Potatocouch Pico Tank 20L

[millotoli]

You could add cuc,
I like to be a little cautious and i would suggest maintain a steady tank for at least a week before adding cuc, 20L can swing really quickly and it is a very young tank. until you know you can keep it stable i would wait. having said if you feel comfortable and you monitor the water regularly and have 20l mixed, then go for it.
When i ran a nano i did a 1 to 2L water change daily (jug out jug in.) and 30% weekly. more if needed.

[rasputin]

Updates? How are things after a water change?

Yes, did approx. 60% WC yesterday evening.

Water Parameter
Ph: 7.8 (Tested at night 10:30 pm)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: either 5 or 10; i can't tell for sure with this API Test Kit but leaning towards 10.

The rest of water parameters remain untested for now.

I will wait and see for couple of days ensuring the Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate is okay before adding CUC.

Noted that Ph is a bit low; any suggestion how to raise it?

Given the above 4 water parameters, do you reckon it is okay to add CUC?

What are you using to determine the salinity?

I think if I were not testing for Kh, Calcium, Magnesium (as per red sea pro test kit) I would be doing those kinds of high percentage changes regularly to ensure the system was clean and having its elements replaced in some way. Dosing anything in particular by guessing the amount could be risky, especially in a small system.

[matts20891]

Noted that Ph is a bit low; any suggestion how to raise it?

Is it possible to work a skimmer into the system somehow? I'm not too sure of the exact chemistry, but I know that that will raise your ph. If not, then do you have a powerhead pointed at the surface? I think surface agitation will also help but just not as much effect as a skimmer

[NewyReefer]

What is your alk Level, better keeping Alk right then Ph look into getting Brightwells Alkalin 8.3...

Also it depends on the time of day you test Ph will drop at night mine goes from 8.30 during the day to 7.95 during the night...

[potatocouch]

You could add cuc,I like to be a little cautious and i would suggest maintain a steady tank for at least a week before adding cuc, 20L can swing really quickly and it is a very young tank. until you know you can keep it stable i would wait. having said if you feel comfortable and you monitor the water regularly and have 20l mixed, then go for it.When i ran a nano i did a 1 to 2L water change daily (jug out jug in.) and 30% weekly. more if needed.

I've now added a Turbo snail onto the tank and I will keep monitoring the 3 water parameters (A/N/N) for this week until I get a hold of the other test kits. I think I will stick with API Reef Master Test Kit for the other water parameters. This morning I couldn't see the snail, so either he must be hiding somewhere in the LR or in the sand; I will keep looking when I am back home later this evening.

What are you using to determine the salinity? I think if I were not testing for Kh, Calcium, Magnesium (as per red sea pro test kit) I would be doing those kinds of high percentage changes regularly to ensure the system was clean and having its elements replaced in some way. Dosing anything in particular by guessing the amount could be risky, especially in a small system.

I don't intend to dose anything at this stage but we'll see how it goes until I can test my 'other' water parameters i.e. Ca, Mg and etc. As for Salinity, at the moment I am using Swing Arm Hydrometer which I intend to replace with a Refractometer. The Refractometer is on its way now and I will be using this as the main Salinity tool.

Is it possible to work a skimmer into the system somehow? I'm not too sure of the exact chemistry, but I know that that will raise your ph. If not, then do you have a powerhead pointed at the surface? I think surface agitation will also help but just not as much effect as a skimmer

Probably can with MAME Skimmer; it is so small but at this stage, I haven't budgeted for a Skimmer but I am thinking of getting another powerhead/wavemaker; I will then use your suggestion in pointing that to the surface.

What is your alk Level, better keeping Alk right then Ph look into getting Brightwells Alkalin 8.3... Also it depends on the time of day you test Ph will drop at night mine goes from 8.30 during the day to 7.95 during the night...

Other than A/N/N, no other water parameters were tested for this tank (until I get the API Reef Master Test Kit). But you may be right! When I tested Ph, it was 10:30 pm ... I should be testing it during the day (afternoon).

Caulerpa Racemosa (Grape Algae) || Caulerpa Peltata
The Caulerpa Racemosa (Grape Algae) don't seem to be growing as much ever since the last Water Change and I have put the snail on the LR with hope that it will munch in this Macroalgae; in the forum, some say it will eat Macro, some don't ... so we'll see how it goes.

White Sponges (Unidentified) - Hope it is not harmful
I can also see a development of white sponges/spores on one side of my LR; it looks like a white mold ... I will take a picture next time.

[rasputin]

Great stuff.
It will be advantageous for you to have both the refractometer and hydrometer, in order to check your levels as you learn to use the refractometer as well as helping to confirm accuracy of the hydrometer

Watching the live rock will always make you nervous as you will spot some crazy looking stuff, the more you learn the less nervous you'll be generally as much of it is safe/easy to deal with once understood

Cramming a protein skimmer into such a small space sounds like a challenge and expense, hopefully you will be able to work around having to do that.

Have a look at where the reef master kit from API overlaps with the things you already have... you should be able to get an API calcium test and a phosphate test for $10 each or so, instead of what i asume is like $50 for the reef kit.

Also the Red Sea PRO Kh/Ca/Mg kit is more expensive and complicated, but more accurate. I started with the API kit you speak of and once I used it up/expired I movd on to Red Sea. Harder but worth it I think, now that I've practiced it plenty.

Keep up the good work, stay strong! Get all the fiddling done up front now and it will repay you long term in a beautiful tank and healthier livestock

[potatocouch]

Cramming a protein skimmer into such a small space sounds like a challenge and expense, hopefully you will be able to work around having to do that.

From what I've looked so far in the forum here and there, majority of them that have a Pico/Nano tank do not use protein skimmer; they were changing water 20~50% on a weekly basis so I think I will take that approach for now.

Have a look at where the reef master kit from API overlaps with the things you already have... you should be able to get an API calcium test and a phosphate test for $10 each or so, instead of what i assume is like $50 for the reef kit.

That is a great idea, rasputin! thank you for that suggestion. I didn't think of it until you mentioned it.

This afternoon, out of curiosity, I decided to run a poll in another forum with a questionnaire of "Do I need to test Ca, Kh & Mg for a Pico tank, which will be housing Zoas & Mushrooms?" ... The result was quite balanced with 3 vs 4 in favour of testing Ca, Kh & Mg; the most logical response that I gathered was "Doing water change will replenish those elements anyway but it is always better to test because this way we'll be able to learn stuff". And as you mentioned on your post, it is always a good practice.

Keep up the good work, stay strong! Get all the fiddling done up front now and it will repay you long term in a beautiful tank and healthier livestock

Thank you.

[potatocouch]

Today's Potatocouch's tank journal:

I have finally got my Refractometer



After employing my first CUC (Turbo Snail) in the tank for 3 days, I have decided to test the water parameters again, today's result are as follow:
Ph: 7.8 (Tested @ 6:30 pm)
Salinity: 1.027 (Measurement by Refractometer)
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

I am quite happy with the stability of the water and will monitor for another week or so before introducing my first coral.

Fingers crossed all is good

PS: We also found a Star Fish (looks like Asterina sp) on the tank wall ... very small in size but I hope it survives.

[millotoli]

Looking good.
I think testing is good and water changes are god!.
also salinity is a bit high?

[potatocouch]

also salinity is a bit high?

I think it may even hit 1.028 at one time ... but pretty much it's been steady @ 1.027.

My aim is to reduce it to 1.026 in my next WC this weekend, but may do it gradually ... don't want to shock the inhabitants

Aiming for 20% WC.