Paula Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 So the latest issue of Coral magazine just arrived. This issue ios devoted to Pico Reefs. I see there has been some previous threads and a contest regarding this topic but nothing more recent. Anyone keeping one? It seems to me the biggest difficulty would be temperature control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 I don't keep a pico, but with me 32 gallon by far the biggest issue was keeping all the water parameters stable (especially alkalinity) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 I've kept a few in the 3-5g size. Temperature isn't a problem at all, a small fan is enough to create surface agitation and evaporative cooling. Evaporation becomes the biggest problem. I had a 3g on my desk at work. If .5g evaporates over the weekend then you get wide parameter fluctuations. I resolved mine by having a cover on the tank and ultimately set up a mini ATO. It was incredibly fun to have a goby and emerald crab at work with me every day. The crab would see me come in each morning and immediately climb the rocks and wave at me until I hand-fed him a piece of nori. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicordeaFreak Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 I have a 4gal aquarium with rock and whatnot is probably more like 3.5 gallons of water. I would agree with mFrame that temperature hasn't been a problem except for when my HVAC went kaput over the summer, but normally I don't need to have a fan on it and the thermometer usually reads 78~80. Again I agree that evaporation is definitely a big problem with pico's and have a plastic cover on the tank so that condensation drips back into the aquarium. I manually top off in the morning before I leave for work and whenever I get home from work. To be honest I don't test nearly as much as I should, but with water changes once a week things seem to stay happy. 4 hours ago, mFrame said: I've kept a few in the 3-5g size. Temperature isn't a problem at all, a small fan is enough to create surface agitation and evaporative cooling. Evaporation becomes the biggest problem. I had a 3g on my desk at work. If .5g evaporates over the weekend then you get wide parameter fluctuations. I resolved mine by having a cover on the tank and ultimately set up a mini ATO. It was incredibly fun to have a goby and emerald crab at work with me every day. The crab would see me come in each morning and immediately climb the rocks and wave at me until I hand-fed him a piece of nori. What sort of mini ATO did you end up using mFrame? I've been wanting to set up one, but most of the double sensor style of ATO's are too big to fit in the rear chamber of my aquarium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 It was from http://autotopoff.com. Nothing super fancy, no real need for a double sensor on something like that (my topoff reservoir wasn't enough to flood the pico). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FluxCapacitor Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 I've been running a 3G pico for the better part of 2 years now. Evaporation, for some reason, has not been much of an issue for me. I'm using an AutoAqua Micro ATO on the tank and only have to refill the 5G carboy that feeds it once ever 3 months or so. It consumes fresh water VERY VERY slowly and it is not covered. I also have a small heater controlled by an external temp controller keeping the temp at 78*. Inhabitants are a clown goby, a hermit crab, a whole army of amphipods, and some RBTAs. YMMV, but I've seen very little evaporation problem from my 3G tank. If I could go do it over from the beginning I would not have gotten a bowfront because it's a PITA to clean. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandon429 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 (edited) fun fact one of the reefs from that edition lives in Pflugerville. this video is from a few days ago/made an update. I used to get my change water from River City but honestly I just can't anymore, their red sea mix water is nearly constantly cloudy with suspended items, opaque at times (assuming its from a not-ever cleaned holding vat where the expected precipitates and scums build up in the bottom then are cast into suspension then I buy it and it goes into my old reef) I changed to imagitarium ocean water from petco and my tank is 1000% happier. my water change bucket is 1000% clear at all times, plus it's shipped to my door. I should have done this years ago. evaporation: ironically that one gallon reef has more stability in salinity than any tank on this entire site and no auto topoff is used. the lid fits tightly on the *inner diameter* of the vase neck, directing splashes back down vs around the lip of the tank which would manifest as salt creep. I can tune the evaporation rate by adjusting bubble flow rate...I just took a 6 day trip to Lubbock and set the salinity at .024/very low bubble rate, and came back to .0245 after six days of 0% freshwater added. now a single strike from a nerf ball would fell the whole thing, there's tradeoffs to reefing at this size, but not stability of reefing parameters that's for sure. approaching 18 years old in December. B Edited July 18, 2023 by brandon429 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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