Herranton's Blu Pico - Pico Methodology Contest Entry

[herranton]

Herranton's Blu Pico

Pico Methodology Contest Entry

 

Introduction

For the last couple of years I have been planning on setting up a pico. Of course, this plan was only in my head and I really never thought I would actually do it. Since I got into reefing around 2005, I have come up with so many ideas in my head, about the tanks that I would like to set up, and so far none have come to be a reality. My Blu Pico will be a combination of two of those tanks. A pico and a blu coral sps mixed reef.

Previously, I have had a ten gallon reef that turned out okay. It was running for about two and a half years. Due to a very limited budget, it was never what I wanted it to be. When I finally had the money to put into the tank, my job became more and more demanding, both physically and mentally, so the tank got neglected and I took it down. I am in a position now where finances wont be a problem(at least as much as can be expected in this hobby) and I will have the time to put into the tank. Reading all of the other tank threads from the pico methodology contest has gotten me excited to set up a tank again. I really want to pull this off.

 

Current Full Tank Shot

The Plan

The Equipment

The Blu Pico will be a 5.5aga with a 2.5aga sump. The display will be drilled with two drains and the return will hook over the rim of the display tank. I am trying to minimize the amount of holes drilled into the 5.5 because the glass is so thin. The 2.5 gallon sump will be home to a protein skimmer, media rack with carbon, filter floss, ect..., a refugium, and possibly a UV sterilizer. It will be a lot to squeeze into a tank that small and I haven't received the skimmer yet, so I am unsure if I will be able to fit everything. For flow in the display, there will be two Koralia Nano's and the return from the sump which will be a Magdrive 1.9. Hopefully, that will be enough for the planned sps. If it is not, I will have to figure something out. I like the looks of the Koralia Nano's, but not so much that I want to fill my display tank up with them. I will be utilizing an ATO in the sump because I hate topping off tanks.

Hopefully, Nanotuners will get the t5vho's out by the time I need lights. If not, I will probably go with leds. I might go with both, depending on how the t5vho's turn out.

I realize that keeping a budget isn't required for this contest, but this will help me keep track of the expenses and some people may find it interesting. I always like reading the budget sections of peoples tank builds, so I thought I would include one too. Ideally, I would like to keep the cost of the tank below $750 for Equipment and $750 for livestock, but I don't think that is going to happen.

Equipment list and budget

1.5.5aga and 2.5aga – $29 from lfs

2.Koralia Nano x2 - $40 from Marine Depot

3.Spectrapure ATO - $70 from Marine Depot

4.Mag-drive 1.9 return pump - $32 from Marine Depot

5.Coralife Digital thermometer - $8 from Marine Depot

6.Micro-jet 320 for ato - $17 from Marine Depot

7.Taam Rio 50 Power Head for mixing saltwater - $12 from Marine Depot

8.AquaticLife Protein Skimmer 115 - $50 from Marine Depot

9.Tetra heater for mixing saltwater - $12 from Walmart

10.20-29 gallon Aqua-Culture tank stand - $63 from Walmart

11. DIY hood materials - $15 from Home Depot

Equipment yet to be purchased

1.Heater - estimated cost - $25

2.JBJ UV sterilizer (possibly) - estimated cost - $70

3.Plumbing - estimated cost - $150(includes drilling the tank)

4.18” T5VHO retrofit - $100 from Nanotuners

Recurring Equipment costs

1.Salt -Reef crystals - $9

2.Test kits - estimated cost - $80

3.Filter media - estimated cost - $25

4.Additives (calcium, iodine, ect...) - $25

5.Mussels, clams, shrimp, and oysters - $??

6.HGH (human growth hormones) - $LOL

 

Livestock

The livestock in the Blu Pico will mostly be sps corals with a couple of softies that I am fond of such as mushrooms, rics, and clove polyps. The sps will include different acropora, montipora, monti-caps, and maybe a birdsnest. I might possibly get a fire shrimp of a small group of sexy shrimp. I doubt I will include any fish, but if I do, it would be a green banded goby. I have always wanted one of those, but I don't think it would be a good addition to this tank, bioload wise.

I am going to try to locate some Tonga branch for the live rock in the display tank.(wink wink cough cough pm me cough) If I cant find any, I will settle on picking choice pieces out of my lfs rock selection. I will have a couple of largish pieces of Fiji rock in the sump if there is room. The tank will have black sand. I will update this section as the tank progresses. Its kinda early right now to make a definitive list.

 

Schedule

 

Hopefully, I will have the tank set up with water, sand and LR by mid March. I will attempt to get the nutrient levels in the tank stabilized and ready for coral by June. Keeping the levels of calcium, strontium, magnesium, iodine, ect... that the blu coral method requires, in a tank of this size, will be a challenge. I would like to get the hang of it before risking any coral although I realize that once the corals are added, they will deplete the trace minerals significantly faster than without them.

As far as tank maintenance goes, I will probably end up doing one three gallon water change every week. I am not so certain on how often I will dose the tank with the Pappone and trace elements, though I am thinking 2-3 times per week, with the trace elements being dosed the day before the Pappone.

 

Other Notes

I'm kinda skeptical of the AquaticLife 115 Protein Skimmer and I guess that could turn out to be a fifty dollar mistake. If I cant get it to skim the way I want it to, I will buy something reputable like the Tunze 9002.

If anyone is wondering about what the blu coral method is, here is a link that will help you find it on the large reefing site. I did not want to link it directly: Blu coral method

franklypre of NR has also recently been trying this method on one of his larger reefs.

 

I will hopefully be adding to this thread regularly. Thanks all for reading.

[c_k_kuehne]

Welcome to the Pico Methodology Contest. I have you linked up in the FTS thread and growerguy will get you linked up in the contest thread.

 

Never herd of the Blu Coral method before so I went and checked out some of the links. This should be a real interesting addition to the contest.

[Growerguy]

Welcome!

 

I've never heard of the Blu Method before either. Can't wait to see how it works out for you.

 

You've given me something new to research.

[Deep Thief]

Interesting, very very interesting, *as my thumb and forefinger stroke my lower jaw*

[Amphitrite]

Awesome! I'll be following your thread closely....I love experiments. My tank is going to be a tad experimental; well, at least for me and my students

[LogansRunRx]

any progress you can share... ie, more pitchurs???

anxious to see how such a small display/fuge system turns out. should be righteous

[Weetabix7]

This should be interesting, I'm really curious to see how that Blu Coral method works out in a Pico system.

If you want to have Mushrooms in the tank you should try to go with the T5's, I found out from experience that Mushrooms don't do that hot under LEDs.

[herranton]

any progress you can share... ie, more pitchurs???

anxious to see how such a small display/fuge system turns out. should be righteous

I haven't really made any progress yet. My shipment from Marine depot hasn't come yet so I'm hesitant on starting the sump before I know exactly how big things are. Going over my sump design in my head worries me, so I try not to think about it; I really hope I can get everything to fit. All of the baffles in the sump are going to be made out of acrylic and the only means that I have to cut it right now is the score and snap method. It will probably turn into the score until all the way through method though. I would really like to get the sump finished by Sunday if all my stuff comes in. I'll post more pics as soon as I have something to take a picture of.

 

This should be interesting, I'm really curious to see how that Blu Coral method works out in a Pico system.

I am really curious as well, I figure that if I can get the proportions correct, It should have the same effect. With picos, most people keep the bioload low for obvious reasons. With the blu coral method, I will be dumping a fish slushy in the tank 2-3 times per week.

I am, however, even more curious about how my roommate is going to take it after I tell her what I put in her blender

If you want to have Mushrooms in the tank you should try to go with the T5's, I found out from experience that Mushrooms don't do that hot under LEDs.

Good to know about the leds. I really want the t5s, so I hope that nanotuners gets them before late May - early June, when I plan on putting the sps in the tank. Leds would be my second choice but I would probably "settle" for them.

 

 

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I will get some pics in this thread soon.

[Artie1a]

The Nova extreme is not a bad option for that size tank although it will over hang it a bit. I'm using one on mine but you really don't notice the over hang because i have my tank facing long ways, so the overhang is on the back.

[herranton]

It has been awhile since I last updated this thread. It's not that I haven't been busy working on the tank, I just felt that all the little stuff that happens during a tank build would be pretty boring if updated over the month or so that it takes place. 

 

Here is the beginning. Its my February FTS along with a shot of the tank on a shower curtain that I spent hours sitting on, while working on the tank, so I wouldn't ruin the carpet.  

 

Its an early Christmas for me. Thank you Marine Depot. I ordered almost every thin that I thought I would need at this stage of the build. I didn't end up using the K-Nanos because they took up like half the tank. The bottom shot is an ATO that they carry at Marine depot. It works by some sort of pressure switch. You put the tube thing(red and clear thing) in the tank at the desired water level and when the water drops below it, a pump turns on to top of the tank. It works well but the water must refill about an inch up the red tube thing before it will shut off. I will not be using it because it will not provide the stability that picos need. It would be great for a tank over about forty gallons though.

 

Hurray for holes in the tank. I had a lfs drill the tank for me. He gave me a “deal”, $20 per hole, a 33% discount. I actually had to sign a waiver, because they were scared to drill the 5.5. I dropped the tank off at about 7:45 pm and they called me about an hour later telling me it was finished. The smallest bulkhead they carried were 3/4” so the plumbing in the tank is huge. I've got a plan to cover that up though.

 

I built a foam wall out of zipties, eggcrate, LR rubble, and foam. It is a really fun project. But I didn't like that it took up half the tank, so I ripped it apart to reuse the rubble elsewhere. 

 

 

A couple of shots of the sump. The 2.5aga has slots in the black trim rim for “betta dividers”. I simply cut some acrylic baffles, slipped them into the slots, siliconed them in place, and filled it up. The first chamber will be home to a skimmer and filter floss, the second will have a media rack with Chemipure elite and Purigen, and the third chamber will house the ato and return pump. I could not find room to add a refugium. After the contest is finished, I might add a separate refugium it another container and plumb it into the system.  

 

I wanted to see how the tank would look in its final location so I put everything that was finished in place. I purchased the stand at Wal-Mart. To hang the light(which hasn't been built yet), I used 3/4” black iron pipe. I drilled two holes in the stand to run the pipe through and connected the pipes together on top. The bottom of the pipe is secured to the stand using a floor flange. 

I painted the back quarter of the sides and the back of the tank using black Krylon Fusion.

As you can see, I still need to come up with a way to cover up the plumbing in the tank.

 

I decided to build another rock wall, But this time without rubble, in order to conserve space. I built the frame from eggcrate like the previous wall but this time I shaped it with a razor blade. I waited about a week to give the foam time to fully cure, and then put down a layer or 20 minute epoxy quickly followed buy a layer of crushed coral. After another week, to let the epoxy cure, I put down another layer of epoxy, on top of the crushed coral, and sprinkled very fine sand on it. I think it turned out ok but it looks like a polar bear exhibit at the zoo and still takes up half the tank, so I scraped the idea again. Sorry about the bad last pic. With the flash, it kept blowing out the details. (actually, I will apologize for all the pics, My camera REALY sucks)

 

The top two pics show an early mock-up of how the plumbing will go. The bottom two pics show my flood prevention system. I figure that since the display has two drains, it is fairly safe from over flowing. The sump however, could easily overflow. I placed the sump in a plastic storage bin with a 1/2” bulkhead. The plumbing from the bin goes to a larger bin that will hold old tank water. (there is a better pic of this latter) I felt really smart after I put the sump in the bin.

 

I decided to clean all of the equipment before putting them into the tank. Everything ran in vinegar water for a couple days. There are a couple of pics of the Vortechs' surface agitation too. I'm pretty freakin impressed to say the least. It is a bit loud though, but I can deal with that.  

 

Here is a shot of all the plumbing finished. You can also see the large bin that the old saltwater will drain into.

 

Red = Drain from display tank

Dark Blue = Sump return with checkvalve

Orange = Drain to 12 gallon bin

Light Blue = Fresh saltwater to main display

Purple = ATO water

I am going to be using the Reef Keeper to automate water changes. (will post about it more, once it is set up)

 

All ready for water. And in its final home. I will eventually build a cabinet for the two water containers to the left of the stand. I have my rock marinating in a 5 gallon bucket and 10 gallons saltwater waiting. Only thing left to do is transfer the heater from the rock bucket to the main tank.

 

Of course on the very last thing I was doing before adding water, disaster strikes. I felt a crack when I was pushing the heater suction cups on to the display tank. I guess there will be no water today.

 

If you look closely at my April FTS in the FTS thread, You can see the crack in that picture too. When I put the heater in, it just made it worse.

 

 

I 'm not sure what I am going to do yet. I might get another 5.5 and try to drill it myself or build tank out of acrylic. I am leaning towards the acrylic because I don't want cracking to be an issue in the future.

 

Thanks for reading. 

 

 

Oh, And I promised to have water in my tank by May 2nd. Here is a current FTS

[Weetabix7]

WOW.

Very detailed and well thought out.

Hope you come up with a good solution to the crack.

[c_k_kuehne]

Very nice pics of the process.

 

 

My only thought is why have an overflow for the sump. If you plumb it correctly the sump should easily hold the overflow from the DT without having a sump overflow tank. If not -- go back to the drawing board when you build a new sump (because of crack).

 

Also if you rely on the check valve to stop an overflow eventually you will get bit with a bunch of water on the floor.

 

Proper plumbing is the only way to go instead of check valves and overflow "bins".

[Psychosis]

Hope you come up with a good solution to crack.

 

I'm afraid there are no good solutions to crack

 

The tank looks great. I'd personally never go back to acrylic. Easier to drill, much harder to live with. The unavoidable scratches irritate me. But, if you're going to build a tank, I'd go with a cube like thing. There popular for a reason...maybe 10" all over.

[c_k_kuehne]

I'm afraid there are no good solutions to crack

 

NA works for some

[herranton]

Thank You everyone for your kind replies.

I think that I am pretty much set on an acrylic tank. The only way I would go back to glass is if I rebuild the 5.5aga with a thicker bottom and back panel. That sounds like a ton of work. If I am going to do that much work, I might as well build the tank to the dimensions that I want.

 

My only thought is why have an overflow for the sump. If you plumb it correctly the sump should easily hold the overflow from the DT without having a sump overflow tank. If not -- go back to the drawing board when you build a new sump (because of crack).

The overflow box for the sump is necessary because of the auto water-change setup that I will have running. There would be a possibility of 12 gallons of fresh saltwater being pumped into the system if something goes terribly wrong, like a float-switch and backup float-switch both getting stuck or the ReefKeeper going heywire.

[c_k_kuehne]

The overflow box for the sump is necessary because of the auto water-change setup that I will have running. There would be a possibility of 12 gallons of fresh saltwater being pumped into the system if something goes terribly wrong, like a float-switch and backup float-switch both getting stuck or the ReefKeeper going heywire.

 

I guess I have the same problem with Hawke's Pico Lamp. If the float switch gets stuck it would only be about 2 gallons on the floor. Not a big mess/issue other then the fact that the tank would then be a FW coral tank