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Coral Vue Hydros

2.5g Petsmart pico build


firstchevalier

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firstchevalier

I am planning out my first really small (for me) pico build. I currently have a 10g DIY running with a 5.5g refugium that's been up successfully for two years along with a 29g frag/prop tank that's been up for about eight months.

 

Here are my rules for this build...

It has to look professional

It has to be inexpensive, but not cheap

It has to be as easy to maintain as possible

It has to look good (no ghetto builds here)

Each piece has to be repeatable

 

This is potentially going to become something I'm going to consign at the LFS if I can get the costs under control.

All input is graciously accepted. With that here's the plan...

 

2.5 Petsmart rectangular aquarium

Heater-Hydor Theo 25 Watt

Aqua Clear 50 for the refugium/sump

Light ballast Current USA Ballast 1x18w

Power compact endcap for hamilton/german (straight pin)

Light Bulb Coral Life 18watt straight pin 50/50 10k

 

My best friend is a master woodworker and is going to turn out a simple stand with a drawer for gear as well as a simple hood for the 18w 50/50 10k.

 

I plan to use about 3-5 lbs of live sand, either indio pacific, white, or black beach sand.

I'm thinking about between 2 and 5 pounds of live rock.

 

For coral I'm thinking of starting with AC GSP, pom pom xenia, and clove polyp but will probably add one or two rics and zoo's (suggestions here would be appreciated for brilliant looking easily propagated corals).

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That sounds like a great plan. I would def go for zoas and ricordea, the zoas will grow very nicely under those lights. I would skip on the GSP, it will most likely spread like wild fire and take over youre tank.

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firstchevalier
I would skip on the GSP, it will most likely spread like wild fire and take over youre tank.

 

Totally understand, but I've got it in quantity right now. I thought it would give the tank a nice 'established' look as well as being fun to look at while it waved in the flow. My 10g has a bunch, which is where I keep getting it from. Yeah, it's trying to take over the 10g but I keep pulling it off and putting it in th3 29g then trading it for supplies to the LFS.

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firstchevalier

I'm toying with setting up a 5.5g as well, but can't decide how to do it so I have invisible equipment. I dislike the HOB filters but am going with the aqua clear mod on the 2.5 to get more water and refugium/sump. But on the 5.5 I want clean lines in the display area. I'm toying with one of the little all in one submersible powerhead/filters but that would be in the tank. My other idea is to cut about 2 inches of three inch PVC pipe and put a little mini jet into it and surround the intake with floss then attach about eight inches of pipe to the out port with a 90 degree elbow on the end. Then I can surround the thing with LR so only the spout would be visible at the top. I can hide a 25 watt heater behind the LR as well. Could I leave the floss in place indefinitely that way?

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firstchevalier
I would think you'd have to change the floss every so often? ...but maybe I'm misinterpreting your idea? :mellow:

 

I'm a little worried about that, but I'm hoping the floss is more of a 'keep junk out of the pump' thing rather than an actual filter type media. Won't it just become host to some of the bio mass filtering the tank or do you think there would be a more detrimental effect from leaving it buried under the LR?

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firstchevalier

Here's a question. I'm having trouble finding a good 18w CF ballast kit. I can find 28w easy.

 

I'm concerned that even with a 50/50 bulb in a 28 watt fixture on 2.5 gallons I'll be over powering the light given half (14w) will be 10k.

 

However, I'm also concerned that if I step down to a 13w fixture I won't have enough light and the actinic will be weak.

 

Thoughts?

 

Oh, if I can get the lighting issue worked out this one might be up and running this week.

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firstchevalier
check out nanotuners.com they have some good prices on 1x18w and 2x18w retros.

 

I haven't found a retro yet that was priced right. The current hood with one 18w 50/50 and the coral life hood with 1 9w 10k/ 1 9w actinic are both priced cheaper than I can DIY one.

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I haven't found a retro yet that was priced right. The current hood with one 18w 50/50 and the coral life hood with 1 9w 10k/ 1 9w actinic are both priced cheaper than I can DIY one.

 

that coralife hood with the 1 9 w 10/k and 1 9w actinic looks perfect. I was planning on getting it for my 5.5 Mantis tank and if Mantis and I dont get along can always use it for softies!@

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firstchevalier

Small update. I've decided on the Aqua clear 50 HOB for the filtration and flow. I'll be working through El Fab's fuge mod (found here-here thanks El Fab).

 

I ran a flow test yesterday and am VERY pleased with the performance. I also ordered the Coralife 1x9w 10k/1x9w Actinic compact florescent hood so should have that in a week or so. My plan is to go scouting rock tomorrow and maybe put some in the tank with sand under a 6500k CF just to get the cure out of the way while I wait for the real lights.

 

I'm open to what you guys think is a good size clean up crew for a 2.5 with about 2 lbs of rock and a half inch of sand?

 

And for (I hope) your viewing pleasure while you wait, here are a few shots of the 10g I've had running for two years now...

 

Tank and stand (all DIY, can you tell, lol)

http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/showphoto...42443&cat=2

 

Close up of the 10g. I irritated the GSP in the upper right just before taking the shot...

http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/showphoto...42444&cat=2

 

And here's a noob question. I used the insert image button on the post to link to the pics I uploaded but I just get a hyperlink and not the pics in the post. How do I get the actual pics to appear IN the post and not just links? Thanks.

 

NVM, I figured it out on the updated post below. thanks.

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firstchevalier

UPDATE

 

Okay, I got our tax return so I splurged a little and got what I needed to get this tank off the ground.

 

2 1/2 lbs live rock

Indio/Pacific live sand

Coralife 1 9w 10k/19w Actinic

 

I have the tank running with floss in the aqua clear because I found my silicon was out after I'd cut open the live sand, had my live rock, and my salt mixed. The below shot is taken under a straight florescent hood from a 20g I had lying around. I don't have any other light for it right now, but I don't have anything in it other than rock and sand so it shouldn't be a problem. I'll get the CUC as soon as the light comes in. Tell me what you think?

 

cat=2post-42327-1234929071_thumb.jpg

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firstchevalier

Oh, and here's a new question...

 

Why would I want to add carbon to my pico? I don't have any filter media of any type (other than live rock) in my 10g. For that matter, would I want to add anything to the aqua clear fuge other than cheato?

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firstchevalier

Got the coralife light in yesterday, really fastI might add. I'm very pleased with it except for one thing. It heats up like I'm going to cook eggs on it. My tank temp swings from 78.7 when I shut the lights off at night to 74.4 this morning. I'm hoping it's just me refining the settings on the heater to compensate at night. Is 78.7 too hot do you think? I can raise the light off the top of the tank some but with only 9w of 10k I don't want to take it too high. Thoughts? Oh, I'll include more pics tonight when I get home.

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I don't think 78.7F is too hot.

 

My tank water is about 78.3F in the morning when I wake up before the lights come on... and during the day, the temp peaks at about 80.4F or so... from what I've read, that seems to be a normal temp swing. But if I'm not mistaken, 74F seems really low for a reef tank temp... even at night. I could be wrong though... but I don't think I've ever read about a low temp like that.

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firstchevalier

I raised the light two inches off the glass and that helped a lot. I'll see what the temp is in the morning, but I think I've got that under control.

 

On a separate note I'm think I'm going to scale down the HOB and go with an Aqua Clear 20. I've got the 50 at the lowest possible flow setting and I still move a tad of sand around. With a AC20 I can have a little more play with the flow as far as control goes I think. Unfortunately, I bought the wrong kind of silicon at Home Depot today and trashed the AC20 I just bought. Silly me didn't realize there was a difference between GE Silicon I for windows and doors and GE Silicon I for Kitchen and Bath. The Kitchen and Bath says specifically not to use it on aquariums. If you read further it also says it retards mold and mildew so I'm out the $26 for that HOB (guess I'm the tard on this one...)

 

The good news is it's really running well and I've even added a small CUC as well as two of my little corals from the propagation tank. Here's a picture by way of an update...

 

Front view

post-42327-1235097056_thumb.jpg

 

The whole tank

post-42327-1235097017_thumb.jpg

 

Here are shots of the corals. These are there just to give me something to watch. I pulled them both out of the 29g prop tank to see how they'd hold up under the lights. They're doing well it appears...

 

Pom pom Xenia...

post-42327-1235097287_thumb.jpg

 

Green Star Polyp...

post-42327-1235097319_thumb.jpg

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Got the coralife light in yesterday, really fastI might add. I'm very pleased with it except for one thing. It heats up like I'm going to cook eggs on it. My tank temp swings from 78.7 when I shut the lights off at night to 74.4 this morning. I'm hoping it's just me refining the settings on the heater to compensate at night. Is 78.7 too hot do you think? I can raise the light off the top of the tank some but with only 9w of 10k I don't want to take it too high. Thoughts? Oh, I'll include more pics tonight when I get home.

 

 

74 isn't a bad temp, but the large swing from 78 all the way down to 74 is. Even keeping your tank at a lower temperature, say 75-76 is better than having it drop so many degrees through the night. My tank had this problem as well. I turn the heater on at night after I turn the lights off, then turn it off again when I turn my lights in on the morning. (All because my heater is crappy and doesn't auto adjust temperature)IMO You might want to try this to compensate for the high temps your light puts off, compared the the low temps your tank drops to throughout the night. But I would agree that 76-78 is the preferred temp range, and 80 is not too hot even either. I would recommend trying to stablize the temperature though, it can affect various things in your tank. :)

 

oh btw, your corals look really nice! I love the green star polyp! I really want to add some to my tank as well!

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if you are getting too much flow from the ac 50 you can grind down the blades on the impeller. This will give you less flow and keep the extra water volume.

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firstchevalier

I've thought about that, but I'm trying to do a proof of concept and resale them (though the first one is mine, all mine!!!!!). The AC20 would keep my costs down as well as give me more flexibility with the flow. The downside is I'd be sacrificing that wonderful AC50 fuge space, but in the grand scheme is 4-8 oz of water that critical? Plus, if I don't grind down the blades perfectly the same on all five blades the imepller would be out of balance and become noisy if not destroy itself. The alternative is to purchase the AC30 or AC20 replacement impeller, but I haven't found a parts supplier yet.

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LOL parts supplier for Hagen products? Walmart man :rolleyes: Near the section of filter cartidges. Yes, I did say section of filter cartidges... I mean really, people actually buy those? :lol:

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I've thought about that, but I'm trying to do a proof of concept and resale them (though the first one is mine, all mine!!!!!). The AC20 would keep my costs down as well as give me more flexibility with the flow. The downside is I'd be sacrificing that wonderful AC50 fuge space, but in the grand scheme is 4-8 oz of water that critical? Plus, if I don't grind down the blades perfectly the same on all five blades the imepller would be out of balance and become noisy if not destroy itself. The alternative is to purchase the AC30 or AC20 replacement impeller, but I haven't found a parts supplier yet.

 

ac20 impeller fits in a ac50.

 

edit: so, purchase a ac20, then return it w/ the ac50 impeller in it

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