Badfish & LittleMermaids 2.5 Nano Build

I was thinking a hippo tang..... just kidding. The tank is too small for me to think it would be fair keep a fish in and I really don't want to deal with the bio-load from a fish. As for inverts I was thinking maybe a squat lobster or a porceilin crab, and I would love to get some bumble bee shrimp in there if I could find some.

Well after going to the Lansing swap the end of January and my wife picking up some frags at our LFS, I think we've filled it up. My wife also worked on a chart listing our total cost for the build so far. We are still settling in a few pieces but take a look so far...
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...2/4419b040.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...oPriceList.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...iscan22012.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...dshot22012.jpg

Freaking sweet pictures!! Tank looks awesome :)

Thanks Miz the Acros are both still looking good, the one in front has lost almost all of it's color though. And once all the corals are happy we plan on aquascaping a little more.

Did a little re-scaping the other day.
http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/...228/212717.jpg

This Monti and Acro both seem happy, and the Gobs look like they're pop'n out a few new heads.
http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/...228/212818.jpg


I think we've got a nice variety in this this little guy for only being 2 gals. I started noticing a little algae on the acan so I'm going to add some Seachem SeaGel this weekend when I change the carbon out.
http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/...228/212743.jpg


All the different Zoas and Palys are open and looking good.
http://media9.dropshots.com/photos/8...228/212754.jpg


This is my favorite piece, it's left over from when I was trimming off a dead branch from a Acro frag I bought for my cube. I tossed it in my fuge figuring it was pod food now, but after a few days it still had some signs of life so I glued it to a plug and let it heal a little. Now it seems to be rehabbing nicely in its new home
http://media9.dropshots.com/photos/8...228/212631.jpg

I'm still kinda amazed that all of the Sps is doing so well, the only real issue so far is color fading in the front piece. The tank has LEDs and a 40 gph circulation pump; so the lighting and flow is there but I didn't think I would able to be kept the water parameter levels stable enough for Acros. I manually top it off every night with RO/DI, and always do about a 20% water change weekly (Red plastic solo cup's worth :redneck:) with the same obsessively controlled water I use for my 45 gal.
http://media9.dropshots.com/photos/8...228/212727.jpg

Thanks for Looking.

I've got the perfect inverts for your tank.....SEXY SHRIMP!
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMG_1981.jpg

As for a fish....FLAMING PRAWN GOBY! Max size 1" :)

Thanks Miz, ha you tell me where I can get a Flaming Prawn Goby around here and I would probably pay the carzy price for one! We've had sexies in all of our Picos so far, looking for something different this time. I'm still keeping my eyes out for that bumble bee shrimp.:shifty:

Nothing too exciting happening, there is a little growth going on but nothing mind blowing. Still haven't gotten around to getting any cool inverts yet..


http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/...319/154817.jpg

http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/...319/154832.jpg


There's 3 new Gobstopper heads and the Sps is growing a little but the hairy Acro still still hasn't colored up.

http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/...319/155159.jpg

http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/...319/154913.jpg

But all things considered the tank is doing great, Thanks for looking.

You make it seem so easy! The tank looks real good with a great variety of corals.

Thanks AJ, I'm still surprised how easy it has been as well. (knock on wood) I think the good fortune of this tank is do to the fact that I have such a light Bio-load, I stay on top of my weekly water changes, and most importantly my daily RO top off is done religiously.

The biggest challenge with this tank that I've run in to so far is the light acclimation, not a lot of room to raise and lower corals in a 2 gal tank. And when you have zoas, mushrooms, LPS, and SPS all within a few inches of each other it gets a little tricky. I've had to keep the LEDs running at about 70% power for the blues and only about 10% on the whites to keep from burn the lower light stuff. Because of this my Acros aren't as colorful as they once where, but with in the last 2 weeks or so I've slowly been turn up the power to the whites and have already noticed a little color coming back.

Happy Acro, just not colorful
http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/...329/174113.jpg

With the polyps retracted you can see the tips finally getting some if their blue color back.
http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/...329/174617.jpg

and most of my sps have started to encrust as well
http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/...403/080854.jpg