Are Pico's REALLY that hard?

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Scottyhorse

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For a while I have been thinking off and on about doing a saltwater tank. While I would really like a large 40 breeder size with some corals and an angler fish, I cannot do a tank like that due to costs, and other tanks I would like to do. I decided a pico or nano would be a good option. Currently I am thinking of a 2 gallon pico reef with a clown goby or another fish that would work in that tank size. Are clown gobies the only option?
I have a 2 gallon fish tank here at home, but it is a hexagon and I am thinking that might be hard to scape because it is so small. But it would look really awesome if I could do it right.
I would like to know if pico reefs are as hard as people make them out to be, or if I (a saltwater newb) could accomplish.

If it is something I could do, what equipment would I need? I know I need a power head, as live rock would be my filtration in this tank, but where could I get one so small?

I would really love to do something like this, so all help is appreciated. :)
 
Hard is relative my friend. I kept a 120g cichlid tank for many years. But I'm attempting my first 12g reef tank now. As far as upgrades, I have a 320gph for water flow, 50 watts heater, 3 strips of Ecoxotic LEDs on top of the stock LEDs. Filter is stock but that may change in the future.

I have 20 lbs of live sand and 8 lbs of porous rocks. It's cycling pretty "hard" right now said the lady at the LFS that tested the water.

Just make sure you do regular water changes, feed and care for your livestock accordingly and they'll be fine.

Read as much info as you can and it won't seem so difficult.
 
The key here is definitely reading up on information before you take the plunge. It is very possible, but you have to be on top of your maintenance as well as water changes and testing for success. I suggest going through various threads of other people's 2g set ups and builds to get a better idea. I find that smaller tanks usually mean more of a time investment.
 
Difficult, yes. Manageable, yes. Nanos water swings can happen very fast which is what makes them difficult and need a lot of attention. Water evap causes great changes in salinity, temp can change quickly, and there's simply
not a lot of room for media. I am currently doing a 2 gallon, and basically crammed a $45 heater, poly filter, and a bag of Seachem Matrix into the overflow... It's already cycled and I still am waiting for my Catalina goby to arrive from my LFS. There are maybe 1 or 2 fish that can go in a 2 gallon, a clown goby is not on that list unfortunately...

image-2701194210.jpg
 
Possible... Yes. Would I want to..... absolutely not.

The biggest question you need to ask yourself is are you really, really going to be dedicated to the nearly daily required maintenance, and stay with it for the long haul.......

I've got a 28 nano, easy by comparison to a true pico..... I got pretty busy at work & let my maintenance go just a little bit and wound up losing a couple of my favorite corals and am dealing with a small red turf algae outbreak.
 
Hard is relative my friend. I kept a 120g cichlid tank for many years. But I'm attempting my first 12g reef tank now. As far as upgrades, I have a 320gph for water flow, 50 watts heater, 3 strips of Ecoxotic LEDs on top of the stock LEDs. Filter is stock but that may change in the future.

I have 20 lbs of live sand and 8 lbs of porous rocks. It's cycling pretty "hard" right now said the lady at the LFS that tested the water.

Just make sure you do regular water changes, feed and care for your livestock accordingly and they'll be fine.

Read as much info as you can and it won't seem so difficult.

I've been reading and reading as much as I can soak up.
I'm good about me water changes (almost OCD haha) so that won't be a huge problem either.
 
The key here is definitely reading up on information before you take the plunge. It is very possible, but you have to be on top of your maintenance as well as water changes and testing for success. I suggest going through various threads of other people's 2g set ups and builds to get a better idea. I find that smaller tanks usually mean more of a time investment.

I've been looking up 2G Pico Reef's on google a lot, it's very helpful.
I'm homeschooled and have a depressingly small social life, so I home 99% of the time. If we leave we have a great house sitter who learns very quickly about aquarium maintenance from my 3 tanks!
 
Difficult, yes. Manageable, yes. Nanos water swings can happen very fast which is what makes them difficult and need a lot of attention. Water evap causes great changes in salinity, temp can change quickly, and there's simply
not a lot of room for media. I am currently doing a 2 gallon, and basically crammed a $45 heater, poly filter, and a bag of Seachem Matrix into the overflow... It's already cycled and I still am waiting for my Catalina goby to arrive from my LFS. There are maybe 1 or 2 fish that can go in a 2 gallon, a clown goby is not on that list unfortunately...

View attachment 161031

The more I read about space for equipment and filtration, I might go up a few gallons. I'm not concerned about what fish I can have, but fitting all the equipment in there with out it looking horrible.
I have a topless 5.5 and there is barely any evap so far, but I will put a little mark on the side and fill it back up to the mark with RO water if it gets any lower.
From what I've been reading off of other people's 2G pico threads is that clown gobies are the best for the tank, since they are so small? Are they active or have a high bio load? What fish would be better options? I know for a fact I could keep Dwarf Seahorses in there. That would be really awesome, but I need to research keeping them.
 
Possible... Yes. Would I want to..... absolutely not.

The biggest question you need to ask yourself is are you really, really going to be dedicated to the nearly daily required maintenance, and stay with it for the long haul.......

I've got a 28 nano, easy by comparison to a true pico..... I got pretty busy at work & let my maintenance go just a little bit and wound up losing a couple of my favorite corals and am dealing with a small red turf algae outbreak.


Yes, I've already got other daily chores so even if I had to work on it for 30 mins a day wouldn't be a big deal.
If I had the money, I would get a 28 Nano BioCube for sure, they seem so cool. My 14 year old budget doesn't allow for that though.. :rolleyes:

That's why I am considering a pico. I've always liked nano and pico tanks anyways, both fresh and saltwater, so now that I have the opportunity to start one, I'd really like to.
 
Honestly? No.

I have a 7 gallon pico and its very managable.
I used water from my lfs, and i do a 1-2 gallon water change every week or so.
And i keep a jar of r/o water next to it and fill it ip every time it gets low, and thats honestly the most important part.
But the tank its self is very simple,
A rimless tank,
Aquaclear,
Live rock, sand
A par 38 bulb and clip,
A glass top, (this part is key)
And thats it.
I would use a heater though, but mines literally right next to a vent.
 
My 2G hex has a lid, but the more I think about it, I might want to get a slightly larger tank, but nothing larger then 5G.

I really need help on the lighting. I just need something to grow some basic corals. But I would like a lot of corals.
 
+1 on the dwarf seahorses. The live brine also needs to be relatively young. They are also super sensitive to water parameters. Just something to think about.
 
Yeah, that might be kind of a pain! It would be an option..

Would a pico reef even be doable in a hex shape? I have a little critter keeper that could be an overflow or sump or something. It's plastic though.
 
Sure, the more hang on the back equipment the better and/or mini sump. The more water you have the more stable everything is. Your space is so limited its nice to get as much equipment out of the display tank as possible
 
Well it would be tricky, you could put it above your hex on a stand and pump water up into it and then have the water overflow back into your tank. Since its plastic you could drill and plumb some kind of gravity drain. In the sump you could put all your equipment and if you light both you could even have a mini refugium for chaeto. You could cover it up if u didn't want to look at it.
 
Huh, I'll have to look at that. Would it be hard? Or would I (who is okay at DIY) be able to attempt it? And succeed?
 
Well that's the fun part, figuring out how to do stuff. You could keep it simple with a decent hang on filter and a good light and just stay on top of water changes.
 
LOL, I don't even know if I could fit an HOB filter on there... Then I wouldn't be able to put the lid on there anyways. Might be kind of fun to make a little sump.
What kind of lights would I need for the sump if I put some algae in it, and what light would be best for the actual tank?

Also, what kind of fish could I keep in there?
 
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