My First Pico.. An Updated Document

[cMan]

Hey everyone! I am new to the forums and thought I would introduce myself and show you guys my new 2Gallon Nano I just set up last night (Jan 16th). My name is Chase and I am from Iowa!

I really wish I could have gone bigger with this salt water tank, but I have no room really for a larger tank. So this is actually my first personal tank ever.. And so I read, that it could be one of the most difficult! Maybe?

I am way excited to get this tank up and running so it can support life and maybe a fish inside it. I am ready and up for any challenge it brings me and hope you guys can help me out as I go through the stages with you.


Tank Specs
-Tank Dimensions: L 10 23/32" x W 7 29/32" x H 7 2/32"
-Dual Reef Compact Fluorescent Lamp 50/50 supplies 7,400K Daylight (which simulates midday sun on a bright sunny day) on one half and the other half 14,000K True Actinic (providing blue light for photosynthetic corals).
-Rapids Power Filter, PF-80, 80GPH 3-stage filteration, mechanical, chemical and biological, aerating and filtering the water every hour.


Currently in the tank
-Instant Ocean Sea Salt
-2 Gallons of "Store Bought" Drinking water ( I've read that I should have used RO water.. Wish I would have =(. )
-Nature's Ocean "Premium Ocean Substrate" 100% from the ocean, Sand
-A piece of Live Rock given from a friends aquarium, and another piece of Live Rock from the Pet store. (I actually broke it down into 3 Pieces.
-50Watt Submersible Aquarium Heater, (wish I could of found something smaller, but it's cold here)


Pictures taken from my iPhone, (I'll have my better camera for my next pictures.. Sorry if they are bad quality.. )

Please keep in mind I just set this up last night! =)

-Pico At Night

-Pico With Lights on

Live Rock

Filter

Inside Filter

Light

Ugly heater stashed in the back =(


Incoming Questions!!
-Okay so my tank has been set up for 24 hours now! Whoohoo! I noticed about three little blood worms is what it looked like... crawling around on the sand last night.. but today it looks like they have died.. =( What were they!?

-I am interested in putting in the following:
--A pair of 2 Ocellaris Clownfish (Will these be too big? Just one? Or something smaller?)
--Coral
--Maybe an anemone
--And whatever else it takes to keep the tank working properly =) Crabs, snail guys, a star fish, or a shrimp..

-Am I having some wishful thinking for a small 2 gallon pico? If so, please let me know!
-I also, have no clue what type of coral I should get, what type of anemone to get, or even shrimp, star fish, or a crab.. Any suggestions would be AMAZING!
-Should I take out some live rock? I tried to make some caves for the fish to hide in when I set up the stacks of them in it..
-Should I move things around to a back corner to make it appear larger?
-What timer should I put on the light? On/Off cycle?
++I currently have SOME test strips, but they don't give me an exact reading like I would want.. Is there a certain type I should buy? I have a Hydrometer and obtained the gravity range of 1.023, at 78Degrees F.++

I guess that's all I have for now... I wanted to show you guys my Pico and get any useful information, criticism, and ideas for whatever might be in the future for me! I look forward to updating this topic every time I add something or anything new happens in my Pico, and with a better camera!

I appreciate any comments you guys have, and look forward to reading them!

Thank you for checking this out and thank you in advance for any advice or comments you provide!

Oh! And here is my 20G long tank I have for my Motley Sunglow Cornsnake, Melvin! He wanted to say hi! I think he's getting mad at me for giving so much attention to a new tank...
om

Tank

Melvin saying hi

Melvin (The lighting on that picture doesn't give him justice.. He is a bright bright orange.. Amazing color!


THANK YOU VERY MUCH AGAIN! :gcool


Quoted for Greatness, put this under my tank. Props to who said this.
"Patience in this hobby will save you money and a headache in the future."

 

[funkngroovy]

Sorry to break the news, but an anemone would be a really bad idea as they are extremely hard to keep healthy, long term. Most people think that it's possible but in reality, they just take a really long time to die.

2 clown fish,, NO WAY>

that size system is really not suitable for any fish, just a couple of corals..

If you want a fish it will have to be really tiny.

Timers are cheap and readily available and for a light of that output, you would expect to have it on for 14 hours per day so that the coral can get some food.

 

[KoNP]

The filter is almost as big as the tank LOL.

When the rock gets all colourful that will look nice. But yeah, agreeing with groovy's sentiment - unless you do water changes every day your anemone is gonna be miserable. And daily water changes have their own issues.

 

[cMan]

Hey guys, sounds good to me!
I knew I was pretty much wishful thinking when I thought of fish for it. But hey, I'd rather you guys tell me than to figure out in the long run when I would see the poor things die.. I'd hate that.
lol yeah that filter is crazy! It actually is so quiet though.. Barely even can tell it's running.. I am thinking on moving it to the back of the tank, instead of on the side..

One more question, the water has gone down about three quarters of an inch from what it was, when I add new water to it, should it be RO water, or bottled drinking water? (I started with store bought bottled drinking water)

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[TimSchmidt]

RO/DI is best, then RO, then distilled (if you MUST). Drinking water and tap water are a big source of issues, so I recommend avoid them like the plague.

 

[funkngroovy]

I have also had success with rain water that is collected directly into a bucket, not off the roof. I only use this water if I have put the bucket out at least 20mins after it has been raining.

I don't use RO cause I don't want to fork out for the unit, plus I have 22gal that is cooled using a fan--->evaporation and it loses about 3 gal per day.

 

[lkoutpnk]

The nice things about small tanks is that you can start over really easy if you run into problems but you don't want to make a habit of it. Read a lot, go slow, and keep a good cleaning routine. Sometimes just letting it sit for a while and cycle well while you soak in all the comments will end up in the best results. Gobies (small ones) may be a wise choice of fish but only 1! Hermit crabs are always cool but a few would be plenty. Some polyps and mushrooms would go well under the 50/50 light and they come in a variety of colors. Anemone = BAD. RO/DI = GOOD. Salinity and temp need to be maintained steady. SALT! I always stress salt. Spend your money on good salt and avoid Problems, at least thats my experience, I like tropic marin but there are a couple more $$$ ones but you are not going to have any difficult corals to start off anyways. Hope you have a good fish store out there that can help you out as well and not just sell you stuff. I am about 3 months into my 3 gal pico and it has been a blast. Sorry for running on, hope you have good luck!

 

[TimSchmidt]

^ +1 (although instant ocean is a pretty reliable salt - it doesn't do anything AWESOME, but it is very reliable and consistent with its parameters)

 

[davenia7]

I think that you're off to a good start. As far as stocking goes, I think a green clown goby
http://www.reefpedia.com/index.php/Green_Clown_Goby
or a yellow clown goby http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_Gobiodon_okinawae.php
would be good. Also, hermits would be fun. And of course you'll need some snails. After the tank has been up and running for awhile... ie. 6+ months with no issues, you might think about some sexy shrimp. In that small of a tank, they'd be fun. Just remember to put the tank somewhere where you can get really close up to look at all the happenings.

For corals, red mushrooms would be nice and bright. Also, zoanthids of every size and shape work well. Yellow colony polyps and green star polyps would be nice, but the need to be somewhere they can't spread as they have that habit. So do red mushrooms though. But they are all beautiful.

 

[cMan]

Hey everyone, thought I would post some pictures of my tank as of last night! It's crazy to see how much has grown in it! I have even found a cool little circular feather type duster! I took a picture tonight of a section of the live rock and it had grown a nice section just over night! How crazy!

Last night---1/23

Tonight--1/24

What is this?!?!?!

Anyways I ran some tests last night and here are my readings after 1 week.
What do you think about it?!

pH:8.4
Nitrate:0
Nitrite:0
Ammonium:0.25ish?

Here is a posted picture of the tests, I am having trouble with reading the ammonium, what do you guys think? About 0.25?

Just a couple of questions, I have the cycle of the light on for about 8 hours, 5pm-1am (when I am around to enjoy it) Is this okay? Am I maybe causing too much algae to grow? Also, does the live rock look okay? It is so amazing to see live rock grow and the life it will host! In about a week I am thinking about putting a Damsel in to see how that goes, a friend of mine that is a manager in the fish section at Petco told me about doing that. Any comments would be great! Thanks everyone. Hope you enjoy =)

P.S. - Didn't have to use my cell phone camera thankfully =P

Thanks for all of the tips and comments, I've been doing so much reading lately, the tank is right at the edge of my desk, so I get to do plenty of getting nice and close to it just staring, haha!

 

[KoNP]

Yeah, Ammonia is sitting at 0.25ppm which is a decent reading for a week's worth of cycling. pH, Nitrate and Nitrite are all where they should be at this point.

You can get a product called StressZyme that contains live cultures of the bacteria that convert ammonia -> nitrite, and nitrite -> nitrate. I used it to help "seed" the biological filter in my tank and it worked wonders. There's various different products along this line but the general concept is the same.

Keep an eye on your pH - mine crashed to 7.6 suddenly about half-way through the cycle. Get your hands on something called BufferMax. It raises the water to a pH of 8.4 (physically cannot get it any higher than that which makes it a safe product) and increases the KH buffer to make calcium more available to hard algae (the pink, purple and red stuff you want) and corals.

Live rock is looking fine. Don't add the fish just yet, the tank still needs to cycle for a while. I only added a cleanup crew after about 3 weeks - 2 trochus snails, a peppermint shrimp and a fromia star (got a cowrie for free but he hitchhiked). I got a diatom bloom at around the same time which marks the end of the first major cycle. It'll look like rusty-coloured stuff all over your sand and rock. Wait for that before you go putting anything less hardy than snails and shrimp in.

That thing on your rock looks a little like a featherduster. I had a few of those but they've vanished for the while.

 

[TimSchmidt]

+1 to feather duster.

You don't *have* to use chemicals for the cycle, time will work well too. PH can and will swing a bit, lights being on and off will contribute to this as well as oxygen in the water. Having the waters surface "rolling" will help with gas exchange and minimize the PH swings that are due to gas exchange.

Buffer will help too, your choice. Just be careful and don't over dose anything. And never dose anything you don't test for.

 

[davenia7]

Just say NO to Damsels. They are evil lil jerks and once you wanna add something else, it will just kill it.
You're better off just to let it cycle with the LR only.

 

[cMan]

Awesome, thanks for the help guys.

The first time I ran a test, which was about 3 days into it, I had the readings of

Ni: 0
Na:20
Am:0
pH:8.4

If that makes things easier... Hopefully it's headed in the right direction!
I think I am gonna hang off on the chemicals for now, but thanks for that info! =)

I'll post some more pictures in another week and let ya guys know how things are going!

oh and one more thing... Should I be testing every other day? Or like... Once every three?
Thanks everyone!

 

[cMan]

And one more thing! haha, if you see the picture on the feather duster, sweet find! In the top right hand corner of that rock, you see a red worm like thing coming from it.

That rock my friend gave me from his SW tank... Are those bristle worms? There's about... three or four I see just poking out from that rock.. Anything I should be worried about with them? Thanks!

 

[davenia7]

Looks like bristles to me. There's much debate on bristles. I love them, others hate them. If you have them, wear gloves when you go messing around in there. They can hurt you if they're fireworms (a type of bristle).

 

[TimSchmidt]

I personally like bristleworms as I see them a free cleanup crew. For now honestly you could wait a while in between testing because at this point waiting will only let your tank mature. Just top of with fresh water and let time do it's thing.

 

[cMan]

Will do guys, that's what I've been doing so far =)
I am adding about a cup of distilled water each day!
Although, I have ran low on my last gallon of distilled water. Would it hurt to make my next purchase RO water?

And about the bristle worms, I agree with the free cleanup crew, they aren't causing any problems for me now! Might as well let em be! =D

 

[cMan]

Introducinggggggggggggggg

Mr Crab1
Mr Crab2
And Mr Snail

Check out the work this little guy has done.... The light green section is what he's been working on.. Wow

 

[funkngroovy]

That's not a bristle worm. Bristles won't harm your tank unless they are huge. Otherwise they are great clean up crew.