Chris's 5.5 Gallon Pico Pest Reef!

Uzidaisies

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You can probably keep it fed, if you actively feed it. They might be sensitive to nitrates, which is probably harder to maintain in a 5.5 gallon. Idk, cover your pumps if you’re going to try to keep it for a while.
 
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ChrissFishes01

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Oh and that image I posted says you can feed it nori. So if it can eat sheets of nori, I don’t see why it couldn’t eat your macros if it wanted to. ;)
Yeah, I made note of that too. Unfortunate, but such is life! Not like the Caulerpa isn't easily replaced (from the other tank I put some in) if it does. I doubt it'd be able to munch on the Pencil Cap. I rubber-banded some Nori to a shell and threw it into the tank right in front of it, so we'll see if he takes it. I doubt he's eaten anything in a long, long time, considering the tank the rock came out of was bare bottom.

I've got some free 10 gallon tanks I could throw together rather easily and throw some cycled LR in there. It'd have to go on the floor for now, but y'know... gotta do what you gotta do, I guess.

If I decide to keep him in here for longer than tonight, I'll go to Lowe's and get some plastic mesh to zip-tie onto the powerhead. Should be an effective guard.
 
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ChrissFishes01

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Actually, I do t know if they can eat either, might need to be powdered.
Hm... I see your point, but I also don't know how that would work. Would I have to mix it into the substrate?

I may make a thread in the inverts forum to see if we can get someone who's owned one to chime in.
 
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ChrissFishes01

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I topped this tank off for the first time today - just 1 liter, which really isn't so bad for a pico. The tank had evaporated up to 1.027-1.028, which is a bit high - I mixed the tank at 1.026. I was aiming for 1.025. Whenever I decide to do a water change, I'll be correcting that to 1.025. For now, I'll maintain the 1.026.

IMG_20211018_164554739_HDR.jpg


Everything is doing well, I think. We've definitely hit diatom-time, but I knew that was going to happen when I dosed that Iron. Oh well! The Cactus Caulerpa I put into the back of the tank has some hair algae on it, but only part of it - makes me think that bit may be dead. Otherwise, while I've not seen any obvious growth on any macro, I've not seen rapid deterioration, which is relatively common after shipping. It's been successful, I think!

IMG_20211018_164707019_HDR.jpg


Oh, and the Button Polyps seem to be loving life, too.

IMG_20211018_164635650.jpg


If you look closely, the polyp on the bottom left actually has more speckling around the mouth than the others do. Looks like a slightly different morph! Cool. Definitely worth like $6.

Cell phone pics, but you get the idea.
 
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ChrissFishes01

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Nothing too much new to share!

I've got at least two baby Aiptasia running around. The two large adults disappeared, but that one guy in the back is still there.

The Caulerpa Mexicana has begun to take off, and I have some definite new growth on that - I'll likely begin to remove some of the old growth that looks rough over time. The Cactus Caulerpa seems to be settling in, and looks more green and rigid than it did when I first got it. Someone knocked over the pencil cap, so I'll have to replant it - makes me worry that a mantis is going to just destroy this tank in terms of macro placement.

The diatoms have nearly completely receded (thanks to the macros, I'm assuming?), and the red slime has kind of come and gone in intensity day-to-day, as expected.
 

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