Overview
I have always loved the pico/nano reef variety tanks merely for the reasons that they are inexpensive (as far as reef tanks go), you can do all the water changes with one bucket (crucial if you don't have enough space in the city), and small frags go a long way to filling out the tank. I got started in saltwater reefing nearly 15+ years ago post-college, put it down as a young man, and picked it back up in 2018. My current tank has been running since October 2022 with some rock and inhabitants around longer. Pico reefing is a long-game, which suits a busy life with kids in the city. Thank you for looking at my tank and welcome any comments or questions you may have.
Setup
Tank is sitting on a small piece of furniture that originally had 4 drawers that I modified to be 1 drawer with a generous area underneath for electrical and ATO storage. The drawer holds the day to day maintenance supplies like the refractometer, tweezers, etc. Underneath storage has enough room for a gallon bucket of RODI top-off water and the electrical components: Power cords, power strip, Illumagic timer, and Inkbird controller.
Inhabitants (Dates added)
I originally started this tank in a Fluval Spec III in 2020 and was moderately successful until the tank had an unexpected and still unexplained decline in Dec 2021. I think it was chemical warfare with a dying BTA but all that to say I never figured it out and then rebooted the tank in the Spec III on October 3, 2021 with the existing rock and clownfish. I then added the Toadstool and Zoas and things were very stable for a 6+ months less some coral frags that didn't make it, like some SPS birdnest. Then the Spec III developed a leak in the rear, bottom part of the tank and I moved everything into the Lifegard 4.1 in October 2022 as I liked the AIO design, the profile of the tank, and it was available at my local fish store for a very reasonable price. The tank has been in its current form since then and I am slowly adding corals again.
I have always loved the pico/nano reef variety tanks merely for the reasons that they are inexpensive (as far as reef tanks go), you can do all the water changes with one bucket (crucial if you don't have enough space in the city), and small frags go a long way to filling out the tank. I got started in saltwater reefing nearly 15+ years ago post-college, put it down as a young man, and picked it back up in 2018. My current tank has been running since October 2022 with some rock and inhabitants around longer. Pico reefing is a long-game, which suits a busy life with kids in the city. Thank you for looking at my tank and welcome any comments or questions you may have.
Setup
Tank is sitting on a small piece of furniture that originally had 4 drawers that I modified to be 1 drawer with a generous area underneath for electrical and ATO storage. The drawer holds the day to day maintenance supplies like the refractometer, tweezers, etc. Underneath storage has enough room for a gallon bucket of RODI top-off water and the electrical components: Power cords, power strip, Illumagic timer, and Inkbird controller.
Inhabitants (Dates added)
- Green Toadstool (Oct 30, 2021)
- Green Star Polyps
- Green Hammer (Jan 14, 2023)
- Green Palys (Feb 12, 2022)
- Pink Pulsing Xenia (Dec 29, 2022)
- Blue leg hermits
- 2 astrea snails
- 1 tank-raised clownfish (Marlin, Oct 30, 2021 purchased)
- 1 T. Deresa Clam
- Illumagic Pixel @ 70% power with Illumagic timer
- Inkbird 308T temp controlled with an Ehiem Jager 25W heater
- Sicce Syncra Nano return pump
- Smart ATO (optical sensor)
- Chemipure Blue and filter foam
- Established Live Rock from prior tank
- Established ceramic bio balls (not sure what they are called) from an established tank at the LFS
- Salt: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
- Reef Buddy 75GPH RODI unit
I originally started this tank in a Fluval Spec III in 2020 and was moderately successful until the tank had an unexpected and still unexplained decline in Dec 2021. I think it was chemical warfare with a dying BTA but all that to say I never figured it out and then rebooted the tank in the Spec III on October 3, 2021 with the existing rock and clownfish. I then added the Toadstool and Zoas and things were very stable for a 6+ months less some coral frags that didn't make it, like some SPS birdnest. Then the Spec III developed a leak in the rear, bottom part of the tank and I moved everything into the Lifegard 4.1 in October 2022 as I liked the AIO design, the profile of the tank, and it was available at my local fish store for a very reasonable price. The tank has been in its current form since then and I am slowly adding corals again.
