What is the most difficult aspect of a pico reef?

[kyryah]

I often read that a smaller set up is much harder for a marine newbie to maintain. I am wondering what is the most difficult aspect of keeping a smaller reef?

Anyone who has kept a pico reef, please post your experiences.

Kristina

 

[Robert04]

I havent had a pico but I have a 15g and the hardest part for me was picking stock. Otherwise its just been regular sw maintenance.

 

[kyryah]

Anyone else? I am more interested in inverts than any fish.

Kristina

 

[cam191919]

the most difficult part is definitely keeping the parameters at safe levels, especially salinity. i have an 8 gallon reef and with that stocking was difficult. what size tank are you thinking of?

 

[snappyguy]

One of the biggest problems you'll face with a pico tank is maintaining a stable salinity. A small amount of evaporation will lead to a larger change in salinity than the same amount of evaporation from a larger tank. These salinity swings can be awfully hard on corals and inverts that are used to the very stable salinity of the ocean. If you feed any inverts or corals you'll also see a larger ammonia and NO2-2/NO3- spike. There's just not as much water to dilute any of these chemicals if there is any overfeeding. That said, pico tanks are very doable. The smallest tanks I've kept were 5 gallons and I bred brine shrimp in them.

 

[kyryah]

Thanks for the input. I am not sure if I want to try something as small as a 2.5 or go as large as a 15 tall, I am trying to gather info on that.

If the tank is mostly covered and I do daily top offs, would that help with the salinity/evaporation issue?

Kristina

 

[Robert04]

my 15 is a deep.. 15 high makes it more difficult to light more difficult to clean, just harder all around.. limited to coral because unless you got a sump you got 15lb or more of live rock.. If my tank was a high.. it would look ridiculous lol..

 

[cam191919]

i like my 8 gallon, its a biocube so its a just a clean, simple, square of reef. but it was my first saltwater tank and i was very disappointed with my stock limitations. it was only when i got a 46 gallon saltwater tank that i could truly appreciate my nano reef. if this is your first salty tank than i recommend going as big as you can, you may regret your lack of options with a pico

 

[fishy714]

My lfs here has a 8 gallon and a 2.5 gallon but both are hooked up to a larger sump with a chiller. Said that the sump helps alot with the water parameters. I would think temps and the water parameters would be PITA to keep in check. Stocking would be another problem you run into since most corals grow big. But of course you could just have fragments.

 

[kyryah]

Well, the reason that I was considering a smaller tank is that I do not have a lfs - the nearest that deals with saltwater is about 80 miles.

A lot of you have mentioned difficulty with stocking. I really know nothing about the different species of corals, and I am not sure that a ton of corals would be necessary. I was thinking something along the lines of a starfish, and anem, a crab, and a snail, and perhaps a feather duster.

I am not real sure why a 15 tall would look ridiculous, to be honest, it is only 6 inches taller than a ten gallon.

So, if I did go with say a 15 long, how large of a sump would be necessary? What about for a 5 gallon tank?

Kristina