Building a Pico

[NickSc]

I've been in the hobby for a while and had my shares of tanks. However, I am deciding to go small. Really Small!!! What would you put in this Pico, and what led cluster would you use to light it up? I'll post more pics as they come, but for now I'm looking for ideas.

 

[danieyella]

Do you know approx what volume of water that holds? I've seen people run kessils, ai primes, etc. I have an aquaknight on mine. I know when I was looking for lighting, there were a number of amazon available recommendations that were made to me as well - I think it'll ultimately depend on what corals you decide to go with. Zoas and other type of polyp corals are an easy option. I think more info on volume will help everyone contribute better.

 

[NickSc]

Do you know approx what volume of water that holds? I've seen people run kessils, ai primes, etc. I have an aquaknight on mine. I know when I was looking for lighting, there were a number of amazon available recommendations that were made to me as well - I think it'll ultimately depend on what corals you decide to go with. Zoas and other type of polyp corals are an easy option. I think more info on volume will help everyone contribute better.

The volume is about a half of gallon.

 

[danieyella]

The volume is about a half of gallon.

I'd personally probably stick to polyps (zoas, cloves, etc) - that way you don't have to worry about getting a more powerful light and run the risk of overheating such a small water volume. However, if you're up for the challenge go with whatever you want to do.

My light grew acros to a point in the 4.1g, but I really need to turn it up to see them thrive - and the smallest increase popped my temp up more than I'm comfortable with. I'm actually moving them over to the big tank soon and going to focus the small tank on zoas, minis, RFAs, and shrooms I think.

 

[NickSc]

Finally giving the update. What do you guys think?

 

[NickSc]

So to just let everyone know what we used to build this little reef. We ended up using a click clak container that was about .75 gallons. We designed and printed an all in one filter using a USB fountain pump. The filter has 3 chambers, one for media, one for a mangrove and one for a heater. The light was custom built using 2 3 watt leds running at 350ma. So far it seems to be running good. Our next goal is to use an arduino to control it.

 

[NickSc]

Updating this thread. The tiny clown fish has been holding strong. However the sexy shrimp did not make it. Hermit crabs keep escaping. I need to come up with a solution for them.

 

[NickSc]

Just updating this thread. I decided to add a timer and usb charging station to this Pico. However, I am deciding to go a micro controller in the near future.