.Newman. Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 thl - I have thought about acrylic but i dont like how it warps with evap. wood might warp too over time but i bet not as fast as acrylic would. thank you for the idea though I'll use the acrylic if the wood fails to hold up and if the fiberglass doesnt work either. pinkdamsel - yes i did get the fire shrimp. he is in the pico right now. he is medium size , not very big so hopefully he stays around for a while before he grows up to be too big or dies of old age. He shows good feeding response already. i took me 3-4 days to get my peppermint shrimp eating. this fire shrimp ate on the first-2nd day and started comfortably eating on the 3rd day. right now, since he isnt large, it looks like he fits in nicely. he is able to fit entirely under that green striped shroom i have here, and he hides under it some of the time. The shrimp is starting to become less reclusive, but it will likely take a while before he finds as good spot where i can see him from the front of the tank. right now he is hiding around where my clam is - under the clam and under that green shroom across from the clam. A blood Fire Shrimp might grow too big for 3 gallons. that was my initial idea, so i never really recommended them for picos. I'm going to find out whether one of them can be comfortable in the picotope. He is my main invert now. the stock list is now just: 1 Fire Shrimp 1 anemone porcelain crab 1 emerald crab 1 derasa clam 1 astrea snail dwarf cerith snails I started on the wood canopy. taking a really long time to make. i haven't even finished cutting out all the pieces from the wood...after that its sanding of the edges, and then i have to figure out how to attach them all together. then i paint it black and it will be done. Link to comment
urbaneks Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 That is the most populated Pico I've ever seen. I typically like a tank with less stocking but you have really made this work. Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 it's only going to get even more dense from here, unless it crashed during my move. i'm starting to get worried about what might happen when the corals start encroaching onto eachother. Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Its taking a long time to sand these pieces. i finished sawing them out today. it took more than an hour to sand a piece - im not even done with it yet, still needs one side to get sanded x_x. Will take a few days before i get finished. Link to comment
lljdma06 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I like my fire shrimp. He eats from my hand. A nice choice. Much less "busy" than a skunk cleaner. L Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 This tank is 2 years old today. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 congratulations.....its good u dont move things around much.i like the pattern on your clam also Link to comment
castiel Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Wow congrats on 2 years, from what little I know about picos I know that not many make it this far. Link to comment
lljdma06 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 This tank is 2 years old today. Epicness! And here's to many more! Congratulations, .Newman. L Link to comment
gupebreedr Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 This tank is 2 years old today. Happy Birthday to Newman's Picotope! :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Congratulations Newman! Can't wait to see it next week in person. Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 thanks guys. currently having issues with the canopy build. not finished sanding, but I'm already confused about how to attach the pieces together. nails didn't work because they split the fragile wood...going to have to glue it somehow. Link to comment
btanno Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 congrats! this tank looks sweeeet! definitely one of the inspirations for my tank that im planning out. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 could drill some holes and use dowes or use flat steel and screw it in Link to comment
lljdma06 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Frags arrived. They look great, thanks Newman. My emerald crab is being a pain though and walking on them. Stinker. L Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 glad to hear. and thanks anthony, ill see where i am in a few days. so far i am failing. My first gluing attempt failed because the canopy didnt even fit the tank lol. so i tore the pieces apart and am currently re-gluing them in a better configuration. hopefully this time the canopy will fit and i can paint it tomorrow and then be done with it. Link to comment
wang949 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Congrats Wow congrats on 2 years, from what little I know about picos I know that not many make it this far. Why is this the case? Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 from what i've seen people either get bored and upgrade, or they need to take the tank down for a reason (ie. moving). finished gluing, and the canopy finally did fit well, so i siliconed the edges, and tomorrow i will paint it. I thought about painting it with some creative -looking textured paint (one that looks like stone) but was unsure about how that would look, so i'm just going to paint it black and hope for the best. When unsure, just use black right? lol... Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 painted it black several times...maybe overdid it - now its a bit oily to the touch but looks great. tested it out today and already found one imperfection in the edge >_< but its relatively unnoticeable, and the canopy looks decent. I'm going to let it dry for a couple of days before putting it back on permanently. its going to make the tank look more uniform for sure. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 you could spray a clear sealer on it that might help Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Yes, something like a gloss? i plan on doing that sometime down the road, thank you for the great idea Also here are some pics: The canopy isn't tilted, in some pics its just the camera or i didn't install it evenly on both sides -i threw it on the tank for a few quick pictures before removing it again to let sit for a while. Also you can see that the porcelain moved to the right side of the tank and you can see there are random frags scattered around the tank. frags that will be sold soon. Link to comment
lljdma06 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Oh... Frags that will be sold soon. I see... Looks really good. Link to comment
friar1 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Awesome Tank Newman! Looks great! Link to comment
.Newman. Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 thanks guys, i'm glad you like the canopy Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.