3 gallon Nano Help

gilly

gilly

Member
Originally Posted by Flricordia
Nice. Is that glass oracrylic. I had concidered setting on up and drilling the back for a small sump with ATO, just haven't gotten to it yet. I thought of just using a deep tupperware, like 2-3gl and maybe a nano skimmer.
It's glass. Sounds like a cool idea.
 
gilly

gilly

Member
The tank came in the mail a few days ago. I would like to set it up in my dorm room. If I just had corals in it would it survive ok over spring break (1 week) while I'm gone or would I need to take it home with me? Also, Would a shrimp such as a cleaner or coral banded do well in such a tank?
 
joebob7

joebob7

Member
The only thing I think would suffer is the salinity due to evaporated water.
Is there a way you could have a friend add water or something? Maybe a hood would help too.
 
flricordia

flricordia

Active Member
Originally Posted by joebob7
The only thing I think would suffer is the salinity due to evaporated water.
Is there a way you could have a friend add water or something? Maybe a hood would help too.
Think one of those float switches would work? Figure it could be attatched to the side and operate a small PH in a 5gl bucket of F/W. I got a couple of them off of the

[hr]
site for about $5 each. So far they work great on my tanks.
 
flricordia

flricordia

Active Member
Originally Posted by Gilly
The tank came in the mail a few days ago. I would like to set it up in my dorm room. If I just had corals in it would it survive ok over spring break (1 week) while I'm gone or would I need to take it home with me? Also, Would a shrimp such as a cleaner or coral banded do well in such a tank?
And what? Put the lighting on a timer? Would probably work but really risky to leave such a small tank unattended for that long. Really any nano needs attention daily. Maybe you could leave it at your LRS for spring break. There is one locally that will take in your livestock and keep it in one of their tanks for a fee. And comapred to risking coming back to a soup bowel it might be worth for you to offer to pay to keep it going.
 
gilly

gilly

Member
I only live about 2 hours away from college so I guess I'll just take it home.
Would a shrimp do well in a tank this small??
 
keri

keri

Active Member
look up sexy shrimp, I have a couple of them in my 8gal nano and I really like them. Also, they stay fairly small (whereas a coralbanded or cleaner does not) I think they do best if there are at least 2 or 3, and I think that would work for your tank.
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by Keri
look up sexy shrimp, I have a couple of them in my 8gal nano and I really like them. Also, they stay fairly small (whereas a coralbanded or cleaner does not) I think they do best if there are at least 2 or 3, and I think that would work for your tank.
There's also the bumble bee shrimp, they don't get much bigger than an inch.
 
joebob7

joebob7

Member
yeah get some sexy shrimp
i want some but $15 for a 1/2 inch shrimp whew
also bumble bee snails are cool looking but my LFS said they eat som benificial stuff in the sand
 
gilly

gilly

Member
Its all set up and has a couple of pounds of live rock in it. I got a really cool zoa on the LR. It is bright emerald green with bright red tentacle (?) tips. How long do I need to wait before I put some corals in? 2 weeks?
 
G

greeny_beany

Guest
here is mine

about 8 different kinds of zoas just bad lighting with camers
 
gilly

gilly

Member
I have a bunch of brown algae growing on the rock and sand. Should I be worried? I did a small water change yesterday but it hasn't seemed to slow the growth.
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Hhaha, you guys and your LPS and Clown FIsh in 3 gallons (minus 1 1/3 gallons for rocks and coral = 1 2/3 gallon).
First off, the Picotope makes no sense when for the same money, you can get the Deco with 2x the lighting and (I believe) 2-3x the GPH.
Second, I can't really think of many fish that will be happy in these. Horses would love the concentration of food, but then you are vaccumming all day.
These tanks are perfect for a few things. In mine I have:
orange snails, nass snails, emerald crab, sexy shrimp, scarlet/blue hermits, zoas, kenya, bumblebee snails, xenia, shrooms, buttons. That is plenty to keep my attention. And there is NO NEED to go overboard and add a fish. Chances are it will go suicidal (clowns like to swim haphazardly and freely), and you will always be cleaning food out of it.
I leave mine over the weekend at work. After 5 weeks, no issues.
Do what you want, but these are not good for fish. Plus, EVERYONE has fish tanks! Corals will be very happy in the pico, fish need more room.
And evaporation is NOT an issue with these if you know what you are doing. If you leave overnight - LID. If you leave for the weekend - LID.
I add 6 oz of R.O. per day and do bi-weekly water changes of 16oz, and mine is thriving. ALl corals have doubled from 6 watts per gallon.
Dont over-think this one.
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
Originally Posted by Gilly
I have a bunch of brown algae growing on the rock and sand. Should I be worried? I did a small water change yesterday but it hasn't seemed to slow the growth.
Is this your first salt tank? If so, Im worried for you, so you have no need to worry.
Seriously though, algae blooms are normal during or right after you cycle. You can typically avoid this by "borrowing" 3 gallons of water from an established, healthy reef. Thats what I did. One day it was empty, next day it had 5 different softies in it, and no algae!
 
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