NZ 2 Gallon Reef

[Bogan]

I thought it was about time I posted some pictures of my Pico. It's around the 8 month it's been up and running, and so far everything has been running smoothly. Over the past 2 months the SPS have been growing rapidly, and the xenia is starting to fill in the back of the tank.

 

 

 

 

 

The tank is just over 2 gallons, and is lit by a coralife 2X9watt 10000k & Actinic. I pulled this unit to pieces as it is notorious for over heating and mounted it in a custom made hood with a fan.

 

 

 

I then paired this off with a matching base

 

 

On the back I have an aquaclear 50 with liverock and a small amount of carbon, I added some plastic slats underneath to increase the distance of the trickle. This has helped increase the flow considerably. If anybody is starting a project like this, I highly recommend they hide another small powerhead at the back of the tank to increase the circulation, deadspots in a small tank will eventually cause you problems.

 

I dose Kalk every day, and water change 2 litres every week with NSW from the local bay. This keeps the CA around 400 and the DKH around 8. The monti's are happy, and the coraline is spreading over the rock nicely. I'm switching to Instant Ocean ASW for winter this week as we are entering the rainy season, and the sea water is full of farm runoff. I will be interested to see the difference between the two.

[pico1]

your hood/base combo looks AMAZING! I also love the plant and the stand. Nice looking tank but I would add a small coraline covered rock or shell to start some purple coraline growth on the rocks.

[Fload]

Very nice hood im about to make the exact same thing for my 2.5 i even have the same lights.. was it hard to take apart?

[cannon_eer15]

Do you have any problems with the yellow polyps stinging everything in range?

 

I like your hood design. Do the ballasts get very hot, or is it the tubes themselves?

[riotj]

Very nice. I like that the top and base are the same height. It also looks like a nonconventional size tank that we can't get here in the States. Is it custom? If so, what are the dimensions of the tank and the hood/base? Again very nice.

 

Bogan

 

another few questions - do you run a heater? What is the water temp swing if no heater?

 

What do you mean you added some plastic slats underneath to increase the distance of the trickle? Any pics of this?

 

Joe

[Bogan]

pico1 - I have got a fair bit of coralline growing at the back of the tank, but it's not the deep purple kind, just the light pink. I've added some pieces of darker coraline coated rock, but it's all faded. Any tips?

 

Fload - Not really - just hacksaw the casing and pull the wires out carefully.

 

cannon_eer15 - The Yellow polyps are kept in check by the large zoanthids to the top of them that pack equally as hard a punch. Saying that, the mushroom won't go near them.

 

The lights get hot, but the ballest gets very hot, that's why I mounted it at the back. I have the fan on half power and this keep everything down to an exceptable level. I wouldn't even bother with these lights if you keep them in the original casing, the heat will have a lot of trouble dissipating without causing a big swing in the tank temp.

 

riotj - The tank is custom made, I just based it around the lights - I'll get the sizes for you.

 

The heater is on the right hand side, hidden behind the rock. I hate visible heaters.

 

For increasing the flow, I simply raised the HOB filter from the edge of the tank - you can use anything, but would advise plastic. It was raised 5mm which gives the trickle flow a little bit of a boost. I'll take a pic when I get the chance.

[Haagenize]

awesome hood, great DIY project

 

i would have tried to fit 4x9w 's in there if you can.

 

at least 3

 

but since the SPS is growing fine, then its fine

[Bogan]

Three lights would be nice, but for the extra heat under a small hood, I'm not sure what gains it would achieve.

 

The Monti's are growing much faster that I thought they would - and the Mushrooms and zoanthids are looking for shade in the top level of the tank. I created some overhangs to create a darker area, and they always seem to grow into them.

 

Saying that, three or four lights over a much taller tank would look very nice.

[tinyreef]

suuuweeet! very nice aquascaping!

[Tony]

Very Nice work.

[The Keeper]

Beautiful Tank my NZ friend!