How filled to the brim old pico reefs are managing coral growth?

[ubpr]

There are old and overgrown pico reef tanks like pongpit's, andrewkw's or el fabuloso's. Just curious, how with so limited access they can possibly manage to trim, remove overgrown allotted for them space corals? Even with long hemostats, when moving them other corals get damaged.

 

Or leave them on their own to their own warfare or let them overcompete each other?

[ReefTaco]

This is not a pico but it's a small nano that's been running healthy for a long time

 

 

[Nano sapiens]

12 hours ago, ubpr said:

There are old and overgrown pico reef tanks like pongpit's, andrewkw's or el fabuloso's. Just curious, how with so limited access they can possibly manage to trim, remove overgrown allotted for them space corals? Even with long hemostats, when moving them other corals get damaged.

 

Or leave them on their own to their own warfare or let them overcompete each other?

 

An aquascape that allows for easy cleaning/access to coral, selective choice of appropriate corals and strategies for the control of growth.

 

Even with the best of planning, some coral aggression is inevitable over time.  After some bickering they often find a way to co-exist, but not always.

[ubpr]

I meant filled up picos, linked in my post, not really accessible for any operations inside other than inserting a hose for water changes and glass cleaning.

 

Some of them have gsp, xenia, zoas that grow covering all available space. With an access they can be removed, fragged and put back in a frag size. But how they could manage this without access and removing, who knows.

[Ratvan]

@natalia_la_loca, maybe you could assist on this with your experience with your reef bowl 

 

[jservedio]

45 minutes ago, ubpr said:

I meant filled up picos, linked in my post, not really accessible for any operations inside other than inserting a hose for water changes and glass cleaning.

 

Some of them have gsp, xenia, zoas that grow covering all available space. With an access they can be removed, fragged and put back in a frag size. But how they could manage this without access and removing, who knows.

 

My pico, and every other person I personally know with a pico, was designed specifically so that the entire rockscape is a single piece that can just be picked up and be removed from the tank. Just as @Nano sapiens said, careful aquascaping is the most important aspect in maintaining a pico long term. In many ways, picos are easier to manage than nanos because you can do 100% water changes with a single bucket and you can remove the entirety of your rock scape in one piece. Fragging is way easier when you can access your whole scape from any angle or direction.

 

Anyone who builds a pico where the rockscape can't be removed is in for a really rough time and they are at the mercy of their corals - you simply have to let them duke it out if you can't intervene. However, every single one you linked to can have the entire scape lifted out.

 

This was mine at 2 years before I incorporated into my 20g and I removed the entire rockscape every couple of months to deal with algae, coral issues, and just to ensure no detritus was building up under my scape. I'd do a rip clean and 100% WC once a year on this where I could glue down coral, frag, etc.

 

[ubpr]

Thank you, it makes sense, much easier this way. Appreciate your help!

[natalia_la_loca]

Hi, I’m super late to this convo but my experience/advice is pretty much the same as @Nano sapiens 

 

I should add that not all my rock scape is one piece. I use a lot of magnets to elevate frags above/away from the rock scape. This also makes them easy to remove for cleaning, trimming, etc. some coral warfare and competition will still happen in an aging system unless you stay right on top of it, which I don’t. 

[mcarroll]

On 11/18/2021 at 6:08 PM, ubpr said:

There are old and overgrown pico reef tanks like pongpit's, andrewkw's or el fabuloso's. Just curious, how with so limited access they can possibly manage to trim, remove overgrown allotted for them space corals? Even with long hemostats, when moving them other corals get damaged.

 

Or leave them on their own to their own warfare or let them overcompete each other?

How long did those pico's last, can you add them up?  I don't follow pico's usually so I'm not familiar with the ones you linked....but the first thread I looked at didn't seem like the tank was still running.

 

Make sure the tanks you are referencing lasted as long as you want yours to last.....otherwise their designs may not have been as good as you think.

[ubpr]

Brandon's Reef Bowl lasted for 10 years before major resetting and Maritza Reef Vase more than 6 yrs, with regular removing and fragging, both had more than enough accessible space for this.

I went for using larger tanks to keep corals in a bigger size, mini-colonies instead of micro-frags.