Adding SPS to Pico tank

Tlisty · May 13, 2020

Hello,
I started a fluval spec 2.6 right at a year ago and things have really been going great. Looking at trying my hand on some milli and acro corals and seeing what advise everyone had on dosing. From what I see water changes every couple days is the best option but has anyone had luck dosing calcium and alk to a pico tank?

brandon429 · May 13, 2020

its not needed. all you have to do is feed well with varied feeds, not all dry powdered ones, add some frozen food or reef nutrition eggs and roti feast is really a mass builder.

instead of daily feedings we add those hq feeds right before the big weekly water change, and reset it back to clean with no rot water. dosing not needed, although some do dose.
search on google for Maritza the vase reef, tons of sps in 1 gallon not dosed. fed well

8 yrs

*your lighting, what kind is it/has your exact light setup been shown in other threads to grow sps? that's how we make sure lighting is ready/handy trick

it looks like it will work, you have aged that pico very well nice job. Start with classic red monti is my offer; then do the acros and poci's after that start run

Tlisty · May 13, 2020

Thanks for the info, I have a AI prime HD on it and upgraded the return pump to a Sicce. I have also put a small 80 gph return pump on the glass that is on a timer running in off 8 hrs a day.

Running my prime at 40% right now.

brandon429 · May 13, 2020

I think its perfect then. Id recommend when adding the new sps to dim lights down a bit more, simulate a couple cloudy days and work back up. if you pair that known-perfect lighting with increased feed in/ out sustained for about 2-3 weeks (then back off to normal schedule however u like) you could drive a teacup to grow sps. We have before lol/equivalent volume of water.

Tlisty · May 13, 2020

What would you suggest I feed?

brandon429 · May 13, 2020

my current feed rotates between benepets which is powder feed just like reef roids etc

and frozen rod's reef food, this is meaty chunks you can pestle and grind up into tiny fare before adding, very potent.

roe eggs and roti pods from reef nutrition are constants when my lfs can get them, hasnt had them in a while. thats a varied diet + high reef exercise vs stagnancy...see how that equates to reef tank bodybuilding ha nice

Tlisty · May 13, 2020

Awesome, I will be ordering some reef roids tonight.

Stoney · May 13, 2020

I've had pretty good luck dosing in a pico reef. It's really not that difficult to get it dialed in if you're comfortable with alk testing and arent constantly adding/removing coral. My alk typically stays within 0.1 dKh with weekly testing. You dont even need to test calcium if you do a large water change every now and then. Just dose equal cal/alk.

The tank is 3-4 gallons actual water volume and it's been up for around 7 years. It was even more packed a few weeks ago before I cleaned it up a bit. Dont mind the bits of stn, gsp is a pain lol

Tlisty · May 13, 2020

That is a mature tank for sure. Any suggestions on a starting point and what you currently dose.

thank you

Stoney · May 13, 2020

I dose 15ml of esv b-ionic throughout the day. On such a small tank I'd recommend starting with the minimum your doser can handle, so probably 1ml a day and adjust based on testing. Keep in mind, the rise in salinity is pretty significant with esv and other typical 2 parts once the tank is packed with coral. It's not a big deal if you're still doing occasional water changes but if you dont want to think about that, you should look into tropic marin all for reef. Its calcium formate unlike the typical sodium and chloride based 2 parts so it doesn't raise salinity. I'm actually transitioning this tank to carbo-calcium right now, which is basically all for reef without magnesium and trace elements.

gabrieltackitt · May 13, 2020

brandon429 said:
I think its perfect then. Id recommend when adding the new sps to dim lights down a bit more, simulate a couple cloudy days and work back up. if you pair that known-perfect lighting with increased feed in/ out sustained for about 2-3 weeks (then back off to normal schedule however u like) you could drive a teacup to grow sps. We have before lol/equivalent volume of water.

The Primes actually have a handy function under effects called acclimation! Tell it a start date, and end date, and the percentage reduction on each channel and it will automatically calculate where to start and how much to increase daily! So much handier than increasing daily or weekly by hand, just set it and forget it.

Tlisty · May 19, 2020

Tlisty · May 19, 2020

Added a few pieces last Thursday and they are really starting to open up. The acro and milipora have some great polyp extension but the red digi has yet to really show any at all.

Any ideas?

LivinTheSwreefLife · May 19, 2020

brandon429 said:
its not needed. all you have to do is feed well with varied feeds, not all dry powdered ones, add some frozen food or reef nutrition eggs and roti feast is really a mass builder.

instead of daily feedings we add those hq feeds right before the big weekly water change, and reset it back to clean with no rot water. dosing not needed, although some do dose.
search on google for Maritza the vase reef, tons of sps in 1 gallon not dosed. fed well

8 yrs

*your lighting, what kind is it/has your exact light setup been shown in other threads to grow sps? that's how we make sure lighting is ready/handy trick

it looks like it will work, you have aged that pico very well nice job. Start with classic red monti is my offer; then do the acros and poci's after that start run

I'm actually adding SPS to a pico with an AI prime over it as well. May I ask how long you leave the tank with the food/reef roids before doing a big water change?

brandon429 · May 19, 2020

its variable, ill get lazy and leave it 2 days sometimes but i think that drives down ph due to acidosis from protein digestion internally/these are usually nonskimmed. algae is on glass I have to clean if i wait, and corals seem mad.

the ideal Ive seen is two hours

blast feed occasionally, wait two hours and clean it up then you can go a while. in the end its less work than a large tank even with the increased paired feed + water change activity. Maritza doesnt do full changes, that reef is changed about 80% weekly after a light feeding.

LivinTheSwreefLife · May 19, 2020

brandon429 said:
its variable, ill get lazy and leave it 2 days sometimes but i think that drives down ph due to acidosis from protein digestion internally/these are usually nonskimmed. algae is on glass I have to clean if i wait, and corals seem mad.

the ideal Ive seen is two hours

blast feed occasionally, wait two hours and clean it up then you can go a while. in the end its less work than a large tank even with the increased paired feed + water change activity. Maritza doesnt do full changes, that reef is changed about 80% weekly after a light feeding.

Awesome will try this! Thanks!

Tlisty · May 24, 2020

Tlisty · Jun 3, 2020

Starting to get some encrusting and colors are starting to come out. Thought I would post a pic since it has been about a week. Started to dose bio-enhance and do think I have gotten a little more PE since I started.