Drilled 3 gallon Pico Build
- Thread starter lpsouth1978@msn.com
- Start date
Sad day!
Another update:
One of the maxi mini nems is not doing very well. I have been trying to nurse it back, we will see what happens. At least for the moment it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Hopefully it will recover.
I got 2 sexy shrimp in the tank and they seem to be rather fond of the sick nem. Maybe they will help to revive it.
I also got another Maxi Mini nem, that makes 4 so far. Thinga are doing really well at the moment. I got my ATO installed, I ended up ording one from Autotopoff.com. It works great!
I tested my water today and this is what I found:
SG = 1.025
Temp = 76.8
Nitrates = 5ppm
Nitrites = 0 (undetectable)
Ammonia = 0 (undetectable)
Phosphates = 0 (undetectable)
Calcium = 560
dKh = 8
My calcium is a little high and my dKh a little low. I dosed a small amount of dKh buffer to balance things out. I will re-test in a couple of hours and see where things are at again.
Here are some new pics:
One of the maxi mini nems is not doing very well. I have been trying to nurse it back, we will see what happens. At least for the moment it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Hopefully it will recover.
I got 2 sexy shrimp in the tank and they seem to be rather fond of the sick nem. Maybe they will help to revive it.
I also got another Maxi Mini nem, that makes 4 so far. Thinga are doing really well at the moment. I got my ATO installed, I ended up ording one from Autotopoff.com. It works great!
I tested my water today and this is what I found:
SG = 1.025
Temp = 76.8
Nitrates = 5ppm
Nitrites = 0 (undetectable)
Ammonia = 0 (undetectable)
Phosphates = 0 (undetectable)
Calcium = 560
dKh = 8
My calcium is a little high and my dKh a little low. I dosed a small amount of dKh buffer to balance things out. I will re-test in a couple of hours and see where things are at again.
Here are some new pics:
seems to me someone else here (rockies pride ?) had an issue keeping stuff alive in their pico and someone suggested it may be due to the mini maxi's releasing toxins in the tank when stinging which may not normally be recognized in a larger tank ...just a guess
maybe someone else remembers the thread
maybe someone else remembers the thread
Perhaps, but to my knowledge Maxi's don't sting each other and nothing else has been effected. If it was toxins in the water I would expect other things to be struggling as well. I know that these little things are supposed to be very hardy, but I did notice a small tear in the anemones foot about a week ago. I think that is what has caused the anemone to decline. I have now started testing and dosing iodine as well.
Tank update:
I am still not sure what the issue was with my maxi mini anemones, but things have improved. I received 5 more maxi mini nems from themaximan and they have all been in the tank for a few weeks now. They are all doing really well.
I had to move all of my zoas and acans to another tank because my sexy shrimp were eating the polyps. I have now put a small Duncan frag in the tank and some dragons breath macro algea.
Here are some updated pics:
I am still not sure what the issue was with my maxi mini anemones, but things have improved. I received 5 more maxi mini nems from themaximan and they have all been in the tank for a few weeks now. They are all doing really well.
I had to move all of my zoas and acans to another tank because my sexy shrimp were eating the polyps. I have now put a small Duncan frag in the tank and some dragons breath macro algea.
Here are some updated pics:
I made another change to my tank last night. This one might make it so that this tank no longer qualifies as a pico tank.
I purchased a 29 gallon tank at petco during the $1 a gallon sale and turned it into a sump/fuge for my pico. I cut holes in my wall and put the new, larger sump in the closet on the other side of the wall. The new total water volume is around 23 gallons.
This should help keep things more stable and allow my maxi mini garden to thrive.
Is it wierd to have a refugium that is 7x's larger than the display tank? Oh, well! I have always been the king of overkill.
I purchased a 29 gallon tank at petco during the $1 a gallon sale and turned it into a sump/fuge for my pico. I cut holes in my wall and put the new, larger sump in the closet on the other side of the wall. The new total water volume is around 23 gallons.
This should help keep things more stable and allow my maxi mini garden to thrive.
Is it wierd to have a refugium that is 7x's larger than the display tank? Oh, well! I have always been the king of overkill.
Unfortunately it seems that my big sump upgrade backfired in an unfortunate way. So far, I have lost all of my maxin mini anemones, duncans, two small acan colonies, and my ricordia florida. At this point the only things left in the tank are my feather duster and some crabs and snails.
During the install of the new sump, while I had the pumps turned off, most of the anemones released from the rocks. several days later they had still not reattached and two needed to be removed. Two more moved under the rocks and stayed put. Today I pulled the rocks out and found the two dead and decayed under the rocks. I removed them and did another water change. I also put some Chemipure Elite in the sump. Hopefully things will be ready for me to start restocking it shortly
During the install of the new sump, while I had the pumps turned off, most of the anemones released from the rocks. several days later they had still not reattached and two needed to be removed. Two more moved under the rocks and stayed put. Today I pulled the rocks out and found the two dead and decayed under the rocks. I removed them and did another water change. I also put some Chemipure Elite in the sump. Hopefully things will be ready for me to start restocking it shortly
Thanks all. I knew this pico would be a challenge when I first started. It was all going well until I decided to upgrade the sump. I am not quitting on the pico, though I am going to let it cycle again for a few weeks before starting to restock it. I hope to have it looking better than ever in a few months.
Well, I just did a water test on my pico and was a bit surprised at what I found. The theory of me starting a new cycle seems to be correct. Here are the main 4 test results.
Ph = 8.3
Nitrite = 20ppm
Nitrate = .25ppm
Ammonia = 1.0ppm
Seeing that i just did a water change 2 days ago, It looks like I have a long cycle ahead of me.
Ph = 8.3
Nitrite = 20ppm
Nitrate = .25ppm
Ammonia = 1.0ppm
Seeing that i just did a water change 2 days ago, It looks like I have a long cycle ahead of me.