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RENDOG'S 5.5 Gallon Pico


RENDOG

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This site, and the people who post on it, have motivated me into building a Pico. I've been reading/researching for about 3 months now and started purchasing the equipment last week. Here's what I went with:

 

5.5 Gallon All Glass or Aqueon (All Glass merged with another company and now it's called Aqueon)

Aquaclear 70 Filter

Caribsea Reef Sand

 

I didn't have my camera so I had to use the cell phone.

 

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Welcome to NR, the tank looks good bro. What kind of lighting are you going to do? and what are your stocking plans?

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Wow, that was fast..... I'm ordered some LEDs last week that should be arriving very soon. I went went four 10,000K White LEDs and 4 460nm Blue LEDs. The brand name is PowerBrite USA.

 

I'm trying to keep this tank as simple as possible but I know those are famous last words so I'm not exactly sure what to stock it with but I'm looking forward to some good suggestions and advice.

 

I'm thinking the following:

 

Some Zoo's

I like the way some Macroalgae looks and would like to have some in the display part of the tank

Sexy Shrimp

Pom Pom Crab

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Ok cool, thanks. Here are some more pics. I put a black background temporarily but my intention is to go without a background. It's just that the AC70 looks so massive behind it. However, the AC70 will allow me to keep the heater out of the tank and I like that.

 

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I was thinking no background and a very very small filter off to the right side. I saw a similar tank setup like that and it looked good but with no heater. Right now with only one rock and no lighting, the focus of the tank is the AC70.

 

I will make more decisions as I get more for the tank.

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I received a box from Dr. Foster today.....my lighting came in. I'm very excited. I will take and post some pictures ASAP.

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yes....just cycling for now. Is filter floss also known as poly fill as in polyester fibers you find at walmart in the arts and crafts section?

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yes those are the exact ones, if its 100% polyester it will be great. Um you may go through another small cycle if you have any die off on the new live rock, and also if the rock isnt fully cured.

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Lift the lights up off the glass, the light will disburse more and give a more equal color effect, instead of white in back, blue in front. Also, angling each light inward a little bit might help too.

 

 

Keep the background black, looks much better, easier to keep clean too. Also, if you're going for the clean look, you can spray paint the filter intake black. Krylon Fusion is the popular choice around here, found at walmart, tank safe, just let it dry first.

 

 

Hopefully you know you need more LR. About 1 lb. per gallon. Keep the filter in there, definitely don't go with anything smaller, reef tanks need lots of flow. You might even want to add a little powerhead in there to keep the flow equal across the whole tank.

 

 

Good luck!

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^^^what he said.

 

sweet LED's man!! and ive noticed that putting the actinic in the back and the daylight in the front blends colors better :)

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Lift the lights up off the glass, the light will disburse more and give a more equal color effect, instead of white in back, blue in front. Also, angling each light inward a little bit might help too.

 

 

Keep the background black, looks much better, easier to keep clean too. Also, if you're going for the clean look, you can spray paint the filter intake black. Krylon Fusion is the popular choice around here, found at walmart, tank safe, just let it dry first.

 

 

Hopefully you know you need more LR. About 1 lb. per gallon. Keep the filter in there, definitely don't go with anything smaller, reef tanks need lots of flow. You might even want to add a little powerhead in there to keep the flow equal across the whole tank.

 

 

Good luck!

 

I noticed changing the angles of the lights helped and raising them too. The glass on top has a darkish plastic hinge (i've also seen them use a black hinge which makes no sense to me) that gets in the way. I'm thinking of getting some glass cut and actually adding another bar of White LEDs.

 

Ok so i've seen some LR with Zoo's on them. I obviously don't want to put that in now while it's cycling. Is it better to buy LR pieces that I like and then add Zoo frags to them? Is that possible? I'm a beginner if you can't already tell.

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I think you're off to a fantastic start. Definitely go with some sort of background, it'll make your corals stand out more. Sweet lights, but definitely do something to make the color blend more. I will probably do something very very similar to this very soon. LED, 5.5, AC70. Good luck, keep us posted!

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^^^what he said.

 

sweet LED's man!! and ive noticed that putting the actinic in the back and the daylight in the front blends colors better :)

 

Thanx man! I'll keep playing with it....and the lights.

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