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Few Pico questions


Draco

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Hi all,

 

After my trip, I am going to start a pico tank. it's either going to be a 1.5 gal rectangle tank (typical one with black rim)

or the Petco's 3.7 gallon cube with the chambers in the back.

 

I just have a few questions to prepare me.

 

1. Sand bottom or bare bottom? Pro's/con's in a pico? I am debating on breaking small pieces of rock as the bottom so it won't be so bare

2. What filter would be best for the 1.5 gallon tank?

3. I have a Par 38 bulb.. but I am not sure what's the nicest way to utilize it.. desk lamp? any clamp that would work?

 

I am sure I will have more questions. I just want to get everything i need straightened out

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-Bare bottom! I don't think you'd want any detritus clogging up sand between vacuumings. With no sand, you can have higher flow and get more water filtered.

-The biggest HOB filter you can reasonably fit! Or a sump. Sump sounds great. Like a huge, 100gal sump. ...But you'll probably want an Aquaclear with an inTank media basket.

-Gooseneck? If you think the aquarium will be too brittle to handle it, put the PAR bulb in a tall desk lamp. Maybe even with adjustable height, or an in-line dimmer if the bulb is dimmable?

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thanks!

That's what i thought about the bare bottom. I am not going to have fish so I am not concerned about the waste there. Just a snail or two, a hermit and some showpiece crab or shrimp

 

100 gal sump in a 3.7 gal tank? I LOL'd at that one. I wish I could have 100 gal tank! This is making me lean more towards the petco 3.7 gal cube with the rear chambers.

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The CUC will still have some bioload, and everything living in your rock will still generate detritus for you to worry about, so it's not as if fish are the only mess-makers. Though granted, they take that job very seriously..

 

Chambers are nice! Just make sure they're actually good at what they do. You may end up needing to make your own media baskets out of eggcrate or something if the included baskets aren't very good. I lucked out with inTank making baskets for the Nuvo 16 >>

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thanks for the advice!

 

I've heard good things about the Petco Cube. It was either that or the JBJ 3 gallon- but for .7 gallons more and same price, I'd go with Petco

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Try aquatop Hc tanks - they have 3.5 --/36 dollars , 5.1 --45 dollars

Or landen low iron tank 3.5 gallon - approx 35 dollars

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Yes I am starting one myself soon ; the best part is they are rimless and low iron -- and the price is unbeatable

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wow, I like that tree! The theme you went with! What did you make the tree out of? Looks almost like polymer clay

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Clarinet_Reefer

Kat's tanks are always a great example of proper tank care and husbandry! I love her tanks! Now back to your post.

 

 

1. Sand bottom or bare bottom? Pro's/con's in a pico? Sand can be done so long as your diligent about cleaning and vacuuming. My current tank has a bare bottom and will make cleaning very easy.

 

2. What filter would be best for the 1.5 gallon tank? A small HoB filter like a RedSea Nano or even an AquaClear 20 with an inTank media basket would do well.

 

3. Par Bulb - Try looking for a nice desk lamp clam or purchase a clamp from the manufacturer of your bulb. They are best designed to work with their bulbs.

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wow, I like that tree! The theme you went with! What did you make the tree out of? Looks almost like polymer clay

polymer clay. Click the pico in my signature to see the build thread.

Kat's tanks are always a great example of proper tank care and husbandry! I love her tanks! Now back to your post.

 

 

:P more like put it together and let it ride when it comes to the pico. :)

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1. Sand bottom or bare bottom? Pro's/con's in a pico? I am debating on breaking small pieces of rock as the bottom so it won't be so bare

2. What filter would be best for the 1.5 gallon tank?

3. I have a Par 38 bulb.. but I am not sure what's the nicest way to utilize it.. desk lamp? any clamp that would work?

 

1) Bare bottom or bust. Only benefit imo of sand in pico tank is looks. My tank has been bare bottom for many years and there are still tons of critters crawling around. I also dislike the bare bottom look and run all of my other tanks with anything from very shallow to very deep sand beds. That being said once you pack in the pico it's hard to even tell its bare bottom.

 

2) any small hob filter will work as long as it fits. I change the filter floss about once a week but you could do it more often should you desire. I also run 1 tablespoon of carbon and half a tablespoon of gfo in there. It's not as ideal as a reactor but no pico reactors exist. Another option for filtration is a mangrove pod. Cheato in such small quantities is a waste of time, but mangroves used in a ratio of 1 for every 1-3 gallons can actually make a filtration difference

 

3) whatever you like best. There are many different ways to run it, however you may find the par 38 too bright. I use a par 30 bulb.

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If you go with a par38 get a dimmer before you light it. I fried a bunch of corals in my 4gal before I realized how intense the light was

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I have a small tank - 1.5 gallon approx

1. Sand bottom or bare bottom? Pro's/con's in a pico? I am debating on breaking small pieces of rock as the bottom so it won't be so bare

Sand is my choice for a tiny display - which mine is.

Pro's:

  • attractive
  • biofiltration
  • some critters love it - like my spaghetti worms

Con's

  • Cleaning can be a problem
  • dust storms
  • gets into hob impeller

2. What filter would be best for the 1.5 gallon tank?

I believe I am using an AC20 - could be an AC50 I lost the lid years ago. I cut up the media basket and glued that to make a grill to keep stuff in the modified refugium - in the refugium. I also use the space in this filter for keeping things like my heater.

IMG_7698.jpg

I also made a small plastic overflow that the AC's intake pipe goes into to act like an overflow on larger tanks. THIS reduces the problem of sandstorms entering the impeller. THIS is a massive PRO It actually does not take up much space as I use only a corner of my tank and its a snug fit. Works a charm.

You can see what I mean in the below picture.

IMG_7735.jpg

I also have a small whisper filter on the back I use for flow and media. The entire back of the system is full. I keep my tank in a sort of box to maintain appearance. For control and the addition of things to assist in control.

3. I have a Par 38 bulb.. but I am not sure what's the nicest way to utilize it.. desk lamp? any clamp that would work?

I am no expert here. I did my own DIY lights after my power compacts started to get too warm in the summer.

 

 

A Question 4 you might want to consider.

 

4. How do I deal with evaporation and going away for a couple days?

Great question! ;)

 

rapid salinity swings is a problem with these little tanks and evaporation happens crazy fast. I have tried gravity feed which is hard to get right, particularily when warm days and cooler days facter in with the amount of evap.

I got hold of one of the smallest float switches I could and made my ATO system myself. It has a relay switch in the back that tells the pump to kick on.

 

I put the float into a tiny pill bottle to keep things from crawling on it and accidentally triggering it. This has never been a problem. What you need to do secure the hose. The hose in the following picture was not secured and was the reason my tank eventually crashed.

 

However this system allows me to not be worrying about salinity swings, I can go away for a few days with little worry. It is quite possibly the best DIY system I added.

 

IMG_8380.jpg

This picture you can see compact nature of the setup, The two white things actually hold my glass splash guard I use for my LED system.

 

IMG_20150415_135432.jpg

 

How it all fits together. You can see the reflection of my led in the glass splash guard. The egg crate actually protects the tank from the ATO falling in the water. And hopefully the egg crate keeps the goby in.

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Clarinet_Reefer

polymer clay. Click the pico in my signature to see the build thread.

 

:P more like put it together and let it ride when it comes to the pico. :)

You're tanks are epic. Sure you get it all out together correctly the first time so of course you let em ride ;)

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I have the 3.7 gallon petco tank as my pico reef. I removed the back filtration to utilize the entire 3.7 gallons for the display. I paired it with a 30Par bulb from Coral Compulsion and a staples desk lamp. I used sand in mine and will say I do get some sand blowing around that gets on the rock and corals from time to time, I just use a turkey baster and stir the sand bed up. For a filter i hav a 80gph pump and a small hob fuge with filter floss and chemi-pure blue.

 

 

 

DSC_0425-01.jpeg

 

BestPhoto_20150330_220859_1.jpg

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Sorry for the lack of replies, I was away for the week.

 

Thanks everyone for the response!! They were very helpful! I am getting more excited to build this pico, lol.

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I agree with Mariaface, OP. I had a 5.5g pico, and the sand was always moving no matter what. There is a longterm pico in the Pico Subforum here that is over 4 years old (http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/240866-my-first-pico-dymax-iq3-now-4-years-old/) and there is some great information there.

 

Go bare bottom, use a good size HOB (no sump. Silly on this size, though I do want to try it myself, lol) and the inTank media basket. I'd avoid a gooseneck for the CC bulbs - the gooseneck is heavy as heck and put a lot of strain on my 5.5 tank's glass. I'd go with a Staples (http://www.staples.com/Tensor-Black-Swing-Arm-Incandescent-CFL-Clamp-Lamp/product_408203) lamp. Take off the lamp shade and make sure to use the additional springs. I got mine for 8 bucks on sale at Staples locally.

-Bare bottom! I don't think you'd want any detritus clogging up sand between vacuumings. With no sand, you can have higher flow and get more water filtered.

-The biggest HOB filter you can reasonably fit! Or a sump. Sump sounds great. Like a huge, 100gal sump. ...But you'll probably want an Aquaclear with an inTank media basket.

-Gooseneck? If you think the aquarium will be too brittle to handle it, put the PAR bulb in a tall desk lamp. Maybe even with adjustable height, or an in-line dimmer if the bulb is dimmable?

 

 

IMG_7735.jpg

What did you make that out of?

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