DaDaAtlanta's Pico Thread

Well, after being inspired my Steve, yamaha and Robman, I have decided to do a small tank of my own. Initially I was thinkin to use my empty 20 but that would be more like a nano so I want to go smaller. 2.5 to 5 gallon or maybe even a 10 at most. At the moment I'm still exploring my options and figuring out how I am going to do this. I have an 18watt coralife light that I can use for lighting and a internal berlin airlift skimmer, which may be bulky in a smaller tank because its inside. I will run a small hob filter for carbon and use water change water from my DT along with a DSB of dry sand seeded with live rock also from my display. Sorry I dont have any pictures for you all at the moment but I will be updating this thread as I go along.

A few questions for yall and suggestions welcome:

What are my choices as far as livestock other than coral?

Can I keep a clown goby in a 5-10 gallon tank after losing a quarter-half of its volume to dsb?

Another idea would be to split a 10 gallon tank and use a quarter of its side for a RDSB and chaeto. I could even split it in half, quarter for skimmer, quarter for rdsb and chaeto.

As you can see, I still have a lot to figure out but should have things rolling this weekend. 8)

 

sounds cool DaDa looking forward to the pictures

Live stock - depends on the size you go for, if it where 10 gallons there are a few fish that would be cool in there IMHO
I went with 5 gallon and Im not considering adding fish, but will probably have a trio of shrimp , probably those sexy shrimp or maybe just a duo of blood shrimp

the 10 gallon split tank sounds like a decent idea to me, but 70 / 30 split with the 30 being the fuge DSB area would be more than adequate IMO and that leaves you extra DT space

Steve

 

How can I divide it and still establish flow through the top to get to the area w/ the dsb and chaeto without disturbing the part where the sand bed is ofcourse? I have an extra mj 400 lying around that I can use. It should also be sufficient for tank flow in something that small.

 

what does your tank look like?

 

Hi, Everybody! SOOO SORRY, I've been bz with internal medicine clinical rotation and a new business and havent had much time at all to get on 3reef. I've been lookin and debating for quite some time now as to what type or size tank I want to go. Today I found it, its a hexagon eclipse 5 gallon, the motor is missing and I will be using an 18watt coral life fixture with one 9 watt actinic and one 9 watt 10000k bulb to light it. For filtration I'm going to set it up as a DSB and some gracilaria. A few pieces of LR from my 55 and some small frags lying around the tank. I don't want to keep much livestock and will probably only end up with about 3 gallon of water volume so I may just get a yellow clown goby, few snails and hermits from my 55 to begin. I apologize again, progress will be slow but now that I got the tank finally I will be eager to get it going. Also picked up a 29Gal w/ wood stand, light and hood for 20 bucks so am debating if I should upgrade my 20 to that and then sell the 20 or just sell the freshwater all together and do a FOWLR w/ the 29. Anyway, thats a topic for another thread. Next thing to get is some sand.

 

cool! That's a cute lil' tank. Can't wait to see the progress!!

 

K so I got my saltwater and I'm gonna be doing a water change with it and using my old tank water in this new tank in order to skip the cycle and I'll be adding a few pieces of rock. Question I would like suggestions for is.......Should I do a dsb and lose about 2 gal water volume or should I go bare bottom and use just weekly 1 gallon water changes and some gracilaria and chaeto for filtration and just have a little bit of sand at the bottom for aesthetic reasons?????

 

Decided to go with a little bit of sand (about 5 lbs) all new LIVE sand and all new Saltwater, i guess I'll just stick it out through the cycle. All i need now is a heater, for filtration I put a HOB penguin I had lying around on the back, you may be able to see it in the picture kinda. For flow, inside I have a mj400 rated at 110 gph, will this be overkill and or will the flow from the HOB be sufficient? Can't wait till it gets clear and I will get a heater tommorow. After I have the temp correct, I will add some rock from my 55.

 

When the dust settled

Few pieces of rock from my 55g reef, mj400 for flow, I have not use a heater but surprisingly my temp is at 79 in the tank, possibly due to the light a bit. What do you you all think of the aquascaping, yay or nay? How long will I have to wait no before I can add coral, its all new LIVE sand and mostly new Saltwater, couple cups from my 55Few pieces of rock from my 55g reef, mj400 for flow, I have not use a heater but surprisingly my temp is at 79 in the tank, possibly due to the light a bit. What do you you all think of the aquascaping, yay or nay?

 

Its all new LIVE sand and mostly new Saltwater, about 1/2 gallon water and those live rock pieces from my 55, gonna add some more. Everytime I set up a new tank I seem to forget the process so can someone remind me how long will I have to wait now before I can add fish and then coral?

What are some fish choices I have for this small tank? 1 or 2