5g Pico

[Twilton]

I had never heard of these pico type tanks before joining NR.com but ever since discovering them iv been obsessed with how you people can create such a beautiful reef that can sit on your desk.
So anyway iv decided to start my own.

Equipment

• Heat: Juwel 100w
• Filtration: Aquamanta EFX 200 Canister filter
• Lighting: Aquabeam's Reef White LED's & Aquabeam sunrise/sunset controller
• Flow: Koralia Nano 900 l/h
• Tank: Hex 3mm glass

Livestock

 

• 2x Ocellaris Clownfish
• 1x Blue Legged Hermit Crab
• 4x Turbo Snails
• 1x Cleaner Shrimp

Corals

 

 

• Softies:
  GSP
  Radioactive dragon Eyes
  Nuclear Green Polyps
  Green Spotted mushroom
  Hammer Coral

Macro Algae

 

 

• Caulerpa Prolifera
• Dragons Breath
• Caulerpa Racemosa (green grape)

FTS: 11/09/11


FTS: 23/08/11


FTS: 03/08/11


Thankyou very much for looking.

With this been my first pico if anybody has any advice and could give me a few pointer's or any general information that would be really great thankyou.

[Linilou]

What type of thank is this? I really like the look of it!

 

I like your scape too,

 

oh, and go mac laptop! Im on mine right now.

[Twilton]

What type of thank is this? I really like the look of it!

 

I like your scape too,

 

oh, and go mac laptop! Im on mine right now.

 

 

Cheers I made the tank .

 

 

Thankyou very much for the complement on the scape

[Linilou]

Of course, we may have cheaper coral here, but yall get nice tanks. lol

 

Yeah, I love mine, do you have a pro or a regular?

 

And your welcome! Im moving soon and have to downgrade from a 10 to a 2.5 gal for the summer (but up to a 20 when school starts again, so not all bad) and I might have to take some "inspiration" from your tank,

[Twilton]

Of course, we may have cheaper coral here, but yall get nice tanks. lol

 

Yeah, I love mine, do you have a pro or a regular?

 

And your welcome! Im moving soon and have to downgrade from a 10 to a 2.5 gal for the summer (but up to a 20 when school starts again, so not all bad) and I might have to take some "inspiration" from your tank,

 

 

Haha alittle inspiration from my tank haha

 

 

And yeh im moving out soon off to university so this can be a nice piece in my room

[bxz]

Nice rimless tank mate, is that the MH150w? that's a ton of light for the 5G, where's ur filter?

 

Alright people, have not managed to post any updates been really busy. Everything is doing well. Here are a couple of pictures taken on the iphone sorry about the quality il get some better ones tomorrow . Post feedback and ideas

 

 

[Twilton]

Its been quite a journey for this little tank of mine, i will always get it set up cycling and then something would happen in my 20g reef tank which would usually end up in me spending my pico funds on it.

 

Anyway i have now closed down that tank it will be missed but moving house and short money pushed me into making the decision.

 

The tank is going to be at my university house in September so my basic criteria was it had to be small as i have limited desk space. The tank also needed to be quiet and energy efficient the the LED lighting and Canister filter were the obvious choices for me.

 

Anyway here are some pictures using a regular lamp only for the pictures.

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bwoodward0012]

looks good. you should love the par38 lamp (i have evil's 12k version), high light and shimmer like a metal halide, without the temperature and energy consumption. the only thing is (and i haven't added any to my pico to test this for myself yet) that from what iv'e seen on here, sps is "iffy" under leds. the guy i bought my bulb from (got it used for 2 months for less than half price) a guy who said the sps he tried browned out under it and i've seen it do that or die under other people's on here, but iv'e also seen a lot of people on here successfully keeping sps under par38 lamps with nice color and all. i will be trying this for myself soon with some encrusting monti and some acro. good luck with your pico and school.

[Twilton]

Just an update...

 

Have been really busy recently so not had much time to post anything on here, however i have now made a nice little surround for my tank, and also sorted my light out.

After changing my mind over and over again about what i was going to do about lighting i decided that the Aquabeam 600 ultra Reef White. I am very happy with the lights, they are of very high build quality and have a very sleek and tidy look with works well with my tank.

 

I have also taken a small rock out and moved the others around to make a slight cave with i am really pleased with. I am taking my time with setting up this tank mainly as there is no rush but mainly so i dont see such a dent on my bank account.

 

I have added 2 Blue Legged Hermit crabs. And going to add 2 Turbo Snails tomorrow.

 

My plans for the tank are to add maybe onesmall clown fish and then fill with a few coral frags, such as hammer coral and would love to add a monte cap or plate coral but we will see.

 

Anyway let me know what you think to my DIY stand and if you have any pointers about the tank. I will really appreciate feedback.

 

 

Anyway Some quick snap shots....

 



 



 



 

[.Newman.]

is it me or are the hermits gigantic? they look real old, did you raise them yourself over the years? pretty cool. if you simply bought them, i think it would be better to buy really tiny ones to start.

[Twilton]

is it me or are the hermits gigantic? they look real old, did you raise them yourself over the years? pretty cool. if you simply bought them, i think it would be better to buy really tiny ones to start.

 

Haha i think its the scape that makes them look big

 

But yeh i have had them for quite a long time now.

[.Newman.]

thats awesome. i'm also keeping a blue leg hermit (i bought him when he was extremely tiny) and i notice it takes a while for these guys to reach good adult size. how old are yours? probably a few years at least?

[Twilton]

New Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have recently set up this pico which has been running well now for a few months. Up until the last week an algae has appeared around the tank and seems to be spreading. How do I get rid of this?

 

When i set up the tank I used matured live rock.

 

I cycled the tank for about a month so thats all past now. In my filter i run carbon, and a few course filter pads and some filter floss.

 

The lights are brand new Aquabeams on controller sunrise 10-11am and sunset 9-10pm so i am not having my lights on for an extended time.

 

I have been doing regular waterchanges and keeping an eye on my filterfloss, change that about once a week.

 

I dont know why i cant get rid of this algae. In the picture you can see that it seems to have a slight hair's on it,it covers over the rock and then it has bubbles underneath it which get released im not sure when or how long its been just one or two every so often.

 

Can anyone help me please before this gets out of hand.

[.Newman.]

looks like a regular algal bloom to me. with time it will go away if your maintenance is good enough for the tank and the tank's bioload is balanced. it may take a few months, its unlikely that you will beat it in a few days haha.

[Twilton]

looks like a regular algal bloom to me. with time it will go away if your maintenance is good enough for the tank and the tank's bioload is balanced. it may take a few months, its unlikely that you will beat it in a few days haha.

 

Yeh, iv been looking into this allot and just generally discovered that i was overfeeding just abit but enough to throw the tank out of balance. So iv given the rocks a good clean and will continue on with my regular water changes.

[East1]

your tank looks awesome man! it's super clean!

[Twilton]

 



 



 



 

[castiel]

The new location looks great, very ADA style =0)

[Twilton]

The new location looks great, very ADA style =0)

 

Thankyou very much really apreciate that. I'm really thinking of painting the back a really light grey if I can fully cover the tank. Will maybe happen when I move the tank along with another idea haha

[TianTian]

What's your stock list so far (including plants and corals)?

 

This tank is SOOO sweet!

[Twilton]

What's your stock list so far (including plants and corals)?

 

This tank is SOOO sweet!

 

 

Ah thankyou very much really means a lot. Only got more plans and stock to add. I am going to have to get down to fully editing the introduction to my tank journal. Unfortunately I am on my phone at the moment so can't really do it now but will definatly do it tomorrow when I'm at my computer. Thankyou for looking.

[JoelRHale]

I love your macro you got in there! I think I have the same kind of plant that came on a frag, I've really enjoyed watching it grow.

[Twilton]

I love your macro you got in there! I think I have the same kind of plant that came on a frag, I've really enjoyed watching it grow.

 

 

Thanks I really love watching the growth it seems each morning I wake up there is more haha. I keep having to trim it back also I believe it adds a really nice natural look and in a weird way my clown seems to dance with it as its moving around with the flow. Really good fun to watch I'm going to have to make a video I think

[SnakPak]

Very nice tank!

[Twilton]

Very nice tank!

 

Thankyou very much Pak, love your tank.