Saving a pico

xxkenny90xx

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So I just picked up a nice pico tank (4g aio) from offerup for $20 and I knew something was off when the guy handed me a small bottle of pellet food and some tap water Conditioner.

Once I got it set up at home I found the temp was 86 degrees and salinity was 1.014. Sigh.

Anyways I pulled it apart, cleaned all the sand and ditched most of it, cleaned everything else, ditched the faulty heater, and did 2 one gallon water changes (plus added more water since I took out so much sand). Now we're at 76 degrees and 1.024.

Any tips for my first pico tank? I'm looking into better lighting (thinking a cheap par38 bulb)

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20200823_112016_HDR.jpg
 
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xxkenny90xx

xxkenny90xx

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Firefish went into my 112g reef tank after a long acclimation. It's doing great. I ditched the 10w heater I got with the tank (it was cooking it) and just the return pump is keeping it at 77 degrees now. No fish in the tank yet, but I did add some hermits and ceriths (which I'm having to feed seaweed and algae wafers). Any ideas for a good pico fish?
 

|Tom the Bomb|

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Firefish went into my 112g reef tank after a long acclimation. It's doing great. I ditched the 10w heater I got with the tank (it was cooking it) and just the return pump is keeping it at 77 degrees now. No fish in the tank yet, but I did add some hermits and ceriths (which I'm having to feed seaweed and algae wafers). Any ideas for a good pico fish?
i have a 10w heater on my 3g pico
 

Robert Binz

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So I just picked up a nice pico tank (4g aio) from offerup for $20 and I knew something was off when the guy handed me a small bottle of pellet food and some tap water Conditioner.

Once I got it set up at home I found the temp was 86 degrees and salinity was 1.014. Sigh.

Anyways I pulled it apart, cleaned all the sand and ditched most of it, cleaned everything else, ditched the faulty heater, and did 2 one gallon water changes (plus added more water since I took out so much sand). Now we're at 76 degrees and 1.024.

Any tips for my first pico tank? I'm looking into better lighting (thinking a cheap par38 bulb)

Before
Screenshot_20200823-112802.png

After
20200823_112016_HDR.jpg

Light: aqua knight
 

Tired

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Oh, good, very happy to hear you moved the poor fish to somewhere bigger. Hopefully with a lid!

About the only fish that should go in a tank that small are tiny gobies, since they don't need much space. I like my trimma goby, and I think he'd be pretty happy in a small tank, though you should definitely make sure he has multiple good perches and places to hide.
You could also get a pom-pom crab, they're great little teeny guys.

Looks like a good start, and a really nice deal for $20. Any idea if that was live rock when he got it? Do you see algae, pods, all that nice stuff?

Get a lid, preferably a mostly solid one, to cut down on evap. Pico tanks can have really drastic salinity shifts from evaporation, since if you have, say, 1/4" of evap a day, that's a lot of its volume.

IMO, the sea urchin casing and big snail shell look out of place. They're a bit large. I'd take those out.

Look at the NanoRox frag holders, they might be nice to stick on a side or back to get a bit more real estate.

I'm sure you already know this, but don't get green star polyps.
 
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xxkenny90xx

xxkenny90xx

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Oh, good, very happy to hear you moved the poor fish to somewhere bigger. Hopefully with a lid!

About the only fish that should go in a tank that small are tiny gobies, since they don't need much space. I like my trimma goby, and I think he'd be pretty happy in a small tank, though you should definitely make sure he has multiple good perches and places to hide.
You could also get a pom-pom crab, they're great little teeny guys.

Looks like a good start, and a really nice deal for $20. Any idea if that was live rock when he got it? Do you see algae, pods, all that nice stuff?

Get a lid, preferably a mostly solid one, to cut down on evap. Pico tanks can have really drastic salinity shifts from evaporation, since if you have, say, 1/4" of evap a day, that's a lot of its volume.

IMO, the sea urchin casing and big snail shell look out of place. They're a bit large. I'd take those out.

Look at the NanoRox frag holders, they might be nice to stick on a side or back to get a bit more real estate.

I'm sure you already know this, but don't get green star polyps.
A small goby and a pom pom would be perfect! Maybe a sexy shrimp as well. It's got a glass lid which makes evap almost non exsistant. That's awesome for me but not so much for gas exchange.. Maybe I'll add an air stone.
I'm very doubtful that was live rock but I'll seed it with some rock from my sump. I did shake out some chaeto in there to get some pods and worms going.
Unfortunately this is my kids tank so the shells stay (they love them) at least until they get in the away of my coral plans...

Cool thanks, I'll check out those frag holders!
 

Tired

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Sexy shrimp are cute, but very iffy with zoas, and zoas are some of your best candidates for a tank like that.

Now, you could consider a single minimax nem and a group of sexy shrimp. Do NOT put a perching goby in a small tank with a minimax, the nem will absolutely devour it. But it would be fun to watch, if your kids like shrimp.
 

fishguy242

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wow that was a lot of sand ;) nice save:cool:
 
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xxkenny90xx

xxkenny90xx

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Sexy shrimp are cute, but very iffy with zoas, and zoas are some of your best candidates for a tank like that.

Now, you could consider a single minimax nem and a group of sexy shrimp. Do NOT put a perching goby in a small tank with a minimax, the nem will absolutely devour it. But it would be fun to watch, if your kids like shrimp.
A group of sexy shrimp would be mesmerizing but the kids want their fish so your right, probably no nems in the tank. Hm and your right about them not being totally zoa safe. I've only ever had larger tanks, stocking a pico seems to be much more challenging!
 
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