Hello everyone! I briefly introduced my new pico reef the other day, but wasn’t sure where to post a journal at. A big thanks to The Rainy Day Aquarium for some solid advice on how to get this journal going!
I have always wanted a miniature reef tank, or pico in my life. I think it’s the challenge of keeping parameters stable with such a small volume. Who doesn’t love a mini reef tank?
Equipment
-Lifegard Aquatics Crystal AIO 4.1 gallon with stock pump (surprisingly quiet)
-Lifegard Aquatics 25watt heater
-Kessil A360X with rigid mount
-Ecotech MP10 on reef crest between 20-30%
-filter floss
-small amount of carbon in rear chamber
I initially wanted to use the strainer vs. the drain plug on the tank, but couldn’t find a way for the strainer to fit properly. I had to lower the MP10 flow to between 20-30% to keep things flowing nicely without taking a beating, or overflowing the tank. The Kessil is a bit over powered for this tank, but I managed to keep my same settings from the 40, just increased the height of the light to about 12 inches vs. 7 on the 40. So far, everything seems to be responding well.
I recently shut down my Nuvo 40 with anticipation of setting up my pico tank with the remaining corals leftover from a massive coral sale I had with my local reefing community. I managed to save some really nice pieces for this little project though. I am really happy with my livestock so far.
Livestock
-variety of zoas, including nirvanas, laser lemons, bowsers, sonic flares, playboy bunnies, and more
-fire shrimp
-trochus snail
-blue legged hermit
white morph RFA
I plan to keep things as simple as can be, while testing major parameters at least once per week. I have attached a few pics. Thanks for looking!