2.5-gallon Pico Build Log

[obsled]

I decided to start another 2.5-gallon pico. I'm considering giving this as a present to someone, however I imagine it's going to get expensive - so we'll see! A little more aesthetics went into this than my other 2.5-gallon pico. My established pico is doing wonderfully and I am using a lot of the same techniques in that tank for this one.

Tank from far - to show size / overall setup.

FTS at Day 1. Right now this is freshwater intended to wash some of the baserock and test the flow characteristics. Notice the HOB intake covered with a piece of rock. My goal was to make this tank completely clean - no equipment visible from the front.

For filtration I'm going to use the AquaClear 50 (AC50) as a fuge / live rock rubble vessel. This is working well in my other setup and provides ample flow. I fenced the top by cutting the basket that came with it. The back was painted with cheap spray paint. I will most likely paint the bottom tonight in case I choose to go bare bottom.

This shows how I hide the intake. This is a AC50 stock intake with no extender, then a filter cage taken and cut from a MJ900 pump, and Duro Quick Gel to hold that rock firmly on.

Top is cut acrylic 1/8" with a Coralife Mini-Aqualight 50/50 2x9w=18 watt sitting directly on top. This is a heat issue, with heat climbing as high as 85F in my other tank. I'm working on a DIY counter flow chiller over the next few weeks to take care of this.

Current Cost:
Tank - Perfecto - $9.49 LFS
AC50 - $29 - Dr. F&S
Coralife Mini-Aqualight - $29 - Premium Aquatics
Base Rock - ~$8 - Reefer Rocks
Acrylic - ~$1 - Lowes Hardware
Paint - $1 - Lowes

Total as of Apr 22, 2007 is approx. $77.49

Next Steps:
I'm going to spray paint the bottom of the tank black and dry overnight. Tomorrow I will fill with salt water and add a few handfuls of geninue live rock rubble to seed the base rock. This will go for quite a while until I start to see some coralline pick up. At that point I will add a shallow sand bed.

Long Term Goals:

• Build a false canopy to shroud the light and HOB AC50.
• Have a fuge in the back that I can easily adjust to the needs as this tank progresses.
• Stock this tank with 1 turbo snail, 2 small hermits, 3 nassarius snails, and 1 cleaner or peppermint shrimp.
• I would like coral to be SPS and zoas. We'll see... I have a few SPS frags testing in my other 2.5.

Maintenance:
I am planning a weekly 1-gallon change with no other maintenance.


I'm not entirely sold on the aquascaping, but with these little rocks you can almost defy gravity and get away with it. The large rock provides a lot of platforms for coral, the right vertical tower is mostly in the light and has good mounting points. Perhaps this would be a interesting multi-cascaded zoa tower? The current setup provides plenty of room to clean the glass on any surface.

 

[Rosseau]

SPS with 18W of PC?

It all looks great though. I can definately see the clean look coming through. Do you have any pictures of your other 2.5 that you would care to share?

 

[obsled]

Sure, I'll take some photos of the other tank tonight.

I also agree on the low wattage. While it's always a hope to buy the candy store with a dime I really doubt it would work out. The only thing going is the max distance from that CF would be five inches. Needless to say, there are plenty of other interesting coral that will work in here long term.

BTW - nice lens in your avatar. I have the 70-200mm/4L paired up with my 20D. I've been out of the market for a while, does Canon have white bodied pro/prosumer cameras now?

 

[obsled]

Here are some photos from a week ago on my other 2.5-gal pico. Tank is eight weeks old. As always, it's more impressive in person, and especially so if you consider what it looked liked when it started!

Seven weeks ago --

It was created originally as just a way to not loose my live rock rubble that was an overflow from my BioCube 14. However it turned into a fun little project and so far is doing very well. It has a DSB which has been much debate but if all goes sour I can remove it and replace it in about half an hour. Hammer isn't too blown up in that photo, it's usually the flailing all over the place in joy.

 

[obsled]

Some more progress --

Tank was painted back and bottom,

Looking at the tank I decided that I'm going to put a very small hood on it. To do this I need to remote ballast the aqualight and figure out a heat control system, first step - take it all apart and see what we have

Here is the ballast these use if anyone is interested,

Fixture holder - I'll keep this with the casing / heat sink perhaps

Remote ballast setup, not yet extended

Proto hood configuration - I think I'll lay down the 50mm fans in the back and make air tracks for them

And finally, I've decided to park my rock in the 10g live rock culturing tank for now

 

[Rosseau]

The camera body in my avatar is a Digital Rebel XTi (comes in black or silver). I feared that using the black one in my avatar wouldn't show up too well and unless you know what a Canon L lens looks like, you wouldn't get it. It's a good camera for sort of low-end entry level DSLR.

I don't yet have it yet, but the f4 70-200 looks like my next pick up. It'll get lots of use this summer.

There are a few types of SPS that just may hold up alright under those CF bulbs. Some people definitely have done it. Worth a try for sure.

Looking good.

 

[obsled]

More progress (it was a good night to be working in the garage)...

Wired the aqualight to be remote ballast

50mm PC fans wired up.

Splash / salt creep guard for the lighting package

Acyrlic hood made tonight. Will paint black.

The hood on.

Tomorrow I'll sand and paint the hood / canopy black. Also will lay in the wiring for the lights and fans.

Rosseau - The Rebel is a great body. I had the first model for two years. Shot about 50,000 photos with it before the shutter died on me. Canon fixed it for about $200 and I gave that camera to my brother than upgraded to the EOS-20D, which is an amazing camera. These photos are shot with the 20D and a 17-40mm/4L lens. I also have the 70-200mm/4L which is a nice little trade off. Go for that 2.8L if you have the money!