Stocking A New 3/4 Gallon Nano/Pico

[ricky1414]

Got myself a 3/4 gallon nano. Obtained some LR from an established system- about 2 pounds, stole about a pound of LS from my 20 gallon. I think I'm gonna stick it out with the stock lighting. 7 watts appears to be a good amount for such a small tank. Tank has been up about a week, instant cycle. 8)
My question is- What should I go with as far as inhabitants? I know Zoos will definately be a must have, but what other kinda corals can I go with? Maybe a sexy shrimp?

 

[brandon4291]

Hey there Ricky, great to see ya. Sorry I missed your new post yesterday, we love 3/4 gallon nanos on this site!!

Your setup sounds like one of those aquavases, and the light that comes with them is sufficient to run many corals. I suggest stocking it with very small hermits, shrimps of many types will do (camels, small peppermints, I keep a small boxer stenopus in mine) or maybe even some of the specialty crabs such as pom-pom crabs or the anemone crabs that were commonly used in the Nano edition of Coral magazine that is popular now. I recommend trying a bumblebee snail or two, they have always done well in my sub-gallon picos. Don't overstock!

I wouldn't recommend trying to cover the system with saran wrap or anything that does not perfectly seal. Rather, I think you are better off finding out the topoff needs of the tank and topping off daily or trying to figure out a decent auto-topoff setup to accomplish this need. See Nikon's thread for sealing options should you choose that route. An easy way to figure out salinity trends in a pico (barring any saltcreep that alters this measurement) is to set up the pico to the proper salinity and mark the edge of the tank with a marker--any evap that drops the water line can be filled back up to the original mark quickly and you know this will bring back the original sg mark. handy huh?

B

 

[Anonymous]

Then Brandon look at my thread...I dedicated it partially to you ... I have the same thing Ricky does and it turns out to be in the same color...isnt your stenopus gonna get big in that pico of yours?

I was thinking of stocking with a small neon goby..they were selling some at my LFS that were about .5-1 long? is that ok?

 

[Anonymous]

My neon gobi stays prety much put in my tank, He just perches from place to place and is prety mellow. I don't think they really require that much room, but he does like to hide from time to time

 

[brandon4291]

I expect him to one of these days. I purchased him as the smallest juvenile I had seen in a LFS almost 7 months ago, and he has not grown any as far as I can tell, well maybe longer antennae (they reach almost halfway across the tank)

I have thought he died at least 20 times, as his molt retains the same striking color pattern for a few days after it drops. Then I'll see him again with brighter colors and feeding just as vigorous on Cyclop-eeze which is also a testament to his (or her) adaptability. If I were to remove him and go back to a pom-pom boxer crab it would be because he hides too much. I figured him being the only mobile invert he would claim the territory and come out more often, but I really only get to see him at night. If I keep him until he outgrows the system, it will be because of his detritus-picking and dead-tissue removing habits, he is the best system cleaner I've ever seen. Also, he does not knock over corals the way a bulky crab does, he has a way of gliding between them and picking at their bases to remove any type of loose tissue, he really cleans on the micro level and I see him do it every night. I think soon I'll just add a boxer to the system and see if the stenopus tries to beat him up (sense of territory) if not, I'll keep them both!