Carnifex Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Finally got my picotope in today. Did a lot of searching lfs's and pet stores before I ordered it though. None were carrying them anymore. I have an evil Carnifex centerpeice rock that I'll be using to help me rule the world! Link to comment
c_k_kuehne Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Yea the nice thing about this contest is the relaxed rules. This is about building a kick butt pico. As Carnifex pointed out -- Open enrollment till April 30th. And that includes anybody who wishes to join. Rules suck -- that's why we don't have many. Budgets are even worse they stifle the creative mind. Link to comment
c_k_kuehne Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Finally got my picotope in today. Did a lot of searching lfs's and pet stores before I ordered it though. None were carrying them anymore. I have an evil Carnifex centerpeice rock that I'll be using to help me rule the world! Strumming my fingers on my desk waiting for your tank thread to begin. Link to comment
Fratitude Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 thanks, maybe il start a few frags in my picotope on the 31st and wait til my new tank comes in. love this contest! Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 love this contest! I'm excited too. I haven't started a thread cause I'm not ready to let my secrets out of the bag yet. I'm working on it though.... Link to comment
Carnifex Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Strumming my fingers on my desk waiting for your tank thread to begin. I'm excited too. I haven't started a thread cause I'm not ready to let my secrets out of the bag yet. I'm working on it though.... I'm in that same boat. Besides, Weetabix has set me up with a high standard calling me a power ranger villain. So now I need something special or my manhood will be doubted forever! Link to comment
Growerguy Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 I doubt your manhood daily... After a night of trying to cut glass... lol I finally have something to put together! Ive got a crazy idea in mind. In other news I got my Vortech mp10 today!! Went in my 14g not my pico but have to say it kicks! Link to comment
1blackchicken Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 What did you use to cut your own glass? I went and got mine cut at the hardware store where they barely know how to read a tape measure. It was very difficult to get them to cut it perfectly and Im sure they now hate me there. I would love to be able to just do it myself. Link to comment
c_k_kuehne Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I'm excited too. I haven't started a thread cause I'm not ready to let my secrets out of the bag yet. I'm working on it though.... Come now, we are all letting our secrets out. We want to see, we want to see Link to comment
Growerguy Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Yep I got a dry pen like glass cutter from Hobby Lobby. Works really well as long as I do it correctly. A few times I slowed down when I was scratching the glass and the break cracked the corner off.. Basically I took apart an old 10g and used the glass.. So my tank only cost me $5 for the cutter and a lot of cussing when I snapped a piece I wanted haha. Learning experience and kinda fun. Link to comment
1blackchicken Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Good to know thanks. Luckily my glass was cheap or I would have been way more picky. Link to comment
c_k_kuehne Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 To polish the edges use a belt sander and a couple of helpers. Rest the beltsander upside down on work bench and have somebody hold in place. Have another helper squirt the belt every so often with a fine mist of water. You can then sand the edges just make sure you sand in the direction that the belt goes from the glass face towards the edge. With a little practice you can get a nice professional looking polished edge. Link to comment
1blackchicken Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I did mine by hand and it took forever! Oh well live and learn. Link to comment
Growerguy Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 To polish the edges use a belt sander and a couple of helpers. Rest the beltsander upside down on work bench and have somebody hold in place. Have another helper squirt the belt every so often with a fine mist of water. You can then sand the edges just make sure you sand in the direction that the belt goes from the glass face towards the edge. With a little practice you can get a nice professional looking polished edge. Thanks! Ill give that a try tomorrow at work. I went with the dimensions of my tank being 9"x10"x6", tho Im thinking I want it to be more 11"x11"x7" or even 12"x12"x7". We will see I may go find some more glass to break.. I mean cut up. Link to comment
JoeD Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Just picked up my tank.... seems a little large compared to everyone else's. Link to comment
Mustang Boy Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Just picked up my tank.... seems a little large compared to everyone else's. ok spill the beans make a thread n post up the pics lol Link to comment
Deep Thief Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Just picked up my tank.... seems a little large compared to everyone else's. No Worries, Mine is 5.45gal DT and a 2.5gal sump. You can't get too much larger and still be in the contest. I had to switch some of my plans. Seems I am an idiot. I had a bunch of cut-outs laying on the table and asked the wife to pick the one she liked. The cut-out was only of the DT footprint. So the next day, I started figuring a cut list off the cut-out. Well that didn't include the AIO section. DOH!!! In light of this screw up, I have decided to keep the DT that I have already cut the glass for, and I went and purchased a 2.5gal tank to use as my sump. I was going to try and do an AIO. Why, all I have ever had is a sumped tank and they work great. If its not broke, Don't fix it. Just never tried one this small. I will also be trying a refugium for the first time on this tank. Should make for a good contest. So far, I beleive I am the only sump. We have a bunch of AIO's and a bunch of HOB's. We have a bunch of different sizes too. I think this contest will be very interesting. Should make for a good sampling to see which system really works the best over the long haul. Mark Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Well I've decided to be different and do no HOB, no sump, and no AIO. I will be doing something different though. Come now, we are all letting our secrets out. We want to see, we want to see No. Link to comment
Carnifex Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Well I've decided to be different and do no HOB, no sump, and no AIO. I will be doing something different though. No. I know! Weetabix is channeling the powers of Captain Planet to keep pollution away from her pico! Or it could be something involving a 6yo and child labor!! Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I know! Weetabix is channeling the powers of Captain Planet to keep pollution away from her pico! Or it could be something involving a 6yo and child labor!! Captain Planet might be periperally involved, but 6yo Child Labor in my house would ensure the failure of my Lil Pico. Who knows what mysterious horrors lurk beneath the fingernails of 6 yo boys. Link to comment
Deep Thief Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Well I've decided to be different and do no HOB, no sump, and no AIO. I will be doing something different though. I have thought about it also. When I asked about 2 tanks, I was going to do one with everything I could and try to make it as self-sustaining as possible. The other one I was going to do nothing. The only filtration is circulation in the tank, a heater and lights. Rock of course to be my filter. I may still do it. I have done it before. I did it just a little bit ago, before my 30 was up and running. I used a sump with my halide and two powerheads along with a heater. It worked really well. Everything was doing really good, the biggest problem was surface skimming. That and maintenance, just had to do w/c's weekly. No big deal really. I may still do a tank like that for the contest. I still have that 5hex that I was going to use for it. I don't know if you are doing nothing like I did or you have some super secret mojo thing going on. I am still weighing my options. Really comes down to how much maintenance I want to do. I will be really busy coming up here soon. So we will see. Come on Wheets, tell us already. You know you are going to be pissed if someone else does the same thing and you haven't even said anything. If you say something then at least you can say, I have been planning mine all along. Otherwise you are just copying someone else. Do you like me trying to goat it out of you? Mark PS, now if you do a no filter but only live rock, I can say I have been planning it all along. Which I really have. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I have a super secret Mojo thing I'm doing. :haughty voice: I shan't be goaded Sir, but you may feel free to try :back to normal voice: What I'm doing involves DIY and is completely internal, that's all I will say for now. I suppose it's possible that someone else would come up with the same idea, but it would surprise me. Link to comment
Deep Thief Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I have a super secret Mojo thing I'm doing. :haughty voice: I shan't be goaded Sir, but you may feel free to try :back to normal voice: What I'm doing involves DIY and is completely internal, that's all I will say for now. I suppose it's possible that someone else would come up with the same idea, but it would surprise me. I know its killing you not to say anything. I guess we will just wait and see then. You aren't going to do an undergravel filter are you? Link to comment
c_k_kuehne Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 You aren't going to do an undergravel filter are you? Link to comment
rickjg Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 I would like to enter the Pico Methodology Contest, makes total sense to keep your reef going strong as long as possible. Are there any exclusivity rules about entering multiple contests at the same time with the same pico tank? Thanks, -Rick Link to comment
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