Pico Reef

[iceboxman]

I am going to try making a pico reef with one of those small fish/cricket carriers. I am not sure if it is 1/2 or 1/4 Gallon. I don't know how easy it would be to find some sort of heater to fit inside, but that would be part of the challenge. I am also planning on making some of my own equipment like a mini protein skimmer. What do you think?

[Big Dave]

My main concern would be keeping all of your levels balanced and consistant. I spend enough time with additives... one drop per gallon... how do you do a half of drop? It sounds very challenging! My opinion, I wouldn't try it. HTH

-Big Dave

[jjharrisx4]

DUDE...Have you taken your pills? That is insane...

Lighting should be easy...Let's see, 1-175 w MH 10K = 700 w/gall (if 1/4 gallon) That should be enough for SPS and Clams

Would you have any water movement in that thing? Regarding heat, just hold a paper match by it's side every 3 hours and that should do it.

Just poking a little fun at this idea. It should present a real challenge. Maybe do a sump for it, that would give you an area to hide the heater etc..

Speaking of balance, would your skimmer be a HOT model? It'd have to be really light to avoid a tip-over like the flintstones car on brontosaurus burger night.

Just remember not to overpopulate...1 or 2 'pods is all, no matter how pretty they are!

I hope you have a blast with this idea, keep us updated w/photos.

[fliberdygibits]

try one of those coffee mug warming plates. just sit the tank on it

[Brooke]

Forget the skimmer...just do regular water changes like any other tank and watch your top-off. If the tank stays in an office/home where ambient temp stays about 75, you don't even need a heater. There wouldn't be room for one. The animals will adapt....don't know if you'd have much room for a fish in such a tiny tank. A clown goby might fit. A small yellow tail damsel might fit too...but that sure is small! I wouldn't go any smaller than 2-3 gallons.

Have fun
Brooke

[S.O.S.]

I know that someone from nanoreef.com has a 3/4 gal reef and it looks amazing! I say go for it. Just don't spend any money on it (get everything from a larger tank if you have one). That way if it all crashes (which it probably will the first time) then you have nothing to lose. Then keep trying until you can make it work! Forget the heater and skimmer. You won't find a heater that can consistently heat it without cooking everything inside, and alot of people with small reefs don't bother skimming anyways (I don't use a skimmer in my 27gal).

Let us know how it goes

[FishDaddy]

iceboxman,
An aquarium can be made out of almost any non-metallic container that doesn't leach chemicals. I've got a larger cricket carrier for the Leopard Geckoes' food supply; I think it's probably 1 to 1-1/2 gallon.

Listen to Brooke; she's got lots of experience and knowledge about Nanos.

I wouldn't really want to fool with trying to make a reef tank out of it as lighting etc., would wind up costing more money than I would want to spend on it. Keeping water quality up to par in a very small tank is the key....frequent water changes would be in order as well as regular topoff to maintain proper levels. Not much room for error in a Nano.

Many folks skip the skimmer on nano's and use small powerfilters, just rinse or replace the filter media frequently.

Here's some Nano Reef sites.
http://www.nano-reef.com/
http://home1.gte.net/rhe1/nanoreef/frindex.htm

Dick

[hamburglar]

Go for it!!!

I'm doing a 4 gallon (5.5 with filter area) and all I do is change water weekly with water from my 70 gallon tank. Details are on my website.

[Jimbo]

Hay

You could have a 10 gallon rubber maid under your desk and drill holes upto your nano reef and know one would be the wiser. Tell em it's osmosis driven. Oh by the way HD now has 20watt florescent screw in lights that are 6500k, great for a little reef, might even keep the tank warm. Heck you might be able to grow a frag of sps in it.

Good luck. and have a great weekend!

[fliberdygibits]

what brand are those screw in PC 20 watters?

Thanks

[Jimbo]

Hi, the light manufacturer is Commercial Electric. It's called a daylight bulb 6500k. Nice bluish white lite. There phone number is 1-800-771-9335

Hope this helps

[Brooke]

Well shoot..Larry took his site offline..but he had a great idea for a nano..and we copied this for our 10g tank. Go get a piece of scrap black acrylic from an acrylic shop and have them cut it to length and height to fit inside your small tank. (this works best with regular rectangular tanks...not hex tanks) Silicone it in about 2" from the back of the tank. Use a drill to cut teeth in the top of the acrylic on one side to allow the water to overflow. Then you just need a small mini-pump and a return outlet for the water. The nice thing about this is it keeps the heater and power filter etc, behind the acrylic and out of the display part of the tank. It act as a mini sump for a nano. We have a bunch of live rock in the back of our 10g, along with a power filter and heater.

HTH-
Brooke