*New Boot* 3Gal Mr. Aqua Bowfront

[Adrianr514]

First off I'd like to start by saying out of 5 fish tanks this one has been the most costly one so far. 

 

I have had freshwater tanks for a long time planted, fish only, shrimp only, blackwater, tropical, subtropical, the whole shebang however I have never taken the leap to saltwater because they scare me. After lots and lots of pressure from my LFS guys I caved and instead of doing a decent size tank I went with a pico build. Why a pico build well because the only room I had left to put a tank in was my kitchen bar. Now I have done a lot of research on different corals and livestock I cannot make up my mind. First I was going to do Mushroom only, the Zoas only, then sps/lps and haven't began because I just can't make up my mind on what route to go. I've gone through a couple of threads and it makes t that much harder. I currently don't have an ATO but I will be ordering a Smart ATO Micro. I will be maintaining my water levels with close to 100% water changes as needed. I am using an HOB style breeder box that has Chaeto as a refugium. Will you guys please bless me with your wisdom and help steer this indecisive person find the yellowfins brick road. Also is a wave maker needed for something so small and if so what would you recommend? Livestock is obviously limited due to side but what can I/Should I do?

 

Equipment:

Mr. Aqua 3 gal bowfront

HOB breeder Box w/ 180gph pump

25W Cobalt  Neo-Therm heater

Finnex fugeray light for the refugium

AI Prime HD for main light. 

 

 

[seabass]

to Nano-Reef.com!

 

No, a wavemaker is required.  With such a small tank, maybe you want to keep things small, like zoanthids and ricordea.  Also, maybe add a piece or two with some height.  But livestock is such a personal choice, select what You like.

[Tombob84]

Like the look of this, maybe a little goby shrimp paring might be the way to go. 

 

Will be be watching for updates 

 

GL with it.

[debbeach13]

Welcome to NR and reefing. I like the suggestion of zoas and ricordia. Sound like you have a favorite LFS which is always good. I think you will also want some coral that sways in the flow. Maybe a hammer or frogspawn. Best of luck with your tank.

[Adrianr514]

6 hours ago, Tombob84 said:

maybe a little goby shrimp paring might be the way to go. 

 

I was considering that however I am afraid of the Goby Jumping out.

[Adrianr514]

So today I did a water change and added a little more sand for my planned livestock. I took my weekly trip to the LFS to pick up my first Zoa and Snail however as you know you always walk out with more than you went in for. I found this gorgeous Watchman Goby that I just had to pull the trigger on. He is about 1.5" and bright yellow coloring made me just absolutely need him and it just so happened that this goby was already paired with bright candy cane pistol shrimp. So normally this LFS has them seperate but it appears that this goby hopped tanks and found itself with the shrimp and have been best buds ever since then. Of course I couldn't break up the pair so I bring both of them home along with an Astrea Snail. I haven't been able to take pictures of the Goby and the shrimp as they go into hiding when I get close to the tank. Hopefully soon they'll recognize that I mean food and they'll be more open to hoping out for a picture. As for Coral I wanted to start with an easy head nice looking head so I found a nice looking Zoa for $15. I asked what its common name was but completely forgot, maybe you guys can ID it.

 

One thing is that my AI Prime is complete overkill for this little tank as I have to have it dialed back down to 20% to not wash out anything. Any recommended lights for a Pico this size? I was looking at the Asta 20 Marine light and was wondering if anyones had experience with it or if there are better alternatives. 

 

Lastly I have a bunch of these little guys in there which I've already caught the Goby snacking on. What are they called?? They get around like jellyfish.

 

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Adrianr514 said:

Lastly I have a bunch of these little guys in there which I've already caught the Goby snacking on. What are they called?? They get around like jellyfish.

Hydroids.

[Adrianr514]

1 hour ago, seabass said:

Hydroids.

Thanks, I'm guessing these are okay to have?

[seabass]

They usually go away on their own.

[Adrianr514]

Here's as good of a picture as I could get with the watchman and the as much of the shrimpy boy as I could and also a look at my refugium.