15l Pico Reef Build

Hi,
Just thought I'd create a build thread for my 15L TMC microhabitat, its been running for about 6 months now but I'll post updates too.
If anyone is interested you welcome to follow.

The stocking is as follows:

Inverts:
2 X sexy shrimp
2 X hermet crabs
1 X sand sifting snail
1 X tube worm
Numerous pest starfish and bristle worms.

Coral:
Acan colony
1 X hammerhead
Numerous zoa colonys
Kenya tree
Neon trumpet
Blasto
Toadstool leather
Mushroom


I plan to upgrade this tank in the next few months into a 50L



Ethan

 

So glad to see a new FTS Ethan. Love your hammer!

 

The coolest pico on FL has its own thread now

 

The coolest pico on FL has its own thread now

Not the coolest on this forum , there's probably hundreds. But it's my favourite sub 20L

 

I'm in the mood for new coral, may try and frag something simple like gsp, I have a blade I can use, do I literally just suoergule it to a piece of live rock?

Also, what else looks ready to frag?






My favourite hermet crab just changed shells, it's a super cool shell I found in Margate a while back


Kept his old one...


Ethan

 

Wow! I love the pico reefs, such a beautiful tank! Some of my hermits have changed shells recently too, its fun to see them change back and forth!

 

Wow! I love the pico reefs, such a beautiful tank! Some of my hermits have changed shells recently too, its fun to see them change back and forth!

This crab (Norman) was my first marine organism ever.

 

His,
Anyone know what's happening to my zoa colony? I bought it in January and it's declined massively.....
Before:


After:




Any idea why most of the polyps have declined?

I've moved it a bit lower down in the tank as can be seen in the after pic.

This is it's old position relative to the light (pail spot):



Ethan

 

Wish I could help Ethan... I have never had great luck with zoas.

 

Wish I could help Ethan... I have never had great luck with zoas.

Ok, they seem to have opened up,

(photobombed by my hermet crab) haven't done that in ages. How are your fire and ice zoas doing?

Just moved mine to the sand bed, I think they might be diying



Ethan

 

My fire and ice didn't make it... but I still have some Rastas and Lunars hanging on.

 

My fire and ice didn't make it... but I still have some Rastas and Lunars hanging on.

Oh, I'd love some rasta zoas but I'm not sure they will like my tank.
Possibly when I upgrade

 

It is hit and miss with zoas for some people, I personally think they want a stronger light but it’s purely just a guess, based on the fact they look stretched and that everything else is doing fine, blast any debris off daily to encourage opening, maybe you could save a couple of heads still, the Acan looks super happy and the hammer. Those are my favorites in the tank.

 

It is hit and miss with zoas for some people, I personally think they want a stronger light but it’s purely just a guess, based on the fact they look stretched and that everything else is doing fine, blast any debris off daily to encourage opening, maybe you could save a couple of heads still, the Acan looks super happy and the hammer. Those are my favorites in the tank.

Ok, I'll see how it grows over time and keep updating on here.

I hope zoas don't hate me, they cost a lot and I'd be really annoyed if they died out.

The hammer and acans are my best ones too, it's a Steve acan (named by me until I can find it's real name)


They are also the most photogenic in my tank and make the best insta pics
Ethan

It is hit and miss with zoas for some people, I personally think they want a stronger light but it’s purely just a guess, based on the fact they look stretched and that everything else is doing fine, blast any debris off daily to encourage opening, maybe you could save a couple of heads still, the Acan looks super happy and the hammer. Those are my favorites in the tank.

 

I did it , I wanted to chicken out but boguht the suoergule and jumped straight into it... Did I make any mistakes?

 

Hi,
So I'm making this thread to follow the setup and progress of my 15L Pico reef, this tank is going to run off the back of my 350L red sea reefer, so should be up and running ready for coral very quickly. If all goes well the tank will be set up on Friday, but I'm making this a little early as I've got some questions.

Firstly I'll list the equipment I'll use:

The tank is a TMC microhabitat 15, I'm using the stock pump (although may upgrade to an ehim)

Not sure on the heater brand, but it's a good old reliable one I've had for ages.

As for the light I'm using a fluvial sea Bluetooth 3.0 (little bit overkill I know but I'll only run it at 25-50% power.

I don't need a wavemaker as the return pump is more than sufficient for adequate flow.

Skimmer - the stock one the tank comes with, it's driven by a wooden airstone

As for stocking - I'm planning on the following:

1x shrimp goby pair (unsure on type yet)
1x turbo snail
1x sand sifting snail
Potentially 1-2x sexy shrimp
Potentially a hermet crab

Does this look ok?

The good thing about running this off the back of my 350 is that I can swap out corals and it's already going to be fairly stable, I'm currently cycling some dry sand in my current tank so hopefully it will be populated with BB when I use it, as for rock I'll take one from my 350.

Finally, should I use a skimmer? I have one that comes with the tank, but I'm wondering if a mangrove might be a better option in the nano tank?

Thanks ,
Ethan

P.s, if you are thinking about doing a similar project then feel free to ask questions or follow along,

 

Nice project, I started with that little tank look forward to seeing the pics

 

Nice project, I started with that little tank look forward to seeing the pics

Thanks! Was my first tank too , thought I'd do this project as I really miss the "nanoness!?!" Of it, got a selection of nice corals today (present from relatives for good GCSES) so can't wait to get this thing up and running tomorrow!

 

Tank set up! Better pics to come

Put a scoly, and Xenia in, sexy shrimp and hermet crab to go in later, used cycled sand, rocks and water from my main tank so it's essentially already cycled

 

very nice small tank. I find that skimmers in pico tanks are use less if you use filter floss and water change or just water change for that mater. I change my filter floss out once every 2 weeks and the water looks spotless. I have two turbo snail in mine that keep everything clean. I have only a birdnest and four striped Damsel. Change 25-50% water and feed when I feed my other tanks. as long as you top off it will be on auto pilot and enjoy. Sand in picos are a head ache at times. I started mine originally with sand and removed it when I increased the flow because it was blowing all over.

 

very nice small tank. I find that skimmers in pico tanks are use less if you use filter floss and water change or just water change for that mater. I change my filter floss out once every 2 weeks and the water looks spotless. I have two turbo snail in mine that keep everything clean. I have only a birdnest and four striped Damsel. Change 25-50% water and feed when I feed my other tanks. as long as you top off it will be on auto pilot and enjoy. Sand in picos are a head ache at times. I started mine originally with sand and removed it when I increased the flow because it was blowing all over.

The tank has fairly low flow, but I can remove if needs be, I may remove the skimmer, I have floss and a mangrove in there too... I'm contemplating moving the ATO system from my 350 as I know I'm going to eventually forget to top up, but I'll see how it goes... Hopefully this can be packed with coral soon... What sort of fish do you think I could get away with in there? Is yours the same size?

Ethan

 

The tank has fairly low flow, but I can remove if needs be, I may remove the skimmer, I have floss and a mangrove in there too... I'm contemplating moving the ATO system from my 350 as I know I'm going to eventually forget to top up, but I'll see how it goes... Hopefully this can be packed with coral soon... What sort of fish do you think I could get away with in there? Is yours the same size?

Ethan

I have a 5.5g originally it was a 3 gallon but the integrity of the plastic tank was questionable due to it being older and started developing a tiny crack.
You could get away with a tiny goby most likly I would not push too much out of that zone. Inverts would be fine but fish would not have much room in there.

 

I have a 5.5g originally it was a 3 gallon but the integrity of the plastic tank was questionable due to it being older and started developing a tiny crack.
You could get away with a tiny goby most likly I would not push too much out of that zone. Inverts would be fine but fish would not have much room in there.

Ok, I may get a coral goby or a shrimp goby pair at some point, but for now the tank is looking amazing imo! Put a lot of coral in and all seems to be going well, I've seen some extremely tiny fish at the store (may have been a goby) I'll have a look tomorrow .

Ethan

 

Looks good got any better pics of the scoly ? How much was it and where from ?

 

Looks good got any better pics of the scoly ? How much was it and where from ?

I'm only 90% sure it's a scoly, but I got it from a store in a town near Leeds, only cost £17 but was in a generic "random coral" tank, they didn't know what half of them were.

Ethan

 

Winner lol good find

 

Winner lol good find

funny bit is the guy said it was a mushroom

Reef update - so it's doing quite well so far however annoyingly the Dinos from my DT have showed their faces in my pico, it's not that bad and only on the sandbed and gorgonian, but I've turned the skimmer off and put some food in to increase nitrates so hopefully they should go.

Ethan