Allaboutcorals pico reef

[Allaboutcorals]

Hey nano-reef!

 

Ive been a lurker here for quite some time and have learned a ton from many of the build threads here. Really excited to be joining in on this contest and finally beginning to participate on the forums. Ive seen some really incredible entries. the competition is fierce!

 

My girlfriend and I were originally going to enter together but in brainstorming creative containers we each came up with ideas we wanted to try out on our own so we will each have a build thread going. 

 

I will get into more details later but for now here is the container that I chose to work with. It is fairly traditional but I wanted an opening wide enough to allow me room to aquascape and easily move around the different components. 

 

 

Thanks!

 

[TFish77]

1 hour ago, Allaboutcorals said:

Hey nano-reef!

 

Ive been a lurker here for quite some time and have learned a ton from many of the build threads here. Really excited to be joining in on this contest and finally beginning to participate on the forums. Ive seen some really incredible entries. the competition is fierce!

 

My girlfriend and I were originally going to enter together but in brainstorming creative containers we each came up with ideas we wanted to try out on our own so we will each have a build thread going. 

 

I will get into more details later but for now here is the container that I chose to work with. It is fairly traditional but I wanted an opening wide enough to allow me room to aquascape and easily move around the different components. 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Lol just finished checking out your gf's thread and was wondering why your name looked familiar. It's gonna be cool to see how both your tanks progress. If only I could get my gf into saltwater  

[Allaboutcorals]

 thanks!

it has taken quite a bit of persistence to get her to this point. keep trying! lol

 

[Orangutran]

22 minutes ago, Allaboutcorals said:

 thanks!

it has taken quite a bit of persistence to get her to this point. keep trying! lol

 

she's a keeper!

[Lula_Mae]

11 hours ago, TFish77 said:

 

Lol just finished checking out your gf's thread and was wondering why your name looked familiar. It's gonna be cool to see how both your tanks progress. If only I could get my gf into saltwater  

My husband recently mentioned an interest in making a little tank of his own... It takes time! 

[Allaboutcorals]

OK... Sorry for delay on the next set of details but sofrinat and I went away to Disney this past weekend! This has been a really fun project for me and an awesome placeholder as I save up a bit and collect the equipment for my new display tank. My family and I evacuated for Irma and because of that I chose to take down my sensitive systems and transport them to North Carolina while we waited out the storm. (that'll be another thread) We all made it through ok but my beloved display had been torn down in the process. It was only a 30 gallon but it was my pride and passion. I can't wait to start up another large tank but for now this little pico will keep me content. Ive got an awesome supply of coral as most of my collection survived and has been combined with a friends in a propagation system (more on that later too!)

 

After finally deciding on a container I went right away into deciding what equipment I was going to use. I've gone through my own bouts of multiple tank syndrome and have a ton of extra equipment around the apartment so it was kind of fun going through it all. The volume came in at a little less than 1.5 gallons so I didn't need anything too strong. 

 

First, I located three old pumps, a cheap mini china pump, a minijet 606 and a hydor pico circulation pump. I tested them all and was most content with versatility of the hydor. It is small enough to fit just about anywhere in the rock work, has a rotating outflow and adjustable flow. The mini-jet is definitely a favorite but it was just too big for this application. 

 

Next step was heating. In such a small container a solid heater is really important as swings in temperature can be much more drastic. I dug up an old temperature controller (I don't set up any system without one) as backup and plugged in a 50w tetra heater. The tetra is not ideal as id like something that takes up a bit less room so probably going to pick up a smaller heater at some point but this is functioning just fine for now. I had a bit of a problem with water running down the chord of the heater but I was able to solve that by using a small plastic clamp to raise the loop off of the glass (the temperature controller probe is secured this way as well). 

 

Finally for lighting I picked up the 23w ABI par38 bulb and in hindsight it is probably too strong. I ordered the 12w and just haven't gone about switching it out since corals seem to be happy. I stuck a par meter inside and it was over 200 at the bottom but since everything seems happy and I want sps in here I'm not going to change it just yet. I stuck it in an IKEA lamp for now but I'm going to be getting something more fitting to the application once I get the opportunity. 

 

Next post, aquascape!

 

 

is there a way to make the images smaller and put them in line with the text? I'm new to this forum thing. 

Thanks!

[Lula_Mae]

On 11/8/2017 at 10:26 AM, Allaboutcorals said:

OK... Sorry for delay on the next set of details but sofrinat and I went away to Disney this past weekend! This has been a really fun project for me and an awesome placeholder as I save up a bit and collect the equipment for my new display tank. My family and I evacuated for Irma and because of that I chose to take down my sensitive systems and transport them to North Carolina while we waited out the storm. (that'll be another thread) We all made it through ok but my beloved display had been torn down in the process. It was only a 30 gallon but it was my pride and passion. I can't wait to start up another large tank but for now this little pico will keep me content. Ive got an awesome supply of coral as most of my collection survived and has been combined with a friends in a propagation system (more on that later too!)

 

After finally deciding on a container I went right away into deciding what equipment I was going to use. I've gone through my own bouts of multiple tank syndrome and have a ton of extra equipment around the apartment so it was kind of fun going through it all. The volume came in at a little less than 1.5 gallons so I didn't need anything too strong. 

 

First, I located three old pumps, a cheap mini china pump, a minijet 606 and a hydor pico circulation pump. I tested them all and was most content with versatility of the hydor. It is small enough to fit just about anywhere in the rock work, has a rotating outflow and adjustable flow. The mini-jet is definitely a favorite but it was just too big for this application. 

 

Next step was heating. In such a small container a solid heater is really important as swings in temperature can be much more drastic. I dug up an old temperature controller (I don't set up any system without one) as backup and plugged in a 50w tetra heater. The tetra is not ideal as id like something that takes up a bit less room so probably going to pick up a smaller heater at some point but this is functioning just fine for now. I had a bit of a problem with water running down the chord of the heater but I was able to solve that by using a small plastic clamp to raise the loop off of the glass (the temperature controller probe is secured this way as well). 

 

Finally for lighting I picked up the 23w ABI par38 bulb and in hindsight it is probably too strong. I ordered the 12w and just haven't gone about switching it out since corals seem to be happy. I stuck a par meter inside and it was over 200 at the bottom but since everything seems happy and I want sps in here I'm not going to change it just yet. I stuck it in an IKEA lamp for now but I'm going to be getting something more fitting to the application once I get the opportunity. 

 

Next post, aquascape!

 

 

is there a way to make the images smaller and put them in line with the text? I'm new to this forum thing. 

Thanks!

For a heater, look into this one.  I've used it for several months on my 5.5 and several of us have it for the pico contest.  I posted pics on the pico contest main thread showing how small it is.

 

[dmw913]

Can you still buy that Inkbird?  If so, would you mind throwing up a link???

[Felicia]

Hi!  Just a reminder to please pm me your November full tank shot (FTS) along with a link to your build thread by the end of the day on November 30th.

[Felicia]

Just a friendly reminder that if you haven't already, please pm me your December FTS and a link to your build thread by January 5, 2018.