Rex's Rimless Pico

[Preme]

Hey everyone,

Introduction
Opps I decided to start another reef tank. Only this time it's a pico, which I've never had any less then 30 gallons. I've just set it up today, still in the process of getting the rest of the equipment. Livestock plans on are still undecided.

Equipment
Tank: Aqueon Evolve 4
Light: Nanobox Mini

Rockwork and Substrate
Rockwork: 1.5lbs of dry live rock
Substrate: 1.5lbs of CaribSea Florida Crushed Coral

 

[Paullawr]

We need pictures!!!

And enjoy sounds awesome.

 

[wkscott]

4 gallons, wow!
Any reason you selected crushed coral as your substrate? It can really trap detritus and facilitate algal growth. At least water changes and gravel vacuuming won't be too difficult.

 

[Paullawr]

Im using a coarse substrate and find it works well. Each to their own.

 

[Preme]

We need pictures!!!

And enjoy sounds awesome.

Thanks! I will try to get some pictures up this weekend.

4 gallons, wow!
Any reason you selected crushed coral as your substrate? It can really trap detritus and facilitate algal growth. At least water changes and gravel vacuuming won't be too difficult.

Yes it is quite small, in fact it's about 8 times smaller than my other reef.
The substrate is not actually crushed coral, it's the smallest grain sand made by CaribSea. I tried finding the name online, and everything said it was called Florida Crushed Coral.

 

[Paullawr]

So back to it. Yes interested in the pics please buddy.

 

[Paullawr]

May I ask what your plans for filtration are.

External/internal/either or with mods?

 

[Preme]

Sorry Rex, didn't mean for this to turn *** for tat for some reason.

So back to it. Yes interested in the pics please buddy.

May I ask what your plans for filtration are.

External/internal/either or with mods?

It's all good, don't worry about it.
As far as filtration goes. The tank is actually an AIO, which is a huge plus when dealing with a tank this small. It does only have two chambers, the first will have filter floss and carbon, the second will have the heater and return pump.
Not exactly sure what type and how many GPH the return is capable of, so far it seems fairly good, but I'll most likely replace with some better in the future.

Here's a few pictures of the tank.

Front View

Side View

Top Down View

 

[Paullawr]

Awesome and +1 on the AIO.

AIO is my current tank now.
Aquamedic blenny.

Not sure on how baffles sit but if like in blenny the baffle comes down say 7/8 of way. I did this.

 

[Paullawr]

Created an egg crate floss holder
Water has to run through before going under baffle and out to return.

 

[Paullawr]

Cheap as chips to make and works really well. Change it out twice weekly.

 

[Kai]

Definitely following along! Any plans for stocking as of now?

 

[Paullawr]

I went for a tunze 9004 skimmer.and aquamedic s reactor. Also put in a @SantaMonica drop scrubber which are great for small tanks.

 

[Preme]

Definitely following along! Any plans for stocking as of now?

Thanks. As far as stocking goes, I was thinking a goby shrimp pair. It is a little more challenging to find a fish that can work out in this small of a tank. Gobies aren't as active as many other types of fish are, and many stay relatively small.

As the coral side of things go, I'm going to have 3 or 4 different colored Montipora Capricornis frags. Which I'm hoping grow into each other and create one large multicolored shelve.

Awesome and +1 on the AIO.

AIO is my current tank now.
Aquamedic blenny.

Not sure on how baffles sit but if like in blenny the baffle comes down say 7/8 of way. I did this.

Created an egg crate floss holder
Water has to run through before going under baffle and out to return.

Cheap as chips to make and works really well. Change it out twice weekly.

I went for a tunze 9004 skimmer.and aquamedic s reactor. Also put in a @SantaMonica drop scrubber which are great for small tanks.

Mine actually has shelves where your able to put the filter media in. Very simple and straightforward.
Sadly since this is only a four gallon tank I don't have room for any reactors or a skimmer. I'll simply have to rely on weekly water changes and filter media.

 

[Paullawr]

Theres always hang on.

http://m.fish-street.com/marco_aqua_biopellet_reactor_np-200_external

http://m.fish-street.com/marco_aqua_mini_hang-on_m-50_skimmer

 

[Preme]

Today I managed to finish the aquascape. It was a little more challenging then I thought it would be, because of the small size tank it was very hard to move my hand around in the tank and get rock to stay in place. I just decided to use some aquascape glue to hold everything in place. For now I'm using the LED that came with the tank but as I mentioned before I plan on switching it out with a Nanobox Mini within the next month. I also plan to let the tank run for 3 to 4 weeks before adding any livestock.

Full Tank Shot

 

[Paullawr]

Looks decent and good call with the waiting time before adding stock.