Fishytimes 2.5 reef

[fishytime]

A pico is born.:biggrin: I needed another tank to take care of (besides the 110g reef at home and the 30 or so tanks at RC). I decided a while back that I wanted some sexy shrimp and it would be pointless in a way, to put them in the big tank where I would be lucky to see them. So I thought, what better computer desktop distraction than a pico. I started the tank with water and rock from the big tank, but used new sand. There is only two little "sexies" in there at the moment but will probably add a couple more. The light is the wee coralife 18w, 9" pc. Im going to put a couple cool zoas and some rics in with them. Am trying to get my hands on some kind of pygmy gobie, but they seem to be hard to source out.I am going to pick up an identical tank and trick it out. I will either drill the tank add an external overflow and do a herbie overflow to a sump, or drill the bottom and close loop it with a small cannister filter. This will depend on how much room there is under the custom stand I build for it. Heres a fts and a shot of one of the sexies. Of course the clearest shot of the sexies so far and hes sittin on the heater:neutral:

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2086.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2088.jpg

[Carmen]

CUTE!:biggrin: How fun!

[JDigital]

that pic is so deceiving... sure looks bigger than 2.5G.. haha.. You should join the Sexy Shrimp club on Nano-reef.. LOL

[Keri]

Very cute!
you know, I have 2 sexies in my 65g and suprisingly I see them almost all of the time, they love to hang out in my birdsnest coral or if not there in plain sight. They're very interesting, but So hard to photograph! My camera doesn't like the big white patches on dark.

[fishytime]

You should join the Sexy Shrimp club on Nano-reef.. LOL
Nano-reef has a sexy shrimp club? Its been a while since I spent any time on that site. I will have to check it out, thanks Josh



I have 2 sexies in my 65g and suprisingly I see them almost all of the time

Do you have hermits? That was another concern, that they would become a snack. I am also considering bringing in a mystery wrasse for my big tank, so sexies would either be in hiding all the time or lunch.

[Bugsy]

May I ask, how do you like that 18 watt light fixture?? Any issues with it??

Amy..:biggrin:

[JDigital]

Nano-reef has a sexy shrimp club? Its been a while since I spent any time on that site. I will have to check it out, thanks Josh


I guess not so much a "club" but a thread dedicated to SS... :lol:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=151219

[Chaloupa]

Interested in your light too...I had one on my 2.5g Pico and found it got really really hot.....

[fishytime]

I have the light about 2" off the top of the tank and no cover. The temp swings from 77 to 82 during the day. So no issues with heat yet, its been kinda a wimpy summer here so far though. Will pick up one of those ice probes if it gets too hot. So what do you all think could go in a 2.5 with 4ish sexies? I originally though a Yasha goby but I didnt realize that they can get to 3". Im not really fond of the clown gobies so.....

[Keri]

Nano-reef has a sexy shrimp club? Its been a while since I spent any time on that site. I will have to check it out, thanks Josh




Do you have hermits? That was another concern, that they would become a snack. I am also considering bringing in a mystery wrasse for my big tank, so sexies would either be in hiding all the time or lunch.


I have many tiny blueleg hermits and several larger zebra legged hermits that don't bother the sexies at all - as well as a 3"+ yellow wrasse that I was told might make a snack of them but I got him quite small and so far so good, he's grown up ignoring them.

[fishytime]

I have many tiny blueleg hermits and several larger zebra legged hermits that don't bother the sexies at all - as well as a 3"+ yellow wrasse that I was told might make a snack of them but I got him quite small and so far so good, he's grown up ignoring them.

I always love to hear of things being done that "they" say cant or shouldnt be done. Like, wrasses and wee shrimp and two angels in the same tank like me. Great that its working for you so far.

[Alberta-newb]

that pic is so deceiving... sure looks bigger than 2.5G.. haha.

What I was thinking too, very nice "nano rock"! Looking forward to updates:biggrin:

[Chaloupa]

I had a small Trimma goby in mine. It was a ton of room for the tiny little fish, plus I had sexies and a clean up crew

With the light...the heat I am wondering about is the fixture itself...mine got so hot that the sides ended up a bit melted...and the plastic broke down. The fixture was not closed in...was an open top with a frame that it sat on....

[fishytime]

I had a small Trimma goby in mine. It was a ton of room for the tiny little fish, plus I had sexies and a clean up crew

With the light...the heat I am wondering about is the fixture itself...mine got so hot that the sides ended up a bit melted...and the plastic broke down. The fixture was not closed in...was an open top with a frame that it sat on....

Thanks for the heads up Sarah. Looks like I will be working in a couple small fans into the canopy. Either that or I will drill some vent holes in the top of the fixture.... maybe both:lol:

Cute little fish the trimma is. What happened to your wee tank? Do you have any pics of it?

[Chaloupa]

I took my 2.5 down when we had no AC in the house as I couldn't keep the temp down...and my evaporation was brutal, BUT...seeing yours up and others I REALLY want to set it up again. It was fun, and quite easy...! (sorry it wasn't the best time for a photo as we were renovating, tank was dusty and front hadn't been wiped well...but you get the idea!) I only had some macro's, a few zoo frags, some softies and that's it....I wish I had kept it going longer so I had the chance to make it really pretty but I gave up quickly with the temps...AND...if I put it back up I would drill it so I had an overflow. I had an aquaclear on it as a fuge, that was lit with macros/sand bed in it.....but just gave up...now with central AC.....it is getting tempting. If you look hard in the picture at the light on the right side...you see a bit of plastic missing...that was the start of the sides just falling apart.....it got super hot, and yep I would put a fan closer, as I had no fans close.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c212/Chaloupa/DSCN2205.jpg

[spanky]

I agree , that picture sure makes that little tank look big! It looks great.

[karazy]

looks sweet.
cant wait to see the end product
i am working on a little side project 5.5 gallon while im working on my 29 gallon
we can be pico bros :P

[fishytime]

Thanks for all the comps guys. Im not sure I am happy with the scape as it is right now. Mainly because I added a wee trimma cana/ candycane goby that decided that the sub-urbs at the back of the tank is the where he wants to call home.Hes so cute....he measures out at a whopping 5/8 of an inch. He is even smaller than the shell dwelling cichlids I used to have before the salt water tanks corroded all my fresh water tanks away. I am doing a renovation on the big tank this week and will probably add a couple corals to the pico. Im thinking rics and zoas. I have the duplicate tank now but havnt found much time to work on it. Maybe this week off will allow me some time to get going on it. I will have to see if I can make a big dent in the honey-do list my g/f has for me.

[fishytime]

The little pico seems to be settling in quite nicely. Temperature doesnt seem to be an issue so far,but it hasnt been that warm here this year. The tank is starting to color up with the new tank algae bloom, and I managed to plop in a couple corals. The sexies dont seem to be bothering any of the corals so far, so that is good. Heres a few shots for you-all.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2231.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2241.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2227.jpg

And the best shot Ive managed to get of the CC goby so far.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2237.jpg

[fishytime]

Well everything is still alive in my wee box o agua. The sexies are doing great and the little goby has realized that there is more to his world than the back corner of his new environment. He has proven to be a tough little bugger to get a pic of . As soon as it sees movement he bolts back into his hole. So I set my camera in front of the tank all ready to rock and when I notice him out and about I military crawl over to the tank and poke my head up from under the desk the tank is on and this is what Ive got so far.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2226-1.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2229-1.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2228-1.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2241-1.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2260.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2342.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2338.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP2336.jpg

[superduperwesman]

updates??