I had posted my tank in the member's aquarium section, but didn't seem to get any love, so I figured, since this is a pico tank, I'd post here.

Anywho, just started the tank towards the end of May or so. Since then, I've added a Coralife 36watt fixture, Iceprobe, Aqualifter which I use as an ATO, and just recently a Reefkeeper lite, which is awesome. Here is my first thread:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=198455&hl=

Here's a few updated shots...my leather coral isn't what it was when I first got it, but it's starting to open up again, I hear those things can be kinda picky sometimes. Other than that leather, I have some zoas, green star polyps, and xenia.







Tell me what you think.

looks good,
nice scape! you sure do have alot of room in there for those corals to grow out.
do you plan on adding any more?

What type of lights are you using. The tank is looking good. Could we have the specs?

Looks nice.

Ya, I want my corals to grow out a bit, and I do plan on getting more. I want to get some frogspawn and ricordia for sure, and probably some more zoas.

Here's the specs:

Hardware:

12" Coralife 2x18 PC with 2 50/50 bulbs
Iceprobe mounted on an Aquaclear 20
Red Sea Nano filter with live rock rubble and cheato
Hydor/Proaquatics 25 watt heater
Aqualifter for ATO
Reefkeeper Lite

Livestock:

~1lb CaribSea live sand..I never liked the look of a ton of sand in small tanks.
3.5lbs live rock
3 Astrea snails
2 hermit crabs
2 Nassirus snails

I do plan on getting a clown goby sometime in the near future.

thats awesome

you should take some close ups of the coral!

lookin good i like the setup nice and roomey,

whats behind the light? in the box

That's the ballast on top of my light fixture. I couldn't fit the light any other way.

Some new pics and corals, I changed some stuff around...

thats awesome those are some sweet zoas!

I ordered a DIY ATO from aquahub.com and just put it together today. Took some time to do, but it's working great. I don't really lose much water due to having a lid, but now I don't have to worry about setting my aqualifter on a timer, now everything in this little tank is gonna be really stable.



Here's where the relay and relay socket are mounted.

I just put my setup to the test...I had to leave it alone for a week. I came back and everything is just like the way I left it, except for some new coraline and coral growth . I was so releaved, now it's time for a water change...

New pics 7/17







And the FTS...




Tell me what you think.

Lookin good. Coral only?

Oops....I deleted my post...

I've got 3 snails and 2 hermit crabs in there. I plan to get a clown goby and some sexy shrimp in there sometime soon.

I'm gonna be trimming/fragging my green nephthea soon..it's a beast in my little tank!

Very cool!

Your tank is looking really nice. I like the variation of coral you have achieved. With my limited space it is slightly harder.

Just got my LED lights on the tank last night, so far they look great!! I'm running 12 LEDs, 6 white/6 royal blues.










I know, it's messy right now, I'm moving soon, so I have a stand built to the put the tank on, and it'll clean things up a bit. This holds my buckpucks and pots for dimming the whites and blues. There's disconnects for the power to the buckpucks and power supply. It's not hooked up yet, but that's where the future controller is going into to control/dim my LEDs.

Good stuff. Add it to the list.

What are your plans for a controller? Seeing as you are using an RKL, it shouldn't be too hard to make an interface circuit to make use of the ALC when it becomes compatible.

Looking great. I like all your corals!

Just some pics of some of my zoas. Next step, finding a clown goby!

Looking good
what type of clown goby are you gonna get

That is a fantastic looking little pico! Looks great!

-Prof

Thanks! I like the regular yellow clown gobies. Hopefully I can find one at a LFS. I also want to get some sexies in there. I love my coral, but I need to liven up the tank a bit.

You should get some more rics
and a trio of sexies would be awsome in there
IMO
sexy picos are always fun

Good call with the rics. I would like some more, especially some blue ones, I want some blue in the tank.

What model diy ato did you get
and are you happy with it

I got the auto top off kit from aquahub.com...here
I have it hooked up to an aqualifter. The kit comes with 2 float switches but I only use one of them because I don't have a sump. It was a piece of cake to put together and works great, I'm very happy with it.

Nice pico. How much current you are running? 12 LED that's a lot.

[quote name='ulver982' date='Aug 4 2009, 01:43 PM' post='2362570']
Just got my LED lights on the tank last night, so far they look great!! I'm running 12 LEDs, 6 white/6 royal blues.

just a couple questions..... does the ac 20 give off too much flow? and whered you get the lid for it? im guna be switching my 2.5 over to salt soon

I'm running 2 buckpucks 1000mA for whites and blues. I used 12 LEDs to get good coverage, but I am able to dim them, so I'm running them about half their full capacity.




The AC20 doesn't give too much flow at all. In addition to the AC20 I have a Red Sea Nano filter, but I have so much cheato and rubble rock in there it doesn't produce a lot of flow. I also just added a Rio 50 powerhead that pumps 69 gph. I have the nozzle pointed towards the front of the tank for indirect flow.

As far as the lid, I'm using the glass lid that came with the tank but cut the glass so I have room for my filters so the lid doesn't stick out in front of the tank.

nice tank!!

Thanks! Here's my new little buddy I got today

I'm afraid my little friend has to go. Looks like he's been picking at my Birdsnest. I knew they picked on SPS, but didn't know to what extent, I've heard mixed reviews on them. Anywho, I do want a fish in there, think a neon goby would be ok? Any other suggestions?

A neon goby would do great! I love this little tank!

Hah, thanks! I'm gonna try and find me a neon goby. I am going to miss my clown goby, I just want something that's not going to mess with my corals. It sure has come a long way since the beginning with only 2x9watt CF. I do love this tank and plan to keep it going for as long as possible. I see a lot of little picos come and go so fast, it's sad.

Glad to see the Leather coral --- ( that looks like a tree coral FAMILY Nephtheidae either GENUS Capnella or Nephthea) seems to be doing much better.

You have a really nice tank

And yes YCG's will eat SPS coral polyps. Years ago I had a SPS that just was declining and then I setup a video camera and I cought on video my YCG nippin at the polyps. Unfortunatly I no longer have the video tape of that event but it didn't take long to catch the littkle bugger and move him to a different tank.

Charles

Thanks I'm pretty sure it's a nephthea too. That thing is a beast, it almost touches the bottom of the tank when it stretches it out. It also has sent out a couple little frags that I found in the back of the tank. I have to trim it/frag it, but I'm afraid to! Hah.

I should have known better with the YCG, but I'm gonna find me a neon goby. I do have some sexy shrimp on order that hopefully I'll get it at the end of this week. I'm excited to see those guys.

sooo....



this tank was great..... then it got leds....

















now its AWESOME!!!!




can i request some moar goby pics and a fts or two?


thx

do you think that 6 of the same LED's would be enough for this size tank?

essentially i would like to do the same thing except run 3 whites and 3 blues from 1 1000ma dimable buckpuck. Or do you have the 2 colors on separate buckpucks and both adjusted to different intensities?

you really put a lot of work into this pico and it looks great! how are all of your corals reacting to the change from PC lighting to LED's? i'm planning on upgrading very soon. also I saw that you left your tank for a week, did you do anything special besides having your ato and timers, etc? i have to leave mine for 5 days.

Thanks! My corals reacted nicely to the change. Everything was opened and happy upon the change, and that was something I was worried about. I have noticed better coloration and better growth with the LEDs. I didn't do anything special at all when I left the tank for 7 days, just had my ATO and light timers. For some reason, thought I would come back to a dead tank, but everything was thriving and doing fine.

looks great..

I think I should trim my nepthea

awesome^^^^^

I think those just might be the longest skirts I have ever seen on zoanthids.
Tank is a beauty.

Your tank is amazing... keep the pictures coming!

I moved just recently, here are just a few pics of the move. This is the second time moving the tank. It's nice I could just pick it up and go. The first time, I drained it a little and moved it as is. This time, I had to keep it full to the top because of how much growth I had. Luckily everything stayed put and it went rather smooth. My friend held the tank that was in a styrofoam box in his lap for the 20min drive to my new place.

The day of the move, this is right before I unplugged everything and put in the box.








Right after I got everything plugged in.


Thanks to my buddy Nate for taking the pics and editing my butt crack, lol.

ha we all thank him for that.
Sweet tank btw. nice color variations

very nice pico and congrats on the succesful move