# its was cheap and i am bored...



## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

ok guys i bought this for $12... i had to it was like 60% off... and im getting tired of no fish... i actually got harrassed the other day in chat by some chick because i didnt have an aquarium...










so what do i with it now... i really really really want a pico reef... Well not really a reef... more like live sand... a live rock... some crustations and a fish (if there is one that will work in this size... if not im understanding of that)... well help me out... and i know with an aquarium this size evaporation can cause levels to fluctuate spiratically and blah blah blah... ok im know that ive been warned and i want to keep it simple with the SW... just basically low maintance (or as low as you can get on something like this)... ive been wanting to do this forever and just got a wild hair... if yall can come up with something im gonna go and get the stuff to cycle it and start ti process asap...

help me...

-me

p.s. its 1 gallon.


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## gdwb10101 (Apr 14, 2006)

out of curiosity, how much did it cost?


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## PerculaClown (Apr 25, 2006)

1 gallon :shock: I dont know if youll be able to fit anything in it


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## Sushii (Aug 24, 2006)

If this person could do it I bet you could too ...
http://www.nano-tanks.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=134
There are a few small tanks on this site .
www.nano-tanks.com


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## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

it was $12.... reg $30... red was like $12... green was like $17... and blue and purple were $30... so i of course got red... this was at deathco... guy at checkout said they were prolly dicontinueing red so they cut price on them...

and ive been looking at some of the pico forums and such and pretty much i think ill be able to do ok as long as i dont try anything tooooooo drastic... and stick with softs so i dont have to upgrade lighting much more than a bulb...

im gonna read up on the start up of a SW and so forth since i am totally used to FW/BW and i have to go get a thermo for it today... and im pretty sure in a sw tank you can add live rock and live sand right away (something im gonna figure out is how to cycle a SW tank), i mean isnt this were you get the bacteria that you normally have to cycle for in a FW?... might even pick up a shrimp from some of the stocking list i have found for tanks this small just to give it a slight bioload...

ill keep you updated...

and ive been thinking of getting a second one as a sump for later... just drill them and connect them back to back with some small pipes and put all my equipment in the rear one... this would also give me a second light and the water level in the front one would never change... maybe later... i know im gonna have to tear it down in a few months... ill see how its doing and might use this opportunity to add a sump...

-me


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

*holds it in*


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## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

y hold it in... if you have good idea/warning/precautions let them out... i mean there are whole sites devoted to just such a thing... therefore i wouldnt say it is the best way build a reef, but it is a generally accepted challenge taken by alot of aquatic hobbiest... alot of them do "picos" (under 2.5 gallons) with a 30 gallon sump... alot dont though... some ppl have these things in wine bottles...

im willing to take your opinions into consideration, just dont be offended when i say its my $50 to blow if it falls through... because well it is my $50 to blow when it falls through...

this is one of those touchy subjects that every one says... dont do it when ppl start it, but 2 years later when they have a nice set up ppl praise them...

if you look at me as too inexperienced to pull this off... inform me.. give me good links to read through so that i know what im facing and stand a chance of making this a success...

if you want to approach me as... "i would not do this if i were you, but if you must know that ............" i would actually appreciate insight...

-me


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Well to pick up Mp's line of thinking it a very bad idea.
Picos are the latest fad in reef keeping. Not a very good one either. Many animals will suffer and be lost to the whims of humans. Freshwater is hard enough to keep a stable environment in small containers. Saltwater, where nitrates and ammonia are toxic at much lower levels will prove fatal. I dont know of any sw fish that can be kept in such conditions (not even gobies or blennies). Many of the eople who have tried this method are also very experienced reefkeepers and can make them work. They still have a very hard time with these tanks. I'm still very new to this and upgraded my 55 to a 75 reef just to make it easier on me.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

because i enjoy letting others finishing my setences besides as much as i drank last night im not sure im qualified to give info today :lol:


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## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

Simpte said:


> Well to pick up Mp's line of thinking it a very bad idea.
> Picos are the latest fad in reef keeping. Not a very good one either. Many animals will suffer and be lost to the whims of humans. Freshwater is hard enough to keep a stable environment in small containers. Saltwater, where nitrates and ammonia are toxic at much lower levels will prove fatal. I dont know of any sw fish that can be kept in such conditions (not even gobies or blennies). Many of the eople who have tried this method are also very experienced reefkeepers and can make them work. They still have a very hard time with these tanks. I'm still very new to this and upgraded my 55 to a 75 reef just to make it easier on me.


im totally on board with you with the whole bigger is easier... and your comment about the fish... cool... no fishies until some serious research is done into this and i see how just the basics of this are gonna work out... but there are many very small things that just come on LR... small stars and so forth... there are things designed to live in tide pools smaller than what i have... im not trying to go extreme in the world of picos... i just simply want something to occupy some time and something to watch grow...

-me


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

If you do go ahead with this, make sure you know exactly what your doing (meaning that you fully understand saltwater before doing so). If something does go wrong, that little tank could crash in a few hours or less depending on the problem.

I had a small nnao tank (about 2.5 gallons) and it had a pseudochromis (some purplish type my mom bought for me out of the blue), and a few hermits and a mushroom. I only had about 2-3 pounds of live rock in it, and it looked pretty neat. After a few weeks it was taken down though, I just didn't have the room or time to maintain that small little tank in the corner. But, later on I may do another one..but with dwarf seahorses .

I suggest you obviously keep fish out of the tank, there are a few like neon gobies that could fit in that tank, but really shouldn't be. My pseudo was in a 2.5, but it was already temporary, and I couldn't imagine what it would be like if it were in a one gallon. It basically had it's choice of moving three inches over to another rock, and that was it's environment.

I know of some person who set up a pico reef with some lr, zoas, dwarf feather dusters, strawberry crabs, etc. and it turned out pretty nicely. If you'd like to check it out just pm me and i'll send you the link .


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## gdwb10101 (Apr 14, 2006)

i would like to go the opposite way. I wish i could get enough money for my own house with a giant aquarium that i would swim in hahaha. Actually, i would like to have an outdoor pool that comes up to the house and have a custom aquarium, inside against the wall that would extend down like 10ft so that the pool could looking into the aquarium. I don't know much about this concept and i've seen something similar in an architecture magazine. It would be like swimming with the fish. 

I bet it is really hard to maintain, because you can't really clean it, but it would be awesome.


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## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

oh well i would love to go huge too... i think we all would, but even a 55 gallon fowlr would set me back over a grand... money i dont really want to invest right now... something like this might be like $200ish in the long run and thats with buying kits and everything... i just had to have something to occupy some time... and i love fish... seemed like a route to take... and dont fret you guys i wont keep any fish in it... like i said i just want my own lil world that i take care of...

-me


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## Sushii (Aug 24, 2006)

here is a link of a pretty in depth write up that has some good info on it . Now I too am new but it seems to have some very good info and guidelines 
http://www.nano-tanks.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=210


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

nano tanks are probably one of the hardest sw situations you can get. I've had a 2.5 gallon before... it was WAY too much work to be worth it. However, if you don't mind the work... it COULD work. However, I'd never put a fish in there... 1 gallon is way too small for something like that. There aren't any bettas in the ocean  all are used to high levels of O2.
If I did go with a 1 gallon pico, hmmm... no, no I don't think I'd ever go with a 1 gallon pico.







BUT... if per say I could keep it all stable. I would do like some sexy dancer shrimp, and a small coloney of mushrooms or zoas.


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## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

what kind of work did you face? what were some of the issues that made it such a PITA...

my goal here is actually to keep the live stock of the tank simple... and try to over come some of the upkeep issues i encounter... just trying to sole problems i run across and get it stable with as little hassle as possible

-me


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

topping off sometimes twice a day... (auto top off might be useful here)
frequent water changes
a very hard cycle
pH flux's
alk flux's
calc flux's
CO2 flux's <- can only speculate but this is probably why the pH went down and up


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