Ideas for my picto

[jsair]

Let me start off by saying I am a veteran reef keeper, I did everything from SPS to having triggers back when I was really into the hobby. Right now all I have setup is a 29 gallon long with just clean up critters in it and a couple of mushrooms.
This is my pico I want to setup in my office.

I holds about 1 gallon and I have had 2 in the past. I know some people keep small fish in these but I really think I am going to stay with just corals. In the past I had used the clear filter to my advantage and actually put sand and LR in the bottem and a little clerpa (sp?) to scrub the water. The only problem I had was top offs, I kept a 3 gallon pitcher full of R/O next to it and topped off every day. With this one I won't be in the office on weekends so I will set up a 7 day digital timer on the light and run short cycles on the weekends. I think the light is a 7 watt over 1 or 1.5 gallons (not real sure).

 

[chipmaker]

The shrimp/goby pair does especially fine in that sized container. I forget the name of the shrimp and the goby off hand, but they both share the same burrow, and take care of each other........I have a pair o9f them in a like Red Sea Aqua Vase now for about 10 months and they have been just fine. I also use the nano filter with a 7 1/2 watt matt heater in it made by Hydor....BTW, its PICO not PICTO..........
The Dragonfly PC light as you have will also take a 9 watt bulb as well, as the ballast for that light is rated 7/9 watts..........I run 9 watt PC in all my Dragonfly light fixtures.

 

[jsair]

Originally Posted by chipmaker
The shrimp/goby pair does especially fine in that sized container. I forget the name of the shrimp and the goby off hand, but they both share the same burrow, and take care of each other........I have a pair o9f them in a like Red Sea Aqua Vase now for about 10 months and they have been just fine. I also use the nano filter with a 7 1/2 watt matt heater in it made by Hydor....BTW, its PICO not PICTO..........
The Dragonfly PC light as you have will also take a 9 watt bulb as well, as the ballast for that light is rated 7/9 watts..........I run 9 watt PC in all my Dragonfly light fixtures.
Pistol shrimp, (told you I was a vet.) I like that idea but does a fish AND a shrimp do good in a 1 gallon tank, I mean I don't want something I am going to have to move to the big tank in a year or so. Also what is the bioload on your tank? I mean how do you keep your trates and trites down?

 

[chipmaker]

Yes they do just fine in a 1 gal tank.....Neither of them are what I would call very active, yet they do make an appearance and hang out.....giving actual movement and life to otherwise still critters. I use a wad of chaeto in the hob filter, and water changes about every 7 to 10 days or so. I also run a few pf the picos with homebrew skimmers as well as larger hob filters like the AC70 and 110 sized units with their surface skimmers and they work fine.......but nboth of those are probably way to large for a 1 gal but the AC20 Mini would be a great choice.