1.5 gallon pico. Reef tank

Ok, I just bought a tetra 1.5 gallon tank. I want to set it up as a pico reef tank. Any tips on filters and lights? I'm looking to spend leas than 50 dollars on the filter and light if possible. Can I start the tank with live sand and rock without the light?

wwright12401 wrote:

Ok, I just bought a tetra 1.5 gallon tank. I want to set it up as a pico reef tank. Any tips on filters and lights? I'm looking to spend leas than 50 dollars on the filter and light if possible. Can I start the tank with live sand and rock without the light?

with that size tank there's really no need for mechanical filtration, regular weekly water changes will be fine, your live sand and rock will act as a biological filter. you are looking @ 1.5 -2lbs of live rock and a 2 inch sandbed. you can use Koralia nano for circulation. starting out with live sand and rock will be fine until you get your light. a PC light will work to grow zoa's and softies. CPR makes a good fuge light you can use or LED's there more expensive but is you went that route you would want 3 watts each blue/white if you are really cheap go to Home Depot and get a clip on light and buy a 20k daylight bulb. what do you plan to use for heat?

I have a 50 watt for a1-3 gallon tank set at 78. Thanks for the home depot tip. How much will a small pc run me?

here is the PC light I was referring too. the good things about this light is its small and will grow softies. the downside is it wont give your corals a lot of color and will consume more electricity and produce more heat.
you can get them for less just shop around.
http://www.aquacave.com/refugium-light-fixture-18wbr-13-by-cpr-aquatics-1781.html#
here are the LED's they are more expensive but keep in mind they produce very little heat which can be an issue on a tank that size,uses less electricity to run and will give you the par value of a T5 + also you can grow more varieties of coral with these LED's this light will also make any coral in your tank pop. I use them specifically to add color with my MH and T5 fixtures
http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/RB-HLS12-BW.html
what are the measurements on your tank?
I own both of these just to let you know I don't recommend something that I have never used myself.
good luck it sounds like a fun project:)

Tank is 7.5 x 7.5 x 13. I like the PC the best I think. LED is a little overkill for this experiment. I am hoping to just start with a few corals and polyps. The only place that sells saltwater items around here is petco. Anyone have any bad experiences with that? I am also possibly looking at a few blue legged hermit crabs and a sexy shrimp or two.

This sounds awesome, post some pics for us when you get it set up please

I plan on doing a daily post with pics to let everyone know what is going on and to ask for help if I run into problems with anything.