My husband is going to kill me... pico journal

[CleverBs]

Well, I haven't heard from the Craigslist people yet. Anyone ever tried making a glass one? I'd really like a rimless glass aquarium. Anyone ever found a plan for one that also includes a glass lid of some sort? If so, I'd appreciate the link.

Also, if I made an 8 gallon aquarium and eventually got corals, do you think I could do without the power head, as someone suggested, and just do an hob filter with live rubble instead of the filter. If so, what size filter would I need to provide enough flow?

I would use a power head, they are only like 40$ at most and well worth it. im telling you save yourself alot of money and buy this.

Aqueon Evolve LED Aquarium Kit at PETCO

its 80$ and you dont have to buy anything other then the tank, rock, sand, light. This way you dont have to waste money on a power head and a filter. it gives you a super clean look because theres no equipment in the tank because it has a "Sump" in the back that has a overflow that goes into a chamber where the very strong adjustable pump that shares a compartment with my heater. then you can direct the nozel to adjust the direction of flow. Also i left the stock light on it and it has a moon light setting so at night if i want moon light on the light just swings over the tank. its a great little nano and a great deal. I couldnt be happier with my evolve 4 (the 4g version)

 

[Bearchumjs]

You could probably loose the power head and get a small hob filer and take the media out fill it with live rock rubble and stash your heater in it

This is what I did with my pico reef (but I didn't stash my heater in the HOB) I started the tank on 8/22. I've got a few coral (zoas and a candy cane), an emerald crab, 3 blue leg hermits, 2 nassarius snails, 1 astrea snail, and today I bought a naked green clown goby! Everything is doing great! I use instant ocean reef crystals.

I have a 5-10 gal rated HOB with live rock instead of a filter cartridge. I'm going to be getting this PH in the mail this week because I feel like I need a little more flow around the bottom of the tank.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003C...ile?redirect=true&ref_=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

 

[Bearchumjs]

My 5 gal is a fluval chi. I tossed out the filter unit it came with, threw on a small HOB, made a lid with plexi glass and I use a 12W par 38 for lighting that I have on for 10 hrs a day. After I figured out where I wanted my water level (fluval chi is rimless) I made a mark with a sharpie so I know where to top off at. I keep my salinity at 1.024-1.025. I've not had any problems yet, aside from some algae. I'm still adding CUC to take care of it. If you get an HOB, here's how mine works- it filters 90gph. It's a simple HOB most would put on a 5-10 gal tank. However, in order for the surface to have any agitation I have to have the water level reach just the bottom of the... Waterfall part of the filter. You know, where the water flows out of the filter. I'd rather have more water in my tank so I am getting a pico PH, which I already linked in my last post to you, so that way I can have another inch of water and still get enough surface agitation for gas exchange and have plenty of flow for my corals.

Anyway, I hope I helped out a little. I can't wait to see what you get!

(Pics of my pico are on my profile if you want to have a looksy. I LOVE my pico reef! It's my first try at saltwater!)

 

[umramgirl86]

Small update:

I'm still DYING to so a saltwater tank (and my hubby is finally starting to consent a bit).

I still have not decided on a tank or whether I'm going to buy or build one, but I got my sand tonight. I got sand from my local beach. I've heard lots of cons about doing this, but the fact is I really want sand from my own beach. I just think it would be cool to say, "that's gulf shores sand."

So, that leads me to a question. I've heard that if I bleach it, it could kill parasites and germs. Then I could boil it and rinse it to clear up the bleach. How do you guys do this? I mean, do you just pour the bleach over or what do you do? How long do you boil it, etc.?

 

[greaver83]

Personalty I would not use local sand you don't know the silicate content or how polluted it is seems like asking for problems before you even get started. I'm not one of those people people that think you have to buy the best of everything but aragonite sand is not expensive and you can trust its clean and will not cause an algae bloom and will help hold Ph

 

[umramgirl86]

Personalty I would not use local sand you don't know the silicate content or how polluted it is seems like asking for problems before you even get started. I'm not one of those people people that think you have to buy the best of everything but aragonite sand is not expensive and you can trust its clean and will not cause an algae bloom and will help hold Ph

What does silica do?

 

[umramgirl86]

If money was not an object, would you prefer a biocube or an aqueon evolve?

 

[CleverBs]

Bio cube all day long.

 

[umramgirl86]

If I got a 29gallon jbj nano cube, would I need a skimmer, or could I still get away with just a filter and power head?

 

[Qube]

The Nano Cube comes with a built in filter compartment in the back. No skimmer is needed in my opinion. I ran one for 6 months with no noticeable difference. That said, all you should need is a powerhead and possibly a heater. Good luck!

 

[umramgirl86]

That's excellent. On Craigslist, this guys has the nanocube (it says 29 gallon but I think he means 28) with the stand and 15 pounds of live rock all for $100. That sounds like an insanely good deal to me. Am I wrong? I hope he still has it...

 

[Psychocircus91]

That's excellent. On Craigslist, this guys has the nanocube (it says 29 gallon but I think he means 28) with the stand and 15 pounds of live rock all for $100. That sounds like an insanely good deal to me. Am I wrong? I hope he still has it...

It is an extremely good deal. People tend to sell their stuff cheap because it depreciates A LOT. When people start saltwater they usually know exactly what they want so selling used can be hard. Just make sure everything works when wet!

 

[CleverBs]

That's excellent. On Craigslist, this guys has the nanocube (it says 29 gallon but I think he means 28) with the stand and 15 pounds of live rock all for $100. That sounds like an insanely good deal to me. Am I wrong? I hope he still has it...

if it works buy that right now.

 

[greaver83]

What does silica do?

Causes algae blooms