bqq100 November 25, 2014 Share November 25, 2014 So I've been itching to build another tank, but there isn't much room around the house for another tank so I'm going to take on the challenge of a pico tank with the goal of keeping SPS in it. I used to dose kalk using a small reservoir with a stir bar in it to periodically mix it. Once I switched to 2 part I no longer needed it for anything, so I decided to re-purpose it as a pico tank. I painted a divider and glued it in to hide the pump, heater and float switches etc. Display portion is 6 5/8 long x 4 15/16 wide x 6 5/8 tall = .93 gallons Rear chamber is 1 15/16 wide for about .3 gallons Filtering will be some filter floss with some ROX carbon in the DIY pump/filter chamber. I plan on setting up an Arduino to control the lights, heater, and cheap ebay peristaltic pumps for ATO, WCs, and maybe kalk dosing. Lighting will either be a PAR38 bulb or a DIY LED fixture using Evergrow replacement LEDs I have laying around. Shooting for semi automatic water changes every 2 weeks. Hook up an empty gallon container, and a gallon container of fresh saltwater and the controller will complete it in small increments over 24 hours or so. Hoping to get it wet tomorrow to get the cycle going! Would love to hear input on the aquascaping and any other tips you guys may have for a tank this small! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef November 25, 2014 Share November 25, 2014 Very cute! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell November 25, 2014 Share November 25, 2014 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSexyShrimp November 25, 2014 Share November 25, 2014 Looks perfect for a flock of sexy shrimp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A November 26, 2014 Share November 26, 2014 Cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda November 26, 2014 Share November 26, 2014 Looks perfect for a flock of sexy shrimp! Pshaw! That is a setup for dwarf seahorses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 November 26, 2014 Author Share November 26, 2014 Pshaw! That is a setup for dwarf seahorses Lol shhhhh don't tell my wife that. She loves the idea of having seahorses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 December 4, 2014 Author Share December 4, 2014 The Good: Cycle is going! Decided on a DIY dimmable LED setup using LDD's Most of the parts are here for the controller/LED build The Bad: API Test kit isn't reading the ammonia level right after using ammonium chloride to start the cycle. Red sea test kit is on order. The Ugly: Standing bare foot on a concrete floor, I put my finger in the water to feel the temp of the water.... ZAP. New pump is on order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin December 7, 2014 Share December 7, 2014 what are the floats for in the back of the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 December 7, 2014 Author Share December 7, 2014 what are the floats for in the back of the tank?The lower one will be for triggering an ATO. The upper one is an emergency water too high switch in case the main float switch gets stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w December 9, 2014 Share December 9, 2014 Wow. I'd take you up on the offer of advice but I wouldn't even begin to know how to work on a tank of this size. It seems to be more of an art than a science. You must be a very experienced reefer to have the confidence to attempt such a small tank without all the safety that comes with larger water volume. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 December 9, 2014 Author Share December 9, 2014 Thanks! Although I wouldn't say experienced (my coral keeping experience is only about 2 years)... I think it's more that I love a good challenge! Wow. I'd take you up on the offer of advice but I wouldn't even begin to know how to work on a tank of this size. It seems to be more of an art than a science. You must be a very experienced reefer to have the confidence to attempt such a small tank without all the safety that comes with larger water volume. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt December 9, 2014 Share December 9, 2014 What is the sensitivity of your ATO? Do you know yet? I ask because I started down the road on a 5.5g project similar to this. I abandoned it because it just took too much DIY time since I wasn't throwing money at it. However, the ATO problem was one I wrestled with because it's hard to control salinity swings in a small water volume; ATO switches work fine for larger systems with smaller return pump compartments, but their sensitivity starts to get iffy as you scale down. For the 5.5g, I started out thinking I would use an internal overflow box just to house the ATO switch and let a micro-jet/pond pump keep the overflow box circulating back into the display. The idea was to maximize the vertical drop in water level for any given total system evaporation - increasing the sensitivity of the ATO switch to total evap and minimizing salinity changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 December 11, 2014 Author Share December 11, 2014 What is the sensitivity of your ATO? Do you know yet? I ask because I started down the road on a 5.5g project similar to this. I abandoned it because it just took too much DIY time since I wasn't throwing money at it. However, the ATO problem was one I wrestled with because it's hard to control salinity swings in a small water volume; ATO switches work fine for larger systems with smaller return pump compartments, but their sensitivity starts to get iffy as you scale down. For the 5.5g, I started out thinking I would use an internal overflow box just to house the ATO switch and let a micro-jet/pond pump keep the overflow box circulating back into the display. The idea was to maximize the vertical drop in water level for any given total system evaporation - increasing the sensitivity of the ATO switch to total evap and minimizing salinity changes. I haven't setup the ATO yet so I don't know the exact sensitivity. I figure that I should be able to keep the water level within 1/2" at all times. Based on the size of my return area, that's about a 2.3% swing in water volume. That should keep the salinity within 1ppt. I can live with that kind of swing in salinity, hopefully corals can too! ;-) My fingers are crossed that the 1/2" assumption was conservative, but I'll find out once I get it setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueTricia December 12, 2014 Share December 12, 2014 I agree! What a great dwarf seahorse tank! Good luck with the PICO. Jwalsh has an amazing little nano tank. You should ask him for advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 December 19, 2014 Author Share December 19, 2014 Well I finally got the controller build started. Right now it's setup on a breadboard for testing purposes and to have the ATO portion of it running before we leave town for the holidays. Right now the controller has 100% ATO functionality and the ability to monitor temperature. I also added a bluetooth connection so I can monitor the current status of the float switches and temperature with my phone or laptop. Eventually I want to be able to use it to send commands to change settings (set time, light schedule, etc). During the initial testing of the controller my stupidity managed to fry 2 Arduino chips. It's a good thing they only cost around $2 and I bought several spares! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 February 13, 2015 Author Share February 13, 2015 Been awhile since I've update this.... Cycle is done, rigged up the lights in a temporary fashion a week ago and starting the algae phase. I need to do a full water change, which I'll probably take care of this weekend. Most of the work over the last few weeks has been on the controller... Programming is ~90% done, I just need to program the water change module. I've painted and drilled holes in a project box that will be the case of the controller and I've started mounting and wiring some of the parts. I've also finished soldering the main arduino circuit board except for 1 capacitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoelace February 13, 2015 Share February 13, 2015 That's some pretty cool stuff. I wish I had the mad skilz to build my own R2 unit like you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 13, 2015 Share February 13, 2015 That's some pretty cool stuff. I wish I had the mad skilz to build my own R2 unit like you! +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 March 3, 2015 Author Share March 3, 2015 Almost there, finally ready to add a couple of snails and start getting the tank ready for corals..... I may still slap a fan on the lights. They are ok running ~50%, but higher than that and I should run a fan. And I need to start thinking more about the semi-automatic water change module. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 March 3, 2015 Author Share March 3, 2015 Oh and a major issue I ran into.... The MeanWell power supply I'm using in the controller apparently is pretty noisy and screws up the powerline adapter I use to get my Apex onto the network.... Right now I'm running my Apex with no network. I bought a clip on ferrite core filter which I hope will help, otherwise I will have to switch to a wifi bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 3, 2015 Share March 3, 2015 This build is too smart for me. But I'm intrigued by what is happening, and I will be sticking around to pretend to understand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqq100 March 4, 2015 Author Share March 4, 2015 This build is too smart for me. But I'm intrigued by what is happening, and I will be sticking around to pretend to understand! Hahaha it's ok, I'm just about done being an electronics super nerd, and time to switch to reef super nerd.... What am I going to stock the tank with?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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