New Pico Tank Build

[soviettaco]

Wild pistols will eat other shrimp, happens in the wild no reason why it can't happen in captivity. Thats the whole point of its claw, the jet of water it makes when it cocks its pinsers and fires. The jet stuns other shrimp which it then eats, i've seen them do it to skunks.

 

[socalnano24]

Ok, thanks for the input. I'll have to consider that. I wonder if its one of those situations where he would only resort to predation of tank inhabitants if he ran out of food.
Also maybe I could introduce him last, after other shrimp members were established?
Either way, thanks for the tip

 

[new2salt1]

I had 2 sexies in my 3 gallon and now they are in my 5 gallon. The pair hang out almost exclusively in the kenya tree at the center of the tank. The only affect the sexies have on the kenya tree is some shriveling action, but the thing grows out of control anyway so it never bothered me.

 

[socalnano24]

ok cool, haven't heard from many that keep em. I'll have to check out what a kenya tree is, haven't heard of it.

 

[saltwaterkitty]

Good luck on your build!!
I have no experience with any of the options so I'm sorry that I can't help but I'm definitely tagging along to see where you go with this!
Kat

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by SocalNano24
http:///forum/post/3177407
ok cool, haven't heard from many that keep em. I'll have to check out what a kenya tree is, haven't heard of it.
Kenya tree....LOL...Attachment 235010
A nightmare of a coral..LOL...it grows worse than a weed...I have it all over, and I have been throwing pieces in my refugium.
Don;t get me wrong...I like it....You just need to know it is a spreader..

 

[socalnano24]

Originally Posted by SaltWaterKitty
http:///forum/post/3177440
Good luck on your build!!
I have no experience with any of the options so I'm sorry that I can't help but I'm definitely tagging along to see where you go with this!
Kat
Haha no worries, any interest is always appreciated too! Always nice to have observers
Meowzy- I'll keep that in mind, probably not good to have a fast grower in such a small tank

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by SocalNano24
http:///forum/post/3177517
Haha no worries, any interest is always appreciated too! Always nice to have observers
Meowzy- I'll keep that in mind, probably not good to have a fast grower in such a small tank
WELL...If you are lucky enough to have LFS you can trade it in for credit.

 

[saltymarine]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3177482
Kenya tree....LOL...Attachment 235010
A nightmare of a coral..LOL...it grows worse than a weed...I have it all over, and I have been throwing pieces in my refugium.
Don;t get me wrong...I like it....You just need to know it is a spreader..
Do not throw it away! I will take some! I live in Central High but I work every day on Ft Sill.

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by SaltyMarine
http:///forum/post/3177553
Do not throw it away! I will take some! I live in Central High but I work every day on Ft Sill.
I don't throw it away..lol...I have it in the refugium....I have no LFS, and I only get to my NOT SO LFS every few months....
I sent you a pm

 

[soviettaco]

Hey I think you would be fine having sexies, I have 3 in my 24 and I have seen them eat all the food I feed my tank, I've never heard of them NOT being reef safe. They are fun to watch. Though I am pretty sure you would not want to put any other shrimp in there that has bigger claws cause it will eat the sexies. They are pretty fast and I don't think crabs will get them but since your tank is small there might be chance something could get to them. Have you thought about poms

I sure do love poms, anemone crabs are cool too! Oh and I forgot sexies just need something to stand on, mine really like camping out with each other on my torch stalk. They will pretty much go all over sit on lr hangout on my blasto which usually causes some minute shrinkage, but they are pretty light and won't mess up or move anything around. Thats what an electric blue crab is for I have found out haha.

 

[spanko]

Here is a picture of a 5 gallon from another site I belong to.

 

[socalnano24]

Spanko thanks for the high expectations. Lol.
So I tested a few parameters yesterday. Ph 8.1 ammonia is not detectable my sg is at 1.025 and the water temp has stabilized at 78. So I'll keep track of the ammonia for the next few days but I'm not seeing much in terms of a cycle. Should I ghost feed or add a shrimp? ( keep in mind it's mature water)

 

[meowzer]

OMG...I wish I could find stuff as bright as that tank.....

 

[socalnano24]

So I've noticed an astrea star, and a snail on the glass. Not much else to report as far as the tank.
I'm considering bringing a piece of liverock in from my nano in order to ensure a bit more copepods and other critters? Or I'm going to buy another piece of premium fiji live rock and transport it in water. '[Last one was in plastic bags w/out being submerged(I know I'm a bad person)].
Ok, I've decided that for sure I would like sexy shrimp and pom pom crabs, since those both are very interesting small inverts.
I believe that rules out the pistol shrimp.

 

[spanko]

I would do the live rock from the nano if you can spare it. Only reason is you know what is in your tank, live rock from the store could bring in an unwanted guest, aiptasia, crabs etc.
I would also ghost feed a little to see what happens. Mature water means nothing, the amount of any bacteria in it is for all intents negligible. Remember the bacteria resides on hard surfaces in our tanks.

 

[socalnano24]

Sounds like a plan, now to determine which rock I can temporarily part with from the nano....

 

[socalnano24]

Ok, so I haven't put any new rock in yet. But I did rearrange the rock some, and added the start of a CUC. Got 2 small Nassarius snails and 3 small hermits.
Here's some updated pictures of hte live rock. Probably going to wait till next weekend before I even consider any livestock or coral. Still waiting to see if I get a diatom bloom. Gonna recheck my levels tonight.

 

[socalnano24]

Ok, so I noticed a small diatom bloom last night. This morning it was already cleaned up from the sand. So that means the ammonia phase of the cycle should be diminished and moving to an increase in nitrite right? (this is only my second tank set up, exhibiting my signs of newb)

 

[socalnano24]

Ok so I'm coming up on two weeks, still got a diatom bloom. I'm going to test all my parameters again this weekend and probably do a 1 gallon water change. Then get some cerith snails to round out my CUC.
If my levels are good I'm going to look into ordering a pom pom crab, and maybe get a generic green zoa frag to start (just to make sure it does well)