OP
OP
Not the basic ones. You can do a search and see they are quite popular for cleaning acrylic tanks, I just happen to have some around. I also have a TLF nano mag that works ok but takes a few passes.
It’s jarring... 2g jar SPS Pico!
- Nano Build
- Thread starter hart24601
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OP
OP
Overall they are doing well, however one of them has melted which given how tough they are really surprises me as acros are living in there and look good.
OP
OP
I did get another 10 pack from KP, haha.
I also installed a smart micro ATO which works great and not a problem with the wave maker which I was worried about. Now I run the tank without lid as my fiancée like it more without lid. Got a 12” stand for it as well.
I also installed a smart micro ATO which works great and not a problem with the wave maker which I was worried about. Now I run the tank without lid as my fiancée like it more without lid. Got a 12” stand for it as well.
Myka
Valuable Member
We need pics!!
Ime, RFA melt when exposed to too much light too quickly. I set the Prime light to acclimate. I set it to dim to 50% of the settings and ramp back up over 2 weeks.
OP
OP
That is a good point, I will dim to lights to min for a while. Although most of them look great, it's just a couple that don't seem to be doing well. Of course it has to be the prettier ones! I will try and get some pics soon. The one was straight mush last night and there is another that is just kinda shriveled up on the sand and not attached or really open.
reynaldoramon
Well-Known Member
- Joined
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Omg. Magic Eraser worked so incredibly good. Thanks for the tip. Did first water change last night and moved it to my office this mornin.
Nice. Pretty rock nem in front!
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
The tank looks really sharp.
Could I get your input on a pico I'm thinking about? I'm looking at a 2.5g with flow, heat and a light. Right now my plan is to have a little live rock and no sand. I'm planning to just have SPS.
How do you maintain the tank? I was thinking about doing two 100% changes a week, feeding heavily before and siphoning out the food after. How do you maintain your tank? Do you do anything else? I think I read you use a little bag of GFO?
Could I get your input on a pico I'm thinking about? I'm looking at a 2.5g with flow, heat and a light. Right now my plan is to have a little live rock and no sand. I'm planning to just have SPS.
How do you maintain the tank? I was thinking about doing two 100% changes a week, feeding heavily before and siphoning out the food after. How do you maintain your tank? Do you do anything else? I think I read you use a little bag of GFO?
OP
OP
Thanks!
I do have small bag of gfo. Sometimes a bag of chemipure blue nano too. I have seen these little cubes that would be easy to put in a corner:
https://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=35818
Really just nice flow and 100% water changes are solid.
Be careful with feeding to not over do it, even with big w/c can be hard to get it all.
I noticed acros getting lighter which imo is low nitrate so I dose a little amino acids.
Using an ato with kalk I has resulted in noticeably more growth recently!
I do have small bag of gfo. Sometimes a bag of chemipure blue nano too. I have seen these little cubes that would be easy to put in a corner:
https://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=35818
Really just nice flow and 100% water changes are solid.
Be careful with feeding to not over do it, even with big w/c can be hard to get it all.
I noticed acros getting lighter which imo is low nitrate so I dose a little amino acids.
Using an ato with kalk I has resulted in noticeably more growth recently!
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
Thanks @hart24601 I appreciate the input, really good suggestions I hadn't thought about. I was planning on and open system, which means doing some sort of ATO, but I hadn't considered adding kalk. I'll see how things pan out down the road.
So if I'm understanding the pico/jar reefkeeping philosophy, it's basically feed heavily, then do a big water change after to keep nutrients in check. This sounds like it has the benefits of keeping the corals fed and the water clean. But it sounds like your corals need a bit more, with the amino acids. Do you think that's because the water is too clean (read: no N & P)? Do you think the aminos are helping?
So if I'm understanding the pico/jar reefkeeping philosophy, it's basically feed heavily, then do a big water change after to keep nutrients in check. This sounds like it has the benefits of keeping the corals fed and the water clean. But it sounds like your corals need a bit more, with the amino acids. Do you think that's because the water is too clean (read: no N & P)? Do you think the aminos are helping?
OP
OP
The amino acids have helped, but it’s really just 1 acro that got pale.
I would say the heavy feeding/cleaning is a bit trickier for sps as it’s harder to feed them than lps and perhaps they don’t have the large tissue reserves, I don’t know, and some acros just don’t have much PE ever to feed them a lot. Just have to play it case by case, but it’s not crazy, just keep an eye on things.
Imo it’s better to run on the cleaner side of things and slowly add back as it’s easier to manage than an explosion of algae and ime sps tolerate it better.
Rock nem shot.
I would say the heavy feeding/cleaning is a bit trickier for sps as it’s harder to feed them than lps and perhaps they don’t have the large tissue reserves, I don’t know, and some acros just don’t have much PE ever to feed them a lot. Just have to play it case by case, but it’s not crazy, just keep an eye on things.
Imo it’s better to run on the cleaner side of things and slowly add back as it’s easier to manage than an explosion of algae and ime sps tolerate it better.
Rock nem shot.
OP
OP
One other nice thing to remember with kalk is you can make it as weak as you want. Don't have to saturate it, I am adding just like 1tsp for 2g ato water right now.
jasonrusso
2500 Club Member
Looks awesome, but not a Jar anymore, lol.Quick iPhone pic!
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
That's true. What I do on my display tank now is I calculate the exact dose of fully-saturated kalkwasser that I need to maintain my alkalinity. Then, I set up a doser to dose that amount per day. My topoff handles the rest. That way, I know I'm always dosing the same amount of calcium and carbonate alkalinity per day. Ideally, I would like to do something similar in the pico. I might have to use a half-saturation mix so the doser doesn't dump too much kalk in at once.
That's putting the cart way before the horse though haha. There's a lot that's got to happen before corals are growing so fast that they need calcium and carbonate.
OP
OP
Ha! You’re right it’s not a jar now!
I think one thing with picos is you can’t worry about keeping parameters all that precise like a large tank. I think that when raised from frags the sps become accustom to swing, otherwise I don’t think acros could be kept in picos with 100% w/c as they deplete alk until the W/c. Lucky for us demand decreases as alk does, so you don’t see huge consumption like if holding at higher alk. I would say that really trying to dose to keep alk at 8.0 duh, for example, might do more harm than good as it would be a lot of fiddiling and lots of failure points.
I would just start with weekly 100% the. Just slowly add kalk with ato still don’t 100% w/c.
I think one thing with picos is you can’t worry about keeping parameters all that precise like a large tank. I think that when raised from frags the sps become accustom to swing, otherwise I don’t think acros could be kept in picos with 100% w/c as they deplete alk until the W/c. Lucky for us demand decreases as alk does, so you don’t see huge consumption like if holding at higher alk. I would say that really trying to dose to keep alk at 8.0 duh, for example, might do more harm than good as it would be a lot of fiddiling and lots of failure points.
I would just start with weekly 100% the. Just slowly add kalk with ato still don’t 100% w/c.
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
@hart24601 thanks for the input. You're right, it's definitely going to be a trial and error type situation.
Another question if you don't mind the threadjack
I saw this pico on Reef Builders forever ago. It looks like this one is run a little differently. First, the tank is a little bigger at 6 gallons total water volume. Second, apparently the tank gets a 10% water changes every other day (2 liters in 6 gallons of tank volume). So no 100% changes, but 10% three times a week cumulatively adds up to 28% a week. Third, the tank apparently has one or two gobies and doesn't appear to receive supplemental feeding of the corals. It looks like it relies on the nutrients released from the fish waste for the corals to grow.
What are your thoughts on a pico system like this? It looks to be successful if the article on Reef Builders is factual, but it also appears to operate more like a standard tank (a bit larger water volume, relying on dissolved nitrates and phosphates for coral food, regular partial water changes). @brandon429 I'd be curious to hear your thoughts too if you're watching.
Another question if you don't mind the threadjack
I saw this pico on Reef Builders forever ago. It looks like this one is run a little differently. First, the tank is a little bigger at 6 gallons total water volume. Second, apparently the tank gets a 10% water changes every other day (2 liters in 6 gallons of tank volume). So no 100% changes, but 10% three times a week cumulatively adds up to 28% a week. Third, the tank apparently has one or two gobies and doesn't appear to receive supplemental feeding of the corals. It looks like it relies on the nutrients released from the fish waste for the corals to grow.What are your thoughts on a pico system like this? It looks to be successful if the article on Reef Builders is factual, but it also appears to operate more like a standard tank (a bit larger water volume, relying on dissolved nitrates and phosphates for coral food, regular partial water changes). @brandon429 I'd be curious to hear your thoughts too if you're watching.
for sure I recall that tank yep.
First, we have to find out if that actual nano is running as of today, surely in 2018 that guy has a thread. To frame my take on someone running partial exports in a larger pico, I gotta know if that system is now dead or not, we have current examples of living picos now using 100% w changes that were six yrs old at the time of that one.
Honestly at work I'm search for current living proofs on that tank, goog can find me something
That being bare bottom though addresses every concern I ever posted in the sand rinse thread, it's a sharp setup
Partial wc on a full sps system might could be justified due to alk controls as a given
If they had micro feeds supplemented since the sandbed wasn't there to support by casting gametes and juvenile bugs and marine snow etc I could see that being a long term system. In the end I'll sway to what's repeatable for the masses and not the niche practices, although our science never evolves by just following the rules.
The experimenters will break free and press on, since my main goal is four million frag producing home systems ran by non technicals, I know we can corral success better if they export better and feed better and overdo the work vs hands off portion until a reef is truly aged, then it darn sure does run itself as we still feed them potently if not as often. I can get more frags produced that way than having armies of pico reefs not change and feed heavily... Plus they all want sand...we gotta.
First, we have to find out if that actual nano is running as of today, surely in 2018 that guy has a thread. To frame my take on someone running partial exports in a larger pico, I gotta know if that system is now dead or not, we have current examples of living picos now using 100% w changes that were six yrs old at the time of that one.
Honestly at work I'm search for current living proofs on that tank, goog can find me something
That being bare bottom though addresses every concern I ever posted in the sand rinse thread, it's a sharp setup
Partial wc on a full sps system might could be justified due to alk controls as a given
If they had micro feeds supplemented since the sandbed wasn't there to support by casting gametes and juvenile bugs and marine snow etc I could see that being a long term system. In the end I'll sway to what's repeatable for the masses and not the niche practices, although our science never evolves by just following the rules.
The experimenters will break free and press on, since my main goal is four million frag producing home systems ran by non technicals, I know we can corral success better if they export better and feed better and overdo the work vs hands off portion until a reef is truly aged, then it darn sure does run itself as we still feed them potently if not as often. I can get more frags produced that way than having armies of pico reefs not change and feed heavily... Plus they all want sand...we gotta.
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