Jump to content
Coral Vue Hydros

The Pico vol. 2


sr2z

Feel free to vote here... Your opinion matters!  

17 members have voted

  1. 1. What fish should I keep? - feel free to vote, even multiple...

    • Two Spot Blenny
      4
    • Linear Blenny
      2
    • Tailspot Blenny
      9
    • Yellow Clown Goby
      5
    • Green Clown Goby
      2
    • Citron Clown Goby
      6
    • Yellowtail Damsel
      3
    • Pixy Hawkfish?!
      0


Recommended Posts

Hello folks!

So... where should I begin... Some time ago, I started my very first saltwater aquarium... a small nano... It was quite happy for the first few weeks, then came some diatoms here, some cyano there... then some more... A complete disaster. I shut it down and didn´t even think about reefing for quite a long time.

But now, I am ready to present you my second attempt on a pico reef, the result of a lot of reading and studying about nano and pico reefing, but still made at a friendly budget...

(oukey, I think that was too much theatricality)

 

Behold, The Pico vol. 2:

 

Date of establishment = yesterday (21/10/2020)

The tank = 4,5 gallon cube

Lighting = Completely DIY (notice the wooden construction), has a "White mode" (on the photo of the empty tank), "Blue-white mode" (on most of the photos) and a "Blue mode"(no photos here, but I can tell you that it looks great, in my opinion).. What do you think?

Filtration = Built-in, someone could call it a "rear sump"...

1. A sponge

2. Some ceramic rings

3. Seachem purigen

4. Seachem Matrix

5. Another sponge

6. Resun sk-300 protein skimmer (I know, a bit too oversized)

7. Another sponge

8. Return pump

Deco = I used two kilos of Caribsea Liferock, I think it looks OK. Those odd things that you can see on them isn´t algae, just a lot off bubbles from yesterday. I had the opportunity to use some live rock, but after close inspection a discovered that it was full of Aiptasia...

Sand = Used to be live sand, but was completely dried and washed in fresh water so.... yeah, not too live now...

Dosing = Nothing except some Sera BioReefclear to help with the cycling, eventually some Seachem Stability. After the first corals, I will see, and probably ask you folks for some advice!

Parameters = Actually, I didn´t test yet, but I´ll update it as soon as I get to it. All my tests are Salifert

Stocking = 

1 Blue-legged hermit crab

1 Cerith snail (massive, I don´t think I´ll add more Ceriths...)

2 small Dove snails (mistakenly identified as Nassarius. Thank you @jservedio for help with the identification!)

Maybe I´ll add some other kind of snail...

In a few weeks, the first zoanthids will come.

And maybe, just maybe.... a fish (clown goby, or maybe even a Banggai Cardinal)

 

That´s all I could think of at the moment, if there is something that I have forgotten, remind me please! I am open to any opinions on my tank and any advice.

DSC_0626.JPG

 

CSC_0628.JPG

Link to comment

for the fish i wouldn't go with the banggai simply because of their size. Cgs eat corals. I'd say a small shrimp goby like a black ray or yasha would be cool. Trimma gobies would look nice in there. Maybe a small damsel or dottyback if you want some open water swimming

  • Like 2
Link to comment

Parameters update Day 2, test 1:

pH = 7.5

KH = 6.7 dKH

NO3 = 5

NO2 = 0

Si = 0

PO4 = 0.25

I know... 

... Parameters not ideal, pH and KH too low and phosphates way too high... 

Link to comment

Update:

I have just measured phosphates, they went down rapidly to 0,1.

Also, I discovered that I should take pictures of the tank under white lighting only, I think they look waaay better 😆

 

DSC_0648.JPG

DSC_0645.JPG

Link to comment

maybe more ceriths, i rarely get them from where im from but as much as i know, they are small

 

actually phosphates of 0.3 and higher are ideal imo, it feeds the corals

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment

That's likely too big a CUC, slowly add them and see what you end up needing in the long run.
Trimma gobies are a tiny option, coral croucher gobies, Caribbean sailfin blenny, starry goby, bluestripe cave goby, saltwater dwarf rainbowfish, or you could just do inverts; some sexy shrimp and a flower nem would look pretty cool.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Well, the tank will be focused mainly on zoanthids, maybe some LPS, I could even imagine a small birdsnest frag on the top. So the sexy shrimp would be superb, but it is kinda hard to track them down in Slovakia, not speaking of flower anemones 🙁 As for the CUC, I will add the ceriths at first, because I expect diatoms to grow first, then the hermits when some other algae shows up, and finally the trochus. I was thinking of adding Nassarius but I think the sandbed is a little too shallow (below 1 inch)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Soo.... I think it´s time for a small update:

My tank is under heavy attacks of diatoms, so I decided to call in some reinforcements.

What I added yesterday:

1 Blue-legged hermit crab

1 Cerith snail (massive, I don´t think I´ll add more Ceriths...)

2 tinny little Nassarius (I know that I said that they won´t go in there, but when I saw how tiny they are, I decided to give them a try)

My experience so far:

The hermit crab is scavenging around the rockwork, quite good in that.

The Cerith snail hasn´t done a lot so far, it just plows the sand in a speed of 1 inch/hour (I´m not even joking 🤣)

The Nassarius are awesome! They zip around the tank, eat a lot of diatoms from the glass and rocks. Are they even supposed to do that?! I´ve heard that they just burrow in the sand and wait for food.

My parameters:

I only used a quick test, the pH was fine, so was the KH, NO2 undetected, NO3 near zero... No silicates whatsoever, even phosphates have dropped! What in the earth can be fueling those diatoms... 🤔

Some questions 😀:

Any suggestions on expanding my CUC? I was thinking on adding an Ophiolepis superba next week, or maybe something else...

When should I expect the diatoms to start to disappear? I was thinking on adding a first frag of zoas (as @Snow_Phoenix kindly suggested) in a few weeks, if the parameters are ok and the diatoms will be no more.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Yeah, that starfish was just one option, there are plenty of others. I probably won´t add it because i need to keep the bioload as low as possible if I want to succeed. My CUC is looking good at the moment, water parameters stable. I was thinking of adding a nerite or two to help with the diatoms, but I see that the diatom bloom is slowing down and slowly disappearing, so I think I won´t add them at the moment...

Link to comment

Glad you are asking 😀

The tank will be focused mainly on zoanthids, no other softies inside (maybe a GSP background, but that could quickly get out of control). Then, when the zoas settle in, I want to add one euphyllia paarancora polyp to the top, to make som movement. Maybe a few other LPS too (caulastrea, blastomussa). I don´t really think that it would be able to support SPS, but if I will feel confident enough, I´ll add a small birdsnest coral frag, too. But I think that would require a lighting upgrade, because this light what I have now is just DIY, nothing special.

Link to comment

hehe tidal gardens youtube has fed me a lot of coral info

 

Pavona is an easy sps but doesnt look like a conventional one, branching forms have a more club like appearance. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment

Same, tidal gardens videos are great with excellent footage... I would love to keep all kinds of corals inside, but as you know, I´m veeeery restricted by the dimensions of the tank... it´s tiny! I don´t think I will have space for pavonas, but thanks for the tip!

  • Like 3
Link to comment

Just a little update:

My CUC is doing a good job in controlling the diatom outbrake, the diatoms have almost disappeared.

I´m excited because I´m gonna pick-up the first 3 frags for my pico reef this friday! They will be all zoanthids, Jungle Juice, Bam Bam orange and Lime Chilli.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

The corals have arrived!

 

Lime Chilli in the foreground... Bam Bam in the background...

125408831_411080769923011_5801087424176605923_n.thumb.jpg.370b2857b127ce707e2b4599fa0ca159.jpg

 

 

Lime Chilli detail...

125220424_890651478139230_9109108563626424898_n.thumb.jpg.22e89c4b91c24d3075cf9d6ca2fe33c5.jpg

 

 

The Jungle Juice haven´t opened up yet...

125392800_367476297663922_3505546353882685995_n.thumb.jpg.b3a5133718f5a7f58eba457360f334bd.jpg

 

 

The zoas and some GSP (got it for free)...

125526882_2884923035071280_2665120929919736290_n.thumb.jpg.d68657b8040fe5c5eebf2c66226f3116.jpg

 

 

 

As you can see, some of the corals haven´t opened up yet, but I can´t wait until they do so 😄

 

125426430_278641116907899_7755195010011153627_n.thumb.jpg.1f804d810a20ae30c8e4703b1c2cac6f.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment

Now, when the first corals are settling in, I have started to think about what fish would eventually be possible to keep in the tank. I got a lot of thoughts on what should be fine, but they were mostly about clown gobies, yellow-tail damselfish etc...

Banggai cardinalfish and Lawnomer blennies do really grab my interest, so do dragonets, but all of those fish are too big for this pico. Are there any unique fish, with interesting personalities (except clown gobies and damselfish) which could possibly be kept in this pico? Please, share your experience...

Link to comment

Barnacle blenny's may be small enough, I think the carribean sailfin's would probably get too big, maybe a Pictus blenny?  
I wouldn't put a damselfish in a system that small.

Trimma and coral croucher gobies are both oddballs you may prefer.
Dwarf saltwater rainbowfish could also be a possibility.

Lower flow means you could stock it with saltwater Endler's Guppies.

 

You could stock with interesting inverts instead of fish as another possibility.
 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment

Thanks @A.m.P!

I was thinking about stocking a blenny inside, maybe a linear or tailspot. I would love to get my hands on a coral croucher goby, however, they are pretty much impossible to get in my country.

14 minutes ago, A.m.P said:

You could stock with interesting inverts instead of fish as another possibility.

I was thinking about this option, actually, but I decided to go with the fish option for this tank... I don´t have a real reason, I just prefer fish to inverts... My plan is to create a dense reef with one small fish. I heard one interesting opinion, and that is, to stock not only one, but a breeding pair of clown gobies! What do you guys think of that? Could it work?

Link to comment
51 minutes ago, sr2z said:

Thanks @A.m.P!

I was thinking about stocking a blenny inside, maybe a linear or tailspot. I would love to get my hands on a coral croucher goby, however, they are pretty much impossible to get in my country.

I was thinking about this option, actually, but I decided to go with the fish option for this tank... I don´t have a real reason, I just prefer fish to inverts... My plan is to create a dense reef with one small fish. I heard one interesting opinion, and that is, to stock not only one, but a breeding pair of clown gobies! What do you guys think of that? Could it work?

No experience, but it's easier to find mated pairs of neon or blue/yellow line sharknose gobies and or green banded gobies (at least stateside)

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...