2.5 pico concept.

[jynxtrix]

So, I have a 60 gallon setup, but I have a 2.5g just sitting around, and I'm very interested in starting a pico tank. So here's what I'm thinking, please feel free to chime in, as I would gladly welcome any advice.

It should be pretty simple and straight forward, Just a 2.5, with either crushed coral, or crushed live rock (which I would obviously have to crush myself, since even the smallest live rock rubble is much to large for what I want to do with it) for substrate. I'm leaning more towards crushed live rock because I want to use an under gravel filter with a powerhead attachment on the top of the uptake tube for circulation. I figure even the smallest powerhead will circulate the water more than adequately for the tiny 2.5g tank. I've got a nice piece of mature live rock in mind that I would pull out of my display tank to put in it (about a 3 1/2 to four pound piece). The only live stock that I would look to put in the tank would be some pulsing xenia, a few button polyps, and maybe an blennie or a firefish with a couple of nassarius snails and Micro hermits. For lighting I'd be using new brand of L.E.D. strips I found that have been working phenomenally on my main display tank.
Has anyone done anything like this already? I have searched around, and haven't had any luck finding any info, though it does appear that the under gravel seems as though it is particularly frowned upon, I suspect that in such a small tank it might be much more practical than a sand bed (especially if I can catch a few or my bristle worms from my main tank to throw in it.
Anyway, thoughts are appreciated!

 

[KafudaFish]

If you did a UG filter it should be run in reverse.

 

[jynxtrix]

why reverse? wouldn't that cause stuff to get trapped under the filter where the snails and hermits couldn't get to it? And how would I provide water flow over my live rock that way?

 

[KafudaFish]

Actually it would be reversed (no pun intended).

The powerhead would take water from the water column and push it down the lift tube to underneath the plate and the water would diffuse through the plate and up into the water column. Anything floating would continue and could be processed by your clean up crew.

One of the major complaints about a normal UG F is that it does trap.

On the intake of the powerhead you would need a sponge that would help with mechanical filtration. It would have to be maintained on a regular basis however.

I use a sponge in my aqua clear filter and rinse it out several times a week whenever I see the flow has slowed down.

The other thing is the flow rate. You would think blasting the water would be better but it is of opinion that slower is better.

There has been a thread discussing this but it is probably 4 years old. Maybe you could search in the archives for it.

 

[brandon429]

How about leave out all substrate and go bare bottom its easier

 

[jynxtrix]

Because I still want to be able to use the crushed live rock to aid in filtration.
bisides, the only way I would want to go bare bottom would be if I could convince my button polyps to cover the bottom, but that would take a hell of a colony.

 

[KafudaFish]

Depending on which zoa, you could probably come pretty close in 1.5 years with proper fragging and spacing.

 

[ange062]

All you need is an HOB filter, I don't know why you would want to do a UG style. Powerhead probably isn't even needed in a tank this size.

Here is my 3g setup, AC70 HOB for filtration and LED lit.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2076170

 

[jynxtrix]

All you need is an HOB filter, I don't know why you would want to do a UG style. Powerhead probably isn't even needed in a tank this size.

Here is my 3g setup, AC70 HOB for filtration and LED lit.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2076170

wow, that's really awesome. Sorry to hear that it had to come down. I just found out that I might have to be going over seas for a year, so unfortunately mine may take a back burner, but I am leaning very heavily towards trying it all just because I can, lol. So I guess we will see. I am however thinking about either just running a hang on back filter now, or doing like I do on all my freshwater tanks (yes, I still have two of those in my house too, lol) and running the under gravel filter uptake tube to my HOB filter. Then add some macro at the very back of the tank for a backdrop, with some cheato in the HOB. I guess we will have to see... But I can be pretty stubborn about when I take a mind to do something. so don't be surprised if there are pics up soon, lol.

 

[jynxtrix]

well, I did it, lol. I'll be putting pics up this evening when I get home, but I ended up just tearing down my hospital tank with had been sitting for over 2 months anyway with nothing in but scraps and such that I didn't want to use in my display tank.
I ended up using the 2.5 I had sitting around, crushed coral, and about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds of live rock that I stole from my display tank. I didn't worry about cycling it since everything came from pre existing systems, as well as the HOB aqueon filter that was on the hospital tank as well. I chucked 5 micro-hermits and 6 tiny snails in it with some caulpera, some soft corals, and a modified LED lighting setup, but anyway, I just wanted to throw an update out there, just to let you know the idea didn't die. I'll have pics up this evening!