Mr. Microscope's 3 Gallon JBJ Picotope

[noobzy]

Awesome looking tank! Great variety on those zoas, and I like how you spread them around; "zoa garden" is definitely appropriate

For the uninformed, how did you go about mounting the frags to the rocks? Are they just superglued directly to the rock?

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Awesome pico man. I was recently forced to downgrade my 14g to a 12g but after chancing upon your thread I don't feel as guilty as I did before, heh. Can't wait to see everything grown in with your picotope. Keep the pics coming!

Thanks guarda! Yes. There is a lot you can do with limited gallonage. There are tons of people doing the pico thing and lots of little strategies out there for making it a success. I've had this going almost 10 months with no major problems. I like going for the less is more approach. I'll be upgrading in about a half year. Probably to a 25 cube, but that's still pretty small compared to what a lot of people are doing.

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Awesome looking tank! Great variety on those zoas, and I like how you spread them around; "zoa garden" is definitely appropriate

For the uninformed, how did you go about mounting the frags to the rocks? Are they just superglued directly to the rock?

Thanks noobzy!
Yup, most of the zoas were mostly just superglued, but that was just to start them. Then they spread on their own. Or, I started them on a rock that was mounted to a plug, let them grow out a little, and then took the rock off the plug and glued the rock down directly. So, no damage to the zoas.

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Hello All,

I haven't updated in a while. So, here it is.

FTS 2011.01.05

I used a better camera on this one. I also accidentally took an image with the flash on. I was about to discard it, but it gives an interesting perspective of the tank. This is about how it looks with the LEDs off and my office lights on.

Here are a few fun shots from above:

CORALS!

I may add a tiny three stripe damsel in a while. 'Gonna let the corals settle into place for a while first.

 

[jaa1456]

Looks nice, I have one of these tanks sitting empty in my attic.

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Start a pico man. They're a blast!

 

[jaa1456]

I had it running, Looking to just sell it now, I enjoy my other tank more.

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Update 2011.04.08 (Yes, I know it's the 11th, but pics taken on the 8th)

To start out, here's a few FTS's.

Comparing all LEDs and just the Blues:

I feel like I'm getting better at adjusting the royal blue images to get an accurate representation. The greens really turn out well, but the challenge is with the reds. The camera can't really pick up the pop I'm getting on my warmer colors which really are amazing in person!

Here's a fun video of the tank:

IMG_2579.mp4 video by Mr_Microscope - Photobucket​

I've been feeding a good amount of phyto and the GSP is loving it. I even target feed this colony and the polyps close up on the phyto and come open back up again begging for more. Here's an update on their progress. (RB/CB LED's)

Just for fun, I took a few images from the sides of the tank. Here you can see the M3R rack.

And from the other side. I like the depth of field in this one:

Here's a neat video from a similar perspective. You can see the xenia pulsing like crazy here. The driver I had on my white LEDs blew out, and I had my tank under just blue LEDs for a couple weeks. After fixing it and putting on the whites for the first time in a while, the Xenia went crazy and pulsed all day long, faster than I've ever seen!

IMG_2510.mp4 video by Mr_Microscope - Photobucket​

When I was taking this shot, I accidentally took this one. I was about to throw it out, but I think it turned out pretty cool.

Here are a few highlights. These were taken under just Royal Blue and Cool Blue LED's. In the bottom left, you can see the trumpet that I got a while ago that bleached. It has gotten most of its color back and is plumper than ever. The Organism palys (upper right) have drawn back to the rock and are no longer stretching. The Green Implosions here seem to be maintaining their deep green better than the ones up top that are getting more white stripes (no, not bleaching, just morphing a little). Whammin' Watermelons and Tub's Blues healthy as ever are in the lower right.

Some more NW, RB, CB Vs. Blues images:

Finally, here's the rack with just blues, and all LEDs:

Maintenance update:
Since taking out my Chemi-Pure Elite, everything seems okay. I guess it's too soon to say if it's better or not. I'm definitely having to clean the glass more frequently. That probably means that there's a lot more nutrients in the water.

Also, I stopped doing the heavy feedings and 90% water changes. Mostly because it's been too much of a PITA to do at work compared to just 4L which I can brew up in a large beaker. I'm still feeding 250 microliters of live phyto once or twice a week and some Coral Frenzy. All feedings are targeted for the most part.

As I mentioned before, one of my BuckPucks blew. I had to order a new one and replace it which took a few weeks due to personal business. I've heard from several other sources that BuckPucks are known to be unreliable, but for driving such a small amount of LEDs with dimmers, they are really the only option. For example, I have just one LED on one of my drivers. I don't think that can be done on any other drivers out there.

Finally, I went to the Manhattanreefs Frag Swap today. I definitely got some goodies (and I won a few!!!). More updates to come!

 

[guarda]

Nice shots Eric. I have to go check out your setup one day.

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Nice shots Eric. I have to go check out your setup one day.

Killer! It'd be great to show you my pico. I know you don't have much room in your tank, but I got something at the swap that I think you might like a few polyps of.

 

[guarda]

Awesome man! Pm me your # again and I'll give you a call this week. Btw my wife was next to me when I was reading your post and she screamed, "Who wants to show you his pico??" Pico means something else in Spanish...

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Lmao!!!