FuEl's 5 gallon pico reef

[MarcoVan]

Need to find a spot to transplant this hot pink stylo soon. The encrusting monti will be overwhelming it soon. For some reason the digitatas have not opened as much as they used to. Still trying to figure out the reason. They are growing fine though, just that polyps don't seem to like to come out as much.

i think the digitata is pretty much dead or stressed. I too faced the same problem with my purple digitata. Growing damn well then suddenly polyps all retracted and the skin paled in comparison. I don't know what's going on either in any way, i tore that whole piece out from my rocks leaving a small amount of its skin encrusted. So sad

And thanks for your pink stylo since last time. Slow grower but nonetheless still quite a charm! BUT i just bleached it with my 250W Lumenarc reflector on 250W Reeflux bulb. That bulb really kills! :S

[MarcoVan]

Invasion of Chilli Pepper Monti.

bro, what sps is that your chilli pepper is invading? looks good!

Let me know if you have a frag of that. Willing to trade with something red and green (:

[FuEl]

Hmm..no idea what SPS is the chilli pepper growing on. Gave up trying to ID sps since the only 100% accurate way is to analyze the dead skeleton. As for the digitata, it's been like that for 1-2 months already. It still grows though.

[yikai]

did you superglue the croceas.....?

[FuEl]

did you superglue the croceas.....?

How did you see that. They kept felling off the rock so I superglued the side of the shell to the rock. I did'nt glue the part which is supposed to attach itself to the rock.

[yikai]

How did you see that. They kept felling off the rock so I superglued the side of the shell to the rock. I did'nt glue the part which is supposed to attach itself to the rock.

rare fairy wrasses and other fishes don't escape my eyes!

how could a badly glued crocea escape them then? hahaha.

[Zac]

Zac -- No worries. Small tank has its own "fun". You do learn things that you do not find out from larger systems. Like for my daily water changes I use water that I mix to only 1.018. It seems that this compensates for the daily evaporation rate somewhat. Factor in the sodium input from sodium bicarbonate dosing via dosing pump in such a small volume of water, the salinity kinda balances out. No need to dilute daily with distilled/di water whatsoever.

Amby -- Yes the tiger goby is quite small, bred and growth controlled by me.

Thanks for the advice guess I will be needing a dosing pump any recommendation ?

[FuEl]

Thanks for the advice guess I will be needing a dosing pump any recommendation ?

Depends on your budget but the cheapest in the market currently is bubble magus dosing pump. Should be more than enough for a nano tank.

[Zac]

Depends on your budget but the cheapest in the market currently is bubble magus dosing pump. Should be more than enough for a nano tank.

Where can I get them ?

[Eniram]

iwarna carries them

[Zac]

iwarna carries them

Thanks for the info bro

[FuEl]

Update. Skimmerless, so far no noticeable differences.

New inhabitants include one small diadema urchin for nuisance algae control (hopefully, as my tuxedo urchins don't eat that algae) and my first frogspawn. I fragged it in 2 to be placed at different locations.

Seriously thinking of 1 more par38 to brighten up the middle area. The middle area gets morning sun though.

[Digiman]

Update. Skimmerless, so far no noticeable differences.

New inhabitants include one small diadema urchin for nuisance algae control (hopefully, as my tuxedo urchins don't eat that algae) and my first frogspawn. I fragged it in 2 to be placed at different locations.

Seriously thinking of 1 more par38 to brighten up the middle area. The middle area gets morning sun though.

Getting nicer and nicer. U need more fishes though, u know me, a tank is never complete without more interesting fishes.

[FuEl]

Getting nicer and nicer. U need more fishes though, u know me, a tank is never complete without more interesting fishes.

Need to watch the bioload very carefully. I might consider one more fish. I would add an argi angel if I could find one the size of 10 cents.

[Digiman]

Need to watch the bioload very carefully. I might consider one more fish. I would add an argi angel if I could find one the size of 10 cents.

U will not find a 10c argi anytime soon. Even if u can find one, your existing flameback will kill it.

How about adding Apogon parvulus? I fall in love with this fish recently.

[yikai]

the tank is nicer in real life. the pic looks bleached from the lights.

parvulus not stuning enuf.

he needs a show fish.

any butterfly the size of 50cents at least? lol

[FuEl]

U will not find a 10c argi anytime soon. Even if u can find one, your existing flameback will kill it.

How about adding Apogon parvulus? I fall in love with this fish recently.

Don't like A. parvulus that much. Still prefer the mini dart gobies (Aioliops megastigma) but must find a way to prevent them from jumping. A glass cover will help but I am not sure if that will cause the tank to heat up from greenhouse effect. Maybe it's possible for the flameback to pair with the argi?

[yikai]

Don't like A. parvulus that much. Still prefer the mini dart gobies (Aioliops megastigma) but must find a way to prevent them from jumping. A glass cover will help but I am not sure if that will cause the tank to heat up from greenhouse effect. Maybe it's possible for the flameback to pair with the argi?

impossible if you already have an existing flameback.

dwarf angels from the argi complex are ridiculously aggressive. flamebacks and argis are the worst.

if may work if you add them simultaneously. but finding both at 10c size will mean that both will be 100% female. and that could mean fight till die, or one turning male as they grow.

argi angel has never been offered for sale at 10c size before. flamebacks on the otherhand, have.

[FuEl]

impossible if you already have an existing flameback.

dwarf angels from the argi complex are ridiculously aggressive. flamebacks and argis are the worst.

if may work if you add them simultaneously. but finding both at 10c size will mean that both will be 100% female. and that could mean fight till die, or one turning male as they grow.

argi angel has never been offered for sale at 10c size before. flamebacks on the otherhand, have.

Maybe the only other alternative is the post larval joculator? But then I'll feel sorry for my pocket if the flameback kills it. Too bad the tailess 1cm+ Singapore Angel did'nt make it. It just kept getting thinner although it was eating.

[yikai]

Maybe the only other alternative is the post larval joculator? But then I'll feel sorry for my pocket if the flameback kills it. Too bad the tailess 1cm+ Singapore Angel did'nt make it. It just kept getting thinner although it was eating.

yes.

joculator is another angel that can be bought at 10c size.

flame angel is also another one that can be found at 10c, but very rare.

flameback will kill the 10c joculator. if u indeed get a joc, u need to remove the flameback.

also, regal angels can be found at 10c size. so can emperor and koran.

[Digiman]

Add a tiny regal angel, they appear quite often at Ah Beng. V cute and nice.

[FuEl]

Add a tiny regal angel, they appear quite often at Ah Beng. V cute and nice.

Ok will consider. Need to catch out the P.nocturna and the other 4-5 tiger gobies inside first, if not tank crash.

[Digiman]

Ok will consider. Need to catch out the P.nocturna and the other 4-5 tiger gobies inside first, if not tank crash.

The gobies will be damn difficult to catch! U probably hav to tear the whole tank down to catch the full moon.

[FuEl]

The gobies will be damn difficult to catch! U probably hav to tear the whole tank down to catch the full moon.

Not really, only need take out maybe 2-3 rocks. Most of the corals are attached so there is no issue. I take out the rocks quite often to pluck stubborn algae off them manually using tweezers. I'll wait till my next trimming before I catch the fish, then avoid double work.

[poomoon]

cool ... bro, what's in ur HOB ?