New Nano Tank

[hermesreef]

I have a 2 gallon nano tank. I have had it since Feb 14, 2026– so very new! Week 2 I began getting a lot of diatom algae and green hairy like algae (attached). I have checked my water and it seems to be good (attached) I added 1 Margarita Snail and a Hermit Crab. I do not see any copedes yet. What should I do?

Thank you!!

 

[Tahoe61]

Wait. Sorry.

You can add some LR but a month old Pico is very unstable.

 

[hermesreef]

Wait. Sorry.

You can add some LR but a month old Pico is very unstable

I hear you saying I can add LR but a month old pico is very unstable, so do I just wait for it to get better?

 

[Mebbid]

You can try adding live rock, It wouldn't hurt. But your tank is going through the ugly stage. You can expect the ugly stuff to pop up. Things like diatoms, dinos, hair algae, cyano. Best bet, is if you don't have any corals in the tank is to turn the light off for a week or so to hopefully let things stabilize.

 

[Acro_leaf]

As already stated - this isn't wrong per say just part of the expected cycle that all tanks go through, some have it better some have it worse but waiting a month+ isn't abnormal at all in this hobby.

Although there maybe a strong urge, id strongly suggest holding off adding any coral until your algae issues have been controlled, they should assuming you have a good source of clean reverse osmosis water and salt burn themselves out with minimal intervention you may need to add another snail or two but at 2 gal you wont need many at all.

if your tank has a lower amount of rock you want to add additional rock at this stage (and ideally before adding any additional clean up crew) and not later down the line when you do have coral otherwise you could end up going through another cycle.

as a note when you test your water parameters you may/will get false readings whilst you have algae issues as they will be consuming nutrients out of the water column making parameters seem better then they perhaps are.

reducing your lights will also help significantly both in intensity and duration whilst your working your way though the uglies.

I'd also suggest using this time to consider setting up a tank thread post it'll help people connect, give recommendations, advise, motivation and when requested give advice over time and great to watch developments over time, also use this time to read other peoples tank threads (even if they're years old) you'll get a good feel for what's normal and expected, although less common theres still plenty of sub 5gal tanks on here :)

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Can we see a full tank picture? Why are you turning on the lights if nothing in the tank needs lights? IMO its better to let the rocks mature and colonize with bacteria. Are you feeding the tank?

May I ask what is your intention for this tank? 2 gallons is too small for fish, please don't add fish into that tank. Also, a tiny pico tank like that is more of specialized tank, usually for more advanced hobbyists, there's really not much you can do with this size of tank. Its not something I would ever recommend to a new hobbyist.

 

[Tahoe61]

I hear you saying I can add LR but a month old pico is very unstable, so do I just wait for it to get better?

Yes.

Aquariums that start with dry rock typically go through stages of algae growth, and what is referred to as the "ugly stage".
Because a Pico tank has such a small volume of water there is little room for error with regard to water chemistry.

Do you have an ATO, automatic top off?

You might try turning off the light for a couple more weeks to prevent further algae growth.

Give the members of the cuc time to work on the algae growth.

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/10-considerations-for-setting-up-your-new-saltwater-reef-aquarium.920/