# 4g pico reef Diary



## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Starting a new project for a 4 g & 0.8 L Pico reef system. Here's what I have so far.

I ordered.
Finnex Delux 4g nano with the mini canister filter & a 28 wt 1/3 blue 2/3 white light with moonlight accents.
0.8 L air lift fuge/ breeder box. also will be useing for water circulation

equipment I need
need to go get air pump for air lift
need to go pick up that tiny heater I saw.
need to measure system & have a glass top cut.

What I will be doing when It comes in.
Blacking out the back of the pico & one side of the air lift fuge. 
Fuge will have cheato(sp?) macro with large size sand & some bits of rock rubble. (will be fun to squeeze in) Also found a tiny heater that will fit in it.

I plan to have a relatively deep sand bed & an island style aqua scape. I will be using this tank to house left over bits of corals & whatnot from my biocube. Sort of a frag tank but it will be aqua scaped & a pico reef tank on it's own not just a frag tank. 

Stock? 
I was thinking a shrimp. Skunk cleaner or cherry/fire, or something of the like or a pair of little sexy shrimp & either a neon or a shark nosed goby & 3-4 snails :fish:

The stand for the pico?
I have a great stand in mind. It's the main reasons I want the tank back blacked out also why I ordered it with the black light cover.
The stand is an old wrought Iron Singer sewing machine stand (all the scroll work & such) with a salvaged marble slab top. The top has a few what look like rust stains but it's not too bad unless you are looking for them & I may find a way to remove them before the tank goes up.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

I've read allot of things on the definition of a nano sw or a pico sw tank Many definitions are either vague or varied. some state ONLY tanks with a foot print of less than 1ftx1ft are nanos  . The most common & generalized def has a nano as anything under 30g( that would make my 29g cube a nano :O) & have anything 5g & under listed as a pico. So I will go with that & say that this is a pico system.

I know that picos can be difficult to maintain so I am going with the K.I.S.S theory (Keep it simple stupid!)with this tank for my softy frags, so not too complicated. Simple weekly water changes and daily top offs & frequent peramiter testing SHOULD handle my nutrient needs for the most part (aside from feedings). I have been reading blogs with other pico reefs using the same technique with some good success.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

OOOk this is a nightmare I got the tank & it has imperfections in the glass well the guy is sending me another & just now the bulb shorted out the 3 loop florescent went all BZZZZZ! bZZZZZt rwwwr BZZZZT POP! then there was some smoke. The bulb is real hot not sure if it was the light bulb that caused it or if it was the fixture its self the led moon lights are still working. Anyone want to make a guess on what one it was?


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

I haven't herd of others with these problems with this set up...


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

All I can say is that this will surely be a great pico, and good luck! Hopefully it all turns around with the new tank. No guess on the light. Aquarium Tech might be able to help though.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

perhaps I'm ordering 2 new bulbs in the morning. 2 so I have a spare. If it happens it again I will know it's the fixture. I can get a new one for around 30$ but all the electral BZZZ! & the smoke & the smell very hot electric-ish burning stink. It was a little scary not a big fan of having things short out & getting shocked or have a fire start. Something is rattling inside the bulb so I'm guessing that's what got fried we shall see.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

shark nosed & neons are not too common around here. I have seen single damsels like yellow tails kept in tanks as little as 3 gallons successfully. I may do that instead of the shark nose/ neon this tank probably won't actually be set up until after the holidays because of the delays with the lights & the tank its self.


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## travelerjp98 (Dec 5, 2011)

I'm following along!


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Well I got the tank & light & everything has been setup & running for a bit now I have had to re think my live rock work I have close to 7 lbs of lr in this tank O.O & a 2- 2 1/2 inch black/white sand bed. I have a hitchhiker a (sp?)Somatavara?? (I think that was what it was called)snail thing I made it drop its foot ! scared me thought I killed it! will put some pics soon.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

So much for pics my hard drive crashed! 
Tank seems to be stable now. That was quick but the rock was fully cured out of an old tank at my lfs & I used 50% of the water from my old setup so I guess that helped but I'm keeping an eye on it
Anyway I have put the first real inhabitants into the tank first to go in were two blue legs hermits. I will be taking one of them out soon. I do believe I will go with a peppermint shrimp in this tank as the blood/fire shrimp at my lfs are running around 50-60$ lately  . I remember when they were 25$! What the heck!
debating whether to get a shark nosed goby or a yellow tail/blue devil damsel still...
Oh & the little snail thing is still alive & happy in the tank & is doing lots of snail stuff like eating the little tiny bit of hair algae that grows on this one rock it loves the stuff!


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

peppermint shrimp in in the tank & doing quite well! 

I Ordered some stuff from reef cleaners fuzzy chitons 3 of them 2 for my big tank & one for this one and a few limpets for my larger tank may put one in here. Also ordered pods + for both tanks to hopefully increase the variety of pods in the tank I noticed my clowns picking off my scuds >_< I think it's a good idea to inject new life into your pods once in a while coming in on new lr or with whatever. 

Noticed a new hitch hiker in the tank a tiny banded brittle star! it's cute hides in the rock with it's arms stretched out looking for food!


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Nice, congrats on the free star.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

I have quite a few in my other tank I think that is where it came from they are only about the size of a dime. I found another one just now along with a astherina(sp) Also possibly from my other tank. I think they are incredibly cute & am happy the migrated to this tank.....

My chitons did not come today should have been here today but perhaps because of Holiday they will arrive tomorrow as they may have shipped a day late?....will be mad if dead :rip:after shipping date quoted they would arrive today at 3pm....will be really pissed if ups delivered them to my neighbors again.....:evil::argue:


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW btw my dad has a dog bite (few days old) on his hand he let my shrimp clean it :shock:it was disgusting & fascinating at the same time.
It did not touch the hard part of the dry dead skin( I think it was too hard for him) but went straight for the soft dead stuff & picked it & the scab off & thoroughly cleaned inside the cut once it was exposed until healthy live tissue was exposed and the wound began to bleed then it happily skittered off. 
The cleaning only took a few moments! The shrimp hopped on his hand immediately after he put it in & found the wound in about 10 seconds before it started cleaning! I know they usually jump on me as soon as I clean the tank but I usually don't have anything for it to clean so it just walks around on me. It was fascinating to watch & a little disturbing. I can't believe I agreed to let him try that lol:withstup:

I should probably mention every thing is on/ in the tank heater I needed ect. except for the lid.... a must before fish...I still need someone to cut it for me...


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Yeah, that's gross, and not the safest thing to do! Reef tanks often (or not) carry TB or mycobacteria, so many advocate wearing gloves! I should, but hey...

Whenever you have time for pictures, drop some in here!


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

yea I know! He's been after me for days to let him do it with the shrimp in my other tank...even after I told him about things that can be in sw! He was not too worried about tb.
Probably because he was exposed to it ages ago but never actually contracted the disease. Tb test will always show positive because the bacteria was in his system so he has to get chest x-rays but that dose not mean it is active bacteria. Just that it has been in his system. As far as I know people exposed in this manor usually do not contract the lung/skin infection of tb as they have a high degree of immunity related to previous exposure unless they are already ill with some underlying ailment.

I still think it was YUCK!!! for him to want to do that! But that was his decision. I finally told him He could do it if he wanted to, as long as he didn't have anything on his hands so as not to harm the tank. I know I wouldn't do it! I do usually wear gloves...most of the time....I know my dad & eventually one day he would have tried this anyway even If I had said no. Like a little kid!

btw mycobacteria family includes tb bacteria. It is actually related to the leprosy causing bacterium and like like leprosy can infect the skin (usually very uncommon & mostly seen in people with underlying illness) but it is more commonly known for lung infections but it can happen & it exists in the aquarium quite frequently besides other things.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Huh! I guess I DID learn something today after all! Psh. School...:chair:


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

It's still nasty to let something pick at a wound >_>.....It was..FEEDING ON HIM! & apparently it liked what it tasted O.O it was so excited after it ate on him & went ALL over the tank looking for more! It was pretty funny to watch it feeling in all the holes & crevasses! So I handed it a dried scud ("baby shrimp" is what thy market them as) It got all excited & disappeared with its prize into its den lol

I have to say shrimp are very entertaining and reasonably intelligent. I know I have enjoyed my other shrimps in my big tank! They must have one Hell of a nervous system with all those legs, swimmerets, feelers, antenna, pincers & mouth parts all moving around all the time! I'm guessing that the legs ect. have their own nerve node bundles (mini brain like neuron synapse clusters) that helps with it's operation much like a cockroach.

I will TRY to get some pics soon. Every time I try to post them something else comes up & my internet is painfully slow.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

I love my cleaner shrimp too, if nothing else, they're fun to watch.

Mine swims to the front of the tank whenever it sees me. :lol:


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

his hand actually looks A LOT better this morning like it's 2/3 of the way better than it was before...i amvery surprised. Even so I do not recommend trying this! He wanted to do it again but I wouldn't let him >_< I'm sure I'll come in tomorrow & catch him with his hand in the tank  Honestly he is like a kid.
Guess I should call him The Doctor Shrimp lol 

My Chitons were delayed...again...not too happy with reefcleaners shipping right now don't know if I will be ordering again. Hopefully they will be in tomorrow.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

got my little yellowtail 

PICTURES!








right out of the box on my lovely table/ stand









sand & salt mix in tank mini canister running wide open!









added rocks & things replaced blown bulb added a small fuge for cheato rubble & such light cor fuge clipped on....is blue...need a black one  can see the top of the mini canister in this pic









looks like a museum display will my fossil collection lol can see the fish a little yellow tail swimming around.









another shot of the same









flash off can see the tank better this way:fish:


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Got my chitons btw love em so cute


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Good looking nano! It went through no mini-cycle I assume?


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

It did in the beginning but it wasn't bad. Didn't last long. The water was partly recycled from another tank & the rock was fully cured. I am getting some algae now but it only shows up when I've had the light on too long...No timer yet & I still need top glass cut


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Stomatella varia snail just gave me a show in the tank tonight. I noticed it standing STRAIGHT up on its back foot/tail. I wondered what the heck it was doing it was waving around like it wanted to grab onto something out of reach so I put my chopstick in & touched it. It totally ignored me & did not climb up on the stick. Then it starts spewing out eggs every where! It also looked to be spewing a milky substance wonder if these things can fertilize their own eggs? I have herd of a few land snails that can. I went for my camera but it decided to just go of & graze again & I missed it.

My damsel found dead a few days ago in the fuge...no idea how he got in it...
managed to snag a little blue mushroom from my other tank it's adjusting at the moment.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

UPDATES!:
I moved my fuzzy chiton to my bigger tank. 

Finaly got a top made for this thing it helps so much with the evap but unfortunately it was not in time to same my damsil that jumped out or the shrimp.. also found crunchy on the floor the day before the top was installed.  

The mushrooms look great many red & several blue & green ones. I have 10 total mushrooms in the tank right now. I also have a kenya tree coral & 2 ricordea florida mushrooms (orange & blue)& 1 fancy mushroom.

The tank looks great & I was happy with no fish in the tank but....
my soft heart got in the way of my head again.....I sort of took a pale little "caramel clown" off the lfs hands. It was suffering from lymphocystis I figured it would die soon & the lfs didn't want it in the tank he was gona flush it while it was still alive & still quite active so I ended up with it....it was very tiny & I placed it in my 4g tank. after a few days it was having troubble eating because of the cyst growth around its mouth. I removed the cyst blocking his mouth. A little minor surgery & three weeks later in a clean tank with good water & the cysts were completely gone. now he is a very active little Darwin black ocellaris with a mis-bar stripe not a caramel ocellaris as he was given to me.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yay! Happy endings are always nice. I'm gonna re-do my own nano very soon, inspired by this.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

I will post some pics soon I disturbed the corals last night when I did a major water change & scrubbed the glass down. they aren't too happy with me right now. They should be happy again be tonight.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

I took some pics they are a little out of focus but blea...the blue led lights I added on really make a difference in the appearance of the tank. I love it. no more light on the fuge it's on the same light as the tank & it is doing beautifully I have more cheato than I need now.

TOS:hope you do the nano I would love to see it.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Wow that looks great! Did you buy the coral that big or did you grow everything out?


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

it grew from a little cutting from my other tank


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Updates:
Yes the tank is still up & running!
I added many rics to the tank I love these things I have some zoas peanut-butter cups, incredible hulks/green crossetts & a few radioactive dragon eyes with 2 blow pop polyps I thought they were regular dragon eye polyps but I am now convinced that they are blow-pops they look similar to regular dragon eyes. I also have a tiny frag of green star polyps I just added. Hoping to get it to spread in the upper left corner. The shrooms are doing well. I upgraded my lighting to led a ecoxotic rgb module with mounting brackets it fits perfectly for the tank. I LOVE being able to change the colors some times I add a little purple or blue or let it cycle colors the colors you can see in the corals are amazing & the red mode lets me watch at night without disturbing anything! I'm not getting a lot of growth with my zoas yet but they are not shrinking & are fully opening & appear healthy I did have a bout with the dreaded zoa eating nudi in the tank when I first got them I never saw the nudi when it was in qt for a week. Must have been an egg. They have all recovered. Perhaps soon I can see some growth. 
My little rescue black clown-fish is still going strong & so is the evil hermit that keeps pulling over my rics...he may have to go back to my big cube perhaps a small shrimp to replace him?

I had a little accident with the tank  during a water change I dinged the lip with the cup I was using to scoop out water with.:help: :withstup:thankfully it was a clam-shell chip & not a crack so no runs but I have an extra identical tank in storage if it becomes a problem I blacked out the rim & the bottom to hide the chip at the top it's a nice effect. I was careful not to paint over the seams. It's been ok for a few weeks so it should be fine as clamshells don't usually run I will try to get some pics soon I have been super busy lately.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

My camera can not capture many of the colors of my leds & struggles when it cycles through the deep red looks roseish & the yellow is hardly visible. It can not do justice to the colors of the corals. The greens are incredible in person they actually ARE highlighter/neon green & appear to glow the orange/yellow & turquoise on the rics looks very washed out. The kenya tree coral is actually more like 2 times the size it is in the video I ha cleaned the glass a bit a few min ago & it shrunk up along with a few other things. I will try to get a pic later when things are more open.

video looks good full screen & plays better.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=529856533702971&set=vb.100000358888581&type=3
hope you enjoy!
picture cannot do justice to the greens & it still looks washed out


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Oh gosh I just discovered that when I hit the power button for my tv it sends my panorama rgb into these horrific strobe like flashes of changing color. It's actually one of the settings a stupid one but one of the settings anyway. Apparently many of my other buttons likewise correspond to many of this lights functions. Its rather irritating when I try & watch tv....But good to know that if I ever loose the remote I can decipher what buttons do what on my tv remote & use it for my tank light.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

update:! tank still going strong. new vid of tank I don't think anyone is still interested in this thread but I'm posting this anyway! Hope the vid shows up. vid still not doing justice to the colors can't seem to get a good color balance with my camera 

video 
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=573020262719931&l=2580461038605569259


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## Dreamer (Mar 15, 2013)

Is it only the one fish in there?? Looks great 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Yes it is just the one clown and a snail.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

IT'S STILL GOING.! I do not have the growth I wanted especially on my zoas. I just started dosing with kent marines nano reef part a & b a few days ago we shall see.... I added a uv strip to my rbg panorama module as I discovered some color loss on my orange & reds. Normal leds do not cover the true uv spectrum unless they are uv leds. They are coloring up again slowly. Also discovered that yuma & Florida rics prefer highly oxygenated medium to light water flow. They were not dividing much prior to me adding a bubble stone on the ittybitty fuge that flows down over them. I really got the water rolling prior to it re-entering the tank & they have started dividing quite a bit now. The shrooms also appear larger & fuller.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Cool. Lights do change spectrum and intensity over time, and water does go "stale." If growth has stopped, try some water changes along with those light adjustments.
Nice tank! So full of stuff.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

I keep up with my water changes pretty well. I think it may have been because I was not changing out my filter carbon frequently enough in the canister. More frequent changes have resulted in an increase in growth in some of my zoas but still not all & not as much as I wanted. I have noticed that the supplement part a & b between my water changes has perked up some of the colors greens mostly but still no staggering growth developments. so I have slacked off on additives. The color loss is mostly resolved with the addition of uv strip to my existing rgb led. The red/orange fading seemed to start once I changed from the compact florescent to leds on the tank. So I'm not too sure about the reduction in spectrum intensity because it actually started when the light was brand new it just very slowly progressing over 8 or so months. Like I had a orange & purple ricordia it turned greenish yellow & purple. I was loosing orange & red colors just realy slowly. I found out that most led lights do not cover the uv spectrum very well unless they specifically have a uv led in the fixture & research suggests orange & red coloration in some corals is associated with uv light. As a means of protecting themselves from uv light so with not enough uv & no need for the red/ orange pigment they faded out. At least that is what I have understood from my reading. The addition of the uv strip has brought back most of the orange/ red pigments not as intense perhaps as with the pc light but defiantly orange & red colors rather than yellowish & green colors & no more fading noted. I do however have one ric that refuses to be orange again. It had turned green & purple instead of orange & purple has become now yellow & purple & refuses to be orange no matter where I put it in the tank it's mother ric is orange & purple & the colors are holding well so whatever maybe it's just weird. I think if I had a stronger uv source they would be more intense but they are actually still very nice looking & my party colored rics completely recovered all former colors so I'm pretty satisfied. I need to continue tweaking my maintenance schedule a bit hopefully it will also help to increase growth. 
old zoas appear to be growing slower than new additions.
my old radioactive dragon eyes have not grown at all nor my blow pop but they do look happier/bigger/brighter my "eye of jupiter/whamin watermelons or whatever have 2 new polyps. my peanut butter cups disappeared all but 2  all other old addition zoas have no new growth but are larger & fuller looking. I have fragged my kenya tree twice & my mushrooms have all each divided at least once. several of my rics have either made new mouths or split. My green stars are finally on the pipe for my fuge the new colony is growing faster than my old one .

I have added to the tank from my last post.

4 polyp gorilla nipple zoas now 7 polyps, 
purple puddles 2 polyps still have 2 or they may be ppe not sure,mouth is whiteish they have doubled in size.
I added some green & brown zoas that have begun color morphing from a green croset zoa to a more intense forest green covering the oral disk with a brighter green ring area around the mouth. started out with 2 frags one had about 8 polyps & the other about 13 they have both nearly doubled in size <3
also some zoas no idea what they are with brownish vaguely greenish skirt a orange ring a thin brown/orange ring then a thin orange "ring" it doesn't always make a complete circle & then a brown/orange area round mouth & white mouth. started with 5 have 6 now.
added some green & "lavender" pallys 2 or 3 new polyps
Some eclipse pallys no new growth.
goblin fire zoas started with 4 now have about 10 of those <3. 

I added what I thought were horizon zoas at the end of last month & I still think is a morph of horizons but not exactly the same this morphs skirt is two tone orange. The disk has thin purple/ brown ring then a lavenderish ring then brown ring then a peachish sort of center & they are growing so fast :3 <3! I started with about 12 now I have like 20

eventually I hope to have the right side completely dominated by zoas as much as the left side is dominated by shrooms with a scattering of rics at the bottom a kenya in the middle/back & as much green stars as possible on the back glass/ tubes & stuff areas. ...it's a slow proses....


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Pics? Sounds like everything is doing extremely well for you.


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Wow I did not realize this tank has been going for four years!:mrgreen: Sry for the zomby post XP. 
I have redone the rock work twice from my last post. I still have the same set up. The ecoxotic rbg module with the uv stunner the canister filter with the little hob airlift fuge. I still have the same little misbar darwin clown & it looks great. I have lots & lots of mini brittle stars & stomatella snails. The pink kenya tree got too big so I removed it to my biocube & put in a 1/4 inch "green" kenya tree frag. It's getting rather large now. I have so many shrooms now! <3 I have a metallic green watermelon that is half as wide as the tank when it opens the clown hosts it & feeds it lol. 
My neighbor was supposed to be tank siting for me some ages ago & he didn't do a thing & I lost my zoas & rics & some other things :evil: A while back I moved a few pallys from my other tank & added a dime sized greenish colored toadstool frag. Now I have lots of shrooms a green-ish kenya tree & the greenish toadstool & a few pallys in the tank with the clown stars & other little inverts & pods. This tank has been incredibly stable aside from when I left it in someone else hands...he screwed up my biocube too & I lost a lot of stuff in it as well... Aside from top offs every few days I have actually slacked the water changes to bi-weekly.....(ish) with no problems & I only vac it lightly every few months....
I took this pic of the tank last week the colors are not showing up very well in it at all....the pic was taken not long after the lights came on the big shroom actually gets bigger than that & the kenya is kinda leaning in the pic...Oh well


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Nice! Keep those yearly updates coming! LOL


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Thanks I actually updated because it is coming down soon so next month it will probaly be gone I am upgrading everything in it into a IM Nuvo 10g AIO system. It has lots of goodies ghost skimmer media rack spin stream nozzle the 18w skyye led light ect. I plan on using my ecoxotic light from this tank as a supplemental light to the skyye light. I'm just waiting for it all to get here....also having a glass top cut. Then I want to add a friend for my little clown & a rock flower nem somewhere in the tank I love those freaking things!...also been thinking of getting an auto topoff for this tank...Mostly doing this after seeing how cute my other clown pair is together so I needed a bigger tank 
^_^


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Sweet!
( rock flowers are one of my favorites, too )


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