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5.5 gallon spec v. Was all she wrote.


MarieH

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3 GALLON JBJ PICOTOPE. No upgrades. I am using stock everything and only adding a small powerhead for flow.  Only addition will be tiny amount of chemipure blue and chaeto in a small breeder box. Today is day 2 of keep it simple stupid. 3 pounds of live rock and 1 pound approx of old dead rock. THE CYCLE BEGINS.

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1 minute ago, MarieH said:

3 GALLON JBJ PICOTOPE. No upgrades. I am using stock everything and only adding a small powerhead for flow.  Only addition will be tiny amount of chemipure blue and chaeto in a small breeder box. Today is day 2 of keep it simple stupid. 3 pounds of live rock and 1 pound approx of old dead rock. THE CYCLE BEGINS.

20170714_171826.jpg

 

I love those little tanks!

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I am a firm believer in keep it simple. Plus Pico reefs are just sooooo darn cute. Can't deny, seeing this makes me want one. 

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2 hours ago, Dominator said:

I am a firm believer in keep it simple. Plus Pico reefs are just sooooo darn cute. Can't deny, seeing this makes me want one. 

It's just so easy. My only worry is evaporation. I am watching it closely and might add an auto top off if needed. The volume looks bigger than it sounds lol. Go for it.

 

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Thanks, I am and very cost conscious, not because I have to but because I want to see how far I can get, on the cheap side.    I might take out the box of chaeto / caulerpa mix  (taxifolia and racemosa) out  if I can get hold of some caulerpa prolifera and plant it instead but alas its hard to find here and very costly to get from the US.  I put in an offer on ebay, waiting to get a response.

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  My offer was accepted 12 US for a portion of prolifera, however I have since changed my mind. I think it might be too invasive for this tiny tank.  I forget real estate is quite limited. Better to save the idea for another day.

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I like both, I am a big rock lover. So much good things added to a tank. With enough rock, you might not even need to filter this, just move the water around the tank. 

 

Actually thats what I was thinking if I did a Pico. I would just have rock and flow and a few water changes a week. 

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Thank you. I just put back the rock I had removed as per your suggestion I will remove the tiny filter when my powerhead arrives.  I keep thinking big tank filtration thoughts.  I will keep the little filter to run carbon if ever I have need to.  NEW PICTURE.  The tank in your avatar looks stunning.  The poster  above too!

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I am now thinking of doing a 5g and removing the rim on it. Make it like a mini me to my 20g.  

 

Is that Cheato in the back? I am trying to figure it out myself. 

 

Thank you for the nice comments. Getting a new light has really made my tank pop with growth.

 

I do also run a small bag of carbon (or Purigen) depending on what I want to pull out of the water. However, I think most will agree, with such a small volume of water, you can easily do a quick water change to balance out anything. You can save your filter for this if you want to try and use carbon, but it might be better to just quickly change out most of the water and get whatever you need out. Are you planning on fish or just corals?

 

 

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I am going simple on this one because I got something bigger in mind to come..wink :)  Yes, thanks for the input Dominator, I plan on some sexy shrimp and old 'fashioned corals' in here such as xenia and gsp   mushrooms, things that will grow under this light.  Thus, no upgrades on it.

Hope you guys start threads on your ventures.

 

Something nice to look at when the snow comes!

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10 hours ago, Dominator said:

I am now thinking of doing a 5g and removing the rim on it. Make it like a mini me to my 20g.  

 

Is that Cheato in the back? I am trying to figure it out myself. 

 

Thank you for the nice comments. Getting a new light has really made my tank pop with growth.

 

I do also run a small bag of carbon (or Purigen) depending on what I want to pull out of the water. However, I think most will agree, with such a small volume of water, you can easily do a quick water change to balance out anything. You can save your filter for this if you want to try and use carbon, but it might be better to just quickly change out most of the water and get whatever you need out. Are you planning on fish or just corals?

 

 

Its a mix of chaeto and caulerpa in a breeder box, i might spring for a hob finnex refugium, i have an aquaclear50 I can modify  but I dislike the linear flow from them.  Anyway, the box at present is just to harbor pods, its too tiny to do do much for filtration I think.

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47 minutes ago, MarieH said:

Its a mix of chaeto and caulerpa in a breeder box, i might spring for a hob finnex refugium, i have an aquaclear50 I can modify  but I dislike the linear flow from them.  Anyway, the box at present is just to harbor pods, its too tiny to do do much for filtration I think.

 

That would certainly make for a great Microfauna Refugium. 

Also, I think that C. Prolifera would be less invasive than the Macros you already have. 

I mean yeah, you have to watch and prune it, but less than the C. Taxifolia and Racemosa. 

I'm hoping to get some Prolifera myself once I get my "big" tank going soon.

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Both rock scapes look good. I would leave all the rock in for now. The extra flow the filter provides can not hurt and a little carbon and floss is only going to help keep the water clear so why not use it. If you did change to the aqua clear fifty the increase in flow would not hurt and it would actually increase the water volume a little bit. You could mode the ac and get rid of the breeder box. You could also put one of those little preset heaters I think they are made by tetra and sold at Wal Mart in the filter and your display would be almost equipment free. Also what Wheetie said. Display macro's are great.

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Thanks, I am thinking on it. I have my eye on a Finnex hob refugium.  I like the fact that the water trickles through compared to the AC filter mods.  But then I already have the AC50...Its currently on my outdoor minipond.      Points to ponder.

6 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

That would certainly make for a great Microfauna Refugium. 

Also, I think that C. Prolifera would be less invasive than the Macros you already have. 

I mean yeah, you have to watch and prune it, but less than the C. Taxifolia and Racemosa. 

I'm hoping to get some Prolifera myself once I get my "big" tank going soon.

I too love the macro algae tanks..I would rather dedicate a whole tank to it with pipefish!

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You can change the impeller to the AQ20 one to slow the flow down a lot. Also, you can slide it over to even further decrease the flow. There are a few different videos showing how you can use the media tray to make it a fuge. I was just talking about this with another person on a different forum. I have one laying around that I actually might mod into a mini fuge. 

 

However, trying to keep it simple, been running this way for a decade now, do not want to start changing too much at once. 

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 I can use the AC50 I already have, and that would leave $$ for a later light upgrade. (so true) I want to play with this for a year and then move on to a more  'serious' nano.  My plan was to use the stock equipment as much as possible.   But all good ideas I will keep in mind.  :flower:

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