This should be interesting 2.5 pico

[surfnsalt]

Looking for lots of input, suggestions, help with stocking and equipment. I found this awesome glass ice tea container with a spout and a extra bottom container that the main container sits on. As soon as I saw the first thing I thought of was how cool it would be to make this a pico tank with mini sump! So first I drilled two holes with a diamond bit, one for the drain with 3/4 bulk and one out of the lower container for wires and return tube. So far from extra stuff just sitting around house I got a 160gph pump and a 10 watt heater in the bottom. Since I'm doing weekly water changes on my other tanks anyway I will change 70% on this one a week. (Too Much?) Definitely going to get the smart ato micro for top off. I'm debating over a kessil or a prime for lighting. (Other suggestions?) I know the lighting really depends on stocking but if it's stable I'm up for stocking anything. I can hide the drain pipe really well with a good scape. I would like to figure out a way to get some media and maybe a little filter sock. Would love some ideas and brainstorming for this build. I think with some help from some of you awesome reefers I can really make a great pico. Thanks for looking and help. Now let's hear your thoughts on everything from equipment to stocking and setup.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

That's cool! Fill it up with coral!

 

[Broadfield]

Yeah, I can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[TikiBird]

Following!

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Your water changes will be as easy as pouring yourself a cup of tea. Lol

 

[surfnsalt]

Cutting rocks down to size! Starting to mess with aquascapes today and it's hard to find smaller pieces of dry rock. Using a diamond tipped sawsall blade I can cut some these bigger rocks to suit my small area to work with. The blade runs 17$ . Cuts real easy with a good sawsall.

 

[jason_mazzy]

my only concern is what metals are in that spigot

 

[GK3]

How many tangs are you planning on? You know they are super cool when they school.

 

[GK3]

my only concern is what metals are in that spigot

It's an ice tea container-there shouldn't be any metals leaching as it should be food quality stainless steel. Unless it's straight out of a third world country.

 

[GK3]

I had a 2.5 gallon AIO with coral that ran for 2.5 years. I actually found that doing water changes was too drastic and "made the corals mad" off the corals. I maybe did 3 water changes after that for the remaining 2 years of it's life. Was totally covered in coral and coralline when it was decommissioned. All you really need is an ATO and your dosing elements.

 

[GK3]

It would be cool if you did a custom round hood with 3-4 leds. Then it it would just look like a lid on the ice tea container. You could even add a straw and some yellow tangs (lemons)

 

[GK3]

Can I have the model of this ice tea machine?

 

[surfnsalt]

my only concern is what metals are in that spigot

Should be stainless steal. It's for serving drinks so I would imagine they wouldn't do something that would rust

 

[surfnsalt]

Can I have the model of this ice tea machine?

I actually found this in a customers basement and they said they don't use it anymore and I could have it so I don't know the model number

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Cool idea! Following

 

[surfnsalt]

Starting to mess with scapes today. It's tough to make it look good in this small butt space. Came up with these and drilled some holes in the rocks just big enough for frag plugs. I like the last one best.

 

[reeferfoxx]

This is really cool! How much rock are you trying to fit in there?

 

[Eddie Rogers]

Cool

Following

 

[surfnsalt]

This is really cool! How much rock are you trying to fit in there?

I think it looks like more than it is. It's the 6 lbs of rock. I need lots of surface area for coral! [emoji16][emoji12]

 

[surfnsalt]

Trying to come up with something to hide the bottom chamber. Any cool ideas? I was going to try this but the tank is too rounded.