2.5 Gallon Pico Reef Build

[David-Vella]

Hi,

I'm David (first post here) .... Basically I had this 2.5 gallon tank with a built in sump which used to be an awesome looking planted tank which I had to break down since a bacteria bloom I couldn't control (attached photo of tank in it's prime).

 

My History with Saltwater

 

My last saltwater tank was around 6 years ago (I was 11 years old ... you can imagine) it went horribly wrong ... lack of research etc .... from that point to this day I am continuously doing research about fish and corals etc. Long story short technically this will be my very first 'know what I am doing reef tank' Long story short ... this will be my first tank and although I know it will be extremely difficult I am willing to take the risk.

 

 

Tank Specs

 

Display Tank: 2.5 Gallon

Sump: Built In Sump

Circulation Pump: 240 GPH (owned but still considering since return pup is quite powerful)

Return Pump: Aquarium Systems Mini Jet MN606 (Max GPH 150)

Heater: 50W Haqos Heater

Lightning: 15 watt eBay Light

ATO: *Open For Considerations ~ Don't want to invest a lot in an ATO*

 

Fish:

 

1x Clown Goby

 

Inverts/CUC:

 

1x Sexy Shrimp

2x Hermit Crabs

2x Nassarius Snails

2x Cerith Snail

 

 

 

 

 

Basically so far that's the equipment I have so far (used to be of the planted tank; except light upgrading )

 

My main question is the light from eBay any good, or do you recommend something else in that price range? And any other suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

David

[PicoSavvy]

I would recommend a rapidled.com kit or a nanobox v3 array. I haven't try out the nanobox array but it seem to be pretty good and I well be buying one for my pico

[gkarris]

Nice AIO tank - where is it from?

[ruiisu]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I want one like this for my Betta!

[David-Vella]

Nice AIO tank - where is it from?

 

It is a Haqos Cube Box 20 .... purchased it from my local LFS [i am from Malta (Europe)] It costed me around €30 around $35 if I am not mistaken including pump heater and it's own light fixture ... the pump I eventually changed to the Aquarium Systems Mini Jet MN 606 since this tank was planted before .... but overall nice tank ... I sprayed the sides of it black to cover sump area since when I bought I didn't like the fact that it was like black paperish sticker with some logos ... I like it way better now.

 

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I want one like this for my Betta!

 

Thanks for your imput

[Reefkid88]

These are always fun. If you're from Europe,look at this site to save you a huge ass shipping cost,I actually was wanting to get a few of these guys lights a while ago:

 

One of these:

http://www.marine-reef.co.uk/quadspec-tile-digital-807-p.asp

 

2x of these:

http://www.marine-reef.co.uk/15w-marinereefled---par20---quadspec-mini-v2-304-p.asp

 

One of these monsters:

http://www.marine-reef.co.uk/36w-marinereefled---par38---quadspec-v2-300-p.asp

[2 f15hy 4u]

I'm diggin' that tank already! If you aren't looking to go DIY, I suggest getting a decent LED light that you could easily use on a little larger aquarium down the line but won't overpower what you're doing now. I did that with one of my older tanks, and I'm rather glad that I did. One less thing/expense to worry about when you upgrade! Since you're starting with such a small tank (nothing wrong with that), I think you'll most likely want to upgrade to something a little bigger, even if it's a 8-10 gallon.

 

As for an ATO, the JBJ ATO is pretty good for the amount. I haven't heard any bad things about it personally so far.

[David-Vella]

These are always fun. If you're from Europe,look at this site to save you a huge ass shipping cost,I actually was wanting to get a few of these guys lights a while ago:

 

One of these:

http://www.marine-reef.co.uk/quadspec-tile-digital-807-p.asp

 

2x of these:

http://www.marine-reef.co.uk/15w-marinereefled---par20---quadspec-mini-v2-304-p.asp

 

One of these monsters:

http://www.marine-reef.co.uk/36w-marinereefled---par38---quadspec-v2-300-p.asp

 

I was thinking about getting one of the par20 of the link you sent me ... won't it be enough sufficient to keep some softies and lps and maybe in the future keep some kind of sps?

 

 

I'm diggin' that tank already! If you aren't looking to go DIY, I suggest getting a decent LED light that you could easily use on a little larger aquarium down the line but won't overpower what you're doing now. I did that with one of my older tanks, and I'm rather glad that I did. One less thing/expense to worry about when you upgrade! Since you're starting with such a small tank (nothing wrong with that), I think you'll most likely want to upgrade to something a little bigger, even if it's a 8-10 gallon.

 

As for an ATO, the JBJ ATO is pretty good for the amount. I haven't heard any bad things about it personally so far.

 

The thing is that I can't find any local .... or in Europe so far .... plus when I asked nearly all my country's lfs they were all like

 

 

so yea ....

[Reefkid88]

Yeah you can keep sps,they may not "thrive" but you'll be able to keep them alive. I think 2 would be best if you went that route.

[David-Vella]

Yeah you can keep sps,they may not "thrive" but you'll be able to keep them alive. I think 2 would be best if you went that route.

 

As long as I can keep some zoas and some sort of LPS like a Hammer coral and maybe a green star coral .... I am more than happy .... btw nice tanks bruh

[Reefkid88]

There was a guy on a UK forum that had one over a 5 gallon all in one and he even had a clam,but he was running 2 of the par20's then switched to a par38 from the company I posted here.

 

Thank man,it's not where I want it to be,nor have I really been keeping up on it besides water changed every week.

[David-Vella]

There was a guy on a UK forum that had one over a 5 gallon all in one and he even had a clam,but he was running 2 of the par20's then switched to a par38 from the company I posted here.

Thank man,it's not where I want it to be,nor have I really been keeping up on it besides water changed every week.

Can you link me pls? Ty

[Reefkid88]

Oh man,that's asking a lot. I saw that thread about 4 years ago probably... Just google their par bulbs and I'm sure you can find something.

[David-Vella]

Oh man,that's asking a lot. I saw that thread about 4 years ago probably... Just google their par bulbs and I'm sure you can find something.

oh haha bro ... I wonder what happened to that pico from 4 years ago ....

 

Thanks though

[Reefkid88]

I have no idea. I follow him on Instagram and he last posted about his tank or anything in general probably a year ago if not more. Sorry I'm not of any more help. Just take my word for it,the lights will grow some coral !!!!