Starting Pico to Dream Big

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Fed tank today with Benepets as usually. But today I decided to do some spot feeding to help the coco worm and other corals. I was able to get a nice long video of the elegance coral using its mucus like strands to pull in food it had caught. video will be on Youtube but a short version. I don't know if I can put link to Youtube video when it is complete here.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

During water change I had forgotten to test parameters before hand. It was a busy day with work and preparing to return to office after 3 years tomorrow. We have one of our folks coming over to watch one of our pups as she has the cone of shame from entropion surgery on one eye. Doesnt seem to stop her. Hopefully stitches and cone come off Friday. to much stuff today.

Corals are doing ok, but elegance has shown its first sign of adjusting to tank. It is starting to balloon up and retract tentacles as all my other elegances have done in past. they go through a really ugly phase and then return to normal. SPS seems to be really happy with polyps out. while not much color it does seem to be growing but measuring does not seem any bigger since last checked. coral seems to also be starting to encrust the glue as well.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Sps is doing well. Not much color at moment. Polyps are out and happy. Increased flow as well due to water change moving rock and change pattern.

The wilsoni seems to still be "angry" but not as much as I expected today. The water change also caused sand to block the coco worm so i shook out the tube and put back.. I will need to make sure i do this regularly during water changes.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Tank is doing well. the SPS as seem to have faded in color. I believe this is due to too much lighting and have reduced the brightness 50 percent. Polyp extension is still good. florescent colors are barely visible. coral still has a light tan pigment under room light.

Sea fan and algae or doing well so far. I have not seen die off of Macro and sea fan seems to be out.

Elegance coraI is happy during day mostly. I believe the light being turned up was causing some issues towards end of day but usually do close up as lights dim.

I picked up a purple sea fan but will need a lot of time. as it was mostly dead except for about a 1.5 inch section I cut. I have rest in container to see if any other polyps pop out but seems the rest is dead.

I will be looking to purchase a plastic ruler for the SPS as my measurements I believe are slightly off. but the coral base is slowly spreading over glue spot.
August 29th

September 5th

September 9th

September 18th

September 21st

September 23rd Increased air pump for more water flow.
September 24th changed to AI Prime
September 30th

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Tank is doing well. Was able to get a fairly accurate measure now that I modded a ruler lol. I also discovered this was a 1 Gallon tank and not a 1.5 Gallon... doesn't change anything.

Sps is doing well and will hopefully start coloring back up.

Coco worm appears to be regrowing its radials.

Elegance seems to be holding up well and already be back to mormal for most part.

For those with eye issues or hard time seeing refractometer, you can use your phone. Takes a bit of patience. But thought it was neat. Now just need a refractometer mount. Im claiming this idea if not done yet or a refractometer that attaches to phone.camera. lol

The ruler starts at 2 inch mark due to me butchering 1 to line up since rulers dont start at 0.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Everything seems happy today.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Ok so think Im in the running for purposely having the smallest rock flower anemone rofl. Ignore the elegance. It ddoes this at lights out lol. It will look lile prior post tomorrow or later tonight.

The cap is to an ATI test tube for comparison.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Well seems like my coral addiction is in full swing. While the sps is doing well. I ended up with another coral yesterday with another possibly on the way. Grabbed a Button scoly for a good price.

 

[hexcolor reef]

correct on alot but not quite the direction im going for some.
I have a gap in back as the oxygen allows for flow.. As gas exchange between water and air in jar then pushes out through gap. Gap also serves to stop hose from being pinched. Circulation pumps I have found seem to generate alot of heat for this size. Even the small ones. The room its in can heat up due to computers so added heat from pump wouldnt be good. Plus the air hose gives it a cleaner look. Lid like you said also stops evaporation and puts the evaporated water back in tank. I might put airstone on to create finer bubbles to pop and act as skimmer but not ready for it yet. This is just a very low tech tank build for a virculation pump.

Im not worried about bristles and most hitch hikers. I want to keep most. I have just never seen this species and would rather pull if I decide to add snails or other critters to be safe. Snails I dont want to add as they produce more wast than crab or shrimp. Arrow crab will be to big. This isnt even a gallon. I also feed benepets which really doesnt foul up the water like other foods or powder.

Algae grows based off nutrients available. While live rock helps with biodiversity, it doesnt prevent or help with algae unless there is die off or something competing with nutrient intake. I do plan on adding a bit of macro algae eventually as well. I actually may remove the sand. I never have much luck and usually causes more issues. Had best success after removing in other builds. With 100 percent water changes weekly, things stay balanced and replenished nutrients with benepets for feeding. Want to avoid more rocks as it allows more detritus to build up and get cluttered. Finer sand definetly helps with fauna and stops wate from getting deep. But i stir up and create turbulance during water change so not something I am worried about.

The goal is to focus on this single sps. On the top of rock and have it fill out. Eventually it will out grow and I will put into a larger tank.

Gave me alot of ideas and directions to think about.

Heres 2 tanks i had. 5 gallon tank before married and moved as well as pitcher just around its prime before I was not able to take care of as well due to health. Wish I had my office tank pictures before we had to work from home due to covid. Similar to this build but smaller and was amazing. I would remove everything clean and scrub and put back on both these.

Those brain corals are amazing.

I have to also say, I’ve never seen an elegance frag so small. All elegance corals I’ve seen are 5” the smallest

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Those brain corals are amazing.

I have to also say, I’ve never seen an elegance frag so small. All elegance corals I’ve seen are 5” the small

Thank you.
Loved that brain but ended up dieing. I got busy and because of some things going on was not able to upkeep the tank as I had. I miss it very much. I probably wont get another opportunity.i bought it almost white. Hardly know color and got it back up. So was discountex to 400. Was probably worth 1600 before went down hill.. maybe one day lol.

They can get smaller. But either this elegance was hiding true size at store or it has grown in size already lol. Hopefully it doesnt get any bigger yet lol.

 

[hexcolor reef]

Getting great deals on coral and having things not go as planned sucks. Happened to me. Super rare finds for a great price
Very interesting no carbon,
I’m assuming your doing all LPS besides your current sps frag in this tank? Your previous tanks looks to be all LPS as well.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Getting great deals on coral and having things not go as planned sucks. Happened to me. Super rare finds for a great price
Very interesting no carbon,
I’m assuming your doing all LPS besides your current sps frag in this tank? Your previous tanks looks to be all LPS as well.

I actually have trouble with some sps. Some do great. I do like sps but lps usually has more movement. The old tank I had great success with the 2 sps had a no name frag that grew like crazy and would frag for people and for myself as reserve. Another being an encrusting montipora.which did well also just low grower. I also tried to give them space to encrust and branch out and to avoid heavy shading below. Thats also why the current sps is on the size rock it is now. Nothing else will be put on that piece and when its time to upgrade, i can just move the whole rock without distrubing the base. Lots of people will have sps but then end up overcrowding each other and have to frag or remove. Prior builds I also didnt plan for growth well either.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

I noticed today when I got home tge sps appears to be gaining some florescense back. There is some green around the edge of where the polyps extend. I believe the issue was partly due to ligbt schedule. I need to repost with updated schedule.

I also bought AF Power Elixer as I wanted to dose aminos. The calculation is 0.1 ml. The dosage was 4 ml per 100l / roughly 26.4 gallons. While I should dose 0.15 daily, i want to see how it effects tank in 24 hours roughly. If no issues I will does another 1 ml tomorrow. I dont think I will dose daily but at least one after water change and once between water change same as I feed. I may dose more often depending on what is going on and how it does.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Yesterday, as I was at my LFS looking at some stock that came in, Even though corals to big, love seeing them, I ended up sotting a small spiny clam. It appearently had been there for a very long time. It maybe a half inch or bigger.

While this will be a great way to filter water it also will require.more feedings. I currently plan to dose .1 ml daily of AF Power elixir and .01ml of benepets daily. Usually I dose .05 ml of benepets twice weekly. This will be more consistent feeding for oyster. I also may do .02 every other day instead of the .01 daily. I may also alternate with a liquid phyto.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

It appears we may have either finally have the sps spreading onto the rock or just about to. With glass distortion/warp, it is very difficult.pictures dont quite show this.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

So received a suprise today. Went fishing with one of my lfs owners and he gave me a few really tiny trochus snail. I added a few tonight. Deciding on rest if to go ahead and add or hold off and dispose. There were 10 total and have added 6 so far. My add other 4 as they grow hermits may take over a fews shells. As they get larger I will need to take them back to store.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

So I ended up slacking off this week due to not feeling well and special circumstances going on at our house. everything still seems to be on track though. I did add all snails since small and can rehome them when they get bigger. While my understanding is that trochus snails cast eggs into current, I found small eggs on my glass (well show pictures later). Nothing else in tank that I have added, would do this.

While the SPS is lighter, I can now see some green starting to come in during daylight rather than just blues and has grown a bit as well as at base.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Things are hectic lately and I need to go back and update log. I believe last water change was 21st and plan on doing one tomorrow. Increased feeding every 2 days roughly and .05 ml. Noticed some flatwoms on glass. Sps seems to be pale. Im hoping increased feeding will help and while ill fo a 100 percent water change still, maybe not be as thorough. Want to do more slow changes. The other corals and critters seem to be doing great otherwise.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Tank has been doing well. I have had things come up personal and work wise and wasnt up to par, but was able to get around and feeling good enough to doing a water change yesterday. Very happy so far. Sps has been encrusting but still not much color. Also added a small Randals pistol shrimp to help move sand bed a bit. He has been doing a great job.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Time for update.....
With personal stuff and getting the house ready for christmas and work, I havent been able to stay ontop of the tank and let things go. Fortunatley everything is still doing well. The sps has fully encrusted and corals just fine.

I did discover one major issue. I was able to discover my par was only 50 and that was at top of where sps sit. With needing better light setup and lid slightly adding to the issue, you know what that means.......

Tank has been upgraded!

While still 1 gallon, this is a sealed jar. While im not fond of acrylic do to scratching, ill be able to get better photos and be able to travel if needing to leave with it easier. Also drilled 2 holes to run air hose in one and let pressure out other.

Im still using the AI Prime HD, I purchased a lamp mount to hold and adjust. Gives it a more cleaner look and easy adjustments. I thought I had spackle but was stucko for another repair project so will be getting some to patch this week hopefully.

I also purchased a round mouse pad to help with vibration and not sitting on the metal stand of lamp mount. There is some neat designs but just stuck with black. May change out eventually.

One thing I did add I didnt want to was another sps. Was 1 piece but dropped and split. The reason why is this SPS reminds me of the one I had before and hoping its similar. Time will tell. But this was a centimental purchase.

The Par of the tank now reads around 310 where sps are. I will monitor and adjust as needed.

But this is what yall want. Progress pictures....

Still have some cleanup to do such as tieing the wire for light to stand and such but pretty much done. We will be painting this room eventually as well. But one of the projects