Peter's petite pair of picos

[Builder Anthony]

Ive had tanks for about 8-10 years.I guess its personal preference and i dont see anything wrong with that algae the most it does is trap material which in time can produce sponges.I just dont see whats so hard about trimming it.If you dont really want any macros you should buy some rock coated in coraline so its harder for things to grab the rock.Sticking it into his filter would be a better option then just getting rid of it altogether.I just dont understand why you would want to look at a dead peice of rock or something that has something growing on it.

[brandon429]

the two gallon tanks are different, they aren't like larger tanks but theres room for new threads to hold all these new experiments..post away! Good call on the start over castiel its my fav part of pico reefing

[brandon429]

fire usage is so fast, yes that zapper will work. when I got aiptasia, lift and zap then no more aiptasia. it was so easy stopping all pests the first time I saw them, then I watched other threads track them endlessly as animal after animal after animal was stocked...it can be left in the tank or treated now, either way is fine. treating later if it outbreaks is also fine.

 

the one algae I think looks neat that we have been trained to hate is valonia. I think the green bubbles look neat when they don't overtake. That was the first macro algae I ever saw in the ocean while diving, some valonia on a rock and I thought it was a coral.

 

I also remember being told if you ever touched any of the coral underwater it would kill them and reverse hundreds of years of growth...it made me wonder how did they trade all those coral in the lfs?

[castiel]

Funnily enough, the LFS I bought these pieces from had bubble algae on a lot of their frags and I avoided choosing any that had it on there. But yes, it does look kind of cool.

[castiel]

Okay so fate/chance (depending on your outlook) has played a role in my changing my mind! Got home, whipped out the mini butane torch, ready to burn the algae ... and found it had no butane in it! Which got me thinking ... I am planning a larger tank soon, maybe even picking it up this weekend. So I'm going to keep this stuff (it is a nice colour too), monitor it, and then maybe put it in the larger tank once that is up and running.

 

If I were going purely with a pico, I think I would remove it - brandon makes some very good points on that. But I am also curious so want to see how it does, particularly with the phosphate remover in the tank.

 

So the ochtode lives another day.

 

(still a fascinating discussion on it! haha).

[lljdma06]

Wow, I bow out of posting for a few hours and we have blow-torches in your thread. Upgrading already, eh?

 

You're as addicted as I am.

[brandon429]

Yes Im interested in seeing how it responds to nutrient restriction being used in the tank, the phos remover. That can help people who may have infestation issues and are are starting with new filter media as one way of eradicating it. Each way is very interesting to see. You better not take down your picos though lol seawater picos are very rare, we hardly ever get to watch them unfold!

[castiel]

Worry not, the picos are staying long term! Well, as long term as I can sustain them ... aiming for a year and a day minimum =0)

[LogansRunRx]

I think this would go in the back left corner (opposite diagonal to the current pump inlet), and I think I could camouflage it somewhat, maybe even putty some rock to it.

 

i own 3-4 of these tiny Tunze powerheads and absolutely love them.

they are truely tiny! with decent flow.

even in a tank your size... you could even do 2 of them and a wave timer

they're pretty cheap too.

[castiel]

Thanks, good to know. They aren't so cheap down here in Aus ... best I can find is $42! Whereas the cheap Resun pump I bought was just $5, so I am going with those for now.

 

The Tunze pumps will be part of the gradual upgrade to the tanks, along with the lights =0)

[castiel]

Thanks, good to know. They aren't so cheap down here in Aus ... best I can find is $42! Whereas the cheap Resun pump I bought was just $5, so I am going with those for now.

 

The Tunze pumps will be part of the gradual upgrade to the tanks, along with the lights =0)

[BKR]

and the second most likely clicker is the cerith snail. do you have any?

they flick their shells up against glass commonly, has woke me up at night before as a tiny little click/click

 

 

gfo is granular ferric oxide, a media you can put in a filter compartment to absorb the phosphate we know to be the primary source of algae fuel even above nitrate measures

 

some people choose not to have alot of filters and peroxide and or using fire from a lighter to burn out pests is one quick way that makes for perfect tank running, we aren't relying on anything to do the job we can do by hand.

 

the large water changes do not hurt the tank, they refresh it. but the refill portion is slow, don't kick up alot of sandbed waste, pour over the high point of the rock structure and let it run down.

 

I do one or two full drains on my tank a week for years, because Im making a showpiece out of it this overdrives it. you don't have to push it that hard, its just a model of tolerance for pico reefs in showing that you can if you want to. until you get fish, feeding once a week with cyclopeeze frozen bar and a full water change will run it for a very long time with no other measures other than topoff as needed.

 

the rule is the water change vessel you use to change water typically just needs to be filled up more to change out most of the water vs some of it, its not really adding work. What it will do for the life of your tank is undoubted compared to changing only a percent of the water as the bulk of 2 gallon reefkeepers do.

 

Below three gallons, I guarantee a pico reef will live longer on full water changes than it will on partials, unless you plumb in some technical filters and agree to keep those cleaned regularly as well. Doing the large water changes cheats the need for dosing to some extent, it cheats the need for filtration, and its the fastest way to make the reef last a decade or better my models show.

 

if you dig around the web for 2 gallon tanks of the month, 2 gallon long term tanks etc and watch the threads, algae or cyanobacteria becomes a factor in the latter portions for a reason. They were all keeping fish on partial water changes and not doing instant manual removal when algae was seen.

 

If you just change out all the water at water change time as a habit, and remove all algae the instant you see it, these tanks can run indefinately. Adding c balance doser in a specific timing can give them the ability to go into turbo mode after the initial tune is set for each system. just the water changes and manual algae removal for now can get you like 8 months of consistent running, guaranteed. past that, all you have to do is dose a little bit of C balance in the mornings before the lights come on and it will grow any sps you can fit inside.

 

Good stuff on this post. I change out my entire tanks water weekly as well. My tank holds 10 actual gallons(14G) and I do 4 g's on the weekend and one gallon each afternoon, after feedings, little gravel stirring and whatever needs to be done that day... so thats 10g per week.

 

Again i learned alot from your post Brandon

[castiel]

I told brandon he should collate all of these words of wisdom and write up a guide to picos. El Fab's is decent but I think these newer learnings need incorporating.

[castiel]

Not much additional to show, but here are a couple of FTS. Amazing to see the difference in look between the dirty looking all live rock tank, and the mostly base rock and fresh coral sand tank.

 

 

[tylernt]

Come on you cant just trim a small red peice of algae and are going to resort to blowtorching it?

I hate putting my hands in my 2g pico. I knock stuff over, the water overflows the rim, sand gets stirred up, corals get bumped because of the close quarters. So I try to do everything I can to ensure I won't have to mess with it. That means killing pests and algae on LR ASAP so it doesn't get a foothold and require regular trimming.

 

I do keep chaeto in the rear compartment, but that's easy to trim.

[DonnieP]

I hate putting my hands in my 2g pico. I knock stuff over, the water overflows the rim, sand gets stirred up, corals get bumped because of the close quarters. So I try to do everything I can to ensure I won't have to mess with it. That means killing pests and algae on LR ASAP so it doesn't get a foothold and require regular trimming.

 

++1 on this, this guy knows what he's talking about! An ounce of prevention!

[brandon429]

BKR thats probably the best nano discipline Ive ever seen, thats really a true willingness to take control over your reef. that kind of work guarantees it will run as long as you have no hardware failure. It removes the lifespan shortening aspects of the nano reef completely. Ok so now when I read 2 and 3 gallon tanks who claim its too much work lol I'll post em to ya to compare!

 

There is a level at which aggressive water changes arent vital, we are overdoing them, but its insurance. the current standard in pico reefing has fallen below this point, such that most tanks do not live past two years even with hardware reliability, they crash due to algae infestation, loss of animals, the owner takes them down.

 

the need for changes is lax up front, then kicks in close to the first year bigtime, with algae loading being the harbinger. as long as you predict and respond with bare minimum changes/export at the right time, ur fine. Waiting an extra three months, plus the hands off let the algae grow approach that is so common, and ur set for the usual crash sometimes after the first year. I circumvent all of that by flusing the water like a mad scientist. I can tell from my vase model it makes a reef run with a truly indefinite lifespan, so I take that ball and run with each reef Ive owned. its just my way lol, overdoer of things, control freak etc

castiel I like those comparative pics this new go round is really well set!

[BKR]

BKR thats probably the best nano discipline Ive ever seen, thats really a true willingness to take control over your reef. that kind of work guarantees it will run as long as you have no hardware failure. It removes the lifespan shortening aspects of the nano reef completely. Ok so now when I read 2 and 3 gallon tanks who claim its too much work lol I'll post em to ya to compare!

 

There is a level at which aggressive water changes arent vital, we are overdoing them, but its insurance. the current standard in pico reefing has fallen below this point, such that most tanks do not live past two years even with hardware reliability, they crash due to algae infestation, loss of animals, the owner takes them down.

 

the need for changes is lax up front, then kicks in close to the first year bigtime, with algae loading being the harbinger. as long as you predict and respond with bare minimum changes/export at the right time, ur fine. Waiting an extra three months, plus the hands off let the algae grow approach that is so common, and ur set for the usual crash sometimes after the first year. I circumvent all of that by flusing the water like a mad scientist. I can tell from my vase model it makes a reef run with a truly indefinite lifespan, so I take that ball and run with each reef Ive owned. its just my way lol, overdoer of things, control freak etc

castiel I like those comparative pics this new go round is really well set!

 

I am as well compulsively neat and orderly and so is my tank. I know its overkill but like you said it is insurance and i just don't lose life...which is why I have a tank...Thanks B

[castiel]

Ricordea was taking an nap when I turned on the lights this morning:

 

 

Didn't realise they closed up like that - very cool =0)

[tylernt]

Didn't realise they closed up like that - very cool =0)

Yep, it can almost look like a whole 'nother tank at night. LPS look cool when they send out sweeper tentacles too.

 

Hence the popularity of moonlights.

[castiel]

Just spotted the world's smallest snail on my glass, then while looking at it closely noticed copepods running around on the glass too!

 

Just after I did a water change, so not sure if the water I added was full of them or if they were already there. Pretty cool either way!

 

 

Also noticed a fair bit of green algae (looks a bit like fluffy grass) starting to show in Ang's tank. Might need to add the phosphate remove to that too if it starts to get bad.

[castiel]

that's a florida ricordea, they are nice and i believe tend to be slightly smaller than thier cousins the Yuma Ricordea. also your polys are palythoas, and they have a pretty cool pattern on them! and it's just a guess but the red thing looks like a gorgon, idk though.

By the way, turns out it's not a florida ricordea at all. In fact it's illegal to own a florida ricordea in Australia, for some reason!

 

So I believe it's a yuma ricordea, from the pacific.

 

=0)

[tylernt]

So I believe it's a yuma ricordea, from the pacific.

Yup I see bubbles on his mouth a couple of pages back, which would make it a Yuma.

[DonnieP]

By the way, turns out it's not a florida ricordea at all. In fact it's illegal to own a florida ricordea in Australia, for some reason!

 

Probably don't want them getting distributed on Australian reefs. Its like the Pacific Lionfish that has taken over the reefs in Florida and the Carribean and just the other day were spotted on the only reef we have here in Texas. Problem is they have no predators here to keep the population in check, they are running rampant on our reefs. Its alway a good thing to keep species out of a place where they don't belong. Just like the Piranha is banned here to keep them out of our lakes but they have been caught all the way up in Missouri. If the Florida Ricordea got on your reefs it probably would not have any predators to keep it in check. They actually think thats where the Lionfish came from here was people growing them too big to care for and instead of killing their pet, they dumped them in the ocean.

[castiel]

Yeah Australia is very strict about that kind of thing - plants, bugs, animals. I think they learned from their rabbit disasters of the past.