Chris's Pico Pest Reef!

[FishHobby99]

Also a good reason to own a blowtorch...

So far, so good!

As usual, it looks as if the mailman played a few rounds of football with the box. It's amazing that this is the quality of service that we consider acceptable.

View attachment 145547

Inside, I found a cooling pack (they ship from Florida) and an insulated bag. When I've done large orders from them in the past they've shipped everything in a styrofoam cooler, but this entire box weighed less than three lbs.

View attachment 145546

Here's the Cactus Caulerpa - a decent portion, although some of it has melted back:
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Caulerpa Mexicana:
View attachment 145550
Pencil Cap:
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Brown Button Polyps:
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Zig Zag Periwinkles:
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Nerites:
View attachment 145552
I ordered10 Dwarf Ceriths and got this many:
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Hermit Crabs:

View attachment 145549

No obvious DOA's yet, although time will tell with everything. The die-off on the macros is normal - believe it or not, macroalgae ships worse than freshwater plants, lol. It usually bounces back quickly, though, especially green species like these.

I'll post pics of stuff in the tank tonight!

Looks like an early Xmas for you! Nice. I need some nerites & will have to compare online with local prices

 

[Obsessed with fish]

\Thats a great idea, cant wait to see it when its finished!

 

[ChrissFishes01]

Looks like an early Xmas for you! Nice. I need some nerites & will have to compare online with local prices

Reef Cleaners has always done me well!

If you buy in the late spring/summer, I find you get more freebies - they collect everything they sell from the coast of Florida, so availability depends on what's currently accessible. I ordered 10 Dwarf Ceriths, and got over 30, and ordered 10 Periwinkles and got 14. A couple extra hermits this time - that's all, but I'm not complaining!

For anyone looking for macros, live-plants.com has better pricing on those. I usually go there for my macros/gorgonians, but in this case, it made more sense to order and combine shipping at Reef Cleaners!

Please excuse the lackluster pics tonight - I'm tired from work, and didn't expect this order till tomorrow!

Cactus Caulerpa (there's more in the tank, behind the rockwork for now):

Pencil Cap:

Caulerpa Mexicana (dirty glass, I know):

Brown Button Polyps (still closed, but with a hitchhiker macro on top?):

Dwarf Cerith:

Periwinkle:

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Reef Cleaners has always done me well!

If you buy in the late spring/summer, I find you get more freebies - they collect everything they sell from the coast of Florida, so availability depends on what's currently accessible. I ordered 10 Dwarf Ceriths, and got over 30, and ordered 10 Periwinkles and got 14. A couple extra hermits this time - that's all, but I'm not complaining!

For anyone looking for macros, live-plants.com has better pricing on those. I usually go there for my macros/gorgonians, but in this case, it made more sense to order and combine shipping at Reef Cleaners!

Please excuse the lackluster pics tonight - I'm tired from work, and didn't expect this order till tomorrow!

Cactus Caulerpa (there's more in the tank, behind the rockwork for now):
View attachment 145567

Pencil Cap:
View attachment 145564

Caulerpa Mexicana (dirty glass, I know):
View attachment 145563

Brown Button Polyps (still closed, but with a hitchhiker macro on top?):
View attachment 145565

Dwarf Cerith:
View attachment 145562

Periwinkle:
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wow, thats really cool. Pest corals look really nice, cool build.

 

[ChrissFishes01]

New pics of everything!

Button Polyps are coming around:

https://imgur.com/Ll2797n

https://imgur.com/Zls8wlG

https://imgur.com/XA7rdlB

https://imgur.com/7cSi0xm

I'm not 100% convinced that placements are final. I like where the Pencil Cap and Button Polyps are, but the Caulerpa species are likely going to get moved. There's more Cactus Caulerpa behind the rockwork that came in kind of ugly, so it's gonna hang out there until it recovers. I'm thinking about simply supergluing the Mexicana to some shells and letting it attach to the rockwork - I know the mantis is going to uproot it. Also makes me worried about the Pencil Cap - hopefully that one doesn't get dug up, long-term.

 

[ChrissFishes01]

Here's a video on the tank, detailing the first two weeks.

 

[ChrissFishes01]

Ended up with what I believe to be a Florida Sea Cucumber hitchhiker!

 

[Tacocat]

Can we have an update?