Cooperstown07 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Hi all, first time posting here. A little background on me, many years ago when I was attending college I kept several tanks. I had a 120 gallon shark only tank for a few years and when I graduated I sold the not so little guy back to the LFS and subsequently sold the tank and equipment as well. I also had a 55 gallon Fish Only tank with various damsels, clownfish, tangs and a Queen Angel during college as well as a 30 gallon reef tank. The 30 gallon reef ran for almost three years before graduation and it was unique in that I installed a plenum filtration system in it using the whole egg crate/pvc materials. That reef tank ran for over 2 years WITH NO FILTER, NO SKIMMER, AND NO WATER CHANGES. That's right, not one water change, just topped off with freshwater on occasion. I wouldn't recommend doing that, but I was in college and had other things to drink. Now to the topic in hand, my daughter just turned 4 and for her birthday Grandma got her a Fluval Spec 2 gallon. My first thought was to put a goldfish in there for her and let her go to town.....but it has been so long since I have had a marine tank (about 15 years) that the little built in filtration/sump compartment was begging to be set up as a marine tank. I had heard of nano tanks before I quit the hobby, but during my absence pico tanks became popular (less than 5 gallons?) and so here I am. A little nervous as I have never kept a marine tank this small and I understand the smaller water volume can change things quickly theory. But I am going to try it and have purchased the following equipment: Hydor 400 Pico Pump (100 GPH) - to upgrade from the stock 40GPH pump 25W Theo Heater Nano Mag Cleaner Thermometer Deep Six Hydrometer Test Kits ChemiPure EcoPico Light Arm with (2) white/blue strips and (1) blue strip - I will run the two combo strips on one power supply and the blue strip on its own power supply, plug the whole fixture into a Power Center Timer to regulate dawn to dusk lighting. Most of this equipment is in the mail due to arrive within the week. In the meantime I have modified the overflow of the Spec by gluing a section of clear acrylic to cover about 60% of the overflow, raising the water level in the tank. Two days ago I filled the tank with mixed water and live rock pieces that were already established. No life is in the tank at the moment other than the small hitchhikers that came in the live rock (one bad crab I have since tweezered out and disposed of). About a 1 inch sand bed. I am only running the sponge the tank came with as filtration at the moment to capture any particulate matter in the water. Later I will run ChemiPure and maybe some other stuff once the cycle is complete. I tested the water parameters for ammonia and nitrates 30 hours after setup, both at zero, but at this point I do not know if this is due to using established materials, or because the bio load is so low. I will retest in a few days to see if there is a change....and may elect to put something in there to start producing some sort of waste. The stock light is attached (LED arm) but I only run it for a couple of hours a day to keep algae down at the moment. I chose to go with the EcoPico light arm because, well mainly because I like the clean looks of it. I did upgrade to three LED strips so I should have enough light for what I want in the tank, which is a bunch of mushrooms with one crab and a dottyback. http://www.ecoxotic.com/aquarium-led-light...-arm-light.html I will keep this thread updated as the project comes along, any suggestions or comments are welcome. I will post pictures of what I have so far tonight, the pictures are at home and I am at work right now. Thanks! Link to comment
MameJenny Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I'm looking forward to seeing some photos! Your equipment list looks good, and it sounds like you're well prepared. If you want to get your cycle started, just buy a cocktail shrimp or a cheap container of fish food and toss it in. You'll have high ammonia and nitrites before you know it. I don't know if there's any dottybacks that would stay small enough for a pico.There's a long list of gobies that can be kept in picos, though, and some people have had success with small damsels. Your other plans for the tank sound great, though. Welcome to N-R! Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 I agree with you on the dottyback....my daughter saw a particular one at the LFS and has not stopped talking about it. I may try to get her to focus on something else when it comes time to get a fish...whichever we end up with, only one is going in. With 2 gallons I don't want to overload! Good idea on putting in some food to rot....I really don't want to damsel it for the cycle and then have to chase him down later. I will have first pictures up tonight! Link to comment
castiel Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 See if you can find a yellow clown goby for her to see - they are super cute, tiny, and totally suitable for a tank this size. And yes, avoid the damsel cycling method ... Link to comment
MCS34 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 See if you can find a yellow clown goby for her to see - they are super cute, tiny, and totally suitable for a tank this size. +1 I have a yellow clown goby, he follows me around the room (my tank is on the kitchen island-I have a fluval edge) He is full of personality! Welcome to N-R! Link to comment
igotreefermadness Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I set up a 2g Fluval at our store a couple months back. I yanked that huge sponge and jammed it as full with LR rubble as I could. Then I threw a little bag of carbon in and a small filter pad on top of that and called it a day. No heater on it. We put nano fish it like a Stigmatura Blenny or we had a Wartskin Angler Juvenile in it for awhile. I do a W/C every two weeks and it has candy canes, zoas, and trumpet corals that are doing great in it. Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 Sounds like a cool little tank you got there. Well I came home from work today and decided to hammer bash my rockwork to smaller pieces....here are a few pictures of the just set up pico. The rockwork is different now, I will take pictures and post them soon. Still waiting for equipment to trickle in via mail....can't wait for the light upgrade to arrive! Going to grab some fish food or frozen brine at the LFS tomorrow and put a little in the tank to be sure to kick start the cycle. Showing the mod of gluing an acrylic piece to raise the overflow...the piece is glued to the inside of the filter compartment. Link to comment
randythefishdude Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 [nice tank i have the edge if you whant to cheack that out members tanks randys fluval edge its a work in progress but your looks pretty good alreadt id love to see a coral in there See if you can find a yellow clown goby for her to see - they are super cute, tiny, and totally suitable for a tank this size. And yes, avoid the damsel cycling method ... lol i used the damsal cycling meathod he lived and is still alive hes a little deval jk ........ i realy did do it dont do it yourself bad idea expeacally if he lives lol Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 nice tank i have the edge if you whant to cheack that out members tanks randys fluval edge its a work in progress but your looks pretty good alreadt id love to see a coral in there lol i used the damsal cycling meathod he lived and is still alive hes a little deval lol jk I want an edge pretty bad! I think they look sweet. But the wife will make me keep this one alive before she will allow more money dumped lol. Here are updated pictures of the redone rockwork. I will update further once equipment starts to come in, otherwise it will be a few weeks of cycling boredom. The tank sits on a dedicated black antique table just inside the foyer entrance to the house. Unless someone is coming in usually we don't even go in there much...but I have been in there with this tank more in the last week than the last year lol. Link to comment
endolith Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Lookin good. Any plans to do any mods like an AC 70 or anything? Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 Lookin good. Any plans to do any mods like an AC 70 or anything? The only mod I plan on doing is upgrading the LED light system. I will use natural filtration along with some media in the back filtration compartment. The bio load will remain very low in this little bugger. Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 Small update. I purchased three Cerith snails and one hermit crab. The snails buried themselves in the sand but have since started journeying around the tank, eating algae. The hermit crab, he must have been busting out of his shell because within 10 minutes of introducing him to the tank he had scoped it out, found a slightly larger shell more to his liking and proceeded to get naked and climb inside it. I also put in a tiny heater and switched out the stock 40GPH pump to the Hydor 100GPH. I must say I can hardly tell the difference between the two pumps in their force. I did not test them side by side but I would guess there is barely a difference in their force of outpout. The Hydor was a bear to fit in the space too. The lighting and other equipment should arrive early next week. In between the two rocks here lies the old crab shell he came in. Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 A few pictures after the EcoPico light arm arrived in the mail. The lights are now on a timer, blue moonlight cycle from 630pm to 8am, with daylight white/blue on from 8am to 630pm. Still cycling! Daylight white blue mode: Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 So I eventually took the Hydor 100GPH pump back out and reinstalled the stock 40GPH pump. The Hydor had two problems...1) it didn't appear to increase the flow much, which I think was due to the hose line being crimped because the pump was a very tight fit in the back right compartment and 2) it would make an awful rattling noise, I think also because it was too tightly pushed against the walls of the tiny space. Anyone know of a good pump that fits nicely in the Fluval Spec? I am thinking maybe the MiniJet 404?? Link to comment
Roll_Tide Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 nice look! how much $ we talkin to get that light arm thingy? Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 nice look! how much $ we talkin to get that light arm thingy? Thanks, it ran about $150 for the arm, three total LED strips, three power supplies and a 4 way splitter. Link to comment
Bill Nye Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Yowzers thats pricey. Looks really clean though. Will be following. Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Yowzers thats pricey. Looks really clean though. Will be following. Yes it was a bit more pricey than other LED lighting DIY options. The reason I went with this is I liked the clean look of the black aluminum light arm and didn't feel like hanging a pendant or fabricating my own arm assembly. But that cost me. I plan to test the water once more and then if all pans out, look into the first corals to go in! Link to comment
masternano Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 must say i like this tank so much i want to get a spec myself but i have too many tanks going on lol good luck and welcome keep us posted with pic Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 We now have a hairy mushroom (green) in the tank. The timer has set the day lights off, so this is a blue shot for now. The neon green looks very yellow, almost glowing, under the blue lights to the naked eye. We also have a very small bicolor yellow/pink dottyback hiding in the rocks. Here are a few shots. One of standing back quite a way... Link to comment
GioReef Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 very nice! I have one suggestion for you though. you should probably invest in a refractometer instead of that hydrometer. They are much more accurate, and with the limited space in the pico the hydrometer will be difficult to use. just my .02 cents Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 very nice! I have one suggestion for you though. you should probably invest in a refractometer instead of that hydrometer. They are much more accurate, and with the limited space in the pico the hydrometer will be difficult to use. just my .02 cents Eventually I would like to get one. Here are a few updated pics: Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 So as a small update, it looks like the mushroom coral is hurting. All of the polyps have shriveled up considerably in the 5 days they have been in the tank. Water parameters are good, I did a water change even so. I have not been able to see the dottyback picking on them and thought that wouldn't happen anyway. I am thinking maybe the lighting is too strong for them? I am not sure, the only plan as of now is to lower them in the tiny tank and see if they come around. They may also be getting ready to split off and create more, but if that was the case would all of them being doing that at the same time? Ideas welcome! The dottyback is doing well, he is now systematically burrowing into the substrate and then swimming to the top of the tank and spitting mouthfuls of sand over the rocks. No idea why he is doing this, but he seems to be having fun. Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 26, 2011 Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 The mushrooms seem to have begun to bounce back after moving them last night. I moved them not much lower, but farther away from the heater. Maybe it was kicking on and giving them too much heat. I jammed a bag of ChemiPure into the filter compartment today to keep the parameters clean as can be. I also mounted a mini moonlight (TruLumen I think) to the curvature of the light arm and plugged these in to the nighttime mode. It is much lower in light output than the EcoPico blue's and will give a much more realistic moonlight overnight mode. Plugged them into the timer and that was that. Much darker now. I mounted it to the back portion of the light arm, so the moonlight is cast to the front of the tank, the 'outer reef' and the back portion is in almost pure darkness. It appears darker to the naked eye than in these photos. Link to comment
Cooperstown07 Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Couple more corals introduced...Kenya Tree, Pulsating Xenia and small, very small Green Star Polyps. Also retrofitted a new lid on the tank, to get rid of the hole the stock lid comes with so light flows down the same everywhere. Link to comment
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