cincyJames' Gumball Pico

[cincyJames]

I have always been more of a lurker than a poster online.  After reading through EVERYONES contest tank posts, I decided it was time for a new challenge.  I didn't even know about the contest container group until Nov. 1, so obviously that was out, but I also liked not having any limitations.  I found myself drawn to the gumball tank that  @Farmboyreef was doing so I figured I would try to do something similar.  Imitation is the best form of flattery I have heard... Ha!

 

I found a gumball machine for $10 on Craigslist and broke out aluminum separator between the glass dome and the section where quarters fall down.  I picked up a container from Hobby Lobby that fit perfectly in the base of the gumball machine.  I figured this would be a good area to put a return pump, heater and maybe some filter media.

 

 

Red really didn't go with the color of our living room, so I repainted it with Krylon Chalk Paint.  I then enclosed the glass dome with a piece of acrylic and cut a hole in it for a bulkhead.  To keep the display as minimalistic as possible, I used 3/4 PVC and ran the return pump line directly through the center with 1/4 tubing.  For lighting, I bought an LED clip light off Amazon.  Oddly enough, the light fight perfectly inside of the gumball machine dome!

 

 

 

After waiting two days for the silicone to set up, I managed to crack the original dome on the gumball machine so I ended up buying a new one.  The dome is slightly smaller, but I was still able to use the same acrylic piece, bulkhead, etc.  Between both the dome and sump area, I am at roughly 1 gallon of water.  When I added sand and live rock, it ended up being just about 3 quarts of water volume.

 

 

And top down shot of the drain/return.

 

 

My plan is to wait to add coral until next week.  My LFS is having a Black Friday sale...

[vlangel]

I love it.  Welcome to N-R and glad that you have moved from lurker to pico reefer!

[cincyJames]

Thanks!  I appreciate it. 

[ReefWeeds]

This is very cool!! 

[cincyJames]

So like all reefers, I couldn't wait to get some corals in this bad boy!  My LFS had buy one frag, get one free this weekend, so for $30, I got 6 frags!  Nothing crazy, but perfect little starter corals for this tank.  More corals to come... the same LFS has a MASSIVE Black Friday Sale at 6:00AM, so more pics to follow.

 

 

 

[cincyJames]

[Christopher Marks]

@cincyJames This is so cool, such a clever design! I would love to see more photos of the construction of the lower plumbing if you are able to share them  .

 

Is the glass permanently attached to the gumball machine now, or can it actually be removed in one piece during maintenance? The lower portion seems to act like a sump, right? Do you have any way to keep an eye on the water line down there to account for evaporation? The surface skimmer is brilliant. Did you clear coat the interior of the metal lid or anything like that? I'd worry about salt creep.

[cincyJames]

41 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

@cincyJames This is so cool, such a clever design! I would love to see more photos of the construction of the lower plumbing if you are able to share them  .

 

Is the glass permanently attached to the gumball machine now, or can it actually be removed in one piece during maintenance? The lower portion seems to act like a sump, right? Do you have any way to keep an eye on the water line down there to account for evaporation? The surface skimmer is brilliant. Did you clear coat the interior of the metal lid or anything like that? I'd worry about salt creep.

Thanks, @Christopher Marks! The acrylic sheet that covers the bottom of the glass dome is not permanently connected to the gumball base.  When I added corals this week, I drained about 80% of the water out and was able to pick it up off of the base.  This also allowed me to move stuff around in the sump area, replace filter pad and change the flow setting on the return pump... all accomplished one handed since I was holding the tank in the other hand.  I may need to make something to better assist me with this! LOL  All that is in the sump area currently is filter pad, return and a 10watt nano heater.  The heater doesn't have a thermostat, so it is controlled by an inkbird.  It really does the trick!

 

When I first filled the tank, I filled it from the top and allowed the water to drain down into the sump.  I added water until it was about an inch below overflowing the sump.  Then I turned the pump on and put a line on the glass with marker.  I figured this would keep me from overfilling with top-off water and to avoid an overflow in case of a power outage or maintenance.  I really wanted to get as much water volume as possible.  Its odd to think in mL of water. Ha!  It loses only about 2-3oz. of water over a 48hr period.  I have just been adding the water by hand, but would like to construct some sort of top-off in the future.  I will likely have to make some sort of sensor since there really isn't any room for a float switch.

 

Oddly enough, I had never really paid too much attention to salt creep over the past 2 weeks it has been running, but your message prompted me to check.  There seems to be a pretty good amount of saltwater droplets on the underside of the acrylic sheet and some salt on the aluminum base.  There is almost 0 salt creep on the lid.  I think that I am going to cut an acrylic cover for the sump area that shields around the bulkhead to eliminate the splashing out of the sump.  The sump jar came with a lid, but I assume it would rust relatively shortly, so plastic will likely be better.  I think this will eliminate almost all of the salt creep issues and a lot of the evaporation... well, if 3oz. can be considered a lot.  LOL! 

 

 

 

[vlangel]

I just love your ingenuity in designing your pico jar.  Very clever!

[JcSH2o]

Super cool! Looking amazing so far! Awesome how everything worked out to fit perfectly inside the machine.... Like it was meant to be!

[cincyJames]

Well, it isn't pretty.... But we will see if it slows down my evaporation/salt creep.  Had to solve the age old question of fitting a circular lid into a smaller square opening?! 

 

 

[cincyJames]

This weekend, my LFS had their huge Black Friday sale. I didn't go too crazy, but did score some really great deals. Along with the corals I got, I moved some things over from my 5 gallon tank and added a peppermint shrimp. I am probably going to go pretty hands off for the next month or so. There is a Frag Swap in Cincinnati in January so I plan on picking up some more items for the tank then. I figured that would give the tank time to grow out a little and hopefully run without issues. 

 

 

[cincyJames]

[Lula_Mae]

11 hours ago, cincyJames said:

Grandis paly!

[cincyJames]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Grandis paly!

 

They are just silly big!  Hahaha!  Came with 3 heads, now has a 4th...!!!   I assume they will dominate the whole left side/back of the tank. Which definitely is my hope!

[vlangel]

O wow, this is awesome.  I love the colors it has.  The new coral have really made an impression.

[Christopher Marks]

Awesome work @cincyJames, it looks great with all the new coral. I love that peppermint shrimp too!

[Lula_Mae]

8 hours ago, cincyJames said:

 

They are just silly big!  Hahaha!  Came with 3 heads, now has a 4th...!!!   I assume they will dominate the whole left side/back of the tank. Which definitely is my hope!

Nice!  I have 3 frags and only one has a baby polyp lol.  They look so huge in picos!

[MainelyReefer]

This is why the contest would have benefited from not being so frugal in its approach to husbandry requirements, really great tank and it would be a top competitor if it was in the contest.  

[Lula_Mae]

10 hours ago, GraniteReefer said:

This is why the contest would have benefited from not being so frugal in its approach to husbandry requirements, really great tank and it would be a top competitor if it was in the contest.  

Every contest I've seen so far has had some kind of specific requirements. This one's restrictions happen to be on equipment, but it's far less restrictive than the summer contest in which only one set of equipment was allowed and there were budget restrictions.

 

I recall one years ago, the pico methodology contest I think it was called, which had few restrictions, but that's the only one I remember.

[vlangel]

14 hours ago, GraniteReefer said:

This is why the contest would have benefited from not being so frugal in its approach to husbandry requirements, really great tank and it would be a top competitor if it was in the contest.  

It's true that this pico is truly a feat of creative ingenuity and deserves recognition. 

 

I do like it however that the contest is testing the husbandry skills of the participants.  And there is plenty of room for creativity regarding scape and coral selection and placement.

[cincyJames]

17 hours ago, GraniteReefer said:

This is why the contest would have benefited from not being so frugal in its approach to husbandry requirements, really great tank and it would be a top competitor if it was in the contest.  

Thanks Granite!  I probably wouldn't have done a good job at following the rules anyways.   For me, my tanks have always been about the DIY aspect and pushing the limits of a small container.  I can appreciate the rules of the contest in trying to keep all on an equal footing and simplicity.  Ultimately I am looking for something that will be in my living room for years hopefully and it is hard to keep a contest tanks as neat and tidy.  I am definitely thankful for the contest tanks though because that was really what brought me back to the site and trying new things again.  

 

What's most important is..... more Gumball Pico pics to come! HA!

 

[vlangel]

4 hours ago, cincyJames said:

 

 

What's most important is..... more Gumball Pico pics to come! HA!

 

O boy, I can't wait!

[fishfreak0114]

So cool!!!

[cincyJames]

Well, it has been a challenging week for the Gumball Pico.  On Saturday, I woke up to find the Grandis Palys completely closed up and tissue looking like it was peeling off.  My thought was that maybe something had messed with them.  Peppermint shrimp?  Blue Legs?  Coral on Coral warfare?  I waited a few hours and kept an eye on them, but they didn't improve.  In fact, they appeared to be looking worse.  I decided that it would be best to move them out of the tank and into my 5 gallon.  I left them in my 5 gallon for about 24hrs and they started to open back up.  In lieu of switching them back, I figured I would glue the plug down and see how they did.  Maybe I will put them back in the future. 

 

On Monday, I came home from work to find that my Hammer had been completely lost.  It had seemed to be in great shape since I initially put it in there, but nearly 100% of the tissue was gone.... Again, not really sure what happened.  Salinity seemed fine, no temp. issues and it isn't near any other corals.... All others in the tank still seem to be doing great too?!  I am beginning to suspect the Peppermint shrimp because I don't think that the Blue Legs are large enough to destroy it like that.  I decided to leave it in there and will see if maybe, just maybe, the tissue regenerates... We shall see.  I am thinking about maybe forgoing LPS in this tank altogether and just doing softies and mushrooms.  They seem to be more tolerant of salinity changes and water conditions anyways.  I am probably going to pick up some pulsing xenia, GSP and other invasive soft corals in order to just completely fill the tank in.  Ultimately, if the whole tank crashes... I will only be out like $5 anyways. Ha!

 

 

Gradis in their new location. Seem to be doing well.