Llj's 2.5G - I Swear, The Last One!

[lljdma06]

Like the 8g, this tank also got its CUC. I won't be keeping all that I got though. When the 36g is ready, some from here will go there. Here's the 2.5g's acclimation setup.

I didn't find a dwarf zebra hermit, so I settled for blue-legged hermits. They are very small. I got four, too many, IMO, but I can move some to the 36g. I had previously wanted scarlet hermits, but blue-legged are also Caribbean so I don't really care. As long as it's Caribbean, it can go in and I imagine these tiny things won't do much damage to anything. LOLOL

They are pictured with an astraea. I'm pretty sure the astraea will go to the 36g.

Also got some Nassaria snails for this tank too. Pictured with the last hermit.

7 animals, but the hermits are so tiny. I'll probably end up with 1 Nassarius and maybe two hermits and move the rest to the 36g when that tank is ready for its CUC, which seeing how my picos progressed, probably won't be very long.

Thanks for looking. Again, taking it slow.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Here are some pictures. I'll do a waterchange and work on the fuge in this tank too. I may move a lot of this CUC to the 36g when it's ready, as most of the species, barring the turbos are good for Planted Marines. but for now, enjoy the pictures and video...

Hermit dance...

Thanks for looking!

 

[lljdma06]

I changed this tank around quite a bit. The blue-legs went into the 36g and I got a scarlet hermit to replace them. Very boring, but he's doing better now.

No fts yet, I have to do a fair amount of rearranging, because well, I gots me some corals. Right now, I cannot find NPS to save my life, so this tank for now has turned into a zoanthid garden of sorts.

Protopalythoa (Button polyps, I think in green)These opened up right away.

zoanthids.

Just added to the tank...

Extended...

And the prettiest zoanthid. I love how it looks like tiny flowers.

Fully extended...

Like the 8g, this tank's taking a backseat of sorts to the 36g. I'm going to nix the harlequin shrimp. Not because they aren't cute, but I think the waste is going to be too much for this little tank. They consume entire chocolate chip starfish and while I'm willing to feed them, I don't like the idea of doing so in such a small tank. Will definitely do pompom crabs and a GCG, however. Add more corals, it'll look great.

Thanks for looking. L

 

[ALW]

Very nice pics L

 

[lljdma06]

Very nice pics L

Hehe... You thought those were nice pics?

Scarlet hermit crab. Being less of a dork since I got the corals. Still may buy him a buddy, as they stay rather small.

Green palys

Monochrome5 says these are Eagle-eye zoanthids...

Mystery zoanthid.

The HD camera captures the colors so much better. I want a yellowish zoa next.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

so awesome. im completely tropical, but seeing this small simple setup makes me think about doing something like this. tho i wouldnt know where to start.

well done.

 

[ALW]

Very nice pics L

Hehe... You thought those were nice pics?

Ha much better with the HD camera

 

[demasonisrule]

Those 'mystery zoas' look like they are fire and ice, I had a decent sized colony of them, but they were killed by the star polyps in my tank. I only managed to save a frag. They do grow fast though, and I've always loved the color combo's on them.

 

[lljdma06]

Fire & Ice seems to be the consensus at other places.

Glad to know they grow fast. Zoas are Caribbean. They'd look nice inthe 36g as well.

L

 

[lljdma06]

Been a while since I've updated. I've purchased more frags for this tank. Looks like this is definitely becoming a zoanthid garden for now. Still have no fish. I'm waiting on a Green clown goby and my pompom crabs.

$6 frag of zoas... They hadn't fully opened yet.

Another frag, about $10

This was $10 too.

Hehehe, whoops, aiptasia... Gotta zap him soon. He came oughta no where!

I've got about a gazillion pods in this tank, the 8g has a ton too. It looks like the rock is moving.

Also, totally random, some of my frag polyps have broken loose and are opening and finding new spots in my LR. Looks like I'll have some new colonies soon.

My frags with my scarlet hermits dining on a pellet. That's how tiny the frags are. Still crammed with polyps though. I love zoas.

Full tank shot. I need to get some actinics or some blue LEDS, when I shine a blue LED, the zoas get awesome neon colors, but my my lights are more designed for growth rather than showing off, and I'm seeing quite a few new polyps.

Thanks for looking. This is turning into a nice little teeny reef. I'll update the other tanks soon. All have had some cool developments.

L

 

[ZoddyZod]

if it wan't for the pair of glasses and the pencil in the above pictures, that tank would look much bigger than it actually is.

You've created a real sense of depth with the rock.

 

[rp-photo]

am i reading this right, literally a 2.5 U.S. Gallon Nano Reef? ... nice job looks great, gives me an idea for a 5g....

 

[SaltNoob]

This is great! how soon did you start adding in frags?

-Tyler

 

[lljdma06]

Thanks guys for all of your compliments. I'm pretty happy right now and am in the "don't rock the boat" phase.

This is great! how soon did you start adding in frags?

-Tyler

Let me give you a time frame Tyler...

August 16 - Added the LR, honestly, I don't know how many pounds, I'm guessing like 4lb?
August 27 - Added the CUC, initially 4 blue legged hermits, 2 Nassarius snails, and 1 astereae snail, but now 2 scarlets and the snails.
September 11 - Added the first frags, so about 15 days after the CUC

I added more frags about a week later. I'm now in the "I want Yumas for my 8g" phase, so no more corals in this tank for a spell.

I've not added to my CUC, and I've yet to add a showcase invert (pompom crabs) or my fish (Green clown goby). I can only add them when they become available, so it may be a while.

L

 

[lljdma06]

Time for a gigantonormous update!!

About time too! This will be done in phases...

Phase 1

When I first setup this tank I wanted it to be an nps tank. The problem is that not many stores sell the easier nps and I'm not ready for gorgonians yet. Dendrophyllia's sell for about $30 a head in Miami and I can't afford that yet. No sun corals to be found in my usual LFSs, so this tank became a zoanthid garden for a while. Had fire and ice and the ones you saw above.

A fun video of my scarlet hermit eating.



Things were going well for some weeks, but the light was never designed for zoanthids to thrive. They were growing, but growing taller and their colors were not as vibrant. Doing ok, but not thriving. I was in the process of considering a lighting upgrade when I went to a new LFS that had just opened (about 5 minutes from my house!).

This is what I found...

Which leads me to phase two...

Phase 2 - Embracing the original concept

A lovely specimen of Tubastrea aurea (Sun coral). The owner of the LFS was training it to feed while the lights were on. I told her about my tank and my ideas and she offered to put the sun coral on hold for me. Then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Put the coral on hold October 1. I finally was able to pick it up last Thursday. So she held it and trained it for about a month. This is what greeted me when I picked up the Sun coral 11/3.

Now, you know why my signature is different. Along with my sun coral, I got a package of frozen mysis shrimp, an IV rig for acclimating, a portion of cyclops-eeze, and a pipette for target feeding.

Acclimating...

Floating the bag...

In the bucket, drip-acclimated for about 2 hours. This is an lps, so not some zoanthid you can toss about. Was very careful.

Sun coral in its new home... Opening a little

FTS, still with zoanthids at this point.

But, the more I thought about it...

Phase 3 - realizing the original concept, or ditching the zoanthids...

My 8g has a MH lamp, with a 14k bulb (haha, that's the last update!), a much better environment for zoanthids. So, I moved all the zoanthids from this tank to my 8g. I also thought, what's another sun coral? This time, in black.

I also have a red one on hold. She has to train that one like she trained the others. I want a yellow one too and then once I keep these thriving for a while, a small gorgonian frag may be in order.

Another note. Sun corals are not for everyone. You must be willing to feed it regularly. It takes commitment and good husbandry as you must be willing to do more frequent water changes to compensate for the messy feedings. When they are well-fed and extended, they are breath-taking.

My open sun coral. I'm very happy I'm getting it to open and eat. I only know of one other that pound for pound possibly eats more than this sun coral!

I'm very happy that I discovered that new LFS. They will be ordering my pompom crabs and a panda goby for this tank. They are very consciencous and the owner is a dedicated hobbiest. Yes, everything is in shades of oranges, reds, and blacks.

Thanks for looking,

L