JBJ Picotope anemone tank

[frootbat]

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic, so I decided to dust off an old JBJ Picotope and have a go at a small anemone tank.

 

Hardware:

3g JBJ Picotope

small beta-sized sponge filter

Wavepoint 6w super-blue LED

Aqueon 50w heater

Smart ATO Micro

 

Intended stocking:

2x rock flower anemones

2x maxi-mini anemones

sexy shrimp

 

The LED and filter selections are kind of experiments on my part...if it looks like they aren't working out, I'll go with the tiny HOB and light that came with the Picotope.

 

Here's the tank running without stock. The substrate is coarse aragonite, and I have a single rock, but it has lots of nice holes for anemone feet 🙂

 

[shaner014]

Nice little setup! I want to do a similar stocking in a pico soon myself! I'll be following. Cheers!

[jbb]

Picotope was such a great tank. Will be following along. 

[JBM]

I always had a soft spot for the jbj picotope. Still have one bnib. Good luck

[frootbat]

16 minutes ago, jbb_00 said:

Picotope was such a great tank. Will be following along. 

 

13 minutes ago, JBM said:

I always had a soft spot for the jbj picotope. Still have one bnib. Good luck

 

Same here!!! IMHO the JBJ Pico should be in the Reefer Hall of Fame. Perfect dimensions for its size, serviceable light and filter included, definitely the best thing JBJ has ever made. It was my first attempt at salt water a long time ago and was an abject failure 😞 To be honest I haven't had many successes and am getting back into the hobby after a bit of a hiatus, so instead of spending a ton of money and trying something large and ambitious that I would likely fail at again, I'm just going to keep it small, simple, and inexpensive with 2 picos (doing a zoa pico also). No fish, low light, and forgiving stock.

 

I may be taking a bit of a risk with the light though...it's only 6 watts, a very weak 6 watts (24x .25 leds) and all blue. My hope is that with weekly feedings I'll be OK, and maybe with an all blue light I won't have the algae problems that have plagued me in the past.

[debbeach13]

Welcome back good luck with your tank. Looks so cute. I still have one that I use for a QT when needed. I hope things go well for you this time. Just take it slow.

[JBM]

11 hours ago, frootbat said:

 

 

Same here!!! IMHO the JBJ Pico should be in the Reefer Hall of Fame. Perfect dimensions for its size, serviceable light and filter included, definitely the best thing JBJ has ever made. It was my first attempt at salt water a long time ago and was an abject failure 😞 To be honest I haven't had many successes and am getting back into the hobby after a bit of a hiatus, so instead of spending a ton of money and trying something large and ambitious that I would likely fail at again, I'm just going to keep it small, simple, and inexpensive with 2 picos (doing a zoa pico also). No fish, low light, and forgiving stock.

 

I may be taking a bit of a risk with the light though...it's only 6 watts, a very weak 6 watts (24x .25 leds) and all blue. My hope is that with weekly feedings I'll be OK, and maybe with an all blue light I won't have the algae problems that have plagued me in the past.

 

start slowly. you can add coral as long as your readings stay in check. 1 gallon water changes weekly will do it good.

 

I too run blue light. with an hour of white.

 

As for expensive, theres no need. it's a jbj 3g. And your goal is softies. a decent hob filter and a $30 par38 should be all you need.

[frootbat]

The anemones came in today. I got two rock flowers and two maxi minis. I put the maxi minis on the rock and the RFAs on the substrate, who knows where they'll be in a couple days.

 

 

[Andreww]

Nice little setup. Is this tank cycled though?

 

[frootbat]

Not really . I did put a bit of bacteria in a bottle in the tank, but didn’t go through the whole fishless cycle with this tank since it is invert only. Also, every 2 weeks I will be doing a 90% water change, at least for the first few months, and then I may dial it back to a once a month 90% water change, depending on how things go.

[JBM]

2 hours ago, frootbat said:

Not really . I did put a bit of bacteria in a bottle in the tank, but didn’t go through the whole fishless cycle with this tank since it is invert only. Also, every 2 weeks I will be doing a 90% water change, at least for the first few months, and then I may dial it back to a once a month 90% water change, depending on how things go.

 

Corals dont respond well to high nitrites and ammonia 

[Fish_Wiz]

Nice! I literally had the same setup with 7 sexies and a LOT of RFA's and maxi's. Before I took it down I went from a little Finnex LED light to an AI Prime (non-HD) lol. Miss that little tank.

[Andreww]

22 hours ago, frootbat said:

Not really . I did put a bit of bacteria in a bottle in the tank, but didn’t go through the whole fishless cycle with this tank since it is invert only. Also, every 2 weeks I will be doing a 90% water change, at least for the first few months, and then I may dial it back to a once a month 90% water change, depending on how things go.

At this point let’s just hope they survive. 

You already know that was a bad move...