pico tanks??

[pandafishowner]

i saw the pico tank in the picture section. i've got a tank about 1.5 gallons that i'd love to turn into a pico tank with some small frags and some live rock. how would i do it? what kind of light, what type filter/aeration, etc?

[Farrmanchu]

I did one that size. You need an AQ Mini HOB filter, and a 10 Watt Coralife 50/50 bulb. At room temp, the HOB should heat it to about 78, and when the light is on, it should go to 79 or 80. NO HEATER, the pump in the HOB heats it if it's around 1 Gallon. 1.5 might need a bigger HOB, or a heater. Weekly 40% waterchanges.

[Farrmanchu]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/Farrman/48fcbc68.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/Farrman/393f8055.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/Farrman/September035.jpg

[pandafishowner]

cool, thanks! where did you get the Coralife 50/50 light from? i have 2 small hang on back filters already. :)

i have this (http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6904&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030056&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1164043044074&itemNo=0&In=Fish&N=2030056&Ne=2) tank and one of these (http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444180 9698&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302037042&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1164043131617&itemNo=9&In=Fish&N=2037042&Ne=2) somewhere. would they be ok?

[Geofrog]

I'm also thinking of starting a pico but how do you deal with evaporation? I would think that you would lose a lot during the day.

[pandafishowner]

I was wondering that too Geo. I know my 29g start evaporating noticably within a day or two of a water change so I do top offs every other day. The 10g saltwater tank will lose about an inch of water every 2-3 days too. It probably wouldn't be too hard to keep a bucket somewhere of saltwater already mixed to top it off with? Add a powerhead or something inside the bucket?

I just want a use for these tanks. I used to use them for QT tanks but aside from the corner one being a hospital tank for a new betta with fin rot right now, they haven't been used in months.

*edit* and what kind of corals can go in them? mushrooms? zoos? xenias? and crabs, snails?

[TRIX]

Hey. Don't do top up's with salt water your slanity will go through the roof. Top up with fresh water. Salt does not evaporate but the water does. If salt evaporated we would have a bunch of salt water rivers. Wouldn't that be cool though.

[Farrmanchu]

Hey. Don't do top up's with salt water your slanity will go through the roof. Top up with fresh water. Salt does not evaporate but the water does. If salt evaporated we would have a bunch of salt water rivers. Wouldn't that be cool though.

Ditto to that, topoff with non-salt.

[pandafishowner]

kk. top off with fresh water :D got it

[Farrmanchu]

The hex tank you linked would be perfect, the 10 Watt bulb fits just right in there. The HOB goes on the back (you may have to trim some parts), try and make it all as closed as possible, to minimize Evap. Top off DAILY...well, I've left it three days without top off and everything was fine. But DAILY with RO/DI water is best. The 10 Watt Coralife 50/50 should be avail. at most fish or pet stores.

[Farrmanchu]

http://prairiereefsupplies.ca/index.php?id=57
This is where I got mine, he's close to my house. Have seen them at Petland though.

[Farrmanchu]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I did that Pico for my Brother, who has NO EXPERIENCE with Aquariums. It's been running for 4 months with no problems. It houses a bunch of Frags, 3 Hermits, 3 Snails, and even a small Damsel. Wasn't sure about the Fish, but it's very happy and healthy in there. It dug out almost all the sand behind the rocks for a territory, but pops out and swims around when someone is in front of the tank. The HOB Mini is about 20-30 GPH, the Tank is 1 Gallon, so there's 20-30X turnover.

[pandafishowner]

another question. how did you cycle the pico tanks? do you just put in the salt water, add some live rock and corals and there you go? did you use tank water from established tanks?

i think my hex tank is the 2 gallon version. i can't remember. but anyway i'll definitely use it :D

[christyf5]

The cycle will go much faster if you can use rock sand and water from an already established tank. For my nano I used cycled rock but new sand and water. I didn't see a cycle at all but it took about 2 weeks to see any activity in the sand.

Just a suggestion for evaporation topup. I use a kent aquadoser and it works great. I just fill the reservoir about once every 7-9 days (depending on how much we use the woodstove:razz:).

[pandafishowner]

ok good that you used new sand, cuz we have bare bottom tanks. lol. we have lots of live rock. i'll take a smallish chunk of it later :D

[christyf5]

yeah i have a barebottom tank as well so I ddin't have a choice but to use new sand :wink:

[pandafishowner]

what kind of sand by the way, i'm doubting hermit crab sand would be good? or would tank gravel work the same? i don't think bare bottom pico tanks are good, are they? just curious cuz i'm heading out to grab a light for it if i can find one tonight :) i got the tank filled with water and have a filter going already with about a 2lb chunk of rock in it from hubby's tank. just needing the light, substrate and frags soon :D

[Farrmanchu]

You could do bare bottom. A Pico relies on waterchanges anyways, a sandbed doesn't do much when it's only a cup or two. My Brother's Pico is due for a cleaning, and I'll probably remove the sand. When I started it, it was a direct transplant of rock, sand, and water from my 55 Gallon reef, so there's no cycle to speak of. Algae removal is a problem, I cannot fit a Mag Float in there, so I'm gonna buy an identical tank, and every few months, switch everything over to a clean tank. Then I can soak the dirty one, get it clean and ready for the next time. It'll take about half an hour, the Corals will be grumpy for a day or two, but it's easier than trying to get a credit card in there to scrape Coraline.

[pandafishowner]

well, the frags we have are on those disc things, so i just pressed them into some tank gravel i had leftover from freshwater stuff. looking pretty good today. just need my gsp's to open :D i have a blue xenia, a pom pom xenia, 2 gsp's and 2 pom pom crabs with about 2 lbs of rock.

[Farrmanchu]

Sounds COOL, GSP is fussy, in time it'll come around......then take over! I LOVE Pom Pom Crabs, wish I could find ones under $25.

[pandafishowner]

I bought some from Gold's Aquarium in Calgary for $5/each. Not sure where you're located though. But I think I probably bought the last ones here lol

the gsp's kinda spread out over their discs, but they haven't opened. i was told they're fussy and that they can take a few days to open. so i'm not worried :) and i'm totally in love with my blue xenia :D

[Chaloupa]

OK...what is officially considered a PICO and where does it become a NANO?? Might be a silly question but I am a bit baffled..:biggrin:

[WWWD]

OK...what is officially considered a PICO and where does it become a NANO?? Might be a silly question but I am a bit baffled..:biggrin:

I think pico is less than 1 gallon and nano is less than 10 gallons.

[pandafishowner]

what I read is that the true definition of "pico" is supposed to be under 2 gallons. nano's are under 10 and then you have "normal" tanks I guess? 1 site says my tank is available in 1 or 2 gallons, another says they're strictly 1.66 gallons. is any case i'd call mine a pico :p

[Chaloupa]

perfect! thanks for clarifying...I had thought that PICO was under 1g and Nano under 10g but you just never know....:biggrin:

[nanoreefer]

ive had afew picos and top off can be hard i think you should definatley put a piece of acrilic or hard plastic on top to help, if your useing a HOB filter try and put something in it to help with nitrates ect like seagel, phosgard or chemi pure they work good but i gess if your going weekly WC and dont whant any fish(but realy whats a tank without them:biggrin: )you dont realy need it, also be carefull of heat! i had a 1g pico i started last winter but took down in the sumer because the water would get to 86 with the light on!