Pico Boo

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10 Mar 2017
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Hi Guys and Gals

firstly Let introduce my self, I'm a IT Guy with a passion for tech and Marine life, i'm not really new to the marine life but i have been out of for almost 8 years, in this time i have not kept up with the tech or any new products regarding marine tanks.

my last tank ran for just over a year, which i had to shut down due to work travelling and life just got too busy, now i'm itching to get back into it, the itch started when my 3 year old son started asking if i could buy him Nemo, (this was a great thing as i could tell the wife i'm doing it for him),After seeing so many Pico systems out there i decided to go this route also cos i had the tank in the garage. i have seen many simple yet effective Pico systems running.

so this is the plan please feel free to advise should you see my plan failing.
hoping to keep just 2 clowns and a crown gobie in the tank and a cuc crew and some polyps. nothing crazy

What i have.
Tank - Jebo R310, 27L - With top filtration (had stored in the garage)
Small Jager 25 watt heater (had stored in the garage)

What i bought the weekend
Activated carbon
Seachem stability
Some LR
Test kit
refractometer or hydrometer
bought salt water from the pet store as well as some normal RO for topping up (in case i have some serious evaporation)
digital thermometer
Blue Treasure coral sand

And the start of the build.

After reading many threads on MASA i know it didnt happen if theres no pics, so made sure to take a good few for you guys.

getting the LR setup
The tank gets quite a bit of sunlight during the late afternoon (will this pose any unwanted issues?)

using the top filtration with small bio ball and ceramic rings, and a bag of activated carbon, i plan on doing a 20% water change every week.

Getting the crushed coral in i decided to keep the this about 1cm deep hoping to avoid any unwanted stuff getting trapped in a thick bed. (Hopefully it's ok)

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20180908_143212.jpg

Filling it up
20180908_145436.jpg

Filled and setup i added a little powerhead just to create a little more flow
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Lights ON
20180908_170818.jpg

The next morning all clear
20180908_203641.jpg

So now the wait for the cycle to happen, i will also DIY a nice small Blue and red LED to add to the current T5 8W light.

The one problem i'm having at the moment is keeping the water at 25 degrees, either 2 degrees hotter at 27 or 2 degrees lower at 23 (will this cause any issues?) not sure if it was caused by the cold front and the fact the direct sunlight during the day! will have to monitor this.

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Hi. With a tank that size you need to monitor swings of all sorts, temperature is one of the easier ones. I highly recommend an STC1000 or similar temperature controller. It gives you the ability to keep the temp within 0.3 degrees of your target.
 
Corals would love the direct sunlight, even if only early morning or late afternoon.

The temperature swings are a bit too much, 4 degrees everyday will only be handled by 100% rock pool inhabitants.
 
hey bud. Looks great....

Im also running PICO style.

Im intrigued by the 8w T5, do u have pic? I wanna try supplement with some 5's. How long is it?

Only issue sun might give you is some algae if your nutrients are to high

@Vleis Visagie i have seen your pico thread, its amazing love it.
the 8w T5 light is the standard unit that the Jebo R310 cames with take some pics tonight.
 
Hi. With a tank that size you need to monitor swings of all sorts, temperature is one of the easier ones. I highly recommend an STC1000 or similar temperature controller. It gives you the ability to keep the temp within 0.3 degrees of your target.

Will keep water testing frequently to wantch the swings and will also look at getting the STC1000 temperature controller.
 
Corals would love the direct sunlight, even if only early morning or late afternoon.

The temperature swings are a bit too much, 4 degrees everyday will only be handled by 100% rock pool inhabitants.

@RiaanP tanks i will make sure i get that temp sorted be for i put anything in the tank.
 
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Hi all quick question, after tinkering around i managed to get the tank to fluctuate between 24.8 and 26.3 degrees will this be okay?
 
@ Craig nice and neat setup, I also started with a small 30lt tank and had temp issues becos of the size and managed to keep the temp around 24/25deg with playing around with the heater
 
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