Jump to content
Premium Aquatics Aquarium Supplies

Lalani's Pico Upgrade

Lalani

By Lalani,
in Nano Reef Journals

Recommended Posts

Lalani

Lalani

Posted
Posted

I know what some of you are thinking…… "Lalani, ANOTHER tank!?"

 

Technically, this is not my tank! I started my 2.5gal. minibow pico for my mother, who would always drool over the sexy shrimp when I took her to an LFS with me. So I started it just for sexies. It's been a great little tank, and everything about taking care of it is easy…. Except cleaning the damn thing! Every time I did a water change, I had to put my hand in the tank with an old driver's license and scrape the walls clean. Only a few days later, it would be dirty again. So, I planned on changing out the minibow for a 2.5gal. aga tank. Well…. Mom decided she wanted to upgrade. After much deliberation, she decided on a 10gal. tank with a false wall. :lol: I told her that as long as she pays for it, I'll set it up and maintain it for her.

 

So here goes another tank thread!

 

It's going to be a 10gal. aga tank, with a false wall, creating a fuge area in the back ~¼ of the tank. It will be a peninsula style tank, sticking out from the wall, and will be viewed through the two longest sides and one short side. It will be a basic model of El Chupacabra's 5.5gal. with a couple of differences.

 

Instead of using acrylic for the back wall, I will be using glass. I like to the scrape the back wall! The water will simply flow over the top, which means I won't need any surface agitation and the surface will be perfectly still, hopefully. The only cut I need to make in the false wall will be the hole for the powerhead nozzle. Once the drill bit comes in and the hole is cut, I'll silicone the wall in place. I have already painted one side of the false wall with blue Krylon Fusion spray paint. I know it's supposed to be safe to use in tanks, but I went ahead and covered the paint with silicone, just to be safe. The outside of the fuge section will be painted black.

 

The display will be around 7 or 8gal., so I guess it doesn't qualify as a pico anymore!

 

All of the rock and sand is aquacultured, from Sea Life Florida. I am pretty lenient when it comes to hitchhikers. As long as they don't cause trouble, they can stay. There are already 3 known pistol shrimp and one hairy crab, Eunice worm, big bristle worm, and some type of sand sifting worm/cucumber. All of these things are currently in the pico, but will be transferred to the new tank once it's cycled. The two sexy shrimp will follow suit.

 

I'm not sure what type of fish will go in there. Mom wants something that will swim a lot, so I'm open to suggestions for a suitable fish. :)

 

Ummm….. I think that's all for now. The rock and sand are in buckets of saltwater, until the tank is ready. We're just waiting for the drill bit to arrive. We built the stand out of MDF and painted it black. As seen here:

 

IMG_9512.jpg

 

IMG_9725.jpg

Link to comment
  • Replies 802
  • Created
  • Last Reply
cfeist

cfeist

Posted
Posted

Ahh so it's your Mom's fault, suuuuureeee. :P

 

Nice little setup ya got there. Looking forward to following this one, I love the 10G AGA. I've been thinking about one for a future tank.

Link to comment
starfish609

starfish609

Posted
Posted

Looks good so far! Nice job on the stand/seating combo, it should provide a great viewing area. Looking forward to seeing more pics and the tanks development. Sorry to hear about the back wall. ;)

Cheers

Link to comment
Lalani

Lalani

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Ahh so it's your Mom's fault, suuuuureeee. :P

 

Nice little setup ya got there. Looking forward to following this one, I love the 10G AGA. I've been thinking about one for a future tank.

It's true, I shwear it! :lol:

10gal. aga are good. I had fun with mine.

 

Looks good so far! Nice job on the stand/seating combo, it should provide a great viewing area. Looking forward to seeing more pics and the tanks development. Sorry to hear about the back wall. ;)

Cheers

Thanks, I hope it turns out as well as we hope. fingerscrossed

Link to comment
j'field

j'field

Posted
Posted

Hi Lalani, how sweet to share the same hobby with your mother. :happy: By the way looking forward to more pic and update of your 2.5gal. minibow pico.

 

Is nice sitting right there. :)

Link to comment
Lalani

Lalani

Posted
  • Author
Posted
YAY, a new tank! :wizard: That sunpod looks really good on that 10, now i want one. :angry::)

Haha, it's not a sunpod, just a lowly PC fixture.

 

Hi Lalani, how sweet to share the same hobby with your mother. :happy: By the way looking forward to more pic and update of your 2.5gal. minibow pico.

Is nice sitting right there. :)

There's not much to update on the minibow. Everthing is pretty much in a state of limbo, meaning nothing is growing. There are 36w of PC light over it, but nothing looks happy, and the water quality is fine.. Call me crazy, but things looked better with the original hood and 20w of PC...

Link to comment
Lalani

Lalani

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks, lak. We'll probably add a door to the front of the cabinet to hide everything. We need to drill a hole in the back to put an outlet strip, so all of the plugs will be bundled together. (At least that is the plan!) The only thing that will be coming out from behind the furniture will be the power strip cord. :)

Link to comment
madmazza

madmazza

Posted
Posted

You are wonder woman Kim- I'm sure of it?! Lol

 

Wish I could build furniture like this- I can only just about handle flatpack, on a good day!......... Please come and visit us soon, please?! fingerscrossed

Link to comment
madmazza

madmazza

Posted
Posted
Hehe, now I need a translation, what is a flatpack?

Anybody can build something like this! :P

 

 

:lol: Flatpack's a piece of furniture and is usually bits of MDF in millions of pieces. It comes with a useless set of instructions for you to translate..... in the hope of creating something vaguely resembling the piece of furniture you want it to make!

Link to comment
glennr1978

glennr1978

Posted
Posted

I really like the pull-out seating along with it's own little storage areas. It looks great, good idea!

Link to comment
Lalani

Lalani

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks Glenn, but it wasn't my idea. It was all mom! The ottomans open up for even more storage space and they are really comfortable. :)

 

Edit: Still waiting on the drill bit... Can't seem to find it at any of the local hardware stores, or any of the larger chains like Home Depot or Lowes... Had to order it online from Harbor Freight.

Link to comment
ma_sha1

ma_sha1

Posted
Posted
Thanks Glenn, but it wasn't my idea. It was all mom! The ottomans open up for even more storage space and they are really comfortable. :)

 

Edit: Still waiting on the drill bit... Can't seem to find it at any of the local hardware stores, or any of the larger chains like Home Depot or Lowes... Had to order it online from Harbor Freight.

 

 

What special drill bids? For drilling glass?

 

BTW, just saw your web site & 20L tank photos, incrediable photos!

Link to comment
Lalani

Lalani

Posted
  • Author
Posted
What special drill bids? For drilling glass?

Thanks! Yup, I tried the spear-point bits and they are worthless. We ordered a set of diamond coated rotary bits, since none of the local stores seem to carry them. *sigh* This is the one thing holding back the progress of this tank. Heck, the rock is cycling faster than the drill bit is travelling. :lol:

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...