el_santo's picotope

[el_santo]

here's my picotope. like most people i'm using an hob filter (aquaclear 70 with an aquaclear 20 impeller) stuffed with macro algae and live rock rubble. i'm also using the original filter with filter floss and algone as well as a 50w hydor heater and a tunze micro pump for circulation. the 2x18w current usa light fixture does a fair job.

 

the sps frag was given to me to 'see what it does' by a local reefer. in the month i've had it, its honestly not done much. it'll colors up some and the feeder tentacles come out at night, but i think light just isn't intense enough for it. i'm probably going to give the frag back to the guy i got it from since i could use the space for something that doesn't look like a phallus jutting rudely from the rock.

 

my next plans are to junk the hob "fuge" and modify a 5 gallon aga into a more suitable sump/refugium. i seem to be held back by talent so i'm going to start bugging my local reefers to help me in this.

 

and yes, i do enjoy korean vermicelli noodles.

[c est ma]

Gee, I've seen much more phallus-looking corals than that! (For instance, 2nd pic here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry1202573 )

 

Yours looks like a vertical dragon fly with the wings pulled off...

 

But I like it!

 

And I like your tank--sort of a study in mounds. Very clean looking. Nice job!

 

--Diane

[el_santo]

oh my, yeah i see your point about that particular coral, and yeah i'm trying to go for a 'spherical' type theme. thanks for the comments.

[PeachesInMich]

Nice tank : ) I've been thinking about setting up a picotope myself.

[el_santo]

i had a local reefer make me a custom acrylic sump-refugium for the picotope. i think it turned out pretty nicely. i need to work out better (ie: cooler looking) plumbing on the return since its currently using the intake off an ac70.

 

obligatory side shot:

 

sump sitting behind the picotope. the refugium light is the original pictope 9w fixture, but with a 6700k bulb instead of the 50/50 stock bulb. the light is on an opposite schedule of the picotope.

 

left side shot showing the mini-jet 404 and plumbing. that's a tunze mini pump in the picotope itself adding a little extra flow.

 

back shot of the sump showing the fuge, bubble trap on the left (and my ghetto water line mark) and the hydor heater on the right.

 

right shot of the sump showing my ghetto return plumbing and original picotope filter thats currently just filed with floss. i'm planning on putting a small amount of kent marine carbon in a media bag and running it through there as well. i'm also looking at some type of hob skimmer as well.

 

here's a few shots of the livestock currently in the tank

 

 

 

 

[c est ma]

Great looking 'fuge. About how much volume would you say that "adds" to your tank?

 

--Diane

[el_santo]

thanks! well its 12"x12"x8", which is a little less than 5 gallons. i'm currently about 4 gallons of water to the sump which gives me about 1 1/2" of room in case of power failure for the two tanks to equalize water levels.

 

early this morning i swapped the mj-404 for a mj-606 turned down the second-to-last gph setting and i'm seeing better flow through the fuge.

[Matty1124]

just a question, what happens in a power failure to deal with over flowing? is there a siphon break

[el_santo]

the side shot above shows when the pump is running the sump has a lower water line then the pico, in a power outage situation, the water lines equalize. the pico drains back into the sump so there's not a need for a siphon break. if the sump wasn't on the same level of the tank then i'd have to have a siphon break or an overflow or something else, this way keeps things simple for me.

[Weetabix7]

Wow, I'm really liking this tank!

 

I like overall look of it, and I also really like that new refugium.

Do you suppose your friend could be talked into making one for me???

[adinsxq]

nice tank

[el_santo]

Do you suppose your friend could be talked into making one for me???

i'll check with him, he likes to work with locals so i don't know if he'd be willing to ship or not but i'll check and see.

 

i hope to have new pictures added maybe wednesday after the new corals have acclimated.

[Weetabix7]

i'll check with him, he likes to work with locals so i don't know if he'd be willing to ship or not but i'll check and see.

 

i hope to have new pictures added maybe wednesday after the new corals have acclimated.

 

That's okay if he's not.

Not that I'm not interested, but I'm also tossing around ideas to make a 5.5 AGA into a "display refugium" for my prop tank. So I do have a backup plan.

I think you're gonna enjoy the new stuff.

[el_santo]

some updated shots i took tonight.

 

new fts shot, minus the previous sps frag that was given away.

 

christmas tree worms

 

green zoas

 

these guys were originally a chocolate color, now they're turning green (photo doesn't really show this change)..

 

these guys are really brightening up, they used to be a dull color, now the green is turning a cool neon-ish shade

 

sump with the rio nano skimmer and new (to me at least) light fixture. the rio skimmer is okay i guess, it seems for me to pull a fair amount and the skimmate is dark and not the usual green tea looking mess.

 

finally for giggles, my freshwater planted picotope.

[hyewiz]

nice setup when you say return since its currently using the intake off an ac70.

is this return to display tank or to Sump. sorry if this sounds stupid question

[Sophie_MPLS]

Beautiful tank!

[el_santo]

nice setup when you say return since its currently using the intake off an ac70.

is this return to display tank or to Sump. sorry if this sounds stupid question

 

when you look at the front tank picture, you'll see the outlet from the pump on the left and the return (to the sump) on the right. that return is the 'u-shaped tube' that's part of the intake assembly off an aquaclear 70. (number 15516350 in this). i also added the narrow extension and end-cap from a maxi-jet 900 to restrict water returning to the sump.