My 3.5 gallon pico cube

[Kaisentlaia]

So I decided to start a new thread for my pico since things are now going well. Here it is now:

It's an old tank, set up in 2017. I got it a year ago and being a total noob it ended up with a massive cyano/dino outbreak and some coral die off (mostly the ugly brown paly I didn't care about and a bunch of hitchhikers).

For reference, this is what it was looking like in February 2020 when I got it:

and in March this year when I decided I needed to do something to fix it:

I started a thread asking for help and thanks to this forum I was able to do a rip clean and bring it back.

Tank specs:

• Tank: glass cube 24.5x24.5x28 cm (9.6x9.6x11 inches), about 15L (3.5 gal), no lid
• Lights: Leddy Tube 6W Marine (10000K) and Actinic (20000K)
• Filtration and flow: Eheim aquacorner 60 and an additional small cheap pump just to add some water movement
• ATO: one of those cheap hang-on bottle caps thingies from Amazon (this one)
• Temperature: Aqualighter aFAN cooling fan and Tetra HT 25 heater (adjustable, 25W)

Livestock:

• a bunch of mushrooms (Discosoma, Rhodactis, Ricordea florida)
• yellow cabbage leather coral (Sinularia dura)
• GSP (Pachyclavularia violacea)
• duncan (Duncanopsammia axifuga)
• green zoa/paly
• light blue zoa
• feather duster worm (Sabella sp.)
• noid pistol shrimp
• one trochus snail

Maintenance:

• Daily: scrubbing rocks and glass with a soft toothbrush, blowing rocks with a turkey baster, sand stirring
• Every other day: AA dosing and Reef Roids spot feeding
• Weekly: 10-25% water change, cleaning the filter sponge in old saltwater

Water parameters (using RO, Aquaforest Reef Salt and KH Plus):

• Salinity (SG): 1.024
• NO2: 0
• NO3: 0.2 - 2.5 (struggling to keep it up)
• PO4: 0 (hopefully Reef Roids will help)
• Alkalinity (dKH): 8-8.3
• Temperature: 76-79F (I know...)
• Ca: 430 ppm
• Mg: 1500 ppm

Current problems:

1. faulty heater, I've been struggling to keep it at a constant 77. Might have to change it if I don't figure it out soon which is too bad because this one is quite small
2. too much GHA, I can scrub most of it away but some places are impossible to reach with the toothbrush. The Trochus snail I got a couple of days ago is helping
3. Mg a bit too high, should fix itself with another couple of water changes

Future plans:

1. get a new light since this one is ugly and sucks
2. fix or replace the heater
3. get more CUC, I'd like to get some Cerith snails (they do stir the sand right?) and probably another small Trochus. I need help to get GHA under control.
4. get some shrimp! Sexy shrimp! Yes I am aware that they might munch on corals and that I need to keep them well fed. Since the nutrients in my tank are always so low it shouldn't be a problem
5. Last but not least, get more corals! I want to get a nice zoa garden going on that rock. My LFS (not so local, it's a half hour drive :|) promised me some Sunny Ds, and I'd really like to get some popping orange ones (Bambams or Fruit Loops) and hopefully some Watermelons but they only keep noids so I'll have to wait and see what they get from their suppliers.

I went from a total noob to having a slight idea of what I'm doing in the span of a month thanks to this little tank and thanks to this forum. Hopefully my pico will continue to improve, I'd like for that rock to be completely covered in healthy, thriving corals... and get this dang GHA under control.

 

[lapin]

Nice

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Nice turn around! Your idea of adding zoas should allow you to cover the rocks and get your desired effect. Just make sure you take precautions (gloves, protective eye gear) when handling them (read up on their toxicity).

 

[LegalReefer]

This looks fantastic! That yellow cabbage leather is absolutely stunning, I’ve got a teeny tiny green cabbage frag and I can only hope it gets so big and beautiful! Love your scape, zoas are a great idea for rock coverage, good luck getting some nice ones!

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Just make sure you take precautions

I always do, whenever I deal with zoas I wear gloves and if I have to take them out for any reason I wear a pair of goggles and a mask as well. Better safe than sorry.

That yellow cabbage leather is absolutely stunning

Thank you! I agree, I've lucked out with that one. I should try to frag it sometimes just to have a backup in case anything happens.

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Quick update: my Duncan went suddenly south. It has been happy and plump since I got it, eating well (loves reef roids) and with very good PE:

Yesterday I noticed it was looking a bit off and the polyps were shrunk but I thought it might have been maybe high nitrates (got a couple of cowries dying probably because bad shipping). I decided to do a round of tests today and a big wc but when I woke up I found it almost completely closed and covered in an awful goo.

Of course I blew it off and now I discovered it might be brown jelly disease... darn it. At least I don't have any other LPS. I ordered some iodine that will be here tomorrow and if it survives until then I'm going to dip it. It already lost a couple of heads and the skeleton is bare, I hope it will make it through.

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Okay, bad news first: Duncan is gone, and with it went the blue mushroom and the ricordea darn it. I tried with daily cleaning and iodine dips to no avail, BJD is a nightmare. Luckily, no other losses.

And now, the good news!

And a couple of pics with the whites as well, for documentation's sake:

The pico has been doing fantastic lately. I've been able to keep the temps between 24.9 and 25.2C (76.8 - 77.3F) thanks to AC, a small fan and a thermostat plug. The parameters have been more or less stable aside from alkalinity that dropped quite a bit, but I was able to get it back in range with dosing and a bunch of water changes over a a week. The current parameters are:

• SG: 1.024
• Alk: 7.3
• Ca: 385
• Mg: 1305
• No3: didn't check recently but I stopped feeding after the Duncan died last month, fearing for the water quality, so probably 0

I got a new light as well, a Fluval Nano Marine 20W, and it's perfect for the pico! When I set it up I kept it at 50% since it's way more powerful than my old light, and I've been slowly ramping it up. The corals seem happy enough and getting more colorful as time goes by.

The green zoas that almost disappeared during last year's crash have been coloring up nicely:

That green rhodactis that I was sure was a goner split and now there's two of them!

The striped mushroom that sulked for so long after the rip cleaning is finally back to its former self:

The feather duster worm, which shed its fan after Duncan died, grew it back and now looks happier than ever:

And there are some new arrivals as well! Some from a friend's tank:

There's a pretty zoa I got at the LFS which has a wonderful shade of blue I can't take a pic that does it justice:

And a couple of days ago I spent too much money for another couple of zoas, namely...

Lord of The Rings

And finally, Sunny Ds!!! I am absolutely in love with these guys:

After Sir Poop-a-Lot (my first Trochus snail) killed itself by escaping the tank and hiding somewhere until it was too late, I didn't have a chance to get anything else for a while so... lots and lots of algae scrubbing. I kept my lights low but for some reason the algae first exploded and then started slowly dying off. Maybe the new light isn't that good for growing algae?

Anyway, I recently got another couple of Trochus and two hermit crabs! Hopefully they'll help me keep the situation in check:

Last but not least... sexies!!! I fell in love with them, got two at first and then I bought another three. They are so fun to watch!

And today I found a molt and I saw the big female carrying eggs! Good sign, looks like they're doing pretty well!

They have been extremely well-behaved so far: they poop a lot so apparently they have been finding a lot of stuff to eat. I saw one of them a bit too interested in some of my zoas once so I started feeding them small bits of fish once or twice per week, never had a problem ever since.

I have a couple of hitchhikers as well, vermetid snails and hydroids... But I'm leaving them be. They have always been in there and never caused any problem. Besides, the hydroids are really nice to look at:

I even discovered that some tiny red feather dusters survived the ordeal and they're popping out again!

The next steps for the pico will be:

• get something to stir the sand (still trying to put my hands on a cerith)
• find some very orange zoas to place between the LOTR and the blue ones
• find some watermelons and fruit loops! I haven't been having any luck so far at the LFS
• keep ramping up the light until I reach 100%
• go back to feeding reef roids once per week, the Sunny Ds love to eat

I'm so happy I was able to bring it back and turn it into something so pretty! I really hope the zoas will fill in and turn into a beautiful zoa garden!

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Quick update, I tested NO2 and NO3 today and they're both 0 as usual... but I decided I won't fuss about that anymore. The corals are doing fine so I won't care about the water being too clean for them.

The new CUC is doing wonders to keep algae at bay. Going from two sexies to five plus two snails and two hermit crabs has been a great turn around! I don't need to scrub daily anymore and the green zoa rock that was always covered in algae is finally becoming clean!

A week ago:

now

Looks like it might end up completely algae free in a couple of weeks. The only problem? TONS OF POOP

Ew. How does one keep the sand clean with all those critters pooping in there? Do you guys vacuum every day? ò_O

While I was taking this pic I discovered that I have a cute ribbon worm too! I hope it's harmless...


And, looks like that green mushroom likes fish more than the sexies do:

So overall all is good, finally having a decent sized CUC is amazing, can't wait for those zoas to fill in.

 

[revhtree]

Looking good and the tank seems to be settling in!

 

[Kaisentlaia]

My pico keeps improving! (excuse the messy sand, I still have to do my weekly cleaning)

The algae is mostly gone, hermit crabs are a blessing! They do knock stuff over, but the green zoa rock is now completely clean!

There are still a couple of tufts here and there, but they will be easy to scrape off. There's a bit of cyano going on but it's easy to keep in check, I siphon it out weekly and it's slowly disappearing now that I'm feeding more.

Alk is still on the low side so I've been adding Kh+ to the ATO bottle and looks like it's working. I'm going to experiment with kalkwasser as well, I only have to figure out the correct ratio (and keep an eye on Ca).

I've got a bunch of new corals from a friend:

There's some bad news too... an aiptasia popped up, darn it. :|

Only one that I can see so far... on the bottom of big rock of course. =__= I think I will take the rock out and try to remove it with a combination of things: kalk paste, peroxyde and then covering the hole with superglue. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

 

[Kaisentlaia]

It's time for an update!

The pico has been doing well for a while and then in the past few months... eh, not great, not terrible.

Some corals grew quite a bit! Others have been shrinking steadily.

June/July​	Now​
	this one melted ​

As you can see the SPS, a bunch of zoas and of course the various shrooms are doing wonderfully, growing and spreading.

Some other zoas (the blue noid and the Lord of The Rings) are slowly withering, and the GSP looks pretty sad. :| Those two zoas have been completely closed down for weeks now and only today after a 100% water change they opened up a little, one polyp each.

I've been struggling with lowish Ca and Kh over the past month, they never dropped too low but they were constantly borderline on the lower side. For the moment that big water change brought them back at reasonable levels but they dropped by 5ppm (Ca) and 0.6 (dKh) in a single day. I have to figure out this kalkwasser stuff.

Aside from the quickly dwindling hardness and Ca, I've been dealing with some fast growing algae that can spread in mere hours (but at least it's easy to clean, blowing on the glass with a turkey baster is enough to keep it at bay):

My trates have been quite low and I even skipped feedings for a while, hoping that less ReefRoids and no amino acids would reduce the algae, but it didn't work. PO4 is always 0 so that's not it. I tried toning down the light, bringing it back at 50% as it was when I just got it, but nothing changed. I started doing big weekly water changes and even replaced most of the sand with new clean sand to see if it made any difference but it didn't.

A friend of mine suggested that my RO system could be the culprit and doing some math I realized the cartridges and membrane were at the end of their life, so I bought replacements and added a 4th stadium to filter out silicates as well. That 100% water change I mentioned happened yesterday so it's too soon to tell, but I hope the situation will improve. Seeing those zoas open a little for the first time in weeks gave me a bit of hope.

I'm still considering lowering the light a bit more, I feel like the zoas higher up on the rock are the ones suffering the most... but then again, the big green one is pretty high and happy as a clam, and the sad blue noId is just below it. Same for the shrinking LOTR, it's beside that huge and plump Sunny D which keeps growing steadily. And all the SPS are super happy right now, I'm afraid that they would suffer if I kept the lights lower. But that pink/orange zoa I fragged and put on the rock has been spending more time closed than the rest of the colony down near the sandbed so... ;Bored

Oh and by the way, remember that aiptasia I found? I couldn't choose a way to kill it so I went for... all of them. ;Rage I took the rock out, poured undiluted peroxide where the hydra was, let it sit a bit and rinsed with saltwater, then spread some kalkwasser paste over it, let it sit that one as well and finally I glued the hole it was poking out of shut with superglue. That took care of it.

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Quick update: I made up my mind about the light. Instead of lowering them, I increased the blues and lowered the whites:

Before​	After​

I'll keep it like this and see how it goes. I do like how the tank looks with a more blueish tone though!

I also moved the GSP from the top of the rock to a lower spot near the sand bed, because looking at old pictures I noticed it was looking at its best when it was near the bottom, so maybe it doesn't like having too much light. Hopefully it will perk up.

I'm still wondering why some corals are thriving while others are closed up and shriveling. Ideas and suggestions are welcome!

 

[LegalReefer]

What're your parameters sitting at right now? You said phosphate was at 0, which could be starting some corals? Also, since you primarily have soft corals, do you know if you've added any supplements that contain iodine recently? I know softies need it to help grow. Overall, love the tank and love seeing the updates, it's looking quite good even with corals closing up!

 

[DeniseAndy]

I like that little pico. Well done to pull it back and to keep up with it. They can be tricky and things happen fast and sudden with these little guys.
Zoas can be funny. Some like light others hate it. Softies can tolerate medium light to low to high. The flow needs to be good, but not crazy for what you have in there.
Keep some nitrates and phosphates or you will see some issues with growth. Always a balance. We all strive for it and it is not easy to succeed.

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Thank you for your replies!

What're your parameters sitting at right now?

A couple of days ago they were:

• Temperature 25C (77F)
• Salinity 1.026 sg (recently raised it a little from the old 1.024)
• Ca 385 ppm
• Mg 1365 ppm
• NO2/NO3/PO4 probably 0 ppm, after that 100% water change.
• Hardness 7.9 dKh (still adding Kh+ daily to keep it somewhat stable)

do you know if you've added any supplements that contain iodine recently?

I do, I have been adding a iodine supplement. The directions say 1 drop every 100L daily, I've been diluting 1 drop in 10ml and dosing 1ml for my 12L weekly. Not much, but I'm afraid of overdosing, I don't have a iodine test and I read they're pretty inaccurate anyway.

The flow needs to be good, but not crazy for what you have in there.

I do have an additional small pump, between that and the filter I hope the flow is enough. I thought about getting a small powerhead more than once but I'm afraid it would be too much for this tiny tank.

Keep some nitrates and phosphates or you will see some issues with growth.

I know that zoas appreciate a bit of dirty water, but I was never able to keep it dirty. The highest NO3 I achieved in this tank was a whopping 2.5ppm, and only by doing almost daily amino acid dosing and broadcast feeding, with small weekly water changes. NO2 and PO4 are always 0. I do spot feed once per week now and many of my corals love it.

Now that I think about it though, the two that are suffering now and the one that melted weren't showing much of a response when I fed them. The ones that are thriving are the ones that gobble up ReefRoids like candy. Maybe they really are starving?

I can't really tone down the water changes otherwise Ca, Mg and Kh will drop too low. I could feed more though. Maybe daily spot feedings? Or daily amino acid dosing? Or both?

 

[Kaisentlaia]

It's been a while since my last update. The pico went through some stuff but is now doing great!

In December I lost the GSP (but it never did well so I was expecting it), the Sunny Ds, the noid blue zoas and the last remaining Lord of the Rings, probably because I caught covid and I was too sick to do any proper maintenance for almost a month.

On the bright side though I figured out how to keep things balanced with the lowest possible effort: I've been filling my ATO bottle with kalkwasser, and doing a 90-100% water change every week. I don't really test anymore aside for salinity and I don't feel the need to. I feed reef roids every couple of days (when I don't forget) and dose iodine and AA daily.

I should really test the water after a week and see if I can cut back with water changes. Maybe do only 50% weekly. I know I can go 2 weeks between water changes and only by the end of the second week the corals start complaining, so that might be an interesting option.

Remember those frags I got from a friend? They came with bubble algae, which of course I didn't notice and now is everywhere The rock is covered in a bright green fuzzy algae that was cute at first but now it's becoming annoying. It doesn't bother the corals and it isn't really a nuisance, but I feel like it's harder to keep things clean with this stuff trapping detritus and it makes it hard for glue to stick..

I got from a friend those fuzzy green mushrooms and some more zoas. I think they might be Fire and Ice and Reverse Space Monsters. The Monsters are insanely fast growing and I regret placing that plug on the rock now. They are pretty if you look at them closely, but I don't like how drab they look from afar.

The other zoas have been doing well, the montis have been getting bigger and bigger lately:

The seriatopora I got a while ago died back a little but now its bouncing back and I've been seeing great polyp extension in the past couple of weeks:

Even the striped mushroom that refused to abandon its single lifestyle since I had it is now colonizing the little rock it's attached to:

Oh and I have the most amazing coralline algae growing on the filter, I should totally try and transfer some of this beauty on the rock:

Here are some macros for your pleasure:

I'm planning to order a bunch of new zoas and a few other corals too, maybe next week, and I will do another rip cleaning (replace sand, scrub the rocks and so on) to get rid of those annoying algae.

If I can cut back on the water changes I am seriously considering getting a slightly bigger tank (30x30x35cm instead of the current 25x25x30cm, so about 30L net instead of my current 18) to have some more space around the rock and especially to make an overflow/filter compartment in the back. I'd really like a plain, clean background instead of this jumble of filter, pump, heater and various cables. They're hidden behind the rock but still, I can see them. And having a new tank to move things in would make the rip cleaning much easier. What do you guys think? Yay or nay?

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Okay, did a quick test (old test kits and they got a little damp so I'm not sure they're super accurate right now):

• Ca: 370ppm
• Mg: 1230ppm
• Kh: 6

As usual alk is low, that's my tank. But I'm impressed, I've been using a different salt now since I couldn't get the usual one and the values for the amount I've mixed should have been:

• Ca: 405 - 435
• Mg: 1190 - 1290
• Kh: 7.25 - 8.25

I didn't test the water made with this new salt yet, but that's not a bad drop for a week with no dosing aside from kalk. Back then when I didn't use kalkwasser my Ca could drop to 340 in a week. Salinity is 1.026sg and has been stable there for months now.

I'm not worried about those slightly low values. Usually when my corals want a wc they let me know by sulking and giving me the stink eye, but right now they're all happy. I'm surprise by the amount of kalk this tank has been sucking daily though.

I couldn't do the usual water change next weekend but my new zoas will be arriving on Thursday so I'll do a wc during acclimation, I'll test again and see what the actual parameters are for freshly mixed water. Maybe I could really reduce my weekly water changes to 50%.

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Good news! The new corals arrived yesterday and they are absolutely stunning! Many were already open in the box and they're all super healthy, I will order from this store again for sure (I'd say the name but I don't know if that goes against forum rules).

Cat's Eye​	Summer Breeze​
Sunny D​	Blue Lagoon​
Purple Monster​	Watermelon/Rasta​
Pumpkin​	Magician ​

I even got a free green alveopora, I thought they were much bigger!

I did a 100% wc after acclimating them, here are the parameters:

• Ca: 395ppm
• Mg: 1260ppm
• Kh: 7.8

I'll test again in a week but I strongly suspect I might be able to slow down with water changes, I'll probably just need to dose some Kh+ (on top of kalk) to keep alk stable. That's great news!

I still have to mount the new frags, I was in a rush so for now they're all sitting in the sandbed. I'll set them up next week and meanwhile I'll start planning the new tank.

 

[trelise]

Love this tank! The journey is insane.

 

[Kaisentlaia]

Quick update, I tested the water and the parameters 8 days from the last WC are:

• Ca: 390ppm
• Mg: 1260ppm
• Kh: 6.4

So kalk is helping, just a 5ppm drop in a week (probably because summer so more evaporation = more kalk used, might be a bigger drop in winter). Kh is still going down fast though.

Is it possible to add Kh+ to kalkwasser, or do I have to dose separately? Hmmm

And I finally decided I'm going to upgrade the tank after all, so I opened another build thread in case you want to check it out. The new tank will be arriving next week but it will take a while to get everything set up.