~1g Pico Cube

[OohFeeshy]

I found a really cool 6" acryllic cube when I was wandering around ASDA. Anyway, I'm currently seeing how watertight its current form is (looking good, but I'll probably silicone it a bit just in case), got some aragonite in there (currently about... a 1cm layer), looking around for a PH.

I'm currently thinking the top section from my Elite Mini (100 l/h) might do the trick, and I'm deciding whether to keep the bottom bit and fill it with chemical media of some description. Or scrubbing that and buying a small HOB, but I have no idea what the flow from that would do circulationwise? Any input?

I'm also debating where to buy LR from. Although the price is atrocious from where I'm thinking (either 14.99 or 19.99 per kilo), it is good quality, smaller chunks and looks covered in assorted life (the 19.99 is because it has lots of coraline on it...). Seem like a good plan?

Lighting is my main issue. It has no hood or light, which is good from one POV as there's nothing to change... I only want one or two hardy, low light corals, although I do like macro and might want a bit of some species, so can anyone suggest something for lighting? Bear in mind that I want as little heating of the water as possible. For livestock, I'd only really have whats on the LR, and a hardy snail or hermit if it was required as clean-up crew.

Condensation is going to be a problem. Could I stick a bit of of glass or acryllic over the top to stop that?

Any other input would be welcome. Yes, I know about the possible instabilities, so no need to mention it every half sentence For the record, I'm looking for a small heater (I've seen some nice small ones around), although room temperature is generally stable at 24 degrees. Umm... I'm on the lookout for a cheap refractometer... Yes I will be using RO...

 

[Donya]

I'm curious, what shape/dimensions are you working with? Wondering what volume it is since I've seen some cool/weird picos recently. The smallest ones in the 1-2 gallon range had clip-on lights that sat a ways above the surface (like this one: http/www.aquaticeco.com/images/items/AZ72052_rgb.jpg ), and no lid. A small HOTB with output right at the waterline seemed to not cause trouble with salt going places outside the tank.

When I tried putting something solid over the top of my 1 gallon bowl, it turned into an oven. I would have left it open-top were it not for the fact that my hermits escape using the pump's power cord. Instead I have had to settle for building a lid out of plastic mesh to contain the little beasties.

 

[SkiFletch]

Jail break

 

[OohFeeshy]

It's literally an arylic cube like this

With sides 6" square. Volumewise, it's about one gallon, although a bit less allowing for displacement by the rock.

What's the evaporation like on your bowl? The surface area on this is larger though, I might have to experiment with partially covering the top.

Those sort of lights are pretty nifty, but you can't get them in the UK AFAIK. Although they do have them on one of the mini tanks that has recently come over, maybe you can buy the lights seperately...

I'll have to check stuff out at one of the shops near me that sells all kinds of gadgets, if anyone has it it'l probably be them.

 

[Donya]

Cool! One of those awesome picos I saw with a clip on light used something like that, completely open top. It was full of mushrooms and even some LPS quite an attractive tank.

The evaporation in my bowl is very manageable: top off once per day with not much R/O. The evap is being mainly driven by the bubbler in my bowl; before I added the bubbler it was even less. No measurable sg swings.

If you can't find one of those clip-on light dealies, maybe a stand alone desk lamp? I ultimately got a magnifier swing arm lamp with a circular 12W T4 bulb for my bowl. The base & arm could be hidden behind the HOTB.

Jail break

That and a lunch break...the little rats are the worst about it when it gets close to feeding time

 

[Mr Miagi]

Your off on the right foot and you know what your doing! Awsome! Id like to see a small photgrahic journal!

Id recomend just buying LR rubble. If not, a real small piece. Its only gonna cost you a few quid if you buy the porous, less dense rock. Or, your only really gonna fit in one really nice small shaped piece. Check out the shops, and let money be no object, interesting shaped pieces of LR make little tanks better and alot more interesting.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Sure Miagi, I'll probably start a seperate thread once everythings sorted.

Now, I found this on Aquatics Online which is pretty cool

http/www.aquatics-online.co.uk/Z605144.asp

But from the dimensions and tiny picture, it's a few inches too long and I'm not sure if it's bright enough. But now I know that that sort of thing exists (there's usually a few copy-cat products around) thats nice to know.

PCs seem to be another viable option, according to one article I found 9w PCs are 7.5" long, which isn't much over the tank length.

I really have no idea what sort of light wattage I'm looking for though, a really powerful small light is the Arcadia Pygmy Light. I beleive the bulb is about 15w, plus it has a reflector built in, and is well under 6" long. I can't find any product info online, but I've got one in my 3g and it's pretty bright. That will probably be an overkill though and would need me to make some way of suspending it over the tank.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Right, I tried to go to a LFS half an hour ago to get salt, RO, SW test kits, probably a heater, look at lighting and see what sort of other stuff they had in stock. Unfortunately, their web claim that they closed at seven was LIES! Oh well, off again tomorrow.

I've been test running the Elite Mini, I cant say what it will be like when there's rock in there but for now it offers good circulation (so would 100 L/H on a 3.5 litre tank be fine? It is adjustable and if there's room for the media basket that will slow the flow a bit) buuut it is really blowing a trench in the sand opposite it. It'll experiment with changing the output a bit (it's shaped like that fancy output they like in the Planted forum but could do with some fiddling). So that will have to be seen to.

Lighting is still a bit confuzzling. I've been Google searching, but I still haven't come up with anything- there's the 'watts per gallon' approach (and I've seen a range of between 3 and 10 WPG reccomended...), and the '10w is 10w whether it's over a 5g or a 500g' approach... I've had a look at corals, but there still isn't a great deal of info. Im looking for colourful corals that don't look like big blobs of snot I like Orange Tube Corals, although care seems a bit difficult (?). I'll be getting a few zoos, I'll see whats available tomorrow though (no use wanting something I can't get).

Stocking... Any suggestions? Assuming I'm having enough LR to fill up a lot of the tank (weight, no idea, it depends on the bits I like), and might attack some base rock with a hammer to fill in the gaps if need be. I prefer shrimp and hermits to snails (who doesn't?)

EDIT-
Here's a pic of the set-up thus far... a) Yes, I know it's wonky, this is just the water-tight testing and space will be cleared soon for it proper.

I managed to sort out the sand blowing problem, I just needed to rotate the output thing around. Flowrate, I'll observe but it seems to cover the whole area pretty well.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Looks cool, how much did you pick up that cube for?

The glass looks nice and thick so you shouldn't have any worries, did you have to reseal anywhere though?

Looking forward to the updates

 

[OohFeeshy]

It was £5, a bit much for what it is but nevermind, it's cubular The acrylic is about 4mm so plenty thick enough for the size. I didn't need to reseal, the sides are completely fused together. I turned up the Mini to full blast, it kicks up a tiny bit of sand if the position is a bit wrong so that will have to remain to be seen to. Ummm... Anyway, off to see about getting said stuff in a couple of hours.

EDIT- Back, didn't get any salt. I forgot that another LFS had some brands half price, and even if its not any more... Well, any excuse for a visit is good. I did get a nitrate test kit though. I will probably be using my 50w Visitherm, a bit of an overkill, yeah, but it will hardly ever need to turn itself on. I could have gone for one of those micro-heaters, but I'd much rather have a larger wattage that comes with a thermostat. Had a look at the LR there, no nice bits really. They have no shortage of different types of inverts, although the corals were a bit lacking.

I still really need help on the lighting, and which corals/inverts to pick.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Can't find much in the way of lighting for a 6" length

These would be good if they did a higher spectrum, you'll have to e-mail them to see if they do but it think it's just 6500k which will be too yellowish for you. That will overhang a lil but it shouldn't look too bad

£5?! that's a good deal, yeah 4mm will be great but with the tank being so small it's a shame you couldn't have a small drain/return for the circ without that PH taking up too much room.

I'd do an all softie tank with perhaps a trio of sexy shrimp but they'd be a lot of cominations that will look great in there. Head over to the pico section in NR for some ideas. Don't bother posting in there until you have 30g SPS dominated reef though because they won't want to know you otherwise

Goodluck and keep us updated

 

[littleimp]

A small external power filter would be good for one of these.. You could turn the outlet U tube upside down so the small section was inside the tank. Would allow you to run carbon & rowa and also provide circulation. Got me thinking now.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Nah, even the smallest external would be waaay to much. The shop didn't have any HOBs in which sucks, but if I'm going to do an order from Aquatics Online I can possibly get one if I want. And if I did, then that could be a fuge as well. I bought a big bag of salt, enough for a 50g tank apparently so that should last me a good long time

 

[Rafael Dilone]

I found some lighting that would be great for this tank. I will post the website below. The lighting does produce a small amount of heat as you wanted and the lighting is great for your tank and is not expensive. I will put some information on the lighting below and then put the website below that.

Mini-Freshwater & Mini-Aqualights
Includes highly polished reflector and acrylic lens cover.

This fixture is to be used over glass covered aquariums only.

Caution: DO NOT allow fixture to come into direct contact with water.

Canopy Installation Note: Mini Aqualights produce heat and should not be placed inside canopies that are not well ventilated. Check to be sure that cool air flows through the glass canopy.

http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...2&N=2004+113345

 

[OohFeeshy]

Aww, man, those lights are great. They do actinic and 10000k bulbs too... But as with many things, it is most likely only available in the US