Tips on reviving a neglected 5g pico

[GobyGuy]

Hey R2R,

I've lurked for a while but I'm finally getting on the horse and reviving a 5 gallon pico I just moved home with. I will attach pictures as I learn how, but I'm currently dealing with a cyano-fiasco and extremely destabilized water params (uneven filling with distilled water, low water level) and I'm looking to get it back in good order, however I'm not sure where to start and dont want to make things worse.

Current tenants of the tank: 2 clowns (Midnight & Wyoming White), Yellow Watchman, 2 tiger pistol shrimp, couple of hermits and snails.
Hardware: 5 gal tank, 2 hob filters (stock: mechanical sponge, filter floss, chemipure & Fluval: sponge, carbon, bioballs), 80gph submersible pump, 20gal heater (5-20 all same price and looked the same) and Kessil a80 w/ gooseneck

I was wondering if you guys had any tips to get on top of "resetting" the quality of life for my new fish friends without shocking them too much with new water, or anything like that. I am also not sure the best way to clean my HOB filters as I have read NOT to change both at the same time nor change all of one filter at the same time but I feel if i dont do that then this cyano/algae infestation will just remain.

Disregard the Takis; its for the fish to have a cool bag to look at, and the photo quality is sub-par maybe one of those blue light filters would be a good idea...

 

[blaxsun]

You definitely need to change-out/clean your HOB filtration. Just by the surface scum I can see there's not a lot of flow in the tank.

 

[rtparty]

Look up the rip clean method on here. At only 5 gallons, tear it down, clean it up, spray the rock with some peroxide, clean the sand, and replace with all new water. Couple hours on a Saturday and good as new.

 

[GobyGuy]

You definitely need to change-out/clean your HOB filtration. Just by the surface scum I can see there's not a lot of flow in the tank.

Agree! Good eye, my hesitancy comes from the articles ive seen mentioning its bad to kill all the filtration bacteria however I'm not even sure any of it is worth keeping with hair algae in in the back of both of them. Would it be safe to completely clean out& replace the media in both filters at the same time to eliminate any algae hitch-hikers?

 

[Tired]

3 nano fish in a pico tank is overstocked, so that's not going to help anything. I'd move the clowns out- they should really be in a 10gal at minimum.

Heck, my suggestion would be to buy a basic 10-15 gallon tank and a better filter, put some new sand in that new tank, and transfer the livestock and rocks over. Drip-acclimate the fish if you're really worried about shock, though you should be using water that's the same salinity anyway for water changes. The tank will be instantly cycled from having the rock moved, the water will be nice and clean, most of the problems will be left in the old tank, and you won't be overstocked any more. Chain pet stores sell 10gal tanks for like $25.

The articles talking about filter bacteria are probably from freshwater tanks. In reefs, most of our beneficial bacteria lives in the rockwork, not the filter media. You can absolutely replace all your filter media.

 

[GobyGuy]

3 nano fish in a pico tank is overstocked, so that's not going to help anything. I'd move the clowns out- they should really be in a 10gal at minimum.

Heck, my suggestion would be to buy a basic 10-15 gallon tank and a better filter, put some new sand in that new tank, and transfer the livestock and rocks over. Drip-acclimate the fish if you're really worried about shock, though you should be using water that's the same salinity anyway for water changes. The tank will be instantly cycled from having the rock moved, the water will be nice and clean, most of the problems will be left in the old tank, and you won't be overstocked any more. Chain pet stores sell 10gal tanks for like $25.

The articles talking about filter bacteria are probably from freshwater tanks. In reefs, most of our beneficial bacteria lives in the rockwork, not the filter media. You can absolutely replace all your filter media.

Swagger. Thank you, I think I'm going to take a note from both of these and rip clean my rocks and/sand and purchase a 10 gallon tomorrow - do you have any filter recommendations as these are what i have on hand. I've seen some back and forth on how accurate GPH is for flow, I guess im more concerned with proper water filtration.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/AQUATOP-NP-80-80-GPH-Aquarium-Submersible-Pump-NP-80/125392586

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/aquaclear-20-aquarium-power-filter

Look up the rip clean method on here. At only 5 gallons, tear it down, clean it up, spray the rock with some peroxide, clean the sand, and replace with all new water. Couple hours on a Saturday and good as new.

Thank you for suggesting the rip clean method! I am going to dive down that rabbit hole tomorrow. Have you had any experience with cleaning rocks/coral? My plan of attack with buying a 10 gallon tank is going to be cleaning the rocks, buying new live sand (assuming its okay of course) and new filter media

 

[Tired]

Plenty of reef tanks run just fine with a circulation pump, and no actual mechanical filtration to speak of. Mechanical filtration can be handy to remove some particulates from the water, but corals do like to eat those particulates.

If you put both the filter and the pump on the 10gal, that should be enough flow temporarily. If detritus collects anywhere, another pump, or a larger one, would be needed. A HOB filter can be nice for running activated charcoal if that's ever needed, but, honestly, you probably just need water circulation.