Hypothetical Picotope

[Jimbo7]

There is a chance that i will come into possesition of a JBJ picotope for my upcoming birthday and i have some questions for the nano gurus. The tank will be for next year when i go to college so that i dont have to go through tank withdrawl . i have a few problems though, the closest LFS to campus is roughly 10 miles and there is about a 95% i wont have a car.

So! I was thinking about using the campus tap water and treating it with tap conditioners, on top of that stuffing the little power filter with small media bags of Nitra-Zorb and some phosphate control of somesort.

I only plan to keep corals and maybe a shrimp of somesort in there to keep bioload at minimum. Plus at the end of the year i want to be able to throw everything in bags, drain the tank and head for home without worrying too much about everything surviving the 6 hour car ride.
Do you guys think this is a do-able plan?
Or do you see any alternatives or better methods for my plan?

[blindskate]

i think not. id hate to see you spend money on corals and drive six hours for them to die. but then again..fish and coral are shipped all over the world and they are fine..

...theyll live fine if the temperatures are stay the same. so...its up in the air.

depends on how you maintain the temp. get a battery operated heater and a small tank w/ some salt water in it

[Jimbo7]

Well its not so much the transporting that worries me, i can pack them up in styrofoam and whatnot like you get them shipped. I was more concerned about the actual setup and my lack of being able to get RODI like im used to. I have a 90 gallon reef and 55 gallon Seahorse tank right now so i have some experience.

[blindskate]

oh the water?...yea it wouldnt be too good if it would be hard to do water changes. womp womp womp =/

[Jimbo7]

well i dont think it will be hard persay, im more wondering if its feasible and with good results?

[pitt420dude]

Heres the thing Jimbo, I assume that you're a senior in highschool now since you're going to college next year. So you have some tank experience. You know what it takes and really just have to decide for yourself whether you want to (and be able to) spend the time and money on it while away.

I can tell you from personal experience that it is doable. Keep in min I've only ever kept FW tanks, so don't know how necessary RO/DI water is. I kept a 10gal freshwater in the grimeyest frat house you've ever laid eyes on. After the first party where someone thought it would be funny to feed the fish beer, nobody ever came close to the tank again. They knew what would happen. I actually spurred some other people into the hobby when bumming rides to the LFS. Then I got a car, and it was not a problem.

My point is that it is not impossible, and on the contrary, you may even get some other people into the hobby who have cars. I went to Pitt, so had lots of LFS's close. I don't know your school or if lots of freshman keep cars, but 10miles is nothin. YOu may even meet some other aquarists to go on the trips with. I did and it was cool.

I'm telling you, if people see your tanks, and then go to the LFS with you a few times, and if you combine this with some nagging pressure, you can spread that oft contagious MTS.

[Jimbo7]

Yea if i get the green light from everyone i know i will be able to keep it. Since its only 3 gallons the setup cost should be next to nothing compared to what i have done. And most of the frags im sure will come outta my frag tank at home. I guess my main concern is making sure that the water quality will be fine after all the conditioners and additives.