3 gallon pico. brine shrimp, corals, and crabs, oh my!

[filefishfinatic]

i am starting a 3 gallon pico. it will have a 110 gph pump (i will set the flow lower though) i will use 100% old rock and sand and water for the tank, im unsure of stocking yet but id like some brine shrimp, some coral, and a mithrax crab. i want to use it for frags and to start i am going to use a lamp bulb like you would put in your ceiling. other livestock suggestions and advice are appreciated. i am going to set it up today and let it grow. i am not going to bother with a heater because my house is kinda warm 

[Tired]

Brine shrimp will die off of old age, and the eggs more than likely won't hatch without being dried and returned. Mysis shrimp are a better bet, as they should breed of their own accord, but you'll have to figure out how to keep them fed when the tank isn't mature yet. 

 

Ceiling bulbs aren't going to go over very well with most corals. They might work okay for macros, though. 

[DaJMasta]

Brine shrimp will probably get sucked into the powerhead before they die of old age, but likely won't stay around in the long term in either case.  I would get a shrimp that is longer lived, as to have a breeding colony of shrimp in basically any reef tank, you really can't have a powerhead or you have to be set up specifically for that.  Their early planktonic life cycle stages will be torn up by propeller pumps, and while they need to be suspended in the water (so you can't just leave it without flow, most of the time), it needs to be gentle (often air bubblers or similar are used).  110GPH will be a fair bit for the size, but along the long side of the tank, aimed with an outlet, or turned down will probably work pretty well.

 

Depending on the light bulb, you may need to keep it a ways away from the tank (or just make sure it's well ventilated), as it will put off a good bit of heat for a small tank if it's close.  Even if you don't end up running a heater, having a thermometer to check in for the first few weeks and make sure it's reasonable is probably good.  You also want to make sure your chosen coral is colorful under non-blue light (maybe bring a flashlight when shopping?) and that it doesn't require too much light, as most standard lamps will have less output than a reef rated light fixture.

 

A very small fish would probably do alright in there (a neon goby?), but I'm a fan of shrimp too, so a single cleaner maybe, a peppermint/camel shrimp, a couple of sexy shrimp, any of those could be good choices.

 

Some nice looking macroalgae could help with nutrient export and keeping the water clean - plenty of more decorative types won't grow crazy fast under those conditions so they wouldn't have to be trimmed too frequently.

 

Also make sure you have a plan for top off.  It sounds like you're setting up a cheap, low maintenance style tank, so either plan on daily topping up or getting a lid and then maybe weekly or every other week - much more of a low maintenance sort of style.

[filefishfinatic]

i am going to try a lid probably because i have a stupid amount of flow and ventilation so theres no problem along with the fact they are cold leds. i didnt add the brine but i added the sympodium (i think, im not sure but its a softy and its white when closed and red when open). mussels are going crazy and eating and i added a black legged hermit because i cannot find my mithrax. the coral isnt really pretty in there for now but its out of necessity. i might use some random plastic laying around in my house to make the lid. its probably acrylic and i have used it before in tanks