[el fabuloso]

I recently joined this site and thought I'd share some of my experiences in the hobby. I love reef tanks and am extremely fascinated with nano tanks so it's no surprise that my pride and joy is a 3g pico.




Don't let the small size fool you though, this tank is filled to the brim with a good mix of diversity.

Fish

• Yellowtail damsel

Inverts

• Sexy shrimps
• Peppermint shrimp
• Emerald crab
• Blue legged hermit

Soft Corals

• Mushrooms (purple and green-striped)
• Ricordeas (florida and yuma)
• Green star polyps
• Blue cloves
• Pulsing Xenia
• Zoanthids (nine varieties)
• Palythoans (three varieties)

LPS

• Blastomussa merleti
• Orange Fungia
• Galaxea
• Trumpet corals

SPS

• Montipora capricornis

As full as it is I actually still have room for more! This tank has been up and running since November of 2007 and has matured nicely.

Here's a full thread of my tank from its inception to where it is now:
El Fab's Sexy Pico - Nano-Reef.com Forums

[BLKBRDTA]

Beautiful Nano Aaron.. I like the light fixture too

And the bottle for size referencing!

[redsea]

:w00t :it looks AWESOME!

[cozer]

Seem to be a mature and stable tank! You must be very patient with the keeping of the water quality! Is there a sump or refuge for this nano tank? Everything looks great in this tank! Nice work~~

[el fabuloso]

Thanks! I don't have a sump, just a modified AquaClear 70 fuge with filter floss, Chemi-Pure Elite, chaeto and a mangrove (mostly for decoration).

Some new additions:



A lace coral (Distichopora) that I found at my LFS a month ago that was too good and rare of an opportunity to pass up. This thing is supposedly hard to keep but so far it's responded well to zooplankton and extends its dactylozooids at night. It's also an aquacultured specimen so that gives me some hope.

I went on a little road trip last week to California (Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach and down the Ventura highway) and was surprise to see some good selections and better prices than we get here in Vegas. I found some good pieces that are just the right size for my tank so I couldn't resist.

I got this Tubipora:



And a couple of SPS:





The success with my Montipora cap. has encouraged me to branch out into other SPS corals. The pink bird's nest and the Acropora frag are surprisingly doing well though ultimately my PC fixture could be their downfall. I'm in the process of getting a retrofit LED fixture and hopefully it will be enough of an improvement for these guys.

A recent full tank shot taken yesterday:

[BLKBRDTA]

Beautiful pictures Aaron, the blue coloration of your Distichopora is awesome! Keep those pics coming!

[el fabuloso]

It seems that I've neglected this thread so I thought I'd post an update. The LED upgrade back in March was a success and with that came the transition of turning the tank into a SPS-dominated pico. To be honest I wasn't quite sure how well it was going to work but pictures speak more than words.

This is how the tank looked back in May:


And a much recent shot taken last week:


You can see the tremendous SPS growth especially the monti cap and the sunset millepora.




Maintenance consists of weekly feedings and dosing a two-part solution twice a day to keep up with alk and calcium levels.

[pmason44m]

Wow, simply outstanding effort/results... I followed your tank on another forum a few months ago, nice to see you here!

Question:
Would you be willing to share your led light setup/conversion... I'm sure there are several people who would love to know? Thanks in advance! ;-)

[WillLovesFish]

Originally Posted by pmason44m

Wow, simply outstanding effort/results... I followed your tank on another forum a few months ago, nice to see you here!

Question:
Would you be willing to share your led light setup/conversion... I'm sure there are several people who would love to know? Thanks in advance! ;-)

I too would love to know the light setup you are using??? I have a 4 gallon pico I am working on and still trying to decide on light setup???

[electraglide999]

looks bigger than it really is. wow.

[pogodzib]

Your tank is looking very nice Aaron. It is a great example of how nice a small tank can look. I'm also glad to see that you've kept your fish down to a minimum which really helps with small tanks.

[pmason44m]

So, I did manage to find El Fab's light setup... on Nano-Reef.com It's a custom job by one of the other members (evilc66). Looks like a fine job too. I think we have a thread on RB about something like this... can't remember where.

Anyway here's the link:
El Fab's Sexy Pico - Nano-Reef.com Forums

[palmbeach2210]

Tagging this thread. I love this tank!