4g pico reef - any possible fish ideas??

[alberthiel]

Thanks I'm stoked to have him! Im upgrading him to a 9g soon and will keep going up as needed I was planning on keeping him by himself and a decent amount of corals.
Is there actually anything that can be kept safely longterm in a smaller tank? Corals to stay away from? Coral that would be a good fit for his tank?

Right now when he is small anything larger would be OK but in that small a tank you can't really put large fish so it would be best to keep him by himself and as you say upgrade the size of the tank. Keep him well fed ... and as to corals I would only put small ones but to suggest some I would need to know what kind of light you have over that tank (type of bulb, intensity, and K degrees - all would help). Let me know.

 

[alberthiel]

Thanks I'm stoked to have him! Im upgrading him to a 9g soon and will keep going up as needed I was planning on keeping him by himself and a decent amount of corals.
Is there actually anything that can be kept safely longterm in a smaller tank? Corals to stay away from? Coral that would be a good fit for his tank?

Here is a link to some info on him : Red/Orange Angler It is on LiveAquaria.

 

[illdoya]

Right now when he is small anything larger would be OK but in that small a tank you can't really put large fish so it would be best to keep him by himself and as you say upgrade the size of the tank. Keep him well fed ... and as to corals I would only put small ones but to suggest some I would need to know what kind of light you have over that tank (type of bulb, intensity, and K degrees - all would help). Let me know.

Of course! Sorry for not being initially more specific The upgrade should give me more room for aquascaping. Right now on the 4g, I only use 1 bulb (they have independent switches). On the 9g I will use both with actinic bulbs, getting white from LED strips. I was thinking of keeping it blue most of the time, with the white LEDs on only 4hrs per day in the middle of the light period.

current tank set up with:
tank: 4g Finnex; dimensions: 12.2"L x 7.5"W x 10.2"H
light: Current USA Satellite 36w Dual Power Compact
Filter: AquaClear 20

Upgrade:
9g Jebo tank (removed AIO components); 15"L x 11"W x 16"H
light: Current USA Satellite 36w Dual Power Compact w/ 2 actinic bulbs and 2x 12" LED strips (white) 7.5w each (15w total in LEDs)
AquaClear 70 filter

I use Instant Ocean salt mix with weekly water changes, my params are kept to:
SG 1.025
pH 8.3
Ammonia 0
Phosphates 0-.10ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0-.5ppm
Ca 460-480ppm
dKH 11

 

[alberthiel]

Of course! Sorry for not being initially more specific The upgrade should give me more room for aquascaping. Right now on the 4g, I only use 1 bulb (they have independent switches). On the 9g I will use both with actinic bulbs, getting white from LED strips. I was thinking of keeping it blue most of the time, with the white LEDs on only 4hrs per day in the middle of the light period.

current tank set up with:
tank: 4g Finnex; dimensions: 12.2"L x 7.5"W x 10.2"H
light: Current USA Satellite 36w Dual Power Compact
Filter: AquaClear 20

Upgrade:
9g Jebo tank (removed AIO components); 15"L x 11"W x 16"H
light: Current USA Satellite 36w Dual Power Compact w/ 2 actinic bulbs and 2x 12" LED strips (white) 7.5w each (15w total in LEDs)
AquaClear 70 filter

I use Instant Ocean salt mix with weekly water changes, my params are kept to:
SG 1.025
pH 8.3
Ammonia 0
Phosphates 0-.10ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0-.5ppm
Ca 460-480ppm
dKH 11

That sounds like a good way to go although on the lighting it kind of depends on what type of corals you will be putting in there, and with those lights I would probably stick with the easy to keep ones that do not have high light demand requirements, such as for instance Candy Cane, Duncan, maybe a Sarcophyton Leather (small one) and maybe a Pavona SPS coral but the key will be not to overload the system.

Note that your params are fine as far as I can see but PO4 is a bit on the high side, it should really not be detectable by a low range test kit. And when you upgrade you may need to consider using some more chemical filtration media such as GFO and maybe more, but again how much and which ones will depend on the load in the tank and what your test results will be at that time.

For now try to lower those phosphates ..

I have to sign off for now as dinner is ready and will be back on tomorrow morning.