I've had this under wraps since Christmas when I toyed with the idea of starting a pico reef aquarium. I was going to pick something bigger but time constraints (A-level studying, travelling from one side of the pond to the other, photography and everything else) and a possible house move in the future dictated that something smaller and more easily manageable was in order.

The design...

The box - Betta Pico Cube, dimensions 23 x 26 x 28.5cm. Approximate volume (before displacement): 17 litres/3.8 gallons. I bought this tank back in Los Angeles on my last visit, it was a hell load of fun getting it back over here in one piece, but it was a bargain!

Filtration - 3kg of the finest, cured live rock (Fiji, Indonesian, whatever I like the look of and harbours plenty of 'surprises').

Water circulation - 250lph circulation pump at the base of the central 'weir' filtration system (which will house carbon and/or rowaphos if required) plus an Eheim Compact 300. Total tank turnover of 32 times per hour.

Lighting - 'Reef white' LED mini pendant supplied with aquarium. This emits a fantasticly bright, cool-white glow and the PAR readings are good at the 24cm depth mark. Supplemented with a 9-LED Moonlight strip (on a timer) which I had to modify in order to mount it to the main light pendant using two pieces of plastic and adhesive pads.

I do intend to sump the tank at a later date to remove the unsightly heater that resides in the back-right of the aquarium. I was going to place this on my desk in my room however my new one is made of glass which might not take too well to 20kg of water, glass and sand pressing down on it. Alternatively the tank is to be placed downstairs in the dining room.

The substrate will consist of a 50/50 mix of Caribsea Fiji Pink and TMC fine-grade coral sand. Reverse osmosis water supplied by Aquahome until my Osmotics 50gpd 4-stage RO unit arrives in the mail.

Stock-wise, these are early days so I'm not rushing into anything where this is concerned; I've got plenty of time to choose which invertebrates (sessile and mobile) would make suitable candidates. Pico tanks need more time and care where maturing is concerned. I will however be stocking a Clown Goby (Gobiodon okinawae) once the tank has settled down.

I'm not quite ready to get the tank wet yet as my main circulation pump is currently sat at the post office which will need to be collected tomorrow morning. As soon as I have it, I'll fill the tank with water, switch everything on and take a few snaps for the diary.

Goddammit, I was expecting pics when I clicked on this!!

I know nothing about marine tanks, so the technical stuff has gone right over my head. I will be back when there are pretty pictures for me to go 'ooooh' over though

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Current water conditions in the 25 litre RO container...

I've used TMC Pro Reef salt.

pH - 7.8 (increasing by 0.1 slowly)
Specific Gravity - 1.020 (I want it at 1.025)
Phosphate - 0ppm (D-D Merck High Sensitivty Phosphate test kit)
Calcium - 420ppm
Magnesium - 1295ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm
Temperature - 26°C/78.8°F

It's starting to resemble natural seawater.

Patience is a virtue, I've just filled the tank with water and switched everything on.

I don't intend to drill the tank, I've got something a bit more simple up my sleeve. As for the LEDs, the colour temperature on the box reads 14000K, which looks about right.

The Pico Reef - Day 1... by Luke 'Chillinator' Williams photography..., on Flickr

Water parameters...

pH - 8.3
Specific Gravity - 1.025
Temperature - 25.6°C/78°F
Alkalinity - 11.3dKH (a bit high, but it's stable)
Calcium - 420ppm
Magnesium - 1500ppm (practically off the scale, but I've re-tested it again and the result has come back exactly the same)
Phosphate - 0ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm

Water parameters, as of 6am this morning...

pH - 8.3
Temperature - 25.2°C/77.36°F
Specific Gravity - 1.025
dKH - 10.9
Calcium - 430ppm
Magnesium - 1400ppm
Phosphate - 0ppm

It's looking good, so live rock and sand is going in tomorrow.

LR from Calico Aquatics going in today.

As of 7:30am...

pH - 8.3
Temperature - 25.1°C/77.2°F
Specific Gravity - 1.025
dKH - 11
Calcium - 430ppm
Magnesium - 1400ppm
Phosphate 0ppm

Pico Reef - Day 3 by Luke 'Chillinator' Williams photography..., on Flickr


Pico Reef - Day 3 by Luke 'Chillinator' Williams photography..., on Flickr


Pico Reef - Day 3 by Luke 'Chillinator' Williams photography..., on Flickr


Moonlight on the Pico Reef - Day 3 by Luke 'Chillinator' Williams photography..., on Flickr

Another shipment of LR is due at Calico Aquatics next week with some rather interesting pieces arriving. I'll be buying another kilo or two to build-up the structure. The main piece is fastened to a plate-shaped piece of rock using D-D aquascaping putty, so it isn't sat directly on the substrate which could cause problems later.

I've got a bit of a problem here, the pH is dropping. It's fallen from 8.3 to 7.7 over the past 12 hours.

What I don't understand is what's causing it to fall, Magnesium and Calcium levels are 1480ppm and 470ppm respectively, dKH is at 8.5 and phosphate reads 0ppm. My surface agitation is suffcient so CO2 build-up can't be the answer.

I'll have to have another look later and go by the book.

I tested last night at 8pm, this morning at 9am and again at 11:30am. I've tested using a Salifert pH test kit and a calibrated pH monitor, both brought back the same readings with a +/-0.1 difference.

The thing is now it's started to climb again, the reading stands at 8.0 as of 15 minutes ago.