Lorekeeper's 0.5 Gallon Pico Tank!

[Lorekeeper]

When I decided to move my main tank into a 10 gallon, I kind of felt like I needed another pico in my room. Large reefs are interesting, and so are nanos. But none of those tanks quite present the same challenges and charms as a pico tank does... so I'm doing another pico tank!

 

Specifically, the 0.5 gallon betta view tanks from Walmart. You can get them for $5. This was my first reef tank! I had one of these guys set up with some rock rubble and a few zoas for a few months. I had a lot of fun with this tank, and it just happens to fit on my tiny desk with no issues.

 

This tank is being lit by a Finnex 12" planted tank fixture that I had laying around. Eventually, it'll probably be light by a PAR 30 I'm using over my 10 gallon. For now, this will work, it's just a bit too white for a reef tank, IMO. It's being heated by a cheap Tetra heater, and circulated by an Azoo Mignon 60 HOB. 

 

I went barebottom, and decided to go with a single interesting piece of rock that I had in my closet. I went ahead and stocked with some caulerpa, some red branching macro, and some GSP that I didn't want in my main tank. I'll be adding some zoas later, and probably an assortment of corals that I don't want in my 10 gallon.

 

For inverts, there are none currently. The plan is to eventually get a cerith in here, and possibly consider something like a few grass shrimp for movement. I thought long and hard about a neon blue goby, or possibly a clown goby, but I'm not sure. I could keep up with water quality for sure, it's going to be a question of "Is the tank stable enough to support a fish?". 

 

That's about all I got for now, so here's some pics!

 

FTS

 

GSP

[JBM]

Cute little set up, I had that exact same heater in my 5.5g. As Cheap as they may be, work they sure do. Even through a nasty New York winter. 

 

It'll be interesting to see what wins the grow battle, the caulerpa or the gsp. 

 

Either way 🎉 on. 

 

[ClownFizz]

I’d still prefer the lil splash of aragonite sand or live sand (thinnest layer possible).... just to keep ur ph consistent.  

[Lorekeeper]

Aragonite has actually never helped stabilize my PH in any of my tanks without sand. I get around 8.1 in every tank that ive kept, so it's not really an issue.

 

[ffoott]

When is the tang going in? 

 

Jk...

[Lorekeeper]

9 hours ago, ffoott said:

When is the tang going in? 

 

Jk...

Probably later this week. Gotta get some algae growing! 😂

 

17 hours ago, JBM said:

Cute little set up, I had that exact same heater in my 5.5g. As Cheap as they may be, work they sure do. Even through a nasty New York winter. 

 

It'll be interesting to see what wins the grow battle, the caulerpa or the gsp. 

 

Either way 🎉 on. 

 

Believe it or not, neither are a great grower for me. None of the macros I've tried have thrived for me, unless you count the stuff I have in a jar on my window. That stuff is thriving. But, the stuff in my tanks does just "Okay". The GSP looks great and has good color under my normal reef lighting, but doesn't grow all that quickly. Xenia grows much faster, IME.

 

My ATO fell through, sadly. Turned out to be pretty much impossible to get it dripping slow enough, so I'll have to go with an uglier in-tank method.

[Tamberav]

Love it I had one of these set up for a very short time, debating on doing it again after seeing yours. 

[JBM]

I had pretty good success with the hamster bottle ato. 

[Lorekeeper]

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

Love it I had one of these set up for a very short time, debating on doing it again after seeing yours. 

Thanks! I love your reef too! Always wanted a temperate reef, but I've never been able to justify spending so much on a chiller.

 

1 hour ago, JBM said:

I had pretty good success with the hamster bottle ato. 

The ATO I was considering was a spin-off of the hamster bottle, but using two water bottles instead. I may go for a hamster bottle, for a sleeker look. What'd you use to secure it to the tank?