lutz123

I have the Picotope and love it. Nice quality, lighting is perfectly fine for gsp and the telescopic mount is easy to adjust or move. I agree that the stock filter allows that surface film to build a little, but top offs and water changes help. The filter also lacks flow a little, which in my opinion needs to be a hair higher to avoid dead spots, but it's not a critical need. For now, I put filter floss in the media chamber and change it out every few days after gently blowing everything with a turkey baster. I may eventually add a tiny powerhead but it's fine for now. The cubey looks nice - I don't have any experience with it. I would check the display area size. I can't imagine losing space in the back of my little 3 gallon.

Amazing!

Glad you got Nemo a friend. He (she?) sounded so tiny I wouldn't expect any issues. I am not sure if you have the tank covered, but I lost a young clown to carpetsurfing - he actually did it twice in one week. That would be my concern over actual nipping. I suspect it was a dominance thing even though they appeared to be fine during the day.

They are amazing, aren't they? I don't imagine it would be too tough, perhaps long term. I have a 3 gallon JBJ picotope that's running fine with the stock filter and lights. The flow is too low - perfect for a 1 gallon? I plan to upgrade, but everything is doing fine. I have some easy LPS, clove polyps, yellow clown goby, scarlet hermit, and some sexy shrimp. Live rock has great coralline. Water changes keep parameters in check but they are super easy with a large cup. SPS would make it more challenging but not terrible. That's not for me though. The same idea would work for 1 gallon. Salinity would be the biggest issue. Some people feed a dog twice a day - topoffs twice a day should be a cinch. There are some pretty cool tiny ones people have kept. The nanoreefs site has some tank builds you could read.

I hope that you can try to focus on those that helped. It's unfortunate that you weren't treated with the respect you deserved. Honestly, a vast majority of people here are good people. Look at the number of members of WAMAS and compare that to the number you had trouble with. I can promise you most are rooting for you and want you to stay. Need to stand up to bullies, right? Crybaby never crossed anyone's mind. I want to commend you on your integrity. You easily could have posted the names and messages from those being jerks, yet you didn't. Realize that it makes you better than them. Honestly, I love the uncle's tank offer, the lysol cloth in the tank, seeing Nemo triumph through all his tribulations, and even the rubber nem. :-) It has me on the edge of my seat and I really don't want to lose those updates! :-)

I can't say that I blame him for bowing out. I don't need every thread to be about cycling and skimmer comparisons - keeps it interesting. There's no need to even click on a thread that you don't think will be relevant. I was curious to hear about this tank - he has mentioned it before. Could have made for awesome daily reading! Recently, my favorite threads have been the Joshifer threads...kind of addicting.

I was finally able to get over that way again and was very impressed. Great selection, clean, and helpful! A+++ I will definitely be back, for Nuvo goodies, and to start slowly building my 75!

you could ever want to know about water changes... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

Please put me next in line as interested in the 58 Gallon, stand, and AI Sol if it is still available. lutz38599@gmail.com Thanks!

Nice! Are you happy with the AI Nano?

Bring this post back to life... How did the clingfish end up doing?

Looks great!

I'm sure your fishy friend will be just fine - and will be happy to have friend. My limited experience is that the earlier (younger) clownfish are introduced the better. If your current one is small don't stress if you can't find a smaller one at QR. Don't take that to mean a big one is fine, but any youngster that's close in size will work. They will work it out. Also, (for future) if you don't have an auto topoff on your Aqueon, it might be a good idea to keep your salinity on the low side in case you have a couple of days you can't top off. Then it doesn't hit super high levels before you have a chance to handle it.

Take care of your majanos and make sure your params stay steady before moving anything over. And watch for more hitchhikers. It's more stressful for the fish if you try to make adjustments once you put them in. It's hard to say a water change is advised because I can't remember when you put water in. I would advise you start a new tank build thread. It would be a great way to keep track of dates and parameters so that everyone can watch it come together and threads don't get off topic. Your first post could introduce all of your current equipment, and upgrades and stocking options, and current params.

Honestly, I think your list looks great! I agree that the sexies are very, very tiny. They are super cute though! Yes, Chromis school, but I think a single one would be fine in a 30 gallon with the list you have. I have found scarlet hermits to be better than red or blue legs in terms of leaving everyone alone. I don't know about the Halloweens but I hear they may be fine too. Nassarius are the snorkeling snails. I have the little ones and the big Tongans. A few trochus are good all around snails for rocks and glass. Astreas are the ones that flip and can't usually right themselves. Ceriths are good too.

Looks like mojano (majano?) to me but I've never had them myself. It should be easier to control now than later. Kalk should be fine. Unless the rock is really terrible or you're keeping something very delicate in there I would just try the kalking first. Your tank must be cycling nicely to have all of this life! Have you tested parameters? BTW, your clown is fine for now. If you have everything figured out in that 8 gallon you could add another now. As babies they are fine in that size for a short time. I added a second ocelleris clown (they are young) last week after one of mine went carpet surfing again (this time he was not so lucky) and they were fine. I picked the smallest one in the tank and they got along right away. Two clowns and a blue green chromis could potentially be fine, though you might consider looking at a blenny or shrimp/goby pair. I like to come up with a list of possibilities and they watch the behavior of what I have before making a final decision. You may find that the clownfish are very active and you want something that will hang out towards the bottom, or be more "chill."

Yes they do - cool to watch! Yay! Babies for me!

I agree. Let it sit. By the way, that's why it's nice to have a pico running too - easier to distract yourself from fiddling with things. Looks like nice rock!

Just get the gallon jugs of distilled water at Walmart, or Giant, or Food Lion - doesn't matter. Once you put tap in - treated or not - you can't take it out without massive water changes. They are $0.85 - $1.00 each. It will be fine for getting you started.

Nicely packaged and great corals! Everything arrived safe and sound except for a duncan that is loose from his plug (which I would have popped off anyhow). Off to buy superglue! Thanks for a great and fun experience!

Great sand. I actually just got some yesterday ($3.99/lb) to put in my Pico. I prefer fresh rather than what's been in someone else's tank if given the choice. Get some live rock/sand. You can use base rock and dry aragonite sand too. Make sure the rock is nice and porous, fresh, and if you are lucky, has a little color. I've never had a need to use Dr. Tim's or anything else to cycle. If you have trouble, you can always add it later but honestly, you are making this more difficult than it needs to be. Test your water and be patient. I don't test every day during cycling. You can run your lights or not. Skimming isn't necessary yet. Don't do super frequent water changes. And wait. Be excited about the day everything comes to life. When you see your tank all of the sudden explode with pods you know you are almost there. The tank will tell you when it's time. (But keep testing.) Then add to the bioload slowly - don't move Nemo in yet. Don't add any cleanup crew that you don't need too soon. It's cruel and they will be starving.

I can't remember what the relationship is, but makesure you are testing salinity/specific gravity at your tank temperature. I believe (but am not sure) that you get a different reading on a hydrometer at 70 degrees vs. 80 degrees.

How about a shrimp goby/pistol pair? It's a neat relationship to watch and they are peaceful. You are getting great advice - it's good to think this far ahead. My advice would be to go with as peaceful as you can. In a 30 gallon there are not many places to get away. Even some that each say peaceful sometimes can't go together, either within the same species or even similar shape or color. Pick a single fish species that you'd like to showcase (like a percula or ocelleris clownfish pair), and work around that. Stocking is significantly less than freshwater, but also, some fish add to the bioload more by virtue of their eating habits. Take notice at an LFS how huge some of the smaller fish look when they grow up. Heck, I was surprised yesterday at Marine Scene how big Green Chromises get because I'm so used to seeing the itty bitty ones for sale. And don't stock with the intent of returning. It may happen by accident on occasion, but it's not a good idea to plan that way. Good luck!

I have picked up a couple of snails, hermits, and even my yellow clown goby at the Leesburg Petco. Maybe not my first choice, but I've had no issues.

Gorgeous stock!