Hello everyone my name is Matthew, I’m pretty new to the reefing side of keeping fish but have kept freshwater for many years. Before COVID hit I had a 15 gallon saltwater tank setup, and due to some sercombe stances i had to take it down. Now I’m wanting to put together a pico reef together for my office. I know that keeping a smaller tank is hard because of parameters fluctuating but I believe I’m up for the challenge. I plan on going with a 10x10x10 all in one tank, and a kessil a80. I’ve read a few forums but wanted to start one of my own so I could get some more answers. I would love for some tips and tricks from people that are willing to give me any insight. Any thoughts on pico reefs are welcome, and any personal experiences are too. This is my first post on R2R, so hopefully I’ve done everything correctly. After reading all of the positive feed back people give here I figured I’d try my luck!
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
Bump
davidcalgary29
2500 Club Member
Welcome!
Have you considered a Fluval Evo 13.5? It’s a fantastic nano AIO for the price.
Have you considered a Fluval Evo 13.5? It’s a fantastic nano AIO for the price.
MNFish
Valuable Member
I was just looking at them the other day I have the 13.5 fluval but the advanced acrylics ones look pretty tempting. Some of the advanced acrylics are newer which sometime makes it harder to find add ons like filter racks, but I have a feeling it is going to be close enough to other ones to find something.
davidcalgary29
2500 Club Member
I took a look at the Advanced Acrylic tanks: pretty!
But the Fluval sill has two basic advantages: the canopy, stock lighting, and stock return pump. None of them are top-tier, but still easily add $150 of value to the tank (at least in Canada). The canopy is really underrated because the surface/volume ratio of nano builds tend to be really high, making evaporation a real concern. As it is, with my Evos, I rarely have to top-up more than once a week. I don't even bother with an ATO. I can't imagine having an open top on a pico because of this, even with the negative effects on gas exchange with a closed canopy.
The other big plus: jumping incidents are greatly reduced. And because nano/pico builds have such small volumes of water, the only place a stressed/excited/angry fish can often go is up...and out.
But the Fluval sill has two basic advantages: the canopy, stock lighting, and stock return pump. None of them are top-tier, but still easily add $150 of value to the tank (at least in Canada). The canopy is really underrated because the surface/volume ratio of nano builds tend to be really high, making evaporation a real concern. As it is, with my Evos, I rarely have to top-up more than once a week. I don't even bother with an ATO. I can't imagine having an open top on a pico because of this, even with the negative effects on gas exchange with a closed canopy.
The other big plus: jumping incidents are greatly reduced. And because nano/pico builds have such small volumes of water, the only place a stressed/excited/angry fish can often go is up...and out.
