to come on that topic, coral updates; none, moved the RDE/Green Encrusting Monti frag onto a permanent location on the rock, It's such an awesome more I wouldn't mind it covering that rock. I fed NLS pellets to my acans, and ricordeas and they devoured them, much simpler than feeding Mysis that's for sure. I did not observe any adverse reaction to the pellets.

Livestock: The peppermint remains in isolation in the back, I throw a pellet back there from time to time, I'll get rid of him sooner or later. Still fishless for now...

FTS:
http://imageshack.us/a/img46/2339/img3901smallw.jpg

Aerial:
http://imageshack.us/a/img651/1002/img3941small.jpg

Right:
http://imageshack.us/a/img826/3032/img3921small.jpg

BG Gomezi:
http://imageshack.us/a/img21/5221/img3916small.jpg

MakersLED 6" with custom 18AWG VGA cable (one cord top to bottom :))
http://imageshack.us/a/img507/223/img3935small.jpg

Photos should hopefully get better once I get my final color mix figured out and find the right white balance, thanks for looking!

[mcdonaldtj]

Looks awesome how do you like the OCW's and 3ups? I am considering adding them to my system

V/Tim

[ChouDawg]

Thanks! To be honest I've only had it running for a day and I haven't found the right "balance" yet. Since i went from a RB/CW mix to full spectrum I definitely noticed a lot of colors come out that weren't there before, everything seems a bit "pink" now whereas it was more "purple" before. Again, I'll be tweaking the color mix over the next few weeks till I find the best look. We'll see how the corals react as well, I'm crossing my fingers I don't have any bleaching or reaching.

[ChouDawg]

My tank is 4 months old today! No photos for you guys but I do have a bit of a dilemma I can't quite figure out. So as you guys already know, my corals are doing great; lots of growth, awesome coloration etc. but for some reason I can't seem to keep fish alive.

After my first Percula clown died after about 3 days I was fishless till last Friday when I got a small Sixline Wrasse, about 2" or so in length. My pod/critters population was going crazy all over the rocks and glass while my tank was fishless. The Sixline was happy, active, great coloration and plump, the LFS had just gotten it in the day before. I took it home along with a small Watermelon Zoa frag and began drip acclimating at 2-3 drops per second for about 2 hours. I then added the fish and drained a bit more water to complete my weekly 2G WC.

The fish seemed happy, it was ducking in/out of the rock work and loved hiding in between my octospawn and hammer and I noticed it happily hunting away at the pods that finally now had a predator. Friday went by fine, Saturday I saw it ducking in/out of the rock work as usual, i didn't try to feed it as I figured it wasn't going to eat anyways and had plenty of critters to snack on.

Come Sunday, the lights come on and I don't see the Sixline which came out Saturday morning once the lights came on. I figured it was hiding and thought nothing of it, Sunday night approached and still no fish. I started looking in the rock work and then after lights out did the same thing with a red LED. Nothing on the floor, nothing in the overflow, no carcass or mass nitrate spike.

Yesterday came around and still nothing so I've come to the conclusion it's probably gone and cleaned up... :'(

So that brings to my question...do I just have bad luck with fish? Corals, inverts, pods, etc all doing great, all parameters in check and only one fish. Any suggestions for things to check/test appreciated.

[x3thelast]

Dont sixlines burry them selves in sand at night for protection? Maybe it got stuck in the rocks trying to burry itself. I had a sixline for months then out of nowhere i wake up to my maxi mini plump and puking blue and purple. I would try another clown. Maybe you just had an unhealthy first one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ChouDawg]

Barebottom tank so burrowed in the sand is out of the question. The Sixline did love to duck and dive in every nook and cranny in the rock work, some I never knew were big enough to pass through. I don't want to go ripping apart my rock work to find out though. I was thinking a coral ate it but I don't have any large enough common culprit LPS. I do really like Sixlines after having mine for a few days, they're adventurous and swim like a regular fish.

[ChouDawg]

Alright so it's been awhile, not a whole lot has changed so I didn't bother updating often, instead I just enjoyed watching it mature. Tank is 159 days old today, quickly approaching it's half-year birthday.

Using Canon software I think I've finally got the white balance figured out for shooting under the Full Spectrum LEDs. The following shots are a good representation of what it looks like in person.

Coral addition wise, I haven't added anything besides some Watermelon Zoas.

I now have a pair of Hybrid Percula/Occelaris clowns they are eating well and have started clearing off a slanted rock under the Octospawn colony. This is a tank bred/raised pair that lays eggs periodically. I'm hoping to see similar signs of happiness in my tank.

http://imageshack.us/a/img685/2351/img3985small.jpg

A shot of the originally 3-head Acan frag that is now over 10+ heads and balling up nicely. Sorry for the blurry photo was too lazy to do macro/tripod.

http://imageshack.us/a/img442/7963/img3971small.jpg

FTS:
http://imageshack.us/a/img843/8361/img3963small.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img441/3652/img4003small.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img11/4730/img3966small.jpg

I have noticed that my tank seems to look better when viewed looking down from anywhere above the midline, I think this is because almost all the SPS corals have no coloration and PE on parts that are shaded. I'm not sure if this because I don't have a sandbed to reflect light up to the undersides or the LED directional light or both...anyone have this issue?

[slicktoppomp]

Looks great man! One of the sleekest nano's on here. Can't wait to start stocking my own nano.

[Sandbags]

Hey Dawg! Love your nano.. Looks awesome bro! How much did that light set up cost? Looks great.

[ChouDawg]

Looks great man! One of the sleekest nano's on here. Can't wait to start stocking my own nano.

Thanks for the kind words, checked out your 15G, love the pump hidden in the rock work, cant wait to see it grow out.


Hey Dawg! Love your nano.. Looks awesome bro! How much did that light set up cost? Looks great.

More than I want to think about lol but I like building things so it was fun for me. My previous light setup with 9x GU10 bulbs was $5/bulb so about $45 for the whole setup plus sockets and randoms crap acrylic, and I had great results with that so, how much you spend on a fixture really isn't that important as long as it has good output / color.

[Sandbags]

More than I want to think about lol but I like building things so it was fun for me. My previous light setup with 9x GU10 bulbs was $5/bulb so about $45 for the whole setup plus sockets and randoms crap acrylic, and I had great results with that so, how much you spend on a fixture really isn't that important as long as it has good output / color.

The color looks sweet.. I think in going to do the same thing. I found an eBay seller with 9w Cree GU10 bulbs but they're 15each.. I love DIY.. An I've been wanting to do a diy light fixture.. Glad you posted this! I'm following along..

[ChouDawg]

If you haven't seen it already on Nano-Reef they have a huge 100+ page thread about the GU10 bulbs. The consensus after years was to stick with the 3x1W bulbs as the higher wattage ones tend to burn out since they have small heatsinks and no active cooling. I had great results with the 2B/1W 3x1W bulbs as have lots of other people so really no point re-inventing the wheel trying to go bigger.

[Sandbags]

If you haven't seen it already on Nano-Reef they have a huge 100+ page thread about the GU10 bulbs. The consensus after years was to stick with the 3x1W bulbs as the higher wattage ones tend to burn out since they have small heatsinks and no active cooling. I had great results with the 2B/1W 3x1W bulbs as have lots of other people so really no point re-inventing the wheel trying to go bigger.

Yeah I'll look that up. But the ones you found had 2 blue and 1 white in one bulb?

[ChouDawg]

Yup, the seller can also make pretty much any combination you want as well, different lenses available upon request etc. A few people have started swapping out LEDs on their GU10 bulbs to get a broader spectrum.

[Sandbags]

Very cool. Ill hunt around eBay for it. Thanks for the info!

[ChouDawg]

Today is day 163 of my tank's life and I did my weekly water change as usual. I decided I'd shoot some shots as well while I was feeding my LPS, this is about 15 minutes into the my "sunset" period which last an hour.

Green w/ Purple Polyps Montipora Cap (4.5 months of growth, finally coming full circle and about 2" taller)
http://imageshack.us/a/img96/6178/comparej.jpg

Bali Green Slimer (Finally encrusted fully onto the plug, still waiting for it to take off in a bunch of nice big branches...) Various Birdsnest in the background
http://imageshack.us/a/img203/1760/img4016small.jpg

Blue Green Gomezi (By far my most successful SPS, great coloration and a ton of branches)
http://imageshack.us/a/img194/7337/img4015small.jpg

Happy Fat Acans Eating NLS Pellets and three small Armor of God Zoas (Had a problem with Zoa spiders/pox before that wiped out my two big polyps, glad these survived)
http://imageshack.us/a/img811/3371/img4017small.jpg

That's all for now...future upgrade in works :P

[ChouDawg]

Short and sweet update from me today, after 20 days in my tank, my Hybrid Clown pair has laid eggs. They've been scoping out/cleaning a rock in the back corner for awhile now, they might've laid them earlier and I just noticed today. Maybe someone that has bred clowns before can tell me how far along these eggs look. I'm not planning to raise them as I don't have the space or live foods they need so I'll let nature take its course. And here's a crappy cellphone picture for proof :D

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/3728/eggspost.jpg

[Sandbags]

Thats awesome! Very cool.

[gnarledout]

super rad nano.

[gnarledout]

dont know how old those eggs are but theyll hatch in 8 days from fertilization.

[jessegarcia28]

such a cool lil. tank
have fun
jesse

[ChouDawg]

Thanks all for the kind words, the eggs went from orange to black over the weekend so I'm expecting them to hatch any night now. I'm not planning to raise them so whatever happens to them happens. The only thing I'm worried about is if they hatch and get swept over my overflow will they die off in my filter floss and foul up my tank?

[ChouDawg]

Wow! Just realized it has been almost 3 months since I took pictures of my tank...so I broke out the tripod for you guys. Oh ya, my clowns are on their 3rd batch of eggs now.

"Sunset" FTS
http://imageshack.us/a/img7/8388/img4030ssmall.jpg

Still UNID Acro? Turning more reddish with purple/blue tips from brown

http://imageshack.us/a/img836/6670/img4047ssmall.jpg

Acan Ball
http://imageshack.us/a/img534/4205/img4046ssmall.jpg

Gomezi Polyps Growing Towards The Light
http://imageshack.us/a/img543/7945/img4039ssmall.jpg

Orange w/ Purple Polyps and Green Tips Birdsnest
http://imageshack.us/a/img834/7669/img4044ssmall.jpg

[stpatrick]

Great build. I love the tank. You did a great job. The Blue Green Gomezi and ORA Orange Birdsnest looks fantastic. I would love some help with my camera :) I cant seem to get my macro shots to look this clean.

[ChouDawg]

Great build. I love the tank. You did a great job. The Blue Green Gomezi and ORA Orange Birdsnest looks fantastic. I would love some help with my camera :) I cant seem to get my macro shots to look this clean.

Thanks! Tripod, tripod, tripod and a remote shutter release / wireless remote is key, you can use the 2, 5, 10 second timer as well to eliminate even the smallest shakes from pressing the shutter release button.

Believe it or not, none of the photos were taken with a "real" macro lens. If you haven't yet, look into "reverse mount macro photography" its a bit ghetto per say but it works and only cost you <$10 for the adapter. You basically mount your lens backwards on your camera and you can take photos like the ones I have in my thread. Let me know if you need any more info/help.

[nanoreef1]

This has to be one the nicest Pico tank in here! Well done!

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