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3 gal pico nano reef


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  1. #1
    Detroit Giant Bettas - Reefkeeper CR Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Brownstown, Mi.
    Posts
    26
    First Name
    Chris

    Default 3 gal pico nano reef

    Just starting a saltwater project i've been thinking about for a while. There was a store near where i used to live in Sterling Heights somewhere around M-59/ old Van Dyke that had this little tiny tank, with some coral an live rock, but mainly it was just a host anemone and a clown fish that would just sit in it. I wanted to build that tank, unfortunately the tank they sold me was simply not capable of that and it didn't work out.


    The other day, I traded a guy for a 3-gallon pico tank that he had set up for salt/reef. It's heated, got a much bigger filter on it than what i came with, and a pretty good light. I took it over to Tropicorium, told them my plans and they helped me re-set it up. fresh live sand, rubble for the filter, sponge, live rock, water and some chromis to get the cycle started.

    Now i've kind of done this before, and am no stranger to aquariums, but i'm still a bit out of my element. So anything that you know that may help me along the way to my goal would be appreciated.

    also feeding tips would help too. Not sure what to feed what i have now, but here's a list of equipment i have laying around:
    Seatest specific gravity gauge
    40lb bag of solar salt
    API Freshwater master test kit
    extra heaters and air pumps of various sizes
    brine shrimp eggs/ hatcheries
    Ocean Nutrition brine shrimp plus flake food
    tetra veggie sinking wafers
    new life spectrum betta pellets
    Hikari fancy guppy mini pellets (this is what i'm mostly feeding the chromis right now, they seem to like them)
    frozen bloodworms
    frozen glassworms
    frozen daphnia
    Prime water conditioner
    Stress coat
    De-chlor dechlorinator
    Jungle clean water clarifier
    Algae destroyer

    Thanks in advance.
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    Last edited by Detroit Giant Bettas; 04-01-2013 at 08:36 PM.

  2. #2
    Detroit Giant Bettas - Reefkeeper CR Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Brownstown, Mi.
    Posts
    26
    First Name
    Chris

    Default

    Also posted this on a nano reef board where i'm getting alot of responses saying neither anemone or clown fish will work in this size tank. Needless to say i'm a bit disappointed that i've spent all this money being assured it would work. For the record, my initial encounter at tropicorium was me pointing out a clownfish in an anemone, and saying i would like this to happen, and then here is what i have to work with.

    so now i have to decide what to do with this tank, or examine the possibility of trying to get the money i spent back out of it.

  3. #3
    thepanfish - Reefkeeper CR Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    531

    Default

    Hey, welcome to CR and back to the hobby.

    First of all I would recommend you upgrade your tank size. A 3 gallon is certainly not ideal for a beginner. I would look into upgrading to something like a 29 gallon in order to make your life easier. The larger the water volume, the greater the stability.

    In terms of feeding, the real trick with a tank so tiny will be preventing ammonia spikes from overfeeding which in such a small volume will become toxic very quickly. I'd opt for a small skimmer as some are coming out on the market now that would work in your system. You could also DIY one if you're handy with acrylic.

    Another option would be to tun it as an eco reef, doing 100% water changes every week. However, this would not be ideal for fish but since your tank is essentially too small for anything but the smalles of shrimp gobies or coral gobies this shouldn't be a problem.
    Here is a link explaining the EcoReef philosophy:
    Feature Aquarium: EcoReef One: A New Kind of Nano Reef ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog


    On the issue of clownfish, I would not put any freeswimming fish in this tank, only perching type fishes.


    Good luck with your return to the hobby.

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