Gotfish's pico

[gotfish]

I saw something like this over at nano-reefs.com and decided to try it myself. It's a normal 5.5g AGA tank turned into an all in one. Here's some pics of the build just so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.

The overflow and return wall.

The overflow and return wall painted.

Tank just after painting. The fuge area is black and I blacked out the entire back.

There is a 1" gap at the bottom in between the 2 chambers.

The tank has the newer 18" 40w nova extreme with the same reflector design as the nova extreme pro. Kind of hard to tell, but it has the bent reflector to simulate IR's.

With the maxi jet 400 and heater installed.

I'm going to be going and grabbing some LR here shortly. I'm gonna grab some sand from my 75g and toss it in there to speed up the whole process. I'll show some pics once it's all setup later today.

 

[Myteemouse]

that is cool. is that a glass tank

 

[seattle989]

i was thinking of doing that myself nice build

 

[Shane and John]

That is a great Idea...good looking tank..you you should be proud of yourself!!

 

[dailydriven911]

Nice job Kerry! That's a cool little tank...

 

[gotfish]

Filled with water, rock and sand. One problem. I think I may have made the pump too high. When the pump is on the water on the fuge/return side is about an 1/8" below the top of the pump. How much water does the maxi jet need to be sitting in? I'm sure the whole thing doesn't have to be submerged, but is it okay if the water got down to maybe 1/2" from the top?

Anyway, here's what the whole shebang looks like.
FTS

Little closer in

Side view

 

[fatboyt123]

that thing is aswome i think i am going to do that with my ten

nice job

Filled with water, rock and sand. One problem. I think I may have made the pump too high. When the pump is on the water on the fuge/return side is about an 1/8" below the top of the pump. How much water does the maxi jet need to be sitting in? I'm sure the whole thing doesn't have to be submerged, but is it okay if the water got down to maybe 1/2" from the top?

Anyway, here's what the whole shebang looks like.
FTS

Little closer in

Side view

 

[gotfish]

that is cool. is that a glass tank

Yes Mytee, it's just a regular 5.5g glass tank. Tank dimensions are 16x8x10. Actual display area is 12x8x10 with a 4x4.5x10 refugium and a 4x3.5x10 return area.

Fatboy, I know of people that have done it with a 10 as well. Definitely a lot more room if you do. People usually step up the pump from the 400 to the 600. You could even go with a 900 and if the current is a bit too much, pop it open and cut off one of the vanes. I bought the acrylic at lowes. 2 sheets of it for the size you're looking at is like $8 total.

Main reason I stuck with just the 5.5 is cost was pretty cheap and I want to keep a couple of pom pom crabs in it. This size should be great for that. Also, I couldn't find a t5 light for a 10g tank besides the nova extreme pro and I wasn't gonna pay $300 for it.

If anyone has some small lps frags, a shroom or 2 for cheap in a couple weeks, hit me up. Maybe a nice piece of hammer or lobo or something.

 

[ashton]

very nice that is cool. I want to set up a small 3-5 gallon tank for my office at work and something like that would be perfect.

 

[daveysmart]

I am going to do the same AIO setup with a 15 gallon tank soon I hope. I also just bought one of those nova 18" lights and I really like it. It puts out great light, although I wish there was a better bulb selection to choose from. I would rather have the 420 actinic that you can get for the 24" fixtures.

Your rockwork looks awesome. Nice Job. You might be able to get a little more water on the fuge side if you cut another overflow slit so the water can flow a little faster into the fuge. Correct me if I am wrong though.

 

[gotfish]

You might be able to get a little more water on the fuge side if you cut another overflow slit so the water can flow a little faster into the fuge. Correct me if I am wrong though.

Actually, I pulled most of the water out and took my dremel and made the slits about an 1/8" longer each and reamed them out a bit wider and it still does the same thing.

I think the pump is basically a bit overpowered for the tank size as far as that whole thing goes. It's no big deal though. Looking at the guy who did this at nano-reef, his looked worse. He had his pump a little higher up then mine so he had it out of the water about a 1/4".

I was thinking the same thing on the light fixture. What would really be nice is if some of the better manufacturers would make lamps in this size. Good news is I've seen people using this light growing sps with it.

Good luck on the 15g aio. I'd like to see pics when you get it up and running.

 

[gotfish]

Some updates. The rock was pretty well cycled when I bought it, but I did notice a slight rise in ammonia in the first 2 days. Never did get a reading of nitrites and haven't gotten a reading of nitrates, but the chaeto has already doubled in size. It started out the size of a golf ball and is now a baseball. I put a cleanup crew of 3 astrae snails and a tongan nassarius snail last saturday.

This is mostly going to be a zoa/lps tank with 3 sexy shrimp and a pom pom crab. I picked up 1 male and 2 female sexy shrimp yesterday which I have to say are pretty cool to watch for some reason. Anyway, on with the pics.

FTS with some algae spots on the back glass

Some zoas from my other tank that I put in here.

Also a decent rock I got from Indoor Reef

2 of the stars of the tank sitting on some ricordea

If anyone has a small single head of hammer coral that they can sell me, I'd appreciate a pm please. Preferably in the Tacoma area.

 

[daveysmart]

Nice sexies! I like your rock layout too, nice job so far, its looking great!

 

[spongebob lover]

very nice tank

 

[dudeman]

i like the way you set this tank up. its definately cool what can happen with a little diy

 

[Krish]

Great job! Love the idea!

 

[ajnweb]

I have heard that sexy shrimp will eat the zoa skirts if not well fed, keep us posted on how yours do!

 

[roscoe]

Very nice Kerry. I might have to do this on a 15g down the road for a zoa tank.

 

[willandcorina]

can you post more pics of the filter side now that its running I want to do the same thing with a 16 gallon bow front thanks

 

[gotfish]

can you post more pics of the filter side now that its running I want to do the same thing with a 16 gallon bow front thanks

When I get home today I'll snap a couple pics. Not much over there besides chaeto, rock, a heater and the return pump.

Ajnweb, I haven't noticed anything yet. I feed them mysis and shrimp pellets so far, once a week of each and they seem to be picking on the LR, but it's hard to tell if they are actually eating anything off of it.