3 Gallon Picotope!- Clean Slate

[JoeR]

2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

You can kinda cut as much or as little as you want off the main stem. 

I dip freshly made frags after making them in a simple dip with 1 cup tankwater and about 2 drops lugol's iodine for 3-5 mins before placing them back in the tank. I think it disinfects the new cuts and helps them heal & recover more quickly. 

To protect the frags from hermits & snails, try isolating them in a small container in your tank til they attach to the frag plug. You could something like a shot glass or anything that is a smaller size but will still allow circulation. 

I have a "Coral Recovery Condo" in my Pico tank from a little glass house that originally housed an air plant. I really need to post a pic of that today, been meaning to. 

I had a Yuma that had floated free and sailed into a Frogspawn without unfortunate results to the Yuma. I put it in there so it could recover in peace while reattaching to some rubble, and it's worked well. 

I think I'd like to keep two frags of it for myself, and then sell the rest. Would it then be better to sell it whole or fragged back to the lfs? I don't have specifically lugols iodine so I would have to pick some of that up first. Shot glasses would work, I think we have a couple I could use

[Weetabix7]

22 minutes ago, JoeR said:

I think I'd like to keep two frags of it for myself, and then sell the rest. Would it then be better to sell it whole or fragged back to the lfs? I don't have specifically lugols iodine so I would have to pick some of that up first. Shot glasses would work, I think we have a couple I could use

 

It kinda depends how much is left after you make your 2 frags. 

If it's still pretty big, maybe frag it in half. 

If it's med-small, leave as is. 

[JoeR]

I also forgot to ask, is there a "sweet spot" as far as frag sized? Do smaller or larger ones do better?

[Weetabix7]

12 minutes ago, JoeR said:

I also forgot to ask, is there a "sweet spot" as far as frag sized? Do smaller or larger ones do better?

 

Ummm, depends on the coral. 

For a leather I'd try to do at least 1". 

For LPS, at least 1 head/eye if possible. 

For Zoas/Palys, at least 3 heads. That last one is just me, I've seen plenty of 1 polyp Zoa frags on higher end ones, but I think 3 polyps or more recover better. 

[Lula_Mae]

You can also use a soap dish (the clear plastic kind with suction cups) as a frag rack--see my latest pics for an example.  Works pretty well and is cheap!  Though it seems huge in little tanks like ours lol.

[JoeR]

9 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Ummm, depends on the coral. 

For a leather I'd try to do at least 1". 

For LPS, at least 1 head/eye if possible. 

For Zoas/Palys, at least 3 heads. That last one is just me, I've seen plenty of 1 polyp Zoa frags on higher end ones, but I think 3 polyps or more recover better. 

Thanks for the info- So it sounds like the bigger the better then? With my pico being so small and how fast these things grow, I'll probably frag two ~3" pieces for it.

[JoeR]

2 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

You can also use a soap dish (the clear plastic kind with suction cups) as a frag rack--see my latest pics for an example.  Works pretty well and is cheap!  Though it seems huge in little tanks like ours lol.

That looks like it works well, I may have to give it a shot. Though the pesky snails (I hate them. They're too big and shove/move my coral anyway ?) May climb out and over the edge of it; they crawl right up to the edge of the glass.

[Lula_Mae]

45 minutes ago, JoeR said:

That looks like it works well, I may have to give it a shot. Though the pesky snails (I hate them. They're too big and shove/move my coral anyway ?) May climb out and over the edge of it; they crawl right up to the edge of the glass.

It's entirely possible!  What kind of snails do you have?  I have dwarf ceriths from Reef Cleaners and a tiny nass snail that I haven't seen since I put him in lol.

[JoeR]

10 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

It's entirely possible!  What kind of snails do you have?  I have dwarf ceriths from Reef Cleaners and a tiny nass snail that I haven't seen since I put him in lol.

Astrea I think is what they're called, they're like 1".

[Lula_Mae]

I used to have astreas!  They can be kinda clunky in our little tanks but they aren't too bad.  Just hard with little frags especially if not glued down!  Look into dwarf ceriths when you're ready to recharge your CUC--Reef Cleaners has them but sometimes you can find them in an LFS.  They're tiny and unobstrusive and I really like mine.

 

Also, if I recall correctly, astreas cannot right themselves if they fall on their backs so if you see one, help it over if it's still alive, or take it out if it has already died so you don't nuke the tank.

[Clown79]

You can frag as much as you want.

 

If you like the leather then just trim it down to control size.

 

As mentioned, its best to get a new piece of tupperware, drill holes in it, place frag plugs in the container, lay the leather pieces on them, wrap the top of container with mesh and elastic. Place in a low flow area. 

 

There are tons of videos on fragging leathers, some thread a needle through it and wrap it around the plug.

 

 

[JoeR]

21 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

I used to have astreas!  They can be kinda clunky in our little tanks but they aren't too bad.  Just hard with little frags especially if not glued down!  Look into dwarf ceriths when you're ready to recharge your CUC--Reef Cleaners has them but sometimes you can find them in an LFS.  They're tiny and unobstrusive and I really like mine.

 

Also, if I recall correctly, astreas cannot right themselves if they fall on their backs so if you see one, help it over if it's still alive, or take it out if it has already died so you don't nuke the tank.

Yeah, the frags aren't glued down yet because I'm not sure yet where I want to permanently put them. I wouldn't mind switching them for something smaller that do the same job, so I'll look into those as well! And note taken about them flipping lol

[JoeR]

9 hours ago, Clown79 said:

You can frag as much as you want.

 

If you like the leather then just trim it down to control size.

 

As mentioned, its best to get a new piece of tupperware, drill holes in it, place frag plugs in the container, lay the leather pieces on them, wrap the top of container with mesh and elastic. Place in a low flow area. 

 

There are tons of videos on fragging leathers, some thread a needle through it and wrap it around the plug.

 

 

I can trim it? As in, cut like 1-2" off every "branch" all around? If so, I'll have more frags than I know what to do with!

 

I guess I don't understand what you mean by wrapping it in elastic, but I'll look up some videos of it. I tried the needle/toothpick method and It did not work well for me, but the toothpick was too blunt for one thing.

[Weetabix7]

elastic=rubberband

[JoeR]

One of the biggest disappointments for me with this pico after buying it is learning I can't have any starfish or urchins in it. But today I was looking at it and, lo and behold; two mini hitchhiker starfish! Theyre super tiny, so I'm assuming they're asterina. I'm just wondering how they hid for this long without being noticed!

 

[Clown79]

You can make less frags by cutting larger pieces. You could cut the leather in half, it all regrows.

[Weetabix7]

Yep, those are Asterina. 

You could have brittlestars. 

[JoeR]

19 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Yep, those are Asterina. 

You could have brittlestars. 

hmmm brittlestars... are they the same as serpent stars? I like them, but I read that they hide during the day which would be disappointing. I also read that starfish slowly die in captivity from starvation, though I don't know how true that is.

[Weetabix7]

13 minutes ago, JoeR said:

hmmm brittlestars... are they the same as serpent stars? I like them, but I read that they hide during the day which would be disappointing. I also read that starfish slowly die in captivity from starvation, though I don't know how true that is.

 

That is true of most starfish, yes, and I definitely wouldn't keep even the hardiest ones in a Pico tank like yours. 

Brittlestars  can be tempted out with food and are somewhat active during the day. 

Not sure why you wouldn't be able to have an Urchin. 

[JoeR]

4 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

That is true of most starfish, yes, and I definitely wouldn't keep even the hardiest ones in a Pico tank like yours. 

Brittlestars  can be tempted out with food and are somewhat active during the day. 

Not sure why you wouldn't be able to have an Urchin. 

So overall, you would NOT recommend a brittle then? 

 

The reason I say I can't keep an urchin is because they grow too large for this size tank. If there were ones that stayed under ~2.5" I could probably keep one.

 

Thanks again for the continued help from both you and @Clown79

[Weetabix7]

I dunno, I think there's some small enough, you should do some more looking around. 

 

I think you should get a Brittlestar. They're cheap, starfish-like, easy to care for and since they clean up detritus they're also good for the tank. This means that they will be useful even if they don't satisfy your "starfish itch". 

[JoeR]

21 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

I dunno, I think there's some small enough, you should do some more looking around. 

 

I think you should get a Brittlestar. They're cheap, starfish-like, easy to care for and since they clean up detritus they're also good for the tank. This means that they will be useful even if they don't satisfy your "starfish itch". 

I was looking at liveaquaria and the smallest urchin they have is a blue or red tuxedo (which I really like) but they grow to 3" and I think that may be too large. 2" would be perfect. I've been looking at brittles on there too and they're all 8" or more, would those be fine or are there dwarf varieties I should look for?

[Weetabix7]

There are dwarf varieties that you should easily be able to find at an LFS. 

It's not unusual for them hitchhike in on stuff as well. 

I'm hoping someone else will chime in on the Urchins, but I personally think they'd be ok. 

[JoeR]

9 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

There are dwarf varieties that you should easily be able to find at an LFS. 

It's not unusual for them hitchhike in on stuff as well. 

I'm hoping someone else will chime in on the Urchins, but I personally think they'd be ok. 

Next time I'm at my lfs I'll ask about the serpents, it's a two hour drive to Raleigh but I'm sure I'll be back soon.

 

I was reading about the urchins here:

It was said that the blue tux are the smallest, staying around 2", and are effective CUC members. I would love to replace some/all of my snails with one. I don't see why they would need a 15 gallon minimum, especially if they can be supplemented?

[Weetabix7]

Which direction do you live from Raleigh?

If you are 2 hrs west of it, you're not terribly far from me. 

I think Raleigh is about a 4hr drive for me. 

If you are even semi close to Columbia, SC you MUST check out Fishy Business!!!

Really great place, I'm actually hoping to make an overnight trip to Columbia soon just to go back.