Pico Patch Reef (Fluval Spec 2.5 gal)

[consreef]

Hi all, I'm a new member here on R2R starting my first ever pico reef! I have some experience with saltwater, but this will be my first time with such a small build.

The Plan: I'm going to use an old Fluval Spec 3 that I had lying around. The tank is in good condition, and I'm making a few upgrades, notably changing the light (stock lighting replaced with Asta 20 LED) and a new pump (stock pump replaced with Rio + 180 pump with flow rate up to 120 gph). I've been looking online for a small and reliable heater as well, but the search is ongoing. I think I'll also remove the stock filtration media from the back chamber and replace it with live rock rubble and possibly a ball of chaeto if I can get my hands on some. The main scape will be live sand and live rock from my LFS. Since I'm new to pico, any recommendations for filtration and heaters would be great!

Stocking: When it comes to what's going in the tank, I'm a bit torn. I don't have much experience with corals, so I'd like to stick with low maintenance and easier to care for corals like zoas, gsp, mushrooms, and other softies. Photosynthetic gorgonians look interesting too, but I'm not sure if 2.5 gallons is enough to support them. Once I upgrade in the future I'd like to do a larger Caribbean biotope reef, so I might stick with Atlantic species, but I'm not sure how that would work for such a small system to start with. I'm also planning to stay away from fish unless anyone thinks something like a green banded goby could be kept happily and without a crazy bioload. Other than corals, I've been considering rock flower anemones or shrimp.

I'd really appreciate any advice or recommendations! Or if anyone has experience with Fluval Spec 3 reefs, that would be amazing. I'm trying to do all the research I can before I get this started to make sure I do everything right. I included a picture of the tank and light, but I'll update once the pump is installed and all the sand/rock/water is added.

 

[MakerofThings]

Sounds awesome! For a first real coral tank, especially a pico, I'd throw in a lot of fast growing softies and just have it look filled, easy to care for and plenty of room for mistakes.

Also, not to toot my own horn but I just started making/selling these for pico tanks. They're media reactors for more filtration, you can check my post history for my for sale thread!

Good luck, that tank should look really nice all filled!

 

[consreef]

Here's the first update!

Finally got my hands on some live rock, and the LFS also threw in a cool looking plate coral skeleton. Not too much coralline algae growing on it, but I've already seen some little critters crawling around. I'm waiting on my test kit to arrive, but salinity right now is 1.024 and temperature is about 75F without a heater.

Plan is to monitor everything for the next week or so and then hopefully get something hardy to throw in.

So far I'm really enjoying the Asta 20 LED, it looks chic and is easy to use. I'm hoping corals will love it just as much!

 

[consreef]

Finally got my test kit in, so here's an update on my parameters. I'm a bit color blind, so let me know if any of my readings look off, I had an especially hard time reading the nitrate color considering the first three options all look the same to me.

pH: 8.0
ammonia: 0.5 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: looks about 5.0 ppm? Not too sure about this one

The tank has only been running for about three days now. I know how cycling works in larger setups, but I'm not too sure about a pico setup, especially using wet live rock and live sand. I won't risk adding anything until ammonia is at 0 ppm for at least a week, and I'll hold off on water changes until I know it's safe to do so. Any advice on going forward would be really appreciated!

 

[Beluga]

The tank looks great!! I started my pico journey a few months back and I can't believe how much fun they are.

 

[consreef]

The tank looks great!! I started my pico journey a few months back and I can't believe how much fun they are.

Thanks! Just checked out your setup, looks very cool!

 

[revhtree]

Sweet little tank!

 

[consreef]

Bit of an update:

All is going well with the tank. Ammonia levels are down to 0.25 ppm, and all else looks stable. I'm trying to keep the photoperiod low so as to avoid too much algae growth.

I've decided I want to pursue a Caribbean biotope for this pico reef, with plans to stock all Atlantic species in order to mimic a small section of a patch reef. Right now that means gorgonians, zoas, mushrooms, some macroalgae, a hermit crab or two, and potentially some rock flower anemones. If all goes well and everything remains stable, I'm thinking of maybe adding a green banded goby. If anyone has any experience with any of these in nano/pico setups, let me know! Since macroalgae doesn't mind ammonia, I think I'll try to add that this week, but the rest will have to wait until parameters are better.

Here's a picture of some of the growth on my live rock.

 

[consreef]

End of August Update:

Cycle finished and I was able to add my first inverts! Although I want to do a Caribbean biotope at some point, I'm on a budget for the moment, so I'll take whatever I can get for now.

For my CUC, I added a small nassarius snail to keep the sand bed moving. Although I wanted to add a hermit, I'm a bit afraid of them eating my corals.

For corals, I was able to get some great looking frags from a local reefer. For $20 he gave me a blue mushroom, some xenia, and a big chunk of neon green candy canes. The candy canes also brought a little zoa hitchhiker with them, so four corals is a good start for me.

Today I did the first major water change, and I decided to move around my scape so I could create better areas to fit corals. The Asta 20 seems pretty powerful for such a small setup, so I wanted to create a bit more shade for corals that prefer less light.

Everything is a bit grumpy after being moved around, but otherwise all is going very well. I'm planning to add some more corals at the end of this week, possibly some GSP and more zoas. If anyone has an recommendations for other hardy LPS like candy canes, I'd really appreciate it!

More pics below:

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

get 3-4 masked gobies theyre stunning nano fish that get 1"

 

[consreef]

get 3-4 masked gobies theyre stunning nano fish that get 1"

Definitely going to go the goby route if I end up adding fish. Those look great, I'd never heard of them before!

 

[Gxry]

So I plan on setting up a spec 3 as a small Xenia harder, would you be able to give me the dimensions of the actual tank portion. I was hoping to start building a scape while I waited on the tank arriving.

 

[consreef]

Here's a bit of an update!

I had some minor algae growth after going away for a week, but a 50% water change and some scraping of the glass brought everything back to normal. Some of my scape is turning green, so I'd say I'm entering the ugly stage unfortunately. I added a few more pieces of live rock from my LFS that look to have a good amount of life already growing on them. The goal for this tank is to recreate a biodiverse environment, so hitchhikers are welcome to the party (though I've been careful to avoid some of the more nasty customers). Besides a couple of asterina stars which I have been keeping an eye on, I have amphipods, copepods, a variety of sponges in different colors, a few small bristle worms, a stomatella snail, and a bunch of tiny feather dusters.

My xenia looks as if its beginning to branch out in a few directions, and the candy canes are as gorgeous as always. During the rescape I broke off a branch, so now I have two independent colonies growing. My mushroom was a bit grumpy for a while, but seems to finally have settled in now that it's hidden beneath some shade. Once I add some more corals and potentially a bit of macroalgae, I plan on letting everyone grow a bit before I attempt to begin fragging. Based on how well the candy canes are doing, I'd really like to add a few more LPS if I can find some cheaper specimens that'll do well in such a small setup.

Thanks for stopping by and I would appreciate any advice or recommendations! Pics coming soon.

 

[consreef]

So I plan on setting up a spec 3 as a small Xenia harder, would you be able to give me the dimensions of the actual tank portion. I was hoping to start building a scape while I waited on the tank arriving.

Sorry I'm getting back to you so late. I couldn't find a good tape measure, but my ruler says the front width is about 8.25 inches, height is about 10 inches, and side length is about 8.75 inches. Hope that helps!

 

[TheRealAFISHionado]

Any updates?

I’m looking to get my spec out of the garage and place it on my desk. I've been in the hobby for about 10 years but tankless for the last two. What are your thoughts about this light? I was planning to use a Kessil A80, but I’m concern of too much light spilling out of the tank.

 

[consreef]

Any updates?

I’m looking to get my spec out of the garage and place it on my desk. I've been in the hobby for about 10 years but tankless for the last two. What are your thoughts about this light? I was planning to use a Kessil A80, but I’m concern of too much light spilling out of the tank.

I would definitely recommend this tank for a simple desktop reef! I've really enjoyed it so far. From what I've seen, the Asta 20 is sufficient for soft corals and LPS, with pretty minimal light spillage. I don't have any experience with Kessil A80, but it must be a lot stronger. I've seen similarly sized nano and pico reefs with Kessils, so I'm sure it would work with a little experimenting on height and intensity.

 

[Karen00]

This is a great little setup! I'm looking at the Spec V. I'm following along as many pico/small nano threads as possible. Did you find a heater and did you do the pump upgrade? I might've missed this part of your thread. I'm making note of the livestock.

 

[consreef]

Finally got my hands on a digital camera, so here's another update for the beginning of October!

Hardware:
- Fluval Spec 3 (2.6 gallons)
- Rio + 180 pump
- 100 watt all-glass heater
- Luminie Asta 20 LED

Filtration:
- Fluval sponge block, cut in half
- Fluval carbon bag
- Roughly 1 lb of live rock pieces in the far bottom section

I know the heater is waaaaaaay overpowered, but it was the only one I had available with an accurate dial. So far it has kept the aquarium at an even 79 degrees F with no fluctuation, and seems to stay off for the most part.

Stocking:
- Roughly 3 or 4 lbs live rock from LFS, which brought with it Asterina stars, copepods, amphipods, sponges, stomatellas, mystery snails, little green clams, tiny feather dusters, bristle worms, and maybe some sneaky little brittle stars.
- 1 Nassarius snail
- 1 Margarita snail
- 1 Dwarf red-legged hermit crab
- A handful of cleaned Caulerpa prolifera
- A colony of neon green candy canes/Caulastrea (which I have since fragged once)
- 1 blue mushroom
- A colony of pom-pom xenia
- A rock covered in zoas and two stalks of a different variety of xenia
- Several pieces of a green star polyp colony

I recently did a 100% water change and removed all my live rock so I could clean the sandbed before doing a small re-scape. I'm really liking the new setup, and everyone (aside from a very grumpy mushroom) seems happy!

I'm currently trying to grow out the GSP on the back wall, so we will see how that experiment goes. When it comes to future plans, I'd really like to add some more LPS if there are any options that would do well in my scape. I'm thinking acans or blastos, but I'm very open to recommendations!

Front view:

Side view:

New Xenia sp. colonies and Zoanthid island

Neon Green Caulastrea, by far my new favorite coral:

As always, thanks for checking out my build!

 

[consreef]

This is a great little setup! I'm looking at the Spec V. I'm following along as many pico/small nano threads as possible. Did you find a heater and did you do the pump upgrade? I might've missed this part of your thread. I'm making note of the livestock.

Thanks! I just included that info in my newest update. Only information I don't have is on the specific brand of heater, but I plan to swap that out when I find a better option. Thanks for following, and let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[Gxry]

How does the light attach to the back of the tank. I have the sand tank and am looking to change out the default light.