~LadyBug~'s 2.5 Gallon Mini-bow pico

[~LadyBug~]

Hello. After several set-backs this year, I finally have time to re-do my Mini-Bow as a pico reef and I am in need of some help.

The general idea is this-

*Whisper 10i in-tank power filter.

*The light hood that it came with, only replacing the bulb with a coralife 50/50 mini fluorescent bulb.

*White sand and live rock.

 

And then as the tank matures I'd like to add in some zoas and mushrooms to start with, and hopefully at some point down the road a small goby or something.

 

My questions are----

-What brand of salt should i get? i was thinking instant ocean, but i wasn't sure if i needed reef salt? and how many pounds of salt should i get? how long would 7.5 pounds, for example, last?

-what kind of clean-up crew(snails, crabs, shrimp, etc) should/could i get? and when should they be added in?

-can the hood be spray painted, or is the heat coming from the lamp going to be a danger with the paint? it's teal right now and i'd like something a bit more subdued.

 

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

[badfish816]

what you have to look out for in salts is the trace minerals. i prefer oceanic. the larger bag is made for about 25 gallons and it lasted me about 4 months on my 3 gallon pico. it doesn't have alot of crap in it, but the calcium is a little low in it. hope that helps. others who know more might chime in. as far as everything else i couldnt tell ya.

[Drift Monkey]

As far as a CUC, all you'd need is a few snails and maybe 1 hermit. Drop them in after the cycle.

 

The hood spraying idea...you could probably just spray the outside with some high temp paint if you're worried about the temps getting up.

[~LadyBug~]

As far as a CUC, all you'd need is a few snails and maybe 1 hermit. Drop them in after the cycle.

 

The hood spraying idea...you could probably just spray the outside with some high temp paint if you're worried about the temps getting up.

i've already got a almost-full can of rustoleum at the house, would that work? or does it need to say something about withstanding high temps on the lable?

[Drift Monkey]

i've already got a almost-full can of rustoleum at the house, would that work? or does it need to say something about withstanding high temps on the lable?

I'm not quite sure how hot your light gets, but does the can have any temperature thresholds labeled on it? Since spray paint is cheap I'd probably just go buy a can of BBQ grill/radiator/engine spray paint and call it a day.

 

You could always spray what you have now...but if/when it bubbles up, you'll probably end up using the high temp paint later anyway.

[badfish816]

you might have to sand the plastic to get the high temp to stick. my cuc consists of just stomatellas (9 as of right now), lots of bristle worms, and 1 astrea snail. my tank stays pretty clean. i might break down and get a blue leg hermit if i cant get rid of my heair algea but i am trying to stay away from as long as possible.

[~LadyBug~]

you might have to sand the plastic to get the high temp to stick. my cuc consists of just stomatellas (9 as of right now), lots of bristle worms, and 1 astrea snail. my tank stays pretty clean. i might break down and get a blue leg hermit if i cant get rid of my heair algea but i am trying to stay away from as long as possible.

okay. checked the rustoleum and as long as it doesn't get hotter than 200F(it won't), so that's good. how do i get the plastic rim off? it won't budge!

[joy13]

You might consider painting the inside of your light white it will make a big difference on the amount of reflective light. I use Krylon on a hood and it made a huge difference.

[Mr. Microscope]

My questions are----

-What brand of salt should i get? i was thinking instant ocean, but i wasn't sure if i needed reef salt? and how many pounds of salt should i get? how long would 7.5 pounds, for example, last?

-what kind of clean-up crew(snails, crabs, shrimp, etc) should/could i get? and when should they be added in?

-can the hood be spray painted, or is the heat coming from the lamp going to be a danger with the paint? it's teal right now and i'd like something a bit more subdued.

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

I use Tropic Marin salt. It seems to get the best reviews on here. I bought the 10gal box and have a 3 gallon tank. I started about 1.5 months ago and will likely be out of salt by the end of the month. Take your guess from there.

 

I have two ceriths and two nerites. The tank is sparkling. I just hope none of them starve. You may want to only start with 2 or 3. No crabs please (outside of porcelain). Not if you are interested in corals.

[~LadyBug~]

You might consider painting the inside of your light white it will make a big difference on the amount of reflective light. I use Krylon on a hood and it made a huge difference.

it already has a reflector............

 

i finally got the rim off-it snaps off/on. so i had to lift the rim up all the way around before it would come off.

hopefully i'll be painting tomorrow, as long as it's not too humid, lol!

[badfish816]

Humid???!!! I wish it was humid. 20 drgrees here. Man I need to move.

[Drift Monkey]

humid is my middle name!

[~LadyBug~]

yeah....our winters are great, but summer is unbearable!!! hot and humid......yuck, LOL!

 

decided to skip painting, going to petco in a few minutes to pick up salt, sand, hydrometer, etc

[Drift Monkey]

Eh, you can paint while the tank cycles. You have plenty of time!

[~LadyBug~]

Eh, you can paint while the tank cycles. You have plenty of time!

yeah, i could, i just decided to leave well enough alone with the color

 

.....and the filter is blowing a hole in the sand all the way to the bottom-is there anything i can do??

[Drift Monkey]

yeah, i could, i just decided to leave well enough alone with the color

 

.....and the filter is blowing a hole in the sand all the way to the bottom-is there anything i can do??

You can try to turn it down... do you have any rock yet? Break the flow with some rock...

[~LadyBug~]

You can try to turn it down... do you have any rock yet? Break the flow with some rock...

nope, no rock-i didn't like what petco had, we have no LFS to speak of(there's a general petstore and a petstore with a ton of herps-great for getting gecko stuff, not so great for this, lol!), so i'll either have to wait for sunday or tuesday to go closer to orlando....if i'm lucky, we're running like crazy with x-mas

 

how would i go about turning it down? i haven't heard of adjusting the water flow on a whisper before, so i'm clueless

[Drift Monkey]

It might not be possible! Just let it make whatever pattern it's making right now and fix it when you get your hands on some rock.

[~LadyBug~]

[finally] got some LR yesterday, ended up with a little over 2 pounds. i got two small pieces that are currently where to water flow was making the depression and they're working like a charm, except now the spot to the right of the rocks(the filter is on the far left side) is slightly depressed! I'll see what happens, might need another little piece. And then one larger piece that has a natural 'cove' look to it-not quite as tall as i'd like, but still really good looking.

I'm thinking that the small rocks that are blocking the flow of water might be a good place for some xenia in the future....am I way off base there?

And I'm wondering about adding chemicals....I'm still working my way through El Fab's thread, but I seem to recall that he doesn't use any chemicals, so I'm wondering if they are strictly necessary in a tank this small.

 

Params are-

Nitrate ppm(mg/L)-20

Nitrite ppm(mg/L)-0.5

pH-8.5

Temp-74F

Specific Gravity-1.025

[Drift Monkey]

[finally] got some LR yesterday, ended up with a little over 2 pounds. i got two small pieces that are currently where to water flow was making the depression and they're working like a charm, except now the spot to the right of the rocks(the filter is on the far left side) is slightly depressed! I'll see what happens, might need another little piece. And then one larger piece that has a natural 'cove' look to it-not quite as tall as i'd like, but still really good looking.

I'm thinking that the small rocks that are blocking the flow of water might be a good place for some xenia in the future....am I way off base there?

And I'm wondering about adding chemicals....I'm still working my way through El Fab's thread, but I seem to recall that he doesn't use any chemicals, so I'm wondering if they are strictly necessary in a tank this small.

 

Params are-

Nitrate ppm(mg/L)-20

Nitrite ppm(mg/L)-0.5

pH-8.5

Temp-74F

Specific Gravity-1.025

Awesome, you need pics now! Another piece might help, but there will likely be a depression in the sand somewhere or another. Xenia would appreciate the flow so that's good place to try them out.

 

No need for chemicals, just water changes is enough for a tank this size.

 

Your parameters look about right...water temp is a bit low though. Try to get the water around 78. It might fluctuate from day to night, but try to keep the lowest temp swing around 78, although the less swing you have the better. Also, where is the ammonia reading?

[badfish816]

the best way is of course that natural way. but if you have to than you have to. i will start using nano part a and b. i will also have to dose faltworm exit. let's see some pics.

[~LadyBug~]

Awesome, you need pics now! Another piece might help, but there will likely be a depression in the sand somewhere or another. Xenia would appreciate the flow so that's good place to try them out.

 

No need for chemicals, just water changes is enough for a tank this size.

 

Your parameters look about right...water temp is a bit low though. Try to get the water around 78. It might fluctuate from day to night, but try to keep the lowest temp swing around 78, although the less swing you have the better. Also, where is the ammonia reading?

drat, forgot about that! i need to get the stuff to test for it, for some reason this kit didn't come with it, and my grandma's been in and out of the hospital a ton, so i was [apparently too] distracted, lol!

from what i've read the coralife bulb should bring the temp up, i decided to pick it up a little later on, so i still have the stock bulb in it right now

 

 

the best way is of course that natural way. but if you have to than you have to. i will start using nano part a and b. i will also have to dose faltworm exit. let's see some pics.

 

i'll see what i can do, i've taken the pics(lots and lots of pics. i'm using it as extra credit for my marine biology course i'm going to be taking this quarter, so i have to document everything!), they just haven't gotten on the computer yet, it's my mom's camera, sooo

 

i'm thinking about adding a peppermint shrimp(like in a week or two). i know they sometimes go rogue, but is that something i should worry too much about?

[~LadyBug~]

new problem-i think the filter might be sucking up sand. it made a really horrible grinding sound in the middle of the night that woke me up and it's making little scratchy noises.....maybe i'm missing something . i didn't put a ton of sand in, just about 1 1/2in when it's spread out evenly. is there anything i can do? i was thinking about swapping out the whisper for a HOB, but not for a few months.......

[badfish816]

Did you rinse the sand first before putting it in the tank? Also go with an aquaclear modded to a fuge.

[~LadyBug~]

Did you rinse the sand first before putting it in the tank? Also go with an aquaclear modded to a fuge.

uhoh....no, i didn't rinse the sand....