The 0.5 Gallon Memory Lane Pico

With me officially moving up into "Nano" category with my 10 gallon, I decided that I still wanted a pico tank somewhere. Specifically, I wanted one for my desk. The goals are for this tank to be pretty simple to take care of, and for me to just have to use equipment that I already own, or can get for cheap. I decided on the cheap Betta View tank that Walmart sells for $4.97, and you can find that here:

This was my first saltwater tank! I had this tank up for about 4 months, and was fairly successful with some basic zoas and a finger leather, with a cheap Coralife 50/50 CFL and a Hydor Powerhead. I upgraded to a 10 gallon pretty quickly, but I did really enjoy this tank. I've decided to re-do the tank, and hopefully have it do a bit better this time around, with what I know now.

No pics yet, but this tank won't need many. Going to be pretty simple, with a single piece of rock that I've picked out, a minI HOB (the AZOO Mignon 60), and a small heater. I had considered doing an AIO-type tank with the HOB intake and the heater in a separate partition, but with the tank being like 10" long, I'm not sure that's the best use of space. I'm also not sure that silicone would work for this kind of plastic. For not, I'll just deal with a massive heater and HOB in the tank.

I'll probably be using a PAR 30 to light the tank, and I'll probably keep it super simple stock-wise. Maybe a grass shrimp or two, some zoas, some macros, and whatever I frag from my tank that I don't feel like taking to the store. I could throw into a cerith or something if need be, but I truly think that it'd be easier just to keep the glass clean myself.

I'll cut a glass lid for it, to cut down on evaporation. I'll probably do an ATO, but with one of the tiny 12 OZ water bottles. Or, I could do a ridiculously large bottle, just to be weird. Not sure yet! I should at least have some pics of the tank dry by tomorrow evening, so stay tuned!

 

I've thought about doing something similar. Excited to see this come together!

 

Just got this tank (and my 10) set up, so I'll be posting pics as soon as I get everything sorted back out.

 

Gogo Pick power ! I love some pico action!

 

FTS!



Everything is just kinda thrown in there for now, but I'll get stuff more to my liking on Saturday. For $5, the tank looks pretty nice, and is surprisingly sturdy.

Tank currently contains:
GSP
Red Branching Macro
Caulerpa Prolifera

I'll probably add some zoas in on Saturday, and I might drop in a smaller snail once I get some algae. No ATO or lid yet, so evaporation is going to be horrible until I get that solved.

 

FTS!
View attachment 435193

Everything is just kinda thrown in there for now, but I'll get stuff more to my liking on Saturday. For $5, the tank looks pretty nice, and is surprisingly sturdy.

Tank currently contains:
GSP
Red Branching Macro
Caulerpa Prolifera

I'll probably add some zoas in on Saturday, and I might drop in a smaller snail once I get some algae. No ATO or lid yet, so evaporation is going to be horrible until I get that solved.

Looks nice in my 2 1/2 gallon even with a partial lid I need to add a cup of water a day to keep it up.

 

Yeah, in my 5.5, I was replacing around two cups a day. In this tank, it shouldn't be as much, and once I get an ATO set-up, it should be pretty easy to keep up with.

 

We've got some open GSP!




If anyone has any micro-inverts that they'd like to see in here, let me know. I think this would be a really cool tank to keep something like a Pederson Shrimp or a Bumblebee shrimp in. You'd never get to see them in a larger pico, but not too many places to hide in here! If I don't get any good suggestions, I'll probably just throw a hermit and a few grass shrimp in here.

 

We've got some open GSP!

View attachment 435396

If anyone has any micro-inverts that they'd like to see in here, let me know. I think this would be a really cool tank to keep something like a Pederson Shrimp or a Bumblebee shrimp in. You'd never get to see them in a larger pico, but not too many places to hide in here! If I don't get any good suggestions, I'll probably just throw a hermit and a few grass shrimp in here.

Looking good I have a small one of those tanks I use as a holding tank for my bettas when cleaning there tank. Wish my daughter would let me set a tiny reef up for her she wants a axolotl tank

 

So, a few updates h

There's some hair algae growing on the GSP (ugh, the rest of the GSP got rid of this stuff when I peroxide dipped it) so it's closed up pretty tight. I'll throw in the hermit from the my 10 gallon the next time I see him out and about. I'm not sure if I'll leave him in there, but he can be like my little mercenary...

Other than that, literally nothing has happened in this tank, other than a few stocking ideas. So I'll list off a few options, and I'd like some feedback from anyone who's got some info to give.

Option #1:
1 Cerith
3 Grass Shrimp (or 1 ornamental shrimp)

Option #2:
1 Cerith
1 Pom-Pom Crab

Option #3:
1 Hermit Crab (or 1 Cerith)
1 Small Goby (probably a clown goby, but there are also options like a neon blue goby as well)

This tank is a bit small for fish, but once I figure out a reliable ATO, a small goby would be fine in here.

 

Option 2! Pom pom crabs have tons of personality

 

Welp...

The HOB sprung a leak overnight. Luckily, it woke me up and didn't ruin my keyboard. Only lost about a cup of water or so, so easy cleanup. I don't really have any other pumps small enough for this tank, so I'll put it on hold until I can get a replacement figured out. Could be as simple as a new O-ring, but I'm not sure how parts work with Azoo.

Back into the 10 gallon everything goes! On the bright side, the cerith I put in there was keeping everything happy.

 

Welp...

The HOB sprung a leak overnight. Luckily, it woke me up and didn't ruin my keyboard. Only lost about a cup of water or so, so easy cleanup. I don't really have any other pumps small enough for this tank, so I'll put it on hold until I can get a replacement figured out. Could be as simple as a new O-ring, but I'm not sure how parts work with Azoo.

Back into the 10 gallon everything goes! On the bright side, the cerith I put in there was keeping everything happy.

looks like you have a pico curse, I was thinking of using a azoo also, if its new they should send you a new one worse comes to worse.

 

I've had this HOB since 2015, so I doubt it's under warranty!

Overall, the Azoo filters are pretty nice. I haven't had any issues till now with it, and I've used it on and off for 3 years in freshwater and saltwater tanks. If it's the O-ring, it's an understandable failure and a cheap fix.

I'll probably leave this tank alone till my new bulb gets here for the 10 and I can just move all the equipment around in one go.

 

I've had this HOB since 2015, so I doubt it's under warranty!

Overall, the Azoo filters are pretty nice. I haven't had any issues till now with it, and I've used it on and off for 3 years in freshwater and saltwater tanks. If it's the O-ring, it's an understandable failure and a cheap fix.

I'll probably leave this tank alone till my new bulb gets here for the 10 and I can just move all the equipment around in one go.

I was tempted to put a sponge filter in mine before I found my spare powerhead, I'm thinking that with a sponge filter the salt would be displaced due to the bubbles

 

I don't think you'd necessarily have salt displacement. You'd lose some saltwater, but your salinity wouldn't change due to you losing the salt AND the water. Salt creep would be pretty bad, though.

 

I don't think you'd necessarily have salt displacement. You'd lose some saltwater, but your salinity wouldn't change due to you losing the salt AND the water. Salt creep would be pretty bad, though.

That's the word I was looking for, Salt creep lol Idk why I kept going to salt displacement haha

 

Looks like it’s time for a new HOB!
Mine leaked and being a heavy sleeper I didn’t hear the eight gallons of water being poured out onto my curtains and floor.

 

Speaking of leaks went to take look at my oldest filter and mine was dripping ontop of my dresser , luckily it was just the filters needed to be cleaned but almost killed my dresser