Mini-bow 2.5?

[Scott Riemer]

So I need your opinions. My boss has a 2.5 minibow on her desk. She had a goldfish in it that died and now it's just sitting there half full of water and growing algae. I set up a 29 FW for her and now she wants me to do something with the minibow. Should I attempt to turn it into a pico reef? I'm fairly successful with my 24 gallon Aquapod ,so far, so I believe I can do it. My main concern will be temp fluctuations because her office isn't temp. controlled at night or over the weekends. Of course it'll have a heater but no chiller.

 

What kinds of thoughts and ideas do you guys have?

[travisurfer]

Well, I think it could do alright. Just know that it will be a lot of work for a tank that isnt yours. I probably wouldnt do more than mushrooms, a small shrimp, cuc, rock, and sand though. Keep it basic and hopefully you will only have to do weekly water changes as long as she knows the basics of toping off.

 

On the other hand, if you were to take this tank home for your own use I wouldnt go with a minibow due to it being made of acryllic.

[Scott Riemer]

I'm thinking I should try to convince her to spend a little cash and do at least a 5.5 AGA. I was definitely planning on keeping it as simple as possible because I'll be the one responsible for it. Between my tanks at home and the 29 at work, adding a pico to my list of duties isn't super high on my list because, like you said, it's not mine! Of course, she IS paying me. I mentioned how beautiful SW can be and now she wants something "interesting".

[knoxvegas]

MB 2.5 is doable. I patterned mine after doncb's, his has been a success for over a year. The 20W screw-in mod isn't hard to do, and provides a fair amount of light, evenly lit. You might have to add a 40mm chipset fan for heat and/or condensation, but mine has been fine since august w/o adding the fan, and no heat build up. An AC20 fits w/o modding and is plenty of flow. A Finnex HPG-25W heater has a small heater element that fits inside the AC20 main chamber and allows for the lid to reduce evaporation. I got it from Prem Aq. I am just now adding corals...I just haven't had time to devote to it, but I have enjoyed the small red leg hermit, small turbo, tons of spaghetti worms, and very small feather dusters, so far. Tons of life in a small space.

 

Of course this is coming from a reefer that hasn't even posted his yet......