Round Pico?

[Donya]

I used to make mini freshwater habitats in goldfish bowl-type glass containers, and seeing some 1-2 gallon picos in the LFS got me thinking. I wondered if anyone thought something that size would be doable in a round tank? Or is round to impractical for getting a compatable powerhead/HOTB?

 

[bunjiweb]

Depends what you are planning really.

You could make something similar to the bi-orb filter with a cylinder tube, sponge at the bottom and then an air-stone in it, providing water movement and fitleration.

As for stocking, think VERY carefully, it is very hard to keep such a small tank stable in terms of parameters, so you only want to keep things which do ok if there is a bit of a swing in parameters.

You probably want about .75-1KG of live rock, i wouldnt bother with barely any sand in the bottom - up to about 1cm coverage.

Then think about maybe 1 snail and 2-3 sexy shrimps.

Ben

 

[Donya]

If directed flow from an air bubbler would be enough to keep the small amount of LR from dieing off, then that sounds good. I wouldn't be stocking with anything difficult/fragile, and was thinking along the lines of a small snail or two (havn't kept a shrimp yet).

 

[steelhealr]

I don't think the shape of the tank has much to do with the survival of the pico. As is obvious, the main constraint with a tank this small is maintaining stead temp, water circulation and stable s.g. A one gallon tank of water will be very susceptible to temp swings based on house temp. SH

 

[AMS]

As everyone has said it is not the shape but the stability. I have seen many pico reef vases on the net that have done quite well. Heres a link to a Pico Bowl. The pictures are not the best but you can get an idea of how much stuff is in there,

 

[Mr Miagi]

I think Nav's family or wife has a round Biorb type nano. Search for the term with Navvarre as the author.

 

[Donya]

Wasn't able to find the described post, but I'll keep looking.

Temperature flutctuations arn't a very big deal for me currently, as the room temperature is pretty much constant night and day. Stable sg, frequent topoffs, and water params are another issue of course...and a bubbler-driven water cirulation could make the evap worse. I've got a mini pump that would be perfect for something along the 2-gallon range, but it would probably pop off the side with anything but a flat surface. If I can get my hands on a satisfactory bowl, I'll have to experiment and see how the environmental variables play out.

Those pictures of the pico bowl do look pretty cool...although given my current nano situation, if I am able to set one up it will probably wind up being filled with spare 8" bristleworms.

 

[bunjiweb]

I've got a minature Rena pump, its 1.5" x 1.75", would be perfect for a project like this.

Ben

 

[Matthew5664]

Could you use a Fluval 2 take the spong out and put in LR would have good flow in it and would surve as a bit of a cryiptic area. this for main filtration .
Then some nicelooking bit of LR for the scaping?

 

[bunjiweb]

Fluval 2s are bloody huge filters, that would take up most of the tank!!!!

Even a Fluval 1 is too big for this. The only "filter" that might fit is an Elite Mini which is about 2"x3"

Ben

 

[Donya]

Rena makes a mini pump?? I've got one of their canister filters so I'll have to check that out. I had a Fluval 2 (I think it was 2) once...Bunjiweb is right, it wouldn't really fit in the size/shape tank I'm looking at.

For the LR I'd be looking at probably one interestingly/weird shaped piece. I cured a pretty big piece that went in my 12g, and the shape is very cool, so I may do that if I can find another good starter piece. The live-limestone is really pulling its weight and then some as a filter booster too.



EDIT: BTW, this is what the "live limestone" looks like that I've got...if it can be seen through my dying camera. It's got lots of interesting passageways through it. I think something with a similar sort of appearance would look neet as a centerpiece in an orb-tank.

 

[AMS]

The Azoo Palm Filter is a mini-HOB that has 16 GPH. You could fill this with PhosBan or LR rubble and use a mini-pump for circulation.

 

[Donya]

Do you think a HOTB would fit on a curved surface? That was part of my concern about the round shape. I've had trouble with my large Whispers on fw "tubs" when they wound up at an angle that was anything but bolt upright. Don't know if that's just a Whisper-specific issue though.

I need to go out fishbowl hunting first...I don't have anything suitable on hand that's decent quality glass.

 

[AMS]

I believe many betta keepers use the Azoo Palm on bowls, maybe posting in the betta section will help out a bit more.

 

[Donya]

Havn't had a chance yet to look at HOTBs, but I dug up my old TetraPond "mini pump". I'm not sure I'll use it, partly because I have no idea what kind of gph it has. I guess in a 2gallon, exact gph rating wouldn't really matter all that much as long as it doesn't blast the water out of the tank. I don't think this particular model is made anymore, since I havn't been able to find any info on it. The size looks like it could work:

Scale items: U.S. dime and a U.K. 50p. I didn't have a ruler handy. Downsides to this little thing is that the cord is a pain to bend around things, and the pump is pretty old even though it hasn't been used much.