Jump to content
Coral Vue Hydros

Rain’s Pico Project - 365 Day Challenge


Maddlesrain

Recommended Posts

Hi there! 
I’m excited to be embarking on the 365 Day Challenge with my little DIY tank. The plans for this tank are to have a little fun and keep it carefree—while hopefully still being beautiful—so I’ll be making this a ‘pest tank.’ 
 

Call me crazy, but I’m currently on an avid hunt for Majano anemones, and other undesirables that I find intriguing, but don’t want in my reef tank. Other livestock will include some zoas / palys for a pop of color, macro algaes, and other soft corals. I have yet to decide if a tiny sexy shrimp or hermit crab will be added; I’m going to base that off of how everything progresses over the next month or so. 
 

Now for some of the more technical details: 

The Tank

- Thrifted cylinder vase (edit: about 1 liter of water)

- AIO divider was created with a repurposed plastic binder, and attached to the vase using Super Glue. 
- The mesh intake cage from a powerhead is being used as a media basket, which the water from the display flows directly into. Pantyhose are being used as a makeshift media bag to hold carbon and GFO (about 1/4-1/2 tsp of each). There are also some ceramic media pieces in the back chamber; they too are secured in a pantyhose ‘bag’ to make removal easier if necessary. 
- A tiny fountain pump is being used for circulation. I made a little L-shaped arm using extra pieces of piping from other aquarium projects, and have covered the ‘return’ with sponge to slow the flow down to a manageable level (I would like to possibly create a little spray bar or something instead—I’ll tinker with it and see how it works). 
- The lighting is still in the works. There is a tiny reading light (not pictured) on the tank currently. I am going to work on supplementing this white light with blue and red LEDs this weekend. 
- an ATO will be added eventually as well. 
The Scape 

I’m keeping the scape minimalistic; I would like to have two little islands, but am still searching for my second piece of rubble! I’ll also be growing corals (most likely some GSP) on the back wall. I chose black sand for this little project since I’ve never tried it before in a reef environment. I just snagged one of the tiny craft-sand bags from the dollar store. The tank is so small, I used maybe 1/3 of a hand-sized bag. 
 

That’s it for now! Hopefully some of you will be along for, and enjoy, the ride! 
 

Cheers, 

Rain 

480360F9-CF7C-45AA-B24B-115EF0C9182E.jpeg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
12 minutes ago, Hansentyspy said:

This is really cool. Looking forward to seeing what it becomes! What are you using for lighting? 

Thanks, I’m excited to try my hand at such a small tank! I’m using a little clip on reader and I’ll be adding some blue and red LEDs this weekend. I’m going to see how it turns out and then maybe add more if need be! 

9 minutes ago, seabass said:

Cute.  How much water volume does it hold?

Just over a liter!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
1 hour ago, Maddlesrain said:

Hi there! 
I’m excited to be embarking on the 365 Day Challenge with my little DIY tank. The plans for this tank are to have a little fun and keep it carefree—while hopefully still being beautiful—so I’ll be making this a ‘pest tank.’ 
 

Call me crazy, but I’m currently on an avid hunt for Majano anemones, and other undesirables that I find intriguing, but don’t want in my reef tank. Other livestock will include some zoas / palys for a pop of color, macro algaes, and other soft corals. I have yet to decide if a tiny sexy shrimp or hermit crab will be added; I’m going to base that off of how everything progresses over the next month or so. 
 

Now for some of the more technical details: 

The Tank

- Thrifted cylinder vase 

- AIO divider was created with a repurposed plastic binder, and attached to the vase using Super Glue. 
- The mesh intake cage from a powerhead is being used as a media basket, which the water from the display flows directly into. Pantyhose are being used as a makeshift media bag to hold carbon and GFO (about 1/4-1/2 tsp of each). There are also some ceramic media pieces in the back chamber; they too are secured in a pantyhose ‘bag’ to make removal easier if necessary. 
- A tiny fountain pump is being used for circulation. I made a little L-shaped arm using extra pieces of piping from other aquarium projects, and have covered the ‘return’ with sponge to slow the flow down to a manageable level (I would like to possibly create a little spray bar or something instead—I’ll tinker with it and see how it works). 
- The lighting is still in the works. There is a tiny reading light (not pictured) on the tank currently. I am going to work on supplementing this white light with blue and red LEDs this weekend. 
- an ATO will be added eventually as well. 
The Scape 

I’m keeping the scape minimalistic; I would like to have two little islands, but am still searching for my second piece of rubble! I’ll also be growing corals (most likely some GSP) on the back wall. I chose black sand for this little project since I’ve never tried it before in a reef environment. I just snagged one of the tiny craft-sand bags from the dollar store. The tank is so small, I used maybe 1/3 of a hand-sized bag. 
 

That’s it for now! Hopefully some of you will be along for, and enjoy, the ride! 
 

Cheers, 

Rain 

480360F9-CF7C-45AA-B24B-115EF0C9182E.jpeg

Oh heck yeah! 

OK with this tank there is No reason I can't join in the fun....damn all you guys are making this really hard not to.

I think this is going to be a fun tank for you.   

  • Like 3
Link to comment
19 minutes ago, devaji108 said:

Oh heck yeah! 

OK with this tank there is No reason I can't join in the fun....damn all you guys are making this really hard not to.

I think this is going to be a fun tank for you.   

Thank you, I hope it will be! I've had a lot of fun with it so far. 

Definitely join into the mini tank fun! You still have time 😉

  • Like 2
Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...