Since I have been waiting for over a week to receive a custom made AIO that will take about a week's worth of work until it's ready to stock anyways, I figured I'd ease back into the hobby with a small 2.5 gallon at my new house. Listed below are the specs...

Tank: 2.5 gallon AGA
Substrate: CaribSea reef sand
Filtration: 2-3lbs of live rock. AC20 modded into a fuge. (Who wants to donate some chaeto?)
Lighting: Retrofitted 3 x 9 watt CF. Two 10,000k and one actinic for now. I prefer the crisp white look to the bluer tint.



I did have pictures of the entire set-up process taken on my blackberry, but I'm struggling to find a way to get them onto my computer. When I try to e-mail them the phone freezes. Anyways, here's what I do have...


Full tank shot.




Closer picture. Blurry but pretty close to the true color in person. Please ignore the microbubbles, the filter had just kicked on.




Close-up picture of the left side of the aquascape.




Close-up picture of the right side of the aquascape.




Picture with flash on. Shows the coloration of the rocks. Only a couple were taken from my 20L at home, the rest were cooked.



So, let the cycle begin! In the meantime, if anyone has any stocking ideas I'm very open to suggestions.

That's team dedication. Gotta go get me a big Cal sticker now.

Actually, I printed out the logo, used an exacto knife to cut around the edges, taped it to the back of the tank and then spray-painted everything not covered by the paper, leaving a clear logo behind. I debated painting the lion in white, but determined it was kinda cool to be able to peek through the back of the tank. Poor decision?

Also, do you guys think the AC20 is enough flow by itself or not? If not, I might just upgrade to the AC30...more room for a fuge and more flow.

i think you should put a darker colored blue peice of paper or sumthin behind the BG for deeper effect...just sayin'....

I think you should steal all of the corals from the Penn State Aquarium and jam them all in to that little tank.






















That would be ill.

I know, I know...long time no update.

Unfortunately, I come bearing bad news. Tonight, I had just finished wiring up a brand new dual 13w 50/50 PC retrofit kit into the hood to give the lighting over the 2.5 a little boost. The tank had shown nothing but progress, including coralline algae growth, it's first coral (xenia) and its first and only fish (yellow clown goby). I sit down, satisfied, and begin to type away on the computer. About half an hour later, I hear a very brief, very quiet snap from behind me. Now, living with two other college guys, I think nothing of it. About another half hour goes by and I get up to get a drink and... DUN DUN DUN!!!

A small pool of water has formed at the bottom right corner of the tank. I go through the usual thoughts, maybe I spilled some putting my hand into the tank...etc. Finally, I conduct a search for cracks and find a hairline crack at the top right of the tank.

Being in the army, I've always been taught not to panic under stress. However, I did go through about 100 scenarios in two minutes. I had to consider that I have no backup tank, it's 7PM on a sunday, and all of my equipment (hood/lighting/filter) are tailored to fit on a 2.5 gallon tank. Now, being the observant person I am, I know for a fact that no store in State College, PA carries 2.5 AGA tanks. It's 5.5 or above.

To make a REALLY long story only kinda long, I ended up buying an Eclipse 3 (easiest hood to transfer the retrofit kit into) and made a hasty transfer of all livestock. Being in college, I don't have the luxury of having many buckets, nets, and containers handy for such a task. Needless to say, the survival rate is not looking good for the inhabitants of the Penn State AGA. And the new hasty setup is so hideous I can hardly bare to look at it.

I'll be placing a few orders to reefcleaners.org (replace CUC die-off), sealife inc. (new tank dimensions require a bit more rock for my liking), and I'll be looking around for a new tank (acrylic!)


In conclusion: If anyone is feeling generous and would like to help with suggestions (or privision!) of a new tank, lighting system, or livestock...any help would be appreciated!

Good luck!

that sux. good luck. that aquarium at penn state is dank nasty. they have turbos bigger than my hand!

you should check it out if you havent

Yeah the aquarium here is ridiculous. It's the big meeting place for students to get together and study or whatever. Unfortunately, they are saying that the account allotted for it (the tank and account were part of a senior class gift) will be empty in the next 5 years. Who knows what'll happen...

UPDATE: As a direct result of the unfortunate crack and the hasty move to an Eclipse System 3, I am please/sad to say that I took the plunge and ordered a Barracuda from Deli. The main reason being that although I didn't lose any livestock in the hasty move (whew!), I can't keep my temp in the Eclipse under 88 with the enclosed hood. The Barracuda will enable me to use the wooden hood you see in the pictures above, which has an open back and allows for much better air flow. Got 2 day shipping, but I don't want to traumatize the fish too much, so the move may be next week.

Nice cdelicath's tanks are freaking sweet! If i ever do a pico thats where im going!

UPDATE: Received my tank from PicO aquariums after Thanksgiving break. In the week that I've had it, I have nothing but good things to report. Except for the fact that I lost my only frag (pulsing xenia) when a hellacious rainstorm took out my power overnight and the tank temperature dropped to like 58 or something ridiculous like that.

If you're interested in PicO aquariums or seeing the new tank in action, please see my review here.