Pico NPS Tank...

FishNutty

FishNutty

New member
Is it possible/has anyone ever done a NPS tank in a pico(sub-5ish gallons) size? I'm toying with the idea of either a 10in cube or a system 3 from marineland on my bedside table, and I love the look of NPS corals. I know most people do a lot of water changes, and I figured on a tank that small it would be very manageable. I thought I'd start with sun coral or dendros and slowly collect more rare/difficult corals. But I couldn't remember ever seeing a NPS pico, so I figured I'd ask ya'll.
 
Aquabacs said:
I dont see why is cant be done. I would keep all easy non-photo's and do a few 100% water changes weekly. Check out Jake's article in this month's Advance Aquarist http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/4/aquarium

Mike
Click to expand...

Really cool, although I wonder about the feeding aspect of NPS. That tank works not just because of the 100% water changes, but because the bio load is so light. What works with LPS and ricordia might not work as well with NPS. I can't wait to see a larger version of that tank and I am toying with the idea of setting up something very similar (although using LR instead of ceramics) with a Mr Aqua 25g 18" cube.
 
If it is done with sun corals, dendros and rhizos it would be easy, as there feeding demands are not that difficult.

I have been tempted to set up a non-photo fish bowl :D

Mike
 
figured i'd just do those^, i like the look of the gorgs, but i wasn't sure if it was doable....
what kind of filtration would i need? and light? would one each of the white and blue of these work?
thanks:wave:
 
I had my rhizo/dendro/balano all in a 5.5 gallon for a few months until I upgraded tanks and had room for them in my main reef. Just ran a k-nano, one of those clear cheapo filters and a led light. Barebottom. Changed most of the water weekly. Not the prettiest or fanciest setup but it was meant to be temporary. Very easy minimal upkeep, no algea growth with so little lighting, no cleanup crew other than a snail that hitchhiked in. Those coral do well with low/medium flow and opened fantastically in there, been thinking about doing it again but figured the bf would shoot me for even suggesting another tank. :lmao:
 
FishNutty said:
would i need/could i do some sort of small goby? to clean up leftovers and such...?...
Click to expand...

if i went with a 10 or 12 inch cube would a firefish work, or would it be too much? also, i don't have a local lfs, and shipping is going to kill me on food. would raw shrimp from the grocery store, chopped up super fine, work?
thanks:smurf:
 
update!!
i got a 6 gallon nano-cube for a really good price from a local reefer, and once the school project i'm working on now is done[bio-type of some local water ways...salt, of course!], i'll probably be going ahead and giving this idea a shot :D
 
Sardaukar said:
Really cool, although I wonder about the feeding aspect of NPS. That tank works not just because of the 100% water changes, but because the bio load is so light. What works with LPS and ricordia might not work as well with NPS. I can't wait to see a larger version of that tank and I am toying with the idea of setting up something very similar (although using LR instead of ceramics) with a Mr Aqua 25g 18" cube.
Click to expand...

The bio-load is a lot more then you think (having seen the tank a few times in person and talking to Jake about it every so ofter. The pictures do no justice to just how much bio-load is in the tank. IIRC Jake does has a few NPS in there and does feed them. Sure he's not dosing gobs of Shellfish Diet and Rotifers, but he does feed the corals.
 
snowriderz said:
any pictures of your tank?
Click to expand...

around here somewhere....ah....here ya go!
<a href="http://s770.photobucket.com/albums/xx341/AnnasHope04/?action=view&current=AnnaandEmilyCamera201000071.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx341/AnnasHope04/AnnaandEmilyCamera201000071.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

this is from when i first got it, i was cleaning it up and my 6-month old kitten[paddington] decided to 'help'.

I've ended up doing a few small mods on the tank itself, the return pump refuses to return water, so I swapped it out for another[in an effort to keep costs down, I nabbed it from a whisper filter I wasn't using any more.] It's now working great. I also siliconed a small over-flow box over the original grate[which you can see in the picture..near paddi's tail, between the cords], which will allow me to keep the water level a bit higher.
 
FishNutty said:
Is it possible/has anyone ever done a NPS tank in a pico(sub-5ish gallons) size?... I thought I'd start with sun coral or dendros and slowly collect more rare/difficult corals. But I couldn't remember ever seeing a NPS pico, so I figured I'd ask ya'll.
Click to expand...

One guy, thesmallerthebetter, keeps TSTB's 0.9G Pico with sun corals. He has also a cube tank, similar to yours, only larger, 8 Gallon NPS Cube "Dendrophyllia Paradise".

Another one, inwall75, had 4 gal NPC tank, including sun corals, Innovative Marine 4 Gallon Pico. I believe that both are professional aquarists.

Brandon keeps few heads of sun corals or dendros in his Reefbowl (vase).
 
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