Noob inherited a 3g Pico..Help

98SteedaStang · 01/26/2010, 07:28 PM

I have just received a 3 gallon pico tank from a co worker who has given up on it. Right now the tank is about 3 months old. There are 3 pieces of live rock, sand, a heater, a powerhead and a PC light.

He devised a homemade 3 chamber filtration system. Its made from Plexiglas. The first chamber has only a heater, then to the second chamber filled with filter media, and then onto the third housing a power head, returning the water to the tank.
I don’t think the system is working very well because the pump does not seem to get enough water (this could be because the water level drops so quickly). Also, he did not do a very good job of sealing everything.

I would like to change this setup before I start anything with this tank. He gave me the original Hang on back filter (its never been used). Should I ditch his 3 chamber system in favor of the original hang on back filter?

Or should I make a new chambered system? I like the idea of having everything hidden but i don’t know what would be the best design. Any ideas? Is this tank to small to try a setup like this?

Thanks Brad

reefergeorge · 01/26/2010, 07:46 PM

While it is possible your going to have troubles with a 3 gallon tank.
I have a 2.5 gallon reef. The only way I have been successful is by using water out of my 90 for weekly water changes. You also need to top it off daily with rodi. If you miss a day you will most likely have problems with your sg.

Pics are always welcome

snulma1 · 01/26/2010, 09:46 PM

A tank that small has no need for mechanical filtration. Just a powerhead, heater and light. Ditch the 3stage and the hangon and just use the cycled Live rock

98SteedaStang · 01/27/2010, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefergeorge

While it is possible your going to have troubles with a 3 gallon tank.
I have a 2.5 gallon reef. The only way I have been successful is by using water out of my 90 for weekly water changes. You also need to top it off daily with rodi. If you miss a day you will most likely have problems with your sg.
Pics are always welcome

Thanks for the response. I will try to upload some pics after I change the tank over. Seems like I'll be doing a lot of topping off. I can get some water from water from my friends 150 gallon tank after he does his water changes to use for my water changes.
How long can you save salt water in a bottle or bucket? Days weeks?

Quote:

Originally Posted by snulma1

A tank that small has no need for mechanical filtration. Just a powerhead, heater and light. Ditch the 3stage and the hangon and just use the cycled Live rock

Really? That sounds even better.
I have a question about the powerhead.
It has suction cups to sick to the glass, how do you prevent sand or fish/inverts from being sucked up from the intake?

Thanks!

Juruense · 01/27/2010, 09:20 AM

Convert it to fresh water and put some guppies in it.

Sk8r · 01/27/2010, 10:11 AM

Read the threads marked with an asterisk at the top of this forum. It will take a while; but they have things you urgently need to know.
Test the salt level daily: top off with ro/di filtered water: you can get ro water at the kiosk at your grocery story, NOT off the shelf in bottles. You can set a knotted air hose to drip water in from a liter bottle, but it's not very precise.

I hate to say, but nanos are extremely difficult to run and frustrating because of evaporation and salt level changes. They're more a test of advanced skills. I strongly suggest you try it for a while, testing often, and if you're quite hooked, and have read those long threads I suggested and are not daunted, start a "big tank" fund and get at least a 75 gallon of some sort. A softie reef is the easiest to run, even more than a fish-only.

garzaci · 01/27/2010, 10:44 AM

Not trying to let you down, but that tank is going to be hard as h*** . I have a 20 and levels can change in a matter of minutes. If you had a bigger tank you could gravity feed from it to the pico and then from the pico to a shared sump. Then you would have a small tank w/a lot more water volume.

98SteedaStang · 01/27/2010, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garzaci

Not trying to let you down, but that tank is going to be hard as h*** . I have a 20 and levels can change in a matter of minutes. If you had a bigger tank you could gravity feed from it to the pico and then from the pico to a shared sump. Then you would have a small tank w/a lot more water volume.

I thought about doing that. My brother has a few old tanks lying around. How do I get the water from the Pico tank to the larger one? Then how do I get it back to the Pico from the larger tank? How do you balance it out?

If it not too difficult to plumb all that and it will really help with consistency I'll give that a try.

98SteedaStang · 01/28/2010, 08:58 PM

Could I add a sump to a pico increase water volume?

Reefugee · 01/29/2010, 01:39 AM

Brad,

What type of corals are you planning on keeping in your nano? If you are planning on keeping SPS, I would say that your success rate might be low. SPS needs a stable environment. However, if you plan on keeping zoas and other softies, then your chance of success will be much higher.

I know two people who keep 1 gallon nanos in their offices. They use a hang on the back filter. All flow is provided by the HOB filter, so no extra powerhead in the tank. Each tank only has one fish (both happens to be clown fish). Corals consists of softies only. A 25% water change is done weekly (which is very easy for this tank). Tank is topped off daily except for weekends (sometimes three day weekends). Both of them have been very successful. One is semi-advanced and one user is a novice.

Summary: It is possible if
1) you keep easy corals
2) keep your bioload low
3) do a 25% water change weekly

Reefugee · 01/29/2010, 02:05 AM

BTW - I noticed that most people on RC seem to be biased against small tanks. I started out with nano tanks and worked my way to larger tanks.

You might also want to check out nano-reef dot com. They have a lot of good info on nano-tanks.

Sk8r · 01/29/2010, 01:42 PM

x2. There is a community of people that do keep them. I should say, I'm not biased against them. Rather I have great respect for the meticulous skill of people who keep them successfully and think it quite a hard job for a beginner; but if you do good research and ask those who do it how they do it, you are in for a learning curve that will make you a good tank keeper.

98SteedaStang · 02/06/2010, 10:50 AM

Ok, just to update you guys. I removed the 3 chamber filtration system and ditched the carbon filter. I did a 100% water change and added more sand (to replace the bare section of the tank where the chambers were). I scrubbed some of the heavy algae off the live rock and the glass.
Everything seems pretty good as of now. I have an API master test kit coming in the mail.
A few questions.
It has been 1 week since I have done this, should I do a water change? Or should I wait a little longer? Is the tank cycling? Or should the tank be ok since all I did in essence was a 100% water change on a mature tank? (I know the test kit would answer my question, just curious)
I notice a light green algae haze starting on some of the glass at this point.

01/26/2010, 07:28 PM	#1
98SteedaStang Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 17	Noob inherited a 3g Pico..Help I have just received a 3 gallon pico tank from a co worker who has given up on it. Right now the tank is about 3 months old. There are 3 pieces of live rock, sand, a heater, a powerhead and a PC light. He devised a homemade 3 chamber filtration system. Its made from Plexiglas. The first chamber has only a heater, then to the second chamber filled with filter media, and then onto the third housing a power head, returning the water to the tank. I don’t think the system is working very well because the pump does not seem to get enough water (this could be because the water level drops so quickly). Also, he did not do a very good job of sealing everything. I would like to change this setup before I start anything with this tank. He gave me the original Hang on back filter (its never been used). Should I ditch his 3 chamber system in favor of the original hang on back filter? Or should I make a new chambered system? I like the idea of having everything hidden but i don’t know what would be the best design. Any ideas? Is this tank to small to try a setup like this? Thanks Brad

01/27/2010, 10:11 AM	#6
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Read the threads marked with an asterisk at the top of this forum. It will take a while; but they have things you urgently need to know. Test the salt level daily: top off with ro/di filtered water: you can get ro water at the kiosk at your grocery story, NOT off the shelf in bottles. You can set a knotted air hose to drip water in from a liter bottle, but it's not very precise. I hate to say, but nanos are extremely difficult to run and frustrating because of evaporation and salt level changes. They're more a test of advanced skills. I strongly suggest you try it for a while, testing often, and if you're quite hooked, and have read those long threads I suggested and are not daunted, start a "big tank" fund and get at least a 75 gallon of some sort. A softie reef is the easiest to run, even more than a fish-only. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

01/27/2010, 10:44 AM	#7
garzaci Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Richlands, NC Posts: 241	Not trying to let you down, but that tank is going to be hard as h*** . I have a 20 and levels can change in a matter of minutes. If you had a bigger tank you could gravity feed from it to the pico and then from the pico to a shared sump. Then you would have a small tank w/a lot more water volume. __________________ Carlos No tank at all. Sold everything when I got stationed in Okinawa. Planning for when I return though. Current Tank Info: 20 gal reef tank

01/29/2010, 01:39 AM	#10
Reefugee Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Davis, CA Posts: 6,105	Brad, What type of corals are you planning on keeping in your nano? If you are planning on keeping SPS, I would say that your success rate might be low. SPS needs a stable environment. However, if you plan on keeping zoas and other softies, then your chance of success will be much higher. I know two people who keep 1 gallon nanos in their offices. They use a hang on the back filter. All flow is provided by the HOB filter, so no extra powerhead in the tank. Each tank only has one fish (both happens to be clown fish). Corals consists of softies only. A 25% water change is done weekly (which is very easy for this tank). Tank is topped off daily except for weekends (sometimes three day weekends). Both of them have been very successful. One is semi-advanced and one user is a novice. Summary: It is possible if 1) you keep easy corals 2) keep your bioload low 3) do a 25% water change weekly Last edited by Reefugee; 01/29/2010 at 01:47 AM.

01/29/2010, 01:42 PM	#12
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	x2. There is a community of people that do keep them. I should say, I'm not biased against them. Rather I have great respect for the meticulous skill of people who keep them successfully and think it quite a hard job for a beginner; but if you do good research and ask those who do it how they do it, you are in for a learning curve that will make you a good tank keeper. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

01/26/2010, 07:46 PM	#2
reefergeorge Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: St Louis MO Posts: 4,222	While it is possible your going to have troubles with a 3 gallon tank. I have a 2.5 gallon reef. The only way I have been successful is by using water out of my 90 for weekly water changes. You also need to top it off daily with rodi. If you miss a day you will most likely have problems with your sg. Pics are always welcome

01/26/2010, 09:46 PM	#3
snulma1 Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: New York, NY Posts: 2,281	A tank that small has no need for mechanical filtration. Just a powerhead, heater and light. Ditch the 3stage and the hangon and just use the cycled Live rock

01/27/2010, 09:20 AM	#5
Juruense Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Posts: 1,138	Convert it to fresh water and put some guppies in it.

01/28/2010, 08:58 PM	#9
98SteedaStang Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 17	Could I add a sump to a pico increase water volume?

01/29/2010, 02:05 AM	#11
Reefugee Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Davis, CA Posts: 6,105	BTW - I noticed that most people on RC seem to be biased against small tanks. I started out with nano tanks and worked my way to larger tanks. You might also want to check out nano-reef dot com. They have a lot of good info on nano-tanks.

02/06/2010, 10:50 AM	#13
98SteedaStang Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 17	update Ok, just to update you guys. I removed the 3 chamber filtration system and ditched the carbon filter. I did a 100% water change and added more sand (to replace the bare section of the tank where the chambers were). I scrubbed some of the heavy algae off the live rock and the glass. Everything seems pretty good as of now. I have an API master test kit coming in the mail. A few questions. It has been 1 week since I have done this, should I do a water change? Or should I wait a little longer? Is the tank cycling? Or should the tank be ok since all I did in essence was a 100% water change on a mature tank? (I know the test kit would answer my question, just curious) I notice a light green algae haze starting on some of the glass at this point.