Daniel’s Pico reef!

[Daniel92481]

Hello everyone! I briefly introduced my new pico reef the other day, but wasn’t sure where to post a journal at. A big thanks to The Rainy Day Aquarium for some solid advice on how to get this journal going! 
 

I have always wanted a miniature reef tank, or pico in my life. I think it’s the challenge of keeping parameters stable with such a small volume. Who doesn’t love a mini reef tank? 
 

Equipment

 

-Lifegard Aquatics Crystal AIO 4.1 gallon with stock pump (surprisingly quiet) 

 

-Lifegard Aquatics 25watt heater

 

-Kessil A360X with rigid mount

 

-Ecotech MP10 on reef crest between 20-30%

 

-filter floss

 

-small amount of carbon in rear chamber

 

I initially wanted to use the strainer vs. the drain plug on the tank, but couldn’t find a way for the strainer to fit properly. I had to lower the MP10 flow to between 20-30% to keep things flowing nicely without taking a beating, or overflowing the tank. The Kessil is a bit over powered for this tank, but I managed to keep my same settings from the 40, just increased the height of the light to about 12 inches vs. 7 on the 40. So far, everything seems to be responding well.

 

 

I recently shut down my Nuvo 40 with anticipation of setting up my pico tank with the remaining corals leftover from a massive coral sale I had with my local reefing community. I managed to save some really nice pieces for this little project though. I am really happy with my livestock so far. 

 

Livestock

 

-variety of zoas, including nirvanas, laser lemons, bowsers, sonic flares, playboy bunnies, and more

 

-fire shrimp

 

-trochus snail 

 

-blue legged hermit

 

white morph RFA

 

 

I plan to keep things as simple as can be, while testing major parameters at least once per week. I have attached a few pics. Thanks for looking! 

 

 

 

[debbeach13]

Welcome to pico life. You are going to love the ease of smaller WC's. Insta tank sweet.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

I'm really digging this setup 😎👌

[Daniel92481]

Oh yes, the water changes should be a breeze lol. Would it be recommended to do 100% change every 2 weeks? How often do y’all do it, and how much? 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

1 hour ago, Daniel92481 said:

Oh yes, the water changes should be a breeze lol. Would it be recommended to do 100% change every 2 weeks? How often do y’all do it, and how much? 

I do about 40% WC every week. 

[Daniel92481]

Awesome man. I plan to do about 40-50% per week. I want to do bi weekly, just not sure if I should go that long? I was doing weekly on my 40 and wasn’t a fan haha

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

2 hours ago, Daniel92481 said:

Awesome man. I plan to do about 40-50% per week. I want to do bi weekly, just not sure if I should go that long? I was doing weekly on my 40 and wasn’t a fan haha

Haha yeah WCs can be a pain. In the past I've gone a month without changing water but that was when I only had zoas and softies. I would say you should be fine doing 50% every other week? You'll have to experiment and see if you can get away with it or not? If you don't have any fish/ feed sparingly you should be able to achieve this no problem. 👍

[Daniel92481]

That’s what I was thinking too.👌🏼I’m going to test some parameters tonight, salinity, temp, ALK, phosphates, and nitrates. Not so worried about Mag and Ca for now. I’m going to start with the 50% bi weekly WC starting next week.

[Daniel92481]

Just got home from work and was able to test some parameters. 
 

-salinity 1.026

-temp 75.6 (getting my first taste of pico small water volume and RODI refill lol)

-ALK 7.6

-phosphates 0.04

-nitrates 1

 

Tank has been set up for 48 hours now and things seem to be responding well. Seems like the RFA is loving life. He is probably the most extended I have seen him! I just found 2 polyps of psychosis zoas on the big rock that I had forgot about! I also spotted some fruit loops, gobstoppers, Mai tai’s, and whammin watermelons in the mix! I have attached a few pics!😊

[Daniel92481]

Hey all, all is good with the new pico. I’ve been refilling RODI manually vs. an ATO. No big deal so far, just adding about a cup or two every two days. Salinity has been stable at 1.026. Temperature leveled out at 77.5°. I am using the Lifeguard Aquatics 25w preset heater. I did some minor rearranging to the zoas on the sand bed so I could make room for another small frag soon. I am not sure what I want to add yet. I was thinking of another cool zoa, or a monti of some sort. I was even thinking about adding a nice maxima clam. Really not sure. Here is a pic of the 3 polyps of psychosis zoas I found the other day. Also, another pic showing where the new piece will go on the bottom, off to the right.👌🏼

[Daniel92481]

I was able to do my first water change yesterday since set up. My freshly mixed batch of saltwater outside measured at a perfect 78° because of the ambient temperature. Couldn’t have asked for better lol. I managed to do a 50% change with good results. I am going to try to keep this biweekly 50% schedule and see how it goes from here. I am still searching for that perfect coral to go on the bottom right. I seen a Looney Tunes stylo that really caught my eye, but didn’t get it. I’ve always liked those! Still trying to decide. Stay tuned! 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Nice! Even like a red/orange goniopora would look cool if you wanted to stick with a "soft coral" look?

[Daniel92481]

Yea, that would look cool too. I was even thinking about some clove polyps. Jason fox has his wysiwyg 20% off right now. Hmm lol

[Murphs_Reef]

Looks brill so far man 👍🏼

[Daniel92481]

Added a few sticks to the back tip of the main rock. Hard to see in the pics, but looking good so far with nice polyp extension. Still looking for another piece for the bottom right. Here’s a couple pics!

[Daniel92481]

Small update here. The RFA I have decided to move around and make a new home on the front of the main rock. Unfortunately, this move ended up covering half of my pink constellations colony, as well as my newly found 3 psychosis polyps! Ugh! I guess this is life with any anemone. On the bright side, the other polyps seem to be doing well. Hopefully, the RFA will decide to stay put for now. 

[Reefkid88]

Dang RFA always messing things up lol. I'm loving the zoa dom tank and your taste in z's and p's !!! You'd love my tank then lol. 

[Daniel92481]

1 hour ago, Reefkid88 said:

Dang RFA always messing things up lol. I'm loving the zoa dom tank and your taste in z's and p's !!! You'd love my tank then lol. 

Haha yea, dang anemone! I used to have a real nice rainbow BTA that moved a couple times too, and really tore up my zoa garden. My RFA seems to be happy where he’s at now, hopefully it lasts. Sounds like I need to check out your tank! Thanks for checking mine out. 

[Reefkid88]

I know the BTA's can destroy some stuff,so that does not surprise me one bit. I do know RFA's are a little more docile so that is always nice for pico's and nano's. 

 

 Here is a link to it:

 

[Daniel92481]

Thanks for the link! 
 

Figured it was time for a quick update here...HAIR ALGAE! Ugh. My phosphates are at 0.06, but apparently the hair algae has been able to lock up and hold strong. I performed an 80% water change today, hoping to regain some control with the hair algae. I also added one small packet of chemi pure blue nano to see if that helps reduce some phosphates. Two out of the three SPS I added a few weeks ago started RTN/STN’ing. I managed to save one stick in the process. My work schedule has been really hectic lately, preventing me from keeping on top of my maintenance schedule. My RFA has seemed to shrink over the past week. Hopefully things will turn around for the better within the next couple of weeks, or so. I was able to manually remove most of the hair algae with the last water change today. My inverts are doing well, including my fire shrimp, trochus snail, and blue legged hermit. All three are doing well and looking toward the future. Zoa polyps are hit and miss. Some have been covered with GHA and are somewhat struggling. I managed to toothbrush some off of them and am hoping they will bounce back. As of now, I will try to keep a routine maintenance schedule to see if things improve. Stay tuned for another update!

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Ugh. Sorry to hear about all the algae. haha I know how you feel! I got rid of all of the cyano in mine and am now on to the GHA outbreak. Kind of a pain to deal with when it gets rooted into everything like it does. Good luck with your tank (lol and your busy schedule) keep us posted when you can on what happens 👍

[Daniel92481]

10 hours ago, The Rainy Day Aquarium said:

Ugh. Sorry to hear about all the algae. haha I know how you feel! I got rid of all of the cyano in mine and am now on to the GHA outbreak. Kind of a pain to deal with when it gets rooted into everything like it does. Good luck with your tank (lol and your busy schedule) keep us posted when you can on what happens 👍

I appreciate it! I know you know how it feels. Definitely discouraging when you look at it. I feel like when I have more time, I can pull the rock out and scrub it with a toothbrush. The zoas are pretty resilient when it comes to scrubbing. They will be mad for a while, like in my pics, but I’m thinking they will recover in no time. Hopefully this chemi pure blue might help some. Day by day! 👍🏼

[Reefkid88]

I know the feeling,I recently had some serious GHA growth that came in on a frag. Everything was rock solid besides some ammonia from a dead hermit my wife didn't get out of the tank in time. 

 

 My tank is in Orlando,Fl and I am in Nashville,Tn for a month at a time and I know how work can mess with thing. Hopefully everything turns around for the tank though. 

[Daniel92481]

1 hour ago, Reefkid88 said:

I know the feeling,I recently had some serious GHA growth that came in on a frag. Everything was rock solid besides some ammonia from a dead hermit my wife didn't get out of the tank in time. 

 

 My tank is in Orlando,Fl and I am in Nashville,Tn for a month at a time and I know how work can mess with thing. Hopefully everything turns around for the tank though. 

Thanks man. This stuff is no joke, but patience is key, right? How do you manage your tank from so far away like that? That’s insane kid! 👍🏼

[Reefkid88]

You are correct,but easy to combat if you have the time. Well,my wife does small water changes when I ask her to and she tops the tank off daily since my ATO tool a dump on me.