My First Pico Tank - 2 Gallon Pico

C

CalBear91

New member
My 2 Gallon Pico

IMG00018-20090701-0023.jpg


This is my first Pico so any Tips/Advice would be great!


SETUP
I have about 3lbs of Live Rock
Probably 1 1/2lbs of Live Sand
Im Using the Aquaclear 20 HOB filter
18 Watt Coralife Mini Aqualight


Plans
All Zoas (Nuclear Greens, Bam Bams, Purple Deaths, Tubs, ETC...)
Small Clean Up Crew (3-4 Snails, 1-2 Hermit Crabs)
I want some Sexy Shrimp but I dont want them to eat my Zoas?

IMG00020-20090701-0024.jpg


IMG00022-20090701-0024.jpg
 
Very cool. My first reef tank was a 2.5 gal pico. Sometimes I think I had better luck with that than any of my larger tanks. :)
 
Good luck on your pico. I set a 1G pico at my work and have had it running for about 6 months now with zoas and a few mushrooms, and a kenya tree frag. It goes through salinity shifts weekly do to no one there on the weekend to top off, but the corals are still alive and the zoas are going strong
 
I have a 2g pico as well Its been running strong for a long time now,

Just make sure you top it off, I had a problem a little while back and didnt get to top my tank off for like 4 days, everything survived (i felt bad about that)

My zoas spread, All I do is top off daily, and change a cup or 2 of water a week, Sometimes I dont even get to each week and it just keeps going like it dont even matter :)
 
ya i hope when i get my zoas they will spread fast! what did you feed them or what stuff did you add to the tank?
 
they would spread with no food going into the tank just light. I have a deco tank made by ToM with a 13w pc 50/50 bulb.

I wanted to supplement feed so I started adding a 1/4 squirt of MarinePlankton with cyclopeeze once a week and haven't noticed much change. its a pain trying to keep the corralline off the front.

ill get you a pic when I get on my computer. my avatar is of the hammer in my tank (will be putting him in my 29g when I feel the tank is ready)
 
right now i have a coralife mini aqualight that is 18 watts
im tryin to find a stronger light that will fit good but im not havin any luck?
 
My 13w grows zoas and my hammer pretty well. My tank is longer than it is tall but I mean your 18 watts comes up to 9w per gallon. I would say it should be pretty good. Its shallow so I wouldnt be worried about it. But if you are worrieed about it you could always just add another matching fixture to it.

But like i said my 13w (6.5w per gallon) has my zoas spreading pretty nicely. Corralline is growing strong.
 
I have an 18w over mine as well. The temp shoots up to 85-86 sometimes. I tried putting a smaller wattage bulb in hopes of lowering the temp, but my zoas stretched...I imagined due to lack of light...so i put the 18w back on. It's amazing how much punishment my zoas and mushrooms go through. From salinity shifts to temp shifts they still grow.
 
I wanted sexies in my zoo tank, but was reading people in my local club saying they do eat corals, so I'm not sure.
 
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IMO I would not get hermits. They will eventually kill a snail or two and that could pollute such a small system. I only have one now and every now and then I will find a new empty shell with him hiding in it. Just a thought.....
 
I have 2 hermits in my 2g and they do just fine, they dont bother my snails. I have like 5 extra shells in there (mainly behind the rock work) When they want a new shell they have choices.

heres a couple older pics.
p5100587.jpg

p5100588.jpg

p5100585.jpg
 
http://www.tomaquarium.com/

Compact Fluorescent Perch-Light Fixture 13W provides direct illumination over the tank.
Dual Reef Compact Fluorescent Lamp supplies 7,400K Daylight (which simulates bright light on a sunny tropical day) on one half and the other half 14,000K True Actinic (providing blue light for photosynthetic corals).
 
I was also lookin at these fixtures from nanocustoms.com....

4.1 pico light for picotope (probably be best choice for me cuz it clamps on...)
nanocustoms

3.1 pico light
nanocustoms

5.1 pico light
nanocustoms
 
They are nice lights, I especially like the 4.1

Got a price tag on it to be so small but hey gotta do what ya gotta do lol
 
Ok so im not sure if this ok but just to be safe i will ask,
during the day with the light on the temp stays around 80-81
and at night time with the heater on as low as possible it gets
to 85, is that to much of a change?
 
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