Pico Reef Tank Build Thread - Lifegard 3.8

[Zach B]

Sand settled after the weekend and water nice and clear. I will need to set up an ATO this week I think.

Looks awesome! Love the detailed build

 

[KK's Reef]

Sand settled after the weekend and water nice and clear. I will need to set up an ATO this week I think.

Looking good, bud. Update us when you get some critters in there.

 

[kiswanson]

Got there Kraken reef lid for my 3.8 gallon Lifegard aquarium. Great quality, perfect fit. Getting closer to being able to get a fish.

#Kraken

 

[kiswanson]

Added a AutoAqua smart ATO Lite system. Really a slick set up. It uses a monitor with two optical sensors, the lower one to turn pump on and the upper to turn it off. Another nice feature is an in-line siphon break to prevent back siphoning. There is a tube holder that screws on to the tank to prevent the tube from pulling out.

One thing I learned from my Tunze osmolator on my Red Sea e170 Tank is you need to check and clean off the optical sensor regularly to prevent salt build up, algae, or random debris from covering up the sensor and preventing it from noticing the water is low. Basically, once a week when I’m doing maintenance I just run my finger over the sensor and that off any debris. It’s super easy but it needs to be part of your mental checklist.

#AutoAqua #AutoAquaNano

 

[kiswanson]

Added in chemipure blue nano, and seeded the tank with some copepods/phytoplankton and microbacter 7, hoping to establish a diverse biome in preparation for larger creatures.

Current stocking plan:
-Eviota prasites (hairfin dwarf goby from biota)
-Stonogobiops yasha (Orange-striped shrimpgoby or yasha goby)
-Alpheus randalli (candy cane shrimp - will pair with yasha goby)
-Variety of small snails
-Thor amboinensis (sexy shrimp - multiple, host RFA)
-possibly a small hermit crab or porcelain anemone crab

-Rock flower anemones - multiple
-Ultra ricordia mushrooms - multiple
-White polyp toadstool
-Alien Hands Sinularia
-Possibly candy cane coral (florescent green and teal)

Also picked up some small size pellets for feeding.

Will be monitoring with an ammonia guard and a hanna salinity checker. I can also bring any of the other Hanna checkers from home if needed.

 

[kiswanson]

Added since life - a red and a green rock flower anemone and stone astrea, nassarius and cerinth snails

 

[kiswanson]

RFA closeup

 

[kiswanson]

Added the first fish. A Biota raised hairfin dwarf goby. He is *tiny*.

A four ricordea mushrooms, an alien hands sinularia leather coral, a white polyp toadstool and a duncan coral.

Also did the second water change. Currently planning 2 gallons (~75%) once a week.
#picoreef #picotank #dwarfgoby

 

[kiswanson]

The Pico Reef Tank is starting to look really good!



Stocked with two super tiny fish (Biota raised hairfin dwarf goby and a neon blue goby), sexy shrimp, and a couple different types of snails.

Featuring multicolored ricordea mushrooms, ultra rock flower anemones, an alien hands sinularia leather coral, a white polyp toadstool coral, and a duncan coral.

#picoreef #picotank

 

[kiswanson]

 

[Viperdragon]

Very good looking tank almost make me want to set one up

 

[KK's Reef]

Very good looking tank almost make me want to set one up

You should. Picos don't get enough love. Small footprint, low maintenance, low cost. I decided on a pico due to space limitations, but also because they're just small enough that I can tinker with it as much or as little as I want. It was my intro to reef keeping and I learned so much in 9 months in that little 3 gallon box of glass. I can't imagine going to through the growing pains of the hobby with a 40 gallon, per se.

I'm also going to discount the notion that beginners need bigger tanks because more water volume is more forgiving. I guess that's true, but if your husbandry is good, you'll do well with any size tank.

 

[LegalReefer]

Gorgeous tank! I love pico and nano reefs, they make life so much easier. You've got an incredible aquarium here, great livestock selection too, really nicely done. Following!

 

[Max The New reefer]

Beautiful tank man!

 

[kiswanson]

My ridiculously small hairfin dwarf goby is finally venturing out of his cave - Video

 

[kiswanson]

Say hello to my little friends

 

[kiswanson]

So current plan for upkeep
-2 gallon water change weekly (~70-80%)
-Change filter floss twice a week
-Change Chemipure blue nano once a month
-Feed with TDO chroma boost small pellets every week day or my flake mix (skip weekend)
-1 drop coral amino 3 x week
-0.25 ml polyp lab One 3 x week
-Add a small amount of microbacter 7 or PNS substrate sauce when changing filter floss (biomedia exposed)
-RODI ATO to maintain salinity 35 ppt

 

[KK's Reef]

So current plan for upkeep
-2 gallon water change weekly (~70-80%)
-Change filter floss twice a week
-Change Chemipure blue nano once a month
-Feed with TDO chroma boost small pellets every week day or my flake mix (skip weekend)
-1 drop coral amino 3 x week
-0.25 ml polyp lab One 3 x week
-Add a small amount of microbacter 7 or PNS substrate sauce when changing filter floss (biomedia exposed)
-RODI ATO to maintain salinity 35 ppt

Your routine is pretty much like mine.

* 1 gallon water change every Saturday
* Filter floss change twice a week
* Chemipure Blue once a month
* Pellets once a day. Frozen on Fridays.
* 1 ml RedSea AB+ on MWF
* 3 ml live phyto on MWF
* 1 capful of Microbacter 7 after water change

The feeding schedule, filter floss swap, and Chemipure keeps the PO4 right around 0.10.

 

[FishyFishFish]

I'm looking at an almost identical build. I've received my tank and I'm very happy with it.

How have you got on with the Yukihalu heater?

And how do you find the flow with the Sicce Nano? Do you have it running wide open?

Thanks,

 

[kiswanson]

I'm looking at an almost identical build. I've received my tank and I'm very happy with it.

How have you got on with the Yukihalu heater?

And how do you find the flow with the Sicce Nano? Do you have it running wide open?

Thanks,

No issues so far with the heater. The Sicce nano is on full. It’s an ok amount of flow for the mostly softy and some duncan corals that I have. If you wanted sps you would probably want even more flow