JLangtree's 9L (2.3Gal) Mixed Pico Reef

[jlangtree]

JLangtree's 9L (2.3Gal) Mixed Pico Reef

Hi Everyone,

I guess I should introduce myself My name is J and I am an Aussie.

You could say long time reader (As a guest) first time "Threader" on NR.

I have been into Reefing for the past three years, and fell in love with Nano's and the obsession grew (or became inspired and shrunk if you will) to Pico Reef's.

So now to the current tank, that is two months old. Everything that is inside this tank was taken from well established reef tanks around my local area.

The objective is to create a small mixed reef with, tank hardened frags/mini colonies that is stable over a long period of time.


Hardware & Tank;

-Tank: Aquaone Betta Home & Contents 9L (2.3Gal)
-Filtration: HOB Aquamanta HFX100
-Heating: Hydor Mini Heater
-Cooling: N/A
-Lighting: Coral Flare Max 2 PAR38 Lamp
-Top Off: Manually with RODI
-Stand: Kitchen benchtop

Rock & Substrate;

-Rock: Live reef rock from local supplier (approx 2.5lbs)
-Substrate: None, running bare bottom

Corals (so far, this will be updated as time goes by);

-Fluffy Morphs
-Zoas/Palys
-Cynarina (Red)

- Cushion (Green Striped, will be traded out after move north in two weeks)
-Star Polyps

-Duncan (Traded for some Zoas from a generous local reefer, shout out to David!)

- Green Pocci

Inverts/Fish;

-Small coral banded shrimp x1
-Small turbo snail x2


Maintenance Schedule;

-Dialysis with an over-sized Canister weekly before water change (I'll explain later why I do this before a water change)
-95% water change weekly with NSW
-Turkey baster blast daily or every other day
-Remove and clean filter weekly


I will update the OP as time progresses and if things change, thanks for following :-)

[brandon429]

J

 

Thank you for posting in our big challenge thread there thats awesome

Those rascals have me banned lol so I can't see your pics.

 

Try an imageshack posting so we can see it in your thread

[jlangtree]

The first pic is the little tank, just running for an hour with NSW, to check for leaks and see how the HOB works on different flow settings.

 

The second pic is the rocks in the tank with a few Zoa frags. The rock is shaped so that the underside is an arch with two flat bottoms, so that it can be removed in one piece.

The goal for this rock is to have small Zoa colonies over it and a Duncan on the bottom right ledge. Up the top left I want to put a Birdsnest frag (pink preferably) and some red Monti off to the side. If that grows out I reckon itll look pretty sweet!

I didnt want ANY detritus on the tank floor that couldn't be blown up with a turkey baster.

Sat in the rock with the fluffy Morphs on one side and the Cynarnia in the other corner.

I am happy with the back rock, however I want to place in another small arch in the front right and bring the fluffy Morphs forward so that they can expand a lot more.

I am probably going to trade the Cynarnia for a really small bright red one to put down the back right hand corner, as this one takes up far too much room. And there is a bit of work I want to do to a small rock at the front to really grow it out, so having one large piece in there isn't the look I want to go for because there is just not enough diversity :-)

[brandon429]

thats such a great look

 

in 2001, anyone would have said those corals cant be kept in this tank, they'd either starve or we'd poison the tank.

 

 

ff 15 yrs

 

not only can those live in the tank and do well on fat feedings, because large wchanges soon after export the mess and we are free to do large wc and phosphate work nowadays that nobody ran back then, or mostly nobody, but you can in fact hold more corals beyond those until all surfaces are covered with polyps. andrewk has done well for years like this, and your tank looks similar totm material.

 

in 2001 the authors were saying small wchanges are safest, dont overfeed, dont overstock, but what that really got us was a long lag time until micro tanks started to take off by breaking all their rules. nowadays its feed every polyp full, change the water a few times so you dont wreck the place, they will all be fine.

 

sometimes I even leave my tank drained for 20 mins no prob. if you did that, you wouldnt lose the lps they are natural cups like that

 

but dont do it lol, i found out this by getting an important phonecall right when the tank was drained for water change and not refilling a long time.

[jlangtree]

thats such a great look

 

in 2001, anyone would have said those corals cant be kept in this tank, they'd either starve or we'd poison the tank.

 

 

ff 15 yrs

 

not only can those live in the tank and do well on fat feedings, because large wchanges soon after export the mess and we are free to do large wc and phosphate work nowadays that nobody ran back then, or mostly nobody, but you can in fact hold more corals beyond those until all surfaces are covered with polyps. andrewk has done well for years like this, and your tank looks similar totm material.

 

in 2001 the authors were saying small wchanges are safest, dont overfeed, dont overstock, but what that really got us was a long lag time until micro tanks started to take off by breaking all their rules. nowadays its feed every polyp full, change the water a few times so you dont wreck the place, they will all be fine.

 

sometimes I even leave my tank drained for 20 mins no prob. if you did that, you wouldnt lose the lps they are natural cups like that

 

but dont do it lol

Hi Brandon!

 

Thanks for replying, I have to admit that your threads and Picos were the reason that I gained an interest in Pico Reefing!

 

I have always tried to adopt the "simple is better" method, and it has been definitely working for this tank.

OK, fast forward to about two weeks ago (about a month and a half into the life of the tank) and I have placed a few more Zoas on the main back rock.

 

The growth I have gotten in a month and a half has been pretty impressive, i have been very select in the colonies I have taken frags from, as I wanted tank hardened fast growers.

 

Everything seems to be coloring up great!

 

I traded some Zoas for a Duncan frag from a fellow local reefer, and placed it on the bottom right ledge of the back rock, it seems to like it there despite being a fairly high flow area (off to one side of the hob overflow) I hate the white coral epoxy look however its far better than the bubblegum purple option and shouldn't take too long to cover over with algae etc.

 

Sorry about the crappy iPhone pic, I need to buy a set of filters for it (or get off my backside and grab the DSLR)

Back to describing the "Dialysis" for the 2gal pico.

 

I had noticed from the first week that when the water was drained for the water changes, it would effectively empty faster than I could get to the detritus....

 

So once a week right before water change I do the following:

 

-Hook up the canister so the outlet and inlet are both in the tank and get the water flowing.

-Turkey baste the entire floor of the tank and rocks constantly until the water is almost clear (timed it at about 5 full minutes)

-When the water is clear and I cant get anymore detritus or nasty stuff off the rocks, begin the 95% water change into a tank with super clean rocks and bottom :-)

 

It seems to be working well for me so far, making the tank incredibly clear and the colors of the coral better (might be just me looking through rose colored glasses ha ha)

 

Even with this extra bit of maintenance, all up I probably spend about 30 minutes on my tank now per week.

 

EDIT:

 

Well I tool two samples of water into the LFS and had them tested. One was from the tank just before a water change, and the other just after I run the "Dialysis" with the canister filter.

As I fill the canister filter (1.5 times the volume of the tank itself) with fresh NSW before doing the filtration, the tank should be getting around 2/3 of a water change just through this motion.

 

I want to increase the stability of the little tank and I think by doing this instead of a 95% drain and refill may prove better in the end.

 

Anyhow back to the parameters for the tank after just running the canister filter:

Salinity 1.026

Phosphate: Couldnt get a reading on the test kits.

Ammonia: Couldnt get a reading on the test kits.

PH: 8.1 (Pretty happy with this considering it was a mix of old and new water)

Mag: 1310

Calcium: 410

DKH: 9

 

So after all of this, I am going to give it a run over the next couple of weeks only running the changes that way. I am very happy with all the levels considering the livestock and coral selection in this tank!

 

I will post a few pics in the next couple of days, as I have to pick up a Birdsnest and Red Monti for the tank and will wait until they get glued into place.

 

Then the work will start on the front rock hope to have it all finished and the way I want it laid out in the next couple of weeks, and then keep my hands out of it and let it grow out ha ha

[brandon429]

Thanks for your kind words I'm very glad to see the tank in all its bright detail. The corals avail nowadays are amazing to me, my system is retro old school pc lights, no real color pop, so I like seeing how good it can be

 

You are using real seawater? If so thats amazing, what your rock will age into will be wonderfully diverse and the corals will do well.

 

Depending on how the water is collected, prefiltered and stored before use, it carries with it micronutrients and life forms that make it just like live rock

 

It has nitrifying abilities due to suspended inclusions that nitrifers host on along with diverse other species

 

Real ocean water produces and consumes its own bioload which is why things can get out of balance and rot if its kept capped for too long, again depending on prep

 

Ability to keep non photosynthetic corals is amplified by it, ability to sustain clams in the pico reef is enhanced by it, and its tougher to store imo and keep fresh compared to dead synthetic water most of us use. Neat musings on ocean water. I hope I didn't misread nsw as natural salt water when it was supposed to be new salt water but synthetic... In old age I'm forgetting my aquarium acronyms heh

[jlangtree]

Thanks for your kind words I'm very glad to see the tank in all its bright detail. The corals avail nowadays are amazing to me, my system is retro old school pc lights, no real color pop, so I like seeing how good it can be

 

You are using real seawater? If so thats amazing, what your rock will age into will be wonderfully diverse and the corals will do well.

 

Depending on how the water is collected, prefiltered and stored before use, it carries with it micronutrients and life forms that make it just like live rock

 

It has nitrifying abilities due to suspended inclusions that nitrifers host on along with diverse other species

 

Real ocean water produces and consumes its own bioload which is why things can get out of balance and rot if its kept capped for too long, again depending on prep

 

Ability to keep non photosynthetic corals is amplified by it, ability to sustain clams in the pico reef is enhanced by it, and its tougher to store imo and keep fresh compared to dead synthetic water most of us use. Neat musings on ocean water. I hope I didn't misread nsw as natural salt water when it was supposed to be new salt water but synthetic... In old age I'm forgetting my aquarium acron

Currently I am using natural salt water (NSW)

 

And just buy it off the LFS about 40Gal at a time.

 

I have been told that they pump it through a series of fine filter socks. I know they store it undercover in 1000 liter IBC's. I don't know where their collection point is, however I am guessing that it must be pumped from somewhere land accessible.

 

When I first started into reefing, I used to purchase pre-mixed (Red-Sea branded) water. However the difference was noticeable (in my eyes) when the switch to using natural salt water, one of the perks living near the Great Barrier Reef I guess :-D

 

EDIT: And the Hydrogen Peroxide has been a total game changer for me!

[jfduggan]

Love the look of this tank. Can you upload some more FTS? Possibly something from the front? I'm trying to get the scale of everything.

[MrLang]

My name is Jon Lang and I like trees. Nice to meet you, doppleganger.

[jlangtree]

Love the look of this tank. Can you upload some more FTS? Possibly something from the front? I'm trying to get the scale of everything.

Will do jfduggan!

 

When I get home this evening I will put something against it for scale as I only have close FTS such as this one, and the blue saturation through the front of the glass is killing me (bloody iPhone's) Need to learn how to use that DSLR.....

 

The two Cushions at the front are getting moved on, one is being traded for a nice pink Birdsnest and a red/green Monti, the other one will be swapped for a tiny bright red Cynarnia (pending the guys trading it comes through)

 

I am going to start work on the front rock this weekend hopefully!

My name is Jon Lang and I like trees. Nice to meet you, doppleganger.

Dad is that you? Ha Ha

[uwdanno]

Looking great!

 

Thought about getting an ATO yet?? It'll help in so many ways!

[jlangtree]

Looking great!

 

Thought about getting an ATO yet?? It'll help in so many ways!

I have the Tunze Ozmolator in the shed, currently the tank is on the kitchen bench and I don't want it cluttered with stuff. I may in the future hook the CL85 chiller and the ATO back up to it but I cant see that happening until the beginning of summer again, or unless I go away for the weekend/holiday etc.

 

The evaporation per day is only 1/4 of a cup at the most extreme, so I just pour a little RO in there when I dose the Hydrogen Peroxide.

[jlangtree]

jfduggan just a bit of an indication of the size

 

Forgive the crappy iPhone photo, and yes I still havent put in the Birdsnest or the red Monti yet. Hopefully get around to that this weekend when I place in the little front rock after the cushions get traded/re-homed.

[jlangtree]

As I am using this thread to document my progress with this tank and to try and compile everything in one place etc.

 

I thought I would add a snippet from a thread (in Reef Central) regarding Bryopsis and Hair Algae, as I had a small issue on a frag that I placed into the tank initially that I just couldnt get rid of!

 

"Just wanting to say thanks to Brandon and everyone that has been involved in this thread

I had a stubborn patch of Bryopsis in my 9L Pico that I just couldnt shake.

I removed the rock and spot treated the area directly with 3%, then soaked the display rocks (corals included) in a 50/50 mix.

I have been dosing over the past week .25ml per day after lights out, and my tank has never been cleaner or brighter!

The below photos are of the problem patch directly after the treatment (when the tank was refilled) and again one hour later. The algae was actually falling off to to the touch and the CUC went wild for it that evening :-)"

 

I will post another pic of that same colony this evening if I have time, it has gotten about 1/3 larger now and is booming along. Its weird but the Zoanthid colonies that I directly dosed with 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (Eagle Eyes/red with purple centres), seem to have had a burst of new polyps

 

I am going to test this out on two frags of the same type side by side, one being the control and the other being the one that gets heavily dosed outside of the tank and then washed and placed back in

[brandon429]

excellent and thanks for that laser clear pic gold

 

hey can I grab those, post the before and afters in our big thread here, and caption your details for the update?> we like before and afters, gold.

 

!!

[jlangtree]

excellent and thanks for that laser clear pic gold

 

hey can I grab those, post the before and afters in our big thread here, and caption your details for the update?> we like before and afters, gold.

 

!!

Go for it mate! Anything I put on here is as much the communities as it is mine

[brandon429]

excellent!

I have a big barren area in my reef now after clearing some red mushroom invasion

 

one of those big lps you have would go nice in this spot but they would be about 90$ here. where im from your coral list would sell for prob $300 lol we r landlocked.

[jlangtree]

excellent!

I have a big barren area in my reef now after clearing some red mushroom invasion

 

one of those big lps you have would go nice in this spot but they would be about 90$ here. where im from your coral list would sell for prob $300 lol we r landlocked.

Funny you should say that, the only livestock in the tank that was paid for was the large Cushion on the right hand side, my wife bought that for me three years ago as my very first coral (for about $25AUD)

 

Every other bit of livestock (Coral, CUC etc.) has been traded, so it really cost me nothing to fill it.

 

I hope to fill the whole thing at no cost, with decent and hard wearing corals

[jlangtree]

Well, changed over the "Dialysis" Canister Filter for my In-Line mini bilge pump and placed a DIY Filter beside it. As it has far more power and a thinner hose, so the water polishing gets done a lot quicker.

 

Going back to simple water changes by clearing the water first using the filter, followed by the good old 95% change weekly.

 

So instead of trying to re-invent the wheel by effectively diluting the water with what was in the Canister Filter, something just didnt sit right with me using the fresh NSW inside and simply leaving it to run through until the water was clear.

 

I have NO evidence (testing of levels etc) to back this up at all, but I had a gut feeling that the water quality that was left in the tank wasn't the best.

[brandon429]

That makes sense, the canister while not harmless was a holding place for detritus so maybe it generates a little nitrate but isn't too harmful.

[jlangtree]

OK so 5 days ago I said I was going to dose a small Zoa patch with 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, to see if it would "Kick-start" the growth of any new polyps.

 

The colony I chose sits approx 1 inch under the surface, so it is easy enough for me to access by removing two cups of water to expose them, drench and let sit for 2 minutes and then top back up. I have done this daily for the last 5 days.

 

As I did not have the zoas in a tank on thier own, one could be led to believe that any results may have just been due to the daily tank dosing. Regardless of this I thought it was something I would like to explore further, as none of the other colonies in the tank showed the same response as the one that it directly sat on for 2 minutes.

 

After 5 days of I have grown two extra (noticeable polyps) and there are what looks to be more tiny ones although I have not counted any unless it is an open "eye"

 

The colony also seemed to be thicker across the base where each polyp joined.

 

Well here are the pics, take from them what you will and please forgive the crappy iPhone pics

[jlangtree]

Well another 99% water change down, this just goes to show the amount of detritus that builds up in my system over the course of one week. The only inhabitants are a small Coral Banded Shrimp and two small Turbo Snails

 

EDIT: Just added the photo I took of the filter floss after I hit it the tank and live rock with the Turkey Baster, its surprising how such a small tank with so little a bio-load can generate so much waste.

 

 

[brandon429]

yes thats excellent example even without them it would still be the same, lr produces a good portion of that. good detail about our flushing action we can do to prevent eutrophication build up in the pico reef

[jlangtree]

Well it has been far too long in between updates!

 

Everything is growing well, and looking healthy and colorful. I Found a small patch of Bryopsis, but that was quickly melted with some HP 3%

 

The patch of Zoas that I am dipping in HP 3% daily (draining and pouring my dose over it directly, then waiting a few minutes and re-filling) have now grown to 12 polyps.

 

Happy "Hump" day everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

[Thomas898]

Wow that cynarina is getting big! Nice job. Colours look great on that piece.