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gunbeau's 2.5 Pico Maybe contest tank


Gunbeaux

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Well here is a tank for the contest don'k know if I will finish but going to try. it is a 2.5 I picked up at the LFS have a 5.5 I might start also.

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Hell Froze over last night,, The Saints are in the Super Bowl.. I am from a little town South of New Orleans... so if they can win, I got a chance.

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animalmaster6
Hell Froze over last night,, The Saints are in the Super Bowl.. I am from a little town South of New Orleans... so if they can win, I got a chance.

Saints are going to beat the Colts. Go Saints!!!

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Well here it is the calm before the dawn and I am still undecited about which tank to enter. the 2.5 or the 5.5 but I will make up my mind by tomorrow. What tank would you do the 3.5 or the 5.5. Here is a pic of them side by side.

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What kind of lighting did you get for the 2.5g?

Coralife 12 inch 36 watt 50/50 PC. Also have a 12 inch 20w screwin pc

 

5.5!!!!

Also have the 18 inch 40 watt Nova Extreme T5 for the 5.5... Need a way to mount the Coralife over the 2.5 the light is as wide as the tank and if I put the mounting legs on it it is too wide will have to build a DIY stand to hold the light over the tank...

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Well here it is the calm before the dawn and I am still undecited about which tank to enter. the 2.5 or the 5.5 but I will make up my mind by tomorrow. What tank would you do the 3.5 or the 5.5. Here is a pic of them side by side.

 

You could always enter both of the tanks. :o

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Hmmm that is a thought, I am going to tear down my 30 long and setting up a 20 gal Oceanic cube, was going to use some of the rock and sand left over from the teardown for the Pico. I will have alot left over.

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Ok decited to use the 2.5 for the Contest tank... Although I will be setting up the 5.5 at home. The 2.5 will be set up at the Office. Since I am there most of the time. And have Co workers to help look out for it when I am out in the field...Question on the light.. I have a Coralife 12 in 36W PC... having problems on how to mount it. Don't want to put it on top of the tank, it is as wide as the tank and would over hang with the AC 50 I plan to put on the back. Should I hang it or make a stand out of CPVC? I have a plan for the CPVC Light stand. Aquarium stand, ATO bottle holder all in one In my head. am not good on DIY projects but. Pics will follow soon as I have to post my FTS with the Coffee Cup in it.

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Ok decited to use the 2.5 for the Contest tank... Although I will be setting up the 5.5 at home. The 2.5 will be set up at the Office. Since I am there most of the time. And have Co workers to help look out for it when I am out in the field...Question on the light.. I have a Coralife 12 in 36W PC... having problems on how to mount it. Don't want to put it on top of the tank, it is as wide as the tank and would over hang with the AC 50 I plan to put on the back. Should I hang it or make a stand out of CPVC? I have a plan for the CPVC Light stand. Aquarium stand, ATO bottle holder all in one In my head. am not good on DIY projects but. Pics will follow soon as I have to post my FTS with the Coffee Cup in it.

 

When I had the Coralife fixture on my 2.5 AGA, I slid off the ballast part of the fixture, made the wires coming from the ballast to one of the bulbs longer and mounted the ballast on top of the fixture with some velcro. It was a little big looking but worked perfect. I was able to have an aquaclear 20 and a red sea nano filter on the back, plus it helped with the heat as those fixtures get pretty hot.

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I made a stand for the light out of CPVC... it supports the light over the tank and I have enough room to mount a AC50 on back might have enough room for a AC70 but am wanting to try one of those Aquaticlife mini skimmer if I can find one... Will post pics of the stand before glueing it. I am at work and can't take the pics. If it still gets Hot Will add a fan.

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I was wondering how to mount my Coralife 36w PC light over my tank... it was too wide with the legs on it so I did a DIY with some CPVC, why CPVC because it is made for hot water and I am thinking with the light getting HOT and they do. I took some 1/2 cpvc and cut 4x 10 inch pieces for the cross members and 2X 10 inch pieces for the risers then put them together with 8 elbows and 4 t's... I had tried all kinds of different designs but this one works the best. I still have room to hang a AC/70 on back although I have a AC/50 on it now will up grade to a 70 as soon as I can get one from the LFS here are some pics... it is not glued yet as I might shorten it a inch of so and I want to put a small piece of plywood on the bottom under the tank for better support.

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Looking good.

 

To help support the plywood better you could add a coupler along each of the bottom length pieces to give middle support.

 

Are you going to paint it ??

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thanks there is only a 3 inch space on the sides but might add a collor joint in the middle of the 10 inch pieces on the bottom, plus plan on using 1/4 in plywood or I have some old 1/4 in plastic glass that they used for a boat window might cut it. It's all scratched up was going to use it as a top.. Plan on Painting it black.

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Guess I should post a price list

Tank 2.5 gal rimless glass $15.00

Light Coralife 12" 36W PC $52.69

AC 50 filter $37.99

PVC DIY light stand $10.00

25W heater $15.00

 

total so far $130.68

 

Live stock planed 3~5lbs live rock Taken out of large tank @ 4.99lb $25

3~5lbs live sand Taken out of large tank @ $1.00 lb $5.00

Had the all of the equipment prices taken out of the Dr F&S catlog

Rock and Sand prices what the LFS charges. Tank was a old tank the LFS had price listed is what It sold for new 15 years ago. and what I paid

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My boss has some questions about me starting up a tank on my desk at the office so I will have to wait and see, will know more after Mardi Gras holiday. I have a 5.5 just like my 2.5 that I am thinking of entering in the contest also. I will have alot of rock and sand left over after taking my 30L down.. setting up a 20 cube and the 2.5 with the existing rock and sand and don't want it to go to waste... been in the tank for over a year and is well cured.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I am at a cross roads so to speak, the light I was going to use on my 2.5 ( Coralife 12inch 26w is giving me fits to mount over the tank, tried a cpvc set up which I posted pics of but it is not going to work. Built another one out of cpvc but it is not going to work either. So do I buy cheap LED out of Dr F&S catalog for $31. or a Pico 3 gal. tank with the light like almost everyone is using for $41. Or do I just switch to the 5.5 I have I would have to change the name of my thread from Gunbeau's 2.5 maybe contest tank to gunbeaux's 5.5 maybe contest tank. here is a pic of it with the required coffee cup.

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Pico tank with stock lighting -- nahhh. Cheapie LEDS might work if you want a softie tank. 5.5 would work but wiull cost more in the end.

 

I guess I wasn't much help. You might look around some more for a decent LED setup for the 2.5 but will probably have to spend more then $31 if you want any sps in the tank.

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Welll I ordered the New Barracuda AIO tank from Pico Aquariums.com Put out a post yesterday to see if anyone had any experiance with this tank.. I did some digging around on here and found that evil66 has one of the first ones made. From what I have seen it seems to be a good tank. The reason for changing from the 2.5 to the new tank is I was having some problems with the tank. Brought the tank from the LFS it was 15 years old, he had it in the back of the store. when I inquired about a small tank he took it out and dusted it off. I like it and brought it. Think I will made a small fresh water tank for my grand daughter with it. Thanks for all of the help everyone has given me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The New Barracuda came in yesterday, Looks like a nice tank when I was unpacking it.. got the top and the ATO unit with it.. I am kind of dum as to how the ATO works it is just the float switch... wondering how do i set it up where does the water go... Hey I am used to just pouring water when it gets low but this tank being at my office I need something for my days off. Did a water test yesterday and every thing is good so today at lunch went home and got some LR and LS plus some salt water I had set it up on the desk it looks nice better than I expected.... Wouldn't you know it was short about 1/2 gal. of water so I had to go back home and rob some out of my big tank... will be going to the LFS tomorrow for some more. I don't mix my own,, buy the time I buy RO water and salt it cost the same.Hopefully the cycle time will be short with the cured rock and sand..

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