Fluval 2 Gallon Pico tank.

[Coco Go]

Hi guys, first time posting here. I was hoping to get some advise. I am an Arowana keeper and now would like to try my hands on corals. I got this fluval spec 2 gallon from Craiglist and I would like to grow some corals. I purchased this live rock at my LFS, will ecosystem work with that big rock on a small tank? Please advise. Thank you.

 

[AcroNem]

As for the Ecosystem it will most likely be better with more rock in that smaller system, but it will still be more challenging to keep stable with only a couple gallons of water.

 

[Efranco]

you should be fine with the rock...with a pico tank just make sure to keep on top of water changes...I had a 7g and mostly kept Zoas, Mushrooms and rock anemone with some sexy shrimp and porcelain crab

 

[salomon_gil]

Hello brother. That was my first saltwater tank as well so I would try to give you some tips I wish I knew at that time. First, even in a small tank take always into consideration the 3 types of filtration a reef aquarium should have: 1 mechanical (filter media like sponges, filter socks and even a tiny skimmer. There is a small skimmer designed by a company called mame that would be a great fit for that tank. 2 chemical filtration; put a bag of carbon mix with GFO in the back area, that would take you far away because it would prevent phosphates from attaching to your rock and sand since day 1. 3 Biological filtration; you already have the sand and rock. However if I were you I probably would had started with dry rock to avoid pests and then buy some copepods and seed the tank with all the beneficial little bugs. Finally install an ATO system is a must have in a tank that small where water parameters would change rapidly due to evaporation and the small water volume. Automation is your best friend in these hobby. Happy reefing.

 

[BBoley24]

 

[Coco Go]

Hello brother. That was my first saltwater tank as well so I would try to give you some tips I wish I knew at that time. First, even in a small tank take always into consideration the 3 types of filtration a reef aquarium should have: 1 mechanical (filter media like sponges, filter socks and even a tiny skimmer. There is a small skimmer designed by a company called mame that would be a great fit for that tank. 2 chemical filtration; put a bag of carbon mix with GFO in the back area, that would take you far away because it would prevent phosphates from attaching to your rock and sand since day 1. 3 Biological filtration; you already have the sand and rock. However if I were you I probably would had started with dry rock to avoid pests and then buy some copepods and seed the tank with all the beneficial little bugs. Finally install an ATO system is a must have in a tank that small where water parameters would change rapidly due to evaporation and the small water volume. Automation is your best friend in these hobby. Happy reefing.

Thanks for the advise. I top it off with freshwater right? Not sure if I want to spend for the skimmer, il be doing WC twice a week. What do you think?

 

[AcroNem]

Yes topoff is done with fresh water, preferably RODI water. Twice weekly WC's will be just fine, I don't think you'll need to add any form of skimmer as long as you're running carbon.

 

[salomon_gil]

Thanks for the advise. I top it off with freshwater right? Not sure if I want to spend for the skimmer, il be doing WC twice a week. What do you think?

Yes use fresh water. Water filtered by reverse osmosis to be exact. If you don't have a fish store close to you, you can also get it from pharmacies and súper markets just read the label for the type of filtration they used to filter the water. Yeah I guess you would be fine as long as you don't miss water changes.

 

[Coco Go]

So purified water will be a good top off water, correct?

 

[Justin Swinney]

So purified water will be a good top off water, correct?

I highly recommend that you use a water with 0 total dissolved solids i.e. RO/DI for top off as it has nothing in it to feed algae growth

 

[Coco Go]

I highly recommend that you use a water with 0 total dissolved solids i.e. RO/DI for top off as it has nothing in it to feed algae growth

What if I want corraline?

 

[AcroNem]

Coralline uses other things to grow, it is a calcareous algae you won't inhibit its growth by using RO/DI water. When we say inhibiting algae growth we mean diatoms and hair algae.

 

[Coco Go]

Coralline uses other things to grow, it is a calcareous algae you won't inhibit its growth by using RO/DI water. When we say inhibiting algae growth we mean diatoms and hair algae.

Meaning if I want coralline growth, I shouldn't RO water, correct?

 

[AcroNem]

No you've got that backwards. You should always use RO water, preferably RO/DI water. Coralline algae will use a lot of magnesium and carbonates from your water column, which comes from your salt mix. If you use tap water you'll likely be introducing a lot of silicates, phosphate, metals, and sometimes nitrates into your system that just fuel nuisance algae like diatoms, hair algae, and cyanobacteria, which will make it harder for you to grow coralline because it won't have a place to grow. So you should always use as pure of water as you can (as close to 0TDS as possible), I guarantee you it won't stop coralline algae from growing

 

[Coco Go]

No you've got that backwards. You should always use RO water, preferably RO/DI water. Coralline algae will use a lot of magnesium and carbonates from your water column, which comes from your salt mix. If you use tap water you'll likely be introducing a lot of silicates, phosphate, metals, and sometimes nitrates into your system that just fuel nuisance algae like diatoms, hair algae, and cyanobacteria, which will make it harder for you to grow coralline because it won't have a place to grow. So you should always use as pure of water as you can (as close to 0TDS as possible), I guarantee you it won't stop coralline algae from growing

Thank you for thentip[emoji1373]

 

[AcroNem]

Any time. Keep us posted on your new system

 

[Blade*13]

Following to watch the build! But would also like to see some arowana! My favorite freshwater fish!

 

[Coco Go]

I took out the big LR and replaced it with a smaller LR. Also purchased my first zoa, dunno the name of it though. I'm thinking of making this an all zoa tank, what I'm gonna do is, attached different zoas into small pieces of live rock and drop it into the tank and go from there. Lol. Also here is my 6" Jardini Arowana. I could get an Asian aro since I reside in the United States. She's in a 100g long grow out tank together with 8 silver dollars. Am building a 300g tank for them this year.[emoji1360]