Ideal Temperature

[comycus]

Thanks for the advise guys. Where can I find a budget chiller for a 30 litres tank ?

Bro that's a pico tank. If you have the $, can consider iceprobe. Can check them out at reefdepot.

Otherwise, I highly recommend just using fan and topping up everyday. Since it's such a small tank, I also suggest doing 1-2L water changes bi-weekly for nutrient export.

[JCKL]

ReefDepot is selling the iceprobe for $249. Cheers.

[raydiative]

Bro that's a pico tank. If you have the $, can consider iceprobe. Can check them out at reefdepot.

Otherwise, I highly recommend just using fan and topping up everyday. Since it's such a small tank, I also suggest doing 1-2L water changes bi-weekly for nutrient export.

ran out of ammo liao so cannot plus one on this..

a 30L tank is 1/3 of my nano which is quite small... i think topping up would be the best bet.. or else, if possible, place your tank in an aircon room?

[poomoon]

ran out of ammo liao so cannot plus one on this..

a 30L tank is 1/3 of my nano which is quite small... i think topping up would be the best bet.. or else, if possible, place your tank in an aircon room?

+ 1 aircon room or just use fan. the ice probe depends on your ambient temp. easily can drop 2-3 deg from my experience for your pico. i don't have the temp controller, and if i leave it running, with airconditioning on as well, it drops the temp even to 4-5 deg (which is too low already) on my nano.

[JCKL]

Appreciate all your kind advise. I'll try a small fan first as it's the most economical for now. Cheers.

[raydiative]

Appreciate all your kind advise. I'll try a small fan first as it's the most economical for now. Cheers.

bro.. remember to check on your evaporation rate and salinity..

All the best!

[albinosage]

Appreciate all your kind advise. I'll try a small fan first as it's the most economical for now. Cheers.

You can use an external temperature controller (around $100+) for the fan, set it to cut off at 28 degrees or something like that (Achievable for such a small tank). That way, it will not blow constantly and cause too much evaporation, not to mention that the temperature will be more constant.

[JCKL]

One quick question gentlemen, I bought a peppermint shrimp and it died the next day. Water is ok 'cos fishes are still very alive though I suspect it could have been injured by my domino damsel. Could there be other possibilities ? Thanks

[albinosage]

Invertebrates require slow acclimatisation to the tank water before introduction to the tank. Most of the time, the reason for sudden death of shrimps is PH or temperature shock. 2nd most plausible reason is predators. Some wrasses and hawkfish among other carnivorous fishes do eat shrimps.

[comycus]

Did you acclimatize it before adding into your tank? Inverts don't do well to major parameter fluctuations or poor water conditions. Damsels are alot hardier compared to shrimps. Not true to assume that water parameters are ok coz damsel is doing well.

Yup, alot of constraints when keeping small tanks, even more when keeping picos. If you have the budget and space, can consider going at least abit bigger like 1.5ft cube or 2ft cube.

[raydiative]

Bino and Comycus have covered the points that i would wanna say...

i believe its due to poor acclimatisation...

[JCKL]

Oh, I did not acclimatize it. Just dumped it straight into the tank and saw the damsel attacking it from the onslaught. Will look into a bigger tank when I get more experienced in managing this pico tank

[comycus]

Oh, I did not acclimatize it. Just dumped it straight into the tank and saw the damsel attacking it from the onslaught. Will look into a bigger tank when I get more experienced in managing this pico tank

Bro they always say the bigger, the easier to manage the tank.

Reason being v. simple: The peppermint shrimp die in your tank, can lead to a sudden spike in ANN (Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and cause your tank to crash. The same peppermint shrimp die in a 3ft tank, no worries coz the water volume is larger, more bacteria etc.

Sometimes if you start pico and fail, then get demoralised coz marine is too hard to keep. Other times you start too big tank, then get demoralised coz marine too costly to keep. lol

I would recommend looking at Bino's tank thread. Think it's a comfortable size to start off with. Price is abit steep but you can always use less powderful equipment to save $

[albinosage]

I wouldn't use my tank as a good example la. I still think my old tank, the 24G JBJ nanocube (about 90 litres) is still a comfortable size for beginners. It is not so small that you will get sick of it easily, and it is also not so big where you will feel damn sian just at the thought of changing water.

Regarding acclimatising, do read up on it, it has cropped up a few times in the past month so I'm lazy to retype again. Bottom line is that your livestock will be more stable and stress free when you acclimatise them. The sudden change in water condition from dumping them into the tank is actually quite stressful for them.

[raydiative]

Oh, I did not acclimatize it. Just dumped it straight into the tank and saw the damsel attacking it from the onslaught. Will look into a bigger tank when I get more experienced in managing this pico tank

bro.. you need to acclimatize your LS before introducing them into your tank.. the water salinity/temperature/ph/ etc etc will not be the same as your tank water... inverts requires more careful acclimatization..

hope you will do so for your LS going forward.. its ok to make mistakes but must learn from them! =]

Cheers,

Ray

[JCKL]

Dear All, thanks for the advise and I can feel your passion in marine life through your replies. Will take note of your kind suggestions and press on with my pico tank for now. hope to post some pictures soon

[infinityex]

To veer back onto the topic, while diving I have seen brown / red acropora, BTAs with clownfish and clams growing at a depth of 2m at around 28 - 29 degrees Celsius, bubble coral growing happily at a depth of 3-5m at around 28 degrees celsius, a very wide range of zoas, SPS and LPS around 27 - 28 degrees Celsius between 5 - 20m and big seafans, sea whips and carpets at about 30m down at about 26 degrees Celsius. Any colder and I would know it coz my teeth chatter

I think for a pico or low-cost nano the easiest way to keep temperatures down is to avoid using internal powerheads and pumps and opt for HOB filters and HOB skimmers with a surface water return. The lighting should be also propped up on stands a distance from the water surface. I have successfully maintained a tank temperature without a fan of about 28 degrees for a 2fter using a RedSea Prizm and an Eheim HOB filter to maintain zoas, green star polyps and RBTAs although admittedly flow rate is not that great. The RBTAs were happy enough to split though

[JCKL]

Dear Bros, here's a pic of my pico tank with zoas and a tomato clown fish. I've kept the other one in the same tank but inside a small container 'cos they've been fighting. Am seriously thinking of giving one of them away instead of them killing each other

[DUCADOS]

post them under pasar malam indicate foc. Should have people wan.