2.5g pico build

[MedicalRower]

Hey.

I am starting a 2.5 g pico build for my father. Currently, I have a 36g reef. In the pico, I will be putting corals and maybe a shrimp or reef lobster. It will be bare-bottom with a live rock (either just one or a few small ones) to add dimension and for filtration.

The lighting will be: http://www.marinedepot.com/UP_Aqua_..._Aquariums-UP_Aqua-AZ46447-FILTFILDFX-vi.html

My concern with the lighting is that it will be too much for such a small tank. Thoughts? They will be set on a timer.

It will be heat with: http://www.marinedepot.com/Hydor_Mi...alty_Heaters-Hydor_USA-HD00474-FIHTIH-vi.html

My concern here is being able to control the temperature effectively. If anyone has any tips on better small heaters, I would appreciate it.

The flow will be provided by: http://www.marinedepot.com/Eheim_30...pact_Pumps-Eheim-EH1000-FIPHCP-EH1000-vi.html

It will likely be "hidden" behind the rock structure and positioned to create a circular flow pattern.

Am I forgetting anything important? Does anyone have experience stocking something like this and have any recommendations for livestock (shrimp vs. lobster vs. fish, what kind of fish, if any, can be safely put in this size tank)? My coral list is still incomplete, but will likely include an encrusting or plating montipora on the bottom, the zoa, red mushroom, and star polyp frags that I have hanging out in my 36, and maybe a candy cane or trumpet on the rock(s). These are all small frags. The rest of the space is still up in the air. Anyone have anything that they have been particularly successful with?

Disclaimer: Of course I will not be stocking ANYTHING until I am confident that the tank has completely cycled, and from there, I will be adding everything slowly. Pictures will follow, as soon as the things I will be ordering come in.

Jessica

 

[Waddleboy]

may i suggest this: http://www.amazon.com/HMA-50-Electr...s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1328982618&sr=1-21

 

[FishNutty]

cool! i'll tag along, i'm toying with the idea of doing something similar
are you painting the back or bottom?
i'd think a small goby would do fine, the a clown would be the cheapest/easiest to find, but a catalina or trimma would be really cool too.

 

[KafudaFish]

Catalina require cooler water 70ish.

 

[W8lifts]

I have the same heater for my 12 gallon nano. Works well

 

[MedicalRower]

w8lifts: are you talking about the heater I linked, or the heater waddleboy linked?

Jessica

 

[MedicalRower]

Finally got a chance to get some things done!

I ordered all of the equipment I listed except for the heater. I took Waddleboy's idea on that one, and ordered the one he suggested. It came in, and I was sad to find that the light is designed for a rimless tank. To make it work on my system, I Dremel-ed out a piece of the rim (nothing integral, just the lip) so that it would fit. I also picked up 5 lbs of live rock from my LFS and broke it up into smaller pieces to do the rock work. I probably ended up using 3-ish lbs of it. Instead of going barebottom, I opted for crushed coral instead. It took slightly less than 2 lbs to cover the bottom. I placed the heater and put in the pump, and filled it with water from my established 36G. The pump will move because it is really obtrusively located, but I am very pleased with the flow.

It is still cloudy, but will repost when it has cleared up enough to make heads or tails of what's going on. In the coming weeks, I will be watching the cycle and keeping track of the parameters in the tank. As for stocking, I am probably going to go with a reef lobster and a firefish.

Jessica

 

[MedicalRower]

Today, just a picture. The tank is finally clear. The powerhead will definitely have to move a less obtrusive location, likely the lower right side behind the rocks, if it will still maintain the good flow I have now. I also went to the local $5 frag man and picked up some frags, which are currently sitting in my 36G waiting for the cycle to end. I have a trumpet (one head), galaxea (3 heads), button polyps (5), a purple star polyp, a frag of my own kenya tree, a large frag of my zoa colony, a red mushroom, and will be fragging my green star polyp in the coming days. I also got a couple of pieces that I am still deciding whether or not to put in this tank or leave in mine, and a few pieces that I am going to let grow and hope they get large enough to frag so that I can have a piece in each tank.

Any comments or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Jessica

 

[MedicalRower]

Hey. This update is called Additions, vol. 1.

It's update time. After the tank cycled (which went surprisingly quickly, though I did start with cycled LR), which was 3 days ago, I transferred over the first 4 pieces of coral. They were all doing very well in my 36G, so I was hoping that success would continue in the pico. The corals added are: 1 red mushroom, button polyps, purple star polyps, and a small zoa colony. I also repositioned the pump to have a better flow in a more diverse range of the tank.

Since the addition, the star polyp has been doing really well. The button is open about 75% of the time, and the mushroom and zoas look miserable. I have repositioned them both to get them into different lighting and flow to better simulate what they were thriving on in my 36, but to no avail. Fellow pico reefers: any advice on getting corals that were once thriving back into decent shape?

Pictures will follow.