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Innovative Marine Aquariums

My Tangy Fluval Spec Pico Reef


Islandoftiki

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Hello everyone,

 

I'm new to the forum. After about a year of successfully keeping freshwater shrimp nano tanks, I thought I'd take the plunge and try a saltwater pico. I already had a Fluval Spec freshwater shrimp tank and like it a lot. I saw a bunch of people had already made a successful conversion to saltwater with it so I researched, researched and researched some more to see what exactly what people were doing to make these tanks saltwater worthy. I'm very happy with the final outcome, and here's a description of what we have... and a short YouTube video of the tank itself.

 

Tank: Fluval Spec 2 gallon

Pump: Upgraded to Mini-Jet 404 (end covers removed to fit)

Lighting: Upgraded to Par30 from BoostLED on an swing arm lamp.

Heater: 25 watt Hydor Theo (may be changing when I get the RKL)

Filtration: 2 lbs high quality live rock. Chemi-Pure in lower part of the filter compartment, Chaetomorpha in the middle part of the compartment lit from behind with the Spec's stock LED lamp 24 hrs. Filter floss in the upper part of the compartment--changed every couple days. There is also a small mangrove in the rear compartment. 20% water change every week.

 

Other equipment: Milwaukee Digital refractometer (a refractometer is really handy on a pico due to the small size and water volume). And after two faulty heaters that nearly cooked the tank twice, a TOM aquarium alert. Arriving next week is a Reef Keeper Lite to help maintain the temperature a little more consistently. This tank tends to run a little on the warmer side of 80 degrees with the heater off when the ambient temperature gets above 75. I plan to have a fan connected to the RKL just in case.

 

The tank cycled very quickly (about a week), but I gave it two weeks just to be on the safe side. I was lucky to have some mushroom coral hitchhikers that survived the cycle, and two stomatella snails that also fared quite well. I started stocking fairly modestly with a xenia coral, peppermint shrimp, hermit crab and a couple of zoas. I've slowly been adding a new small frag every week until I've reached what I think will be a good balance of critters for now.

 

I now have two different types of Zoanthid. One good sized xenia and a smaller one that come from the parent. Two hermit crabs--one dwarf mexican and one light tan hermit crab with iridescent blue eyes and antenna that I can't identify but seems to only eat algae and hasn't touched any corals. One peppermint shrimp and one blood red fire shrimp who seem to tolerate each other but the fire shrimp doesn't like the peppermint shrimp to hang out near him. They've both established comfortable territories and trade places from time to time. At feeding time, the fire shrimp has to be fed first or he'll steal food from everyone else. They both absolutely loveSera Shrimps Natural pellets that I also feed to my freshwater shrimp (who also love it and so do the hermit crabs). I also have added a couple nice mushrooms and a small frag of Favia. The pink finger leather in the video wasn't doing well (it was a little ill looking at the LFS and I thought I could resurrect it, but that didn't work out). That spot is now taken up with a small Crocea clam who appears to be loving it. My fire shrimp molted this week. :)

 

I would love any suggestions or constructive criticism. Enjoy the video!

 

Cheers!

John

E0485423.jpg

[Edited -- broken photo link]

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Here's a current pic from this morning with the Crocea clam.

 

Cheers!

John

 

[Edit: photo removed. Fire shrimp killed the clam]

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Maybe others can chime in on this but it might be too early for the clam.

+1

 

it'll be hard be not impossible. just make sure you stay on top of everything

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That looks great! Your xenia looks really healthy. :)

Maybe others can chime in on this but it might be too early for the clam.

 

Yeah, that xenia is super happy in there. It's incredibly active.

 

I think the clam will be ok. He gets really good lighting. I may up the volume when changing water each week to 30% (or 15% twice a week) for him if I find the calcium levels getting low, and will be doing supplemental feedings with live phytoplankton. He looks super happy right now, but he's only been in there two days.

 

Cheers!

John

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Well it sounds as if you have done your research and have everything under control. :)

 

I try to be well informed about each of the inhabitants of my tank. Hopefully I haven't overlooked anything important.

 

One thought that's been going through my mind is that with the clam in there, perhaps I should be ditching the Chemi-Pure? Since clams absorb ammonia/nitrates and other DOC. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I can't seem to find any point of reference for exactly how much organic compounds they want/need, just that they do absorb them.

 

Cheers!

John

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What makes keeping a clam hard is having stable parameters. They are very sensitive to changes. With a tiny tank like this, and it being new it makes it hard.

 

Just make sure you stay on top of your WCs like it's your job. Personally I would run chemical filtration just to try to keep things a bit more stable, but your rational makes sense too.

 

GL! It looks great!

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What makes keeping a clam hard is having stable parameters. They are very sensitive to changes. With a tiny tank like this, and it being new it makes it hard.

 

Yeah, that's a good point about the parameter stability. That is the main reason for the Chemi-pure in the first place. Fortunately the parameters in this tank have been rock solid since it cycled. My Reef Keeper Lite should be here tomorrow, and I'm hoping it will help keep the temperature within a 1 degree window. I don't suspect that should be any issue. I'll stick with the Chemi-pure and supplemental live phyto feedings. I don't believe they actually require DOC, they just happen to absorb it if it's present.

 

Cheers!

John

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Sigh...

 

So, the clam was doing really well until the fire shrimp decided that he was going to stand next to it and poke it every time it moved. I've never heard of a fire shrimp harassing a clam before, but mine did. He's been poking the clam incessantly to the point where the clam will no longer extend it's mantle. Tonight, it dropped it's foot. No doubt due to the stress of being constantly bothered. I tried to get some video of the shrimp's behavior, but he wouldn't do it when I got close enough with my iPhone to get any footage. Suffice it to say that every time the clam would start to extend it's mantle, the shrimp would poke it with it's foot or whip it with it's antenna until it retracted.

 

The same fire shrimp has been making it difficult to target feed my peppermint shrimp since he will hoard every piece of food that goes into the tank.

 

So, I've got the clam in a bucket with a powerhead, heater and a light just in case the shrimp tormented it to death. I don't want it to crash the tank if it dies.

 

The fire shrimp, may have to be re-homed. Perhaps traded for frags.

 

I know this is an issue with pico tanks. Species which might otherwise live happily together in a larger tank don't always get along the same in close quarters. Hopefully the clam will recover.

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I have a very similar setup to yours. I am considering upgrading the pump but have read that it doesn't really increase the flow much. Can you tell a difference with the minijet?

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I have a very similar setup to yours. I am considering upgrading the pump but have read that it doesn't really increase the flow much. Can you tell a difference with the minijet?

 

Yeah, it did make a noticeable difference. I would even say it may have doubled the flow, but one thing you need to consider. It's a tight fit, and you have to remove both of the end caps. One is just for looks, the other is the intake screen with the flow adjuster. When you install it, you have to make sure that the intake is as far away from the glass as possible so you aren't restricting it.

 

I've considered removing the divider between the pump and filter compartment and putting two pumps in there with two separate outlet nozzles.

 

Cheers!

John

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Thanks for the info John. I've ordered a minijet. Another question. Does your 25 watt Hydor Theo heater fit into the back compartment with the pump? I've found 2 that do. The problem is they are both pre-set thermostats - you can't adjust them. The Tetra one only heats the water to 74 which is a little low and the betta heater heats it up to 82 - too high. I guess that one would work if you have a RKL but that's not in my budget right now.

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Thanks for the info John. I've ordered a minijet. Another question. Does your 25 watt Hydor Theo heater fit into the back compartment with the pump? I've found 2 that do. The problem is they are both pre-set thermostats - you can't adjust them. The Tetra one only heats the water to 74 which is a little low and the betta heater heats it up to 82 - too high. I guess that one would work if you have a RKL.

 

No, my hydor theo is in the filter compartment with the Chemi-pure, mangrove, chaeto and some filter floss. I don't think it'll fit with the mini-jet in the pump compartment. The 404 is taller than the stock pump. I do have an adjustable 25 watt heater that would fit in there that I bought for my freshwater Spec. It's an "Archaea Mini Aquarium Heater (25W) Ultra Slim" So far, it's been keeping my freshwater Spec right at 72 degrees plus or minus half a degree. The heater element is very small and it's externally adjustable. Better than my Hydor actually.

 

I've had bad luck with heaters. Two marineland 10 watt heaters failed in rapid succession. I'm still having some issues with keeping the temp below 81. My Reef Keeper Lite should be here today and I'll probably swapping out the hydor theo for one of those flat hydor 15 watt non-adjustable heaters and let the RKL control the temperature. I'm also going to be hooking up a fan to the RKL. I don't want a fan running all the time, that causes too much evaporation.

 

I would say as long as your ambient temperature stays below 72, you shouldn't have issues with excessive heat.

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You were right about the mini-jet. I just installed it and I have way more circulation! I took the ends off like you said and it slid right in. Thanks

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You were right about the mini-jet. I just installed it and I have way more circulation! I took the ends off like you said and it slid right in. Thanks

 

Let me know if you have any issues keeping your temperature down with the 404 running. I suspect my main issue is just high ambient room temperature. This morning it was cool (70 degrees) in my apartment and the tank temp was down to 78 (main light off, obviously); it was 80.1 last night as the lights shut off. I'm hooking up my RKL tonight along with a fan.

 

I dosed the tank last night with Flatworm exit (2 drops) and sucked them all out (before and after treatment), followed by a large water change. No ill effects for any of the other inhabitants. This morning, there were only about one or two remaining flatworms that I could find. I'll probably have to dose again after I get back from vacation in a week and a half.

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Quick update:

 

The Reef Keeper Lite showed up the other day, and I finally had time to set it up tonight. Setup was pretty intuitive.

 

I changed my heater from a 25 watt hydor theo to one of those flat 7.5 watt Hydor heaters that is not temperature regulated (the RKL controls it). This should be more than sufficient for my given situation. I can change it to the 15 watt version if necessary. The lower wattage heater should help keep rapid temperature fluctuations to a minimum. The heater is in the filter compartment just like the last one was. RKL is set to maintain the temperature at 79 degrees.

 

The RKL is now controlling the light (originally controlled by a simple lamp timer). 12 hour on/off cycle.

 

The RKL is also controlling the pump so I can put it in Standby mode for maintenance and have the pump turn off along with the heater.

 

I now have a small desk fan connected to the RKL that turns on at 80 degrees to help keep the temperature a little more stable.

 

That should just about do it. I'm expecting to see a much tighter control of the tank temperature. I will monitor the Min/Max readings from the temperature probe.

 

The fire shrimp will be going back to the LFS tomorrow. He's beautiful, but too much a brute for this tiny tank. I'm sure he'll do very well in a larger tank.

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Also,

 

I dosed the tank last night with a flatworm treatment to help deal with a population of flatworms that has slowly been growing. Prior to treating, I used a turkey baster to remove every single visible flatworm I could find. Then I dosed two drops. Slowly tiny flatworms started floating around in the water column. I sucked them out as soon as I saw them to help reduce the amount of toxin they release. This lasted for about 1/2 hour, and I managed to pick up a few stragglers over another hour time. There was a new batch of Chemi-pure in the filter compartment at the time of the dosing. No obvious problems with the other inhabitants. The Xenia was a little annoyed that I kept bumping it with the turkey baster, and the fire shrimp thought this crazy device was intriguing and enjoyed playing with it.

 

Everything looks good today. I sucked out three remaining flatworms. I assume I'm going to have to dose again.

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Update...

 

The RKL is keeping the temperature between 79.5 and 80 degrees consistently. I'm very happy with that.

 

The fire shrimp went back to the LFS. My peppermint shrimp is extremely happy about that and has come out of hiding. He greets me every time I go near the tank now. Here's a picture of the new blue-green and fluorescent orange Ricordia:

 

2E3EC542-orig.jpg

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So, that Ricordea expanded a whole lot bigger in my tank than it was at the LFS. Looks like I put it a little too close to those neon green mushrooms at the lower right of the picture; they're actually neon green to the eye but not the camera, the ricrodea is actually accurately depicted color-wise. This morning the upper mushroom was scrunched up a bit. I moved the ricordea about an inch back to give them some space.

 

Is my understanding that ricordeas don't sting but wage chemical warfare against neighboring corals?

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Well, the upper mushroom remains only half-extended, but doesn't look ill, it probably just stings a little. I'm sure it will be back to normal by the time I get back from Hawaii in a week. I have a friend coming over every other day to do water top-offs and keep an eye on everything. He's in love with my Xenia coral--one of the most active xenias I've ever seen.

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