pabloescolar Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Hey everybody! This is my first trek into the saltwater world, so I wanted to be a part of this community to help guide my choices in the coming months. I'll first outline the equipment I'm starting with, and go from there. Petco 3.7g cube: One potential benefit I can already see with my limited knowledge is that the built in chambers for filtration mimics setups I've seen recommended for some reef tanks. The things I'll probably need to change immediately are the pump, which is a 40 gph with a single powerhead. I've read that that's about half of the gph I'll need for this volume, so I'm thinking about going with this Sicce Mi Mouse: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZJDMZ2/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=ZIT71DRE1ER8&coliid=I1RR8KSTC5O3XE Also, the light that came with it is a 3w LED of unknown origin and spec. Front runners are these, any input is totally welcomed: Wave Point 12 inch: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZK816S/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=ZIT71DRE1ER8&coliid=IFROJN6EWXZVE TrueLumen 12 inch: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QE1YAQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=ZIT71DRE1ER8&coliid=I1X4NLE6XMZFUH Finnex FugeRay 10 inch http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007URO5QG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=ZIT71DRE1ER8&coliid=I3C1MKJ6LCLNG7&psc=1 Because I have some experience with freshwater tanks, I do understand the importance of cycling the tank, maintaining water parameters, and maintaining a lighting environment that works for the life under it. If I'm going in the wrong direction here with lighting, please let me know. My first step once light and pump are addressed will be getting s.g. reader of some kind, marine salt, about 5 lbs of live rock and 3 lbs of live sand to start cycling the tank. I was just going to go to Fish Gallery or AquaTek for that. If you've got better advice I'm all ears. One of the things that fascinated me about aquariums in general was learning to manage a variety of needs and personalities within a single ecosystem. I've got a very successful planted community tank with about 10 species of fish and inverts, and it's kept me entertained. But at Fish Gallery the other day, I saw a very small 7 gallon saltwater tank with a variety of life inside. To my inexpert eyes, it seemed like between corals, inverts, fish, etc, there had to be at least 30 different species in that tiny little tank. This kind of blew me away coming from the freshwater world. I think my ultimate goal for this tiny little tank is to see how many different species I can balance while keeping everything happy inside. What do you guys think I could accomplish? 15? 25? 50? Thanks for reading, and I really hope to get some pointers from all your collected knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 I forgot to mention the heater - I'm thinking of going with a 25 watt preset to 78 degrees. Doesn't seem like there are a lot of options out there, basically just Hagen Elite, Aqueon, or a submersible intended for a turtle tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Take it from someone who started with a 3 gallon, you won't be able to keep many fish in there. I was able to keep a small fish and a decorative fish in it with half gallon a week water changes. You might be able to get two fish into your tank but they would both have to stay pretty small and be really peaceful or you will run into territory disputes and just general fights. As for coral you probably should stick with mushrooms, zoas, and palys. Gsp looks great in a pico tank but it is really hard to keep isolated so that it does not take over the tank, in my 3 gallon I had gsp take over 2/3 of the Aquascape in about a month, same thing goes for cloves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Thanks for the tips Larry! I agree, I wasn't planning on going with more than 2 fish. I'm thinking the smallest clownfish I can find, and one other tiny ornamental. I got live rock and live sand today to start the cycle, I'll post pics when its up. Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I had a 3g pico on my desk at work for years. Larry's right about not having many fish, but you can do some corals and inverts that make it entertaining. Look at the tailspot blenny. You could also do a small goby and pistol shrimp combo. My favorite in that tank was an emerald crab who would greet me waving his arms every morning until I gave him a piece of nori. A few scarlet hermits and some snails will help with algae. As for corals, with low light you can do mushrooms and something like a kenya tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I had a tailspot blenny in my 3 gallon and he was great. A skunkback psuedochromis is also a good size and very active in a three gallon but I learned the hard way that they don't play nice with decorative shrimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 I had a 3g pico on my desk at work for years. Larry's right about not having many fish, but you can do some corals and inverts that make it entertaining. Look at the tailspot blenny. You could also do a small gobi and pistol shrimp combo. My favorite in that tank was an emerald crab who would greet me waving his arms every morning until I gave him a piece of nori. A few scarlet hermits and some snails will help with algae. As for corals, with low light you can do mushrooms and something like a kenya tree. I had a tailspot blenny in my 3 gallon and he was great. A skunkback psuedochromis is also a good size and very active in a three gallon but I learned the hard way that they don't play nice with decorative shrimp. Thanks for the feedback guys! I'll look those up and see what they look like. Someone at Fish Gallery today recommended the Lawnmower Blenny. He seemed pretty cool too. I'm a few weeks away from adding much life while it cycles, I'll keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Here's the set up for cycling. Now we wait. My general understanding is that I shouldn't add any more life to it until the tank is completely cycled. If there is something I /should/ add to aid the process, let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Lawnmower blennies can get pretty big so I would stay away from them unless you plan to upgrades he tank or get rid of it later one, as for helping the cycle you could add a bacteria starter like biospira or fritz. Did you start with live rock or dry rock? You might also want to pull the rock away from the back wall so you can clean it and also make sure it is stable so you don't have a collapse when you start adding things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Lawnmower blennies can get pretty big so I would stay away from them unless you plan to upgrades he tank or get rid of it later one, as for helping the cycle you could add a bacteria starter like biospira or fritz. Did you start with live rock or dry rock? You might also want to pull the rock away from the back wall so you can clean it and also make sure it is stable so you don't have a collapse when you start adding things. Cool, all things noted. Started with 5.5 lbs of live rock, 3 lbs of live sand and a scoop of live sand from the Fish Gallery tanks for the bacteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Since you started with live rock and a starter of sand you should be good for bacteria cultures so it is just a waiting game make sure you test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates (bare minimum test for nitrates) you should see a rise in ammonia followed by that dropping off and being replaced by nitrites then last the nitrites being replaced by nitrates once you get there do a good sized water change and you should be ready to go. You will want to do this with the tank as dark as possible or you are likely to end up with and algae bloom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Thanks for the feedback guys! I'll look those up and see what they look like. Someone at Fish Gallery today recommended the Lawnmower Blenny. He seemed pretty cool too. I'm a few weeks away from adding much life while it cycles, I'll keep you posted. +1 on the Lawnmower being a bad choice. They get large and they also like to eat algae, I'm afraid he'd starve in your tank. If you haven't been yet, swing by the Aquadome. They tend to have numerous "nano/pico" fish in stock and won't steer you wrong. Having had a clown in mine, I also wouldn't recommend it as they grow quickly and honestly get bored in a tank that size. Other candidates would be pipefish, since you won't have a strong current you can get something really unique. Keep in mind that they tend to eat a bit often, so make sure you will be able to cater to whatever you put in there. In addition to the tailspot blenny, take a look at: Hector's Goby, Clown Goby (can be hard to get eating non-live food), Prawn Goby, Hi Fin Goby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I had a 5 gallon pico up for about a year and a half and if I were to do it again, I wouldn't stock fish in it at all. I mentioned it in my build thread a few times, but it's almost impossible to keep nutrients in check with even 2x per week feeding. Was fighting cyano problems the entire time I had fish in the tank and that was with about 100% water changes per week. As far as lawnmowers go, I don't think they should even be in the aquarium trade. They have an extremely poor survival rate past a few months. Most starve or die of unknown causes well under a year in a tank, much quicker in small tanks. I wouldn't try one in less that at least 75 gallons and that would only be without any competing herbivores or a very well fed tank. If you don't have a heater yet, the via aqua titanium heaters are really good for small tanks, pricey though. The thermostat / controller is external which I have always preferred. If you can find one, the mini jet 606 pups are great for pico's. They have pretty much the smallest footprint for the volume they pump that I've found. They were discontinued, so it's tough to get them anymore without paying an arm and a leg for them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 We have a Fluval Spec V that has been up and running for about 20 months. It's loaded with softies and a few LPS pieces. A few ghost shrimp, pistol shrimp / high fin goby pair, and a red possum wrasse. All of the livestock gets fed daily and we do a 1 gallon water change when the glass starts getting dusted with that light brown powdery algae (not sure what that algae is called). The key for our nano was to let it mature and keep up with routine maintenance. Patience, patience, and more patience. Good luck with yours and enjoy the journey. I will attach a few pics of ours. Nothing special but cool none the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 It is so nice to have all this knowledge to draw on. Thanks everyone for your input! I think it's pretty clear at this point that there was a miscommunication at Fish Gallery. Given what you all have told me, neither the clownfish or the Lawnmower Benny are a potential option for me. I think maybe the person I spoke with was unfamiliar with saltwater species. The prawn and hi fin goby's look amazing. What wonderful little weirdos. Clownfitch, the tank looks very nice. Because I want to try and get as much diversity as possible, I need to figure out growth rates of some of this stuff when it's healthy so I don't have to set up a frag tank just to keep the tank under control. Again, thanks everyone for the comments. I know almost nothing still about what's possible here so I love hearing about all these species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 So I've noticed that after a full day of running the tank, my salinity has already jumped .003. Is that all evaporation or is it potentially the live rock and sand interacting with the new water? I understand a lot of people use ATOs but I'm curious if I can expect to have to manually top off with fresh water every day to maintain salinity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 On my 3gal I had to top off everyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 On my 3g I had to top off every day until I added a piece of plexiglass over the top. You'll want some openings to interact with air, but covering it will slow the topoff you must do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Since you have a all in one it would not be terribly hard to hide an auto top off in a back chamber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Yeah I've looked at a couple ATOs but at the moment I'll keep topping off by hand given that they're in the $150 range. That's more than I've got in the whole setup so far! I've been digging deep doing research on lighting and I think I've found a solution that satisfies all my spectrum and color temperature needs. I'll post pics and comments as I work through the DIY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm going to pull the live rock out and glue up a mini amphitheatre type arrangement - three upright walls splayed out then lay one or two unglued in the center on the sand bed. Does that sound crazy to anyone? Also, when the time comes to start picking up coral species/frags, what are local sources you all have good experiences with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm going to pull the live rock out and glue up a mini amphitheatre type arrangement - three upright walls splayed out then lay one or two unglued in the center on the sand bed. Does that sound crazy to anyone? Also, when the time comes to start picking up coral species/frags, what are local sources you all have good experiences with? Upright walls will make it hard to mount corals to, if you are dead set on an amphitheater setup I would suggest arranging it like the front of the tank is the stage with a sloping rock structure in a u shape like the stands in an outdoor theater. This will make placing coral easier and also prevent lower corals from getting shaded. As for where to buy frags, i am a fan of buying them from other reefers but you can also get good quality frags from the local fish stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm going to pull the live rock out and glue up a mini amphitheatre type arrangement - three upright walls splayed out then lay one or two unglued in the center on the sand bed. Does that sound crazy to anyone? Also, when the time comes to start picking up coral species/frags, what are local sources you all have good experiences with? Upright walls will make it hard to mount corals to, if you are dead set on an amphitheater setup I would suggest arranging it like the front of the tank is the stage with a sloping rock structure in a u shape like the stands in an outdoor theater. This will make placing coral easier and also prevent lower corals from getting shaded.As for where to buy frags, i am a fan of buying them from other reefers but you can also get good quality frags from the local fish stores. I think I'll try to make it more of a bowl like shape with an empty bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 That is what I am talking about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Yeah I've looked at a couple ATOs but at the moment I'll keep topping off by hand given that they're in the $150 range. That's more than I've got in the whole setup so far! I've been digging deep doing research on lighting and I think I've found a solution that satisfies all my spectrum and color temperature needs. I'll post pics and comments as I work through the DIY. check out autotopoff.com, $30-40 plug a container. I've been using mine for 6 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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