rockpainter Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hi picoreefers! My 3 gallon JBJ is my very first reef. I am stocking it slowly and have some zoa frags, a ricordea, a duncan, xenia and a montipora. I love how LPS corals have a lot of colors and movement (my duncan is my favorite coral right now), but every other species I look into is listed as aggressive or semi-aggressive. I'm concerned they wouldn't do well (or make other corals not do well) in such a small tank (maybe I'm overthinking it?). I would like to stay away from very sensitive corals. I try my best to keep things stable but I do have occasional fluctuations in salinity and nitrates. I have a 14W PAR30 Coral Compulsion LED bulb for lighting. I'm also on a budget, so I don't want to spend more than $25-30 on a frag. Also they don't have to be LPS...any colorful, lively, peaceful, low maintenance corals will do! I'd love any suggestions/advice! Quote Link to comment
GoingPostal Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Candy canes, acan lords, micros don't have long sweepers. I'd just stay away from some favias, euphyillia family, enchinatas, things that will really reach and bug others. Maybe something encrusting like cyphestrea, war coral, pavona? Quote Link to comment
rockpainter Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Thanks! All of those are pretty :] What about lobos? Quote Link to comment
VABumpkin Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 A lobophyllia would most likely be too large for a pico. All of the things GP posted are good. Quote Link to comment
thesmallerthebetter Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 LPS in picos is a toughy. not due to care needs at all but more due to the fact that most LPS grow fairly quick which can pose problems with limited real estate. LPS ive had issues with in picos: Torch, Hammer, Frogspawns (tentacles wreak havoc) Acans (Grow too fast, looks disproportionate) Fungia (too big, cant frag and still look natural) Galaxia (brutal sweepers that reach EVERYWHERE) Candy Canes (fast growers, quickly look too big in a small tank) Duncans (insane fast growth, massive PE) LPS i have had success with: Lithophyllon (fraggable fungiids) Cyphastrea (more of a sps growth rate and nature wise) Micromussa (like mini acans) 1 Quote Link to comment
.Newman. Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Blastomussa is an excellent choice for picos. spot feed it with mysis and it will love you. 2 Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Leptastreas are encrusting LPS which is problematic when real estate is at a premium in a pico but they look wonderful. Google jason fox john Deere leptastrea. Mine has encrusted beautifully and is right next to anotjer species of leptastrea. They didn't kill each other, they are actually pushing against each other and growing a skeleton 'wall' between them. Quote Link to comment
VABumpkin Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Just whatever you do do not add an echinata to a pico. Echinata acans are the serial killers of the coral world. 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Blastomussa is an excellent choice for picos. spot feed it with mysis and it will love you. I was going to say, why are people not mentioning blastos? My nearest LFS has a tiny tank with PC lighting and Blasto m. doing great in the weak light. 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 well, if you like HIGH maintenance, then sun corals are super pretty Quote Link to comment
rockpainter Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Wow guys, thank you so much! I had my heart set on acans (love how they look), but it looks like a micro is the way to go! Blastos also look nice. I just can't seem to get excited about the encrusting corals I like movement. PS thesmallerthebetter, what does PE mean after Duncan? 1 Quote Link to comment
patback Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Pe= polyp extension. Quote Link to comment
.Newman. Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Wow guys, thank you so much! I had my heart set on acans (love how they look), but it looks like a micro is the way to go! Blastos also look nice. I just can't seem to get excited about the encrusting corals I like movement. PS thesmallerthebetter, what does PE mean after Duncan? Acans don't really move. its feeding time when you get to see corals like acans and blastos really move with food stimulus. Quote Link to comment
rockpainter Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Acans don't really move. its feeding time when you get to see corals like acans and blastos really move with food stimulus. You're right. I guess it's more that I like defined, more fleshy polyps. I should have started with a bigger tank haha! Quote Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 well, if you like HIGH maintenance, then sun corals are super pretty I recently added a sun coral to my 4g pico that I pull from the tank every couple of days to feed and I'm loving it. When it does open up (usually on a night) it's beautiful to look at. Quote Link to comment
rockpainter Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 How frequently do you have to feed it? Quote Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I've been feeding it every 2 to 3 days. I'll take some tank water in a small tub, drop it in there and let it have a good feed. It seems to be responding to that very well so far. Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 sun corals are usually in poor shape when you get them; LFSs usually don't take the time to feed them, so they're pretty low on energy reserves when most people get them. Once you feed them enough so that they have an energy reserve they'll be open practically all the time. Mine are open most of the day, and they'll open really quickly if I feed the fish some flakes and they smell the food Quote Link to comment
lowry_pt Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 why no Acans? I have an acan and a micromussa in my pico. ( 4 head acan and 1 head micro). now that I have it.... uh... what shall I need to watch for? Quote Link to comment
jservedio Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 13 minutes ago, lowry_pt said: why no Acans? I have an acan and a micromussa in my pico. ( 4 head acan and 1 head micro). now that I have it.... uh... what shall I need to watch for? Micromussa Lordhowensis and Amakusensis are ideal for picos - they don't fight anything unless it's physically touching and they only strike over extremely short distance. They are, IMO, the best suited pico LPS you can get. If you got an echinata, it probably wasn't the best move since they are very aggressive and when they fight, they tend to entirely nuke the other coral and can hit from a distance. 1 Quote Link to comment
lowry_pt Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 On 6/12/2020 at 12:29 AM, jservedio said: Micromussa Lordhowensis and Amakusensis are ideal for picos - they don't fight anything unless it's physically touching and they only strike over extremely short distance. They are, IMO, the best suited pico LPS you can get. If you got an echinata, it probably wasn't the best move since they are very aggressive and when they fight, they tend to entirely nuke the other coral and can hit from a distance. yeah. THESE are the 2 I have. the Red acan Lord and ruby red micro. YEAH!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
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