- For all you pico tank lovers or those of us out there
who just want a little slice of the reef
on our desk at work or in our homes
where we just don't have enough space for a nano tank,
Eshopps has a very cool little option for you
and it glows orange.
Eshopps take on the desktop pico aquarium
is a simple but fun one.
You get a roughly four gallon cuboid
all in one aquarium with curved front corners,
a black overflow panel complete with filter sock
and return pump and fluorescein orange accents
that are highlighted by the included clip on LED light.
It won't take much to get this tank ready for a tiny reap
but there are a few things you'll need to know
before you commit, so let's dive in.
The Deskmate is a compact aquarium
sitting at 11 inches wide, 12 inches deep
and 10 inches tall and gives you
a roughly 11 by 8.5 by 10 inch display for aquascaping.
While that is a relatively small space,
this is a pico tank after all.
It also means that you really only need
a few small pieces of rock or potentially
only a single nice piece to create your aquascape.
It also means that you could potentially
just use a single large magnetic frag rock
if you wanted to create completely floating aquascape.
The smallest bag of substrate will also be
well more than enough to get a half inch
or three quarter inch layer of sand on the bottom,
and because these pico tanks are so small
you can easily fill it with frags
and have it grow into a lush little reef in no time
and a lot more affordably than even a nano tank.
The Deskmate has a relatively large filtration section
for a pico tank measuring roughly 11 inches wide,
three inches deep front to back and 10 inches tall
and it includes a filter sock for mechanical filtration
roughly four and three quarter inches of clearance
for filtration elements of your choice
and then a single baffle before the return pump.
You'll still wanna pick up a small heater
like the slim Aquael Ultra 25 to heat the water warm
and likely some other filtration elements
like extra bio media
or some form of all-purpose chemical media,
like Chemi-pure Elite or Purit.
There is believe it or not enough room
for a protein skimmer.
Although it is a tight fit,
I was able to get the Eshopps nano skimmer
into the rear chamber as shown on the box
so that's fantastic.
Provided you're okay with moving the clip on lighting
off to the side a little bit,
I do find it's a more comfortable fit this way
and makes accessing the cup for cleaning easier to do.
There's even some room left over
below the skimmer pump for a media bag.
I personally fill that spot with Aquaforest Life Bio Fil
since it's already seated with bacteria
which should help keep this tiny tank biologically stable.
Given how small the return section is
and that evaporation is inevitable,
I'd also more than likely add on a small ATO
like the JBJ Nano or the XP Aqua Duetto
since they both have small sensors
that aren't gonna take up much room.
That said you could just as easily
use a gravity fed ATO like this one.
It's a bulkier option for sure but for less than 20 bucks
it's a super affordable option for a pico tank.
As you can see, the Deskmate does include a light.
It's nothing fancy and it is definitely on the whiter side
with 20 cool white diodes and four blue diodes
but it does provide enough PAR for soft corals
and even some LPS.
Using a PAR meter, I was reading low 60s
on the far corners on the bottom of the tank,
mid 100s throughout the majority of the tank
and just under 200 PAR at the top of the tank,
just under the surface of the water
directly below the light fixture
which was a lot more than I was expecting.
The light uses a simple on and off switch
but you can easily automate it with a digital timer.
For those who would prefer
a more reef centric spectrum and a higher output
so that you could also include some simple SPS corals,
the AquaMaxx prism CC II would be an inexpensive
and very effective option here
and also has its own controller with presets.
But that upgrade isn't at all necessary
it's just a suggestion for those
who would want to be able to have that bluer look.
Now, there are definitely some considerations
when you're looking at a pico reef.
Like for example, the fact that you're dealing
with a much smaller volume of water
and small mistakes will have a larger impact,
livestock will also tend to have a larger impact as well
since it's very easy to overstock a small tank.
You'll also have far fewer fish options
and will most likely need to stick to small
or micro Goby species and similar tiny reef fish.
But there are also all kinds of small inverts
that you can keep to add more inhabitants
if you want a busier reef.
On the flip side, having a pico reef
means that small weekly water changes
with a quality reef salt will more than likely be effective
at replacing the majority of major and minor elements
if you're keeping mostly soft corals.
Even if you do need to dose,
you'll be adding very little at a time
which keeps the upkeep costs really low.
Plus, having a pico tank means you can have
a little slice of reef right on your desk at work or at home
even if you just don't have the space or resources
for a larger aquarium
which is a big reason why pico tanks
like this one from Eshopps are such an exciting option.
Plus, small acrylic all-in-one tanks like this
are usually quite affordable
and you can see if it fits your reef budget
by clicking right here.
(upbeat music)