3 gal picotope (build thread!)

[DaveMc]

Love the vid bud So neat to watch something like this to see who a tank matures and grows.

[dingusplease]

Thank you both I'm planning out an addition of 4-5 zoa frags, a duncan, a small feather duster, and a small rock of palys at my LFS. Right now I'm just planning the moving of a few corals already in this tank to create room for each new coral, making sure to provide for each coral's lighting and flow preferences.

[BigRedsReefs10]

Nice job dingus!! (Still feels like an insult ) that's a cool idea, and it shows just how full it really is. Beautiful tank

[NanoNewb]

Great video! Makes me wish I took more pictures of my tank from day one! What zoas frags you getting?!

[dingusplease]

Originally Posted by NanoNewb

Great video! Makes me wish I took more pictures of my tank from day one! What zoas frags you getting?!

Thank you sir it's never too late to take a bunch of pics every few days, you'll be glad in 5months haha. I honestly don't know too many names for zoa morphs, and none of the frags at my LFS are labeled, besides being listed as "coral frags" lol. When I get them I'll upload lots of pics, maybe somebody here can ID them. I'll be leaving town for a week in a few days, I'll be picking up the new corals after that.

Originally Posted by BigRedsReefs10

Nice job dingus!! (Still feels like an insult ) that's a cool idea, and it shows just how full it really is. Beautiful tank

Thanks! (haha I don't think anyone is going to take that as an insult!) I think it's going to seem a lot more full with the addition of a really tall rock of palys I'm planning on from the LFS, it'll cover that fuge intake that's covered in all sorts of algae.

[bribo12]

Have you thought about an encrusting monti or two?

[NanoNewb]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Have you thought about an encrusting monti or two?

That would be sweet!

[dingusplease]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Have you thought about an encrusting monti or two?

That's a really good idea! And nope, I hadn't thought of that until now, they're never at my LFS and I guess I'm just used to sticking with softies/lps for the most part. I'll have to look for them next time I go to Indy or Chicago!

Just curious, can they encrust glass and plastic parts as easily as rock? I assume so, that'd look really cool to have a monti growing up the glass...

EDIT: I have a plating monti, and that seems to be encrusting the rock to a certain degree. Are plating/encrusting montis really different species or are they just different growth patterns in different tanks?

[NanoNewb]

Ya seen a portion starting to encrust the wall at my LFS. I'm assuming it's just a slow process. Do both!

[DaveMc]

I think they can. One of the LFS I went to a while back has some in their display tank and it had encrusted the back wall of the tank....was beautiful!

[10gal_nano]

I saw a tank with the whole back encrusted in green star polyps. It was really cool

[DaveMc]

Originally Posted by 10gal_nano

I saw a tank with the whole back encrusted in green star polyps. It was really cool

That is cool. Looks like a carpet almost covering the back of the tank. Seen a couple vid's with that and just drooled lol.

[dingusplease]

Well I guess I know what I'm looking for at the next trip to an LFS

It's funny, I put a frag of GSP at the back of this tank to try and get it to encrust, but so far it's only grown towards the front. Of course, the frag of GSP in the front is trying to dominate the entire front glass panel, it literally grows almost a millimeter a day, straight up the front where I don't want it to grow :p

[10gal_nano]

Originally Posted by dingusplease

Well I guess I know what I'm looking for at the next trip to an LFS

It's funny, I put a frag of GSP at the back of this tank to try and get it to encrust, but so far it's only grown towards the front. Of course, the frag of GSP in the front is trying to dominate the entire front glass panel, it literally grows almost a millimeter a day, straight up the front where I don't want it to grow :p

I've heard if you clip it to the back you can do it. I might try it. Lol.

[10gal_nano]

Or glue might work and look better. Lol

[dingusplease]

Thanks for the tip! I tried gluing a few palys onto the glass but my "all surfaces" cyanoacrylate glue wouldn't hold, no matter what I tried. Maybe I'll try using a veggie clip, with a tiny bit of GSP.

Only problem is my porcelain won't let me near the main GSP colony in the front, he raises his big claw as soon as anything enters his "zone" :p

[10gal_nano]

Originally Posted by dingusplease

Thanks for the tip! I tried gluing a few palys onto the glass but my "all surfaces" cyanoacrylate glue wouldn't hold, no matter what I tried. Maybe I'll try using a veggie clip, with a tiny bit of GSP.

Only problem is my porcelain won't let me near the main GSP colony in the front, he raises his big claw as soon as anything enters his "zone" :p

I'm going to wait until all of mine open and then stick the frag to the back and wait

[DaveMc]

Originally Posted by dingusplease

Thanks for the tip! I tried gluing a few palys onto the glass but my "all surfaces" cyanoacrylate glue wouldn't hold, no matter what I tried. Maybe I'll try using a veggie clip, with a tiny bit of GSP.

Only problem is my porcelain won't let me near the main GSP colony in the front, he raises his big claw as soon as anything enters his "zone" :p

ROFL! At least yours comes out and defends. I haven't seen mine since last week.

[bribo12]

Yes encrusting and plating montis are separate species. Look for montipora undata "Jedi mind trick" or just the regular undata. Both are very nice. Rainbow, superman, sunset, and mystic sunset monti are also very nice encrusting montis. I have the rainbow and Jedi mind trick in my tank and they are awesome!

[dingusplease]

Interesting, thanks! I think I saw the Jedi mind trick in a recent pic of your tank... Looks amazing! I believe it's the blue one, right?