2.6 Gallon Crustacean Biotope

[Nixperience]

I’ve been out of reefing for about 6-7 years now and I got the itch again. I’ve been a long time member of nano-reef.com, but decided to check out Reef2Reef as it seems like a larger and more active community.

I decided to start a pico with my daughter’s Fluval Spec III betta tank that was collecting dust in the basement and I plan to do a bigger nano this winter once I brush the dust off my reef keeping skills. I figured the most difficult thing with picos is salinity and temperature stability, so right off the bat, I got an ato and an InkBird heat controller. I got some cured rock from the LFS and a bag of live sand to get it going. It’s been cycling almost 2 weeks and things are looking pretty good. I’ve made a few upgrades with the pump, light, and media basket and I plugged that stupid hole in the wall towards the bottom chamber of the intake.

Tank: Fluval Spec III 2.6 Gallon
Lighting: ReefBreeders Pico LED
Return: Sicce MicraPlus Pump
Heater: 50w Hydor Theo w/ InkBird Heater Controller
Filtration: InTank Media Basket with Floss and Biocubes. No chemical media at the moment
Sand: CaribSea Bahamas Oolite

My plan is to keep with simple corals that I wouldn’t mind transferring to a better tank, the usual astrea, nassarius, hermit crew, and probably some sexy shrimp and a pompom crab and I’m going to seed it with tons of pods and phyto. I would really like to do a 36” long on a bookshelf and I’m leaning towards the 21 gallon UNS 90L. I guess I’ll start a new journal once I begin that process

 

[Nixperience]

Over the years, these have been my tanks.
First was a 10 gallon and I learned as I went along.

Then I moved and started a 33 gallon cube with a 14 gallon sump, which I realized, I do not like the cube format or sumps.

Then at my new house I started a 4.3 gallon pico under my basement stairs.

Then I moved and upgraded to an IM 25 Lagoon, which I realized I love the shallow reef format. Eventually I broke that down and sold it as I wasn’t spending enough time in my basement anymore to take care of it enough.

Now 6 years later, I’m getting back into it, still loving shallow reefs and not loving sumps or AIOs, so my next build will be very clean and simple.