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Gabe's Gallon: My 3 and Under Pico Contest Entry


gaberosenfield

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gaberosenfield

This is my build thread for my pico contest entry tank. It is a 1 gallon tank I got from an old roommate of mine who kept a betta in it

Now it's time for it to reach it's full glory!

This tank is also entered in the DFWMAS pico contest, so there are some restrictions on it that surpass the nano-reef contest rules (like budget limitations).

Now, on to the pics!

 

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This is my light. I won this par38 bulb at a reef expo in DFW (Nextwave); it looks to put out a spectrum of ~14000K. I modified it with 2 additional 1 watt blue LEDs on a separate power source so that I can turn on blue only, regular bulb only, or both. With both on it looks like ~18000K to me. A DFWMAS reefer nicknamed it the "Frankenlight" :D

 

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Here's the empty tank with feet I attached under the light.

 

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I built my own sump (~1/2 gallon capacity) out of acrylic pieces I found on the ground outside my apartment. I plastic welded them together and used weld-on #4 to waterproof and strengthen. It holds my return pump, heater, and float valve for ATO. It may hold more as time goes on. I spray painted it black so it will look good (relatively) behind my tank.

 

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I built the rock structures out of rubble and marine epoxy (and a bit of super glue...). I wanted an interesting scape that would make my pico look bigger than it is and give lots of growing area for whatever I choose. I'm going bare bottom so that maintenance will be simpler. I have a little overflow I made out of a test tube like thing and some tubing. One tube siphons water from the tank bottom back to the sump. Another tube sits in the overflow (test tube) that is glued to the tank wall at a certain height to maintain the correct water level and skim crap off the surface of the display water.

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gaberosenfield

I already posted these in the FTS/FES pico contest thread, but here they are again for completeness:

 

1st FTS

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1st FES

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I'm thinking of doing mostly softies in this tank, especially focusing on zoa/palys. As far as livestock I think inverts like shrimp, crabs, and snails only. I just feel badly for putting any fish in a tank this small. Also, no fish means easier to maintain water quality and I am all about easy maintenance. Let me know what you think! I am open to suggestions for interesting corals/creatures for this tank. Keep in mind that according to the DFWMAS contest rules I cannot spend more than $150 on coral and not more than $150 on livestock. Even free items or frags I already have must be accounted for based on estimates of their worth.

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  • 4 weeks later...
gaberosenfield

It turns out that epoxying a bunch of rubble rock together does not make a stable structure. So for the moment at least, my scape is less unique. I've only added 3 coral frags so far: a green paly (desert storm maybe?), 2 oxide zoas, and a frag of GSP. I also have a tiny piece of dragons breath algae and a small piece of red gracilaria in the tank. We'll see whether I regret that in the long run.

 

FTS

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FES

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Just remember, slow and steady wins the race! :P

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dallasprstn
It turns out that epoxying a bunch of rubble rock together does not make a stable structure. So for the moment at least, my scape is less unique. I've only added 3 coral frags so far: a green paly (desert storm maybe?), 2 oxide zoas, and a frag of GSP. I also have a tiny piece of dragons breath algae and a small piece of red gracilaria in the tank. We'll see whether I regret that in the long run.

 

FTS

post-71788-1335933499_thumb.jpg

 

FES

post-71788-1335933511_thumb.jpg

 

Just remember, slow and steady wins the race! :P

 

don't forget to post to the FTS/FES Thread!

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