Updated Pico Tank

[mpw213]

Excited about my new banana torch so wanted to put some updated pictures of the 2.5 gallon pico reef

 

[mpw213]

 

[GHOSTLY]

Is the tank custom?

 

[mpw213]

Is the tank custom?

It’s made by PNW, called the 2.5 gallon lagoon I think

 

[THE REEF WHISPER]

So beautiful

 

[Sniklefritz]

Beautiful!!! Looking to go dominantly SPS in my new Nano, Ill be keeping my eye out for one of these!

 

[GONSALVR]

Wow... so beautiful. I'm just about to add my first coral to my 1 gallon pico tank

 

[DietDr.Kelp]

Great looking little tank! What equipment are you running on it?

 

[mpw213]

Great looking little tank! What equipment are you running on it?

Thank you! The light is an ai prime (turned way down). I use 2 small heaters hooked up to an inkbird controller, an ATO, and 2 versas for auto water changes. And recently got 3 more versas for dosing that I haven’t set up yet.

The tank is at my office without reliable WiFi so unfortunately can’t use anything like a trident or else I would!

 

[DietDr.Kelp]

Thank you! The light is an ai prime (turned way down). I use 2 small heaters hooked up to an inkbird controller, an ATO, and 2 versas for auto water changes. And recently got 3 more versas for dosing that I haven’t set up yet.

The tank is at my office without reliable WiFi so unfortunately can’t use anything like a trident or else I would!

How often and how much water is changed during water changes? What heaters do you use?
Have you noticed growth from your corals in the time you've had the tank running? Sorry for the onslaught of questions—love pico tanks!

 

[mpw213]

Thank you! The light is an ai prime (turned way down). I use 2 small heaters hooked up to an inkbird controller, an ATO, and 2 versas for auto water changes. And recently got 3 more versas for dosing that I haven’t set up yet.

The tank is at my office without reliable WiFi so unfortunately can’t use anything like a trident or else I would!

How often and how much water is changed during water changes? What heaters do you use?
Have you noticed growth from your corals in the time you've had the tank running? Sorry for the onslaught of questions—love pico tanks!

No problem! I do about 500-600 mL per day. One heater is an aquatop (land I completely forget the other but it’s marketed for a betta tank. Needed ones that fit in the back compartment and they auto heat to 78 (which I why I have them on the inkbird).

And actually there definitely is growth in the corals, probably not as much as in a big tank but almost everything is growing. I actually have to dose alk daily and last time I skipped a dose it dropped by 2. Also dosing mag and sometimes nitrate. And testing phosphate, nitrate, calcium, kh, and mag daily. The parameter stability is definitely the hardest part of this tank. Haven’t had to dose nitrate since adding 2 fish recently (a white cap goby and flaming prawn goby)

 

[Sam7]

Awesome job on that little beauty

 

[DietDr.Kelp]

No problem! I do about 500-600 mL per day. One heater is an aquatop (land I completely forget the other but it’s marketed for a betta tank. Needed ones that fit in the back compartment and they auto heat to 78 (which I why I have them on the inkbird).

And actually there definitely is growth in the corals, probably not as much as in a big tank but almost everything is growing. I actually have to dose alk daily and last time I skipped a dose it dropped by 2. Also dosing mag and sometimes nitrate. And testing phosphate, nitrate, calcium, kh, and mag daily. The parameter stability is definitely the hardest part of this tank. Haven’t had to dose nitrate since adding 2 fish recently (a white cap goby and flaming prawn goby)

I'll have to look into the auto water changes for my little tank! I usually just change about a gallon all at once weekly...this is likely not lending to a very stable environment (oops!).

Those are both gorgeous fish! I have always been a fan, especially of the white caps. I love the teeny tiny fish, but haven't ever had a system appropriate for them.

 

[mpw213]

No problem! I do about 500-600 mL per day. One heater is an aquatop (land I completely forget the other but it’s marketed for a betta tank. Needed ones that fit in the back compartment and they auto heat to 78 (which I why I have them on the inkbird).

And actually there definitely is growth in the corals, probably not as much as in a big tank but almost everything is growing. I actually have to dose alk daily and last time I skipped a dose it dropped by 2. Also dosing mag and sometimes nitrate. And testing phosphate, nitrate, calcium, kh, and mag daily. The parameter stability is definitely the hardest part of this tank. Haven’t had to dose nitrate since adding 2 fish recently (a white cap goby and flaming prawn goby)

I'll have to look into the auto water changes for my little tank! I usually just change about a gallon all at once weekly...this is likely not lending to a very stable environment (oops!).

Those are both gorgeous fish! I have always been a fan, especially of the white caps. I love the teeny tiny fish, but haven't ever had a system appropriate for them.

What size tank do you have? Even in this 2.5 I’ve seen the prawn goby once since I got it and the white cap I can only see with a flashlight haha.

I’ve found my phosphate spikes pretty easily so I try to stay on top of the changes, but also if I do more volume some of my coral would be exposed to the air which I try to avoid.

I haven’t had the guts to put the auto changes on a schedule yet, I just do it manually in the app. But it’s pretty easy to set up! Just one doser pumping water out of the tank into a bucket and the other pumping fresh saltwater back in. The versas are pricey but I like the so far. Only problem is they don’t seem to be accurate enough to dose very small volumes that I use (like 0.1 cc sometimes) so my plan is to dilute down my additives with distilled water so I can dose higher volumes and have more room for error

 

[mpw213]

Awesome job on that little beauty

Thank you!!

 

[DietDr.Kelp]

What size tank do you have? Even in this 2.5 I’ve seen the prawn goby once since I got it and the white cap I can only see with a flashlight haha.

I’ve found my phosphate spikes pretty easily so I try to stay on top of the changes, but also if I do more volume some of my coral would be exposed to the air which I try to avoid.

I haven’t had the guts to put the auto changes on a schedule yet, I just do it manually in the app. But it’s pretty easy to set up! Just one doser pumping water out of the tank into a bucket and the other pumping fresh saltwater back in. The versas are pricey but I like the so far. Only problem is they don’t seem to be accurate enough to dose very small volumes that I use (like 0.1 cc sometimes) so my plan is to dilute down my additives with distilled water so I can dose higher volumes and have more room for error

I think mine is a 3.7, but after all the scaping and whatnot, I'm probably down to about 3 gallons.

Haha! Hopefully they'll start to venture out a bit more as they settle into the new environment. I'm always totally enthralled with trimma gobies as well.

I think I'd feel similarly about being unsure about leaving the waterchanges 100% unattended. Do you have both pumps running at the same time, or finish the pumping out cycle before starting the pump with the new water?

 

[mpw213]

I have them sequential. Both tubes are in the back compartment and the built-in pump into the tank isn’t very strong so I don’t think it would be too efficient to do them at the same time. I’ll probably put it on a schedule pretty soon. My goal is to be able to leave town for a few days and only need someone to feed the fish every other day. Right now it’s very stressful to miss even one day of dosing lol

 

[mpw213]

What size tank do you have? Even in this 2.5 I’ve seen the prawn goby once since I got it and the white cap I can only see with a flashlight haha.

I’ve found my phosphate spikes pretty easily so I try to stay on top of the changes, but also if I do more volume some of my coral would be exposed to the air which I try to avoid.

I haven’t had the guts to put the auto changes on a schedule yet, I just do it manually in the app. But it’s pretty easy to set up! Just one doser pumping water out of the tank into a bucket and the other pumping fresh saltwater back in. The versas are pricey but I like the so far. Only problem is they don’t seem to be accurate enough to dose very small volumes that I use (like 0.1 cc sometimes) so my plan is to dilute down my additives with distilled water so I can dose higher volumes and have more room for error

I think mine is a 3.7, but after all the scaping and whatnot, I'm probably down to about 3 gallons.

Haha! Hopefully they'll start to venture out a bit more as they settle into the new environment. I'm always totally enthralled with trimma gobies as well.

I think I'd feel similarly about being unsure about leaving the waterchanges 100% unattended. Do you have both pumps running at the same time, or finish the pumping out cycle before starting the pump with the new water?

Sorry posted the response below instead of replying

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Just wanted to say your pico is loaded with some amazing corals!

 

[mpw213]

Just wanted to say your pico is loaded with some amazing corals!

Appreciate it! I think because it’s so small it allows small frags to really stand out. At first I was too quick to add some things I wasn’t crazy about but since space is so limited now I hold out for the frags I really love