3 gallon pico tank

[wschang812]

I was wondering how many inches of sand and pounds of rock is good for this size tank. Thanks in advance.

 

[jaa1456]

depends on the size of the rocks but 6 -10 lbs of rock

 

[wschang812]

isnt that alot of rock?overkill? i was thinking 3lbs and 2 inches of sand. any advice is helpful. thanks

 

[jaa1456]

1" of sand is fine, I always try to get the most rock possible following the general rule of at least 1lb per gallon up to 2lbs per gallon, sorry forget the 10lbs mentioned.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

go until it looks good. In a small tank like that you aren't going to be adding any livestock that is going to put a strain on your biological so in this case i would say "less is more". The water volume is so small that you want to preserve as much as possible to maintain parameters so a few small chunks should be more than adequate.

Lbs isn't really a great way to measure rock anyway. Some rock is incredibly dense while other rock is significantly less so. More open rock with greater surface area in a lower weight is going to do more good than a much higher poundage of solid dense rock. Just find a piece or a few pieces that look good to you and don't worry about the weight so much.

 

[wschang812]

my tank has been cycling for about a week. temperature is at 76 degrees.
i have 2 HOB filters, the one that came wit the tank and an azoo filter. the lights consist of the 9 watt 50/50 pc, a daylight mini sun rio led, and an deep blue mini sun rio led. there is 1.25 inches of sand and about 5 lbs of live rock seeded from a previous tank.
added:
3 - hermit crabs
1 - nasarius snail
1 - cerith snail

im hoping to add a tail spot blenny in 2 weeks. any suggestions would be great. thanks

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

neon goby!!!

I am putting them in my new 2G pico SPEC by Hagen, it has a foam filter at the back so I will use very thin layer of sand. If they paired up I will remove the extra ones.

Figuring a new light for it though-the stock one is good but not blue enough, nor strong enough, for certain coral.

 

[JonnyJ]

Hey, Sorry to tell you this but a blenny in a 3gal pico is not a good idea. I would try 1 fish only and choose between a clown goby or maybe even a trimma goby.

or a pair of sexy shrimp...

hopefully you chose to do a 3gal pico for the corals not the fish...thats a very small tank and very difficult to keep it especially with fish.

 

[aznt1217]

To will I sent you a Rb. I wouldn't throw a blenny in there. If you do though... Get a baby one if you can lol. Let me know if you need sand.

 

[wschang812]

thanks for all the advice guys. im doing a zoa/paly and acan tank with 1 fish. im really debating between a tail spot blenny or a baby clownfish (false perc) the size of a pinky nail though. one or the other would be fine. im planning on doing a water bottles worth of water changes weekly. the salinity is at 1.024 right now.

 

[wschang812]

i have recently bought these LEDs to replace the pc lighting that came wit the tank.
Aquatic nature 36 LED RGB
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049PJ5TE/?tag=reefs04-20

what do you guys think?

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Hi there! I have a three gallon picotope going. Good luck with yours. I don't think those LEDs are strong enough. I'd suggest a PAR38 LED lamp or build your own. The LEDs should be 1-3 watts each in order to be good enough to keep corals well. On the plus side, with that kind of PAR, you can keep anything from SPS to clams.

BTW, be careful with a fish. Even sexy shrimp will really add to the bioload. Overfeeding is easy to do. Be ready to do large water changes on that thing.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

dont you think thats a little low for a reef? my general thumb rule for leds is 2.5 wpg or leds for lps/softies and 3.5 for sps or mixed in your case i would say 2-2.5 wpg but those arent even 1 wpg. im not saying it wont work, just that its a little low so coral growth might be a little slower then usual.

i have recently bought these LEDs to replace the pc lighting that came wit the tank.
Aquatic nature 36 LED RGB
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049PJ5TE/?tag=reefs04-20

what do you guys think?

 

[wschang812]

Keep in mind that i have 2 rio mini sun leds. Each is 5 watts. They are an all daylight fixture and an all actinic fixture.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

oh sorry, didnt know you had those. but yea with all that you will definitely be fine.

Keep in mind that i have 2 rio mini sun leds. Each is 5 watts. They are an all daylight fixture and an all actinic fixture.

 

[jaa1456]

dont you think thats a little low for a reef? my general thumb rule for leds is 2.5 wpg or leds for lps/softies and 3.5 for sps or mixed in your case i would say 2-2.5 wpg but those arent even 1 wpg. im not saying it wont work, just that its a little low so coral growth might be a little slower then usual.

Don't forget the tank is shallow, It's only a 3 gallon tank.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

true but that whole watts per gallon thing kind of calculates everything together like people say 3-5 wpg of t-5 or metal halides, well i say 2.5-3.5 for leds and it kind of brings it all together i guess.

Don't forget the tank is shallow, It's only a 3 gallon tank.