4.5 Gallon Pico Reef

[chrissaysyes]

Ok so I learned the value of testing your equipment before using it. I'm not testing my water until next week but I thought I'd add a shroom to see if it opened up under my new lights...and it did! But...I added a heater because the water was 71*F. Upon getting home from work I see that the water was then...drum roll....91*F. Lovely. So it's adjusting with a smaller heater now.

I got my little powerhead today...it's so cute and it works so well and it looks like crap in the tank

So I took out the dremel and drilled a hole in the tank, Attached some hose and ran it to the input of a fluval 204. Tada, much nicer. So now the only visible equipment in the tank is that stupid mini heater...wish there was a battery powered one or something wireless Oh well. Pics tomorrow.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Quick update, the temp is now stabilized at 77*F. This mini heater does a nice job It still looks like crap though . Also, I've noticed my first signs of life, amphipods everywhere. Theyre scurrying all over my LR rubble. Wondering if this thing is going to take very long to cycle considering the quality of the sand and rock rubble used in it that came from the tank only a few feet away, along with the canister filter (still full of water when I hooked it up) that's been running on that same tank for almost a year. Thinking it wont take long at all.

 

[nogarobluenano]

You need to get pics up now!

 

[chrissaysyes]

Alrighty, today I added some more rock from the other tank, arranged it in a little pile, pruned the caulerpa from the larger tank and added everything I clipped to the pico. Tried to place the macroalgae so that it's covering the wire of the heater...I really hate that stupid heater. Going to get a new one soon that I've already picked out. I guess I'm going to have to have one that's shatter-proof since I'm going to be adding a Stomatopod With some help from Skifletch I've decided to go with G. Wennerae as my candidate due to size and availability. Also, an astrea snail hitched his way into the tank, he should have an interesting future once his new tank mate arrives Anyhoo, heres some pics, old and new, along with a shot of the tank room.

 

[chrissaysyes]

And yes, the floor is wet in the middle because I did a water change on each tank in the house today. And yes, I have way too many buckets. And yes, that is one of my roommates sitting at his desk covered in beer cans and fast food beverages. The tank room is down a small flight of stairs into what used to be a garage. It's pretty much to perfect aquarium room as the only connection it has to the rest of the house is the central heating and air unit. The electricity is on a separate box, the floor is a thin layer of cheap carpet over thick cement, and the lights are positioned so that they face the desks on the wall adjacent the tanks, therefore when it's night time for the tanks, the lighting in the room doesn't have much of an affect on them.

 

[nogarobluenano]

Looks cool so far. I can't wait to figure out what I want to do. I don't mind the beer cans, you should see the shelf above my stove, its the holy grail of empty smirnoff, hpnotiq, and jager bottles. What are the dimensions of the tank that that pc looks so tiny above it?

 

[chrissaysyes]

The other side of the room still has everclear bottles filled with highlighter fluid to glow under blacklights from my first college apartment...those were the days. Not sure of the dimensions but the tank looks so big I think because the light is making the sides look like the face, also the face is about 2" wider than the back. The laptop only has a 14" diagonal display if that gives you an idea of the size of the tank. I'd say the face of the tank is about 15", the back is about 12.5" and the height is around 10".

 

[nogarobluenano]

Well then that explains it, maybe you should have gone with their 12" PC instead, how do you have it attached on the tank?

 

[chrissaysyes]

It sits on a special acrylic lid I made for the tank. I went with the 9" just because it was light enough to sit on the lid without warping it and because I found a guy selling it on ebay for $10. Definitely wishing I had gone with the 12" now, this will do for a while though.

 

[nogarobluenano]

Let me know if you ever want to sell it!

 

[nogarobluenano]

I wish I could get a sw tank set up but i have to re home my geckos before I have the ability to, I also realized that I have an empty 20g high in my attic, but i really want to do a pico, actually, i want to do a 3, 10 and 20 gallon sw tank but that is just too much money.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Honestly I'd start with the 20 and work your way down, you may decide you want to go bigger, most people do.

 

[timpetty]

Hey chris, was looking online and found this online http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage...ble_system.html. Its 25 watts but I figured it might be less noticeable for you in the small tank. It can be buried, and the cable coming out of the tank is white and blends in better with its surroundings. Just an idea since I read how you're desperately trying to hide your heater in there.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Hey thanks for the link, that's a really nifty piece of hardware. It's a little much for my setup though, but it would definitely be easy to hide.

 

[timpetty]

No problem. Probably will be a little while still until the pico thing catches on commercially enough for an in-line nano heater