My new pico

[Janus]

Well its been a little while since I have had a new project and with all that has gone on in the last year I felt it time. I was limited right now by my girlfriends rule that while she is deployed no "big" aquarium could suddenly appear in her apartment, so I got her to compromise.

About 4 months ago I found a really neat shaped pico, about 2.5-3 gallons that was wave shaped that a buddy at my job used to keep his beta in. Since I have to hold off on my next fullsize tank I figured now was a good time to set the little guy up.

Heres what i am running with it so far.

Filtration: currently a HOB penguin filter running a mesh sock filled with carbon. Black floss. and white filter floss have also been used to trap particulate matter. I have also shortened the intake on the filter with a dremel tool because it was about 2" too long to fit in the tank.

Lighting: Coralife 2 x 18w mini aqualight PC fixture

3.5 lbs of live rock

about a 1.5" fine grade aragonite sand

Livestock: right now I have just one small Yellow watchman goby I brought home from wolf reef a few weeks ago that I had thought died upon introduction. Thankfully that was not the case and he seems to be doing great now!

I will have pics up soon as I get a camera over here.

[coraline79]

I put a yellow watchman in my 3 gallon pico, and it is still very timid 4 months in. They are very heaty and don't mind fluctuations in water quality, which will be your biggest problem. I top off w/ RO every 2 days, pull 1 16 ounce cup out every 7 days, and replace with water from my main tank which gets 10-15 day water changes. good luck!!! It is a lot of work for a tiny little tank.

[Janus]

I really agreen with you there about water fluctuations coraline.... I have been doing only nano tanks 30 gallons or lees since I got into the hobby about 2 years ago. My little watchman is pretty timid as well but is getting a bit bolder as time goes by. Eventually I would like to get a shrimp for him but I am going to give the tank a little bit more time to settle in.

I was able to get some pics of the tank so far.

The next thing I want to add is an enclosure for the top to make it a bit more pleasing to the eye as its in a trafficed area of the apartment.

Full tank shot






Here is the HOB filter and some of the mods I did to it





My watchman

[ErikH]

good to see you back

[Janus]

Thanks, its really nice to have a tank in my home again

[des]

looks good, i've always liked the picos

[marshall.read]

nice looking pico janus.

[Janus]

Thank you all for your comments.

I have really enjoyed being able to set up another tank, its been really theraputic with everything that has been going on personally.

I still have a few things to finish working on, mostly just aestetics, but for the most part I am really happy so far with how its turned out.

[Iplantz]

Picture? Don't make me beg

[rabadanmarco]

that is flippin sweet