How difficult is a Pico

[Neuahda]

How difficult would upkeep be on a 1-2g tank? I am considering getting one for a friend as a gift. The tank would consist of 2-4lbs of live rock and a good sand bed. I'm not sure what I can do for lighting or livestock. I am going to do more research on that after I find out how difficult they are. What I'm interested in finding out is: How often do you have to do a water change? How close do you need to monitor feeding? Additives and any other information that might be helpful.

Also any advice on setting up a pico would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

If this is the person's first tank. I would DEFINATELY NOT do it.

There's a lot of work for a nano tank let alone a pico. Live rock with a mushroom or two might be okay for a beginner. But once you add a higher life form (a fish) the tank is gonna be a lot harder to keep in check.

and who would want a fish tank without at least one fish!

If they have another tank they can do a cup at a time water changes from, I'd say go for it!

B

 

[Neuahda]

What kind of setup would you reccomend for a beginer?

 

[rabagley]

I would only get a saltwater tank for someone who had a passion for aquarium keeping.

One of the best ways to get someone started may be to give them a good book or books on aquaria (The Conscientious Aquarist is a great first book) along with a homemade "gift certificate" of assistance putting together their first tank. If the interest is there, you get to come along on the first few shopping trips (until the gift certificate is exhausted at least) and the interest will develop before the water is in the tank, which is the right order of things.

I recommend that someone deciding to start an aquarium take several months (preferably a year), and read, look at other people's tanks, etc. Take the time to learn what's really interesting for them to care for and you'll have the time to learn from other people's mistakes. These forums are a great place to start on that quest.

Good luck,
Ross

 

[holry7778]

I know there is always an exception. But I have 1/2 pico tank and it is my first salt water. However I have read about 20 books before I started to even think about trying it.

If they are new to the hobby then a pico really isn't a great tank to give. Radagley has a great idea. Buy them a good book or two.

Here is the Redsea/azoo setup I'm running now.
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=55024

 

[Len]

Go for a larger setup. 40-60 gallons is a good beginner size since it's not too big to manage (physically and financially) but is big enough to give new hobbyists a measure of leniency that is VERY helpful. Picos are terribly tough to keep balanced and is not recommended for new reefkeepers. If you have to go small, a 10 gallon nano would be a nice size to start with.

 

[Anonymous]

mebbe not a pico, but i don't think a nano is a big deal to setup or maintain

i setup a 4 gal cube nano a week or two ago and all i do is a 30% wc every 3 days-it already has about 15 frags going very well, both softie and sps corals

i think the maintenance is actually far easier than a reg small sw tank

having said that- you should do some good reading 1st, before going into ANY hobby, especially those that involve livestock husbandry :wink:

hth

 

[Neuahda]

I agree about the reading vitz. I currently have a 20g tank and I wish I had done my research upfront. I do at least some type of work on it every day. However, my friend has been wanting to get into saltwater for a while now. He can't spend the money on a tank right now because his woman won't let him. I was thinking about doing a very small tank for him for a gift and fragging my corals to save some money. However, if I get him a larger(10g-20g) tank I will be spending over 100$ in just lighting. This person is a good friend but not that good heh. I'm looking to spend about 100$ on the setup(new or used I also have a 10g tank already that isn't being used). Any suggestions?

 

[Anonymous]

a new nano-cube will run about that much....

 

[Neuahda]

What about lighting and such? How much lighting do you need on a nano cube to keep most corals?(not the one's that need MH) Stuff that can be kept under PC

 

[Anonymous]

Low-light softies should be ok under the stock lighting I'd think.. - Leathers, shrooms, zoas (though palys would be better I'd think..) maybe xenia, green stars...

And he could always jam more in there too.. - I've heard of people jamming two additional 32w PC's under there for a total of 88w PC.

Theres even someone here in this forum who makes custom hoods for them that will fit a 70 or 150w DE MH...

 

[Anonymous]

i have montipora digitata frags doing very well under 3x9 watt pc's, one of which is actinic, also a seriatopora which seems to be growing,though it's lost alot of its color

all that i have running it is a small rio power head, and wc's every 2-3 days

but as stated above, even a nano cube will easily get over $100 after stocking it

you may also want to look into diy-ing the light canopy :wink:

hth

 

[Anonymous]

i have montipora digitata frags doing very well under 3x9 watt pc's, one of which is actinic, also a seriatopora which seems to be growing,though it's lost alot of its color

all that i have running it is a small rio power head, and wc's every 2-3 days

but as stated above, even a nano cube will easily get over $100 after stocking it

you may also want to look into diy-ing the light canopy :wink:

hth

Vitz, did you use water and rock from an already established tank? I think that might be worth pointing out if you did....

 

[Anonymous]

i have montipora digitata frags doing very well under 3x9 watt pc's, one of which is actinic, also a seriatopora which seems to be growing,though it's lost alot of its color

all that i have running it is a small rio power head, and wc's every 2-3 days

but as stated above, even a nano cube will easily get over $100 after stocking it

you may also want to look into diy-ing the light canopy :wink:

hth

Vitz, did you use water and rock from an already established tank? I think that might be worth pointing out if you did....

i used established rock, and have access to filtered natural seawater :wink:

the natural seawater aside, it shouldn't be too hard to find established rock from aquarists in the amount needed to fill a 10 gal. tank

 

[Anonymous]

Cool, just pointing it out so folks don't think they can start up a 10 gallon from scratch with brand new LR and simply do WCs...

 

[Anonymous]

and have access to filtered natural seawater :wink:

heh

Ya just can't help but rub it in can ya?

I have a feeling you got pretty lucky while you were here.. - I got a gut feeling this winter is gonna be a lot nastier than what you saw.

 

[Anonymous]

and have access to filtered natural seawater :wink:

heh

Ya just can't help but rub it in can ya?

I have a feeling you got pretty lucky while you were here.. - I got a gut feeling this winter is gonna be a lot nastier than what you saw.

nastier than 70"+ of snow ??!! 8O

i had enough, thx :wink: