Planted Tank or Pico Reef at work; Opinions Wanted

[jasonmrcdd]

I figured this (planted tanks section of a reefing forum) would be a good place to post this opinions thread...

I have been keeping a couple of SW tanks (one reef, one FOWLR) for almost a year now and just recently added a planted FW tanks. I have been wanting to set something up on my desk pretty much since the get-go but alwyas pushed it to the back burner. Now I figure that I spend more time at my office than at my home so I really need to step it up. Yesterday I purchased a 4 gallon AIO by Aqueon (http://www.petco.com/product/117467/Aqueon-Evolve-LED-Aquarium-Kit.aspx?CoreCat=MM_Evolve) because I liked the look of the setup (clean, tidy, sleek so none of the bosses would see it and wonder why I am trashing up my office with some kind of ghetto aquarium) and it got some decent reviews online. From what I picked up from the Google Box, the LED fixture seems like it could handle plants or some low light corals (Zoas, Shrroms, etc). So here is the delima....

Set up a FW Planted Tank (some grass type plants, maybe a super small piece fo driftwood, a few neons, and maybe a small shrimp or two)

or.....

Set up a Pico-Reef (maybe a small Goby, few hermits, zoas, shrooms, etc)

I like the exotic-ness of having a reef on my desk, but I like the more simple and possibly lower maintenance of the planted tank.

A planted tank coudl be more Zen-like and calming while a Pico Reef will be more colorful and interesting...

I am so torn right now so I figured I would open the floor for any suggestions anyone felt like throwing out there.

:confused2:

Thanks!

[sdnd]

I have the Evolve 8g version of your tank and currently just started a pico reef at my work...but am also leaning towards a planted tank also for work...so I know your dilemma. I think it just comes down to how much time you have to put into it...SW definitely will consume more of your time...especially with a pico more strict on water conditions as the least amount in change can harm your system. FW is probably the easiest and so forth...so comes down to how much time you want to put into it..both would look great nonetheless.

Good luck!

[ajn81]

I had this same delima a while ago and ultimately, I decided to go with a planted tank for work mainly because, well, it's less messy ;). A pico reef at work would be really cool, but I personally didn't want to have to deal with all of the maintenance that goes into a reef tank at work. Not to mention that a reef tank can get really gross really fast if not maintained properly.

If you decide to go with a planted tank, a couple of really nice dark rocks can make for great contrast to the green of the plants. Check out the 2 gal fluval SPEC link in my signature if you would like to see what I did for my work tank. Good luck with your decision!

[jasonmrcdd]

Thanks for the opinions guys. I think at this point I may be leaning more towards FW Planted due to the time factor. Sometimes I don't even have time to eat lunch so a pico-reef may get out of hand fast. It is a good point that a FW tank that is a couple days past a WC or something will still look mostly the same while a reef will show in sharp contrast anytime I dont have my S together...

@ajn81, thanks for the refernce pics, I was actually checking out your thread the other day and commented to my wife how nice your work tank looks. Hope things are going well with the little one.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

[jrod11]

I used to have a 12gallon nano reef tank at work. All was going smooth and things were fine. I didn't really keep tough corals since maintenance was not a priority.

However, once summer months hit, my tank started to get too hot on the weekends. My office turns off the AC over the weekend and I came back on a Monday during a heat wave to water that was around 90 degrees. The tank looked terrible and I had to bring it home. Look into a small chiller if you go this route!

[Magiksurfman]

Cant make up your mind? Put both ideas together, macro algae tank all the way. :angel: ive got a diy aio 10gallon tank but i've neglected it over the past month turning into an aptaisia farm http://img.tapatalk.com/424b3d76-e30a-0be7.jpg

[Jarederaj]

I have a 5 gallon pico tank that i set up as a reef.. I kind of neglected it and some things are not opening.. but its fun with a tank this small

http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/nano-tanks/13749-my-5g-pico-tank-mixed-reef-4.html

look at this sick 5 gallon pico

[jasonmrcdd]

So i ended up going with a FW Planted (ease (virtual lack) of maintenance, less liekly to go from awesome to "Holy Crap, what happened?" over a weekend, and FW always seems a little slower to me so the calming effect is nice.

I have had it set up for a little while now and everyone seems to enjoy it. Both of my immediate bosses have come by and given compliemnts on it and eveyrone who sees it stops and asks, "is that a fish tank, how cool. Ill bet that is relaxing...".

Here is a photo; I am going to change out the fuzzy plants for something a little more "grassy" (plus the fuzzy stuff seems to do real well until it gets almost to the top and then falls apart...

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h392/jasonmrcdd/b0ec498c.jpg

and a closeup

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h392/jasonmrcdd/41d6e672.jpg

(On a humerous side note, I was cleaning a small bit of algae off the front today and my rasbora apparently thought something was going down so he got out of dodge and I had to pick him up off my desk and put him back...)