My simple 3.8 gallon pico

[1epauletteshark]

Hi! This is my first little pico and the only other tank I have is my 17 gallon nano, so I am quite new to reefing and I will need a bit of help with this tank 🙂.

 

Stocking:

 

Inverts

2x Small electric blue hermit crabs

3x Sexy shrimp

1x Bumble bee shrimp

1x Pom pom crab

 

Fish

1x Small yellow clown goby

1x Small pictus blenny

 

Equipment:

Medium size heater

Hang on the back filter

Thermometer

Day 4

This tank started with a pretty ugly completely DIY 3.1 gallon tub. This tank was originally a QT until the fish inside passed away.

Little pom pom crab

I had added 3 of my sexy shrimp

Can you spot the sexy shrimp?

Day 6

 

 There were only those two little bits of filter media in the filter so I packed if full of some more.

Day 10

I went by the store today and saw this aquarium for 6$ so I picked it up and transferred everything to it and I think it looks pretty nice? 

 

Looking good! 

 

I expect to buy the clown goby and the bumble bee shrimp tomorrow.

Here is my little friend called Nico. 

 

Day 11 (Day of posting)

New buddies arrived! 

I had absolutely no idea that bumble bee shrimp were so small! One of my new favorite inverts, if not my favorite 🙂! 
I'm going to need a name suggestion for the new yellow clown goby!

Side view 

 

 Top view

Everyone seems to like that rock in the corner  I think it is because flow is too high and that is the most sheltered part, I’ll turn flow down and see if anyone moves. I spotted a few little micro brittle star in one of the pieces of live rock so that is cool, I hope there are no bad hitchhikers though.
The pico is actually 3.8 gallons so a bit bigger than the tub. I think I’m the future I’ll get a little light and throw some macro algae in there if that’s possible? Once again, any ideas for a name for not only the goby but the little bumble bee shrimp too?

Instant best friends 🙂 these cute little guys spend all their time just sitting on their perch together.


I was thinking if I should add one of my nassarius or turbo snails? There are already the two hermits so I am not sure.
Please let me know and tips, tricks or just any feedback you may have, thanks in advance!

[1epauletteshark]

I want to add a candy cane pistol shrimp, they are only 1cm long and I think it will make a cool addition. What do you think?

[1epauletteshark]

I will be receiving a yellow stripe clingfish, my dream fish, for this tank.

[Tired]

I think before you add anything else, you need to add a lot more rockwork. Fish need places to hide, and you have very few. Live rock is also where your biofilter lives, which is vital for a tank that's already heavily stocked and will be more so once the fish matures. 

 

Candycane pistols are pretty active. They also get to more like 2-3cm, they don't stay 1cm. At minimum, you'd need the aforementioned lot more rockwork for it to burrow underneath. 

 

3 fish is too many fish for a pico, and IIRC those clingfish are difficult to feed. You might want to upgrade, quick, if that clingfish is already on its way. If it's not, don't get it yet- you absolutely shouldn't have 3 fish in a pico that, if I'm reading you right, isn't even a month old. You've got some cute critters to start with, but you need to slow way, way down, and perfect their habitat before adding anything else.

[1epauletteshark]

7 hours ago, Tired said:

I think before you add anything else, you need to add a lot more rockwork. Fish need places to hide, and you have very few. Live rock is also where your biofilter lives, which is vital for a tank that's already heavily stocked and will be more so once the fish matures. 

 

Candycane pistols are pretty active. They also get to more like 2-3cm, they don't stay 1cm. At minimum, you'd need the aforementioned lot more rockwork for it to burrow underneath. 

 

3 fish is too many fish for a pico, and IIRC those clingfish are difficult to feed. You might want to upgrade, quick, if that clingfish is already on its way. If it's not, don't get it yet- you absolutely shouldn't have 3 fish in a pico that, if I'm reading you right, isn't even a month old. You've got some cute critters to start with, but you need to slow way, way down, and perfect their habitat before adding anything else.

I am aware three fish is too many and I will be moving the blenny to my 17 gallon nano once the clingfish arrives however I found out that it has Ich last night and I will be treating the pico. I’ll look into getting more live rock as I know the importance it has on a marine aquarium. The aquarium water, filter and some sand came from my nano so the tank was quick cycled. The clingfish is already on the way but I am aware that I will need to put it in my nano once it gets too big but for now it will make the perfect little fish for this pico. The pistol shrimp is also confirmed so I can’t go back on that and it too can be transferred if it gets too big but maybe I could break one of the big pieces of LR in my nano into smaller pieces? There is too much in my nano already.

 

Thank you for all your feedback, I’ll do my best to make some changes 🙂

[1epauletteshark]

Day 12
 

Is I had mentioned in my post above, there is a bit of a wrench in my plans, I will still be getting the pistol and the clingfish but Nico has Ich. 😬I found out last night as it is hard to see his fins but he was sitting on the heater and I saw these white spots and instantly I knew what it was. I then performed a fresh water dip and nothing came off so I will be buying some invert safe Ich medication later today when I get the pistol shrimp.

 

 

In better news, this tank is coming along super well, there are quite a few hitchhikers that came with my little pieces of live rock including: micro bristle stars, amphipods etc. This live rock has been amazing and I definitely need to get more but at the moment it isn’t possible.

[1epauletteshark]

I was thinking about buying a bumble bee snail when I get the pistol, or should I just add a turbo from my nano? There are the two hermits but they have shells, do you think adding a snail as CUC is a good idea? The hermits are really good at eating leftover food and the blenny takes care of the little bit of algae in the tank.

[Tired]

Bumblebee snails eat worms, so you don't really want them in the average reef tank. 

 

You can buy dry rock instead of live, and it'll turn into live rock over time. Or, yes, you can move some rock over. Either way, increasing the amount of rockwork is a high priority.

 

There is no reef-safe, effective treatment for marine ich. Both fish in the pico will have to be moved to a quarantine tank for treatment. You should probably also assume your nano tank is infected, so you'll likely want to do the same to the fish there, and leave both tanks fallow for a couple months to let the ich die off. That will give you time to put the clingfish through a proper QT. 

 

You absolutely should not put that clingfish in the pico tank. It's likely to starve in a tank that small, that new, and with that little rock. There's very little info available on these guys, but hatching live BBS for it is probably worth a shot. 

[1epauletteshark]

The bumble bee snails and the small pistol shrimp arrived a while ago here are some photos

I put this little guy in then had to move the rock he was next to and I haven’t seen him since.

I bought one bumble bee shrimp but the very kind person running the store sent me two.

Side view

Top view

[1epauletteshark]

2 hours ago, Tired said:

Bumblebee snails eat worms, so you don't really want them in the average reef tank. 

 

You can buy dry rock instead of live, and it'll turn into live rock over time. Or, yes, you can move some rock over. Either way, increasing the amount of rockwork is a high priority.

 

There is no reef-safe, effective treatment for marine ich. Both fish in the pico will have to be moved to a quarantine tank for treatment. You should probably also assume your nano tank is infected, so you'll likely want to do the same to the fish there, and leave both tanks fallow for a couple months to let the ich die off. That will give you time to put the clingfish through a proper QT. 

 

You absolutely should not put that clingfish in the pico tank. It's likely to starve in a tank that small, that new, and with that little rock. There's very little info available on these guys, but hatching live BBS for it is probably worth a shot. 

I am aware that bumble bee snails eat worms but what exactly is the problem with that?

 

I added a GSP frag that will act as a nice little piece of live rock for now. I will get some more soon.

 

I am not 100% sure Nick has Ich. The parasites haven’t moved from what I can tell and they haven’t spread even after all the time the clown goby has been exposed. The same is to be said about the fish in my nano, all super healthy and no spots. He is still healthy and eating and swimming around the tank with no signs of other symptoms. I am still dosing a reef safe Ich medication even though I know there is pretty much no way it will work. I also don’t currently have a tank I can set up for QT.

 

I have done my research on this fish and all I am hoping is that I don’t end up with a male as they are much harder to take care of and harder to get eating frozen. I was planning on feeding some sort of live food like potentially BBS otherwise if I can tell it is not doing well in this small a tank I will move it to my nano if I believe this will give it a better quality of life.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[1epauletteshark]

2 minutes ago, 1epauletteshark said:

I am aware that bumble bee snails eat worms but what exactly is the problem with that?

 

I added a GSP frag that will act as a nice little piece of live rock for now. I will get some more soon.

 

I am not 100% sure Nick has Ich. The parasites haven’t moved from what I can tell and they haven’t spread even after all the time the clown goby has been exposed. The same is to be said about the fish in my nano, all super healthy and no spots. He is still healthy and eating and swimming around the tank with no signs of other symptoms. I am still dosing a reef safe Ich medication even though I know there is pretty much no way it will work. I also don’t currently have a tank I can set up for QT.

 

I have done my research on this fish and all I am hoping is that I don’t end up with a male as they are much harder to take care of and harder to get eating frozen. I was planning on feeding some sort of live food like potentially BBS otherwise if I can tell it is not doing well in this small a tank I will move it to my nano if I believe this will give it a better quality of life.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

I would like to say, I am still quite sure Nick has Ich as he has those signature salt grain spots and seems to be hiding a bit more than usual.

[Tired]

Having something in your reef tank that eats your microfauna runs counter to the goal of establishing a healthy little ecosystem. Also, bumblebee snails scavenge meaty foods, like hermits do. They don't do much for algae. 

 

The white dots you see on a fish with ich aren't parasites. They're the fish's immune reaction to the protozoan infecting it. They don't move around- each individual dot lasts a few days, then goes away. 

 

A quarantine tank doesn't need to be anything extensive. Just a container with flow, heat, and clean water. You need to not be putting a newly arrived fish into a tank with an active disease, ineffective ich medication or no, and lack of visible infection doesn't mean a fish is healthy. 

 

Do you have the setup ready to hatch BBS? They take 18-24 hours to hatch out, so you'll want to get that going before the clingfish arrives. I like this thing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRZT369 and San Francisco Bay brand eggs. 

[1epauletteshark]

4 hours ago, Tired said:

Having something in your reef tank that eats your microfauna runs counter to the goal of establishing a healthy little ecosystem. Also, bumblebee snails scavenge meaty foods, like hermits do. They don't do much for algae. 

 

The white dots you see on a fish with ich aren't parasites. They're the fish's immune reaction to the protozoan infecting it. They don't move around- each individual dot lasts a few days, then goes away. 

 

A quarantine tank doesn't need to be anything extensive. Just a container with flow, heat, and clean water. You need to not be putting a newly arrived fish into a tank with an active disease, ineffective ich medication or no, and lack of visible infection doesn't mean a fish is healthy. 

 

Do you have the setup ready to hatch BBS? They take 18-24 hours to hatch out, so you'll want to get that going before the clingfish arrives. I like this thing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRZT369 and San Francisco Bay brand eggs. 

Ah yes, that makes sense. I don't need them for algae I just think they look cool 🙂

 

Do they need to be treated? I had a feeling it wasn't Ich because he is still out everyday sitting on his rocks.

I don't have the setup ready, but I do know where to get one. I also know where to buy the eggs.

[Tired]

Fish with ich will sit out on rocks. It takes a severe infection to make fish hide constantly. Imagine how sick you'd have to feel for you to give up on eating and hide all the time. 

 

Yes, ich needs to be treated. By "those aren't parasites", I meant "those are something else bad", not "those are fine". Saltwater ich is a protozoan disease, not a parasitic infection (at least, not one with parasites you can see with your naked eye), and it's a protozoan disease that needs treatment. 

 

When is the clingfish going to get here? You need to get that brine shrimp setup going at least 24 hours before then. Ideally you should get it as soon as possible, in case it's broken or you have some other problem with it. You don't want to be left with no food for the clingfish. 

[1epauletteshark]

11 minutes ago, Tired said:

Fish with ich will sit out on rocks. It takes a severe infection to make fish hide constantly. Imagine how sick you'd have to feel for you to give up on eating and hide all the time. 

 

Yes, ich needs to be treated. By "those aren't parasites", I meant "those are something else bad", not "those are fine". Saltwater ich is a protozoan disease, not a parasitic infection (at least, not one with parasites you can see with your naked eye), and it's a protozoan disease that needs treatment. 

 

When is the clingfish going to get here? You need to get that brine shrimp setup going at least 24 hours before then. Ideally you should get it as soon as possible, in case it's broken or you have some other problem with it. You don't want to be left with no food for the clingfish. 

I have one question, can a not too bad Ich infection become severe? I know it will spread but will it get worse if not treated?

 

It will be a while until it arrives. It hasn't even been sent from Bali yet.

11 minutes ago, Tired said:

Fish with ich will sit out on rocks. It takes a severe infection to make fish hide constantly. Imagine how sick you'd have to feel for you to give up on eating and hide all the time. 

 

Yes, ich needs to be treated. By "those aren't parasites", I meant "those are something else bad", not "those are fine". Saltwater ich is a protozoan disease, not a parasitic infection (at least, not one with parasites you can see with your naked eye), and it's a protozoan disease that needs treatment. 

 

When is the clingfish going to get here? You need to get that brine shrimp setup going at least 24 hours before then. Ideally you should get it as soon as possible, in case it's broken or you have some other problem with it. You don't want to be left with no food for the clingfish. 

I have one question, can a not too bad Ich infection become severe? I know it will spread but will it get worse if not treated?

 

It will be a while until it arrives. It hasn't even been sent from Bali yet.

[Tired]

Yes, it's likely to get worse. Fish can cope with a tiny amount of ich on them, but once it develops to the point where you're seeing symptoms, that means it's overwhelming the fish's immune system and needs to be treated. Properly treated, in a separate tank, while this one sits fallow. Otherwise this fish is going to be miserable, and may die. Having it sick will also increase the amount of ich in the tank, meaning that any other fish in with it may progress from asymptomatic infection to symptomatic infection and become sick as well.

 

You'll also either need to treat the fish in your other tank, or be very careful about keeping the other tank separate from this one; any water, rocks, tools, equipment, or anything else that goes into a tank with an ich infection can spread that infection to other tanks, even if the fish in the tank don't appear to be sick. Fish can (and frequently do) carry ich without being symptomatic, until something stresses them enough to let the ich get an upper hand. 

[1epauletteshark]

Day 12

I finally got a light for this tank and the GSP has emerged and is looking really nice and Nico loves to be around it.
 

There are no spots on Nico anymore but I know that does not mean the Ich is gone.

 

I finally found where my mini pistol shrimp went, here is a photo but it is impossible to see his hole (it is just a small hole that goes under the rock)

 

I have created my DIY hang on brine shrimp hatchery and I am just waiting on the brine shrimp eggs then I’ll start hatching them.

[1epauletteshark]

@Tired I’m sure you know best about this but for the GSP I still dipped it but next time I get a coral should I not dip it so that all the copepods and other beneficial critters can help form the ecosystem in my pico?

[1epauletteshark]

Eggs arrived and I am super exited. Now we wait for hatching. Will my yellow clown goby eat them?

[Tired]

My approach to corals is to dip them, and to have a pipette and some clean water on hand to capture any helpful critters I see jump off the coral. 

 

A clown goby should eat BBS, yes. Any tiny fish that doesn't eat BBS probably has something wrong with it, barring things like baby scorpionfish that are looking for larger prey.