1/2 gallon pico build

[brandon429]

it is possible to make a sealed half gallon that does not evaporate at all. dont fill the water up to the top of the container, leave air space. then when you raise the little lid every couple days for feeding or water change or frag reposition that refreshes the space. my half gallon sps reef didn't evaporate away from .023 for three straight years, but the lid was lifted 2 or 3 times a week. those lifted intervals weren't long enough to allow for evaporation

The second non evaporating reef tank (turned into aio):

First pico reef led setup

at the time I was thinking geeze they'll never get leds good enough for what I want it would take a thousand of these.

I still have the lights, they belong in the international pico reef museum in munich.

 

[3429810]

it is possible to make a sealed half gallon that does not evaporate at all. dont fill the water up to the top of the container, leave air space. then when you raise the little lid every couple days for feeding or water change or frag reposition that refreshes the space. my half gallon sps reef didn't evaporate away from .023 for three straight years, but the lid was lifted 2 or 3 times a week. those lifted intervals weren't long enough to allow for evaporation

The second non evaporating reef tank (turned into aio):

First pico reef led setup

at the time I was thinking geeze they'll never get leds good enough for what I want it would take a thousand of these.

I still have the lights, they belong in the international pico reef museum in munich.

Those are all so cool thanks for sharing. Hopefully this helps op figure out his game plan

 

[Obsessed with fish]

that would work in theory but depending how fast it evaporates you may not be able to leave it longer than 12-24 hours without a top off and I think on a tank this size that would be shorter. If you are always home and are never away then again in theory this works. I don’t know what top off would do good in a tank that size but I’m sure there is one out there. Like the other person said I don’t know why you would have to take water out so don’t worry about doing that. Not sure if you have messaged @brandon429 or read his article on his nano reef yet but I would strongly suggest it. You could also take a look at some other builds that are similar to what you are doing. I think there was a mini complete tank competition on here with tanks around the size you want to do. Might be good to see how they handled all these issues.

Ok, I'll read the article and the threads. Thanks!

 

[Obsessed with fish]

it is possible to make a sealed half gallon that does not evaporate at all. dont fill the water up to the top of the container, leave air space. then when you raise the little lid every couple days for feeding or water change or frag reposition that refreshes the space. my half gallon sps reef didn't evaporate away from .023 for three straight years, but the lid was lifted 2 or 3 times a week. those lifted intervals weren't long enough to allow for evaporation

The second non evaporating reef tank (turned into aio):

First pico reef led setup

at the time I was thinking geeze they'll never get leds good enough for what I want it would take a thousand of these.

I still have the lights, they belong in the international pico reef museum in munich.

Thats a very smart idea! I'll definitely try it out

 

[Obsessed with fish]

it is possible to make a sealed half gallon that does not evaporate at all. dont fill the water up to the top of the container, leave air space. then when you raise the little lid every couple days for feeding or water change or frag reposition that refreshes the space. my half gallon sps reef didn't evaporate away from .023 for three straight years, but the lid was lifted 2 or 3 times a week. those lifted intervals weren't long enough to allow for evaporation

The second non evaporating reef tank (turned into aio):

First pico reef led setup

at the time I was thinking geeze they'll never get leds good enough for what I want it would take a thousand of these.

I still have the lights, they belong in the international pico reef museum in munich.

Love your reefs btw!

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Hi, I have got everything I need besides live rock, the live rock was sold out. Ill get it another time. Here's 1/2 gallon tank:

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Here's the tank with coral sand, I got it for rather cheap! Only 8 dollars au for a kg! Here the tank with sand and a sw sponge filter

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Dies anyone gave any suggestions on how to stop the sponge filter from floating like that?

 

[Obsessed with fish]

 

[Obsessed with fish]

I'll order live rock, ill get a lid when I get corals and the crab.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Dies anyone gave any suggestions on how to stop the sponge filter from floating like that?

Never seen a sponge filter float! Mabye bury it in the sand a little or cover it with some rocks?

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Never seen a sponge filter float! Mabye bury it in the sand a little or cover it with some rocks?

Ok ill do that!

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Update:
I just found out that liverock is illegal in nsw, I don't want to get man made rock or fake rock because I promised myself I would never get fake things for my aquariums. So I found a product. Its rock that was mined from an ancient reef that completely died millions of years ago and it seems like a natrual alternative to dry or fake rock. It is made from crumbled dead coral and crumbled fish bones. Completely natrual wich is what I like.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Update:
I just found out that liverock is illegal in nsw, I don't want to get man made rock or fake rock because I promised myself I would never get fake things for my aquariums. So I found a product. Its rock that was mined from an ancient reef that completely died millions of years ago and it seems like a natrual alternative to dry or fake rock. It is made from crumbled dead coral and crumbled fish bones. Completely natrual wich is what I like.

Interesting! Curious to see what it looks like.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Interesting! Curious to see what it looks like.

I can send a link to it so you can see https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/aqua-l...dFek_bE42WBBlJvjLexGWBvWsIN7svCMaAvPvEALw_wcB

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Alright, I picked up the rock from the post office, but sadly the company gave me a way bigger chunk then I asked for, today I had to put a crow bar on the rock, then smash the crowbar with a hammer to break it, it worked out well. Ill post pics of the rock In the tank in a few hours

 

[Obsessed with fish]

I feel like there's something wrong, I don't know what it is but I just feel that somethings wrong.

 

[MaxTremors]

I feel like there's something wrong, I don't know what it is but I just feel that somethings wrong.

I would look into maybe a small powerhead (made for desktop fountains, 3w/40gph). If it’s too much flow for the tank, it might be just slightly too much, just put it behind the rock blowing directly into the rock to diffuse the flow a little bit. And then get rid of the sponge filter, it’s really unnecessary, your rock will provide all the biological filtration. If you want the mechanical filtration, you could put a piece of sponge on the intake of the pump. The power head will provide more water movement than the sponge filter. What are you doing to keep the temp stable and what about lighting?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

it is possible to make a sealed half gallon that does not evaporate at all. dont fill the water up to the top of the container, leave air space. then when you raise the little lid every couple days for feeding or water change or frag reposition that refreshes the space. my half gallon sps reef didn't evaporate away from .023 for three straight years, but the lid was lifted 2 or 3 times a week. those lifted intervals weren't long enough to allow for evaporation

The second non evaporating reef tank (turned into aio):

First pico reef led setup

at the time I was thinking geeze they'll never get leds good enough for what I want it would take a thousand of these.

I still have the lights, they belong in the international pico reef museum in munich.

Just because its possible, doesn't mean everyone can do it..it takes a certain set of skills, 20g is hard for me to keep correctly, your seeing pro reefer pictures, ..awesome tanks as always @brandon429

 

[Obsessed with fish]

I would look into maybe a small powerhead (made for desktop fountains, 3w/40gph). If it’s too much flow for the tank, it might be just slightly too much, just put it behind the rock blowing directly into the rock to diffuse the flow a little bit. And then get rid of the sponge filter, it’s really unnecessary, your rock will provide all the biological filtration. If you want the mechanical filtration, you could put a piece of sponge on the intake of the pump. The power head will provide more water movement than the sponge filter. What are you doing to keep the temp stable and what about lighting?

I already have lighting, temp, ill add a spare thermometer, I do have an external heater wich I will add when I add coral and crab, ill also add the light when I add the fish and crab.