el fabuloso Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 Sorry, but unless that pico is attached to another system or at least a 5 gallon fuge, there is no way it could be sustained without frequent breakdowns (every 3 months if lucky). Not to mention he would be scrubbing the walls every day, cleaning the gravel every day, and changing the water multiple times every week. Using regular pc's my 3 gallon pico was maintained impeccably w/ no fish and photo-only coral and it STILL required a breakdown every 4-5 months. When I say breakdown I mean the removal of everything, a thorough algae/detritus scrub, and then everything gets put back with a 50% water change. Considering this tank is stuffed with coral (including many that require direct feeding), a damsel fish, and is probably running on some kind of heat-producing mh light or 10+ watt per gallon pcs (with no chiller), and it is only netting MAYBE one gallon of water, there is NO WAY the algae growth wouldn't get out of hand VERY quickly. In fact, I bet if you ask this guy, he would probably tell you the tank would look horrible if left unmaintained for 3-4 days. To answer the OP's question, yes, you can keep a 3-gallon long term as long as you know you will need to maintain it almost daily and you will want to break it down at least every 6 months. If you are going to be feeding a fish in 3 gallons, prepare to break down every 3 months. But sure, you could keep a tank that small for a very long time. I would STRONGLY recommend against it if it's your first experience with saltwater. His tank would've been better off if he didn't break it down every three months. The closest I came to breaking down the tank was when I moved over a year ago. Even then, I only took out loose rocks and corals and I left a couple of inches of water. After two years I've never had the need to clean my tank out completely and I think my tank is pretty low maintenance. The glass does get covered up with algae if I leave it alone for a couple of days but it only takes a few minutes for me to clean it all up. Maintenance on a daily basis takes no more than a couple of minutes and that includes dosing, giving the glass a good rub down with my magnet cleaner, inspecting the ATO and saying hi to everyone. On days when I feed with dry food it takes me less than a minute to sprinkle a pinch of food and give the shrimps their pellets since I pretty much have them trained to come out and take their food at this point. The only thing that can be a little time consuming is when I do my weekly feedings and water changes. But either one of those only take me between ten to fifteen minutes every week, maybe less if I'm in a rush and I'm not being meticulous. There was a month over the summer when I was doing a lot of traveling and I happened to be really busy with a lot of projects that I practically abandoned my tank. No water changes, no feedings and no dosing for six weeks. I just made sure the ATO was always full and aside from the overgrowth of algae on the glass that took me five minutes to clean up, the tank did just fine. And FWIW, I can't remember the last time I did any test or even checked for salinity. When I look at my tank everyday and see that everyone is happy, I figure my water is still wet and salty. Feel free to relay this over to that thread. 1 Quote Link to comment
nanoreefnate Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 His tank would've been better off if he didn't break it down every three months. The closest I came to breaking down the tank was when I moved over a year ago. Even then, I only took out loose rocks and corals and I left a couple of inches of water. After two years I've never had the need to clean my tank out completely and I think my tank is pretty low maintenance. The glass does get covered up with algae if I leave it alone for a couple of days but it only takes a few minutes for me to clean it all up. Maintenance on a daily basis takes no more than a couple of minutes and that includes dosing, giving the glass a good rub down with my magnet cleaner, inspecting the ATO and saying hi to everyone. On days when I feed with dry food it takes me less than a minute to sprinkle a pinch of food and give the shrimps their pellets since I pretty much have them trained to come out and take their food at this point. The only thing that can be a little time consuming is when I do my weekly feedings and water changes. But either one of those only take me between ten to fifteen minutes every week, maybe less if I'm in a rush and I'm not being meticulous. There was a month over the summer when I was doing a lot of traveling and I happened to be really busy with a lot of projects that I practically abandoned my tank. No water changes, no feedings and no dosing for six weeks. I just made sure the ATO was always full and aside from the overgrowth of algae on the glass that took me five minutes to clean up, the tank did just fine. And FWIW, I can't remember the last time I did any test or even checked for salinity. When I look at my tank everyday and see that everyone is happy, I figure my water is still wet and salty. Feel free to relay this over to that thread. LOL. that guys fails.... and +1 i think its the breakdowns hes doing that are fudging up his tank.. Quote Link to comment
gregzbobo Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Yea, I saw the thread over there, and Spanko had posted a recent FTS of your pico (damn its beautiful), and this guy said what he did. Kinda made me wonder why he would need to tear his tank down so often and then assume that anyone who kept something this small HAD to do so to maintain it. Quote Link to comment
opy01 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Yea, when I started my 10G evryone freaked out and said it was sooooo hard. 5 months later it is doing great and I spend a total of an hour or so a week on it. Of course it is nothing compared to yours . Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 Happy Turkey Day everyone, and thanks for all your support and encouragement. Quote Link to comment
Tangereen Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Happy Turkey Day everyone, and thanks for all your support and encouragement. Happy Turkey Day El Fab, and thanks always for all the help, and for sharing your sexy sexy pico. Quote Link to comment
clownfish617 Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 El Fab really, UPGRADE! i love your tank btw. Quote Link to comment
Mindcrime Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 El Fab, thought you might wanna see post number 6 on this, maybe he needs a link to your pico guide, because although he seems to have a nice tank, he has issues with it apparently Holly Cow, Is it me or is that guy a complete tool? Quote Link to comment
HeyLookItsCaps Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 my light is being built as we speak :> Quote Link to comment
Nanobuds Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 El Fab really, UPGRADE! i love your tank btw. at least go 5.5 gallon. its still a pico Quote Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 +1 nooo upgrade, keep it like that Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Of course not. Upgrade? That's crazy talk! Quote Link to comment
ryeguy28 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 (edited) well upgrading to leds might be a good thing EDIT: what i turd i am YOU ALREADY GOT LEDS Edited December 7, 2009 by ryeguy28 Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Yep, I was one of the first kids on the block. Quote Link to comment
ryeguy28 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Yep, I was one of the first kids on the block. DUDE that monti is insaning i hope mine grows out like that under my leds Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 It was already growing steadily under PC's but really took off when I switched to LED. Quote Link to comment
ryeguy28 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 It was already growing steadily under PC's but really took off when I switched to LED. your not gonna like my tank cause its got the little piCo stamp in the corner Quote Link to comment
SmittyCoco Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Glad to see things are going good Aaron. I am coming up on my 1 year anniversary with my clam in my picotope ! Maybe I will start a thread some day ? Did you ever use those ato clips I sent you ? Or are you still rockin the salt creep holder ? Quote Link to comment
blizzardscout2 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Congratulations Fab! I have really enjoyed watching your Pico develope into such a wonderful masterpiece. Keep up the good work, and thanks for all the help! Quote Link to comment
fiction101 Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 What's your water change schedule like each week? Quote Link to comment
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