The Machine - 3 gallon Pico-reef

[daveysmart]

I am new here and new to the hobby, although I kept a FOWLR setup for 5 years. I thought I would contribute to this forum as it seems to be a little more regional than some of the other forums I have seen. My tank is named "The Sex Machine" because it is spotlighting the sexy anemone shrimp, and I love James Brown.

My current setup is a 3 gallon JBJ Picotope with Coralife 36W light fixture, AC50 modded HOB Refugium with 9W stock light running on opposite light cycle, Stock JBJ filter running with Chemipure, Hydor 50W heater, and custom made stand with built in Switched Electric outlets. The tank has been running for two and a half months now.

Current Livestock:
2 sexy anemone shrimp
2 hermit crabs
1 bumblebee snail
3 other various snails
1 Ricordia Yuma
1 Ricordia Florida
1 Green Striped Mushroom
1 Purple Mushroom
1 Kenya Tree Coral
a couple small patches of Green Star Polyp
5 varieties of Zoanthids

Here are some recent pictures:

I need to take some more current shots since I got some new zoas and added the sexy shrimp last week.

 

[Snowboarda42]

Nice! It must be nice not having to do much for maintenance on that thing!

Any plans for a fish?

 

[danno14]

Great tank, and cute girls (your avatar).

I cringed when I realized I have more evap in a day than your system holds (Ok, maybe two days )
Welcome,
D

 

[salmonslayer]

I second that. I think they have a slight case of "fish mouth"

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF! Beautiful Pico!!

 

[jamiehill]

I had one of these same tanks for a couple years. It is fun to see what you can keep in such a small environment. I had a 70 watt MH over mine and started keeping SPS and a clam in it. It started getting too crowded, so I moved up to a 12 gallon Aquapod. The Picotope is a great little tank though. In some ways I kind of miss it.

 

[daveysmart]

Well, I havent updated this thread in a long time. My 3 gallon picotope is still going pretty well. I am currently having some trouble with some algae growth, its not green hair algae like I have seen, but a short hairlike algae that is reddish brown that is growing all over my rock. I always test 0 nitrates and phosphates but I think that is because the algae is consuming it so quickly. I also have chaeto in the fuge and run chemipure elite. If anyone has any suggestions on getting rid of this algae, or even an ID on it I would appreciate it! I am also recovering from a near crash over christmas vacation. My AC70 quit running while I was out of town and I had my heater in there so when I got back my tank was like 65 degrees. I only lost 1 sexy shrimp and my green striped mushroom and some zoas though so I think I was pretty lucky. I learned a good lesson there. Anyway, I am going to break this tank down soon, I hope to upgrade to a 15 gallon and then I want to turn this little tank into a freshwater planted tank.

Here is an updated equipment list:

3 gallon JBJ picotope glass tank
modded AC70 HOB refugium
small powerhead about 40 gph of extra flow
Nova Pro 36W t-5 with 10k and 460 actinic bulbs
ranco temp controller and fan (for summer months)
homemade stand

Here is updated livestock:
4 sexy anemone shrimp
1 hermit crab
nassarius, vermatid, bumblebee, and astrea snails
(4) Montipora Digitata frags
(2) Montipora Capricornis
(1) Ricordea Florida
(7-10) Ricordea Yuma
(5-6) varieties of zoanthids
4 varieties of mushrooms
green star polyps
daisy polyps
kenya tree coral

recent FTS:

Spotted mushrooms I got from busdriver (thanks, I owe you)

ricordea florida:

Montipora digitata and caps:

Rico Yuma and sexies:

Zoas:

 

[returnofsid]

Bout time we get an update...lol. Looking great!! The algae may be a "turf algae" Is it really tough and looks like red astro-turf? I've had it in the past but not sure who ate it. I have seen my Emerald Crabs picking at it. In a tank that size, that's about all I'd recommend...lol. It doesn't seem to grow very well, in my system, so I've never really worried about it. When I have got it, it's been on corals that I've purchased. Well, not on the coral, but on the rock the coral was attached to. I've also seen it on frag plugs with corals I've purchased. It's always stayed very short easily managed for me.

 

[SeattlesDarko]

Very cool! I love small tanks!

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Looks great! I love the spotted shrooms.

 

[daveysmart]

The algae may be a "turf algae" Is it really tough and looks like red astro-turf?

Its really dense, kind of turf like. You can see it around the green star polyps in the pic above with the sexy shrimp and ricordea pic.

I've had it in the past but not sure who ate it. I have seen my Emerald Crabs picking at it. In a tank that size, that's about all I'd recommend...lol.

I bought an emerald crab hoping that it might clean it up. I dont think he liked it though. The crab started losing its color and before I realized what was happening it died. I think it starved to death, I read they lose their color because it is their algae diet that keeps them so green.

It doesn't seem to grow very well, in my system, so I've never really worried about it. When I have got it, it's been on corals that I've purchased. Well, not on the coral, but on the rock the coral was attached to. I've also seen it on frag plugs with corals I've purchased. It's always stayed very short easily managed for me.

Yeah, its not too bad, and when I upgrade to a larger tank I plan on having a small protein skimmer which I hope will keep it from spreading further. It does stay pretty short, but it is just spreading the last two months, I think still stemming from the dieoff I had over Christmas. I do routine water changes, about 1 to 1 1/2 gallons every week, and I dont feed a whole lot but I have to give my shrimps a little food every day to keep them from picking at my zoas. For awhile too I was feeding phyto and vitamins once a week but I stopped that to see if the algae will start to recede. Anyways, thanks for your help. Did you ever decide on a tank for your new nano?

 

[gotfish]

Everything I've read says that sexy shrimp need an anemone, yours don't so I guess that's just another myth. I was looking at getting 1 or 2 pom pom crabs for my 5.5g, you think sexy shrimp would be ok with them?

 

[daveysmart]

Yeah, I have researched that because I was going to get a pom pom also, the shrimp will be fine with the pom poms. You dont need an anemone, they will host ricordea and kenya tree corals, or just kind of hang out in the open. They like to be in groups, they will hang out in the open more that way. Also mine like to chew on my zoa skirts if I dont feed them. I just spot feed them a couple small bits of cyclopeeze with some long stainless forceps. It is pretty fun to watch, they all rush right over when they see those things and they will chase each other a bit. My daughter likes to watch, almost as good as having a fish. I have read they will chew on just about any corals if you dont feed them, although in my tank they tend to prefer my favorite zoas. I also have to tell you, I love these guys, they are fun to watch, and there is a whole sexy shrimp fan club over on nano-reef with lots of information, including some breeding attempts. The females seem to lay eggs routinely. FYI, you can distinguish the males from the females from the size, shape and markings on their tails, Females will have a larger, wider, tail and the largest band of white is disconnected and the males have smaller, skinnier, tails in which the largest band of white is solid.

Here is a link to that thread on nano-reef.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=151219

There is a ton of information there. Nano-reef is also a tremendous resource for anyone keeping a smaller reef, if you havent been there. There are lots of 5 gallon setups over there, lots of experience to draw upon.

 

[gotfish]

Yeah, I'm a member over there. That's where I got the idea for my 5.5g. I'll definitely be getting a trio of these along with a pom pom. Thanks for the info.

 

[daveysmart]

Well this week offiicially marks the one year anniversary for my tank. Yeah for me! I have learned a ton, and have alot more to learn and am thoroughly enjoying my tank. Well I got the new fuge running this weekend. It is custom acrylic 11" long x 4" wide x 11" tall. It holds about a gallon and a half. It is powered by a RIO 800 I had laying around. I still need to hook up an overflow of some kind so I get some surface skimming action and I want to make a media basket to get better filtration with the chemipure elite and filter floss. It has some live sand and rock rubble and a good size clump of chaeto right now. I am hoping to get another variety of macro and a couple mangroves to fit too but space is already getting tight. I am still lighting it with the stock picotope light but I might bump this up a bit with something else in the future. I might have to get the ATO set up again cuz I am getting crazy evaporation. Thanks to returnofsid and pentagona for their help in getting the bubbles rid of the outflow tube. Now I just need to adjust the water level so it doesnt overflow in a power outage.

Here is a sketchup model of what I built, more or less:

here is a side shot:

and the top:

and the FTS:

Well, my daughter Maddie had wanted a fish for a long time so I did a ton of research on all kinds of varieties of damsels, gobies, clowns, etc. and made a short list of suitable specimens collecting photos for her to choose from and this is the one she picked out. No matter how I tried to get her to pick something a little more flashy or unusual, she was totally set on the blue-green chromis. I have to admit though, I am kind of relieved to have such a hardy and relatively easy fish to care for, not to mention affordable. I am a bit concerned at how active the fish is compared to a goby but I think with the added fuge space I should be able to absorb the bioload. There are several pico owners having success with damsels on other forums. When we picked up the fish Maddie immediately named her Martha, after a kids show on PBS about a talking dog. So here is Martha:

I picked up some new frags from brandyrb in Mead (big thanks). So far so good. I have trouble keeping my calcium higher than 400-410 and my alkalinity above 7dkh but I am working on that. Anyway, they seem to be doing pretty well and this will probably be it for SPS in this tank.
Pink Birdsnest (thicker branch):

Purple Haze:

Here is the replacement Emerald Crab, although we told Maddie he was just on vacation for awhile, we are still kind of chicken about facing the whole death issue with the three year old....Bonus is the old Ozzie didnt care for the turf algae at all and the new Ozzie picks at the stuff all the live long day.

One of da Sexies for good measure gettin down

And a decent shot of the shrooms, theres a new baby spotted shroom tucked in under there that you cant see in this pic:

 

[daveysmart]

Oh and I really wish I could edit the thread title so it doesnt look like it says a swear word.

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

hope crab works out for ya mine is tough as nails, and today he finally became a man!(or woman). Molted for second time since i got him and this time his claws are HUGE! I usually hand feed him but i'm almost scared to now lol. Oh and i love your pico

 

[Myteemouse]

those mushrooms sure are nice...

 

[brandyrb]

Glad to see the corals are doing well. Nice nano!

 

[small alien]

Having worked with young children for many years, they are often more able to handle the death concept than most adults. I would encourage you to be frank about the death of the crab. It'll be a lot easier to introduce the topic now than when Grandma goes. My daughter is aware of the life and death issues afoot in our tank. She's 3 and it feels entirely appropriate. Just my opinion. Good luck.