5 Gallon with Mangroves?! Pushing My Luck Build

dangles

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I was in Florida last week and brought back some red mangrove propagules.

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My main tank isn't really suited for mangroves, and I didn't want to throw them in pots and put them outside with my first mangrove, so what the heck, let's do a pico build! :)

I don't have much space for another tank, and my wife isn't wild about the idea (really pushing my luck with this one!) but I think if I can keep it nice and neat/clean looking, and minimize the time I have to spend on it, I should be ok lol

I had a 5 gallon Aqueon tank laying around, as well as a HOB filter and heater/tstat from a previous QT setup. That gets me most of the way there. I'm wanting to keep this one CHEAP and ultra low maintenance.

Here's the plan:

Tank: 5 gallon Aqueon $10

Filter/flow: Sicce Seachem HOB 35 filter (just for water movement) $40

Lights: TBD - something CHEAP! I'll need both a full spectrum light for the mangroves, and I'd like something for the corals as well... with a little more blue

Heater - Tetra 50 watt "Amazon special" $10

Thermostat - Inkbird ITC306T $32

Sand - Aragonite 10 lbs $14

Rock - pulling rock from my main tank's sump


I already have AWC set up on my main display, which is removing 1.5 gallons of water each day. My plan is to plug this pico inline with the AWC so it's getting that 1.5 gallons from the main tank. I have a DOS head not currently being used, which I will set up to take 1.5 gallons a day from the pico tank and send it to the drain. This will virtually eliminate a need for any kind of mechanical filtration, and minimize the need for testing (I may not need to test much at all, really). No need for dosing, either.

I'm still working on finding a solid (or "good enough") ATO so I don't have to do much at all besides clean the glass.

As far as stocking, I think it's too small for any fish. I have a rock flower anemone and some cool clove polyps coming from TSA. I'd like to find some nice (but cheap!) shrooms for it as well. Maybe some other softie if I can find something that doesn't grow TOO fast. Maybe I'll put some macro algae in there as well. We'll see. I'll work on getting some sexy shrimp and some other small inverts for it as well.

My biggest concern: ALGAE. No room for super effective CUC, and there will be probably be quite a bit of light for the mangrove. So I'll be reliant on the little inverts :(

Anyway hopefully I can keep this moderately successful with the "massive" daily water changes using main tank water, and an ATO. I know picos are notoriously difficult.

Wish me luck!


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dangles

dangles

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The 5 gallon pico mangrove tank is nearly complete!

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I ran the tubing and programmed the remaining DOS head to transfer water from my main display, to the little tank, then out to the house drain. This little fella is getting a 3 gal wc every. single. day. :face-with-tears-of-joy:

I didn’t realize I was doing that much actually. I thought I had reduced it to 1.5 gal for my main display but oh well. I’ll fix that later.

The sand I got is WAY too fine. It's almost like powdered sugar. There's not much flow in the tank though so it's not going to get blown around. Just a pain if/when I move things, really.

The rock has been sitting in my sump for a couple of months, so between that and the gracilaria I've got an insta-tank :)

I have a rock flower anemone and some clove polyps coming from TSA next week, and I’ll put the mangroves in probably later today sometime. I'm hoping to snag a cheap "reef" light on Prime day this week. Now I need to find a couple of little sexy shrimp!
 
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Mangroves are IN


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I also shook off a few more pieces of gracilaria from my sump to dislodge all the little critters living in it, and added about 5 or 6 stomatella snails. They’re reproducing really reliably in my refugium along with all the copepods and amphipods.
 
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She’s “stocked!”

I got a LARGE “mystery” rock flower anemone and some clove polyps from TSA. I won’t be doing the “mystery” option in their sales anymore. My suspicion that “mystery” is just another name for a hard to sell piece was reinforced with the rock flower. I’m sure they’re not the only group that does that. I gambled. I’m hoping it colors up but it’s pretty bland. Some neon green and purple in the middle but nothing too fun or crazy. Probably the blandest one I’ve seen. I DO have a lot of white light to contend with. But it’s still cool given how large it is.

Also a huge shoutout to @ralquist for hooking me up with a pico reef light from Reef Breeders. I think it’s perfect for this setup! It provides just enough blues to give a little pop.

And the mangroves are starting to put out root! They’re small but they’re definitely there! :) I need to figure out a better solution for suspending them while the roots grow out. The cardboard isn’t going to last lol.
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ralquist

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She’s “stocked!”

I got a LARGE “mystery” rock flower anemone and some clove polyps from TSA. I won’t be doing the “mystery” option in their sales anymore. My suspicion that “mystery” is just another name for a hard to sell piece was reinforced with the rock flower. I’m sure they’re not the only group that does that. I gambled. I’m hoping it colors up but it’s pretty bland. Some neon green and purple in the middle but nothing too fun or crazy. Probably the blandest one I’ve seen. I DO have a lot of white light to contend with. But it’s still cool given how large it is.

Also a huge shoutout to @ralquist for hooking me up with a pico reef light from Reef Breeders. I think it’s perfect for this setup! It provides just enough blues to give a little pop.

And the mangroves are starting to put out root! They’re small but they’re definitely there! :) I need to figure out a better solution for suspending them while the roots grow out. The cardboard isn’t going to last lol.
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Looks awesome!! I too learned my lesson with RFA buying online, mine was 4 for 100 “we pick em” and all “fire pieces” :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:… not so much!

Have you looked into if anyone is 3D printing mangrove holders/clips? Feel like I’ve seen something in the past for them.
 
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Looks awesome!! I too learned my lesson with RFA buying online, mine was 4 for 100 “we pick em” and all “fire pieces” :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:… not so much!

Have you looked into if anyone is 3D printing mangrove holders/clips? Feel like I’ve seen something in the past for them.

3d printed might be the way to go. I’ll have to post in the DIY forum
 

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The tank is turning out nicely, and it looks like the Mangroves are growing. This will be an excellent addition!
 
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A little update.

Some hair algae is starting to pop up. I moved one of my blue leg hermits over from my display to see if he’ll do anything about it. I kinda doubt it but worth a shot.

The RFA is doing just fine. Same with the sexy shrimp. They’re growing!

I also got rid of the cardboard mangrove support thing. It was ugly, and I wanted to get the mangrove roots into the sand bed. The tops of 3 out of the 4 are above the water line. The last one is CLOSE! I’ll see if they seem to like this arrangement.

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Looks great! Might try a turbo snail, should make quick work of hair algae!

I need to get a couple more actually. I only have 2 left in my main tank I think. My LFS has a sale going on. I might pick one up if they've got some :)
 
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