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My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Screen-capture-1
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Keywords

2011  2012  DUAL  gallon  ORDER  2014  


My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest

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taimoortwm
Grimreefer
Shank
Yeti
JoseH
mrob2012004
jmg32595
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Bryan
ritter678
matt_longview
DonnieP
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My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Empty Re: My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest

Post by J.Davis Tue 25 Oct 2011, 3:07 pm

Nice update! Consider housing a shrimp in it? For utility purposes..
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Post by Puffdaddy Tue 25 Oct 2011, 3:14 pm

How is gsp growing on glass. Tank looks awesome

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Post by DonnieP Tue 25 Oct 2011, 5:56 pm

Puffdaddy wrote:How is gsp growing on glass. Tank looks awesome

GSP loves glass, just super glue a little piece and it will take off. Or you can just lay a rock with GSP on it against the back glass and it will attach and spread.I used to have a 110 that had the entire back glass covered in GSP.
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Post by matt_longview Tue 25 Oct 2011, 7:29 pm

Looking great buddy. :-)

I can't believe that thing is 2.5 gallons! So cool
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Post by Yeti Tue 25 Oct 2011, 8:04 pm

I love the growth you've achieved, tanks looking great!
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Post by DonnieP Tue 25 Oct 2011, 8:13 pm

Thanks for the comments guys!
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Post by ritter678 Tue 25 Oct 2011, 11:13 pm

Very cool Donnie. I stole your idea for growing GSP on the glass for my 40 gal.
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Post by DonnieP Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:45 am

November Updates! I took a few with flash, shows the colors better in a pic than the blue leds.

FTS
My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 11282010

FTS with flash
My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 11282011

Flash shot from above
My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 11282012

GSP on glass
My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 11282013

My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 11282014

My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 11282015
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Post by ritter678 Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:56 am

Amazing you're growing sps in 2.5 gallons of water. Good job!

How is calcium and alkalinity usage? Are you having to dose heavy?
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Post by DonnieP Mon 28 Nov 2011, 12:05 pm

Not really Gabe, I dose C-balance about twice a week. I have so little evaporation since it is sealed that I hardly ever replace with ro water. I dose about 5 ml of each part about twice a week and that makes up for the evaporation. I run the tank at SG 1024 because the c-balance will raise the salinity a bit and at the end of two weeks when I change water the salinity is back to 1025 or 1026. I probably should change water every week but I change water in both tanks at the same time and that comes every two weeks. My temp never gets above 76.5 with the preset heater, I wish it were 79, I would probably get better growth, I think 76 is a little low but thats where the heater keeps it.
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Post by Yeti Mon 28 Nov 2011, 1:25 pm

Looking good Donnie. How did the Panda Goby do in there? Reached his full potential of 1" yet?
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Post by DonnieP Mon 28 Nov 2011, 1:36 pm

Yeti wrote:Looking good Donnie. How did the Panda Goby do in there? Reached his full potential of 1" yet?

Yeti
I took the Panda Goby out of the tank about a couple of weeks after putting it in there. The current was too strong for the little guy, thats when I replaced him with the blue Damsel. The Goby is in my 28 somewhere, I see him about once a week, he stays in the rock and at last siteing he was maybe a quarter inch longer which puts him about 3/4" long. As for the Damsel, he was removed in October after having rid my tank of most of the pods I was having to feed him and I was afraid of fouling the tank with food so he was removed after being in there for over three months.
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Post by grawlfang Mon 28 Nov 2011, 1:42 pm

Awesome build, guess being from construction has it's benefits Smile
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Post by matt_longview Mon 28 Nov 2011, 3:45 pm

Love it donnie! I can't believe that's a 2.5 g! It's an exact replica of a larger tank.
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Post by DonnieP Tue 29 Nov 2011, 4:55 pm

Thanks guys!

Love it donnie! I can't believe that's a 2.5 g! It's an exact replica of a larger tank.

Thanks Matt! That was my intention when I built it was to make it look like a miniature of a large tank. The nicest tank I ever laid eyes on was one that a guy named Floyd Maxey had at a store in Shreveport called Reef Encounters years ago. His tank was a 200 gallon with top and stand done in black lacquer. I wish he were around to see this miniature, I think its pretty close, TonyT would know, I'm sure he saw Floyds tank back in the day.
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Post by J.Davis Tue 29 Nov 2011, 6:32 pm

In case you guys haven't done this yet...
Pull up page 4 of this thread and page 8 in a seperate window, put them side-by-side. Not only is the system impressive due to it size... but it works! Looking forward to watching the continual growth.
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My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Empty My final entry in this contest!

Post by DonnieP Wed 21 Dec 2011, 3:56 pm

As part of the nano contest we have been asked to do a summary of the tank and share our experiences with the forum. Do you guys realize how long its been since I had to write a summary on anything? Now with that said, let me continue. This will be my last update entry for this contest unless something is required that I have overlooked. I hope you guys have had as much fun watching this tank as I have had doing it!

HOW IS MY TANK SETUP?

I started with a 2-1/2 gallon tank from Petsmart, I partitioned off the tank with a false wall leaving 1-1/2 gallons in the display and the rest as a filtration/ refuge area. Water flows over an overflow I built into the false wall and passes through filter floss and Chemipure Elite then passes through the Chaeto where it is cleaned and oxygenated from the Chaeto. Water is then pumped back into the main display via an 80 gph pump where it is directed toward one end and met with another 80 gph pump to create a nice current in the tank. The tank is heated with a Tetra 50 watt fixed temp heater and stays pretty much on 76.5 degrees. I do have a small fan that I used back when it was so hot but the tank never warmed above 78. I know the stand is not included in the contest but I built the stand and led light hood myself. Took a couple of experiments on the leds but finally got what I was after. This tank is also semi sealed, it has a full glass cover with only holes for electric lines penetrating the cover so there was no need to replace evaporated water, the C-balance replaced the tiny amount lost. I can also tell you that there are about as many electrical plugs on this little tank as on a large one. I have a powerbar with two timers and a total of 8 things plugged in like heater, lights, two pumps, fans, and its all hidden under the stand, only one power cord out.

HOW DID I PERFORM MAINTENANCE ON THE TANK?

I changed 90%-100% of the water in the tank biweekly. Other than the water changes, I cut back my Chaeto by about half every two weeks. I dosed the system with C-balance at a rate of 5ml each part twice a week. I fed the system frozen Cyclo-peeze once per week with a heavy dose the day of the water change before I changed water I leave the Cyclo-peeze in for about four hours then change the water. I have used Red Sea coral pro salt and Reef Crystals salt.

THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM THIS 2-1/2 GALLON PICO TANK.

For starters I learned that it is not easy to grow sps corals in 2 1/2 gallons of water! I do have sps that have attached and are plating onto the rocks. I am not getting fantastic growth from the sps but as we all know, all things will only grow to match their surroundings and I contribute the lack of growth to the small confines of the tank. I also learned that isopods and copepods will eat healthy coral and Zooanthids if they get hungry enough. I had to introduce a fish into the system to eliminate some of these pods. I first introduced a Panda Goby but quickly found the current too much for the little guy so he was replaced with a blue Damsel which made short work of the excess pods. I also learned that this small tank could support a Damsel fish even though it is almost sealed. How you ask, where was the oxygen coming from? The Chaeto produces oxygen as a bi product just like any plant and the Chaeto was producing enough oxygen to support the Damsel. I did remove the Damsel after three months because I did not want to foul the tank from feeding him after he eliminated the pods.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENT?

Nothing! I started this little tank as my own personal experiment. I just wanted to see if a tank with only 2-1/2 gallons could support marine life for more that just a few weeks. I started this tank on March 1, 2011 and as of this writing the tank is 10 months old and still working! Only thing I might do different is a little larger display area, the tank display is only 3 1/2" front to back 12" long and 7" deep, not much room to work in and I found out just like today on my water change, its hard to siphon water out of this small area with coral and landscaping without breaking coral. I was changing water today and broke a branch off my favorite and best growing milli. Just doing water changes is hard to in this little tank.

FUTURE PLANS FOR THE TANK?

After this contest and Deer season is over I am thinking of doing some changes. Since Coralline algae never grew in this tank I am considering switching out the led lighting to T5 and maybe switching out sps corals for softies and experiment with that setup for a few months just to see the differences with T5 lights compared to led.
Its been fun doing this contest and I hope ETAK will have more contests that everyone can get in on.

Below are the contest photos for December including the first tank shot with coral and the last tank shot today.

First and last FTS
My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 First_10

Just to get an idea how small this pico really is!
My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Phonet10

Some coral shots for December
My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Favori10

My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Green_10

My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Left_c11

My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Right_12

My next project a 2.5g pico reef! contest - Page 7 Hydnop10
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Post by matt_longview Wed 21 Dec 2011, 4:54 pm

Way too cool buddy. :-)
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Post by ritter678 Wed 21 Dec 2011, 5:19 pm

Good luck in the contest Donnie! Great job!
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Post by J.Davis Wed 21 Dec 2011, 5:26 pm

Another great job! You've really captured the "Midas Touch" with this lil' pico.
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Post by Yeti Thu 22 Dec 2011, 3:48 am

This has been a delight to follow, the planning and the detail in the execution, it's been a pleasure to watch a craftsman.
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Post by DonnieP Thu 22 Dec 2011, 9:32 am

Thanks guys, its been a fun project, and not over yet, more to come from this little tank.
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Post by Bryan Thu 22 Dec 2011, 9:46 am

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