Pico reef IQ5

[Pico]

Hi, can I find out from the pico owners if any of you have successfully maintained sun coral in pico tank?

[MadScientist]

sun corals need to be fed regularly, if your filtration can handle the higher nutrient levels, they are quite fine. I used to have a sun in my pico until I got robbed.

[Pico]

Thks Mad Scientist, if there is quite a bit of brown algae, that means the filter cannot handle right? Hmmm...

[MadScientist]

it depends. brown algae as in diatoms? is your tank newly setup? most new setup comes with the usual hosts of problems such as diatoms, cyanobacteria, etc. for my pico, I have not encountered this till date as I overdosed carbon, purigen and rowaphos. I am also producing wet skimates. I believe this is more beneficial to smaller tanks as it exports the nutrients slightly faster while reducing effects of evaporation on salinity.

diatoms grow better in high phosphate, silicate and nutrient environment. please do conduct testing for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. if you need ammonia and nitrate testing but have no budget, I can loan you my kits. I cannot really comment on filter capacity as I do not know about your setup. Nutrient production is a very dynamic process and nutrient exportation (especially with skimmers) can also be dynamic. It would depend on your filtration setup, your livestock and the technique you used to introduce them (gradual stocking vs fast, massive stocking), your husbandry techniques and the feeding scheme you are using. Please do list more details in order for the bros/sis around here to help you better.

[Pico]

Thanks Mad Scientist, for such detailed information. I think the algae is diatom. My tank has been 2 months, live rock, sand cycled using sea water. Corals branch hammer and gsp came in about 6 weeks ago. Cynarina abt 5weeks with 2 false clowns n 1 cleaner shrimp. Added 1 yellow goby abt 3weeks ago. Added mixed frags of mushroom, clove polyps n zoas, 1 bubble and 1 sun coral. Realised that was when the algae really increased with alternate days feedings. Not sure about water parameters but ammonia indicator shows ok range. Filter is stock filter with stock led light. Using IQ5 skimmer. No chiller. With exception of sun n zoas, the rest seems ok. Gsp is weird though, sometimes the top part opens and sometimes the bottom polyps open. Actually quite happy with tank but really think cannot keep the Sun coral happy.

As for the rest of your terminology like skimates etc, I'm afraid i'm not so sure what they are. But I appreciate all your expert advice. It's great learning for me.

Read that for pico like mine, no need to measure so many parameters and add many chemicals cause it's so easy to overdose, so juat change water at least once weekly. Is this true?

[MadScientist]

for diatoms, you may need to check for silcates, nitrate. Some tap water may contain higher amounts of silicates. Switch to distilled or ro/di water for water top ups and water used for mixing salt mixes.

As long as the diatoms are not growing on corals, they are rather fine in my opinion. Export the diatoms by scraping them just before a water change. Some corals consume diatoms as well.

Skimates are just the output from the skimmer (those brown, stinky stuff)

It is true that for picos, there may not be a need to measure any parameters except for salinity and temperature (for daily massive water change). I do recommend regular large water changes for pico tanks.

Personally, I have not changed my water for 20 days. I am currently dosing all sorts of stuff to keep up with the depletion of all sorts of stuff in the water. I am dosing most stuff with 1-2 drops, even with the smallest size of products that I can get hold of, they can last me for years. Of course, my pico tank is not your usual tank, and so am I, if you realise,

[MadScientist]

May I ask what is the temperature of your tank and if you are using any form of cooling (fan, air conditioner, etc) for your tank?

[Pico]

Daily water change? Is it possible? I heard abt 10% weekly. I don't have fan, air con, chiller, ice probe. The tank is just sitting in the hall, out of direct sunlight. I'd good advice from the friendly people at the coral shop. They know that my tank has no chiller, fan. Temperature is about 30? Room temperature. Here's the pic.

http://db.tt/EA2QElvX

[MadScientist]

yup, possible. daily changes are usually performed by some research facilities, public aquariums, lfs and farms. I did performed daily 50, 75 and 100% water change daily and 2 times a day before on numerous tanks without any ill benefit on the livestock or the parameters.

salinity and temperature must match the tank.

let's say you perform 10% water change weekly for 1 month, you have 10ppm of nitrate in your tank. At the end of the month, the nitrate level will be 6.561ppm. That's assuming that tank does not produce any more nitrate. If we assume tank produces 2.5ppm a week, end of the month, it will be at 14.299ppm.

Daily 50% water change, assuming 2.5ppm weekly nitrate production, at the end of the month, it will be approximately at 0.020ppm. even for large tank, I personally recommend a daily 50% water change, especially so for pico tanks where the parameters get haywire rapidly. The concept of 10% weekly stemmed from the low cost and the assumption of gradual parametric change would be beneficial to livestock.

If you think about it, which is more gradual and beneficial to livestock, a gradually climbing nitrate level or a nitrate level that's constantly at around 0.020ppm? This not just applies for toxins buildup, it is also applicable to depleting elements and compounds.