igozoom January 21, 2010 Share January 21, 2010 Well, I thought I was taking a break from the hobby for a couple of years after I broke down my RSM and 120... then bluefunelement chats up my wife on the virtues of pico tanks, now I'm hooked again! Let's call this a tank build thread! That said, the one thing I've learned from a long history of mistakes is take it slow, plan out every aspect of the final tank design in nauseating detail. Also, I have a few months of sawdust flying everywhere in the house while I replace the basement floors and kitchen cabinets. Then, I need to deal with condensation issues on room after room of floor the ceiling single pane glass and better tank placement for water changes. My house is mid-century modern, built in 1965 and never upgraded to 'modern modern'. I travel too much for a pico, so I'm thinking about going back in around 20+ gallons. That will allow me to reuse my pair or 144 watt LED fixtures from http://www.smgsllc.com/ for some clams, SPS, and all the wonderful things I could never do in the RSM. As much as I'd like to have a school of chromis, I'm going to (finally) go ALL captive bred/forum frags on this little tank. Right now I'm tossing around the idea of the Elos Mini (I'll wait to see how they fare in the wild over in their 2nd year) or the CADlights 22G. I think I'll get a custom tank, however, as I want to incorporate a proportionally large fuge with mangroves. Anyone have unrealized AIO nano/fuge plans they want to share to kick off the design process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 21, 2010 Share January 21, 2010 I am glad to see you are sticking around. I am looking forward to the new tank thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igozoom January 21, 2010 Author Share January 21, 2010 Thanks, the deafening silence of 0 pumps running in the house was starting to get to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 21, 2010 Share January 21, 2010 When you get ready to stock it let me know and I will hook you up with some frags. Just prepare a release form for me to sign so no threads get started later on if you ever decide to sell them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefunelement January 21, 2010 Share January 21, 2010 Just read the first line and remembering talking to your wife about you needing at least an AIO or pico.... mahhhahaahah BTW - love the F.L. Wright house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefunelement January 21, 2010 Share January 21, 2010 (edited) As much as I'd like to have a school of chromis, I'm going to (finally) go ALL captive bred/forum frags on this little tank. Anyone have unrealized AIO nano/fuge plans they want to share to kick off the design process? Ok now I'm done laughing enough to type All captive is amazing and ORA and others are breeding all kinds of fun fish for nanos. If I had to do my 3month old pico over again I'd stick with AIO with a good topoff..opps.. so you have no worry about vaca or leaks. Reefkeeper lite is almost a no-brainer as it can keep your salinty, topoff, and temp all in order and as of last weekend will connect to their net module for wireless/iPhone updates. Lighting is easy and fuge is usually large enough for some chaeto but having an easy to pull out and replace media basket (StevieT's) is crucial. Also make sure the pumps are in chambers with enough room for hands, connected to wire-ties to pull out, and with screens to keep out snail shells. The Phos-ban with carbon/GFO seems like a good idea at least after full stocking. Everything else is just keeping a stocking list and testing weekly so you can catch trends and lightly dose between WC. I've been surprised now in two tanks as Halimeda growth has pulled out lots of bicarbonates and dropped my ALK while leaving PH/CA steady - even in that extreme case with more growth then any corals weekly light dosing was more then enough. Leave out Ozone, reactors, kalk, CO2, even skimmers and GFO probably aren't needed. Ahh the simple life. Perfect Pico El Fab's Guide to Pico tanks El Fab's Neglected 3g Pico Normal Nano Elos Mini Let me know and I'll delete these so you can start posting your own shots Edited January 21, 2010 by bluefunelement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igozoom January 21, 2010 Author Share January 21, 2010 Cross-thread humor, I love it! When you get ready to stock it let me know and I will hook you up with some frags. Just prepare a release form for me to sign so no threads get started later on if you ever decide to sell them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igozoom January 21, 2010 Author Share January 21, 2010 Reefkeeper lite is almost a no-brainer as it can keep your salinty, topoff, and temp all in order [sarcasm] I'm soo glad I just sold a brand new Apex for $350. [/sarcarsm] Think I'll wait a few years on a controller in an attempt to save face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefunelement January 21, 2010 Share January 21, 2010 [sarcasm] I'm soo glad I just sold a brand new Apex for $350. [/sarcarsm]Think I'll wait a few years on a controller in an attempt to save face. As I see it: $270= timer powerstrip $50 ATO $100 wavemaker with feed button $100 good digital temp monitor $20 or $287= RKL w/temp/ph/orp 8 controlled outlets ATO w/float switches expandable to include NET, SL2, MLC, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igozoom January 21, 2010 Author Share January 21, 2010 Thanks for the links. I hadn't seen the sushi nano, but I've been following the El Fab pico. That one certainly defies conventional thinking. A LITTLE more humidity couldn't do too much more damage to the house, right?! Perfect Pico El Fab's Guide to Pico tanks El Fab's Neglected 3g Pico Normal Nano Elos Mini Let me know and I'll delete these so you can start posting your own shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 January 22, 2010 Share January 22, 2010 Just prepare a release form for me to sign so no threads get started later on if you ever decide to sell them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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