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Shallow Pico reef ideas


Rob Francis

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Rob Francis

Hi all,

Im from the UK and have just come across this site.

I cant believe the amount of you that are into Pico's and Nano's compared to over here so thought I would join.

Im in the process of setting up a really small tank in my office, its an ADA 45-F.

My plan is to run it as simply as I possibly can with the following items.

 

I piece of TMC Eco rock (I dont know if you get that over there, its a type of man made live rock)

No substrate

No mechanical or chemical filtration

Kessil A80 tuna blue

Schego 50w titanium heater (ready for future upgrade)

Simply Aquaria temperature controller

2x Tunze mini pumps for flow, possibly with 1/4" random flow devices fitted

Autoaqua smart micro ato

Coral stock will be some nice Zoas and Ricordeas with maybe a small torch and hammer etc

Livestock possibly a Flame Prawn Goby, Pederson Cleaner Shrimp, Sexy Shrimp and an Anenome Crab along with various small clean up crew

 

Ive been soaking the rock for a couple of weeks in a tank to leech out any phosphates & silicates and to test my ability of keeping the correct salinity in such a small amount of water ant the ato has kept it spot on so far.

Can I ask what you think of my plan?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

 

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Welcome another UK Reefer, it's the start of the takeover I'm telling you. 

 

All sounds good to me, I do like the Kessil lighting although have never heard of the ADA range of tanks, looks to have interesting dimensions

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Rob Francis

Hi there,

I used to be on Ultimate Reef years ago when I had a larger tank but it seems quiet there now, especially for the smaller tanks.

Ive seen a couple of ADA threads on here, they usually have a sump which I cant do at the moment but really like the look of the shallow stuff, more like a frag tank really.

They're made of optiwhite glass and are meant to have really good quality silicone work so thought 'why not'

Rob

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3 minutes ago, Rob Francis said:

Hi there,

I used to be on Ultimate Reef years ago when I had a larger tank but it seems quiet there now, especially for the smaller tanks.

Ive seen a couple of ADA threads on here, they usually have a sump which I cant do at the moment but really like the look of the shallow stuff, more like a frag tank really.

They're made of  optiwhite glass and are meant to have really good quality silicone work so thought ;why not'

Rob

Yeah they decided to shut the classifieds section when the covid 19 news came out and everyone left for other forums lol. 

 

I would say I'd check them out but I don't need another tank. How are your LFS doing amongst this? 

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Rob Francis

Its strange, when I had a tank (TMC Signature Cube) about 6 years ago I had 2 good local independents which have both now gone so the nearest one is now Southwest Marines.

Apart from that its all Maidenhead Aquatics nowadays.

Im down in Somerset so we're a bit limited for everything lol

It seems to be the same in angling, my other hobby, all the local shops have gone and have been replaced by Angling Direct.

Sign of the times and all our own fault as we buy so much online nowadays and always look for the cheapect price, not the best service.

Rob

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Rob Francis

Heres a pic of my favourite ever coral and fish Ive owned, along with one of my last pico, a 20 litre PicoOccen by Ocean Designs which had a Zoa garden and Flame Prawn Goby in it before being turned into a dedicated frag tank

Rob

CSC_0312.JPG

CSC_0313.JPG

latest1_1.jpg

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There’s a lot more of us Brits than everyone thinks on here! ....... not sure we have quite enough for @Ratvan’s world domination plans just yet..... but we keep working on it!

love ADA tanks and always wanted to do a Shallow Pico in one, but would have to sump it to allow for the kind of bioloads I would want to keep and that kind of defeats the point of the minimalist principle.

Will be following along to see how you get on!

My LFS has stopped stocking the TMC rock (mainly stock the various CaribSea rocks now) and tells me that many customers complained about it leaching forever and messing around with their PH.......... never tried it myself so will be interesting to see how you get on with it.

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Rob Francis
16 minutes ago, Picogoby said:

There’s a lot more of us Brits than everyone thinks on here! ....... not sure we have quite enough for @Ratvan’s world domination plans just yet..... but we keep working on it!

love ADA tanks and always wanted to do a Shallow Pico in one, but would have to sump it to allow for the kind of bioloads I would want to keep and that kind of defeats the point of the minimalist principle.

Will be following along to see how you get on!

My LFS has stopped stocking the TMC rock (mainly stock the various CaribSea rocks now) and tells me that many customers complained about it leaching forever and messing around with their PH.......... never tried it myself so will be interesting to see how you get on with it.

Ive had it in a heated and salted tank for over 2 weeks and have used Salifert kits to check phosphate and Silicates and neither has shown at all?

Nowhere near me does any of the other types so went with this. 

I was also considering using some of the Marine Pure rocks and carving to shape but spotted this bit and thought it would be ideal. I just hope its porus enough for the bacteria to colonise.

Im also a bit worried about going bare bottom. I have a bag of the eco sand here but am not impressed really. It looks fine in the local Maidenhead display tank but I just cannot seem to get it clean enough to use. Its made from shells from Uk beaches, not coral sand.

Rob

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1 minute ago, Rob Francis said:

Ive had it in a heated and salted tank for over 2 weeks and have used Salifert kits to check phosphate and Silicates and neither has shown at all?

Nowhere near me does any of the other types so went with this. 

I was also considering using some of the Marine Pure rocks and carving to shape but spotted this bit and thought it would be ideal. I just hope its porus enough for the bacteria to colonise.

Im also a bit worried about going bare bottom. I have a bag of the eco sand here but am not impressed really. It looks fine in the local Maidenhead display tank but I just cannot seem to get it clean enough to use. Its made from shells from Uk beaches, not coral sand.

Rob

I am sure the rock will be fine! People gossip at LFS and then everyone has the same opinion....... so the owner just changes his stock a little and then everyone finds another product to moan about! Theoretically volcanic rock should not work..... but I have used it before with success. I can only recommend real live rock or the CaribSea rocks, as that’s all I have ever used for a longer term project.

i have a friend who has used a medium block of marine pure, he used superglue and putty to attach to the back of his rock structure...... you would never guess it was there visually, as all hidden at the back. The marine pure media is great and I have the spheres loose in the bottom of my latest projects sump.

Not heard of the eco sand..... I only use agri live sand now, no need to rinse, the cloudiness disappears in hours and the bacteria is clearly in the product for cycling!

in have not tried a bare bottom tank and don’t think I ever will...... the extra bio filtration sand adds is immense and I just like the look of a nice sandy bottom!

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Rob Francis
18 minutes ago, Picogoby said:

I am sure the rock will be fine! People gossip at LFS and then everyone has the same opinion....... so the owner just changes his stock a little and then everyone finds another product to moan about! Theoretically volcanic rock should not work..... but I have used it before with success. I can only recommend real live rock or the CaribSea rocks, as that’s all I have ever used for a longer term project.

i have a friend who has used a medium block of marine pure, he used superglue and putty to attach to the back of his rock structure...... you would never guess it was there visually, as all hidden at the back. The marine pure media is great and I have the spheres loose in the bottom of my latest projects sump.

Not heard of the eco sand..... I only use agri live sand now, no need to rinse, the cloudiness disappears in hours and the bacteria is clearly in the product for cycling!

in have not tried a bare bottom tank and don’t think I ever will...... the extra bio filtration sand adds is immense and I just like the look of a nice sandy bottom!

Im going to think about the sand, maybe get a bag of the Caribsea live Fiji pink in reserve. The original plan was to have substrate but Ive been thinking maintenance may be easier without, and can have more flow without sandstorms?

Im still a bit worried about going filterless, its hard to get it in my head how its going to work. In my last tank I went all out with a skimmer, phosphate reactor, bio pearl reactor etc and it drove me mad, hours in the sump tinkering and constantly changing things for no real reason.

I was planning on going natural with a refugium the next time (this time) but my lack of space is pushing me towards the ultimate simple system. with just the rock as planned, which seems more popular than I thought.

Rob

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Rob Francis
2 minutes ago, Picogoby said:

The Fiji pink is very fine.... I would try a courser grade if you want to push up the flow!

As far as Im aware you can only get the live in the pink in a small bag, I think I'll only need a couple of kilos for this tank.

I think I'll try bare bottom first unless i can get hold of a small amount of live sand elsewhere. Maybe keep the eco sand in reserve.

Rob

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SaltyGallon

Hello mate, also from the UK! I rate the Carbisea fiji pink - a bag of it comfortably filled my 7 gallon. If you're still in the market for a wavemaker the TMC reef tide range are excellent, reliable and loads of control-ability/random mode. The 4000s is quality for smaller tanks 👍

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Rob Francis
11 hours ago, Azur said:

Hello mate, also from the UK! I rate the Carbisea fiji pink - a bag of it comfortably filled my 7 gallon. If you're still in the market for a wavemaker the TMC reef tide range are excellent, reliable and loads of control-ability/random mode. The 4000s is quality for smaller tanks 👍

I think they would be too big for this tank but they do look nice and compact for their output.

Maybe next time though..

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