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Thinking of starting a 2.5 or 3 gallon tank...

6K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  bettababy 
#1 ·
I currently have a 30 gallon tank at home, and have been thinking of putting together 3 gallon tank for work or my bedroom. For starters if I do go through with it, which will a better starting kit?
Desktop & Small Aquarium Starter Kits: Picotope 3 Gallon Aquarium Kit
or
Desktop & Starter Aquarium Kit: 3-gallon Deco Kit Aquarium
This will be a very basic tank with a DSB a few lbs of LR and some simple corals that I will take from my main tank, the only other inhabitants will be a couple small snails and a gold banded coral shrimp. Will this setup be ok to be alone for 2 days if I do choose to keep it at work? Office is closed on sat and sun.
I understand its much harder to keep the smaller tanks in check due to the very low water volume that's why I ask about if it is ok for it to go unchecked for the 2 days. (Also the main reason I will not have any fish). I like the first due to its stronger lighting if I choose to take frags from my SPS in my main tank, but would even an 18 watt CFL be enough for them? or would they even survive in such a small tank?

All this is forward thinking a few months down the road, so all advice is highly appreciated, even if it is simply saying don't do it or keep it at home where I can monitor it 7 days a week even if only starting it out at home for a few months to stabilise it.

Thanks in advace!
 
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#2 ·
There are several build threads in the "Pictures and Videos" area that you may want to read. Here a nice one on a 2.5 mini-reef. http://www.fishforum.com/saltwater-fish-pictures-videos/my-2-5g-desktop-reef-28301/

I have been considering my own mini project, so I may follow this thread closely.

{moderator comment: We would prefer to relocate this thread into the Pictures and Videos area as a "Build' thread. Is this ok with you?}
 
#3 ·
Yes, I have looked at a few in there. Those mainly have been inspiring my build as well. I dunno that it belongs in pics and videos, as it is more of a general question as to what is required to start and maintain a 3 gallon. A what can and can't be done type of thing. But if the mods feel that it is more suited for the other that's fine by me :)

I am planning on doing this somewhat as a frag tank to spread some of my successful inhabitants in my display into other areas in it, and even have a place for them when they get too big(overgrowing areas i don't want them in) until i choose to get rid of them and/or sell them.

That and I would love to have a nice little tank at work! lol.

Also is a skimmer required in a setup this small? I was thinking two one cup water changes per week would eliminate the need for it
 
#4 ·
Also is a skimmer required in a setup this small? I was thinking two one cup water changes per week would eliminate the need for it
Water changes and skimming do not reach the same goals. They really have nothing to do with each other. Skimming prevents the break down of organic waste. Water changes remove the end product. More on this later if necessary. However, I do not see the need for a skimmer on your tank. Activated carbon would be sufficient.

I thought you were setting this tank up already. We will run the discussion as is until you are ready to start the project, at which point you can create a build thread with lots of pictures! ;-)
 
#5 ·
ahh, I understand now!

As for the water changes vs skimmer, I understnad they don't really do the same. But I have read a few cases where people will use one to replace the other. So just a bag of activated carbon will be ok for the mini? That's good to know, already keep that on hand for the main tank!

I guess that really just leaves what should a water change regime be on a tank of that size, and will it be able to support SPS with the lighting that comes stock with the deco kit aquarium I listed above?

Also if I use water from my main tank, but use base sand and add some live sand from my main tank, and using just base rock, how long should the tank "cycle" for? Or will there even be a cycle at that point? (I will also use a small peice of LR from the LFS for seeding the base in the mini)

Thanks for the help so far!
 
#6 ·
There will most likely not be much of a "cycle" at all. However, I would still allow time for the system to mature before adding much in the way of livestock.

Activated carbon removes organic compounds from the water. Skimmer are MUCH more effective, but on a very small system you can use carbon without the skimmer, so long as you have the discipline to change the carbon every week or so.
 
#8 ·
There will most likely not be much of a "cycle" at all. However, I would still allow time for the system to mature before adding much in the way of livestock.

Activated carbon removes organic compounds from the water. Skimmer are MUCH more effective, but on a very small system you can use carbon without the skimmer, so long as you have the discipline to change the carbon every week or so.

So carbon every week in the small system? I run carbon on my 30 gallon and change it monthly combined with the coral life skimmer. Should I up the carbon changes on the 30? As for the cycle I won't need to watch for the full diatom bloom and all then? I plan on taking all of the initial water from my DT on a water change weekend. So the pod population should get a decent jump start. I also have caught a couple amphipods from the dt for this purpose as well.

This really only leaves what kinds of corals I will be able to put in the mini :)

Also tests are weekly on my DT, how often should I test the water in the mini?
 
#7 ·
yea online or at a fish store u can get a baggie and a box of carbon and fill the bagy and put it in ur filter. i would personaly go with the second one because of the higher light. u would only need 4-6 lbs of rock in there, bet u know that though. some snails and a shrimp might be a bit much but with experience im shure u can do it. im a newb so i cant offer any more then that but i hope that helps.
 
#10 ·
If I may add to this conversation...

I have kept tiny nano reefs for many years. I finally took them all down but I would like to explain why. The why is something that hasn't been mentioned here yet and its something anyone considering such a small tank should know about.

When working with such a small amount of water evaporation becomes an issue from day 1, especially in an open top tank such as those in the links at the beginning of this thread. Evaporation levels in a larger tank don't have such a drastic effect on the water chemistry, nor does it happen so fast. For a 2 - 3 gallon tank, regardless of time of year.. it required daily water changes and it was still near impossible to keep the chemistry stable. The constant up and down in fluctuations every day from evaporation to water change/top off was so harsh on the corals that nothing survived for long. It was also impossible to keep temp stable because of the evaporation rates.

Other issues with such a small tank include space between the corals to avoid them bothering each other. Most healthy corals suitable for such a small tank will grow rapidly if the conditions are right, and 2.5 to 3 gallons of water leaves them no space to grow. Things like mushrooms that are compatible will quickly grow over the top of each other and crowd each other out... same end result is dying corals.

Then, of course, there is salt creep. This is something often forgotten about when setting up a marine tank... but when you work with the nanos, and open top at that... salt creep gets to be a real issue real fast. Because water evaporates and salt does not, that leaves salt residue behind... which gets onto everything. My last 2.5 gallon nano reef was open top and by end of first week there was salt creep on the desk, the tank, all of the equipment... which fell to the carpeting. As you can imagine, it was a horrible mess and also had a huge affect on being able to keep salinity stable enough for any animals to survive outside of a snail or 2. Again, this was simply from evaporation. With daily care it took about 45 minutes every day to wipe everything down to prevent it from getting bad, and it still did damage to the desk. Open top tanks also have some level of splash happening at the water's surface from filtration units. The lower the water evaporates, the bigger the splash. Saltwater spray usually gets on anything within about a 1 ft radius of the tank, sometimes more.

Now, what I have to contribute is not all bad news, lol. I didn't mean to sound so depressing. I do have a suggestion for you to consider.

What about a biocube 8? This gives you an extra 5 gallons of water to work with and is a covered tank designed for a nano reef. Filtration, lighting, everything has been designed to support what you are describing, plus its big enough to support a shrimp and small snail species or 2 if you so choose. It would still require daily maintenance to keep it stable, but it would be a lot less work, a lot less messy, and much better success rate for a bedroom tank such as you mentioned.

Another advantage to the biocube 8 is that its possible to get a heater into the back sump if you remove the bioballs and add live rock instead. The fill rate would have to be above the max line shown on the tank, but it is doable. With a deco tank there is nowhere to put a heater. A hang on heater requires the water level to be at a certain point, which as explained, gets to be an issue with evaporation. In the biocube 8 you can work with a submersible and evaporation rates are not so drastic, which causes no heater issues. My last 2.5 gallon nano broke 3 hang on heaters in less than 2 months... again, its that darn evaporation rate.

However you go, I would not suggest a small nano reef tank for an office situation. Many buildings that are closed on weekends also tend to turn off heat and/or air conditioning on those days. That would greatly affect what happens in a nano reef, even with a heater installed. The other reason I would never suggest one for an office is because of the salt creep issues. Covered or open top, there will be salt creep to deal with, and that can cause alot of damage to things like desks, carpeting, walls, etc. 2 days on the weekend might not seem like a long time, but with that small amount of water and heavy evaporation rates because of it... 2 days could 1/2 empty your tank (or more), especially in dry weather.

Not sure if this has helped any, but didn't want to see you going into this and finding out too late that it won't work or causes more expense in damages. That gets to be alot of money flushed down the toilet. You have lots of nano options, but those little mini tanks like in your links are not the way to go... nor is 2.5 - 3 gallons in any shape or form.

Best of luck to you.
 
#11 ·
That is very much the kind of response I was hoping to get (even though I didn't really ask for it). Thank you very much for that input, and I will look into the 8 gallon bio-cube. If I do end up going with a 3 gallon given that, it will be for the bedroom and no office tank then, even then I doubt I will. (Unless I can talk the doctor into letting me setup a nice 120 gallon!) Most doctors in our area have a saltwater tank.. why not mine too? LOL. That is one thing I kept seeing come up, it seemed like not many people have had picos for more than a few months(up to a year), and I kept wandering why!
 
#12 · (Edited)
Glad I could help. I worried that my info sounded too negative and would cause issues, but I had to be honest. I have had those tanks many times over the years, each time I set one up I modified whatever possible to try to make it work... it never lasts for long.

Probably the biggest achievement was the tiny cube tank we had at the store on our counter for display. We managed to keep it going for a couple of years, but it was a very boring tank that required alot of time and work. We put 1 mushroom in there and it got big enough to take up the entire tank... so that was all we got into it. That tank was about 1 gallon. That mushroom grew but we never got real good color from it and 1 mushroom in a tank by itself is not very exciting. It was set up as a display to show the versatility of the small tank, but the lack of heater finally wiped it out overnight, and we never sold one for saltwater because we understood first hand how impractical it was.

If you go with a 3 gallon, it would be a good idea to find a way to cover it. And I can even suggest a heater for you to try, as its the only one I know of that would fit into that size of a tank... but no promises it will maintain a stable enough temp for a reef. Its made by Hydor.. they actually have a couple of options, but they are not cheap and also require careful watch on the tank stats to be sure they are working properly at all times. A cover on the tank would help to insulate it by trapping heat & humidity at the water's surface, and would also help lower evaporation rate to some degree. You would want to wipe it welll each day/night when doing the water change to ensure spg/salinity stay somewhat stable, and to prevent salt creep from taking it over. I do not suggest a cover that hangs over the edges of the tank, as salt creep will work its way out and beyond very quickly...

Keep us posted on what you end up with, and be sure to post pictures when you set up whatever tank you work with.

I wish I could answer your questions about the sps corals, but that will be reliant on tank depth, lighting used, and how far the light sits from the surface of the water, along with how stable you can keep the water chemistry... the best I can offer is that it will be species specific and likely require some trial/error, and possibly some losses to figure out what will and won't work. In the 8 gallon biocube, however, I would expect you to have great luck with most anything you can want to put into it. You may want/need to change bulbs from those included to accommodate some things or build up with rock for placement close enough to the surface, but I am very familiar with how the biocubes are set up and they are a perfect solution for anyone who wants a small reef. I am currently running a 29 biocbue reef and I can't wait to set up another. Everything has grown so fast it is amazing, and I do very little to this tank other than add water and food, the ocassional scraping of coraline from the glass, and trimming out the overgrowth or red grape caulerpa weekly. I posted some photos of it the other night, its the only aquarium profile I have yet posted here. Feel free to take a look. I would never go back to a standard or other tank for a small reef now that I've been running this biocube. I can't say enough about them and my husband works at the company, so I have easy access to any needed help I may run across in the future. If you should decide to work with the biocube, you can contact me directly for any tech support needs and get faster service.

Best of luck to you!
 
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