Birth of a 3 Gallon Pico **Updated with Better Pics***

[Stray32]

A few weeks ago I set up a 3 Gallon Picotope on my desk at work. I used 2 gallons of water from my DT, a few cups of my sand, and a nice piece of well-established LR, and managed to avoid a cycle. I decided to make this my rare/collector polyps tank. I have been on a zoa/paly kick lately so I thought this would be a perfect way to display them all. The few that I have in there now are:

Green People Eater
Everlasting Gobstopper (maybe...kinda looks like Devils Armor)
A nice little colony of Japanese Zoas
Unknown Blue with Red Skirt
Goblins Fire
And my favorite...Pseudos. They look very similar to PPE.

I have a 36 watt Current Satellite PC Light on there now, with a fan blowing on it to keep it cool. I wish I could find T5 lighting for this little guy, but my options are pretty limited.

 

[Mitsuko]

What's the measurements? I have the nova extreme slr 2x20 watt over my 5 gallon minibow. I've had healthy sps for 2 months now and the temp within 1 degree (77.9 - 78.7) based on the digital thermometer. It's the smallest t5ho on the market... To my knowledge.

 

[Stray32]

It would have to be a 12 inch light.

 

[fodupos]

the zoas in the second pic. if you ever get a frag of them let me know. i really like them. i hope your pico goes well. looks good thus far

 

[cloakerpoked]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14815897#post14815897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fodupos
the zoas in the second pic. if you ever get a frag of them let me know. i really like them. i hope your pico goes well. looks good thus far

It'll be years with how slow these guys grow. I started with an 8 polyp frag of Green PE and now I have 9 after 4 months.

 

[fodupos]

some are like that i had a frag that had 3 polyps on it for about 6 months and then one day it just exploded and is one of my biggest colonies now. i am trying the vitamin c now. it also helps to have a lot of light for zoas. i just ordered some t5s to replace some PC's as well as to add to my one tank that had a MH. i hope this will make things look better and aid in growth of all my corals.

 

[cloakerpoked]

I kept mine under MH lighting and it didn't help those Green PE. My zoa growth is through the roof (probably went from 20 polyps of one zoa to 80 or so in 4 months) but those particular palys (and I've heard all the PE palys) are slow growers to be sure.

 

[Tswifty]

Jared, that's a real nice little setup. That rock looks like it will be perfect for a polyp carpet. I'm supposed to be making some trades for some rare polyps in a month or two, and will let you know what I end up picking up.

Like I said, those Nightmare Palys seem to be growing VERY fast.

 

[Stray32]

Nightmare is headed to this tank very soon, I just can't bear the thought of taking him out of my 6 bulb T5 lighting to PC haha.

I have some St. Valentines Day Massacre and some Candy Apple Redds coming soon.

And yeah TJ, I went to Aquaworld to buy some rock, and this thing was right in front staring back at me. It is perfect for this little tank. However, I am already fighting some diatom algae since I can't keep my temp stable yet. I may have to remove the zoas temporarily until I get that under control.

 

[Tswifty]

Your diatoms or any brown algae should go away on its own in a month or so. Even in my current system, with 4yr established rock... I still had a little bloom that lasted 2 or 3 weeks.

Valentines Day Massacres are sweet. I saw some in person the other day, and they were off the charts!