How To Setup A Simple Pico Reef

by Fez GarciaOctober 23, 202127 min read

Don’t get confused by all of the information online on how to successfully setup a pico reef that makes reefing sound extraordinarily complex. It’s not.

Don’t believe the hype and especially don’t believe the way saltwater aquarium keeping is depicted on t.v. shows and in movies.

If all you knew about saltwater aquariums was the t.v. show, Tanked, you’d think that saltwater aquariums are only for celebrities and the fabulously wealthy.

If all you knew about saltwater aquariums was the movie, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, specifically the scene where ‘Deuce’ topples over Antoine’s gigantic saltwater aquarium, you’d probably think . . .

People who keep saltwater aquariums are extremely wealthy and may even own one, or several historical artifacts worth millions.
Keeping a saltwater aquarium is so complicated that it’s better to just hire ‘experts’ to set it up for you.
Keeping a saltwater aquarium is so complex that you need to hire a certified technician of some kind in order to ensure that your livestock are healthy and flourishing at all times.
A proper saltwater aquarium setup has to be exceedingly large, in order to support and accommodate the many sensitive and hard-to-keep fish and invertebrates.

Haven’t you learned by now not to trust the media?

The reality is, none of these media depictions is true.

You don’t have to be wealthy to have a saltwater aquarium, it’s not complicated to set one up, you don’t need to hire anyone to help you, and it doesn’t have to be a big set up. Just follow this simple guide.

Why set up a pico reef to begin with?

There are a multitude of health benefits to setting up an aquarium. Although not an official term, ‘aquarium therapy’ is widely recognized as a form of AAT or animal-assisted therapy that works!

Aquariums can help reduce stress and lower blood pressure promoting a sensation of peace, relaxation, and a heightened sense of wellbeing.

Life can be stressful these days, so it makes sense to try to mitigate some of that stress using proven, all natural, non-pharmaceutical alternatives.

The biophilia hypothesis is a theory that states human beings have a natural inclination toward watching the biological processes of living things and could explain why so many people are drawn to aquariums.

And as far as watching biological processes goes, saltwater reef aquariums can be the most interesting because they are absolutely teeming with life, even more so than freshwater aquariums!

Is there a correlation between bodybuilding and an interest in keeping aquariums?

It just feels fantastic. I am coming all the time, you know!”
Arnold Schwarzeneggar

It does seem like a lot of the same people who are into bodybuilding are also into keeping aquariums, doesn’t it?

Retired professional bodybuilder Dave Palumbo of RXMuscle.com has a separate YouTube channel just for showcasing all of his gigantic aquariums. Zenzo from Tazawa Tanks on YouTube looks like he lifts and goes to the gym in addition to taking care of all of the tanks in his giant fish room. Joey, the King of DIY on YouTube clearly lifts weights, just by the looks of him, although he rarely talks about it.

It’s just a theory, but maybe we bodybuilders like aquariums because they make us feel good, just like lifting does. Or, maybe, it’s that bodybuilders are more in touch with nature?

Whatever the reason, reef keeping is a fun and enjoyable hobby for everyone, not just bodybuilders!

What is a pico reef?

A pico reef is a cheap saltwater setup, relatively speaking (we’ll go over total cost below) of 10 gallons and under that runs on basic filtration and minimal stocking.

I have two pico reefs running at the moment. A 6 gallon setup on my desk at home and a 10 gallon setup on an Aqueon Forge stand at work.

Some people will argue with me that a 10 gallon saltwater aquarium is a ‘nano tank,’ but I think a nano is more in the vicinity of 20 to 30 gallons. Let’s not make a federal case over the finer details of pico vs. nano, alright?

Where do I buy a pico reef tank kit?

You can buy an all-in-one, or AIO saltwater aquarium kit from companies like Lifegard Aquatics, Waterbox, Innovative Marine, JBJ, Coralife, or Fluval at your local fish shop, Petco, PetSmart, or from online retailers like BulkReefSupply.com or Chewy.com

Or, if you want to keep your costs really low, you can get an AGA glass tank from a big box pet store. That way, you can set it up how you want it with upgraded lighting and filtration from the get-go.

It may be tempting to go with a kit because they usually come with a stock light and pump, items that you will need, but they are typically pricier than if you were to buy these items separately. I’ve found Lifegard Aquatics AIO tanks to be the more affordable option if you have your heart set on an all-in-one pico, but want to keep the costs ultra low.

Here’s a cool little 5 gallon Lifegard Aquatics AIO I would absolutely get if I was starting over because of its insanely good price and unique looks (yes, the image below is an Amazon affiliate link).

What is an all-in-one aquarium? Do I need one?

An all-in-one aquarium, or AIO, is an aquarium with a blacked-out rear wall, usually made of high-grade glass, plastic, or acrylic, that has a chamber in the back where you can put your return pump and hook it up to the spray nozzle that circulates the water back to the main display area of the aquarium, the idea being you don’t need a sump, or hang-on-back filter on the aquarium because the filtration is built-in to the design. You can then fill that back chamber with bio-media, or whatever you want to use for filtration.

Short answer is no, you don’t need an AIO to setup a pico reef. I’ve never run an all-in-one aquarium, but I do like the concept. If I were to graduate to a bigger tank, say a 20 or 30 gallon, I would probably get one. Smaller than that range and I wouldn’t because the cost of setting up a 10 gallon or smaller glass box is cheaper and easier IMO.

How much does a pico reef cost to set up? What equipment do you need?

Here are the bare essentials and what I spent going the glass box route a.k.a. the cheapest option (includes Amazon affiliate links):

Basic, black-rimmed AGA tanks from your big box pet stores are on sale for a dollar per gallon certain times of the year, making your 10 gallon aquarium a $10 purchase if you’re smart about it (you can’t beat that). *Note: I recommend also getting a glass Versa top lid to reduce evaporation and keep your salinity more stable, which runs around $20 or so.
The Aqueon QuietFlow10 hang-on-back filter for a 10 gallon costs around $20. These filters are great because they are self-priming, meaning if the power goes out and comes back on, the filter will start right back up again instead of running dry and burning out your pump, since the pump is inside the aquarium, not outside. This is a critical feature because, without it, a power outage could cause your tank to crash. No surface agitation in your tank during a power outage means no oxygenated water for your fish and corals until you’re able to check your tank again and manually prime the filter; if you’re out of town, or getting home from work late, this could spell disaster for your tank’s inhabitants. It’s also a fair bit quieter than filters with the pump outside the tank, but not silent. If you want near silent, go with the Seachem Tidal 35 for the extra $25 (also has the self-priming feature plus a built-in surface skimmer and more ability to control flow).
Your lighting options are fairly cheap for this size tank and footprint. For a rectangular tank like this, you can get a cheap Chinese strip light (i.e. $40), but you’re probably better off shelling out the extra 20 dollars for a Current Orbit Marine LED strip light that’s 18-24″ in length. The latter will cost you a little bit more, but will come with programmability like sunrise and sunset, so may be worth it (or buy it used on Facebook Marketplace if you want an even better deal).
Unless you’re doing a 5 gallon, you will also need a small powerhead or wavemaker to provide flow for your corals. I recommend the Hydor Koralia nano because it’s cheap, reliable, quiet and doesn’t provide too much flow for a 10 gallon footprint. It cost me about $30. With a 5 gallon, the volume of water is small enough that you really don’t need any additional pumps for circulation besides the hang-on-back filter.
Get an Aqueon 100W preset heater and call it a day. Normally, I’d advise a 50W heater for a smaller tank, but the 100W one is cheaper on Amazon and will likely last longer because it won’t have to work as hard to keep the tank at 78 degrees. Some people also say to get a titanium heater because a glass one could explode, but they haven’t failed me yet.
An Instant Ocean Hydrometer costs $14 and is known to be a pretty accurate tool to test the level of saltwater in your tank. Should come out to be 1.025
The Flipper pico algae scraper costs about $19 and is a necessity, or your will spend all this time, effort, and money and end up looking at a box of algae. The magnetism is a bit weak for the thickness of the glass on a 10 gallon, though, so if you’re doing a 10 or 20 long, I would instead get a Tunze Nano Care Magnet.
A water-change hose and a 5 gallon bucket (negligible cost). Look for a thinner tubing and a bell siphon so you can vacuum the substrate if it gets too messy.
This last item is technically optional, but one I highly recommend because it makes keeping a pico reef that much easier and more enjoyable. It’s a gravity-fed ATO, or auto-top-off system, using a plastic bottle. This little attachment costs $11 on Amazon and removes the worry of your salinity going up and down constantly and you having to manually top-off your aquarium with freshwater every day, which is the biggest headache of having a small saltwater tank. Just make sure to cut a notch on the interior rim with a box cutter to fit the attachment securely to the tank.

*Important: You may be wondering why test kits are not on this list. I’ll tell you why. You don’t need them! Just visually assess your aquarium and do a water change when needed! It’s the best part of having a pico reef! Simplicity!

**Doubly important: You may also be wondering why a Reverse Osmosis system is not on this list. That’s because you don’t need one! Just buy distilled water from your supermarket for top-off and water changes. You’ll only be doing 1-2 gallon weekly water changes at most, so the additional weekly cost is minimal at around $2-3 dollars, depending on the needs of the tank and how often you feel like doing water changes. You may decide not to do as many water changes and just feed less!

So, those are the basics, minus salt, live rock, sand, filtration media, and livestock, which comes to around $179 for a 10 gallon glass box setup, or an insanely cheap $139 for a 5 setup!

Your nearest AIO competitor is the Fluval EVO 5 gallon for $119.99 on Amazon, or the Fluval EVO 13.5 gallon for $185.00, but you still need the wavemaker, algae scraper, and gravity-fed ATO so add $75 to that!

If you have the space, the optimal setup in terms of value is a 20 gallon long AGA tank, which will cost you around $175 – $185 when you add the exact same basic equipment mentioned above, which includes a 30″ long strip LED light instead of a 20.” 20 gallon AIO setups start at around $250-$300, not including lighting or upgraded filtration!

The only advantage I see with the AIO setups is they are sexier looking. You can also more easily set them up as a desktop peninsula reef, which does have a cool factor, although with a little aquarium silicone and black acrylic, you can create your own with your glass box, or just put the hang-on-back filter on the short side of the aquarium and position the tank accordingly. Of course, then you would just run the tank open-top, no glass lid needed. Be careful of jumping fish, though!

The prices I’ve mentioned above are the absolute cheapest you can go with a pico reef at the time of this writing, so in essence, your cheapest reef tank setup using the equipment I mentioned when you add the cost of the sand, live rock, filtration media and livestock is going to run you in the neighborhood of $200-$300 depending on how cheaply you can source your corals and fish.

What is good stocking for a pico reef?

I’m going to make this stupidly simple for anyone out there who’s a total newbie at reefing or keeping a saltwater aquarium. Go with clownfish.

If you want 1 clownfish, do a 5, 6, or 8 gallon setup.

If you want a pair of clownfish, do a minimum of a 10 gallon setup.

If you’re worried about 10 gallons being too small for a pair of clownfish and want to give your clowns a little bit more space, go with the 20 long nano setup I mentioned above, but either option is fine. You can even go 40 gallon for a pair, but now costs are going up due to cost of lighting, filtration etc. And the sense of scale is off in a 40 gallon for a pair of clownfish, in my opinion.

Clownfish are the absolute best fish to keep in a pico 5 gallons and up and here’s why.

12 reasons why clownfish are the ultimate saltwater fish

Generally stay pretty small –> Ocellaris and Percula clowns stay smaller, so don’t try this with any other type of clownfish. I’ve seen ten year old ocellaris clownfish that are still about about 3 inches long or less, which is the average size of a clownfish and they do grow slowly. However, I’ve also seen female clownfish in larger tanks, 55 gallons and up, that are 4 inches and bigger, so it can happen, although rare. Good new is, if your clownfish gets too big, you can always upgrade to a bigger tank, or rehome it, but again, it would likely be years before you’d have to worry about your clownfish outgrowing its tank. Plus, they tend to not venture out beyond their little area, even within a much larger system.
Long-lived! –> As I alluded to a second ago, clownfish live very long lives! When kept properly, it’s not unheard of to have a clownfish for close to twenty years! This is a beautiful thing because, too often in this hobby, fish don’t live very long, especially fish of this small size, and it’s nice to have more bonding time with them.
Hardy like no other –> Clownfish will rarely die on you. They are technically damselfish, which have the reputation of being basically bullet-proof and I’ve seen it myself. Pretty much all of them sold today are aqua-cultured, tank-raised specimens as well, making them even more hardy.
They don’t pull them from the ocean–> Going along with the previous point, there should be no ethical concerns with keeping clownfish because they aren’t sourced from the ocean. Instead, they’ve been bred in tanks for a long time now, which makes them more adaptable to aquarium life and thus the more ‘moral’ fish to keep, if you’re the type of person who has qualms about keeping fish in a glass box.
Active and personable–> Clownfish are always moving in that characteristic fashion, like they’re in the rodeo, and have boundless energy all day, every day. They recognize you, greet you when you come home from work and are always happy to see you. They even follow your finger and will probably let you hand feed them, although I haven’t done that with mine. They are the saltwater version of a betta fish, but with even more personality.
Fun and easy fish to feed–> Clownfish are not fussy eaters at all, so you can feed them flakes or pellets and they’ll love it; it’s better for your pocket and better for your tank’s stability than feeding frozen, which can easily pollute the tank if you’re not careful. They eat everything and anything offered to them. They are little pigs and love to eat, so be careful not to overfeed. This is in stark contrast to many saltwater fish that, in my experience, are a PITA to feed.
Quintessential saltwater fish–> They are not only beautiful, with unique markings, but are classic and iconic in the hobby. Their mere presence announces, “This is a saltwater aquarium.” Instantly recognizable by children and adults alike.
Reef-safe–> They will not eat corals, although they will sometimes try to peck at or steal food from them. Point is, they won’t damage or hurt your corals, so are universally considered 100% reef-safe.
Stars of the show–> Clownfish are out front, on display, swimming out in the open, as if to say, “Hey, look at me!” They love to showcase themselves. Crowd-pleasers, all of them.
They come in different color morphs–> They breed designer clownfish too, which come in different patterns and morphs. They are more expensive, though, but that’s to be expected.
Cheap and plentiful–> A basic clownfish costs about $15-20 and is readily available at any retail location that sells saltwater fish. This makes it a whole lot easier to get your hands on one.
Will not disappoint–> Some saltwater fish are hit or miss, in terms of what you’re going to get. Sometimes their personality might be off, or they’re more reclusive, or fussy in one way or another. Clownfish are reliably great and will consistently meet or exceed your expectations. They’re pretty much always active, always personable, always have voracious appetites, always happy to see you. You know what you’re going to get and it’s consistent greatness.

I would aim to add your first clownfish to the tank after about two weeks of the tank running. By running, I mean the tank is setup, there’s saltwater of 1.025 specific gravity in the tank, there’s plenty of live rock in the tank, and the filters and/or pumps are constantly running.

But, what about firefish, yellow watchman gobies, bangaii cardinalfish, neon gobies and royal grammas, you ask? Those are nice fish too!

Yeah, but they’re all carnivores and are more particular about what they’ll eat, so I choose not to keep these types of fish. Plus, they’re more skittish and shy, tend to hide a lot more and are not ‘stars of the show,’ like clownfish are. They’re supporting roles at best and personally, I could take them or leave them. You may disagree and that’s fine.

Best corals for a pico

I’ve had success with kenya trees, clove polyps, trumpet coral (sometimes called candy cane coral), and duncan corals. I find these corals to best pretty easy to keep and cheap to acquire.

I think pulsing xenia and some leathers would also be good for a pico. Any coral you like could be good in a pico, despite some people disagreeing, saying some corals grow too large. I don’t think full-grown size matters with corals because you can just frag and sell whatever gets too big.

Contrary to popular belief, I’ve found mushroom corals and green star polyps to be difficult to keep in my pico reef, but that might be because I don’t have any additional circulation pump on my 6 gallon, other than the hang-on-back filter because it’s just not practical in a tank that size. I have yet to try them in my 10 gallon, though.

Some corals I would like to add to my picos are frogspawn, hammer corals, and acans. I may find that certain corals work better in my setup than others and that’s okay. I will find that delicate balance over time. Patience is key with reefing.

Best filtration method for a pico

Forget about sumps, forget about refugiums, forget about skimmers, forget about anything needlessly complicated when keeping a pico reef. You can add those on if you want to, of course, but what I’m saying is, it’s not necessary and you’re only giving yourself more work and maintenance to do, which defeats the purpose of keeping a pico reef.

Besides, it’s far better to stick to one type of filtration and focus on that.

So, the general guiding philosophy you’re going to be following when pico-reefing is the Berlin method, which relies on ‘live,’ or biologically active rock along with water flow to serve as a biological filter for your aquarium. If you can get live sand as well, that would be even better (more on that later).

Technically, the Berlin method also utilizes a skimmer, but in volumes of water 10 gallons and under, you can really just rely on regular water changes instead.

In addition to using the Berlin method as you’re general guiding philosophy, you’re also going to focus on one filtration method and that is chemical filtration.

You’re going to use chemical filtration media in your hang-on-back filter as a way to quickly take nitrates and phosphates out of the water in the event you have something die in your tank, or your tank is really looking like crap. I recommend using a combination of Chemipure Elite and Purigen. Some say run the chemical filtration media all the time, but I don’t know if this is necessary. You can do what I do, which is start the tank off using it and then down the road, eventually eliminate it once your tank stabilizes and becomes more mature.

Tips on how to make your pico reef more stable

I like to add macro-algae to my picos not only because it looks nicer, in my opinion, but also to help pull excess nutrients out of the water and as a place for the little bug-like creatures, copepods and amphipods, to multiply, which, believe it or not, results in a more stable tank. More biodiversity in a reef is a good thing.

I like to add kalkwasser to the ATO bottle as well to help buffer calcium and alkalinity. Calcium and alkalinity are good for corals generally speaking and I recommend using a quarter teaspoon or less every time you fill up your ATO with new water.

You can also easily start carbon dosing your tank using the gravity-fed plastic bottle ATO by adding a few ml’s of distilled white vinegar into your top-off water if you feel that your tank is out of whack for any reason or you want to reduce nitrate and phosphate quickly. Adding distilled white vinegar provides a carbon food source to the beneficial bacteria in your tank, causing them to multiply and consume more nitrate and phosphate from the water column. Just be careful not to pull too many nutrients out of the water because corals need to eat too!

By the way, none of this stuff is required. It’s all optional.

Should you go bare bottom in a pico reef?

I tried bare bottom and didn’t like it. When I first set up my 6 gallon pico cube, pictured above, I cut a piece of white acrylic into a square and placed it on the bottom in order to create the illusion of sand.

One lesson I learned from doing this is that the bottom of your tank will get covered in algae and detritus, so will look considerably less white and uglier over time, unless you get in there and scrape it off, which can be a PITA. I just let it go at a certain point.

Then, I had the good sense to add sand about 8 months in. I added about 2 inches of CaribSea dry aragonite sand to the bottom and immediately fell in love! Sand in a reef tank. What a concept! It made the looks of the tank go from a 5 to a 10. It was that good! Just make sure to rinse out your sand really well before adding it to the tank.

So, I highly recommend sand for the aesthetics. You can’t beat the natural look and it’s really not much harder to keep clean, especially in such a small tank. Just go for a larger grain sand that won’t get blown around the tank from the flow of the filter and that isn’t easily siphoned out of the tank whenever you choose to vacuum the sand bed.

Best lighting for a pico reef?

When I set up my first pico, the 6 gallon rimless 11″ cube, I wanted to go as practical as possible while still looking sharp.

I got the tank itself from Petco for $30, so I splurged a bit on that one (although it was on sale at the time for 50% off, all Aqueon rimless tanks).

I bought the Seachem Tidal 35 hang-on-back filter, along with an Aqueon 50W preset heater.

And for lighting, I ordered the ABI Tuna Blue par 38 reef bulb sold on Amazon for $25.

From what I read on blogs and reviews online, it was a great bulb and grew corals like no one’s business.

So, it arrived in the mail and I screwed it into a par 38 gooseneck attached to the rim that I got from RapidLED.com

I turned it on and was suddenly blinded by the most intense blue and violet light I’d ever experienced. I tried to sit down at my desk with the bulb on and couldn’t because the bulb had to be hung high over the tank so the light would’t bounce around the corners of my pico and sear my retinas when hung lower. Even at the “proper height” of 9-10 inches above the tank, it spilled out all over the room with a spectrum so harsh on my eyes that I got a slight headache that didn’t go away until the next day. I took it off the tank that same day!

I don’t know if I’m just extra sensitive to blue light, but I couldn’t imagine anyone sitting near a tank with a bulb like that on it. I tried to find out if I could get a dimmable bulb, but for some unknown reason, no one makes one. I tried the ABI Blue and White, which was still too intense, but had a more pleasing spectrum to my eye, and then the Luxbird par 38 reef bulb in royal blue, pictured above, but that one was still too harsh and blue. This whole experience made me question my decision to get into the saltwater side of the hobby.

Thankfully, I eventually did find a light that was perfect for my tank that grew corals and that was pleasing to my eye, so that I could actually look at and enjoy my little pico reef.

The light that I switched over to and that I’m currently using on the tank now is a Kessil A80 Tuna Blue LED. What a great little light!

Since I rest the A80 directly on the glass, and have had no problems doing that, light doesn’t spill out into the room and get into my eyes when I’m not looking at the tank. 100% of the light goes into the tank, so I can run it at lower intensity and know that my corals are still getting pretty high PAR (photosynthetic active radiation) values, even though I haven’t tested for PAR. All I know is my corals are out and growing and don’t stretch for light! That’s good enough for me. And I still have plenty of room on the dial to ramp up the intensity if I choose as time goes on.

So, all this to say, learn by my mistakes. If you get a reef light for a pico tank sitting on your desk, don’t get one that’s meant to hang over your tank because you will get light spill and it will blind you.

Technically, the Kessil A80 Tuna Blue is meant to hang over the tank as well, but it really doesn’t have to, if you have a glass top, like I do.