New tank, need advice

[briareos]

Hi, I've just set up a 1 gallon tank, and am cycling it now. The tank is around 16cmx16cmx20 cm.

Got 1.5 kg of rock from Reborn... the uncle thought I was washing the rock in his cycling tank.. anyway I've been running it for a few days now and will be leaving it as it is for the coming week till it stabilizes.

I'm just using a single HOB filter, with no media. There is more rock in the filter compartment, and I'm planning for it to be a refugium of sorts for copepods.

As for the lighting, I haven't settled it yet. So far most 15w PLC bulbs are too long for the tank, and 5W tubes don't give as much light as I want. I found a nice clip light with a 11W PL tube, but it's made of uncoated metal, which will rust soon enough, and the base that clips onto the tank is too deep and will be a little submerged in the tank water.

1. Does anyone have any lighting ideas for this tiny tank? Are there any nice clip light designs that I can copy? I didn't want to have an enclosed hood because it'd trap heat and we can't have that in a tank this small.

2.Does anyone know where I can get really tiny fragments of polyps and mushrooms? The shops sell $8-10 chunks but I really want fragments that are 1-3 cm in diameter.

[d88p]

its so tiny

[Qxnviolet]

Erm, frankly....i think you have too much rocks in your tank. Got space for LS and corals?

[iantoh]

hi there bro,

nice cute little tank. it looks like youre stuffed with rocks though. perhaps you could keep a cute goby or two or some clownfish juvs in there. id suggest using a LED lighting array that you can get or DIY from Sim Lim Tower, and stick to non-photosynthetic corals if youre getting any corals. that way, you save on electricity, and you up the aesthetics factor as the LEDs look way cool.

all the best for your pico bro,

cheers,

ian

[cannon_eer15]

Ya.. too many rocks, so I'll be splitting it into 2 tanks.

I plan to keep just worms, polyps and maybe some soft corals. No stony corals, because I want to use just 10w at the max.

Are there any places selling low wattage actinic tubes? PL 9w or lower?

[arcanehacker]

sure thats 1.5kg only? Looks cluttered.. or is that a side view?

[cannon_eer15]

It's 1.5 kg.. I had to break the original rocks with a hammer as they were too big for the tank. I found lots of bristle worms and crabs inside.

Anyway, I believe there were even smaller tanks on nano-reefs.com.. that's where I got the inspiration from. With something this size there's no room for skimmers, so I'll rely on water changes. I will not be using fans, as evaporation in this size will be drastic. I plan to minimize heating by raising the lamp high above the surface.

Polyps on the live rock have started to open already. I hope that's a good sign.

[jervismun]

IMO the amount of LR is quite ok, since you rely heavily on them for biological filter... you can always remove some later when ur tank is overgrown with corals. Nice nice nice! I might start a pico at my office :-)

[Maxstar81]

I suggest U take a look at spawns 3G PiCo

HERE !!!

If U really must have the LR, U might want to

crush the rocks & glue them to form a wall at

the back. That way U would have more space.

Sun coral & sea fan would be good corals for U

as they do not require lights.

As for LS, tiny gobies from PR and a few ######

shrimps would really add colour to your tank.

How about a goby & piston shrimp pairs. They

will live together in the same burrow. Ah beng

have stock when I was there last wkend.

All the best for your new advanture !

[briareos]

I would like to get the following 9w actinic tubes by coralife:

http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/power...ceLampsCor.html

Are there local shops selling this size? I've tried petmart and reborn so far, no luck.

[Tanga]

You can try C328 they a few type of clip on light

[briareos]

Picture of the tank as of now.. it's 2 weeks old. Lots of growth of strange things I never noticed before.

Zoos from the live rock have started to open up.

This algae in the lower center has started growing on the more well-lit areas. Is it chaetomorpha?

These white sea-fan like things have appeared over a lot of shady spots over the past 2 days. What are they?

[briareos]

In a small tank like this, what would be the best way to feed the corals?

The problem is that there is no protein skimming and no filtration. It relies on weekly water changes.

Can we buy live plankton anywhere? I get the idea that this won't foul the tank rapidly since it's still alive.

[jervismun]

In a small tank like this, what would be the best way to feed the corals?

The problem is that there is no protein skimming and no filtration. It relies on weekly water changes.

Can we buy live plankton anywhere? I get the idea that this won't foul the tank rapidly since it's still alive.

Yes they do sell live phyto and zoos in mineral water bottle... but u must be careful as ppl tend to feed more using live food coz they afraid once they die, defeat the purpose of live food (usually cost much more mg per mg). I once bought a pack of Brine Shrimp, just feed my LS a bit, then gotto throw the entire bag into the freezer... so not really worth it for a small tank.

You might also wanna consider adding back some basic sponge into your filter... I know the trend now is to go without mechanical filtration, but IMO it's better to remove the dirt before they got a chance to decay/rot just the same concept as a protein skimmer. That's why, I will never do without my Reefpack Comline Filter... that thing removes so much dirt... I can't imagine having all the dirt floating in my tank. Of course, u need to wash/change filter every 3 to 4 days as part of the husbandry... which reminds me... I need to change mine today

[briareos]

Would you recommend using one of those anti phosphate sponges in a small tank like this?

[jervismun]

Sure there will be some dead spots in your tank. You may wanna consider increase water flow especially at the lower portion of the tank? This little Tunze is really cool! So tiny and quite affordable too. You can hide it inside your rockworks.

[jervismun]

Would you recommend using one of those anti phosphate sponges in a small tank like this?

Yes and no... depending on your HOB filter design. I'm using Rowaphos Sponge now, good product but costly. It also releases tiny black carbon, so u might not want them in your main tank. Can u take a pix of your HOB filter compartment? Maybe a simple wool type will do the job fine to remove brownish particles... just my 2 cents... dun follow blindly as I am still very new

[Qxnviolet]

Would you recommend using one of those anti phosphate sponges in a small tank like this?

The anti-phos sponges are designed specifically for small tank users i think. Smaller tanks usually have this problem of space constraint which will proberbly stop you from using proper FRs to run your medias like Rowa and carbon. The sponge combines both carbon and Rowa into 1 neat little sponge, hasn't used it personally before but heard some good feedbacks from users. Show a pic of the filter you are using and im sure we'll be able to find someplace for you to put the sponge.

[briareos]

Added some livestock today.

A really small head of goniopora, 3 cm in diameter.

Yellow zoanthids.

I have no idea what this is, and I must admit this was an impuse buy.

[jervismun]

I think thats a Star Polyps... nice coral. Here's a pix of mine 30 mins I introduce to my Nano tank. Mine's green, it comes in various colours.

[briareos]

Another update.

Current tank as of 16 April. The goniopora opens early in the morning and then closes in the afternoon. Maybe it's because the water at the top is getting warmer.

Star polyps have not opened at all since I got them 2 days ago. Are they supposed to be difficult to keep?

Porcelain crab keeps hiding under rocks because there's no anemone for him.

Common short-tentacled zoanthids.

I have 2 kinds of brittle stars in my tank. Grey/black striped types that don't move at all, and these very active 1 cm diameter white ones which keep moving around the rocks actively.

This 1 cm big crab was a hitchiker on the live rock and I can't remove him now. At least he's still too small to cause much damage.

I have 2 of these in my tank and they're very active. What species of snails are they?

[jervismun]

Known as Turbo Snails

You bought the bristle stars?

[briareos]

Got the brittle stars from a fellow reefer. Do turbo snails reproduce in the reef tank?

[jervismun]

Got the brittle stars from a fellow reefer. Do turbo snails reproduce in the reef tank?

That I'm not too sure... have not heard of it before

[Qxnviolet]

Star polyps arent difficult...might take a while before they open though. Are any of your LS bothering it? Give it enough light and if your water parameters are adequte, they'll open.