I'm building a pico reef aquarium!

[wrfreeman]

Good afternoon! I'm in the process of building a desktop canister nano reef aquarium based on PJ Reefs model. The canister is approximately 1/2 gallon total volume.

I built my DIY pendant LED this weekend with material I purchased from Rapid LED (pictures attached). I deconstructed an old track light and used it. Turned out pretty good for my first try at a DIY light if I don't say so myself!

I plan to stock it with some small zoa frags I have (Whammin' Watermelon, Radioactive Dragon's Eye, Armor of God palys or Lord of the Rings Palys (I'm not sure which one it is) and some tiny blue zoas that might be Tubs. I've also got a small frag of GSP I'll put on top.

However, there are a couple of things I still need and that's where you come in I still need:

• a small piece or two of Red Gracilaria.
• a mini brittle star
• one or two small mushrooms preferably blue but anything that's eye-catching and isn't green will work splendidly
• a small feather duster or two
• and some amphipods and copepods (I can get a 250 pack from Reefs2Go for $9.99 shipped!

Please let me know if you have of the items above and I'll buy/trade for them.

Thanks for taking a look!

 

[CastAway]

I can hook you up with the mini brittle stars Wade! You just say when, and I'll start collecting for you. I usually get half a dozen or so out of my socks when I clean them, and can get more off the bottom of a night.

I don't have the graciliaria, but I do have some dragons breath, and will gladly donate a chunk for your endeavor.

More pics!!!

 

[wrfreeman]

Thanks Jeff! I googled the Dragon's Breath as I've not heard of it before. That's nice! I'll certainly take a piece of that at some mini brittles off your hands! What can I bring you in trade? I've got some digitata frags or some Whammin' Watermelon zoas I could bring you. Will you be around this weekend on Saturday? I could stop by before or after the club meeting if that works for you. Just let me know!

 

[CastAway]

I'll be around Saturday. We'll text that day and make sure the timing works out. Friday night I'll gather up a few brittles.

A piece of that orange digitata would be cool, if you still had it. If not, no biggie.

Here's the DB

 

[wrfreeman]

Awesome! I'll frag a piece of the orange digi this week and bring it to you! All I need to find now are a small mushroom or two and a couple of small feather dusters. I can always add those later of course. If Buddy has some pods for me, then I'm good to go in putting it all together. If not, then I'll order them from Reefs2Go. No worries either way

 

[CastAway]

The digi is awesome! Thanks man!

 

[wrfreeman]

@ CastAway: Glad it's doing good!

Well, the super nano is complete! It looks great if I don't say so myself Not sure how long it will stay looking great, but I guess time will tell. Here's the pics I promised:

 

[rajkovich207]

Super neat tank! FYI a small nano is actually called a Pico tank. What are you doing for flow/gas exchange?

 

[wrfreeman]

Nothing about flow or gas exchange. It's a sealed system like PJ Reefs. Unless I've misunderstood (which is very likely) how the PJ Reefs is put together. If I do indeed need gas exchange, then I'll drill a small hole in the back side of the lid and on the bottom side of the lid. I don't believe water flow is needed. The instructions on the PJ reef site do not mention that gas exchange or water flow is needed.

 

[thebluecatapilla]

Can you keep a yellow tang in there?

 

[wrfreeman]

For a very short period of time

 

[thebluecatapilla]

I love the set up! A mason jar of wonders.

Now I am by no means experienced in nano tanks but I thought I read somewhere that any aquarium under 3-5 gallons does not have enough water volume or space in general to allow for ample bacterial growth to prevent fluctuations in chemicals such as nirate or ammonia. Is this true, and if so how do you manage it?

I hope it isn't because i have an empty 2.5 gallon laying around

 

[cameronh]

For a very short period of time

Dude, that's tiny! So cool. As I have adhd and hate reading time to time, what are you using for a filter?

 

[wrfreeman]

It's completely self contained. It's got macro, pods, starfish, coral, water and light. No nutrient input so no nutrient export needed. Unless it all goes to hell in a couple of weeks, the plan is to open it up once every three months and do a very small water change. Although with softies I could probably do a 50% with no worries and most likely will. I even saw a small bristleworm (1/4") in there this morning. Must have been in the small amount of substrate I scooped up from the bottom of my DT. I may have set myself up for failure by using substrate and water from a working system instead of using 100% fresh sw and no substrate. Either way, the rock came from a the HOB sump I have on my frag tank and the frags came from that tank as well so there's nutrients in/on them. No real way to avoid it. The macro should soak those up and the pods and stars should also provide a bit of filtration. It's all an experiment so if it turns out bad, I'll rinse, make educated adjustments based on the previous setup, and try again The container and light will still be good and honestly the only real expense was the light. I've got large colonies of the zoas/palys so no worries there.

 

[Dtackett]

@brandon429 you seen this yet?

 

[Dtackett]

ill give ya a quick walkthrough of what you need to do.

youre going to need to do water changes each week for gas exchange and nutrient export as well as to replenish nutrients used up by the coral. do 100% water changes. you do need something for flow and to break the water surface otherwise your water will go stagnant. remember, if it eats, it poops so your brittle star is pooping and creating waste. you don't need to drill a hole for fresh air to come in, a sealed system works great. brandons reef vase has been up for something like 9 years. but he will give you more info on that, and probably expand on what I say here. hes the expert on pico/micro reefs.

the best thing you can do right now, add something for flow. you can use a simple airstone and pump to provide the flow and break the surface. it works great and with a sealed tank there is no salt creep.
here is my suggested routine for you.

once a week, feed your coral heavily and give them time to eat all they can. then drain the tank completely and refill with clean saltwater that's been matched in temp to the old saltwater.

every 6 months flush the tank with about 10 gallons of clean saltwater. you can either do a bunch of water changes to do this, or put the jar in the sink and use a pump to flush the tank constantly with about 10 gallons of water. this will remove any buildups in your tank.

that's it. its very simple. your tank looks great and if you follow this advice and whatever advice Brandon gives you, theres a good chance your tiny little reef will thrive and do amazing.

 

[wrfreeman]

If it's a sealed system, then what drives the airstone? Not sure I understand that part.

 

[Dtackett]

if you use an airstone, you drill a small hole and feed the airline though, or you modify the seal and lid on the edge to hold the airline.

 

[cu455]

Cool looking setup. I am pretty sure the macro will oxygenate the water. You should add a small shrimp like a ghost or peppermint.

 

[Dtackett]

with an airstone youll have air escaping which will allow for salt creep. you can use a small water pump to create the water flow. something like the hydor pico series or even a 12 valt water pump off ebay will be enough. the issue with the cheap 12 volt pumps is the metal screws would have to be replaced with either nylon ones or you would want to seal them.