Friar's Pico

[Mr. Microscope]

That is one DEEP sand bed. Could be great for some creatures! Nice looking tank!

As for the test tubes, I just rinse them out and then prop them up resting on an angle on some paper towel. I always have a piece of paper towel sitting near my tank on which I rest all the tools I use.

 

looking great so far. its my opinion that you should spot feed the little snail and hermit in there and then do the 100% change anytime you feel like it, often being better than less often. it won't hurt the cycle since the sand and rocks were already done upon arrival (wet entry)

 

How do you do a 100% WC without messing everything up and stirring up the SB? 50% at a time? That would be more of a dilution I guess, but still effective. I agree about the cycling though. I've read that the beneficial bacteria is in the sand, on the rocks, and not necessarily in the water. Seems like letting ammonia build up to ridiculous levels would kill off most bacteria rather than feed it.

[friar1]

Well,

The snail is an empty shell.

What should I spot feed the hermit with?

Don't have access to a saltwater fish store right now, I don't suppose it would be OK to feed the hermit some goldfish food?

Any other ideas?

 

Thanks,

Friar

[brandon429]

try to find him a little pellet of anything just so he wont starve...just once a week is enough until you get some growth and most of them would just survive the hunger strike anyway. he wont care if its a goldfish pellet just don't enter a lot of feed until you get corals ready to go on the coupled water change idea just my opinion

 

To start getting little tube worms, fanworms etc you start by keeping a tiny bit of protein in the water (your single food pellet for starters) rather than just striving for purity which is the common approach. Your real bulk will come when you stock your first round of corals, that will hitchhike in more tubeworms and the feeding/water change system to support the corals will only bloom the dormant animals in the live rock much much faster than if you strive for sterility to avoid algae problems. lol, it will all start with just one tiny pellet for your crab until you get more corals. I bet you end up removing the crab anyway they will make you mad by picking at your corals but maybe not for everyone, they are fine starter animals at any stage imo.

 

you know microscope you gave me a good idea with the 50% change idea, that may work~ also its possible that as biofloc builds up stronger on the individual sand grains they will not float as bad, mine dont, but then again that sand in Friar's tank looks like real oolitic powder sand that may be more challenging for suspension but it will prevent bed incursion of whole waste particles much better. neat tradeoff...and, if someone ever does get lucky and replicate true DSB oxygen gradients it'll have to be with that type of sand anyway.

 

I just pour water directly on the rock structure as a breaker, does that work Friar or does it still just cloud up? I really think bacteriofilm will help stop that in a few weeks.

[friar1]

HI Brandon.

 

Yes, I poured water on the rock structure and it was still cloudy because of that, but I will see how it goes when the sand is more loaded with bacterial film, it might prevent the cloudiness, might not, will have to see.

Thanks for the advice on the hermit, I did not plan on having a hermit at this stage, but like i said, it was a hitchhiker on the live rock.

 

I will try the pellet feeding for the hermit, see if he likes it.

 

Friar

[friar1]

To start getting little tube worms, fanworms etc you start by keeping a tiny bit of protein in the water (your single food pellet for starters) rather than just striving for purity which is the common approach. Your real bulk will come when you stock your first round of corals, that will hitchhike in more tubeworms and the feeding/water change system to support the corals will only bloom the dormant animals in the live rock much much faster than if you strive for sterility to avoid algae problems. lol, it will all start with just one tiny pellet for your crab until you get more corals. I bet you end up removing the crab anyway they will make you mad by picking at your corals but maybe not for everyone, they are fine starter animals at any stage imo.

Brandon,

do you really think I will end up with tube worms on my rock without adding them?

 

Thanks,

Friar

[.Newman.]

I certainly think so. like he said they commonly come on corals. and sometimes you will get them in live rock that you initially buy.

[friar1]

Cool!

 

Can't wait

 

Oh yeah, the cardinal rule of reefing... Patience!

 

Friar

[c_k_kuehne]

Look good Friar.

 

Sent you a PM response

[friar1]

Day 3

 

Water:

 

PH = 8.3

Temp = 79 F

SG = 1.0235

Ammonia = .25

Nitrite = 0

Nitrate = 10

 

Hermit eating a small pellet of food.

[JonathanS]

When the ammonia and nitrates clear, it will be all good to go. This tank is looking good so far, stay on those water changes and you will be fine. If any questions feel free to PM me.

[brandon429]

not the big ploomy pink and blue ones or anything, usually have to buy those... but the small sabellid ones, the ones that dot the sand and live rock with little two inch tubes/those guys bloom with good planktonic or proteinic loads. Getting them to stay in the system, after they bloom, past the year mark is the real test for the pico as sterility really challenges benthic live rock growth (sterility in keeping them feed restricted as a means of algae control)

 

anyway theres lots of correct ways to get these rascals up and running mine is just an old school way. Im really suprised you are registering any ammonia at all with wet rocks and sand, I recommend waiting to add anything else until ammonia is zero, also if you can have a LFS or other hobbyist test your water Im really really suprised theres ammonia readings mine never registered any. I suppose a small amount of live rock dieoff is possible it just doesn't usually happen when moving things from wet> to wet unless that live rock had tons of growth on it but it didn't look abnormally grown just usual live rock. Oh well in a week or two it'll be gone regardless and stocking can commense.

 

one morning I took this shot of the sun filtering through the tubeworms on my live rock, cool reflection on an animal that I didn't have to stock, the reef yields them as it sees fit!

[friar1]

Hi Brandon

The live rock was seven hours out of water (although it was kept moist) before added to the tank. There also may have been a small amount of contaminates in the tank when I filled it. It was a freshwater tank for a goldfish. Tried to clean it out good, but it is possible there was still something in there.

Also, there is a hermit crab and although he is small, there may be something from him also. The Ammonia has gone down, we'll keep testing until it is zero. Can't add anything anyway, since my LFS has no good coral to speak of.

 

I am heading to L.A. next weekend. If the ammonia is zero when I leave, I might pick up a zoa or ric when I am down there if they are reasonably priced.

 

The most frustrating thing so far is that when I test the water, it lowers the amount of water in the tank because there are four vials of 5 ml s each to fill with water to test for everything.

 

There is a film on the tank sides and I want to have some water to replace for the testing I am doing, so I am going to do a large water change this weekend and clean the sides of the tank.

 

Also, I will be purchasing C-Balance after the first and start dosing to support coralline algae growth.

 

The hermit ate his pellet, so I know he won't starve. It was cool to see him go to work. It is a tri-color Hermit, blue legs with red bands.

 

I will be testing the water tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow will be twice. Once before WC and once after, just to get an idea of what is going on.

[friar1]

OK

So I changed about 95% of the water. Got similar test results.

 

Before:

 

Ammonia = .50

Nitrite = 0

Nitrate = 5.0

PH = 8.0

SG = 1.0225

 

 

After:

 

Ammonia = .50

Nitrite = 0

Nitrate = 0

PH = 8.3

SG = 1.0235

 

 

I Think that I am losing salinity due to salt creep.

 

(Small tank, less than 1.5 gallon water volume)

 

I am going to have to adjust my mix to a higher SG

 

I am going to top off with saltwater, since there is very little evap and I am mostly losing water to testing, also want to keep sg up

 

Water is crystal clear right now. I am going to leave the tank alone and see what happens to the water. I will not do a water change until I can see a cycle. Hopefully Hermie will live through that.

[brandon429]

hey that's good detail knowing a little bit about the nutrient history helps things don't look too out of whack. based on that live rock detail that's not suprising in the least if a very minor dieoff is contributing the bulk of that ammonia. I don't believe the nitrifiers died off, hence the no3 reading, but I would easily belive some microscopic benthic growth could have succumbed and is just slowly doing its reset thing. the values you've mentioned are not bad at all, I like the pace you are setting with it.

 

hey one funny note about salt creep...on one of my older sealed tanks when the seals started to breakdown and the salt creep came along with some minor evaporation, it still balanced out and as the water line dropped it held a .023 level lol because they were both in even pace. good luck with that happening its just a funny sidenote. purely my opinion but Ive kept my picos at .022-.023 for some time now because anecdotally (but convincingly enough for me) I saw it yield less microalge/scum growth on the front glass that I have to clean, that along with the c balance dosing.

 

This last week was a very neat and important test for aged pico reef dosing again...I had to go to NYC for a week and my girlfriend was going to stay over and dose the reef each morning like I do. something came up and she had to be gone except for a few times, so we prioritized only one dosing for the tank, right in the middle of the week. When I came back the corals were just fine, but the microalgae adherence to the glass was 4x the normal amount and she had not fed the tank. Again and again I see the relationship of some type of dosing/ion support ward off bad algae growth in aged tanks (new ones less finicky) but I can't say why, or that it's totally tied to actual dosing (whereas great water changes still support the ions before systemic waste acids bind them and take them out of suspension for coral growth, pH support etc). For me and my own, we gotta dose hopefully this will just be another angle of care when your tank gets all aged and purply like jim morrisons beard

B

[friar1]

hey one funny note about salt creep...on one of my older sealed tanks when the seals started to breakdown and the salt creep came along with some minor evaporation, it still balanced out and as the water line dropped it held a .023 level lol because they were both in even pace. good luck with that happening its just a funny sidenote. purely my opinion but Ive kept my picos at .022-.023 for some time now because anecdotally (but convincingly enough for me) I saw it yield less microalge/scum growth on the front glass that I have to clean, that along with the c balance dosing.

 

So yes, the Salt Creep and the Evap tend to go hand in hand. My SG was a little elevated last night, 1.0245

I top off with mixed 1.023 saltwater and it is now a little lower.

 

Hermit crab doing fine so far. No algae blooms yet. Have to travel this weekend. Tank will either make it or not. Should be ok though. Hoping for some kind of a cycle, and although I am worried about the hermit crab, I can't see another way to get the tank prepped for coral. It is possible that the live rock/sand is taking care of most of the nutrients so we will just have to see.

 

I am going to test water tonight before I leave.

 

On a side note, I keep seeing the hermit crab do handstands. I thought he was stuck in his shell, but I think he is just rubbing his shell on the glass to get microscopic algae off of there, don't know... it is funny to watch though. He has been over every inch of the tank and rock.

 

Also see the rock turning darker in spots, hopefully coralline growth.

 

Friar

[kamikaze_fish]

I have this same little tank sitting in my basement. Subscribed in hopes of learning a good way to use it.

[friar1]

I have this same little tank sitting in my basement. Subscribed in hopes of learning a good way to use it.

 

Hi Kamikaze

 

Well, it is definitely an experiment. I am getting new lighting in June and it will be PC, but I would recommend going LED with a set-up like this, mainly because it will look better and provide more light than PC's. Also T5's this small are not available as far as I know.

 

I am thinking for later, Three or Four 3watt LED's with dimming controls.

 

Friar

[Degener8]

If LED would work better I would just go that route in June when you plan to get different lighting. Unless the cost is just to much to absorb now.

 

but 6 or so LED on pucks are not that expensive from what I have read.

Even using a meanwell driver wouldn't make it to expensive.

[friar1]

If LED would work better I would just go that route in June when you plan to get different lighting. Unless the cost is just to much to absorb now.

 

but 6 or so LED on pucks are not that expensive from what I have read.

Even using a meanwell driver wouldn't make it to expensive.

 

Yeah.

 

I need better lighting right away, and don't have time to diy some leds right now. So I am planning on getting some good PC lighting and also begin the purchasing of parts for the LED's Should have them completed in August. I am pretty sure I will be able to use the PC fixture to house the LED set-up. Should work out very nicely in the end.

 

Friar

[c_k_kuehne]

Just give it a good WC before you leave and make sure there is enough water for evaporation and your lights are on timers. When you get back give it another WC.

 

3 or 4 days is not an issue. I left mine for 8 days and it looked better when I got back then when I left.

[friar1]

Ammonia = 0

Nitrite = 0

Nitrate = 0

PH = 8.3

SG = 1.0235

 

Light on timer

 

Evap is not a problem for that tank, Salt Creep actually takes care of salinity issues.

 

As far as the Tetra Water Wonders Tanks, it should be possible to take off the rim and the light that comes with it and go rimless. But doing that will require an ATO. With the rim and lid on that tank, there is very little evap when the hole in the lid is plugged with a cork.

[friar1]

May be buying our first coral tomorrow.

Crossing my fingers for a low price.

 

recommended food?

 

Mysis seems to large for the small frags I saw or maybe the mysis I saw was larger than is normal?

 

Friar

[Mr. Microscope]

Depends on the coral. Cyclope-eze is good, but likely you won't need to feed your corals at all. That is, granted your light is decent. Check out parishiltons tank. He does no feeding and no dosing. Even with his LPS.

[friar1]

Well,

Got coral

 

A red people eater

 

Will update with pics later when set and recovered from transport

 

Friar

[Mr. Microscope]

Ooh, fun! How many polyps?