PEZenfuego's 4 gallon Pico Tank Diary

pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
A few modifications were made. I still have a few minor issues to figure out, but after I get everything setup, I will be mixing water and getting LR. I wanted to get it from premium aquatics, but they won't be open until Friday. I will probably wait, but I may check out The Reef. I can't remember if I have been there before or not. If it's good there, I might get it. I don't know. There are a lot of maybes here. I setup my tank in a patio, so the temp was low to begin with and the sun was shining on it, so I won't know if that heater is good enough until I actually set the tank up.
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member

Sometimes a simple solution works much better than an elegant one.




Suggestions? I think I'll move the tank up a bit and center it on the stand.
Problems outstanding:
1. The temp is at 74 degrees right now. I am not sure if I can get it warm enough or not at this point. When the water makes it to 79 degrees, I will test the other parameters. I have tests for calcium, alkalinity, pH, ammonia (2 of them actually), nitrite, nitrate, and phosphates.
2. I need to mount a light to the back for the chaeto and have no idea how to do that. But it will be a while before I get the chaeto, so I have time to figure that out.
3. My gfci outlet was too small to fit everything, so I have to find a bigger one.
So far I am happy with it. Throw some comments, suggestions, complaints, or donations my way.
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
I forgot to mention that I centered the tank on the stand. Since then I have removed the media basket, threw in some filter floss and phosban and added a 50 watt heater. Now the temperature is stable and the parameters are as follows:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
Alkalinity: 11 odKh
Calcium-460ppm
pH: 8.0
Salinity: 35 ppt
I am so pumped for live rock. Let me know what you think.
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///t/393113/pezenfuegos-4-gallon-pico-tank-diary/40#post_3496815
Looking good!!

THANK YOU! That means something coming from you. I went to a store called Aquarium World in Lafayette. It was amazing. I decided that if the LR was good, I'd get some. More pictures are coming. It has almost completely cleared up, but I don't feel like taking more pictures right now. The aquascape needs work. If it looks like I just threw some rocks in there, then there's a reason for that haha. You might also be thinking, what's with all that rock! Well I actually have more than that. I bought a lot of extra rock. Why? Because I suck at visualizing and wanted more to work with (more combinations). I also have way too much live sand (but that's because I couldn't find a sand that I liked in a bag smaller than 10 pounds). I don't know. I need to get to work on this aquascape. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Telling me what percentage of the rock that is already in there would look best would also be helpful. When I get the aquascape where I want it (and the temperature climbs back up to 79 degrees) I will add half a cube of frozen food and the cycle will begin muwahaha.







 
S

smallreef

Guest
LOL looking good! Have you found a chaeto light yet? If not I have a cheap submersible LED light (from china) that I could send you? (it has 2 white sets and 2 blue sets but you can use only one or 2 or all 4....I had them in my 12g pod and worked well)

 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by smallreef http:///t/393113/pezenfuegos-4-gallon-pico-tank-diary/40#post_3496911
LOL looking good! Have you found a chaeto light yet? If not I have a cheap submersible LED light (from china) that I could send you? (it has 2 white sets and 2 blue sets but you can use only one or 2 or all 4....I had them in my 12g pod and worked well)


That is exactly what I was looking at initially. But now all of my equipment is taking up too much space and i doubt it will fit. In fact, I will struggle to find a place to put the chaeto. I've been meaning to ask, what is the harm in putting chaeto right up next to the heater? Obviously that isn't idea, but I don't think I have another option. Here is my first attempt at aquascaping. I hate it. But I will probably hate every attempt. This tank clears up pretty darn fast. It's already clear again. But you guys get the cloudy pictures :p


 
S

smallreef

Guest
I dont think that looks bad...my personal preferance is an island in the middle but your rock may not work for that...as far as chaeto up against heater..it can burn..but more importantly it cant move...
as far as the lights just let me know...they are only each as big as your middle finger,lol Or i could just mail them to you and if they dont work give them to someone who can use them...again they were cheap when i bought them 4 years ago,lol so not really a loss if they dont work for ya (what i did above my fuge section was to lay them across the top of the section so they shone down..only ever submerged the blue ones)
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by smallreef http:///t/393113/pezenfuegos-4-gallon-pico-tank-diary/40#post_3496922
I dont think that looks bad...my personal preferance is an island in the middle but your rock may not work for that...as far as chaeto up against heater..it can burn..but more importantly it cant move...
as far as the lights just let me know...they are only each as big as your middle finger,lol Or i could just mail them to you and if they dont work give them to someone who can use them...again they were cheap when i bought them 4 years ago,lol so not really a loss if they dont work for ya (what i did above my fuge section was to lay them across the top of the section so they shone down..only ever submerged the blue ones)
Okay. This is how I want it for now. Nothing too spectacular, but whatever. I don't know about the chaeto. The only place it will fit is in a baffle. If I get it jammed really good, it will work out, if it is loose, then it will float up and mess with the float valve. But it needs movement. I could also put it in with the heater, but that presents the problems you already named. I don't know what to do...but I really really want chaeto. Also, what is your opinion on getting rid of this lid? I have an ato, so evap shouldn't be a problem. I feel like it obstructs the light. I also need to decide if I want to keep this sand and rock. If I can come up with a way to dry it out, then I will. Ideas? If not, craigslist.



 
gemmy

gemmy

Active Member
I like that rock work in the last pic!! I can just envision the coral placements. I would ditch the lid. I am not a fan of them. You can always put mesh on the tank as a cover.
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
I really need to invest in some windex because the tank itself looks horrible. The lidless look is great though. It's time to start seriously thinking about livestock. I want 100 million different types of coral, but I think that is the real downfall of most reef tanks. Just keeping a couple of species will probably look better in the long run and the good thing is, I don't have to worry about waiting for everything to grow out quite as much. But let's set that aside for the moment.
Invertebrates:
I am thinking about getting a nass snail and an astrea snail. For such a small sandbed I think that one nass is up to the challenge. But now I have to make a decision. Do I want a fish?
1) What shrimp would look good in a fishless tank?
2) What shrimp would look good in a tank with a fish?
3) What do you think of the snail selection?
4) What type of worm should I get?
5) Crabs? I was thinking of getting an emerald crab, but I don't want it to turn white.
I am going to add another half cube of frozen food today. I'll check my parameters tomorrow when it has a little more time to rot and when everything stabilizes a bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top