Pico For Beginners?

[Jallen42]

So here it is... I have been doing freshwater for a while now and saw this awesome Pico tank online and it really sparked my interest. Other than the videos that always catch my interest I’ve never kept it have experience reefing/keeping any saltwater tank. I know bigger is always better especially when starting out in saltwater, but I was tremendously curious if I took it very slow would it be a possible thing to start up a Pico tank? I thought maybe a 5g? Is there a certain tank I should look for? I was thinking the 5g AIO along those lines as I have only enough space for a desk spot at my current place! If it’s just a terrible idea even with “easy corals” I’d still like to know! I’d appreciate any insight on if I should just wait or if the technology for reefing has made a nano tank like this possible for anyone with the right mindset!

 

[ichthyogeek]

You could do a 5 gallon nano. Just remember that it will also have a learning curve. Things to keep in mind:

Keep emergency saltwater on hand. Enough for a 100% water change (which is great when you have 5 gallons of water).

Do topups at least once (if not 2x or more) a day. Or go get an ATO.

You will have a very hard time stocking a pico tank with fish. Shrimp and inverts on the other hand will be very easy to stock.

 

[eggplantparrot]

why not do a rock flower garden, they are easy, can host interesting inverts and won't require you to dose alk or calc.

super pretty and awesome to feed too

comes in all sorts of colors too

 

[Udest]

+1 on learning curve you're gonna be changing water often and topping off a lot with a five

 

[Jallen42]

You could do a 5 gallon nano. Just remember that it will also have a learning curve. Things to keep in mind:

Keep emergency saltwater on hand. Enough for a 100% water change (which is great when you have 5 gallons of water).

Do topups at least once (if not 2x or more) a day. Or go get an ATO.

You will have a very hard time stocking a pico tank with fish. Shrimp and inverts on the other hand will be very easy to stock.

Yeah I planned on just some shrimp/crabs maybe if I can keep up with it add a very small goby after research.

 

[Jallen42]

+1 on learning curve you're gonna be changing water often and topping off a lot with a five

When I do water changes would they be 100% like I’ve seen in places people doing this often for a 500g I may even settle for the Fluval 13.5 if all goes well for me and really decide to dive in

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Fact is, without an ATO, you would be topping off ANY sized tank daily (or twice a day) if you are doing your due diligence. The beauty of these small tanks is that you can hit the reset easily by doing a very sizable water change (80-100%), but the caveat is that you are careful about not only matching your salinity and temperature, but that you are doing this frequently enough such that your alk/ca/mg/pH aren't fluctuating wildly when doing such a large change. (For instance, you wait for 6 weeks before doing an 80% change and you haven't been dosing....not a good idea). There are fish you can keep in such a small tank, but they will be the teenie weenie fish: the smallest gobies (Trimma, green banded, red headed, yellow clown). Take a look at this video:

 

[Steven Garland]

Nano's and pico's are fun,but I feel like it requires a little more experience than a bigger nano say 10-15g or even larger.

All I do is pico's,for well about 10-11 years and every time they give me challenges.

Parameters change quickly,and when they do it can be drastic. Not to try and scare you,but just trying to prepare you.

Like you should with any tank,test. Keep an eye out for changes in coral behavior and appearance. Keep easier corals like Zoa's,Paly's,Acan's,Cyphastrea,Lepto's.

Quality test kits,lighting,filtration,ato will be things I suggest.

Like me,at the moment I have a 10" cube,3 months old with 98% Zoa's and Paly's. I have been out of town for work,come home once a month and have my wife taking care of the tank. Last month the tank was crystal clear only had a little hair algae on one frag,nothing major,hadn't spread.

She video calls me like every night as normal she goes "babe look at your tank"...EXPLOSION of hair algae literally over night. Param's are good,way cleaner than my coral like yet the algae spread. So finding that happy medium to kill the algae and get my coral colored back up is a hard thing to do in such a small tank.

 

[shaner014]

I think a 10 gallon is a safer place to start, but with a keen eye and dedication I see no reason not to try anything in this hobby. Take it slow though. Search Amazon for "Bottle ATO" for a Nic elittle device that will help keep salinity stable for 24 hours or so at a time, much longer if your tank has a cover.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Tanks like these Aqueon Cubes come with a glass lid which goes a long ways towards limiting evaporation. If you can get ahold of a copy of the Jan/Feb 2018 of Coral magazine it is dedicated to picos: https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2017/12/21/coral-magazine-table-of-contents-jan-feb-2018/. I think this may have been written by our own @brandon429 as it is in his signature. Brandon, correct?