Islandoftiki Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Hello everyone, My name is John, and I'm new to the hobby of saltwater aquariums. I live in inner SE Portland. I've been very successfully keeping a heavily planted 7.5 gallon freshwater shrimp tank for the last year or so and thought it would be fun to take the plunge into saltwater. Given that a large aquarium is not a possibility for me right now, I decided to jump right in and take a stab at what is supposed to be the most difficult type of aquarium to keep. A saltwater pico reef... and not just a pico, but an extremely small 2 gallon pico. So, after months and months of researching pico reefs and what works and what doesn't, I have come up with the following: Tank: Fluval Spec 2 Gallon (Normally a freshwater shrimp or beta tank) Lighting: Par 30 BoostLED (3 royal blue, 1 cool white, 1 neutral white) Filtration: 2lbs live rock. All of the freshwater filter media removed and replaced with a 1/2 unit bag of Chemi-pure Elite, 1 mangrove, About a golf-ball sized chunk of Chaetomorpha macro algae (lit from behind 24/7 by the stock Fluval Speck LED lamp), Filter floss as necessary (I usually put some in when I clean the glass or do maintenance that stirs up particulates, or when feeding the favia). Pump: Stock pump replaced with a Mini-Jet 404 pump with the end caps removed to fit in the pump compartment. Substrate: I started with a medium-grained non-live aragonite which has since become live. About 1 1/2 inches deep. Temperature control: Reef Keeper Lite connected to an unregulated 7.5 watt Hydor mini-heater with the RKL set to 79 degrees. At 80 degrees, a desk fan will come on and help keep the temp down. Prior to adding the RKL, I was having issues keeping my temperature where I wanted it. Using a 25 watt Hydor Theo heater, I was having a temperature fluctuation between 78 degrees and 82 or more. Since Adding the RKL, I am keeping my temps no lower than 79 degrees and no higher than 80.1 degrees. I'm pretty happy with this. Inhabitants: 1 Peppermint shrimp (love this little guy), One Mexican red-leg hermit crab, one white-leg hermit crab (he was a hitchhiker on a frag I bought at a LFS), Two stomatella snails (hitchhikers on the original live rock), 1 Nassarius snail, various pods, worms and other micro-fauna. Corals: For the most part, this is going to remain a tank for hermatypic (photosynthetic) corals that require little to no feeding. I think this will be the most logical approach to a 2 gallon pico. Fouling the water with excess food is a major concern. Current corals include a variety of colorful mushrooms/rhodactis/ricordea. I also have a very small favia that gets target fed once a week. I also have a really awesome and active xenia that is the centerpiece of the aquarium. There are some small purple/black hitchhiker sponges that are starting to grow. Feeding: The shrimp and hermits are fed every two to three days with Sera Shrimps Natural pellets. One little pellet per individual. They really love these pellets. It's a good blend that my ornamental freshwater shrimp also love. The favia gets a drop or two of appropriate frozen coral food once a week. I think that about covers it, if anyone has any questions or useful suggestions, let me know. Here is a small photo album of my tank: www.photobucket.com/islandoftikireef Edit: If this link doesn't work for you, copy and paste the following into your browser address bar: www.photobucket.com/islandoftikireef And for those of you who haven't seen it yet, a short video: (I already posted this earlier this week) Cheers! John P.S. I will be joining PNWMAS and look forward to meeting other saltwater enthusiasts in the area! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 That is an awsome tank!!! A word of cation though, I had pom pom Xenia in my 2.5 and it took over. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Yeah, actually. I was going to ask for some advice regarding the smaller piece that's sitting lower in the tank. It appears to be going on a walkabout, and it's moving towards the zoas. It's moved off of it's original piece of frag rock and onto the main rock. It's now about to walk over the top of a small colony of four zoanthids, and it's tickling another larger colony of zoas. Anyone want a small frag of xenia? It's particularly healthy and awesome. I'd trade it for a mushroom frag or a couple zoas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 (welcome) to the obsession Sounds like you've done some homework, that's great. It's always a learning process in this hobby and usually an expensive one DOH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrybeck Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Love all the planning you've put into this. --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=47.704128,-122.582277 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Well, I won't say it hasn't been without some failure. I believe that's to be expected. The failures were as follows: Adding a small Fire Shrimp. It was a beautiful shrimp, but the one I got seems to have been unusually aggressive. It made feeding time difficult because he would horde and steal all of the food from the peppermint shrimp and hermit crabs. Adding a crocea clam with said fire shrimp. The clam was doing great. It was a smaller clam, and I was supplemental feeding it with live phytoplankton. The fire shrimp apparently was fascinated by or annoyed by the crocea clam. The fire shrimp literally stood next to the clam and every time it would extend it's mantle, the shrimp would poke the clam or whip it with it's antenna and cause the clam to close up. I was considering removing the fire shrimp when I came home to the clam gaping and very unhappy. Unfortunately it didn't survive the ordeal. I have yet to find any other anecdotal stories of an issue like this. Perhaps the clam simply didn't make a good transition to the pico tank and the shrimp knew it. I know it can be difficult to keep smaller crocea. The fire shrimp got re-homed. Drama in the tank abated. Aside from that, the tank parameters have been very stable and everything is doing well. Coraline algae is starting to grow on the glass in a couple spots. I'm contemplating adding a pom pom crab, but I'm hesitant as it might cause problems with my peppermint shrimp. General consensus seems to be that they'd get along, but it's a pico, quarters are tight and critters need their space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriz2fer Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Congrats man its good to see you didn't just buy a tank and start stocking. You are on the right path and things seem to be doing great. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 I started out by reading several books on nano-reefs just to get a general idea of the maintenance needs of small saltwater aquariums. I then started to realize that the rules are a bit different for a pico. In some ways it's easier, but it also has a lot of limitations that a nano doesn't have. However, you can still build an amazing pico that has very modest maintenance needs if you chose your stock carefully. My next project will be a larger tank for a mantis shrimp. It sounds like most people keep mantis in a FOWLR type tank. I'd also like to include a mushroom garden in this tank so it doesn't just look like a bunch of dead rock. I suspect there will be a few challenges with a tank like this and need to do a lot more research before proceed with any equipment purchasing. I'm thinking it will need to be a minimum of a 10 gallon tank if not larger depending on the variety of mantis. Does anyone have a mantis-only tank that they're running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Well, I managed to track down a Pom Pom crab with it's pom poms in tact and an asterea snail for $15 bucks. Thank you black-friday sale! They're acclimating now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 And he's now in the tank. Looks to be doing well. Hiding a little, but also exploring. Hasn't met the peppermint shrimp yet. I couldn't help but make a short video... http://youtu.be/pHxUdIwfqiI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Thats awesome I really hope that he works out for you cause that is one sweet looking crab. Love the video =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Re-uploaded the video in full HD He's been hanging out with my peppermint shrimp. So far they get along great. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbird Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Wow thats amazing. I had no idea you can do so much with a smaller tank! Is a problem keeping everthing stable with a 2 gallon setup? I have to add 1 to 2 gallons a day just from evaporation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Pico's can be greatly enjoyed:) Very well thought out so far. Water changes will be the best way to monitor the water quality in there. If u change water a few times a week, small amounts, your tank will love you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 When I get some spare time, I'll do a little writeup on picos. There are some good books and a lot of info on nanos, but the rules change slightly with picos. Water changes are critical to renew lost minerals and remove waste. Dosing is generally unnecessary and often not recommended. I check my parameters every week prior to water changes to make sure I don't need to up the amount or frequency. So far 1-1.5 quarts per week is doing well. I just removed a golf-ball sized chunk of chaeto from the back compartment, so it's doing well and exporting nutrients, and the mangrove is growing well. So far, so good. I'll probably continue to add more interesting zoas and mushrooms, but that's about it. Some of the mushrooms are already starting to reproduce. The zoas haven't started yet. I inspect everything thoroughly every day for signs of anything going wrong, and keep a close eye on the overall health of the inhabitants. All in all, it's been a total success. Just have to be diligent about maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 Is a problem keeping everthing stable with a 2 gallon setup? I have to add 1 to 2 gallons a day just from evaporation. Actually, no problems with top-ups. I add about 1/2 cup per day or less. It can easily go two days without a top-up and no measurable salinity change. The top of the Fluval spec is partially covered, but not completely. It has a circular opening in the middle that is three inches is diameter. This is a pretty good compromise of evaporation control and gas exchange. So, no problems with water top-up. I would want to have an ATO if I had to leave it for more than two days. Fortunately, I have a friend who loves babysitting my tanks when I go on vacation. :-) Two of my freshwater tiger shrimp had babies yesterday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbird Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Actually, no problems with top-ups. I add about 1/2 cup per day or less. It can easily go two days without a top-up and no measurable salinity change. The top of the Fluval spec is partially covered, but not completely. It has a circular opening in the middle that is three inches is diameter. This is a pretty good compromise of evaporation control and gas exchange. So, no problems with water top-up. I would want to have an ATO if I had to leave it for more than two days. Fortunately, I have a friend who loves babysitting my tanks when I go on vacation. :-) Two of my freshwater tiger shrimp had babies yesterday! Thank you for the info, this might be a fun future project. Congrads on the new shrimp babys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast5oranger Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Love the Donut vs. videos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Did somebody say dinner? The boys all come out to see what smells so good. [/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Quick update with pictures. Lots has been going on in the pico reef. The little sixline has been hard at work cleaning up the flatworms. I only see the odd one or two in there now. A couple weeks and they should be gone. My two bumpy red mushrooms are now four. One of them actually split into three. There are two baby mushrooms where he was. Below them, I filled that empty spot with a gorgeous dusty pink ricordia with a purple skirt. I just added it on Friday. The parent mushroom of the two babies detached from the rock and floated around the tank until I stabbed him with a toothpick and convinced him to attach to the rock at the back right side of the tank. The ricordea in this picture has been growing pretty well. It likes to eat meaty bits of food. I also added some beautiful red zoas on Friday. The closed ones on top are supposed to be blue, but they haven't opened yet. That bright blue mushroom below them is one of my favorites. It's kinda iridescent. I want to frag it up and make more! My green mushrooms also made a baby (the little guy left of the parent). I have three now! And these two have turned out to be a couple of hams. Total attention seekers. That's about it. Everything is going great. I've upped the water changes to twice a week while the sixline is in there, but I have the feeling it's probably not necessary. Better safe than sorry, IMO. I don't think they'll complain about good water quality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 (welcome) to the obsession Sounds like you've done some homework, that's great. It's always a learning process in this hobby and usually an expensive one DOH! It sure is, man! I've just started and I'm almost broke. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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