[squishylittlefishies]

Well, after much research, my 2.5 gallon pico reef in finally set up! I have 1.5 inches of live argonite, and I'm going to pick up some live rock today! I have a 3 gallonair powered filter running on it, mostly for oxygen and water movement. My light is a 10 watt multicolour LED made of 3 bulbs(red,blue, green). I made a plastic cover(looks kinda tacky, but works) and the light is sitting directly on top of that, only 1 inch above the water. I'll be posting regular updates as I add stuff, so follow along!I'll probably have lots of questions as I go too, so your input will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[squishylittlefishies]

Also, The temperature is between 76-78 degrees farenheit.

 

[squishylittlefishies]

Yay! I picked up my Live rock today! It is a very alive rock with all sorts of strange stuff in it. I did a fw dip to get rid of some of the undesireables, then tossed it into the tank! It has some nice coraline growth on it, giving it a pleasant overall creme colour with areas of light pink and green. very pretty. There is alsoA tiny Blue leg hermit crab in there now. The rock has lots of little tunnels and tubes on the surface, so I'm gessing I have some tube worms like feather dusters hiding in there. As soon as I can figure out how to upload pics I will! Also, are the red bristleworms good or bad ones?

 

[RSully]

By dipping your live rock in freshwater, you probably killed of more good things then bad, imo. Such as pods, bacteria, etc. It wouldn't kill off any of the bad critters such as hitc hiker crabs, nuisence algae and the like.

 

[squishylittlefishies]

Oh, no no. I wasn't trying to kill anything, just chase out the creepy crawlies. I just swished it in a tub of fw for like 5 seconds- not long enough to kill ANYTHING probably. I just found a bunch of white things... they kinda look like polyps or something. The "heads" are round, with a ring of tiny spheres around the edge. They're individual, not clumped, and they're so tiny it's hard to get a focused picture! I also found a tiny brittle star(I think) It's about 1cm big, and a pale greenish colour. When I saw him in the sand I thought it was a bunch of wierd coloured bristle worms all clumped together! Do you know what kind of starfish this is? I'll try to post some pics tomorrow so you guys can better help me id this stuff!

 

[squishylittlefishies]

Here is an attached image of the hitchicker coral thing. Please let me know if you have any clue what it is!!!
There are at least 6 of these on the rock, and the largest one is about 3 millimeters. sorry the pic is not the best quality, it's waaay zoomed in because they're soooo tiny!
Thanks!

 

[squishylittlefishies]

starfish died.
It doesn't really suprise me though asbrittle stars are quite sensitive to water quality changes. I didn't bother to acclimate the rock, and hewas on it. Oh well, I think he was the kind of brittle star that would eventually get 2 feet big and eat my fish- not quite ideal for my pico anyway. Sad though. My hermit is still happy. I fed him a chunk of algae wafer today and he went crazy over it. Any Ideas what the hitchickers I posted a picture of are? I guess it could be an anemone or a worm too, but it's got me stumped! Some more observations on those: they do mot move or pulse, the little balls do not extend, when poked, the 'head' curls into the 'body'. Please please help me out here!

 

[GwenInNM]

Here is an attached image of the hitchicker coral thing. Please let me know if you have any clue what it is!!!
There are at least 6 of these on the rock, and the largest one is about 3 millimeters. sorry the pic is not the best quality, it's waaay zoomed in because they're soooo tiny!
Thanks!

Looks like some soft coral or stressed frogspawn? I'd keep it and see how it grows. Good luck. I'm wanting to start a small SW tank.

 

[jaysee]

Hmmm... I have a 2.5 gallon tank just sitting around...

 

[squishylittlefishies]

sorry it's been awhile! The pico is doing fantastic!!! I love it so much and it looks soooo cool. It has been a lot easier than I thought it would be, although it does take time...and it's eating my wallet.
anyway, my tiny hermit is now a huge hermit, and i have it fully stocked. The coral things Turned out to be the hitchhicker type ball anemones. harmless, and cool to watch. I smashed up my rock and now My scape is really nice.
Here is an updated tank description. it really has come a long way!
equiptment:
5-15 HOB filter
10watt LED lamp
heater
stock:
4 pounds Liverock
chaeto algae
2 micro brittle stars
2 margarita snails
1 tonga nassarius
1 astrea snail
1 nerite snail
1blue hermit
1 red hermit
1 neon goby
70 head orange zoanthid colony(whic I scored for $10!!!)
orange ricordea
aussie lythopyllon
silver pulsing xenia
palythoas
galaxea colony
2 big green stripe mushrooms
lots of tiny featherdusters
I plan on adding a montipora digitata soon(my first sps)!

I really love my pico. It is so beautiful and lively. I'll try to get some pictures up for you guys to see. Thanks for helping me take the plunge into reefing...I'm having a blast!

 

[RSully]

Can't wait to see pics and see how you got that all into the equivalent of about 1-1.5 gallons of water.

 

[GwenInNM]

Great news! You've got a lot in there, I bet it's gorgeous. Try to get a picture up!

Gwen

 

[squishylittlefishies]

Here is a fts
sorry it looks dirty, the front glass is actually chrystal clear, but I was having some lighting issues and for some reaon it made it look gross...
This picture is pretty recent except that I just moved the xenia to the other side because it was making too much shade.

 

[GwenInNM]

Here is a fts
sorry it looks dirty, the front glass is actually chrystal clear, but I was having some lighting issues and for some reaon it made it look gross...
This picture is pretty recent except that I just moved the xenia to the other side because it was making too much shade.

Nice. So tiny! I can't get rid of the Xenia I have, and it's taking over the tank. I don't want to just throw it away.

 

[squishylittlefishies]

Won't your lfs take it? Frag it up and sell it off! I'm sure someone would buy it...
The next thing I plan on adding is a pagoda cup coral or a monti digi. I'm really excited. after that, not much wil be happening though. I wish I could link to another thread where i journaled teh entire process from start to finish. I don't think that's allowed though....