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Gradleg's 2 gallon aio pico


Gradleg

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What up Nano Reef!

 

So as some of you know, I work at my lfs. The other afternoon i was in the back moving some boxes on a shelf when my eyes caught a glimpse of a corner of an aio. I quickly reached up on the shelf and I pulled down a pico aio. So i called my boss in there and i asked where it came from and i got the whole back story of how someone thought i would be a cool tank but it quickly became too much of a chore. So i asked if i could clean it up and get it running. I got some water and vinegar and cleaned it and filled it up. I plugged it in and the tiny return pump started chugging along. I instanly had a vision in my head for a cool rock scape. I grabbed my gel super glue and 4 pieces of ruble rock. I came up with a pretty rad scape and glued that sucker together. I went home later that day and got some figi pink sand and water out of my extra 10 gallon that i cycled a few weeks ago. So now i have a pico aio sitting on my desk awaiting something cool. 

 

I do not plan on doing a fish in this tank. I want to stock very lightly on the cuc and have one very intersting invert that will add life to the tank. 

 

I need some help with the lighting and heating. I need a small heater that will be reliable. I also would like a light that can grow some decent corals. The most demanding coral i plan on adding will be a monti cap. Also i need a small ato. 

 

Let me know what i should do with this tank! If you have or know of a cool pico i should check out then add the link. Thanks for reading and happy reefing!

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8 hours ago, gena said:

Very cool.  That rockscape is KA :D .

 

I'm planning a 2 gallon pico and I bookmarked this heater that was recommended by others....

 

https://aquaforestaquarium.com/collections/heaters/products/copy-of-archaea-mini-aquarium-heater-25w-ultra-slim

Gena beat me to it!  It's a great little heater about 6-7 inches long and very slender, maybe a bit bigger in diameter than a nickel but less than a quarter, I would say.  The cord is a little thick but I can live with that for an external thermostat.

 

That little tank is rad!  I would suggest a bulb like Coral Compulsion or the ABI Tuna Blue or 50/50 (I have the 50/50 over my 5.5 now as of a few days ago and am liking it so far).  You can get a task lamp/desk lamp to put it in.

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17 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Gena beat me to it!  It's a great little heater about 6-7 inches long and very slender, maybe a bit bigger in diameter than a nickel but less than a quarter, I would say.  The cord is a little thick but I can live with that for an external thermostat.

 

That little tank is rad!  I would suggest a bulb like Coral Compulsion or the ABI Tuna Blue or 50/50 (I have the 50/50 over my 5.5 now as of a few days ago and am liking it so far).  You can get a task lamp/desk lamp to put it in.

I found the tuna blue but idk what the 50/50 is? Can you link it or does it have another name?

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9 hours ago, Gradleg said:

I found the tuna blue but idk what the 50/50 is? Can you link it or does it have another name?

Sorry, it's this one! I think it used to have 50/50 in the name, it's just blues and whites but I recently put it over my 5.5 and like the color a lot!  Reminds me of my old T5 fixture that was a 10,000k white and an actinic.

 

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1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Sorry, it's this one! I think it used to have 50/50 in the name, it's just blues and whites but I recently put it over my 5.5 and like the color a lot!  Reminds me of my old T5 fixture that was a 10,000k white and an actinic.

 

WOW!!!!!  Only 24.95???????  Gonna tell my husband to add it to the cart omgomgomg.  I thought I remembered paying $50 for one of those a few years ago.  Not through Amazon though. 

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21 hours ago, gena said:

WOW!!!!!  Only 24.95???????  Gonna tell my husband to add it to the cart omgomgomg.  I thought I remembered paying $50 for one of those a few years ago.  Not through Amazon though. 

Haha yea the ABI bulbs are great priced, the 23w ones are only $35.  No dimmer of course but I can live with that to save close to a hundred bucks lol.

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3 hours ago, Gradleg said:

Im looking at the par 38 gooseneck from brs. Is it good or will it be big enough? Im also looking at the aquasmart micro ato? Any imput?

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No idea, I'm wondering if it will allow you to adjust the height enough to keep from burning corals.

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36 minutes ago, Gradleg said:

What size gooseneck do you have on your tank?

I actually use a big task lamp I got off Amazon for under $20.  Let me see if I can find the link.

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Coral/nem stocking plans:

• 1 or maybe 2 ultra rock flower anemones 

• 2 monti caps (green with red polyps and typical orange)

• assorted zoas

• 2 or 3 rics/yumas

 

I do not want to have a fish in the tank but i am looking into some interesting inverts... I like pom pom crabs and sexy shrimp. I also like porcelin crabs. So i might stock like this:

•3 sexy shrimp and pom pom crab

or

•pom pom crab and porcelin crab

or

•porcelin crab and 3 sexy shrimp

 

If yall have any experiance with those inverts or have something else i should looking into, then let me know. I know i am limited but i would like some movement. Thanks! 

 

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20 minutes ago, Gradleg said:

Im also looking at the reef radiance 7g lumentek bulb... which would be better? My display area is 8x8 inches

That one would be perfect in wattage, I had that over my 5.5 early on so you can look at my thread for pics of that. It does have a purplish hue but you could add a small white light to negate that if it bothers you, it kind of grew on me. The corals really liked it though! 

 

As far as inverts, the ones you've listed are all great choices, though if you want zoas I'd be cautious about adding sexies since they're known to eat them sometimes (other corals too sometimes). Pom pom crabs can be really reclusive but a tank this size is perfect for observing one. Porcelain crabs are great, I really miss mine. Another shrimp I highly recommend is the Pederson's anemone shrimp. I'd bought two but one didn't make it, but the remaining one, Jaques, is very entertaining. He likes to clean my hands when it's on the tank lol. The only thing is they are not long lived, usually no more than a year. I tried to get a smaller one to have it as long as possible. There are other types of anemone shrimp too. I'm also looking at trying a squat lobster some time. You might also look at a yellow or blue coral banded shrimp, they are much smaller and less aggressive than regular CBS. Can be aggressive to other shrimp, including their own kind, though.

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On 9/19/2017 at 10:12 PM, Rene said:

Stand is beautiful!  Any thoughts for hiding the cord(s) to add to the floating effect?  Maybe with one of those office cord things about the same color as the wall?

Once i get my light ordered that will be my next step. 

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