Hi all. I am setting up a new 2.5gallon pico reef setup and was wondering what type of hang on the back filter I should use. eg. Are aquaclears any good for marine?
Question#2 What is a good LED or pc fixture that clamps onto the tank? I am gonna be doing lower light corals
Any advice into the pico scene would be helpful..thanks

Aquaclear filters are ideal for nano-reefs. Check out the sticky at the top of this forum about Pico Reefs to see how to turn one into a fuge.

If you just want lower light corals, a single 1 x 18w Current USA Satellite pc fixture will suffice.

With picos, just stay on top of water changes and make sure you top off the tank very frequently to prevent fluctuation in water quality.

thanks for the reply. I ended up instead getting the 2 gallon Tom Deco Picotope instead that comes with a filter, light etc...Here goes the dive into pico-reefing. I wonder if its as addictive as nano-reefing?

Well I bought the AC70 HOB and converted it into a refugium, So now I have to wait a gruesome 2 1/2 more days until I get the new 2 g Deco...
What are ppls thoughts on cropping the ac70 impeller down to 3 blades instead of 6? It says in the sticky thread that the flow may be too great for a 2 g..What has everlyone else done?

i just cut the tab on the filter to lower the flow even more. i couldn't bring myself to cutting the impeller but then again they aren't that expensive. you can probly just throw in a ac50 impeller. just my thought. lol

check out el fab's thread for his pico or his guide for a diy ac mod. very very very nice what he has done with his tank.

well for the price of a new impeller I am gonna explore the cropping method and if it does not work I will be getting an impeller for a smaller AC unit which will be determined at that time. Oh yeah, I did cut the tab off the intake tube/ filter intake area which will help.
Thanks for the advice....
Now I should be expecting a very short cycle with this tank as I have some cured liverock and livesand thats been in a bucket with several power heads for over 3 months, (and a 40 g prior to that) so does anybody have any suggestions for livestock?

i would still wait the 4-6 weeks. just because it's a smaller tank doesnt mean you can go faster.

Slow & steady wins the race.


live stock? a very small goby and 3 or 4 snails

what type of goby(or other fish) would be ok in a 2g pico?

I'm using an AC20 impeller in my AC70 but mine is a 5.5g, I actually think I want a little more flow might try an AC30 impeller...

I cropped the impeller in my ac70 but it still has a little too extreme flow for the setup I am looking for. I may try the ac30 impeller and see how that goes..


Does anyone have suggestions about livestock?

as far as live stock... cant go wrong with a clown goby

They can jump, so you need a cover.

Here is the new setup pictures. I might add a little more LR, but I wanna keep this pico as simple as possible..Also, does anyone have any suggestions for low light lps corals? I know 13 watts isn't much, but it would be nice to have a nice open brain coral lol.

here are the pics...

http://s617.photobucket.com/albums/tt256/mechano/PicoReefnov14th/

a invisible nonexistent fish is ideal for a 2 gal pico.....

I would just start off with a few soft corals and go from there. In all honesty, I wouldn't put a fish in a two-gallon tank... You could get some sexy shrimp if you want some extra movement.

Based on the above picture, it looks like the flow is pushing all of the sand around. I would consider getting a smaller impeller...

I totally agree. I just put 3 smaller LR chunks where the depression is, I also had the pump at full strength last night which is why that happened. But nonetheless, I will be getting a smaller impeller. What size would you suggest travissurfer?

I had a Whisper 10 (90gph) on my 1.25g and could've used a bit more flow. The AC 30 (impeller) is rated at 150gph so that could be a good choice for a 2g.

Thanks. That seems to be the general rule of thumb with these ac70 s on picos. I will be changing that over then this weekend.

what lamp is that? i like it

Trima, green banded, flaming prawn (if you never want to see it), blue or yellow neon, and clown (if you have sps to keep it happy) gobies. You just have to make sure your pico is well established...

Sexy and bumble bee shrimp are cool and active also.

The lighting came with the set up, I still need to buy an LED pad light for the refugium..But the stock lighting is 13 watts PC Tom Deco. It should do the trick for mushrooms and softies for sure, and I have been told maybe open brains, blasto's etc should be ok, but not sure if I am gonna risk that even though an open brain would be awesome in this tank

i now wish that tom deco sold that light by itself. i'd buy it

Does anyone have a suggestion for a clamp on refugium lamp for over top the ac70???

http://shop.mediabaskets.com/Underwater-5W...ght-5WLight.htm

if you search around they do,i think bigals does, the lamp on the 2-3 gal is pretty good.....it def is enough for softies.....

or you could go with just a simple 12'' current sattilite or a coralife......

good luck stockin dude!

Here is the link to the deco light

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl366...l0/perchlight7w