gio28's pico reef

gio28

gio28

Active Member
Hi everyone.
I'm in the process of building a small pico cube that I would like to eventually turn into a reef.
I figured the best way to go about doing this would be to document my progress.
To save money I decided that I'm going to build my own cube and DIY everything possible.
As of right now all I have are the plans for my project. For the tank I decided that I really like the rimless cube look...so I'm thinking of doing 12X12X12 with 6mm glass. I also have experience with silicon so I'm hoping the seams don't come out too sloppy. To keep the minimalistic and sleek look I plan on dividing the tank into 2 areas...1 being the display that will be 12X10X12, and 2 being the built in fuge/filter in the back that will only be 12X2X12. I plan on using some krylon fusion (black) on an acrylic divider that will separate the two areas. The divider will have about a 4" long overflow cut into it on one side where the water will come in (also where the heater and chaeto will be kept)...from there it will spill over into a small compartment with filter media. Then finally, it will spill over into a third compartment where the water will be returned to the display via a small powerhead. I plan on achieving this by drilling a hole near the top of the divider on one side where the power head nozzle will stick through to provide circulation at the same time it is returning the water.
Anyways...the water volume will be around 5-6 gallons after using white live sand and base rock
As far as lighting goes I have found a product by BOOSTLED that I really like. For around $100 I can get a 'somewhat' stylish reef lamp clamp and a PAR30 LED bulb. The LED combo I have picked out is 4 royal blue and 1 cool white. I'm pretty sure this will suffice for the mushrooms, softies, and LPS I plan to keep. I also like the 60 degree optics because I don't like the spotlight effect...and also some light will then shine in the back on the chaeto.
Lastly, I have to still configure a stocklist. But a rough draft would be:
Fish
- no idea...suggestions please

Inverts
- my two sexy shrimp from my other tank...if I can catch them lol.
- a few cerith snails from my other tank (they 'make babies' like crazy haha...I have 100's)
- possibly a pistol shrimp (only if I decide to have a goby)
Corals (mostly frags from my other tank)
- GSP (ISOLATED)
- Green metallic shrooms
- orange and blue rics
- zoas (candy apple, eagle eye)
- torch coral
- candy cane
- and suggestions from you guys! lol
Please feel free to leave me some comments, suggestions, or criticism you have so I can get some opinions/advice

Thanks everyone! I'll be posting a few pictures later of my plans so you can actually see all that I'm talking about lol.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Following along....It amazes me the talent on this site, to be able to make everything yourself....what a great ability
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
id deff do a goby/shrimp combo! btw have u looked at orphek par38 bulb....kinda the same as the one ur thinkin about.....has 12 leds though i think, 2 are u.v. for coral pop.....$100. They also have a $200 bulb but thats a lil spendy imo
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
thanks for the replies!
I've actually been doing some research and I found a bulb from rapid LED. It has 7 bulbs (3 royal blue, 1 blue, 1 warm white, 2 cool white) and uses CREE XR-E LEDS...so I know its the real deal. and it's only $90. it comes in 80 degree optics so it will have a nice spread.
as far as a pump I'm thinking of using a small powerhead which will have vinyl tubing connecting it with a bulkhead...then I will have a hydor flo deflector attached so I get a nice variety of water circulation. I am changing the back area to 12X3 so I can fit the pump comfortably.
the one thing I was wondering about was if I need to fully cycle the tank...I put a good size aquaclear sponge in my big tank's sump precisely for a reason like this. thoughts? if not it's no big deal...I can be patient...but prefer not to

I'm stuck on a shrimp/goby combo and a pair of clown gobies. I have a yellow watchman and pistol shrimp in my 36 gallon so I'm leaning towards a pair of yellow clown gobies.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
ok well the project has officially started

I bought a large majority of the supplies I needed today...here's the breakdown:
-some 1/2" vinyl tubing
-aquarium sealant
-painter's tape
-krylon fusion black (I'm surprised they sold me spray paint considering I'm a minor haha)
-RapidLED par38 bulb. yayyyyy!
-plumbing supplies (loc line, bulkhead)
-50 watt heater
-thermometer
-filter media (mechanical, chemical, biological, filter bags)
-small RIO hyperflow pump
-coraffix (for the coral frags Im going to transfer from my bigger tank)
so the total expense for this DIY build is now at...$291.34
(aka too much money for a 17 year old...thank god for graduation money $$$
)
so now the only other supplies I need to buy are the panels of glass (estimate given to me at $50-$60), a fixture for the bulb, the divider, and some nice base rock....I think thats it...
I did order some base rock from reef cleaners but the order was cancelled cause I tried to be sneaky and use a coupon code that didn't apply to my order...
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
lol!
So I just reordered 10 lbs of base rock from reef cleaners for $31
so the total is now at....$322.34.
now I'm off to buy the glass, divider, and lamp fixture...hopefully this project stays under $400 haha.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerth6932 http:///forum/thread/386183/gio28-s-pico-reef#post_3391070
..... yeah that's gunna happen....
Salt water is synonymous with $$$$$
yeah pretty much.
and I ordered the glass today. pick up tomorrow. only $30 haha.
2- 12x12.5" panels for the front and back. the extra 1/2" is to make up for the 1/4" thickness of the 2 side panels.
3- 12x12" panels for the sides and bottom.
oh and in an attempt to try to make my own acrylic divider from previous supplies I now have successfully managed to have silicon explode all over my hands.
hah now I know that gloves are my friend.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
the RAPID LED par38 bulb came today! very impressed. The color combo looks very nice and its quality is awesome. now I just need to find a fixture...
I'll also finally have some pictures to post of the build starting tomorrow. The glass is going to be ready so I can start to silicon the tank. And I'm also picking up the acrylic divider and some baffles for the back area.
The other supplies I ordered for the tank won't be here till tuesday though.
I'm hoping I can get the tank completely assembled and begin it's cycle before I leave for vacation next weekend.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
hah I haven't updated this thread in a while. There has been a lot of progress and I'm excited to get this tank stocked with corals and fish.
The cycle is over with, and since there is no livestock in it right now I ghost feed the tank a tiny bit to keep the bacteria alive.
I'm waiting on an order to come in at my LFS for 2 yellow clown gobies, which are the only 2 fish I plan to keep in this tank. So while I'm waiting I thought it would be a good idea to start fragging some of the corals I have.
Anyways, here are some pictures of the tank. The lighting is incredibly blue because I took it from my iphone...I have to wait for my dad to bring home his fancy camera from work to get some quality pics...
water test and lighting test in the garage

a few shots of the tank in my room with a new PVC mount for the light

first filter chamber. where the media will be kept.

2nd chamber (where heater is) for equipment, and 3rd chamber (bottom of pic) where the return pump to the loc line is located.

the quality of the pictures is bugging the crap out of me. the LED lamp is being put to shame, it is really awesome when seen in person. but anyways, enjoy. I'm hoping to get the fish and corals in the tank soon. I'll be updating more frequently once things get going more.
 
prh123

prh123

Member
I like the single “large” live rock looks “nice”, yea your tank looks really blue, what are the kelvin degrees and spectrum of LED lights exactly? You don’t get a straight answer ever but 6000K seems to be to grow plants, actinic 03 grows coralline, 10K some suggest is just pretty to the eye. There are fifty thousand 10K and actinic 03 light fixtures, I wanted to try something else already also. Coralife has more bulb types just in T8 fixtures; I went through their product web site very carefully. For a real “mini reef” (ten gallons) one company made dual T5 at 18 inch, another a six way, all come with 10K and actinic 03 standard.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
watsup geo?!?! Havent seen u on in a bit! Wat kind of LED bulb is that? I remember u talkin about it bu dont remember which one u said u were getting...
opp sry just read its rapid! Who makes that? My ecoexotic par38s dont do good with pics either. Its a led thing! LOL
Can u get a shot of ur PVC lamp holder in the light?
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by prh123 http:///forum/thread/386183/gio28-s-pico-reef#post_3402358
I like the single “large” live rock looks “nice”, yea your tank looks really blue, what are the kelvin degrees and spectrum of LED lights exactly? You don’t get a straight answer ever but 6000K seems to be to grow plants, actinic 03 grows coralline, 10K some suggest is just pretty to the eye. There are fifty thousand 10K and actinic 03 light fixtures, I wanted to try something else already also. Coralife has more bulb types just in T8 fixtures; I went through their product web site very carefully. For a real “mini reef” (ten gallons) one company made dual T5 at 18 inch, another a six way, all come with 10K and actinic 03 standard.
thanks! I would say the kelvin spectrum of this particular bulb is about 12-14K. It looks very nice in person because it makes the tank look 'crisp' while at the same allowing it to look actinic. As far as performance, I'll be updating a lot more once I get corals in the tank to show how they respond to the bulb.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///forum/thread/386183/gio28-s-pico-reef#post_3402443
watsup geo?!?! Havent seen u on in a bit! Wat kind of LED bulb is that? I remember u talkin about it bu dont remember which one u said u were getting...
opp sry just read its rapid! Who makes that? My ecoexotic par38s dont do good with pics either. Its a led thing! LOL
Can u get a shot of ur PVC lamp holder in the light?
hey! yeah I haven't been on here forever haha. Idk if rapid makes the bulbs themselves or not but so far it's looking like a good purchase.
here are some pictures of the lamp fixture/holder:



what I did was use 1" PVC, but any other size could work as well. It would probably look nicer with 1/2" or even 1/4" PVC. I had to use 1" PVC because if you look in the second picture, right after that 90 degree elbow, I had to super glue a light socket I already had in there cause I'm a cheap a$$ haha. also, I spray painted it black and then used clamps to secure it to the back of that dresser. The elbow attached to the vertical section of PVC is not cemented so I can swivel it away to do maintenance (or so I can see the TV from my bed lol).
 
prh123

prh123

Member
Well I tried to buy my ten year old nephew hot wheels once, he wanted a transformer; the appearance LED scares me to death, the adjustable spectrum and intensity very cool. Think you lost your mind on the pipe thing. Do this long enough sometimes the equipment is more fun than the fish or corals.
 
prh123

prh123

Member
Don’t tell anyone, the piles of stacked live rock always looks like crap, I tried to make something sexy with back and bottom flow in a 75 ½ circle, so I stacked in the middle, with the high flow it collapsed a couple times.
One large live rock, maybe, just a couple small ones with mushroom corals, yea you are doing this nice. I like the light and the spot light effect, that large PVC pipe scares the xxxx out of me, ahh I got 2-3 decades on you, I “remember” pushing my father over the edge (funny).
When people throw money at me again, I noticed the public acquiriums stack live rock around a 1/2 circle, and have the flat side facing public, "looked" really good, I may go there.
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by prh123 http:///forum/thread/386183/gio28-s-pico-reef#post_3402534
Don’t tell anyone, the piles of stacked live rock always looks like crap, I tried to make something sexy with back and bottom flow in a 75 ½ circle, so I stacked in the middle, with the high flow it collapsed a couple times.
One large live rock, maybe, just a couple small ones with mushroom corals, yea you are doing this nice. I like the light and the spot light effect, that large PVC pipe scares the xxxx out of me, ahh I got 2-3 decades on you, I “remember” pushing my father over the edge (funny).
When people throw money at me again, I noticed the public acquiriums stack live rock around a 1/2 circle, and have the flat side facing public, "looked" really good, I may go there.
thanks
 
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