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10g Pico Upgrade


xlzerolx

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FTS 28th June 2009:

 

newsps011.jpg

 

So this was the state of my pico:

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the thread can be viewed here:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=191923

 

Everything was doing really well and growing really well. The pico was more of an experiment to see if I could handle reef keeping on a budget. Since it went really well I decided to upgrade to a 10 g standard dimension tank.

 

I wanted to do everything thing without spending too much $$ and keeping maintenance low, and using natural sources of filtration. Everything that was used on and that was living in the 3g was all transferred to the 10 g.

This included the 70 watt metal halide, heater and the ATO setup.

The only things that I changed was an AC70 (upgrade from an AC50) to increase the fuge volume, and have added 2 mangroves shoots for filtration. I am also going bare bottom :)

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I am keeping the mangroves elevated over the water until their roots grow long enough to support the shoots

For now the only source of flow I have is the AC 70 flow. I have ordered a koralia nano but i'm not sure if this might be too much flow for the 10 gallon. The corals seem to be happy with just the AC70 flow for now.

I also purchased additional "dead" reef rock. In a few months I'm hoping they will be seeded from the existing rock from my 3 gallon

 

So far everything has been running pretty smoothly for about a week.

pics007.jpg

 

I'm amazed at how many corals I actually had in a 3 gallon when looking that picture, and the difference in space is HUGE

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I finally got my hands on a 20kK Ushio bulb, thanks to a very awesome member here on nano-reef!

It's only been in for about 12 hours, but the colour improvement is already pretty noticeable. I've also added a koralia nano, and the corals seem to love it. The toadstool has really opened up since I've moved it to the 10 gallon.

Here are some pics with the new bulb and the new powerhead.

 

FTS

corals001.jpg

 

Right View

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Left View

corals003.jpg

 

 

My blue ricordia

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My all time favourite coral species :wub: :

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Would really like to get my hands on a Fiji leather, got some room saved up for it :)

 

Birdsnest:

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Montipora:

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White/pale blue zoa type things with green mouths. Well they look white under the 20k's they were kind of brown under the previous lights:

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Hairy mushroom (only new addition since the move):

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Button polyps and GSP.

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Candycane:

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I really wish I had painted the back of my aquarium instead of using the aquarium backgrounds from the petstore. There's just too much reflected light

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Great Tank! what are the pros and cons of having a barebottom?how much ATO system you made cost in total?

 

Hi Pico Pupil

Thanks for the compliment. Definately the best advantage of having a bare bottom tank is the fact that you can have as much flow as you want without having sandstorm and sang settling on your corals. You can also point the powerheads in any direction without worrying about this This is especially advantageous if you plan on keeping a mainly SPS reef. And more flow means more detritus suspension. Also you get some more vertical space without the sand. Another advantage is it's a lot easier to clean the bottom of the tank if any detritus settles at the bottom.

 

Some of the disadvantages would be no live sand , meaning slightly less biological filtration. Although in my opinion only deep sandbeds help with the ammonia cycle. Deep sand beds do have their disadvantages too (such as stirring it could release dangerous gases into the aquarium). Also sand beds ( in large amounts) help keep the aquarium PH stable through out the day and night.

Also you have to be careful about stacking your live rock, if it topples over it's hitting a glass bottom :o

 

I think in total , the entire ATO setup cost me around $35 CAD.

$10 for the float switch off of ebay

$20 for the battery airpump ( It's been running for about 2 or 3 months and the batteries I first put in are still going)

$5 for the airline tubing (Got more than I needed)

$1 for the snail guard

I had aquarium sealent lying around already and the pop bottles were free courtesy of my room mates with a sweet tooth :lol:

 

The ATO build can be seen in my pico build from the link at the top of the page.

 

Hope this helps :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

New SpS additons:

Tricolour acro

Green slimer

Milipora

 

Just went out to get frags, but the guy sold me the tricolour for $30, and the other 2 for $20 each. Definately a really good deal (Canadian dollars too ;) )

 

Just added them yesterday. They were under a 3 year old 14k MH bulb that was giving off white light, so the tricolour isn't all that hot looking.

 

Here's a shot of the SPS side of my tank.

 

newsps009.jpg

 

The brown star polyps are growing on the glass bottom, they seem to be running away from the monti cap shadow

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...

updates!

 

 

Your tank growth looks great and thanks for the link to the ATO. I'm looking for parts now. :D

 

The monti looks sweet under that light. That's going to be my next addition.

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