Kimkim's pico tank(5G) log

[kimkim23]

Hi all ! i js started reefing a week back.Time to start a proper log in here.Tank just cycled for 1 week,glad to join this nice forum where theres many helpful reefer ^^v

Welcome any comments gd or bad.hope to learn from every1 here.

Equipment used all bugets stuffs..heh.Plan to have mixed reef.

Tank - Glass 11' x 9' x 12' (5G)

Filter - Mr aqua bio power filter 60

protein skimmer - boyu WG310

wavemaker - boyu wm-101

1st seascape

2nd revised seascape

[stewpid]

HAHA!yay!another 5 gallon-er!heehhe!Oh and i think th sandbed too thick?haha!had this problem too!

[kimkim23]

HAHA!yay!another 5 gallon-er!heehhe!Oh and i think th sandbed too thick?haha!had this problem too!

heh, plan to have gobies as 1st fish..so staking it high abit..but oso by accident bah.coz i already filled my tank with dead sand initially,then got some live ones from steven and i just top up lor..hehe..

nvm la.i prefer DSB anyway hoho..

[tiffanydunk]

i prefer ur 1st scape. try to post more pics on ur equipments and other angles. wad lites will u be using?

[kimkim23]

i prefer ur 1st scape. try to post more pics on ur equipments and other angles. wad lites will u be using?

hmmm me too actually,but it didnt had much flat surfaces for corals nxt time thats y i changed it =/ prehapes will do some revising again tonite..

oh light wise havent decided yet..hope to find some LEDs that have both white and blue.

[stevenkoh08]

hmmm me too actually,but it didnt had much flat surfaces for corals nxt time thats y i changed it =/ prehapes will do some revising again tonite..

oh light wise havent decided yet..hope to find some LEDs that have both white and blue.

you can do it just like a Bridge type so got alot of hole in between as well just take a few small one as stand and lay it on the bottom with those flat surface type on top to ceate more try sticking it up first with bond after dry then place it back stable also seen u still in the cycle

[TayHongSiang]

i wd suggest getting rid of yr boyu skimmer and attached a surface skimmer to yr cannister instead. That skimmer is not gonna help remove anything excepting contributing heat to your tank since your bioload is low.

If you concern about nutrients building up, either you change yr water regularly or you get a hang-on back skimmer like red sea prizm that does a decent job and does not occupy space inside yr tank.

You can get a second hand one from some reefers over here.

[jackywongto]

i wd suggest getting rid of yr boyu skimmer and attached a surface skimmer to yr cannister instead. That skimmer is not gonna help remove anything excepting contributing heat to your tank since your bioload is low.

If you concern about nutrients building up, either you change yr water regularly or you get a hang-on back skimmer like red sea prizm that does a decent job and does not occupy space inside yr tank.

You can get a second hand one from some reefers over here.

already suggested and offered. he did not take it

He needs to get a fan I think. 2 powerhead in the tank and no chiller.

Can easily hit 32 ish deg cel

[kimkim23]

ermz.i couldnt find any 2nd hand skimmer on palsa malam,will continue to look out for it.went to shops donno y nv see small HOB skimmers oso.i also agree my skimmer take up too much space.

i'll be changing water every week but guess i kiasu .. =x

Temperature for the moment hoverling ard 27 degree with everything on.will get a fan chiller in another 2 weeks.Any gd ones to recommend?

Anyway revised my seascape again..lets take a look

*3RD revise*

The wavemaker is behind the hole of the rock in the center now.

side view

top view

[qwertman321]

ermz.i couldnt find any 2nd hand skimmer on palsa malam,will continue to look out for it.went to shops donno y nv see small HOB skimmers oso.i also agree my skimmer take up too much space.

i'll be changing water every week but guess i kiasu .. =x

Temperature for the moment hoverling ard 27 degree with everything on.will get a fan chiller in another 2 weeks.Any gd ones to recommend?

Anyway revised my seascape again..lets take a look

*3RD revise*

The wavemaker is behind the hole of the rock in the center now.

side view

top view

the wakemaker placement look like mine!

[comycus]

Your current scape looks like a lot of deadspots. Since tank is already a pico, so space-wise is already a constraint, my suggestion would be to take out the skimmer so you have more area to scape.

Also why is your sandbed so thick? I would go with minimal sand, again because of space constraints. Deep sand bed is good for denitrification procses, but I don't think you have the space to play ard with. If you really want a DSB, can always link your pico to a larger refugium area to house your skimmer etc.

Lastly, you want to leave some space between rocks and glass walls so you can clean the walls. Your current scape is v. limiting. When scaping the tank, also should take note of your future purchases. Especially for pico tanks, coz size is a constraint. Imagine having a nice rock structure and having to dismantle it in future to make way for a nice zoas colony or something like tt?

The scape does not need to look perfect in the beginning, it should give you more space to build on in future with coral additions.

Hope my tone doesn't sound too critical, I apologize in advance if I sound too insensitive.

[yikai]

i see ur a fan of one piece!

[jackywongto]

Your current scape looks like a lot of deadspots. Since tank is already a pico, so space-wise is already a constraint, my suggestion would be to take out the skimmer so you have more area to scape.

Also why is your sandbed so thick? I would go with minimal sand, again because of space constraints. Deep sand bed is good for denitrification procses, but I don't think you have the space to play ard with. If you really want a DSB, can always link your pico to a larger refugium area to house your skimmer etc.

Lastly, you want to leave some space between rocks and glass walls so you can clean the walls. Your current scape is v. limiting. When scaping the tank, also should take note of your future purchases. Especially for pico tanks, coz size is a constraint. Imagine having a nice rock structure and having to dismantle it in future to make way for a nice zoas colony or something like tt?

The scape does not need to look perfect in the beginning, it should give you more space to build on in future with coral additions.

Hope my tone doesn't sound too critical, I apologize in advance if I sound too insensitive.

you can do it just like a Bridge type so got alot of hole in between as well just take a few small one as stand and lay it on the bottom with those flat surface type on top to ceate more try sticking it up first with bond after dry then place it back stable also seen u still in the cycle

+1 on all the points made above.

The key to good scaping is getting the right rocks.

Try to hunt for really mini ones.

For pico, perhaps 2 -3 rocks in the middle will be sufficient.

- It does not clutter your tank

- more space to put corals. Pls note that corals comes attached on a rock most of the time. Give allowance for this.

- higher water volume

- less deadspot and can remove wavemaker.

If you rocks are too huge, try to hack it to half while maintaining the shape that you like.

[kimkim23]

No prob bro ^_- i welcome all advise wor,if not i wont post pics oso.heh,glad to hear comments from u guys..kk back to the drawing board...hmmm maybe i shd remove that big chuck of dead rock =/

sandbed wise i'll remove 50% after my cycling..coz now is 20% live 80% dead de..will wait for everything to become live 1st..coz i mix live in only after i got it after i put in the dead ones.

skimmer mah..need to wait till i find a HOB i guess..alamak..but i guess i shd take it out liao now... sign...

[kimkim23]

i see ur a fan of one piece!

haha u too bro?but i stopped watching after the story on "yo ho ho ho" island..lolz...i;m a huge fan.

But recently pc spoil so need to do tons of catch up liao.. oh i watch anime de btw..not the comics ^+^

[kimkim23]

For pico, perhaps 2 -3 rocks in the middle will be sufficient.

- It does not clutter your tank

- more space to put corals. Pls note that corals comes attached on a rock most of the time. Give allowance for this.

- higher water volume

- less deadspot and can remove wavemaker.

If you rocks are too huge, try to hack it to half while maintaining the shape that you like.

[TayHongSiang]

No prob bro ^_- i welcome all advise wor,if not i wont post pics oso.heh,glad to hear comments from u guys..kk back to the drawing board...hmmm maybe i shd remove that big chuck of dead rock =/

sandbed wise i'll remove 50% after my cycling..coz now is 20% live 80% dead de..will wait for everything to become live 1st..coz i mix live in only after i got it after i put in the dead ones.

skimmer mah..need to wait till i find a HOB i guess..alamak..but i guess i shd take it out liao now... sign...

dun worry so much abt yr sandbed...once cycled it will become "live" when bacteria starts to grow.

You can buy "live" bacteria in bottle form...ML, Reborn, Clementi blk 328, GO, AM have these...

[comycus]

bro your sand looks quite fine grade. With wavemaker on will it cause sandstorm? Might wanna consider if you wanna do BB... Anyway since it's a pico, you can always decide what you want later. Like what you said, just cycle everything first, can trial and error for now.

I strongly suggest hooking up your pico to some refugium. Can even be a pail hidden underneath the table. Reason being because you want as little clutter as possible from your pico. At the same time, can increase water volume. 5 gallons is really small, like 1 zoa polyp melt your tank crash kinda scenario...

haha ok i'm exaggerating... but you know what I mean.

[TayHongSiang]

bro your sand looks quite fine grade. With wavemaker on will it cause sandstorm? Might wanna consider if you wanna do BB... Anyway since it's a pico, you can always decide what you want later. Like what you said, just cycle everything first, can trial and error for now.

I strongly suggest hooking up your pico to some refugium. Can even be a pail hidden underneath the table. Reason being because you want as little clutter as possible from your pico. At the same time, can increase water volume. 5 gallons is really small, like 1 zoa polyp melt your tank crash kinda scenario...

haha ok i'm exaggerating... but you know what I mean.

put one prata no space liao

[yikai]

haha u too bro?but i stopped watching after the story on "yo ho ho ho" island..lolz...i;m a huge fan.

But recently pc spoil so need to do tons of catch up liao.. oh i watch anime de btw..not the comics ^+^

i do watch some anime haha. slowing down already. i stopped watching one piece long ago when i realised it was kind of a never ending story. when will they ever get to the end!! lol

have grown interest in TV drama actually. grey's anatomy my favourite!!! all the disease and medical terms really interesting. releated to my course of studies i suppose.

ok off topic :/

btw welcome to SRC! hope you enjoy your stay here. turn that 5g into a masterpiece. u dont need to have a big tank to make a big statement.

[kimkim23]

comycus:Oh actually the wavemaker is fine,wont make any sand storm de.coz its quite weak.

lemon: ya i like to watch grey anatomy in the past oso..hehe..but recently tv in the room spolit so bor watch lor..

damm boyu $15 wavemaker spolit..lolz..gonna bring down change..any1 got a gd brand of bacteria to recommend?

phew.. ok now for another pic

*4TH revise*

its realli sandy coz i took this pic right after i finished scaping...removed the skimmer =/

[yikai]

why did you remove the skimmer?

[ReDDeviLs]

i suggest u leave the skimmer there or get something as a hang on skimmer.

a skimmer is not a must,but at your level its a must to get a skimmer especially when your vol is not great.

u get get rowa bac. its a good brand. petmart and reefdepot have them.

[yikai]

^ agreed. the amount of space u save cannot compare to a skimmer's usefulness in a small tank.

[ReDDeviLs]

just to add on,once you decided on ur scaping leave it as it is during cycling period at least.

each time u do water change e.g you said weekly, do not do too much water change and u have to add bacteria each time due to the fact water change DO remove unwanted waste,but at the same time bacteria gets killed too.