PicO Aquariums Barracuda (Glass) Review

[jrs5193]

Background information: I originally had a simple AGA 2.5 gallon aquarium that I had modestly DIYed to have a Penn State logo background. (Penn State Pico) Unfortunately, although I made sure the stand was level prior to setting up the tank, I did not account for the entire house being slightly un-level. I live in a very old house in a finished attic style of room (At Penn State University, of course). Anyways, to make a long story short, after about two months the tank finally cracked under the pressure of being un-level (literally!). In a mad dash, I ran out and purchased the setup I felt would be easiest to switch too, given very very limited choices and time restraints, an Eclipse System 3 (save the jokes...desperate times call for desperate measures.) The move was hectic, but I experienced no casualties.

 

I had been reading about the PicO aquariums on nano-reef, mostly through Evil's review of them, but was resisting purchasing one due mainly to my budget and my student life circumstances. Eventually, I broke down and decided to order the Barracuda model in the glass version. I will say that throughout the entire ordering process, cdelicath was extraordinarily understanding and helpful, even accommodating my original Penn State logo background, which looks amazing on the new tank! He was very understanding about my shipping needs (I ordered around Thanksgiving break) and held the tank for me until I returned back to school. Everything was packaged extremely well and I have nothing but good things to report about the craftsmanship of the tank as well as it's function.

 

Now, enough long-windedness, on to the (extremely poor) pictures!

 

 

Ignore all the salt creep and smudges on the acrylic, I had started messing around in the tank for the move and then realized I might want a couple of pictures for this post, so I put it all back together. Haha!

 

 

 

Again, packaging was done very well. No complaints whatsoever with shipping or scratching/breakage of the glass or the tank components.

 

 

SICK!!!

 

 

Top down shot offering a pretty good look at the back compartments. From bottom of the image up it goes return pump, fuge/filter media area, overflow/heater area. You can also see the thickness of the glass as well as the silicone work.

 

 

 

Just threw this one in for a size comparison for those of you who are more visual.

 

 

And I'll finish up with a few shots of the tank immediately after set-up, just to toot my own horn a bit. Of course, ignore the cloudiness from moving the rocks/sand about. And please take my word for it that this glass is really really clear! I've never seen starphire glass in person, but this tank is head and shoulders above the quality of AGA and other mass-produced tanks!

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, I would definitely recommend cdelicath and PicO Aquariums. I would definitely purchase from them again in the future. I've already been looking at their LED lighting and am anticipating the unveiling of their new Deep Blue line of aquariums for my new place after graduation (nudge nudge Deli.) The only issues I really had have nothing to do with the tank, deli, or PicO aquariums, but more with the fact that this is my first AIO aquarium ever. (I totally overfilled the back compartments and the pump put out more water than the overflow took in, causing a slow, manageable overflowing of water. That's just me learning though.)

 

Hope this review was helpful and if you have any questions at all feel free to PM me.

[cdelicath]

Thanks for the review and detailed pic's. Now hopefully you will get some cool coraline growth on that design.

[levitationDrew]

Great review! Nice pictures. That's amazing that he included your logo into the background.