5 Gallon Office Pico

[jhadaway]

I have a Waterbox 100.3 that is at the 1.5 year mark and is moving along nicely. As a consequence of 2 reefs, I had some extra stuff that got me thinking about a pico. I have a 5 gallon tank that used to be my ato and some nice frags that I can't seem to sell. So I started busting up some rock and ordered a few things and I'm going to give this a whirl. This way I can stare at my tank to think instead of my wall. I watched Jake on Reef Builders go through his Pico build again for some inspiration. So far, I have a 50 watt Nicrew heater, a Nicrew internal filter and a Kessil a80 Tuna coming via trade. I'm going to build a gravity fed ato at some point as well. I had plenty of rock and sand and I'm going to set a good sized chunk of rock in my sump to use for seeding. I'm thinking coral only at this point to make sure I'm not fighting nutrients. I do enough of that with my other tank. I'll try to post my progress. Some of this rock came second hand so I have to soak it a bit to make sure it's clean. Here Go's!

 

[jhadaway]

Rockscape pics

 

[jhadaway]

Canopy is next. Got this a80 tuna in a trade. This is a super budget built. Leftovers and trades as much as possible.

 

[Nano_Man]

Canopy is next. Got this a80 tuna in a trade. This is a super budget built. Leftovers and trades as much as possible.

Nice tank enjoy the journey looks great

 

[jhadaway]

I’ve got trades going now for some lower light corals that i don't have. I guess i’ll rename this “someone else’s tank”. Bought and started working on the base and canopy too.
I’m debating these 12” strip lights on amazon to supplement and fix some shadowing. 1 blue and 1 white.



if anyone had tried them plz let me know.

 

[jhadaway]

Built and strarted painting the base

 

[Nano_Man]

Following

 

[jhadaway]

Got the top started. Made opening for a80. Debating a hole for feeding.

 

[jhadaway]

Finished the base.

 

[Nano_Man]

Looks really good

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Love the way your tank is looking!!!

 

[jhadaway]

I have most of the frags from a trade in place now. Really happy with the swap and wound up with a blue kenya tree i wasn't expecting. Its very pretty. I have a few more frags from home and itll be stocked. If i ever figure out an autofeeder that i can hide i will do a yellow clown goby or a shrimp goby pair. Im making sure all is well first. I may have to swap out the filter for one that has an overflow. I noticed some film on top even with good surface agitation. Still have the hood to wrap up. Here’s some snaps.

 

[jhadaway]

Pics away

 

[jhadaway]

The hood is finished. I do think it needs 2 supplemental light strips bit ill give everything a week or so. The kessil shimmer is crazy but it is underpowered if you pay retail for it. For a trade, not so shabby. I may try to build an hob refugium if i add a fish or shrimp.

 

[jhadaway]

Looks like the temp was pushing 80 today after i put the canopy on. Does anyone have a micro fan that they have used before for pico or nano tanks? I think more light is going to push it over 80.

 

[jhadaway]

I found this tiny waterproof fan to mount on the hood to pull out the heat. It’s quiet and crazy small. I also ordered an 11” 50/50 strip led. I’m planning on 2 more blues with different wavelengths. I’m starting with one to make sure i like it. Brown algae is taking off! Gotta love the ugly phase.

 

[jhadaway]

I also picked up this filter/surface skimmer to take care of the film on the water. It does pull down some bubbles so maybe there is some oxygenation benefit as well, just a little. Ill put in a tiny bit of carbon and pull out the other filter i dont need now. So this new filter at 80ish gph and my old hydor nano 245 are providing nice flow. Putting in some papaya clove polyps to see if they will grow up the back wall. Gotta hold off on the sps until the algae is under control.

 

[bnord]

I found this tiny waterproof fan to mount on the hood to pull out the heat. It’s quiet and crazy small. I also ordered an 11” 50/50 strip led. I’m planning on 2 more blues with different wavelengths. I’m starting with one to make sure i like it. Brown algae is taking off! Gotta love the ugly phase.

clever _ nano all the way around

 

[jhadaway]

This surface skimmer is doing great. I changed the pad today and added a small carbon bag. I bought one size too big and the flow is a little sharp. I added a perfed tube until i figure something out. I will probably use chemipure at some point. I pulled the other filter and put the hydor 245 back in. There is a good soft flow.
Brown algae has slowed a bit and i added some microbacter clean. I added a few corals this week too. It looks like hair algea is next on the battle front. I’m using just a tiny bit of water from my home tank with new water to keep nutrients low for now. So far so good.

 

[jhadaway]

I had a huge .65 drop in alkalinity over the last 4 days. I wanted to give the microbacter clean the weekend to do its thing. This has to be from the new rock. Nothing in the tank could be eating that up. Im holding off on adding my other sps for now.