Gabe's 1 gallon

G

gaberosenfield

I received this 6" x 6" x 8" tank from an old roommate of mine. He kept a betta in it [smilie=smirk.gif]
Now it's time for it to live up to its potential as a tiny reef tank! I put the feet on it and will cut the wood trim it came with (not pictured) to fit around the bottom of the tank so it looks better. I haven't built my "sump" yet, but it will be painted black, hold my heater/return/float valve for ATO/anything else I want and sit behind the display. On to the pics!

[attachment=2]1st pico main lights.jpg[/attachment]
Main lights on!

[attachment=1]1st pico blue lights.jpg[/attachment]
Blue "moonlights' only (a bit too bright for moonlights I think [smilie=smile.gif])

[attachment=0]Pico light.jpg[/attachment]
Here is my modified par38 bulb I'm using for lighting. I just thermal pasted and epoxied 2 one watt blue LEDs to the outer ring of the bulb and wired them to a little connector and resistors so an old bluetooth headset charger I have could power them separately from the par38 bulb. This may be too bright at its current distance from my tank, but if so I'll just install a dimmer for the par38 bulb.

I'll post again when I build my sump and have my heater. Tell me what you think so far [smilie=smile.gif]
 
Thanks! I'm planning on mostly softies with one or 2 LPS. I don't want a high calcium/alkalinity demand in this little thing! I'm also thinking that in a tank this small it would be unethical to have any fish. I'm thinking some sexies or other small shrimp and little snails and one hermit.
 
Frankenlite it is!
My sump is built but it leaks so I have to go over it again with more weld on. I cut my float valve to size and drilled a hole in my sump for it. I'll post a pic once the sump is completed and painted black.
 
[attachment=2]1st FTS.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]1st FTS Extra Blue.jpg[/attachment]
My Iphone camera cannot tell the difference but the extra blue leds makes the lighting closer to ~18000K while the regular lighting looks to me more like 14000K.
[attachment=1]1st FES.jpg[/attachment]
It'a a pretty small system, ignore the clutter!

Costs:
Par38 blub: ~$60
2 extra blue 1 watt leds: ~$0.70
Resistors, wire, solder, shrink wrap: ~$2.00
Bulb base: ~$3.00
ATO container: ~$3.00
Float valve: ~$2.00
Heater: ~$16.00
Pump: ~$10.00
~2 lbs of live rock/rubble: $6.00
Marine epoxy: $6.00
Spray paint (for the actual amount used): ~$0.50
Glue, tubes, weld-on (for the actual amount used): ~$2.00
I literally found the pieces of acrylic I used to make the sump outside on the ground around my apartment, so I do not think I need to include them.
Total equipment cost: $111.20

No livestock yet. I will probably add a few things in the next week or so, since I expect a really fast, minimal cycle because I used water from my 20 gallon tank and some of the rock in the tank is actually "live" (the other rubble I boiled because I bought it from a tank at DNA in which I noticed an aiptasia; where there's one, there's more!).
 
Forgot to include Nano Mag cleaner: $7.00
This brings the total to $118.20

In other news, I am going through a serious diatom bloom, so I guess the few pieces of live rock weren't enough to prevent a cycle :(
Oh well, maybe in a week or so I can start to add the CUC.
 
It's just a $2 mini float valve from USPlastics.com hooked up to a 2.5 gallon water container with a spout. In order to make the float valve fit in my tiny sump I cut the float portion down to size and used a plastic welder (basically a low temp soldering iron with a flat tip) to seal it back together. then connect the water container to the float valve and place the water container higher than the level of the tank. Gravity does the work: no pumps and no electricity required. Works like a charm and I did the same thing to make and ATO for my girlfriends BC14 that fits in one of the back chambers. The only potential problem is that there is a small stainless steel pin in the float valve hinge that may not weather well in the tank in the long run. But I'm just going to keep an eye on it. USPlastics does sell all plastic mini float valves for like $5 a piece I think, give or take, but that is not what I had on hand.
 
It turns out that epoxying rubble rock together does not make a very stable structure [smilie=sadsmile.gif] . So my scape is, at least temporarily, less unique. I've only added 3 coral frags:
a small pieces of green star polyp: $0.25 (I got like 10 times this amount and a green toadstool for $5 from a reefer in Houston).
1 polyp of a cool green paly (possibly desert storm paly or something like that): $0.50 (I bought several of these and 3 other types of zoas from another reefer for $15).
2 polyps of oxide zoas: $1 (bought a rock with 3 different types of zoas on it [about 30 polyps total] for $20).

But remember, slow and steady wins the race!
FTS
[attachment=1]IMG_1987.jpg[/attachment]

FES
[attachment=0]IMG_1934.jpg[/attachment]
 
Well, after some thought I've decided to throw in the towel on the pico contest [smilie=crying.gif] .
Nothing is growing in my pico except tiny jellyfish and I'm going out of town too often this summer to maintain such a small and fragile little tank. Like so many other would be pico owners, I underestimated the amount of care this little tank would need. Also, I think the tank really needs more flow to thrive, and that may be the main reason nothing has grown, though too much light might also play a role. So for now, I'm going to focus on moving my 20 gal into its new 20 long home. Good luck to everyone else! I hope the winner enjoys my $10! [smilie=wink.gif] .
 
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