0.9g AIO

[Nickmcg]

Started a new Pico reef using a marina cubus 0.9g Betta aquarium. I used a pice of left over acrylic to create a back wall with an overflow and three chambers. One chamber has filter floss, one has the return pump (tiny eBay 55gph), and the other is empty at the moment. Was going to use it for a heater but the pump keeps the temp right at about 80. So far I have just added some mushrooms, acan and a frag from my hammer. Lighting for now is just a cheap led from petsmart, but will be upgraded soon. Would like to eventually take my three sexy shrimp out of my 7g and get them in her if I can ever catch them. Here is some pics.

 

 

 

 

 

Silicon is pretty messy, it was tough working in such a small space.

 

Water test

 

 

Just did a water change so corals aren't too happy.

[brandon429]

hey I noticed you might cycling by using the corals, you can, its just an atypical cycle.

 

that sand didn't look to be wet pack either...if its true you are going to cycle a fully dry tank using corals I would link this to our gigantic cycling thread as a new way not done yet. It is not bad or wrong, its a variation of cycling and can be done scientifically. you would simply do water changes pretty often then back off them in a month, and be cycled. you should add a little bottled bac for the trip, a few drops every week. The corals are minor ammonia sources and they have seeded your tank with nitrifiers already, since you aren't using fish this can be done quite easily and they'll live.

 

if this was wet pack sand, or just live rock that was cycled but not colored up yet, then corals are not a big deal as the sand will have inherent filtration ability from the start. if it was a bone dry setup though, those are decent corals to choose for the cycling among corals that could reasonably do that task. I can see some light diatom growth on the glass, indicating at least a week or more underwater that's pretty neat atypical cycle and pico reefs are perfect for them, since we control the whole water table like a single cup of lemonade. the only cycling needed for that is repeated water changes relative to how much pre cycled material was used in the start. nice pico, nice tank divisioning its great

[FlamingPrawn]

Now THIS is a pico! wow!

[Nickmcg]

hey I noticed you might cycling by using the corals, you can, its just an atypical cycle.

 

that sand didn't look to be wet pack either...if its true you are going to cycle a fully dry tank using corals I would link this to our gigantic cycling thread as a new way not done yet. It is not bad or wrong, its a variation of cycling and can be done scientifically. you would simply do water changes pretty often then back off them in a month, and be cycled. you should add a little bottled bac for the trip, a few drops every week. The corals are minor ammonia sources and they have seeded your tank with nitrifiers already, since you aren't using fish this can be done quite easily and they'll live.

 

if this was wet pack sand, or just live rock that was cycled but not colored up yet, then corals are not a big deal as the sand will have inherent filtration ability from the start. if it was a bone dry setup though, those are decent corals to choose for the cycling among corals that could reasonably do that task. I can see some light diatom growth on the glass, indicating at least a week or more underwater that's pretty neat atypical cycle and pico reefs are perfect for them, since we control the whole water table like a single cup of lemonade. the only cycling needed for that is repeated water changes relative to how much pre cycled material was used in the start. nice pico, nice tank divisioning its great

Hey, some great info here thank you! In my past nano/pico tanks I used both live rock and sand and never really noticed a cycle or had any issues with corals. This time around is my first time using dry rock. The sand is Fiji pink, but the bag was previously opened so it was pretty dry at this point. The mushroom was the first to go in, then when I got back from vacation last week there was the diatom growth. Did a couple big water changes then added the acan and hammer. You are right though the acan and hammer are nice pices, so maybe I'll take them out and put in a few more mushrooms for the cycle. Would hate for the lps to die off. Would adding some sand or water from an established tank be beneficial at this point?

[brandon429]

yes that would help, or even just do water changes with used aged water all the same, yes some bacteria a plenty are in the water, and on the rocks, they're everywhere. I don't think you'd have to move corals out at all, even the hammers look how good they are.

 

as crazy as this sounds, the nitrifiers actually on the corals are close to enough to filter the waste a coral makes, its that miniscule! so the system water changes and dilution are the key to making it work. as long as it doesn't get cloudy you are on track, you could truly proceed as is. just change a couple times with aged water, this is a neat atypical cycle that still follows our rules here and nobody has done one yet like this. picos always break the rules, and win.

 

 

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-tank-cycling-tank-bacteria-and-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

 

your tank is directly applicable in this way to that thread:

 

you have relocated some living materials, some substrate, and that's your corals. The skeleton is the substrate because it actively filters water like live rock or live sand, and the polyp is the living ammonia-generating portion although its immeasurable. the zoox in the coral uptake it fast, and leak little, such that your transferred live surfaces we detail in that thread always remain active are not being outpaced as if you added fish. That's where the sand or rock would need to be precycled to make it not crash

 

Your cycle technique for very close margin reasons of control is actually in line with responsible cycling, as is no need to change corals. change water and cuise this is great.

 

We've been talking in that thread about when to add ammonia and when not to add it. No bacterial support is needed for your tank other than adding used water or a couple of live rocks but even that is not needed because this is a fun cycle. Your aged surfaces are not numerous enough to filter heavy ammonia so only the amount coming from corals is needed and sufficient

[brandon429]

Your corals still need some food but not to sustain bacteria

 

Is possible to feed the corals then rip out all the water so nothing degrades in the system until it's matured a little bit

 

Didn't mean to hijack your thread I could just tell it was a rare cycle and now we have it linked up for many to see

[Nickmcg]

Thanks for all the info Brandon! The link definitely had some good information in it. So far I have just been topping it off daily and doing water changes about once a week. I didn't end up adding any water or sand from my other tank because I wanted to see what would happen without doing that first. So far so good. My brother made me a light that is super bright and corals seem to be loving it.

 

Also added a freshwater tank next to it.

 

[Nickmcg]

Some current pics with new light.

 

 

[asting]

Looks very nice. That is tiny. How often do you have to do top offs?

[Nickmcg]

I try to do them daily. Sometimes every other day.

[brandon429]

great great dual setup!!!

[HammerLover]

THIS IS SO CUTE OMG

[asting]

Any updated photos? Same old same old?

[An Bollenessor]

What light fixture is this? Is it an option to use another piece of perspex on top to prevent evaporation?

[brandon429]

this tank became an important example of cycling control we've linked up for hundreds of large tankers to see, how is it going with the special cycle?>

[Nickmcg]

Haven't updated this in a long time. In the spring we had a power outage that lasted 4 days. I ended up loosing 90% of my coral and fish. So this tank was started over with a Condy anemone. Been running like this for about 5 months. Nem seems to be doing good. Also have some dragons breath in there. It's pretty maintenance free, just top off every few days, feed nem a few time a week and water changes every couple weeks. 

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

That's pretty cool! Sorry about the losses but it looks good. Love the freshwater beside it, too!

[Nickmcg]

Some recent pics 

 

 

[vlangel]

O wow, that nem has really grown!  It looks great.  Such a cute little tank.

[Christopher Marks]

Incredible little pico @Nickmcg, I glad to see it’s still up and running! It must be nearing its first anniversary since the restart?

[Nickmcg]

11 hours ago, vlangel said:

O wow, that nem has really grown!  It looks great.  Such a cute little tank.

Thank you! 

10 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Incredible little pico @Nickmcg, I glad to see it’s still up and running! It must be nearing its first anniversary since the restart?

Yup, getting close to one year with the nem in there 

[Coinee]

Any updates on this?

[Reefkid88]

I almost did the same thing,but used it as a corner overflow with a small media rock and a super small pump. Looks great,would love some updates.