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julianp
07/18/2016, 01:09 PM
Hi all,
I’ve been a lurker on ReefCentral for many years, but this will be my first attempt at a reef tank. I had a 90 gallon aggressive FOWLR system ~8 years ago, but have been out of the hobby since then. Still, I found myself occasionally browsing the RC build threads throughout the years and daydreaming about attempting a reef tank. Living in a tiny apartment with a fiancée and two small dogs as well as school and work had kept me making excuses for not starting a tank until a recent trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium left me convinced that I should give it a try. Space is at such a premium in our apartment that a pico tank on my 15” wide bookshelf was the only option.

The biggest lesson I learned while keeping my FOWLR system was to never rush things -- and I hope to follow that mantra with this pico tank.

After initially purchasing a 5 gallon Zen Nano tank which turned out to have a minor leak, the tank I’ll be using is a “Petco” brand 3.7 gallon 10” glass cube with an acrylic false wall separating the filtration area at the rear.

The equipment list below outlines the specifics, but in general I’m designing the tank to incorporate high, variable flow patterns, lots of light, and water kept as clean as possible through lots of biological filtration (and possibly a little macroalgae). Nitrate export will be accomplished with carbon filter floss, 90% water changes weekly, as well as a bag of Purigen in the filtration compartment.

The tank began cycling July 11th, though there was a slight interruption after I decided to switch to a coarser sand mix yesterday. The pink Oolite I was using initially was blowing everywhere.

The tank is now sitting at 1.025 salinity, 8.4 pH, steady 80.2 F day/night, 0.40ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and 0ppm nitrate. I’m expecting the tank to cycle for another few weeks at which point I’ll begin adding some small invertebrates and possibly a few hardy corals.


Equipment:

3.7 gallon Petco cube - glass, 9.75”w x 9.75”d x 10”h
Hydor Pico Evo-Mag 180gph pump
Hydor Flo Rotating Water Deflector
Aquatop 25 watt Nano Heater
dimmable LED lighting built into bookshelf: (still deciding between Coral Compulsion 24 watt Par38, RapidLED 19w Par38, or Coral Compulsion 14 watt Par30)
digital probe thermometer



Biological & Filtration:

4.8lbs cured “Real Reef Rock”
3/4” sandbed – Nature’s Ocean Premium Special Aragonite Reef Sand (seeded with some “live” Oolite)
Started with Nutri-SeaWater “live” boxed saltwater to help seed beneficial bacteria. Switching to Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for water changes.
Carbon-infused filter floss
Purigen



Supplementation & Feeding:

Feeding heavily (mysis/cyclop-eeze or similar) followed by a filter floss/carbon change and a 3 gallon (~90%) water change once per week. Target feeding as needed.
Light dosing with C-Balance two-part as needed.


Stock List:

no fish planned
branching frogspawn, zoanthids, acans, palythoas, possibly SPS as the tank matures.
possibly a shrimp or two
small snails and crabs, etc
micro brittle and asterina stars
possibly some dragon’s breath macroalgae

julianp
07/18/2016, 01:23 PM
Approximately 4.8 lbs of live rock was used (3.5 in the main display), along with DD AquaScape corraline-colored epoxy to construct the rock base. I'm very happy with the epoxy so far. After 24 hours, the rockwork is a solid piece which won't accidentally collapse and injure tank inhabitants. It claims to be non-toxic, but I plan to do a 100% water change before introducing any invertebrates or corals once the cycle finishes.

The finished aquascape before refilling:
http://rewild.us/tankjournal/overhead_2_7_17_16.jpg


Here is how the filtration compartment is currently set up. There is approximately 1.5lbs of live rock in the pump compartment. This rock will be turkey-basted well at each water change.
http://rewild.us/tankjournal/overhead_7_17_16.jpg

julianp
07/18/2016, 01:37 PM
I refilled the tank as carefully as I could, but still managed to end up with a cloudy tank. I added an extra carbon filter pad temporarily to help catch suspended particles. Here is a full tank shot showing the tiny space I had to cram the tank into:

http://rewild.us/tankjournal/shelf_7_17_16.jpg



I'm very happy with the coarser sand mix. The tank had cleared completely within an hour:

http://rewild.us/tankjournal/fts_7_17_16.jpg



While the tank finishes cycling, I plan on purchasing an LED light (Par30 or Par38?) and building a custom mount into the shelf above the tank. The bulb will sit within a housing hidden in the shelf above the tank and be vented above with a small computer fan. The plan is to buy a light that is stronger than I think I'll need and then dim it from there. Any suggestions on a light I should go with? I'd like to do the NanoBox tide, but it's far too expensive.

lifeoffaith
07/18/2016, 01:46 PM
Looking good so far. I'd be a bit concerned about evaporation in a tank that size and it being open top.

julianp
07/18/2016, 01:55 PM
It's hard to see in the pictures, but the tank has a glass top which covers most of the surface. Evaporation with the weak stock lighting has been almost nonexistent so far. That being said, I'm a little concerned about whether or not this is providing adequate gas exchange to the water. If I end up having to remove the lid I'll be figuring out some sort of auto top-off system.

Looking good so far. I'd be a bit concerned about evaporation in a tank that size and it being open top.

lifeoffaith
07/18/2016, 02:45 PM
I did not see the glass. I think you'll be ok if you have some opening at least. I wouldn't go completely without a top myself, but that's just me.

julianp
07/18/2016, 08:30 PM
Well, as luck would have it while debating which Par30/38 bulb to buy, I found an AI Prime LED fixture being sold locally that was a complete steal, so I'll be picking it up on Saturday. I'll be dimming the light quite a bit to not bleach things, but it gives a lot more flexibility and will look better on the bookshelf.

julianp
07/29/2016, 07:41 PM
Well, as of a few days ago the tank has finally finished cycling so I'll be adding a cleanup crew and the first round of corals this weekend! Ammonia and nitrites are at 0, pH is holding steady at 8.2 and temp is holding steady at 80.2 even on the hot summer days. Nitrates are at ~15ppm, but I'll be doing a 90% water change tomorrow before adding any livestock.

I installed the AI Prime LED above the tank which required raising the height of the shelf above the tank and cutting the aluminum mounting bracket. I'm very happy with the way it looks and the light can now be raised or lowered by loosening a single screw.

I'm loving the light so far! It has a bit of the "shimmer" I've seen on Kessils and the controller iPhone app is pretty slick. Here's what it looks like (sorry about the poor white balance):

http://rewild.us/tankjournal/fts_7_29_16.jpg


The light is currently running at ~40% (19 watts) of maximum intensity. I have the color spectrum adjusted to mimic the approximate absorption spectrum of zooxanthellae, but am in unfamiliar terrain here and would love some suggestions about what color combination has worked best for you all... Here's my currrent settings:

http://rewild.us/tankjournal/ai_settings_7_29_16.jpg

julianp
07/29/2016, 07:50 PM
The Petco brand 3.7 gallon tank came with a thin glass lid which left the filtration compartment in the rear of the tank exposed to the light and had me worried about algae growth in the filtration area. Additionally, I worried about breaking the thin glass while feeding and working on the tank.

Yesterday I made a new lid out of 1/8" cell cast acrylic while on my lunch break that I'm pretty happy with so far. I painted the area over the filtration compartment with black Krylon and used a router to make holes for cords and lifting it off the tank. As an added bonus, acrylic transmits significantly more light than mineral glass. After routing the edges, I hand sanded them up to 600 grit and then used a lighter to (somewhat effectively) flame polish the edges. Here's what I came up with:

http://rewild.us/tankjournal/new_lid.jpg

iperry023
08/04/2016, 07:54 PM
Wow, this all looks good to me! I'm setting up my first tank, also a nano, soon! Can't wait to see how yours turns out!


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keiferd
08/04/2016, 11:39 PM
as someone who used to have a 55G FOWLR, I am in the same boat as you. Due to limited space, I decided to do a 10G nano Reef. You seem to be taking all of the right steps and I am envious. Can't wait to see how this tank turns out.

julianp
08/05/2016, 09:50 PM
Thanks for the vote of confidence guys!

I added the first of the inhabitants this week. It's definitely harder to get a decent photo with the new light on the tank, but here is a current FTS. I've added 1 medium-sized frogspawn frag and three zoanthid frags
so far. I also added some red grape caulerpa, a cleaner shrimp, and one lonely cerith snail. All appear to be doing well so far, but I've noticed the zoanthids have lost a little of the fluorescence/brightness that they had in the store. I adjusted the AI Prime light to a slightly bluer spectrum (18k) and gradually upped the fixture's output to 21 watts and will keep watching it. Any tried and true ways to increase the vibrancy of zoas?

Today I started seeing the beginnings of a diatom bloom as well and I don't think this single cerith is going to cut it. Tomorrow I'll likely pick up two or three more snails and a blue legged hermit crab.


http://rewild.us/tankjournal/fts_8_5_16.jpg

keiferd
08/05/2016, 11:07 PM
I am using a 14" Lifegard power 2 high output led light on my 10G and I have noticed more vibrant colors and even at least 2 new polyps budding on each of my Zoa frags since I've gotten them. If you can fit a 14" fixture in your bookshelf, it comes with the clamps to mount on smaller tanks. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing as your current setup, but if you want results, it definitely gets the job done.

julianp
01/22/2017, 07:15 PM
Long overdue update. The pico is now 6 months old and still going strong. Maintenance consists of a 90% water change (RO/DI at 1.025 S.G. every Sunday using Red Sea Coral Pro salt) and a C-Balance dosing 20 minutes before lights come on every other day (1/3 cap of each A & B). I'm switching out the carbon filter pad once every two weeks and small bag of Phosban and Purigen once every 8 weeks or so.

I removed the Hydor rotating water deflector because it was too bulky and made too much noise. The Stylophora has been in the tank for three months now and has tripled in size in that time. The green Acropora was added two weeks ago and I'm waiting to see how it fares. It seems to have browned out a bit so I've upped the light intensity. Can still go much higher if needed, but I don't want to risk bleaching.

The only losses so far were a few snails who were killed by my murderous blue legged hermit crab, an acan that I placed too close to the favia -- which promptly stung it to death -- and a birdsnest coral that was already almost completely bleached when I bought it on the cheap from the LFS and never quite recovered.


Here's the tank as of a few days ago:

http://rewild.us/tankjournal/fts_1_22_17.jpg

ldballoon4
01/23/2017, 11:18 AM
Looks good. Why did you choose hammer corals? They will dominate that tank some day.

Majority_Rules
01/23/2017, 08:43 PM
Overall how do you like the tank itself? I watched some reviews on it and it looks nice. I couldn't find it for sale online anywhere though.

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