SmokedEel Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Update: 11/09/15 (Slowly figuring out what my camera's capable of) First Shot: I might have went a tad bit overboard on the photo editing. Gonna need to work on that. Background: It seems that impulses get the best of everyone. I'm a college student with experience in freshwater fish and shrimp, but the whole idea of pico reefs got me. As it turns out, I found myself turning my 2 gallon rimless tank into a saltwater pico reef for my own enjoyment. Couldn't resist it, so now I've done some research into reefs and finally set one up for myself. Filtration: A pound or so of live rock. A nano filter, sponges taken out and replaced with live rock rubble. Equipment: 2 Gallon Rimless Low-Iron Cube Reefbar Pro 10" 50/50 (12000k, 445 nm Royal blue) Stock: (So Far) 1x Red-Legged Hermit Crab One small frag of Green Star Polyps Any suggestions in the hobby? Would love to hear any tips! Link to comment
JR! Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 looks like a really good start. the green star poly can grow like weeds and the sting to other corals can be bad. just keep an eye on it. other then that it looks good. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Liking the rock structure, simple yet lots of places for coral. Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 looks like a really good start. the green star poly can grow like weeds and the sting to other corals can be bad. just keep an eye on it. other then that it looks good. I was surprised when I found the green star immediately opening up after I plopped it into the tank. Found stories about some not opening up for days. Of course! Or, I could always have a nice lawn of it all over my tank Liking the rock structure, simple yet lots of places for coral. I like the idea of minimalist scapes. But corals have such an eye catching ability. Decisions decisions... Link to comment
theleftcoastguy Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Looks like a good start. One sugestion, you may want to add some sort of supplemental flow eventually, or maybe a larger HOB filter. Looks cool though. Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Looks like a good start. One sugestion, you may want to add some sort of supplemental flow eventually, or maybe a larger HOB filter. Looks cool though. Thank you, I actually have plans to make a Fuge out of an AC20 that I have. However, that filter's currently in use with some fry I had from some african shelldwellers at the moment, so I'm going to wait it out before I use that on this tank. It'd definitely be an improvement though. Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 So I've been looking into potential inhabitants for fish in this tank. Of course, there's always the option of just going straight inverts, but....Fish! Anyways, researching is a must, but I've found a few interesting fish that I'd like to try. Gold Neon Eviota Goby - really like the coloration in this tiny fish. Neon Blue Goby and the Yellow Clown Goby I've considered the red scooter dragonet after seeing it in a gigantic tank and finding out that it stays tiny, but I've learned dragonets are extremely picky eaters with the requirement for pods. Heard they'd be trained onto frozen foods, but I'm not sure I'm up to that just yet haha. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Great start. I like the rock. its perfect for that tank. Those 3 fish you pictured would be good choices. Dont try a dragonet. Link to comment
JR! Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 gold neon would be what i would go with Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Great start. I like the rock. its perfect for that tank. Those 3 fish you pictured would be good choices. Dont try a dragonet. Thanks! They look mighty awkward without the sand and rocks in the front. The dragonet looked nice, but finding out my wallet would soon be emptied more often than my weekly food budget, I think I'll pass on it. gold neon would be what i would go with Yeah! They look great. Now the only question is...where to locate one. Apparently they're rare finds and I'll probably have a hard time sourcing one in the local fish stores. But until then, I'll just have to wait it out. It's also a goby from Cebu, I went to the reefs there before several years ago. Fantastic reefs, many variations of fish seen. Lots of water accidently swallowed. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I love my yellow clown goby Link to comment
12_egg_Omelette Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 What nano filter are you using? I'm curious because I'm going to be setting up a pico. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Live Aquaria has them from time to time, but they are out of stock now. The shipping can be as much as the fish though : ( They also have Trimma Cana. These are great fish. I used to have a pair in a 2.5g pico. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+1728&pcatid=1728 and http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+2613&pcatid=2613 Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 I love my yellow clown goby It was one of my original choices, lurking around I found other options that I was more interested in. What nano filter are you using? I'm curious because I'm going to be setting up a pico. It's a azoo mignon filter. It's only temporary though, since I'm using the filter I'm planning on using on this tank, on another tank. I'm eventually switching over to an AC 20. Live Aquaria has them from time to time, but they are out of stock now. The shipping can be as much as the fish though : ( They also have Trimma Cana. These are great fish. I used to have a pair in a 2.5g pico. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+1728&pcatid=1728 and http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+2613&pcatid=2613 Yeah...first place I checked online. Shipping prices always deter me from actually wanting to get them from an online store. I forgot to mention the red spotted gobies. I'm kinda stuck between them or the gold neons. How was the pair? Would you say they were compatible together? Or would the two fight constantly? Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Very peacful little fish. They just like to perch on a coral all day and wait for food to float by. I got the 2 fish at seperate times. Maybe I got lucky and got a male and female, but I never saw them mate or anything. They never showed any agression. I also housed them with other tiny gobies with no problems. Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Very peacful little fish. They just like to perch on a coral all day and wait for food to float by. I got the 2 fish at seperate times. Maybe I got lucky and got a male and female, but I never saw them mate or anything. They never showed any agression. I also housed them with other tiny gobies with no problems. Dam, in a 2.5? I kinda want to get a pair of them since they'll be more interactive than one, but I'm worried I'll kill them real quick if I don't pay attention to the water parameters... Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 It takes some work to keep fish in such a small space. 2 things in particular are very important. Dont overfeed. You have to find some way of training the fish to eat from a stick or turkey baster or something. Your goal should be to have 100% of the food end up in the fishes belly. With the trimma cana I trained them to eat small pieces of shrimp and fish flesh from the end of a shish kebab skewer. The other thing is to do lots of water changes. The more the better. Like twice a week would be good. You tank is so small it will be fast and easy. I use a juice pitcher and a syphon hose. Takes 2 min max to do a pico water change. Link to comment
gkarris Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Love the cube tank - where is it from? thanks... Link to comment
Langer6 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Looking good so far. I'm back and forth on a fish as well. Keep us posted so I can copy you Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 It takes some work to keep fish in such a small space. 2 things in particular are very important. Dont overfeed. You have to find some way of training the fish to eat from a stick or turkey baster or something. Your goal should be to have 100% of the food end up in the fishes belly. With the trimma cana I trained them to eat small pieces of shrimp and fish flesh from the end of a shish kebab skewer. The other thing is to do lots of water changes. The more the better. Like twice a week would be good. You tank is so small it will be fast and easy. I use a juice pitcher and a syphon hose. Takes 2 min max to do a pico water change. Ohhhh, skewers, interesting technique. How do they not get scared from the large sticks? Do they eventually realize it's food at the end of the stick? Water changes shouldn't be a problem. It's just a problem when I'll be out for a day or so haha. Love the cube tank - where is it from? thanks... I got it from an ebay seller who no longer seems to be selling them anymore. His ebay name seemingly vanished, but that doesn't mean there's still tanks out there for sale. Check out the website truaqua. Nice quality low-iron rimless tanks for cheaper than ADA branded ones. They almost always seem to be out of tanks though. Looking good so far. I'm back and forth on a fish as well. Keep us posted so I can copy you Haha! I'll let you know. It might take a while, need to keep things within a budget or I'll be eating nothing but cup of noodles for a week. I've done it before. Not the funnest thing. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Ohhhh, skewers, interesting technique. How do they not get scared from the large sticks? Do they eventually realize it's food at the end of the stick? Water changes shouldn't be a problem. It's just a problem when I'll be out for a day or so haha. For some reason they dont recognize the stick as any threat. The first couple times I would wiggle the stick around so the piece of meat came loose and floated in front of the fish and he would eat it out of the water colum. After a few times they learn whats going on and will grab the meat right off the end of the stick as soon as it hits the water Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 For some reason they dont recognize the stick as any threat. The first couple times I would wiggle the stick around so the piece of meat came loose and floated in front of the fish and he would eat it out of the water colum. After a few times they learn whats going on and will grab the meat right off the end of the stick as soon as it hits the water That's great! A fish that would actually like taking food from me haha. My freshwater cherry shrimp and my old shelldwellers would shy away if I tried to hand feed anything. No fun. The tank itself is starting to get a vast amount of diatoms. I think it's time to introduce some snails. Going to head to the fish store tomorrow to pick up an astrea for cleanup, and maybe an extra shell for the hermit crab in case it decides it wants to be pinchy and attack the astrea. I got a nano mag algae cleaner to make it easier on myself to clean the sides. Ordered off of amazon so should be good to come in with the next few days. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 most tanks have a diatom phase when they are new. dont worry. I think you would have better luck if you used filter floss and carbon and maybe some purigen or something in your filter instead of the liverock. You already have a bunch of liverock in the tank. The rocks in the filter tend to just get clogged with waste. Link to comment
SmokedEel Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 most tanks have a diatom phase when they are new. dont worry. I think you would have better luck if you used filter floss and carbon and maybe some purigen or something in your filter instead of the liverock. You already have a bunch of liverock in the tank. The rocks in the filter tend to just get clogged with waste. Oh I'm sure of it. Let's me know the tank's chugging along . Just buying some CUC for the future for beneficial help. The hermit's done well so far, and I found that GSP's a good indication if something's wrong with my tank. So I'll be adding a snail in the hopes it cleans up a bit. So which would be better off in the filter then? A small fuge or just adding carbon and purigen in filter floss in the filter? Should be able to switch to the AC20 tomorrow, just gonna switch another filter out in my shrimp tank. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Oh I'm sure of it. Let's me know the tank's chugging along . Just buying some CUC for the future for beneficial help. The hermit's done well so far, and I found that GSP's a good indication if something's wrong with my tank. So I'll be adding a snail in the hopes it cleans up a bit. So which would be better off in the filter then? A small fuge or just adding carbon and purigen in filter floss in the filter? Should be able to switch to the AC20 tomorrow, just gonna switch another filter out in my shrimp tank. I tried to do a tank with only a refugium for filtration and it did not work out very well. I think you would see much better results with carbon. Link to comment
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