Don't really post here much but got the email about the nano contest so I thought I'd give it a try. I run many tanks. A 180 mixed reef, a 90 gallon garden eel tank, frag tank ect. While I enjoy all of my tanks none of them seem to run as smooth as this pico. It has gone though many changes throughout the year. Initially I wanted to see how many different corals I could jam into the 8x6x8 area, but I have since discovered which corals thrive which don't. Other than sps which don't seem to do well pretty much all coral deaths are due to chemical warfare. There just isn't a lot of space. Some corals have been in here almost the whole time, but I still try and add the odd thing here and there. I typically do a 1 gallon water change once a week. The actual water volume of the tank is probably more like 1.25 -1.5 gallons. I've tried dosing 1ml of alk here and there but doing water changes is just so much easier than testing and remembering to manually dose ect. I had one close call with a crash when someone turned off the AC and it got really got in the summer. Many things bleached, most of which are still with me now.
Lighting is a par 30led bulb this has been going for about 4 years. Initially I started with the dymex led light which sucked and dimmed almost daily. I tried up to 3 of them but they seriously dimmed after a few weeks. The par 30 is still going strong. There is a pico hob filter which I run half a teaspoon of gfo, a teaspoon of carbon and filter floss which is changed every 1-2 weeks. There are 2 pumps in the false back one being the return, one additional powerhead I put back there for added flow. While the tank certainly is starting to show its age as far as scratches, the black sticker on the side has come off ect I plan on running this tank until it breaks or I die. It's pretty cool to have a reef I can pick up with one hand. The biggest reason for success imo is removal of the sandbed. While I'm not a huge fan of bare bottom tanks, you can barely tell this a bare bottom and the amount of detritus produced in this tank is staggering. Despite the fact I do have 3 flow sources there really isn't much flow towards the bottom and the sand bed became nothing more then a detritus bed after a couple of years.
Here are some pics :
June 2010 just before adding water
A month later :
The pink chalice at the top is still in the tank, as well as the GSP and the Grandis. I believe the red mushrooms are kicking around towards the back too.
Here is a closeup of the chalice :
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
That chalice at the bottom is the same one from 2010. It grew right up the acrylic and I had to carefully pry it off :
I have a couple other real nice show pieces I hope will somehow find room to grow that big :
I have tried a few fish and inverts, but I believe the mini carpet anemone (there are actually 2 in the tank) eat them. Everything from the cheapo yellow clown gobies to the prized flaming prawn
Additionally I don't think these small fishes have very long lifespans. Since the tank is so packed they end up being hard to spot anyway. I also had sexy shrimp which really aren't reef safe in such a small environment. When you only have a couple polyps it makes a big difference if they eat one. So now I just run it fishless, invert less other then the massive population of pods, flatworms and other random stuff that somehow made it into the tank. I only target feed occasionally and basically run the tank on autopilot. For the coming year I am trying to remove as many of those yellow polyps as possible. They overgrew many of my zoos and palys slowly I never really noticed until I looked back at photos and now see the yellow polyps in its place. Another problem is reaching into the tank. I can only move stuff during water changes so if something falls I may have to leave it vs risking it and knocking 3 other things over to grab it. Many corals are glued and epoxied but several are just strategically placed.
Looking forward to seeing what the future holds for 2015 and beyond.
Lighting is a par 30led bulb this has been going for about 4 years. Initially I started with the dymex led light which sucked and dimmed almost daily. I tried up to 3 of them but they seriously dimmed after a few weeks. The par 30 is still going strong. There is a pico hob filter which I run half a teaspoon of gfo, a teaspoon of carbon and filter floss which is changed every 1-2 weeks. There are 2 pumps in the false back one being the return, one additional powerhead I put back there for added flow. While the tank certainly is starting to show its age as far as scratches, the black sticker on the side has come off ect I plan on running this tank until it breaks or I die. It's pretty cool to have a reef I can pick up with one hand. The biggest reason for success imo is removal of the sandbed. While I'm not a huge fan of bare bottom tanks, you can barely tell this a bare bottom and the amount of detritus produced in this tank is staggering. Despite the fact I do have 3 flow sources there really isn't much flow towards the bottom and the sand bed became nothing more then a detritus bed after a couple of years.
Here are some pics :
June 2010 just before adding water
A month later :
The pink chalice at the top is still in the tank, as well as the GSP and the Grandis. I believe the red mushrooms are kicking around towards the back too.
Here is a closeup of the chalice :
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
That chalice at the bottom is the same one from 2010. It grew right up the acrylic and I had to carefully pry it off :
I have a couple other real nice show pieces I hope will somehow find room to grow that big :
I have tried a few fish and inverts, but I believe the mini carpet anemone (there are actually 2 in the tank) eat them. Everything from the cheapo yellow clown gobies to the prized flaming prawn
Additionally I don't think these small fishes have very long lifespans. Since the tank is so packed they end up being hard to spot anyway. I also had sexy shrimp which really aren't reef safe in such a small environment. When you only have a couple polyps it makes a big difference if they eat one. So now I just run it fishless, invert less other then the massive population of pods, flatworms and other random stuff that somehow made it into the tank. I only target feed occasionally and basically run the tank on autopilot. For the coming year I am trying to remove as many of those yellow polyps as possible. They overgrew many of my zoos and palys slowly I never really noticed until I looked back at photos and now see the yellow polyps in its place. Another problem is reaching into the tank. I can only move stuff during water changes so if something falls I may have to leave it vs risking it and knocking 3 other things over to grab it. Many corals are glued and epoxied but several are just strategically placed.
Looking forward to seeing what the future holds for 2015 and beyond.
