1967type1 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 So I’ve had an itch to start a pico reef the minute I started in this hobby. I’ve had a 1.5 mr. Aqua tank sitting around for a while now that would be a good start. The tank is being cleaned and ready. First question is how deep do you do a sand bed in a pico reef? Second what heater is both slim and short? Or I could run a longer heater horizontally in the back. Third LPS corals such as torches or hammers? Am I dreaming to big? Should I just stick with Zoas and shrooms? This is by far from my first tank. I know what I’m getting into. Any help would be great but please don’t treat me like a noob unless I’ve made a huge mistake. Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Love the mr.aqua 1.5! For sand I would aim for 1" so you can easily clean the depth of the bed. This may change based on desired livestock. Heater is a difficult one as you may also be forced to buy a controller for the heater of your choice to get desired results. Check out all the contest tanks they have most of the heater bases covered. You should absolutely try euphyllia corals(torches, hammers, frogspawn). I will say frogspawn is easiest, then hammers, then torches. When I started I wanted an LPS super bad and people stopped me and made me get a softy, what a waste of time. Get one they have numerous frags of at the LFS and not a designer one initially. If there is a lot of frags it indicates it's likely been grown in a tank and is well adapted, lots of the stunning show stoppers are just fragged off of wild caught colony's I think and are usually finicky for a while, or they frag them so small to make more stunning frags it's a deficit. Welcome to pico reefing! Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I agree on 1" or so for sandbed (or bare bottom which I've also done). For a slender, short heater, look at Aqua Forest Aquariums for the heater they carry. I use the 25w in two tanks and Gena has it in her contest tank, and a few others now I think (I posted pictures in the contest thread a few weeks ago showing the size). LPS is definitely doable in a pico especially if you're prepared to frag when it gets big. Although pico zoa gardens are very popular too. Be sure to share pics soon! I'm curious what this tank looks like. Quote Link to comment
1967type1 Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Thanks so much. I still need to get the air pump and order the light. Will definitely post pictures soon though. Quote Link to comment
1967type1 Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Just got the air pump and some rocks water is all cloudy so I can’t post pics quite yet. I had a question about water changes. 90%-100% weeks seems to be the norm for most picks I’ve seen but would doing small daily water changes have any upsides? Quote Link to comment
1967type1 Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 First picture of the pico!!! added some dragons breath and all the rocks are glided together. Waiting on a par38 bulb from Amazon. Then comes the corals!!! 4 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Good job on the scape! Quote Link to comment
1967type1 Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 1 hour ago, vlangel said: Good job on the scape! Thanks! It took some time getting all the branches to hold. I used a mix of epoxy and super glue. tank is holding at a stable 77 degrease. See if that stays the same once I get the new light over it. Here’s a better picture of the tank 2 Quote Link to comment
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