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Water

25 9:28:44

Question
QUESTION: Hi I am experimenting with a whopping 3 gallon reef tank. Can you put ocean water ( a beach in Massachusetts) in the tank instead of marine salt mix and RO water?

ANSWER: i can tell you one thing, there are few benefits to using natural saltwater than to mixing your own, one of them being well of course it is free. but there are a number of factors that could devestate your tank, your tank is small so any tiny bit of pollutant that is present in the water you collect will not allow anything to survive. also around where you are the water is temperate to cold water, so putting it in a tropical reef tank will kill off alot of organisms, alot of die off means alot of load on the tank. with a tank that small i would definitely suggest just mixing your own salt, i use reef crystals and/or instant ocean. alot of the times thats even better because it mixes alot of trace minerals right into the water such as calcium for corals.

good luck with your tank, i have several picos going right now and i can tell you they are every bit as awesome as my larger tanks, for a fraction of the price.

best of luck,

Marcus

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you this was a very great answer. One last question. Is RO water necessarily and how much should a change a week. Should it be like 25% a week? and what ananomoese do you have in your pica's? i have no idea what to put in mine.

Answer
it depends on where you get your water from, i live on a well so it is not as imperative that i use an RO-DI system. but if you dont live n a well, especially if you live in the suburbs or inner city you will need one. there are a ton of unwanted chemicals in the water you drink that are fit for human consumption but are not acceptable in a reef tank. i would suggest getting one, or getting your water from the lfs, they usually have premixed saltwater in their tanks you can buy.

as for anemones, anemones are very very delicate creatures and the unbalanced parameters of a pico dont lend them to being fit for an anemone. but i have had some great luck with bubble tips and mini maxi anemones. but anything other than that will grow much too large and is much to fragile, even the bubble tips will eventually get too large for a pico tank depending upon size.

depending on your lighting i would suggest just putting some hardy corals in there at first, i have a kenya tree in one of mine that has to grow sideways in order to stay in the water. its a great first coral to have in a pico tank, eventually when you get enough experience and your tank is established you can try some lps and sps, but for that i would recommend LED lighting, its as bright as halides but you can have it over a pico because they give off virtually no heat, whereas a halide would overheat your tank like crazy. depending upon tank size there are some great fixtures, panorama pro modules are great for pico tanks, as well as par38 bulbs, i have heard of people using the canon pendant but i think that would be a little much.

hope that helps you in your decision as to what to put in your tank, as for fish depending on the size of your tank you could put a clown goby in there, maybe even a mated pair!

Marcus