Kimkim's pico tank(5G) log

[comycus]

oops..ya peisei bro..i meant LCK

er..kindna thought out my wishlist..

1 Black Ocellaris

1 pink dotted goby

1 firefish

1 yellowhead jawfish

1 electric blue shrimp

1 peppermint shrimp

1 golden coral banned shrimp

1 Astraea Conehead Snail

will slowly stock up to this list...is it too many?

for 5 gallons? definitely.

I would stick to max 2-3 fishes that will not outgrow 1" if I were you. (Actually I would advice not to keep fishes in your tank, but don't think you will listen right? haha) And definitely not coral banded shrimp. too big, too aggressive.

[kimkim23]

for 5 gallons? definitely.

I would stick to max 2-3 fishes that will not outgrow 1" if I were you. (Actually I would advice not to keep fishes in your tank, but don't think you will listen right? haha) And definitely not coral banded shrimp. too big, too aggressive.

Hehe..ya bro.. =x

guess i will take out the Black Ocellaris then..make it 3 fishys..haha.. coral banded i oso have doubt on it..saw some tiny ones at CF but i guess they will eventually grow up to big for my tank oso..

1 hermit 1 snail shd be enuf hor..wonder the hermit will makan the snail anot o.O" read that it will unless i throw in some empty shells right?

[jackywongto]

(Actually I would advice not to keep fishes in your tank, but don't think you will listen right? haha)

lol......

[comycus]

1 hermit 1 snail shd be enuf hor..wonder the hermit will makan the snail anot o.O" read that it will unless i throw in some empty shells right?

hmmm in such a small tank, I think the chances of it happening is quite high. But you can still try. You might want to look at Banded Trochus Snail. Apparantly they are harder for crabs to attack due to their shell shape.

[kimkim23]

woo.. tks for the recommendation..! change my wishlist again then..

1x pink dotted goby

1x firefish

1x yellowhead jawfish

1x electric blue hermit

1x peppermint shrimp

1x golden coral banned shrimp

1x Banded Trochus Snail

Quick qns.now that my water is cycled shd i do a 50% water(distilled mixed with saltmix) change?

[comycus]

woo.. tks for the recommendation..! change my wishlist again then..

1x pink dotted goby

1x firefish

1x yellowhead jawfish

1x electric blue hermit

1x peppermint shrimp

1x golden coral banned shrimp

1x Banded Trochus Snail

Quick qns.now that my water is cycled shd i do a 50% water(distilled mixed with saltmix) change?

yup you can do a 50% wc. Btw, if you want to keep suns/supersuns, I think the best way of feeding them would be to take them out to feed. This way you don't contaminate your water.

Still keeping coral banded shrimp?

[kimkim23]

yup you can do a 50% wc. Btw, if you want to keep suns/supersuns, I think the best way of feeding them would be to take them out to feed. This way you don't contaminate your water.

Still keeping coral banded shrimp?

If i got a 50% saltmix get it to 1.025, then mix into my tank thats half left with 50% 1.025.. in the end when they are togather wont increase sanitiy hor?

coral banded i'll try to get a juvile one and hope it wont be to agressive with the others =/ prehapes adding 1 only near the end of my stocking.

thx for the advise on the suns bro..but if i take out from take.the few secs of exposeure to air will it harm them?

[comycus]

If i got a 50% saltmix get it to 1.025, then mix into my tank thats half left with 50% 1.025.. in the end when they are togather wont increase sanitiy hor?

coral banded i'll try to get a juvile one and hope it wont be to agressive with the others =/ prehapes adding 1 only near the end of my stocking.

thx for the advise on the suns bro..but if i take out from take.the few secs of exposeure to air will it harm them?

You can always keep them submerged when taking in and out. If you can, check not only salinity but ph as well.

[kimkim23]

You can always keep them submerged when taking in and out. If you can, check not only salinity but ph as well.

okie,will take note of that..hmm wats the rational behind doing 50% Wc after a tank is cycled har?

[comycus]

okie,will take note of that..hmm wats the rational behind doing 50% Wc after a tank is cycled har?

Reduce your nitrate levels. If cycling process is complete, you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and quite abit of nitrate. Have you tested how high your nitrates are?

[stewpid]

wow...+1 on the overstocking bro...

i think for a 5 gallon 2 fishes are already pushing it.

think taking the suns out to feed might be a good idea.

[kimkim23]

comycus - yup i checked ytd actualli. NO3 somewhere between 0-10.. can see the color clearly..check previous page?i got post pic =p

Stewp - noted..i know i am pushing it abit.. i will stock slowly and moniter the water quality as time goes by after every water change and stocking..

[comycus]

comycus - yup i checked ytd actualli. NO3 somewhere between 0-10.. can see the color clearly..check previous page?i got post pic =p

Stewp - noted..i know i am pushing it abit.. i will stock slowly and moniter the water quality as time goes by after every water change and stocking..

Oops forgot about tt post...

Anyway I think since you are getting suns/supersuns, you will prob feed them every few days right? Just leave a pail of saltwater standing somewhere so everytime you take them out to feed, you can do a water change. Like 1L = ~5% change. will be better for the tank as less shock to the system.

[kimkim23]

Went down to ML today and met friendly Henry..hehe,here are the catch of the day..pionners of my 1st ever marina tank

Blue eye hermit..cant see its eyes lor..very introvent.keep hiding this corner..move it to center oso claw back here..fainz..fav spot liao..

Sibei onz astrea snail..going everywhere makan algea now..surprised at how fast it moved actualli..

my 1st ever reef fish!Purple fire fish..hee cost abit but well worth it..so pretty

*had such a hard time taking its pic..fast swimmer!* and i observe it wont jump,instead it has its hiding spot under one of my rocks liao..heng ah..hope i no need to worry it will jump nxt time..

Bought henry fish food too..hmmm only these few fellas to feed for now..bought a chiller fan too..donno got buy sala anot..haiz,got the most ex one..well at least i can feel the water is cooler now..

Tmr off to pasir ris LFSs..hurhurhur...

Tired day..had to find ulu ML..kept staring at my google map on my iphone to look for it haha.. but all is worth it now that i see my cute babies happily in my tank

Oh ya i have cermic rings in my filter now..how often shd i change?or shd i slowly just change them to biohomme?And if i get a prism skimmer that has a filter compartment.wat filter media shd i put inside?

[iskay]

5 gallon tank, stick with Pico fishes. Henry has lots of these. Firefish is considered nano fish, not pico. Snail-wise Stomatella snails are of perfect size for pico tanks.

Also in such a small tank, add livestock sparingly. One item 2 weeks apart. Else you risk ammonia spike.

The ceramic rings are mechanical filter media. don't need to change them often but you need to rinse them at least once a month, with saltwater. Your canister's lower compartment should have these rings and upper compartment should have the bio-filter media like Bio Home or Eheim Substrat.

[stewpid]

Nice!Does the firefish look out of place in terms of size? tot they do grow till 3"

Some sand sifters would be good additions to keep to sandbed clean

But careful not too overstock though

[jackywongto]

grats thomas. 1st residents in your tank.

suggest you maintain these few livestock 1st.

Even snails and crabs produces waste.

* you will be surprise how much waste they produce hehe.....

1st few months water change must be performed regularly hor..... dun be lazy

Enjoy your tank

[MOssrope]

let me join in your weekend LFS chionging sessions!

hermit crabs are pretty much the nemesis of snails unless the snails stay on the walls of your tank most of the time.

Trochus snails are very good additions.. to me they seem to be the few highest work rate snails..

another side note is if u would like to add a sun coral .. its like having a dwarf lionfish that doesnt poo as your feeding bioload will increase a lot.

[comycus]

Gratz on your first residents.

Hmmm I'm not a fan of ceramic rings... If you have the space, add your biohome and gradually take out the ceramic rings spaced out in 1-2 months. This is impt. You don't want your system to lose all its bio filtration immediately. Tank will crash.

Don't know how much biohome you have in your filter. If you deem it enough, you can concentrate on carbon/phos remover in the prism, or can add more biohome.

I know I nag alot... but pico's a delicate balance. Good husbandry practices go a long way!

[kimkim23]

Some updates... my purple fish died all my fault anyway..haiz.. my coral banded oso shortly..sign..Learned a valuable lesson anyway..

Oh well..here are some pics of some corals i got recently..

ricordea yuma

red oxypora..abit hurt on the side coz that day i accidently dropped it well adjusting its position..alamak..clumsy hand..

Hammers...placed it under my new prizm skimmer which flow i didnt know will be that big..haiz..now died off alot..js moved it to a much better place..hope at least the 1 remaining branch will get better..

'Mr Blue'.. suspecting that he murdered my purple fish but then cant realli cfm..but i remember the scene he and my other smaller hermit each makan 1 head 1 tail of my purple fish..the horror..fainz..

thats y he ganna confined now.coz i might leave him with another reefer for a period till i find my new resident is much settled down..saw them distubing each other that day..doink,but i think he realli poor thing now la..but cant bear to see him go oso ..alamak.my gf likes him oso..and he realli seems like the most healthy liao in my my whole tank =/

'Tigger', newest resident..not settled at all..jumped tank 3 times..but still surviving..realli praying hard it will be alright..today seem much better and calm.but didnt react much to the food i put in..hope it will be ok..

tigger might be familer to some of ya

Will not stock up anything liao..know its the max liao.shd js be putting 1 final sun coral which i promised a bro here i will get from him.

[raydiative]

Some updates... my purple fish died all my fault anyway..haiz.. my coral banded oso shortly..sign..Learned a valuable lesson anyway..

Oh well..here are some pics of some corals i got recently..

ricordea yuma

red oxypora..abit hurt on the side coz that day i accidently dropped it well adjusting its position..alamak..clumsy hand..

Hammers...placed it under my new prizm skimmer which flow i didnt know will be that big..haiz..now died off alot..js moved it to a much better place..hope at least the 1 remaining branch will get better..

'Mr Blue'.. suspecting that he murdered my purple fish but then cant realli cfm..but i remember the scene he and my other smaller hermit each makan 1 head 1 tail of my purple fish..the horror..fainz..

thats y he ganna confined now.coz i might leave him with another reefer for a period till i find my new resident is much settled down..saw them distubing each other that day..doink,but i think he realli poor thing now la..but cant bear to see him go oso ..alamak.my gf likes him oso..and he realli seems like the most healthy liao in my my whole tank =/

'Tigger', newest resident..not settled at all..jumped tank 3 times..but still surviving..realli praying hard it will be alright..today seem much better and calm.but didnt react much to the food i put in..hope it will be ok..

tigger might be familer to some of ya

hmmmm... from jacky??

[kimkim23]

clever ray.. anyway.. my hermit escaped from its container today..surprised that i reached home seeing it on my sand bed happily..oh well.. leave it be bah..

saw 'tigger' building a small hill beside its new hidout today.. still hiding ard and refusing to come out let me see him..alamak..put some henry food in.hermits looked happy going for the food.

but tigger bor reaction..alamak..hope its js taking time to settle down..havent seen it ate anything infront of me before..anyway heres a qns fellas;

if i mixed too much saltmix water can i store them in a fridge and take out in a weeks time, air renate it and use it again for the nxt water change?

coz i got 2 btls now in my fridge,hoping to use it on the coming weekend..mixed 8 btls of distilled last week for my water change..sibei ex lor like this every week..

its it ok if i js get something to treat my water and use it for water change?top water i will still continue to use distilled though...

[jackywongto]

if i mixed too much saltmix water can i store them in a fridge and take out in a weeks time, air renate it and use it again for the nxt water change?

coz i got 2 btls now in my fridge,hoping to use it on the coming weekend..mixed 8 btls of distilled last week for my water change..sibei ex lor like this every week..

its it ok if i js get something to treat my water and use it for water change?top water i will still continue to use distilled though...

I think Saltmix water, you can just store them in a bottle and use it next time.

why do you want to put them in fridge? store at room temp will do.

Natural sea water cannot keep for more than 3 days aerated.

If you buy the 1.5l distilled water from NTUC, I think each bottle cost only about 85cents.

Reckon you will need only 2 bottles per WC so shld be okay. not too expensive.

[kimkim23]

I think Saltmix water, you can just store them in a bottle and use it next time.

why do you want to put them in fridge? store at room temp will do.

Natural sea water cannot keep for more than 3 days aerated.

If you buy the 1.5l distilled water from NTUC, I think each bottle cost only about 85cents.

Reckon you will need only 2 bottles per WC so shld be okay. not too expensive.

Er.. no ah bro i need ard 5 btls everytime..and the distilled i bought at downstr shop and save is $1.25 ea..haha

i kept in the fridge thinking i can keep the water abit more 'fresh' haha.. so saltmix water can store one week then use again hor?js aerated before use?

wished i can get NSW oso.but too heavy to lug home without transport liao for me.

[stewpid]

You do quite a huge water change! you do it weekly?I am planning to change 2 bottles weekly...thats about 20% or less.

And I am using the NTUC distilled water bro Jacky is talking. It is 85cents for 2 bottles as they having some promo now i think...just got 8 bottles last week..lol