# Pico desktop



## k2x5 (Mar 12, 2008)

*Nano desktop*

Hi all,

I've been lurking on the forums for a while now, and keeping tanks for several years but I've recently gotten the itch to try something different.

I'm looking to set up a pico (1g) planted bowl _switched my idea to a 5g standard tank_ on my desk at work (Clean-ish technical shop evnironment) and eventually house a few RCS.

I've done a fair bit of research online on the subject and had a look at a lot of other setups, though at this size it seems like a lot of trial and error.

I likely wont always be able to and don't want to have to do the semi-weekly water changes that others do. So my idea is to keep one of those 15L water cooler jugs under my desk and circulate the water between that and my 1g bowl, effectively giving me almost 5x the water volume (Basically a sump), so I'm hoping to only have to do about a weekly or even bi-weekly 25-50% water change; easily manageable.

With only a few CRS and minimal ferts in there, do you think this would be sufficient?

Also, would there be any benefit to running filtration on this setup?

Thanks for any help.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22920&page=3

check this one out, it was mine before I took it down. unfortunately image shack took down most of my pics. basically before I took it down it was completely covered in hc cuba and algae!


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## k2x5 (Mar 12, 2008)

I've looked at your thread a few times now, that is awesome. I'm trying to decide how best to do the filtration right now, as the bowl only has such a small opening (About 5") so my plan of using a water jug under my desk may need to change depending on what filtration I use. I may end up doing a DIY canister that holds about 1g of water instead, and looks decent enough to sit on my desk.



coldmantis said:


> http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22920&page=3
> 
> check this one out, it was mine before I took it down. unfortunately image shack took down most of my pics. basically before I took it down it was completely covered in hc cuba and algae!


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

pretty sure the opening on my vase was also 5", I used the boyu nano filter from big als


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I currently have a Dymax IQ3 with CRS. Here's are some pics:


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## Talmon Firestone (Jan 28, 2010)

Hi K2x5,

I had two 1.5 Liter pico tanks on my desk for almost a year and only recently transferred all the plants and fish from them over to a 10g that's also on my desk now. 

Both of them were natural tanks with no filtration but heavily planted with bladder snails and in one of them, two Bloor Red Balloon Platy's who were introduced as babies and thus never grew large. 

I used the Fluval A3935 light for both Picos together and now for the 10g.

These two pico's were my first attempt at ever having an aquarium and were a huge success and now my 10g has been VERY successful after only a month. My plants are growing like CRAZY and my two fish are happy as pigs in poop. 

The way I initiated the tanks was to use some water from a friend of mines tank to ensure there was all the right bacteria in the water and I let that sit with my initial plants and some snails for about a week or two before adding fish. I personally like snails in a pico tank because their poop adds to the natural eco system and they clean the algae very well.

One comment about water changes for small tanks. Even for 10g. Keep in mind that I don't even have a filter or any special equipment other than the light for the 10g as well. I find that the BEST way to do water changes is to do small ones frequently. For the Pico's I did a one measuring cup water change everyone two or three days. This is EASY! Like REALLY EASY! 

I would pour tap water into a measuring cup and leave it in the window for 48-72 hours. During this time, the chlorine will naturally dissipate and the water becomes good for aquarium use. Then, after that 2-3 day stretch, I take one cup of water out and put one cup of water in! This is such a small amount of water that it's SUPER easy to do! For a 1g, I would simply do a 1.5/2 measuring cup change every 2-3 days. Because my small tanks were too small to put the measuring cup in to scoop water out, I would use an old protein powder measuring spoon to scoop water out and that would only take a couple of minutes at most. Then I'd use the scoop to catch the water as I poured it in to prevent the force of the new water from knocking and plants loose from the substrate. 

You can find pictures of my pico tanks in my threat titled: My Pandorarium Project also in this forum near the top. 

I hope my perspective helps you out and don't forget to post some pics once it's all set up and looking great.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Talmon Firestone said:


> Hi K2x5,
> 
> I had two 1.5 Liter pico tanks on my desk for almost a year and only recently transferred all the plants and fish from them over to a 10g that's also on my desk now.
> 
> ...


Don't forget Toronto's water has chloramine (sp) in it as well as chlorine. I've heard of the 1 week (and done that myself) to dissipate the chlorine out of the water when I was younger and just remembered the LFS tell my folks about the standing water for a week. You can speed up the chlorine release by putting an airstone in the water as well. Tho IIRC someone on this board said chloramine takes a long time to bubble out with an airstone thus why people just use a water conditioner. If your city didn't use chloramine then yah the letting the water sit will save you money on the water conditioner.


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## Talmon Firestone (Jan 28, 2010)

Hey AquaNiko,

I have NO idea about chloramine but I've been using Toronto tap water with only 24-48 hours of time sitting out and NO conditioner for almost a year now and my pico tanks and now my 10g all seem to be going VERY VERY VERY well. My plants grow so fast you can almost watch them grow. As you can see from the pics above, just a week or so and they grow 3-4 inches!  Since I posted last a few days ago, or maybe a week ago, my plants grew enough to require trimming!  With all that said, I don't worry about Toronto tap water and chloramine AT ALL.


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## k2x5 (Mar 12, 2008)

Talmon Firestone said:


> Hey AquaNiko,
> 
> I have NO idea about chloramine but I've been using Toronto tap water with only 24-48 hours of time sitting out and NO conditioner for almost a year now and my pico tanks and now my 10g all seem to be going VERY VERY VERY well. My plants grow so fast you can almost watch them grow. As you can see from the pics above, just a week or so and they grow 3-4 inches!  Since I posted last a few days ago, or maybe a week ago, my plants grew enough to require trimming!  With all that said, I don't worry about Toronto tap water and chloramine AT ALL.


No problem there for me, as i'm in barrie, no chloramine in the water here.

Thinking i might go for a 2.5g now instead.


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## Talmon Firestone (Jan 28, 2010)

k2x5 said:


> No problem there for me, as i'm in barrie, no chloramine in the water here.
> 
> Thinking i might go for a 2.5g now instead.


In my earlier post that you quoted, I wrote about pics above which were not my pictures. I had meant to write; "my pictures poster in my other thread called My Pandorarium Project..."

In any case, you'll surely be good with your 2.5g on your desk since my 10g sits on my work desk just fine. 

Have fun and if it turns out nice, don't forget to post some pics.


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## k2x5 (Mar 12, 2008)

Finally set up the tank on my desk! I'll put some pictures up tomorrow maybe.

I went with a 5g tank in the end, so I'd have a few more options and some more space to grow out my plants. Wanted to go larger, but I don't think my boss would approve, at least not until he sees this one going.

DIY'd a dual 13W 6500K light fixture to sit on top.
Threw in a bunch of sand/laterite I had left over from my 55g planting, and now just waiting on my Dry-Start to get going some more. I'm at day 2/~2-4 weeks.

Stocking I'm thinking of (Any other ideas welcome):

Option 1:
4-6 x Chili Rasbora or Ember Tetra
4-6 x Ghost Shimp or RCS or 2-3 Amano

Option 2:
Male Betta
4-6 Ghost Shrimp or RCS or Amano

Option 3:
4-5 Guppies (3f,1m/3f,2m)
2-4 Ghost Shrimp or RCS or Amano

Plants in my dry-start:
HC
DHG
Java Fern
Star Grass (Not sure I'll keep this one in there as it grows wild in my 55)
Anubias Nana


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## Splash768 (Mar 29, 2011)

ghost shrimps are fairly aggressive, especially large female ones. They will nip at betta or guppies fins when they are resting, especially at night. So in a 1gal environment, you'd be better off with RCS or something. But then you'll never see baby RCS shrimplets because the betta will pick them off.


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## Talmon Firestone (Jan 28, 2010)

Isn't that a lot of fish/life for just a 5 gallon tank? I feel like my 10g is in balance with 2 blood red platy's and a whack of bladder snails.

I'm thinking of adding a fire belly newt though OR a couple more fish but that's it. Too many fish will imbalance the ecosystem unless.... You could do a 10% water change every day by setting two half gallon containers of water in a window to have a 48 hour cycle of dechlorinated water.


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## k2x5 (Mar 12, 2008)

Talmon Firestone said:


> Isn't that a lot of fish/life for just a 5 gallon tank? I feel like my 10g is in balance with 2 blood red platy's and a whack of bladder snails.
> 
> I'm thinking of adding a fire belly newt though OR a couple more fish but that's it. Too many fish will imbalance the ecosystem unless.... You could do a 10% water change every day by setting two half gallon containers of water in a window to have a 48 hour cycle of dechlorinated water.


You're probably right; I'm thinking now either Shrimp only or a single Betta, with perhaps 2 Amano or RCS (Depending on how my DHG and HC grow in)

Once the system has been running a few months, I might consider adding a 4/5g sump under my desk, and then adding a couple shrimp or a couple chilis or embers.


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## k2x5 (Mar 12, 2008)

*Update*

Thought I'd post an update on this project... since it's been such a long time. Everybody seems to be really enjoying themselves in this tank, and some of my co-workers have been really good about not over-feeding everyone while I'm away.

A few months ago I replaced the 5g with a 10g and it now houses the following:
1 - Male Betta
6 - Harlequin Rasboras
1 - Oto
A few random pond snails

Plants:
Micro Sword
Anubias Barteri
Java Fern
A bit of HC that keeps slowly growing

Equipment:
Flourite Substrate
2 x 13W Spiral CFL
Preset 78 Degree Thermometer
Emperor 100B Filter

I know, most don't like anything fake in the tank, but the Betta likes the cave as someplace to hang out away from the current for a bit.

FTS:


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## Rigio (Jul 23, 2013)

Call me crazy, but perhaps you could turn the 15L water jug into a dyi canister filter using a tube simular to a siphon and let gravity fill the sump from the top while a power head forces the water back into the aquarium from the bottom of the water jug after passing through your chosen filter media. However the only downside I see is, it would be expensive to fill with filter media.


Edit**
My apologies, I got too wrapped up in the topic and jumped the gun to throw my idea out without reading all the posts.


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