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Cultivated Reef

DIY 5 Gallon Pico Reef Tank.... Need Some Help


Dreichler

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So i have a JBJ 28 with an AI Prime, and its just flowing corals out of it and i love it, i literally cannot stop myself from buying corals for it. But enough of that... Im thinking I'm building a small nightstand reef tank, maybe like a 2-5 gallon. Idk how many gallons but id say total about a 13 inch cube, maybe little taller. But idk where to even start.... IT WILL BE AN AIO... What materials do i need for the walls, glass or acrylic, what material for the overflow wall, what to use to mold everything together, and what light would be good for such a tiny tank. I understand its very hard to keep one of these because its so small.... trust me, i am extremely OCD and will go to extremes to make sure everything is perfect. How long does the cycle usually last, what gph pump? All help is appreciated.

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Hahaha can't tell if that sarcasm or what lol. Hopefully it helped.

 

I nice heater,a par bulb and a 180-200gph adjustable pump and I'd call it done.

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Hahaha can't tell if that sarcasm or what lol. Hopefully it helped.

 

I nice heater,a par bulb and a 180-200gph adjustable pump and I'd call it done.

no man those tanks are honestly perfect and exactly what was looking to make, no sarcasm, but all in all, san, rock, lighting, tank, flow, heater, what do you think a solid price would be?

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Glad I could be of assistance !!!

 

Well,depending on what tank you choose:

 

Heater-$20-$30

Rock-$15-$30

180-200gph Pump-$20-$25

Sand-$10-$15

CoralCompulsion Par30-$60

Desk Lamp-$10

 

As for the cycle,I'd use some water and a piece of rock from your current tank to get the cycle going.

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Glad I could be of assistance !!!

 

Well,depending on what tank you choose:

 

Heater-$20-$30

Rock-$15-$30

180-200gph Pump-$20-$25

Sand-$10-$15

CoralCompulsion Par30-$60

Desk Lamp-$10

 

As for the cycle,I'd use some water and a piece of rock from your current tank to get the cycle going.

never really understood the par38 lights, its just a normal light fixture that the bulb can go into, and then it can grow corals fine?

Acrylic tanks scratch SOOO easily though....

 

If you can pay the higher price, a JBJ 20 is much better choice in my opinion.

 

http://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=27270

why would they crash easily? and i don't want the 20, I'm looking for a pico, like a 4 or 5

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It's just a LED light designed to fit into a normal US socket. And hell yes they will grow some coral lol. No problem in that department.

 

Also,if you're rethinking acrylic. Which won't scratch that bad unless you scrape the day lights out of it,TruAqua.com has their low iron glass cubes coming back out within the month. I paid $30 shipped for my 8"x8" cube. The quality is outstanding compared to more expensive ADA and Do!Aqua tanks.

 

http://www.truaqua.com/high-clarity-aquarium-fish-tanks.html

 

My current set up is:

 

TruAqua 8"x8" cube

1x NBR old 11up

2x 400-410 violets

2x 410-420 violets

2x ATI Blue+ T5 bulbs (yeah judge me lol)

AC50 with Carbon and a few pinches of GFO

JBJ ATO

Gnome Nano Glass Skimmer

 

and I'm growing sps,acan's and zoa's with no problem at all.

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