Me and My 4g Reef

Ranjib · Oct 6, 2019

Great setup. ABI bulbs are best. If things bleache, just put a white paper on top to reduce the intensity.
If cyano persist, then start siphoning off sand. Its probably acting as detritous trap. Are you running carbon or any other kind of filter media?

VKP01 · Oct 6, 2019

Ranjib said:
Great setup. ABI bulbs are best. If things bleache, just put a white paper on top to reduce the intensity.
If cyano persist, then start siphoning off sand. Its probably acting as detritous trap. Are you running carbon or any other kind of filter media?

Thanks for the tips!! I’m excited to see how the light does.
I’ve been using 5g worth of chemipure blue (those little sample packets), filter floss, and marinepure ceramic gems for filter media. I’ve already siphoned out the cyano a couple times, it keeps coming back but I think it’s slowing down some, fingers crossed. I’ve been considering getting some burrowing snails to help, maybe a couple nassarius

Ranjib · Oct 7, 2019

Cyano, dino etc are typical first year problem. Dont worry about them, it will go away as real estate becomes less and less (with coral's encursting). Flow and stabilizing chemistry is the key, .. and you'll get there eventually. Everything is going as expected if you ask me. That deep sand bed will come at a price, and thats cool too

. The challenge is in such small volume all snails act as bioload, and in first year, you'll need flow above sand bed to effectively get rid of cyano dino. But again.. all this will stabilize, as the tank matures.

You'r filtration media is spot on. Chemipure blue has nano packs, those are perfect for pico tank. I'd recommend changing less water, and skip it when you change filter media (once every month? ). Its ok to keep the tank on the dirtier side, for the first year, because you started with dry rock, it will speed up the micro fauna/tank;s own microbiology. Dont worry too much about algae, whether its GHA or bubble, with tank this size, you can just mechanically get rid of those, and couple of larger water change + food restriction will starve out most alage in no time.
Keep it up

VKP01 · Oct 7, 2019

Ranjib said:
Cyano, dino etc are typical first year problem. Dont worry about them, it will go away as real estate becomes less and less (with coral's encursting). Flow and stabilizing chemistry is the key, .. and you'll get there eventually. Everything is going as expected if you ask me. That deep sand bed will come at a price, and thats cool too . The challenge is in such small volume all snails act as bioload, and in first year, you'll need flow above sand bed to effectively get rid of cyano dino. But again.. all this will stabilize, as the tank matures.

You'r filtration media is spot on. Chemipure blue has nano packs, those are perfect for pico tank. I'd recommend changing less water, and skip it when you change filter media (once every month? ). Its ok to keep the tank on the dirtier side, for the first year, because you started with dry rock, it will speed up the micro fauna/tank;s own microbiology. Dont worry too much about algae, whether its GHA or bubble, with tank this size, you can just mechanically get rid of those, and couple of larger water change + food restriction will starve out most alage in no time.
Keep it up

Awesome, thanks for all the advice!!

VKP01 · Oct 7, 2019

lamp is assembled, the ABI bulb should be here Wednesday!

VKP01 · Oct 8, 2019

I have a 36g reef that I’ll have to break down, so I’ll be trying to save some of my favorites from that and add them in here. Most of them will be easy to move, but there’s a pompom crab I have to catch. I have a feeling that might be a little bit slightly difficult..

I also have a ~medium sized feather duster. I’d love to take it, but providing enough plankton in a small tank would definitely be challenging.

VKP01 · Oct 9, 2019

new light is here! The box was pretty banged up so let’s hope it’s ok...

VKP01 · Oct 9, 2019

so I tried adjusting where the lamp is clipped on so it could get a better angle. Below is the anchor... nothing is holding it there but hopes and dreams. Just an inch and a half of metal that slips in that base.

so of course when I go to move it she takes a swan dive straight onto my tank, adding the first two of what’s likely to be many chips. The light was on, so I’m lucky it didn’t plunge all the way into the water...

VKP01 · Oct 9, 2019

two slivers lighter and three watts brighter, it’s looking pretty good! The color definitely isn’t my taste, but with my sunglasses it looks nice. I’ll probably have a second light to wash out the blue, or just set two up with a timer so this one runs part of the time, and one I find aesthetically pleasing runs during the time I’m usually around? Or just wear my reef glasses while I’m inside lol. But the corals will definitely appreciate this!

Steven Garland · Oct 9, 2019

Awesome little tank !!! I have been loving seeing these pop up more and more.

I do have a quick question,is the black false wall really see thru with light shining in the back chambers ?

VKP01 · Oct 9, 2019

Steven Garland said:
Awesome little tank !!! I have been loving seeing these pop up more and more.

I do have a quick question,is the black false wall really see thru with light shining in the back chambers ?

Thanks!!
It isss, that’s the one thing about this tank that I really don’t like

I’ve got some black plastic mat that I’m going to try to cut to slip in there

VKP01 · Oct 10, 2019

Nitrate is slowly rising! I have the API tests so it’s not super accurate, but around 3 or 4 ppm. I’m aiming to keep it right around 5ppm. Once it rises I’ll begin adding more coral, and I’ll probably do very small water changes daily to remove any extra that the coral doesn’t use.