Shark's pico 4 gallon

[shark565]

Hello everybody,

I have't written these days, but i didn't stop reading the forum. After i setted my tank up like a mouth ago, I have been waiting for my led bulb. Last week, it finally arrived, I decided that I don’t like my current setup, because the filter and the heater are visible and this is really annoying for me.

After some reading and planning I bought a custom glass tank. I took it today and have made some upgrades. I glued a black forex plate to hide the box filter on the back and made some kind of fixture for my bulb. It isn’t very beautiful, but I like it.

 

So the current setup is:

 

Tank:10” cube with 4” filter area on the back

 

Lightning: 27 watts led bulb with 3 blue and 6 white leds

 

Filtration: Active carbon and a sponge

1, 5 kg dead rock and 1 small live rock

Return pump and flow: power head 350l/h

 

I still haven’t put water because, I am waiting for the silicone to dry. How long does it take? While I have been waiting I put the stones from the another tank and formed some kind of hardscape. I think I am going to go bare bottom ,because I like the idea of a green star polyp mat at the front.

 

Corals

I am planning to keep softies, LPS and may be some hardy SPS like montipora and seriatopora. From the softies I like zoanthids, gsp and may be mushrooms. I am a big fan of the LPS, I should definitely have frogspawn, trumpet, duncan and may be some more.

 

Fish and invertebrates

I am not sure what kind of fish can I keep in this tank ,but I am a big fan of occelaris clownfish and the purple firefish. Can I keep one of them?I am planning to keep maxi-anemone, hermit crab, some snails and may be peppermint shrimp.What kind of CUC should I include?

 

I still have several questions.

Should i put something more for filtration?

Is the flow enough or i should buy a wavemaker?

 

 

 

[Weasel Baron]

cool DIY overflow, excited to see it in action. I'd be surprised if you could fit a wavemaker in there, maybe a jebao wp10, but I think it would turn your tank into a whirlpool,

 

CUC; maybe some ceriths/margaritas and a few hermits. Im not a huge fan of crabs for CUC, too many stories about them doing crab stuff and eating other tankmates. For fish, you'd probably need more space for a clown, and youre on the low end for firefish, but there are a ton of gobies. you could also do something like a coral croucher. Inverts will be up to you, but sexy shrimp are a popular go-to

 

careful w/ the GSP, that stuff spreads like a weed

[reefernanoman]

Nice start. Good luck

[shark565]

Thank you for the kind words. I am going to look for fish and do some reading before buy anything. As for the CUC, I am going to check what they have in my LFS. The Jebao wp10 is 5000l/h isn’t it going to be too much for soft and lps dominated tank? I was thinking about something 1000l/h?

I am looking for a DIY protein skimmer ,but the tube shouldn't be more than 1 inch in diameter, because the first section of the filter is 1,5 inch/3,5 inch. Any ideas?

[shark565]

Sorry for double posting,but I have just filled the tank. Here are some pics:

 

My sponge is too dense and the water is over-flowing, I am going to buy some filterwatte tommorow. I didn't like how bare-bottom and put some sand in. I am planning to take a cerith snail soon,I want something to move.

[seabass]

Return pump and flow: power head 350l/h

That's 92.5 gph, or 23 times turnover. This should be adequate for LPS and soft corals.

 

I still haven’t put water because, I am waiting for the silicone to dry. How long does it take?

Silicone take 48 hours to fully cure. But it can take 3 to 5 days for it to become full strength.

 

I am planning to keep softies, LPS and may be some hardy SPS like montipora and seriatopora. From the softies I like zoanthids, gsp and may be mushrooms. I am a big fan of the LPS, I should definitely have frogspawn, trumpet, duncan and may be some more.

That's a pretty big list for a small tank.

 

I am not sure what kind of fish can I keep in this tank ,but I am a big fan of occelaris clownfish and the purple firefish. Can I keep one of them?I am planning to keep maxi-anemone, hermit crab, some snails and may be peppermint shrimp.What kind of CUC should I include?

The tank is too small for a clownfish. Here is a fish guide that might help you; I'd get one of the gobies listed. For a cleanup crew, I'd probably get one Trochus snail (herbivore), a Nassarius snail (carnivore), and a Cerith snail (omnivore). A hermit crab should be alright, just make sure that you have extra shells for it and that it's well fed. Peppermint shrimp tend to pick at coral (they're not my favorite).

 

Should i put something more for filtration?

Some people use ChemiPure Elite (which has some GFO to help reduce phosphate). If that's not available, you might want to add a little Phosguard to the activated carbon whenever the phosphate level starts to rise.

 

Is the flow enough or i should buy a wavemaker?

23 times turnover is pretty good. If you want some SPS, you might want to double this.

 

 

Should I oxygenate the water somehow?

The flow throughout the tank is enough to keep it oxygenated. If you want something more, add a protein skimmer in the back chambers.

 

Should i put a wave maker (1000l/h)?

Adding 1000l/h gives you 357 gph, or 89 times turnover. That's simply too much flow.

 

Should i put some syporax or bioballs in the box filter?

No, the live rock and sand will be the biological filter.

 

Should I use filterwatte?

You could use this instead of the sponge. However, you should rinse (or replace) it frequently so that it doesn't become a biological filter. In the USA, a lot of us use 100% polyester pillow stuffing. Make sure that they don't add fire resistant chemicals (it should not say fire retardant on it).

[shark565]

I am going to buy another hailea and take the head to double the flow. I am going to pick a nassarius these days and filterwatte from my LFS. I may set up a diy skimmer and aquaclear fuge if it fits in my box. I may not have fish because a goby can easily.

[shark565]

A little update from me. I added watte and phosphate removal. Before adding the phosphate removal I had cyano almost everywhere, now I think it is dying, beacause it turn brown. Am i right?

http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/Suit565/media/2015-01-05181702_zpsacfbd91d.jpg.html'>

[seabass]

Looks like you have a nutrient problem (Cyno, hair algae, and micro algae). The substrate is also fairly coarse, which can trap detritus. What are your nitrate and phosphate levels (and which test kits are you using)?

[shark565]

I haven't test for them. I think they are dropping,beacause the bloom stopped. The LFS owner is a very helpful guy, he told me that my phosphates and silicates are may be high, beacause of the tap water I am using. He explained me that the water conditioner removes some of the bad things in the water ,but not the phosphates and sillicates. He recommended me the phosohate removal. I should go to the LFS tommorow for some ro/di water. Can I add a snail or something to eat the GHA ?

[seabass]

The LFS owner is a very helpful guy, he told me that my phosphates and silicates are may be high, beacause of the tap water I am using.

Read this: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/1/chemistry

 

Can I add a snail or something to eat the GHA ?

First manually remove as much of the algae as possible. Then, if the ammonia is undetectable, I would change out all of the conditioned tap water with saltwater made from distilled or RO/DI. After this you could add a couple of Trochus snails to help control the algae.

[shark565]

I removed some GHA mannualy and today I made a WC-10 litres and added a trochus snail. I noticed that some of my GHA are becoming brown and falling of the rock. I am a little bit concerned about the snail, because since I put it it started moving on the glass and then stopped on the front glass for several hours now. Is this normal behaviour?

In our local forum, I found a protein skimmer -Aqua Medic Miniflotor on a low price. The problem is that my in-tank sump is very small - the first section is 1" and ths second one is 3" in length and around 4" in wight, am i going to be able to put it there? Should i buy it?

Some pictures:

[seabass]

Yay for Trochus snails. I bet you could add another.

 

I'm personally not a fan of airstone skimmers; however, it would probably do for such a small tank. You'll have to replace the stone frequently to keep it working properly. You might look at something like a AquaticLife 115 skimmer (I think it might be even smaller). Measure the space before you buy anything.

 

What I'd recommend would be to just increase the volume and frequency of your water changes. Are you now using Phosgaurd for phosphate removal?

[CronicReefer]

Your snail is sleeping when it looks like that so no worries. You will see a lot of improvement on algae once you stop using tap water as well. Turbo snails are great for gha if you can get a small one it will clean up your tank nicely.

[shark565]

I noticed that the snail ate an algae like I eat spaghetti. The snail became active again so no worries.

It is not phosguard, but something like it. It is brown in color and they sell it bulk.The brand was Aquamedic.

I am not going to buy the skimmer ,because I don't have enough place for it.

[seabass]

It is not phosguard, but something like it. It is brown in color and they sell it bulk.

Probably GFO. It tends to clump if not tumbled in a reactor. For use in a high flow area, Phosguard will probably work better for you. However, I think that the phosphate issue is due to the tap water. Changing out all your water should help.

[shark565]

As I said before, For several days my GHA started turning brown and I notice pieces of it in my filterwatte. So, with the new cleaner and the water change ,I should get rid of it pretty soon. I am concerned about the cyano algae. Will it die too?

[seabass]

I am concerned about the cyano algae. Will it die too?

I'm no psychic; but if you get the organics and nutrients under control, it should go away too. If your tank still has Cyano after taking care of the nutrient issues, you might try some Chemi-Clean to get rid of it.

[shark565]

I am wainting for now. Thanks for the quck answers. I am thinking about taking a maxi mini anemoxe in 2 weeks. Is my tank mature enough or I must wait a little while? I don't think I have any ammonia since my snail is doing pretty good I am watching it all the time.

[seabass]

Don't purchase anything while you are battling an issue/problem. Wait until it's resolved and everything is stable before buying more livestock (except for maybe a few snails as part of a cleanup crew).

[shark565]

Can I do something to kill all algae at once? Should I turn off my light for several days for example ? I removed much GHA mannualy , but i can't remove the cyano.Also, I plan on buying a maxi mini a soon as I kill my my algae, because the guy from the LFS said that they are very sticky and kill corals easily ,so i want it to find its place and then put corals. Is it going to be a problem that the tank is inmature?

[Pinner Reef]

You can starve all the algae by turning off the light for a week or so but you'll need to get the phosphates back in check to make sure it doesn't come back. Maxi minis like stable conditions. I wouldn't recommend it for a new system.

[shark565]

If I turn of the lights untill algae die and than make a 50 % water change? I shouldn't have much phosphates left, because as I said before I made one water change with RO/DI and salt. I am ooncernced about the maxi mini , because if I start keeping corals and then put it in, It can easy kill them and if I put it after the algae die It can die from bad conditions. What should i do?

[seabass]

Why not manually remove as much of the algae as you can, then change out ALL of the water?

 

As for the anemone, they are pretty hardy. I think you could add it once you've taken care of the nutrient problem, the pest algae, Cyano, and everything has stabilized. Otherwise, you could add a few corals first, then add the anemone. It won't seek out the coral to kill it, but it could kill it if it happens to move next to a coral. Your call.

[shark565]

I removed much GHA and then changed all the water one time. How can I remove cyano manually? Where can nutrients come from? I used premixed saltwater from my LFS for the last WC and topp off with RO/DI. I am tottaly going to add the anemone first, I now It won't seek them to kill them ,but the tank is pretty small.