Help with a 1.5 gallon pico build

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baodown

New member
I got a spare 1.5 Gallon Tetra Wonders tank laying around so I decided to do a fun little pico reef project with it. The plan is to keep just softies and a few inverts . So far this is my choice of equipments:

Azoo Palm Filter
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=9821

Finnex 21 Daylight/Moonlight Aquarium Clip Light
http://www.amazon.com/EL-BW21SL-Finnex-Daylight-Moonlight-Aquarium/dp/B00480QDBI

I didn't really want to buy an expensive light. I also didn't want do any DIY stuff because I'm just terrible at it :/ . So what do you guys think? Or is there something else out there that is better at a decent price?
 
i made somthing better its a .5 gallon fish bowl that is drilled and and has a 1 gallon sump. but i have no clue what type of life if any i want to put in it
 
Those don't look to bad. They are both super cheap so if they don't do the job that good. Can always upgrade later on. both of those together are like 30$ so can't really complain. haha
 
The Azoo Palm Filter is good, but that light is too dim. You might be able to keep mushrooms, barely.

It's a lot more expensive, but the Ecoxotic clamp arm LED with 3x1W LEDs would probably keep any softie happy. You can also search for "Archaea", they make a 13W PC and a couple of LED clamp-on lamps that would be suitable.
 
curlykid said:
leds are definately your best bet. a par38 bulb would be great, if you can find a good looking clamp fixture for it.
Click to expand...
LOL a PAR38 would burn his corals to ashes! A PAR30, hung quite high above the tank, would be enough for the most demanding SPS. BoostLED sells a gooseneck clamp fixture that would work for this.
 
Thanks tylernt for the suggestion! I really like the Archaea lighting. Between the 17cm led light fixture and the 13W compact light, which one do you think is better for coral? I noticed that the power compact one only comes with 10,000K instead of a 50/50 bulb and that kinda worry me.
 
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baodown said:
Thanks tylernt for the suggestion! I really like the Archaea lighting. Between the 17cm led light fixture and the 13W compact light, which one do you think is better for coral?
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The 13W PC for sure. If you want to go LED, you'd need two of those 17cm fixtures to get enough light to support coral.

I noticed that the power compact one only comes with 10,000K instead of a 50/50 bulb and that kinda worry me.
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Replacement 13W PC bulbs are common and cheap, shouldn't be hard to obtain a 50/50 bulb.
 
What worry me is that the power compact fixture won't support a 50/50 bulbs.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t267870.html

This guy bought the fixture but he couldn't install a 50/50 bulb and instead use a Ecoxotic Ecopico strip w 1 blue and 2 white along with the compact fixture. Would softies be fine with just 10,000K? What about the EcoPico LED arm light with a 2 x 12,000K White 1 x 453nm Actinic Blue LED lights, would those be good as well?
 
baodown said:
What worry me is that the power compact fixture won't support a 50/50 bulbs.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t267870.html
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Whoa, that's lame!

Would softies be fine with just 10,000K?
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Well, I know of at least one pico reef that was run with only white LEDs, no blue, and everything did ok for 6 months. So I'll say "yes, probably" unless someone else knows more. You won't get quite the "glow" from corals like green star polyps, though.

What about the EcoPico LED arm light with a 2 x 12,000K White 1 x 453nm Actinic Blue LED lights, would those be good as well?
Click to expand...
Yes, the EcoPico is the right color for corals.
 
you'll definitely want a bluer light for more color. but a whiter light will provide excellent growth. whereas in between will give you half and half. really your preference, but if you end up with SPS, you'll want an led fixture with at least five bulbs (3 leds is fine for softies though.
 
That Azoo filter you posted first is LOUD! I had one on a beta tank years ago and ended up replacing it. All my small tanks have AquaClear 20 (mini) on them. They can be adjusted down to 33 gallon per hour and if you need to slow it down more wrap a thin peace of foam filter on the intake tube.
 
baodown said:
Sorry guys I have a few more questions, hope you don't mind. I found another filter for pico tank it has a 30 gph. Would that be too much flow for a 1.5 gallon
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Nope, 10X turnover (15GPH for a 1.5g pico) is the minimum, you can go all the way up to 40x (60GPH). Even higher is fine if the flow is gently diffused over a large area (as is typically the case with a HOB).

Would 26W be too much for a 1.5 gallon?
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Nope, 26W PC would be awesome for a 1.5g. Should support any softie or LPS you want, but shouldn't burn mushrooms (well, they might need a bit of acclimation).
 
After all that questions I end up buying the Dymax Robot LED clip light haha. Thanks for the input everyone, I appreciate it a lot.
 
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