Alycia’s 40 oz Micro Reef-Ready - Pretty-in-Pico

[Kehy]

Got in some spoils from prime day, so I was able to start testing this tank. From just food alone got the ammonia in reef tank to 1, and nitrates are already showing at 10.

Also got a small bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only and added about half. Seems like there might be mixed reviews of it, but I had trouble actually finding reviews between 8 million results in where to buy it. Even if it doesn't work super well though, the cycle is already in motion.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

UPDATE 7/19/24!

Last night, I got my Micro Package from Tampa Bay Saltwater, which included sand, live rock, and a little snail! It was the perfect amount of sand for the display and just enough rock to add to the main display and the mini sump. The little snail (I'm calling him Gary) arrived active and has been checking out his new digs. It's the cutest little tank!

I'm very impressed by the live rock. I've never had live rock from Tampa Bay Liverock, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but when it arrived, I was surprised to see all the goodies on it. @Gumbies R Us and I sat around just looking at all the things on it before we put it in the system. 10/10 would recommend, and we will be ordering live rock from them when we upgrade our main system soon.

The only resident currently is the little snail (yet to be fully identified). We originally considered a green-banded goby, but after adding the sand and rock, I've decided I don't feel comfortable keeping a fish in it. The plan right now is 1-2 more CUC members and a few small corals. Maybe Zoas and GSP, but I'm still debating. Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas! I'm open to anything.

Without further ado, here she is!

 

[AlyciaMarie]

I’ve been trying to find a tiny heater also…let me know if you find one!

After talking with TBS, we decided it wasn't necessary for our little tank. The temperatures vary between 65 and 70F, and everything in our tank can survive drips down to 40F.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Got in some spoils from prime day, so I was able to start testing this tank. From just food alone got the ammonia in reef tank to 1, and nitrates are already showing at 10.

Also got a small bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only and added about half. Seems like there might be mixed reviews of it, but I had trouble actually finding reviews between 8 million results in where to buy it. Even if it doesn't work super well though, the cycle is already in motion.

Oh, nice! Do you have a build thread for it? I'd love to check it out!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

UPDATE 7/19/24!

Last night, I got my Micro Package from Tampa Bay Saltwater, which included sand, live rock, and a little snail! It was the perfect amount of sand for the display and just enough rock to add to the main display and the mini sump. The little snail (I'm calling him Gary) arrived active and has been checking out his new digs. It's the cutest little tank!

I'm very impressed by the live rock. I've never had live rock from Tampa Bay Liverock, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but when it arrived, I was surprised to see all the goodies on it. @Gumbies R Us and I sat around just looking at all the things on it before we put it in the system. 10/10 would recommend, and we will be ordering live rock from them when we upgrade our main system soon.

The only resident currently is the little snail (yet to be fully identified). We originally considered a green-banded goby, but after adding the sand and rock, I've decided I don't feel comfortable keeping a fish in it. The plan right now is 1-2 more CUC members and a few small corals. Maybe Zoas and GSP, but I'm still debating. Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas! I'm open to anything.

Without further ado, here she is!

Getting the rock in this tank made me realize I want live rock in our main tank whenever we upgrade.

 

[danimal1211]

That is some beautiful rock and great flow.

 

[Polymate3D]

We are actually trying to find one that will fit in it!

I hope the build goes well.

You may of seen on my 0.7L cube pico, I designed a PCB to do temperature monitoring, along with heating from below and a fan for cooling. The next one will use a small peltier to do cooling better, as this ones transistor is worked too hard for my liking.



I may develop it into a product for pico's, so if you end up finding temperature control is a issue, let me know so I know to think of others and make it available

- Paul

 

[Gumbies R Us]

That is some beautiful rock and great flow.

The return pump is strong for that pico, and it makes no noise either.

 

[VintageReefer]

Looks good!

My pico is 1.1g and I thought that was small! An ato is a must. A turkey baster of water will throw off my salinity by several points.

I will link my heater, it barely comes on though.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Looks good!

My pico is 1.1g and I thought that was small! An ato is a must. A turkey baster of water will throw off my salinity by several points.

I will link my heater, it barely comes on though.

These are beautiful! And yes, I plan on grabbing an ATO! PNW makes them for the micro.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

UPDATE 7/19/24!

Last night, I got my Micro Package from Tampa Bay Saltwater, which included sand, live rock, and a little snail! It was the perfect amount of sand for the display and just enough rock to add to the main display and the mini sump. The little snail (I'm calling him Gary) arrived active and has been checking out his new digs. It's the cutest little tank!

I'm very impressed by the live rock. I've never had live rock from Tampa Bay Liverock, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but when it arrived, I was surprised to see all the goodies on it. @Gumbies R Us and I sat around just looking at all the things on it before we put it in the system. 10/10 would recommend, and we will be ordering live rock from them when we upgrade our main system soon.

The only resident currently is the little snail (yet to be fully identified). We originally considered a green-banded goby, but after adding the sand and rock, I've decided I don't feel comfortable keeping a fish in it. The plan right now is 1-2 more CUC members and a few small corals. Maybe Zoas and GSP, but I'm still debating. Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas! I'm open to anything.

Without further ado, here she is!

yeah, they have great rock. looks great.

 

[aztoza]

Adorable!

 

[Kehy]

Oh, nice! Do you have a build thread for it? I'd love to check it out!

Oops, this got posted in the wrong thread! Genuinely don't know how that happened. Ah the glories of technology

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Update 7/22/24:

The tank is doing great so far, and so is Gary the Snail! As expected, the snail is doing fine without the heater so far. Water temps range from 65 to 70 degrees. I've been topping off daily with fresh RODI water; salinity has been holding up at 1.026. All is well so far. I will start looking into a few more things to add in soon. Any ideas would be helpful!

 

[VintageReefer]

1-2 scarlet hermits and 1 small nassarius snail

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Update 10/1/24:

The micro is doing well! Right now, I'm manually topping off every 2-3 days, and still no heater in sight. I had some algae bloom in September, but a few weeks of lights out took care of it. My little snail is still going strong, and I discovered that there is also a teenie tiny crab somewhere in there! It only makes an appearance once or twice a week. It looks to be less than a centimeter and is almost perfectly spherical! It's a cute little guy. When I see him again I can grab a picture to get him identified.

I still haven't added any coral, but I will soon. I had a GSP stowaway on a frag, and I'll perform a little surgery when it grows out and give it a home in my micro. My hitchhiker coral, which was identified as a "hidden cup coral," is doing well. Oh, and I have some random tubes that are growing straight up at an impressive rate? Not sure what's going on there. You can see it to the left of the hidden cub coral. All in all, the micro seems to be doing awesome!

Thanks for following along! I'm open to any and all suggestions to improve my miny reef!

 

[Flameback Pair]

@AlyciaMarie subscribed.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Update 10/25/24!

Had a little bit of algae bloom, so we've been lights out for about a week. That seems to have solved that issues, and the little tank is still doing great! Hoping to add 1 or two small frags in not too long.

 

[Polymate3D]

Update 10/25/24!

Had a little bit of algae bloom, so we've been lights out for about a week. That seems to have solved that issues, and the little tank is still doing great! Hoping to add 1 or two small frags in not too long.

Great to hear the update!

I have moved on from the 0.7L test Pico to a IKEA 1.7L Pico jar. All improvements learnt from the 1st. Hope it continues to go well.

- Paul

 

[PharmrJohn]

LOL, John Hughs fan?!