Pico shrimp tank

[Guest]

Hi,

I know the basics of freshwater fish keeping, but am considering a Pico saltwater tank because I'm passionate about reefs, and I'm eager to learn about coral and marine life. I would very much appreciate someone to give me an overall view of what keeping a saltwater tank entails as I'm not sure I can handle something that is too expensive (over a few hundred dollars ). I'm thinking of having 1 Green Star Polyp frag and 4 Anemone shrimp in a 5 gallon tank. I'm very new to the saltwater tank keeping hobby, so all tips and info will be greatly appreciated! Especially info about Anemone shrimp because I am having trouble learning about what care they require. I also have a few random questions in specific that I'd like answered. 

• What is "live rock" and what does it do in the aquarium?
• What is "live sand" is this just sand with beneficial bacteria in it already?
• Is keeping shrimp harder than keeping fish?
• Are Green Star Polyp hard to keep, and do they sting?
• Does Green Star Polyp glow at night?
• Are Green Star Polyps hardy to water parameter or temperature fluctuations?
• And finally, what can I feed Green Star Polyp and Anemone shrimp?

Sorry for all these questions!

-Thanks

[Amnemonemomne]

On 7/10/2022 at 11:46 PM, Sea Student said:

• What is "live rock" and what does it do in the aquarium?
• What is "live sand" is this just sand with beneficial bacteria in it already?
• Is keeping shrimp harder than keeping fish?
• Are Green Star Polyp hard to keep, and do they sting?
• Does Green Star Polyp glow at night?
• Are Green Star Polyps hardy to water parameter or temperature fluctuations?
• And finally, what can I feed Green Star Polyp and Anemone shrimp?

1. so live rock is where bacteria and other stuff live inside the rock, the rock then acts as a biological filter for your tank (still buy all the filters and stuff)'

2. live sand also has a bunch of bacteria inside and is packaged in a wet bag so that the bacteria lives

3. tbh i don't exactly know

4. GSP (shorter name for the coral) are the easiest coral to keep and no they don't sting

5. they can glow at night if you have the light still on (light should only be on 8-12 hours)

6. GSP doesn't need feeding but you can feed pellets and for the shrimp you can feed pellets or mysis shrimp

extras: if you want later on, you could try and get a rock flower anemone to pair up with one of your shrimp. Pico tanks are harder to maintain so if I were you, I would get a bigger tank (if you can) since it's your first saltwater tank. Good luck!

[Amnemonemomne]

oh oops forgot about that parameter question for the gsp

answer: GSP are very hardy, so they can be quite forgiving for mistakes

[Guest]

Thank you for your helpful replies! Unfortunately, I can't afford a bigger tank as it's just too much room and more expensive to fill up with water during water changes, requires more salt, etc. I've heard once that Live Rock is partly composed of Aragonite. Is this true and if so will it dissolve into the water? (since Aragonite is a form of Calcium Carbonate). Sounds like GSP is perfect for a Pico tank, since you say they are forgiving. Are Anemone Shrimp the same or are they sensitive to water conditions?

Again, thanks for you answers! And sorry for the many questions.

[jservedio]

When you say "a few hundred dollars," exactly how much are we talking about? If you are purchasing new, for a 5g tank, you should expect to pay around $200 for the tank, light, heater, powerhead, and an HOB filter on the low end before you even start getting into your sand, rock, test kits, salt mix, refractometer, other miscellaneous maintenance gear, and livestock. You will also need to factor in about $5-10/mo for RODI water for topoffs and water changes since you can't use tap water until you get your own RODI machine.

 

If this seems a little out of budget, you may want to start looking on Facebook Marketplace or similar for used equipment or a full setup.

 

There is a ton of information here on NR about setting up your first tank: https://www.nano-reef.com/articles/

[Guest]

My limit is around $300, a pretty tight budget I know. As much as I'd love to get into the saltwater tank hobby, having just read your reply I'm pretty sure it's just too expensive for me.

[jservedio]

51 minutes ago, Sea Student said:

My limit is around $300, a pretty tight budget I know. As much as I'd love to get into the saltwater tank hobby, having just read your reply I'm pretty sure it's just too expensive for me.

Don't discount used gear, you can find some great deals and it'll give you time to learn about the hobby while you collect what you need. It'll also give you an opportunity to see tons of other people's tanks in person and get an idea of how they do things. There are a million different ways to run a tank.

[Guest]

Thanks, that's a good idea. I only try to avoid buying used equipment in case they are too old or faulty. 

[fenderchamp]

you might consider a small reef-bowl, if you wish to keep the budget as small as possible.  I think people generally only use a light/heater and a small airpump. 

 

I've recently seen this pico-pro reefbowl light on sale https://premiumaquatics.com/products/picopro-white.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw_b6WBhAQEiwAp4HyIAK8JW3uLNMdLMkE2k0z64gOSRG5G-ivRvn9HDTINlX6mjh_eypl0hoCCm0QAvD_BwE too, but I believe that many people simply get those reef light bulbs and put them in a lamp of some kind over the bowl.  

 

search for "reef bowl" on this website to learn everything about them.

 

Coral keeping is not a cheap hobby, but patience and regular maintenance  while waiting for things to grow for months and even years, can make it less expensive. 

 

I would spend a lot of time carefully reading build threads, find a few setups that you really admire and take the time to read them a few times and you can usually get an idea about what methods have succeeded over time.

 

Don't buy or do anything until you feel confident that you understand the basics.

 

 

 

 

[Tired]

No, live rock will not dissolve, not on any schedule you have to worry about. Live rock is rock made up of dead coral skeletons, that has bacteria and often other creatures living on it. The best kind of live rock is ocean live rock, which has been placed into the ocean for some amount of time in order to gather tons of biodiversity. The other kind of rock you can get is "dry rock", which has nothing living on it. You have to build up your critters and bacteria on your own.  

 

"Live sand", unless you get it from someone that's collected it from the ocean, is just sand that's had some beneficial bacteria poured into the bag. It's debatable whether it has any actual benefit over dead sand. 

 

Definitely check out Craigslist for potential deals. However, when buying an aquarium or anything to go into the aquarium, always ask if any medications were used with it. Copper-based medications can leach into surfaces and release later, and copper is toxic to invertebrates. 

[Guest]

Thank you, Tired. You certainly answered a lot of my questions about live rock!

[Amnemonemomne]

hows  the progress with your tank?

[MartianArmada]

To add to the GSP conversation, mine more or less shrinks into itself at night (or when a hermit walks on it) and looks like a purple skin on its rock with tiny little green spots. I'm not sure if they all hide at night, but don't be surprised if yours isn't flowing 24/7.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Amnemonemomne said:

hows  the progress with your tank?

Sorry if I haven't made it clear, but I don't have a tank yet. I'm just considering one.