Pico Reef Tank Build Thread - Lifegard 3.8

[Laniac103]

Love the tank, it looks super similar to my pico reef I keep in my classroom! The sexy shrimp/rfa combo have been some of my favorite animals I've ever kept. Watching them walk around and wave their tails keeps me sane when the students are driving me up the wall. I've been having a hard time keeping my alkalinity above 7 ish though, how are you managing that in a tank this small without causing huge swings every time you dose?

 

[PeterEde]

Really awesome build

 

[FishyFishFish]

No issues so far with the heater. The Sicce nano is on full. It’s an ok amount of flow for the mostly softy and some duncan corals that I have. If you wanted sps you would probably want even more flow

That's great, thanks very much. No SPS in this one for me, so the Sicce Nano sounds ideal.

 

[kiswanson]

Love the tank, it looks super similar to my pico reef I keep in my classroom! The sexy shrimp/rfa combo have been some of my favorite animals I've ever kept. Watching them walk around and wave their tails keeps me sane when the students are driving me up the wall. I've been having a hard time keeping my alkalinity above 7 ish though, how are you managing that in a tank this small without causing huge swings every time you dose?

I have to see, my initial plan was just to rely on large water changes, but now I think I may also dose a very small amount of polyp lab One 3 x week (0.25 ml). I’ve specifically avoided chasing numbers on the tank so far

 

[kiswanson]

Added some trigger pods and started dosing phytofeast 3-5 drops 3-5 day a week. With my larger aquarium I really came to believe in the beneficial effect of a thriving copepod population and daily live phytoplankton dosing, so I’ll be doing the same on a much smaller scale with the pico tank. I wish BRS investigates would look into phytoplankton and copepod addition early on as a potential role in stabilizing a tank, since all I have is anecdotal evidence.
#BRSInvestigates

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Are the RFA's doing well under the kessil? I am thinking about adding a couple under a kessil a80 but wasnt sure if the lighting would be enough.

 

[kiswanson]

Are the RFA's doing well under the kessil? I am thinking about adding a couple under a kessil a80 but wasnt sure if the lighting would be enough.

Yeah, they seem to be doing well. I don’t think they need really intense light

 

[kiswanson]

Pico Reef Video update. The sexy shrimp have claimed the toadstool coral as a hangout.

 

[kiswanson]

Pictures for the week

 

[kiswanson]

Tank Thursday Pico reef update pictures
#picoreef #picotank #piconanoreeftank

 

[kiswanson]

Tank Thursday - the Dwarf gobies are venturing out



#picoreef #picotank #piconanoreeftank

 

[kiswanson]

Rock flower island getting filled out - under blue light

 

[FishyFishFish]

Mine's coming together nicely. I'm having a little bit of difficulty getting the pump plumbed in (the 1/2 vinyl tube I bought doesn't fit) but hopefully I will resolve that tomorrow with a visit to Home Depot. I didn't realise just how small this was until I went to put the rock in. I bought 10lbs of rock for 2 tanks, and I only used 2 small rocks in the first one!

One thing that you mentioned in this thread that I have done differently, is the strainer catching on the inTank basket. Rather than cutting the shelf of the nice (and expensive) inTank media basket, I cut down the strainer, so it doesn't protrude into the filter section. To hold it in place I've just put a couple of small blobs of silicon on. This was actually easier than I thought it would be and it allows me to take the media basket out with the strainer still in place.

Now I need to order my Kraken lid.

 

[kiswanson]

Mine's coming together nicely. I'm having a little bit of difficulty getting the pump plumbed in (the 1/2 vinyl tube I bought doesn't fit) but hopefully I will resolve that tomorrow with a visit to Home Depot. I didn't realise just how small this was until I went to put the rock in. I bought 10lbs of rock for 2 tanks, and I only used 2 small rocks in the first one!

One thing that you mentioned in this thread that I have done differently, is the strainer catching on the inTank basket. Rather than cutting the shelf of the nice (and expensive) inTank media basket, I cut down the strainer, so it doesn't protrude into the filter section. To hold it in place I've just put a couple of small blobs of silicon on. This was actually easier than I thought it would be and it allows me to take the media basket out with the strainer still in place.

Now I need to order my Kraken lid.

Cool! I’d love to see some photos once you get everything set up

 

[FishyFishFish]

Have you had any problems with the return pump chamber emptying?

Even with the Sicce Nano on its lowest setting it keeps emptying the chamber and then blows bubbles.

I'm thinking the only ways to fix this is to use a less powerful pump, or grind out the glass in the return slots (which will require me to strip the tank down and start again).

Also, my Sicce Nano rattles. Does yours do the same? The Sicce 0.5 on my Evo is much quieter.

 

[kiswanson]

@FishyFishFish
No, I haven’t had that issue. I keep the water level relatively high and I do have an ATO that keeps up with evaporation (I’m using almost 1/2 gallon a week). I did keep the bottom round intake open as well using the screen instead of blocking off that intake.

i don’t hear the nano pump, but that is probably because it is staying fully submerged

 

[FishyFishFish]

Thanks for the reply. I have re-read and saw that you kept the restrictor in the pump line. Have you closed that off at all?

An ATO would just cause my display to overflow, as it would just keep constantly filling the return chamber as the pump empties it. The 'stabilised' level of my return chamber is also too low to put the heater in there.

Also, if you keep the main display level too high then I've noticed it goes above the return slots. This means that it isn't 'skimming' the top of the water. Ideally those slots need to go higher.

I've ordered a Sicce Micra to see if that is any better. I'll probably return the Nano in any case, due to the rattling sound. It's not terrible but it's in my bedroom and I don't want it keeping me awake! I might also still get the dremel out and make those slots bigger.

 

[kiswanson]

Thanks for the reply. I have re-read and saw that you kept the restrictor in the pump line. Have you closed that off at all?

An ATO would just cause my display to overflow, as it would just keep constantly filling the return chamber as the pump empties it. The 'stabilised' level of my return chamber is also too low to put the heater in there.

Also, if you keep the main display level too high then I've noticed it goes above the return slots. This means that it isn't 'skimming' the top of the water. Ideally those slots need to go higher.

I've ordered a Sicce Micra to see if that is any better. I'll probably return the Nano in any case, due to the rattling sound. It's not terrible but it's in my bedroom and I don't want it keeping me awake! I might also still get the dremel out and make those slots bigger.

I don’t think I closed it off at all

 

[kiswanson]

Let the ugly phase begin - the diatoms have arrived

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Let the ugly phase begin - the diatoms have arrived

Dang… it has to happen to every tank at some point.