# Tiny tidepool



## EdC (Mar 5, 2009)

Okay, this is just silly, but bear with me.

What would happen with a shallow pan of salt water (like 12x12x4 high), lit with one of those fluval mini power contacts, and filled with live rock rubble, with perhaps a very small pump for circulation?

Just a reeking pool of sadness and death?


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

As a separate system, evaporation will be a PITA thus making a stable system challenging.

If you have an existing sumped system, plumb the "pan aquarium" to it.


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## twobytwo (Oct 25, 2014)

As WTAC mentions, I would expect evaporation to be the main concern. That size = about 2.5 gallons, but the 12x12 gives it a larger footprint than a standard 2.5 gallon tank and therefore would have more surface exposed to air for evaporation.

Its not undoable at all, I keep a recently hatched Clownfish fry/juvi in a 2.5gallon (standard size tank) heated to about 82 F - I need to replace about 1-2 litres of water a day which I slowly drip from a measuring cup.

Thats also approx the size of a small frag tank i run, with a black box LED, small heater an MJ 400

I've kept buckets of liverock/sand alive while moving. I would expect if you're just trying to keep rock alive, it shouldnt be too hard, even if you added a 15w heater as well.


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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

EdC said:


> Okay, this is just silly, but bear with me.
> 
> What would happen with a shallow pan of salt water (like 12x12x4 high), lit with one of those fluval mini power contacts, and filled with live rock rubble, with perhaps a very small pump for circulation?
> 
> Just a reeking pool of sadness and death?


If you're considering these dimensions to house animals such as inverts, fish or coral, then stop...it wont work for the reasons the other two posters have stated. It's just not practical.

However, if you were to consider this tank as an extension to your current system, plumbed in to avoid evaporation issues, then consider it as an ideal tank to grow mangroves. Wide, shallow tanks are best suited for this specific application. The depth allows a keen aquarist to really tease out the more appealing and elaborate features of mangroves most people ignore outright: their aerial roots.

Read this article, and note some of the tanks, especially the last one.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/ac/feature/index.php

z


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