Ben's 2.7 Gallon Pico

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I have posted. I was just Married October 4th and moved into the new house same night. For several months before we had been busy preparing the house for us to move in. Buying furniture, Fixing issues with the house, painting and setting up, etc. I soon realized even though I had space to put my current pico, it wasn't going to fit or look right with the style we have. Unfortunately all the busyness has left the tank looking rough.

With that said after more weeks of planning and figuring it out I was finally able to order parts and start the build!

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

The first idea I was mulling over was placement and how. The corners were out of the question in the house and we wanted the tank in the common area. We also have a farmhouse style design in our home as well and large tank may look out of place. At one pointed I almost just decided to sell it all and be done as nothing seemed like it would work. My wife insisted I setup something for my love for reef tanks.

That's when an idea popped into my head. We wanted the area between the kitchen walkthrough and pass through window to have a buffet like table so we could set food on for guests. This would avoid having to walk all the way around to get food in kitchen.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

We began looking for tables, buffets, etageres and a few other things. It needed to be taller than 34 inches and between 46 and 70 inches long and no more than 17 inches deep. It made looking difficult especially something that would fit the decor. We saw a few ideas but we're to pricey, short, deep or not the right style. Fina

lly at home depot online we discovered a simple solution. It was a entry way like table that met our specifications and we ordered. Unfortunately it arrived and the poor craftsmanship showed

This is just a few issues. After contacting home depot and wanting to get this build started without anymore delay, they gave me a discount off the item that was satisfactory.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

At the same time I was debating over 2 different tank possibilities.

The jar has been done many times. While it is simpler to do, I love doing things out of the norm. I decided to use the dispenser. It would fit the area to be placed better and I could make it blend in with the decor. When I ordered the drink dispenser my mind began figuring out the next step for setting it up.

 

[Emptyness]

Congrats on the marriage and the new house.

You have some pretty nice and big corals in your old tank. How old was/is he? GL with this reboot. I am looking for more fotos .

Btw, one possible explanation why the wife insist on keeping the old pico tank is, so that you don't decide in a couple of years to set up something larger .

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Questions began to arise on how I want this to look. I wanted to recreate my first real successful pico that wasn't even a gallon. It was simple and easy. But this was taller and wouldn't allow as much room to reach bottom. I also needed to be able to remove rock for cleaning and water changes. There was how am I going to implement lighting and run the tank. I already had an AI Prime HD. I would hate to waste the light as I just bought it earlier this year or end of last. The other issue is how to hang. While I don't have all the pieces yet, the idea is to use an old style pully and rod to mount and run the cable and wire.

I also needed to cover the Prime light as it would look out of place. So after digging some more online, I found a shade that should work.

It is big enough to house the prime and feed the cables through the top. I had also ordered a plastic spigot as I did not want to use the stainless steel one as I didn't know the type. The plastic piece did not look right on the tank. I switched back to the stainless steel and will monitor for corrosion. Maybe if I can find one identified as 316, I'll order that one.

 

[j.falk]

New wife? How many have you had?!?!

I've only had one and that's all it took for me to learn my lesson.

 

[Miguel Negron]

Love the title lol but congrats to all three!

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Congrats on the marriage and the new house.

You have some pretty nice and big corals in your old tank. How old was/is he? GL with this reboot. I am looking for more fotos .

Btw, one possible explanation why the wife insist on keeping the old pico tank is, so that you don't decide in a couple of years to set up something larger .

Thank you. This tank is about 5 gallons and is just over a year old. It is doing really well. She actually insisted as she knows I love this hobby and have a passion for it. But not more than I have for her lol. She actually would have been ok with a bigger tank but I don't want the hassle of a larger tank. Lol. But something to ponder. I do have more photos coming. I'm breaking up this build into sections to make it easier and organized rather than one long post lol. Thank you so much for the congrats though.

 

[richarddeweerd]

That dispenser is easy with water changes

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

New wife? How many have you had?!?!

I've only had one and that's all it took for me to learn my lesson.

Lol well I meant it more as a joke but yes I have unfortunately been married before over 12 years ago and lasted 6 months, but she was never what I would call a wife. The woman I am married to now is someone I consider the most kindness and wonderful person on earth. I couldn't asked God for anyone better. And as far as I'm concerned she is the only woman I would call my wife.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

Love the title lol but congrats to all three!

Thank you very much. I think the New wife part is being taken as a different meaning than planned

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

That dispenser is easy with water changes

Should be but we all know sometimes things don't go as planned lol

 

[j.falk]

Lol well I meant it more as a joke but yes I have unfortunately been married before over 12 years ago and lasted 6 months, but she was never what I would call a wife. The woman I am married to now is someone I consider the most kindness and wonderful person on earth. I couldn't asked God for anyone better. And as far as I'm concerned she is the only woman I would call my wife.

Awesome! I feel the same way about my lady. We've been together for 10+ years now and she's everything I could've wanted in a wife. It took a long time to find her, but was well worth the wait.

 

[richarddeweerd]

Should be but we all know sometimes things don't go as planned lol

Its probably also the first thing that will cause a leak

 

[richarddeweerd]

I have to agree with the wife part. I now have one that appreciates my hobbies (It is even so bad that she's not really allowed to go to the LFS with me because she will convince me to buy too much fish or corals )

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Is the first pic how the tank is right now? The waters all blurry. Bacterial Bloom, get a UV sterilizer. It cleans that right up in about 1-2 days. Worked a beauty when I had a bloom

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

One benefit to cylinder or round tanks is being able to use an air pump for circulation. The air displaces the water and the curve allows that force to flow around rather than hit squarely on a side and bounce straight or angled back. (I'm not a scientist but you get the idea lol). I originally ordered the mylivell pump as it was definitely quiet. But didn't produce enough power to really get the circulation and movement needed. Luckily I had a tetra whisper from an old setup. But how do I get the pump into the tank with lid? You guessed it, Drill. I had never drilled glass before so this was new territory. But I say it turned out pretty well.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

I have to agree with the wife part. I now have one that appreciates my hobbies (It is even so bad that she's not really allowed to go to the LFS with me because she will convince me to buy too much fish or corals )

That is awsome. Mine just enjoys looking at the different critters and all the colors and types of corals. And she retains and remembers things better than I can so will be helpful lol.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

So after drilling I decided it was time to run to My favorite store The Mad Reefer. I might have over done it with the rocks but ensured I could get pieces I need. Unfortunately the tank size in my head was larger than the tank. But after a failed structure to fit in the way I wanted I was able to get one that possible could work.