el fabuloso Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Thanks and thank you for all the birthday wishes. Davey, stop being a ninja. How do you like H2Ocean? I was thinking about using that but I've been too lazy to make my own and even when I did I stick with Oceanic. I get my water from my LFS that also uses Oceanic, maintain my salinity at 35 ppt and try to keep my calcium at 460. But I've thought about trying out H2Ocean but not sure if it's worth the hassle. Quote Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Lmk if you use H20cean, Im thinking about trying it myself. Quote Link to comment
blizzardscout2 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hey it looks great man! I am loving this tank! I cant wait to start one of these. I need to master my 14 gallon BC before I venture into this first. This summer for sure though. Reese Quote Link to comment
Maeda Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 jebus I wish I could pico like this. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Lmk if you use H20cean, Im thinking about trying it myself. Will do, I'm probably gonna end up testing it to see it for myself. Of course this means I'll have to mix my own saltwater which is gonna suck. Hey it looks great man! I am loving this tank! I cant wait to start one of these. I need to master my 14 gallon BC before I venture into this first. This summer for sure though. jebus I wish I could pico like this. Starting and running a pico isn't hard at all. Just get one set up, add some saltwater and let the fun begin. Quote Link to comment
vivereilmoment Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 All I can say is WOW! Nope that's a lie I can also say that your tank is the primary reason I decided to do a Nano reef (5.5g so almost a pico ) It is just awesome, and in 3 gallons of water.. well at this point maybe a gallon and a half of water... lol I also love your thread it was super easy to follow(ok so maybe i just skipped through until I saw posts with pictures) But yeah great tank, lots of great info and extremely helpful to a nublet like myself! Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Thanks and welcome to my thread! A 5.5g is an honorary pico in my book and a good size to start with. You should check out Diane's 5.5g Tank Thread if you haven't already. It's an amazing setup that's a source of inspiration for a lot of people on this site, including myself. Quote Link to comment
irishtexan Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 WOW! I just saw the current FTS of your tank and all I can say is WOW. Haven't been on in a while and i'm amazed at how amazing it looks. Quote Link to comment
SmittyCoco Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Starting and running a pico isn't hard at all. Just get one set up, add some saltwater and let the fun begin. +1 It really is easy to pico reef, If you are extremely Vigilant on wc's, observant of your tank everyday , multiple top offs every day , can go slowwww and not overload it, can forgo having fish except one, are extremly patient.... I guess when you type it out it looks kinda difficult. Really not though . Once you understand whats going on it's second nature ! Honestly I never thought a little box of water could fascinate me so MUCH! EVERYDAY I spend countless amounts of minutes , errr hours staring at this little thing only to stare at it again on my next trip by the tank ! I have a 29bow that gets less than 10 minutes of my attention a week. Really just a lr tank for when the bigger project pops off, but am in no hurry. El- Fab's example is what it's all about ! Quote Link to comment
Nanobuds Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 (edited) didnt this tank win a TOTM? Edited April 2, 2009 by Nanobuds Quote Link to comment
vivereilmoment Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Will definitely have to spend some time looking through that thread thanks! Quote Link to comment
imkevin20 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 still enjoying the LEDs? how are they on heat/evap for the tank? i would assume better than the old light huh? Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 3, 2009 Author Share Posted April 3, 2009 Still lovin' the LED's. It has definitely helped a lot in minimizing evaporation and keeping temperatures down. We're warming up here in Vegas and without the AC running in the house, the temp in the my tank can easily go up to 86–88º F with the PC fixture. This is when I would take out the heater completely and keep a small fan by the tank. Now with the LED fixture the temp doesn't get any higher than 82º. On another note, I'm on my way out the door for a little road trip. For my birthday, my friend (the keeper of the M9) offered to take me out on an all expense paid trip to Cali for MAX among other things. But first we'll be heading out to San Diego and staying out in La Jolla for the night before heading out to Costa Mesa for MAX on Saturday and most likely go again on Sunday. I can't wait to find some neat stuff at MAX, some cool frags, cool new ideas, and I'll be sure to check out some of the LFS in the area as well. Edit: If you happen to go to MAX and see a guy with a funky-colored mohawk, it'll probably be me. Don't be scared to say hello. Quote Link to comment
evilc66 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Make sure you check out that Vortech MP10. I'd be interested to see your impressions of it. Quote Link to comment
kate2118 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 (edited) hey Fab, been following along for awhile now and i'm starting my own pico! did you ever figure out a way to attach you ATO to the tank, or it it still just wedged in place? and if you don't mind me asking, how much was the LED fixture? Edited April 4, 2009 by kate2118 Quote Link to comment
reefman225gal Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I wonder what your corals would look like now if you had the new lighting 6 months ago? Looking great fab as always. Quote Link to comment
Maeda Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Starting and running a pico isn't hard at all. Just get one set up, add some saltwater and let the fun begin. Easy to start, but hard to make nice. I just did a 30 gallon waterchange. I'm feeling envious. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 hey Fab, been following along for awhile now and i'm starting my own pico! did you ever figure out a way to attach you ATO to the tank, or it it still just wedged in place? Congrats on the new pico! You're in for a fun ride! I still haven't found permanent remedy to keeping the float switch in place and is currently held in place by salt creep. lol Smitty recommended these little plastic clips that you can get from DVD displays at Walmart and he was supposed to post some pics of those but I think he forgot. Ahem. I wonder what your corals would look like now if you had the new lighting 6 months ago? Looking great fab as always. Good question. I guess we'll have to wait six months to find out! Make sure you check out that Vortech MP10. I'd be interested to see your impressions of it. Meh, I wasn't impressed. But I'm really not all that crazy with the Vortechs. The concept is amazing and the technology is awesome but the price kills it for me. SoCal/MAX Trip Finally got back into town and what a weekend! It was nice to get away from the desert for a while and the weather in SoCal couldn't be any better. I was pretty much all over the area from San Diego to Costa Mesa stopping at places in between. View outside our hotel room in La Jolla: I made a new friend: Went ocean kayaking as well and had a blast. Too bad I don't have any pics of those. We did stop by Laguna Beach and found some awesome tide pools! Laguna Beach: Some cool nems: Neat little hermit guy: Found this big, fat, gnarly-looking sea hare: And then there's MAX, which was the primary destination of our trip. Wow. I didn't think I would actually say this but I think I've seen enough corals to last me for a few months. lol There were samples, freebies, product demonstrations and frags as far as the eyes could see, it was a sensory overload and I felt like a kid in a candy factory! I'll let the pics do the talking. EcoCube display tank by Foster & Smith: It was raffled away at the end of the convention without live stock. My friend was hoping to score this one but someone else won it. There were a LOT more frags than what I have pictured at some of the best prices I've seen! Especially anyone who's a zoa fanatic which unfortunately I'm not. *cough*gerber*cough* Luckily we came prepared and had our cooler filled up in no time! The best part was my friend scoring a new tank! She's had her eyes on the new 34g Red Sea Max and was excited to see Red Sea there with one on display. While she was hoping to win the Drs. Foster & Smith EcoCube display tank, she managed to buy the entire RSM display tank with stand at the end of the convention for $500! One extra passenger on the way home: Strapped in and ready to go! BIG changes are coming with the transition to a SPS-dominated pico well underway. The M9 is also getting its next major and maybe final upgrade as the tank and its keeper progress into the next step level. Stay tuned. Quote Link to comment
nanoty Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Awesome pics, looked like a blast. Quote Link to comment
WhatIsDharma Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 (edited) After a few weeks of reading around i found this great thread (along with a few others). Reading every single post nearly made my eyes bleed. But all the knowledge was beyond worth it. I think im finally ready to start my tank and would like to credit yours as the main source of info/inspiration. Keep up all the awesome work. Hopefully by the time i get mine up and cycling you might be done with that section on the step by step guide......but then again maybe not *Edit* Also i had no idea what MAX was when i saw it in earlier posts. Looks Like it was a great trip and i may have to go next time around. Cant wait to see the new revamped tank. Edited April 7, 2009 by WhatIsDharma Quote Link to comment
gena Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Your tank really is beautiful. I see it as a work of art! Thanks for sharing those photos of your calif/max trip. Did any N-Reefers recognize you at the convention? See any Blue Clove frags there? I think I'm on your list for cloves...when yours are ready for fragging Quote Link to comment
seahorsejl Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 to all of those coral frags on the convention! Looks like it was blast ... and now you are making me that I missed one close to me a few weeks back. Quote Link to comment
got2envy Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Awesome pics of the convention Aaron! wish it was closer to me Pix of da goodies... Quote Link to comment
davey Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Oh, I wish I could have seen that. Our LFS owner was down there I think giving a talk, I dont know if she had an exhibit too or not. I cant wait to see what you got. So you gonna move all your stuff into the M9 and start over with the pico SPS dominated tank? I am not gonna be able to sleep tonight I am so excited. Ok, I step out now to make room for the master of suspense...enter El Ninja Fabuloso ----> Quote Link to comment
edeja7 Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 you should really start fragging, its starting to get crowded. i could take it off your hands. Quote Link to comment
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