1ish Gallon Pico

[brosegge]

It has been a long time since I had a tank up and running.  After many years on the road I've finally settled down in a house and I figured a pico build was in order.

 

~2 lbs of of Hawaiian Black Arag-Alive Sand 

~3 lbs of live rock

~Air stone with anti-siphon valve and flow control valve

~Coralife LED

 

I live in FL and we keep our house 78; I'm going to just wait and see how the temp stabilizes through the cycling but I may add a small heater at a later date.  The plan is to have a coral/marco tank with a few small inverts.

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome back @brosegge, good to see you!

 

Pico jars are a lot of fun, definitely a great way to get back into the hobby! I'm sure you've been following all the pico containers from our 6 month contest?

 

What all do you hope to keep in your new pico reef?

[brosegge]

I am humbled by the incredible builds from the pico contest; if I can manage to keep some zoanthids, mushrooms, ricordeas, and macroalgaes alive I will be satisfied.  This is the first time I have ever set up a tank without a filtration system.  I am somewhat skeptical about the bubbler; even with the flow control valve bled down nearly all the way the entire surface is still covered in bubbles.  Am I missing something here?

[JBM]

No, your not missing anything. The bubbles will eventually dissipate. Allot has changed in the way we view "filtration" and "water circulation" for corals. 

 

I even saw a thread where someone had no water movement. With good results. 

 

With this small a volume, you can't expect a fish. Or feed heavily. However, you can easily grow any sps, lps, nps, or softie. 

 

100% water changes are normal. 

[brosegge]

I woke up this morning and the entire surface of the was covered in 1-2" of bubbles/foam.  I turned off the bubbler for now but moving forward I would like to get some flow somehow; I just worry that even a Koralia mini would create a whirlpool.  Am I over-thinking this?

[Christopher Marks]

As I recall there were a few tricks for getting air pumps dialed in for pico jars that I saw from the contest. Step one, try it without the air stone on the end, just straight air line tubing. If you're able to insert the air line into another tube or pipe of some sort, that can also help guide the bubbles in a column without disrupting much. The larger air bubbles should create more surface movement and circulation.

[ChristopherDido]

As @Christopher Marks said, ditch the stone and go straight with the tubing. Never had an issue with crazy bubble build up in the surface of my water. Good luck and we'll try to be here to help.

[JBM]

I missed the part about having a Airstone. 

 

Reading comprehention was low this morning. Didn't drink enough black stuff. 

 

What they said^^^^

[brosegge]

Thanks for the tip on the airstone removal.  The bubbling is much less vigorous now and I feel much better.  I forgot to mark the fill level on the tank so I'm going to wait on top-off until my refractometer comes in the mail.   I also ordered a Hydor 25W heater and the API Test Kit.  

 

 

[JBM]

Pick a spot in the tank and top it off to that mark everyday

[brosegge]

Call me crazy (aren't we all) but I'm already thinking about a slightly larger tank, maybe in the 3-5 gallon range.  I would be more comfortable with an all-in-one tank or something I can hang a modded Aquaclear on the back of.  I just worry that cleaning/maintenance on this small guy will be troublesome due to the limited space (aquascaping makes cleaning the back side of the tank nearly impossible without moving rock around).  Plus, the kitties have already taken an interest and I came home today to find the glass cover pushed aside.  I would probably feel more comfortable with something that has a more secure lid.

 

Been running and cycling for 5 days now.  I messed around a little with the aquascaping when I installed the 25w heater.  Though I have the dial set to 78 my thermometer is only reading 72.  I've gradually been bumping it up to see if I can get the temp in range but haven't had any luck yet.  I hope this heater is strong enough?  My refractometer came in the mail and my salinity is staying around 1.024 with top-offs.  I'm waiting on my my API test kit to see how the other parameters look.  I'm not sure why I thought this tank was 2 gallons, it looks more like 1 to me now that I've been staring at it for nearly a week.

[brosegge]

As soon as I submitted the last post I heard a ring at the doorbell and my API Master Test Kit had arrived.  Here are the results. 

 

pH - 7.80

NH3/NH4 - 0.50 ppm

NO2 - 0.25 ppm

NO3 - 0 ppm

 

Note: results are subject to interpretation, the wooden backdrop probably wasn't the best choice. Given that I haven't picked up any nitrates yet I'd say I'm still a way off.

[JBM]

If you still have ammonia present. Your still smack dab in the middle of your cycle. 

 

It is good that that you are looking at the nitrogen flow chart. It gives a pictorial view of exactly what's going on. Your probably still about another 2 weeks away from 0.0ppm nitrites. 

 

 

[brosegge]

Thanks @JBM I'm an environmental scientist by trade so I tend to take the scientific approach to just about everything.  My wife wasted no time in calling me a nerd as she watched me test the parameters in the tank.  I'll be due for a 100% water change on Saturday so I'm going to take parameters again on the following Thursday and see how they compare to today's.  The temperature was holding steady at 72 degrees so I bumped the setting up to 85 degrees to try to bring it into range.

[SeaFurn]

A 25w heater would be more than plenty. I had a 10w on my 2-3gal bowl. It was an always on heater that I used a temperature controller with and kept the water 78-79. Highly recommend a temp controller so you don’t cook your corals. 

Hopefully your adjustment to 85 degrees will get the temp to 78-80 range. 

You don’t need to change the water while your cycling and you don’t need to run your light. You change all the water once your cycle is over and then you’ll be good to go. 

[JBM]

4 hours ago, brosegge said:

Thanks @JBM I'm an environmental scientist by trade so I tend to take the scientific approach to just about everything.  My wife wasted no time in calling me a nerd as she watched me test the parameters in the tank.  I'll be due for a 100% water change on Saturday so I'm going to take parameters again on the following Thursday and see how they compare to today's.  The temperature was holding steady at 72 degrees so I bumped the setting up to 85 degrees to try to bring it into range.

 

 

During a cycle, is the best time to iron out kinks. Such as your heating, learn your equipment. How much and how often you need to top off. 

 

As stated before. Do not change any water. That's counter productive.

 

I've attached a better diagram. Explains things a bit better

[brosegge]

@JBM thanks for the better diagram.  It makes more sense now not to change water until after the nitrate spike occurs.  I've been running the 25W heater at full blast (87 degrees on the dial) for 2 days now and the temp is still hovering around 74.  Thoughts?

[JBM]

thats odd

 

25 watts is plenty for a tank that small. Have you tried a separate other thermometer? Altho 74 isnt to cold, and would be fine for corals

[brosegge]

I ordered a digital thermometer; not very confident with this one.

[SeaFurn]

Does the heater run continuously or does it go on and off frequently? I’m wondering if the thermostat is shot.

 

Have you felt the heater as it’s heating to see if it gets hot to the touch? 

[Disher]

I’d bet it’s the thermometer you’re using as well. Temperature measuring devices can vary drastically! Especially the cheap ones we see in our hobby. The tank is looking good so far, looking forward to updates.

[brosegge]

14 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

Does the heater run continuously or does it go on and off frequently? I’m wondering if the thermostat is shot.

 

Have you felt the heater as it’s heating to see if it gets hot to the touch? 

@SeaFurn the heater goes on and off frequently.  I took it out of the tank and it wasn't hot to the touch but it would kick on and off.  It is brand new and only 3 days old.  I think I may be overloading the electrical socket.  I currently have heater, LED light, bubbler, desktop computer, desktop display, and a desk lamp all plugged into one power strip. 😞  

 

I'm going to go pick up another power strip to use exclusively for the tank and I'm going to move all of the computer stuff to another socket.  Hopefully that rectifies the issue.

[SeaFurn]

If it wasn’t getting hot the heating element may be defective. You may need to try a different heater. Keep us posted. 

[brosegge]

Picked up a reliable digital thermometer and was able to make adjustments to the heater to get the temperature in range.  I'm going to test parameters again on Thursday.

 

[JBM]

On 5/5/2018 at 9:29 AM, brosegge said:

 

I'm going to go pick up another power strip to use exclusively for the tank and I'm going to move all of the computer stuff to another socket.  Hopefully that rectifies the issue.

 

This happens to be my specialty. Utility worker (electricity geek) by trade. 

 

Moving everything to another socket will do little other than give you a placebo effect. And maybe reduced fire hazard. It's more then likely (high probability) that the room is all on one 10 or 15 amp breaker. Meaning, your not going to get any more voltage and amperage by switching sockets.  

 

Youd be surprised at how efficient everything thing is these days. If I have time tomorrow. I'll throw a kill a watt meter on my tank and see how many actual watts everything draws. I can't imagine it being high at all.  I'd imagine it being under 250 watts at full tilt. And well under 3 amps at the same full tilt.