To flow or not to flow? (Pico, 4 gallon)

[genericaquarist]

Hi all,

Just joined, new to reefkeeping and totally intrigued by Pico reefs! I've been assembling and reassembling my gear list and am stalled at deciding about filtration and flow. Thoughts?

Here are my options:

Aquarium:
WGV clear glass cylinder, 10" (w) x 8" (h) OR: WGV Clear Round Bubble Bowl, 12" (w) x 10" (h)

Wave/pump:
- Hygger quiet magnetic wave maker, 1,600 gph OR
- Hydor Koralia Nano 240gph

OR: should I forget about the wavemaker and add filtration and flow instead, like:
- Zoo Med Nano OR even:
- that cute little submersible Nicrew 10-20 gallon filter with the little flow arm thingie

??

WWYD, wise hive?

I plan to have live rock and live sand in the bowl, and to keep beginner corals, a red hermit crab and clean up shrimp (sexy shrimp or similar). Likely no fish. Tyvm!!

 

[minorhero]

Are you sure you want a bowl or vase? They sound cool in theory, but as someone who actually had a 7.5 gallon freshwater bowl, I can tell you that actually viewing the inhabitants is weird and photographing them is extremely difficult due to the distortion from the curved glass. Plus once you have a few wires hanging out they lose a lot of their elegance.

I just started a 3.8 gallon lifeguard aquatics tank. It's an AIO, so filtration is essentially solved for you. Been great so far and everything is pretty simple equipment wise

 

[genericaquarist]

Yeah, I'm pretty set on a round bowl... I've been pretty taken by Cordelia the reef bowl, and I have a severe lack of space. Been going back and forth on the Waterbox AIO 10 gallon, though--an AIO is definitely attractive. But with another tank already in play I feel like it's time for something different. Hopefully I don't live to eat my words...

 

[minorhero]

In that case my advice is to find someone with long term success and copy their method. Here is a write up about the bowl you mentioned (I think?)

Fish Tales: A Different Way to Reef

By Nathalie Winans Tech-heavy reef systems are all the rage these days. Tanks everywhere are loaded with hardware and software—lighting that replicates tro

reefs.com

They are using a lid and a airline with no stone, a heater, and a temp probe, and that's it in terms of equipment.

 

[genericaquarist]

In that case my advice is to find someone with long term success and copy their method. Here is a write up about the bowl you mentioned (I think?)

Fish Tales: A Different Way to Reef

By Nathalie Winans Tech-heavy reef systems are all the rage these days. Tanks everywhere are loaded with hardware and software—lighting that replicates tro

reefs.com

They are using a lid and a airline with no stone, a heater, and a temp probe, and that's it in terms of equipment.

This is actually a different build, but an excellent article and embodies pretty much what the other bowl did. Thank you for the URL! And now I'm even more inspired. Just need to take the jump now...