AugyBear Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Here's the start of my official entry into the old school pico reef competition! The current plan is to house a variety of colorful, fast growing corals and a small selection of inverts. I'm still debating whether to scape it as a peninsula or blackout one of the long sides of the tank to do a traditional scape. Equipment list: - Aqua Japan rimless tank (12x7x9", 3G) - Kessil A80 Tuna Blue - Cobalt Neotherm 75w heater (major overkill! Probably going to downsize later) - Fluval Aquaclear 30 with DIY surface skimmer attachment, MarinePure + SeaChem Matrix media, and filter floss - RealReef rock (~5lb) - Live sand from my 25G lagoon tank Current husbandry plan is identical to my other reef tank save for water change % and is as follows: Mon/Fri: Fuel + Phyto Wed: Oyster Feast + ReefRoids Thu: 100% water change - Top off as needed - Clean glass as needed 7 Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 I like the PVC surface skimmer. Is that actually black PVC? 1 Quote Link to comment
748S911 Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 welcome to the contest. can u break down that surface skimmer mod. Quote Link to comment
AugyBear Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 58 minutes ago, seabass said: I like the PVC surface skimmer. Is that actually black PVC? It's actually untreated ABS pipe. I've been using it for a while with no negative effects to my main reef tank, so I prefer to use it over painted PVC (which is equally effective and safe, but more takes effort and time) 40 minutes ago, 748S911 said: welcome to the contest. can u break down that surface skimmer mod. It's just a short length of 1.5" ABS pipe that I cut some teeth into using a bandsaw and put an endcap on. Very handy for clearing surface scum, and PVC would work just as well if you want it to be a different color. 5 Quote Link to comment
This guy is extra salty Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Welcome to the contest! i like the DIY surface skimmer very neat! love the rimless and the aqua Japan tank, I wish they had them in my area. Quote Link to comment
AugyBear Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 Progress update! I decided to black out the back of the tank and go with a 2 sided view. Pretty happy with how the scape turned out too, lots of room for coral placement. I'm thinking GSP or some zoas on the back glass for that extra -pop- 🤔 8 Quote Link to comment
MetaTank Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 Nice looking rocks. Have you been testing the skimmer? Did you have to drill a hole in the base of it at all to keep it from running dry when you crank up the speed on the filter? Quote Link to comment
AugyBear Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 1 hour ago, MetaTank said: Did you have to drill a hole in the base of it at all to keep it from running dry when you crank up the speed on the filter? I actually have the filter set to the lowest setting since its main purpose is mechanical and biological filtration rather than extra flow. I prefer to have the skimmer undrilled so that it acts as a low water point for the system where I can put an ATO sensor (or have it forcefully remind me to top off manually with lots of noise and bubbles 😂) 1 1 Quote Link to comment
MetaTank Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 10 minutes ago, AugyBear said: I actually have the filter set to the lowest setting since its main purpose is mechanical and biological filtration rather than extra flow. I prefer to have the skimmer undrilled so that it acts as a low water point for the system where I can put an ATO sensor (or have it forcefully remind me to top off manually with lots of noise and bubbles 😂) Are you using a pump for extra flow? Or is this gonna be a low flow system? Quote Link to comment
AugyBear Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 2 minutes ago, MetaTank said: Are you using a pump for extra flow? Or is this gonna be a low flow system? I wouldn't consider it a low flow system exactly, but let me double check the AC manual really quick and get back to you Quote Link to comment
AugyBear Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 Going by the manual on the Amazon page, the AC30 puts out 50-150gph of flow. The tank started at 3g, probably more like 2-2.5g now that it's all full of rock..pretty close to 20x turnover. This is my first pico though, so I'm going more by the setup I've already established and scaling it down. Would you recommend a small pump to go with it? I've seen good reviews on the hydor pico pump on Marine Depot. 1 Quote Link to comment
MetaTank Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 25 minutes ago, AugyBear said: Going by the manual on the Amazon page, the AC30 puts out 50-150gph of flow. The tank started at 3g, probably more like 2-2.5g now that it's all full of rock..pretty close to 20x turnover. This is my first pico though, so I'm going more by the setup I've already established and scaling it down. Would you recommend a small pump to go with it? I've seen good reviews on the hydor pico pump on Marine Depot. I do like the Hydor pico pump, but that’s to to you. It would really depend on a bunch of factors like livestock and aquascape 2 Quote Link to comment
MetaTank Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Any progress on the build? Quote Link to comment
Wendy Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Your rock scape looks cool! What's happening now? Would really love to see an FTS soon!! Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Is this thing wet yet? I can't see any water! Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Nice setup, would be great to see an update Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 @AugyBear We sure missed you this summer! Were you ever able to get your pico reef up and running? It showed a lot of promise! Hope you are well! ❤️ Quote Link to comment
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