5l Pico Jar With Refugium
hey guys,
thought i'd post up a journal of my 5L pico.
it started off as a 3L jar but within 2 weeks i spotted the trust ol kmart drink dispenser which looked right up my alley, i had previusly ran a 2ft nano that i had to tear down after doing a 2 1/2 week trip to thailand, with minimal expertise from friends and family it went downhill quickly.
originally i had inspiration from maritza the vase reef, and wanted a basic bowl of saltwater with a few softies and no more than an aerator to provide water flow/movement, but again i quickly realised how much i love the hobby and decided to go a little further with the technology side of things. thus i created a "mini fuge".
6.8L kmart drink dispenser, acrylic disc over the top to reduce evap
2kg live rock
1 1/2" crushed coral sand bed
ebay 200lph micro pump feed for mini fuge
coral flare max II par38 bulb and 120mm ebay bmw angel eye halo actinic :P
750ml glass pickle jar refugium, with inlet in main tank being fed from a tiny, and i mean tiny 200lph pump (30mm square in size), slight pressure builds up in the jar and subsequently pushes out water back into the tank, simple but effective, no drilling, no overflowing, no leaks, no hassles.
perform 90% water changes every 3-5 days with red sea mix and demineralised water ( don't have an r/o unit)
top offs are rare as it doesn't evaporate quickly enough between waterchanges.
livestock consists of:
2 striped hermits
5-6 turbo snails
2 stomatellas
7-9 blastomussa merletti polyps
1 elegance coral
2 different zoo colonies ( forget thier names)
1 turbinaria
colony of uknown star/clove polyps
1 dallas acro frag
5-6 duncan heads
i do a marine snow feed once an hour or so before every 2nd water change to help minimise nutrients.
i am really interested in the whole reef jar concept and am not quite finished yet with the scape and diy part of things, at the moment the fuge jar is lighted by a basic desk lamp but will have it's own lighting system built into the lid in the next day or two. also since the tank is just over 2 months old, it appears some tiny dinoflagellates (brown jelly strands) are starting to pop up in a couple select areas, hoping the fuge which is only a new addition as of today will help consume any excess nutrients, although considering at the rate i do water changes, nitrates barely touch 5ppm, all other params i can't test for as i havent gotten myself a test kit (calcium mag phos etc)
let me know what you think and any suggestions/reccomendations!
will upload a few better photo's in the days to come.
thought i'd post up a journal of my 5L pico.
it started off as a 3L jar but within 2 weeks i spotted the trust ol kmart drink dispenser which looked right up my alley, i had previusly ran a 2ft nano that i had to tear down after doing a 2 1/2 week trip to thailand, with minimal expertise from friends and family it went downhill quickly.
originally i had inspiration from maritza the vase reef, and wanted a basic bowl of saltwater with a few softies and no more than an aerator to provide water flow/movement, but again i quickly realised how much i love the hobby and decided to go a little further with the technology side of things. thus i created a "mini fuge".
6.8L kmart drink dispenser, acrylic disc over the top to reduce evap
2kg live rock
1 1/2" crushed coral sand bed
ebay 200lph micro pump feed for mini fuge
coral flare max II par38 bulb and 120mm ebay bmw angel eye halo actinic :P
750ml glass pickle jar refugium, with inlet in main tank being fed from a tiny, and i mean tiny 200lph pump (30mm square in size), slight pressure builds up in the jar and subsequently pushes out water back into the tank, simple but effective, no drilling, no overflowing, no leaks, no hassles.
perform 90% water changes every 3-5 days with red sea mix and demineralised water ( don't have an r/o unit)
top offs are rare as it doesn't evaporate quickly enough between waterchanges.
livestock consists of:
2 striped hermits
5-6 turbo snails
2 stomatellas
7-9 blastomussa merletti polyps
1 elegance coral
2 different zoo colonies ( forget thier names)
1 turbinaria
colony of uknown star/clove polyps
1 dallas acro frag
5-6 duncan heads
i do a marine snow feed once an hour or so before every 2nd water change to help minimise nutrients.
i am really interested in the whole reef jar concept and am not quite finished yet with the scape and diy part of things, at the moment the fuge jar is lighted by a basic desk lamp but will have it's own lighting system built into the lid in the next day or two. also since the tank is just over 2 months old, it appears some tiny dinoflagellates (brown jelly strands) are starting to pop up in a couple select areas, hoping the fuge which is only a new addition as of today will help consume any excess nutrients, although considering at the rate i do water changes, nitrates barely touch 5ppm, all other params i can't test for as i havent gotten myself a test kit (calcium mag phos etc)
let me know what you think and any suggestions/reccomendations!
will upload a few better photo's in the days to come.
