Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 WHAT Kat, This glass tank is really cute, I will fill it with live rock and build a nice aquascape so you gals/guys can see the cuteness of the size and the potential.... Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 (edited) Hi all, I personally flew down to Orange County to set up our 2 gallon micro-reef for my little brother... Here are the pics... Hope you like them.... We found a nice place on top of his entertainment, and it looked sweet. I will upload the pics of the completed tank next. Edited November 28, 2011 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 (edited) We hit up three local shops in Orange county for the black Friday sale.... It was sweet deals... Edited November 28, 2011 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
Evanski9 Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Love the picos. Good job mike ! Quote Link to comment
Toontjuh Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 wow!!!!! these picos are so truly amazing!!!! i love them, and i've got to have one!!!! BUT, unfortunately i live in the netherlands!!! so i guess since our powersupply is 220 volt it is impossible to be able to hook it up ??? and we have different sockets!!! so bummed looking at those pictures and realising it is impossible to have !!!! WANT!!!! any thoughts on this??? Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 very cool Mike! Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 wow!!!!! these picos are so truly amazing!!!! i love them, and i've got to have one!!!! BUT, unfortunately i live in the netherlands!!! so i guess since our powersupply is 220 volt it is impossible to be able to hook it up ??? and we have different sockets!!! so bummed looking at those pictures and realising it is impossible to have !!!! WANT!!!! any thoughts on this??? I have a customer in S. Africa and they also have 220v. So, what I found out is that the internet sells many simple models to convert the 220v to our 120v. I can send you the link if you like. I would love to send you out a Micro-Reef to the Netherlands... Quote Link to comment
castiel Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Or potentially Mike sends you the tank and other 'non-electricals' and you pick those up locally. Though I think the conversion that way is easy, it's the other way that needs more careful conversion. Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 My brother got his Yasha goby, two sexy shrimps along with his pom pom crab and oh course his pistol shrimp... More corals were added.... I will post pics shortly.... Quote Link to comment
scoobahSAM Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 (edited) mike, I noticed on your site that you sell float switches now! How do you go about rigging it to say, one of those RKM controllers? Do you have an easy noob-friendly step-by-step process on how to set it up? I am pretty sure I will need one for the christmas holidays this year.. that and a tank sitter if I can find one in time edit: oh and it would be for an ato system. thanks mike Edited November 30, 2011 by scoobahSAM Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 mike, I noticed on your site that you sell float switches now! How do you go about rigging it to say, one of those RKM controllers? Do you have an easy noob-friendly step-by-step process on how to set it up? I am pretty sure I will need one for the christmas holidays this year.. that and a tank sitter if I can find one in time edit: oh and it would be for an ato system. thanks mike I actually sold one to a customer, I will ask him to post on my thread a simple step by step process... I use to run one on my 90 gallon bow front, and it was not hard. The instructions are rather easy so it should not be hard. Let me know if you have any other questions. MG Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 (edited) I fly back home to SF bay area tomorrow evening. But before I do, I decided to share the last addition to my little brothers pico. We decided that since it gets hot in Southern Ca during the summer, it's a good idea if the pico gets a special add on, The Cool Works Micro Chiller. So, off I went to NAWS and picked up the chiller and plumed it right into the AC20, with a 1.25 hole saw. It was a breeze and works like a charm with the Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Lite. Now, I can fly back knowing his micro-reef is fully secure against the unstable elements that like to strike the pico tanks, that darn heat! Maybe I should start flying out to my customers homes and installing these cool micro chillers. J/K Here are the pics: She arrives to the house... Power supply... The probe... Fully installed on AC20... Front view of Chiller... Side view of Chiller... Edited December 1, 2011 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
gupebreedr Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Maybe I should start flying out to my customers homes and installing these cool micro chillers. J/K Me thinks we'll start calling you Dr. Pico! ... House calls would be a great idea and you can start by taking care of my two. LOL Rob Quote Link to comment
dragon79 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 That's funny. My brother making house visits. Just make sure you have a lot of food. The guy is very expensive to have around, I should know! lol. Anyway, thanks big bro for the assist. 300 dollars later and look at all the things I got in there. Glad it's all done and I can start enjoying watching the tank each day. Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 (edited) That's funny. My brother making house visits. Just make sure you have a lot of food. The guy is very expensive to have around, I should know! lol. Anyway, thanks big bro for the assist. 300 dollars later and look at all the things I got in there. Glad it's all done and I can start enjoying watching the tank each day. LOL, He is right, my poor future sister in law she literally said "on your next visit I will be sure to purchase the 1 gallon milk cartons, you destroyed our little 1/2 gallon". She made homemade cookies, I destroyed that... She then pulled out the Thanksgiving leftovers from her home, I destroyed that.... Then she started bringing fast food to the house to keep my belly full, it has been non stop feeding me... They hardly have anything left in the frig that I can heat up in the microwave and devour.... So, maybe this Dr. Pico should put a disclaimer on my site, house visit requires food to be made available, doesn't work without a full belly.... hahaha Edited December 1, 2011 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 I am back in the SF Bay Area and ready to send out orders that were placed during the break... But I couldn't resist taking the last pics of my bro's tank. I am sure he will keep up updated on the efficiency of the T5 bulbs from Coralife. Enjoy the last of the pics I took, just before my flight.... TELL ME FOLKS, ISN'T IT AMAZING HOW CUTE A 2 GALLON PICO CAN LOOK? AND HOW EASY IT IS TO SET UP? ALL THIS WAS DONE IN JUST 3 DAYS OF FUN!!! Quote Link to comment
Jenna Ann Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 It looks great! I think the key is choosing corals that won't get huge and overwhelm the tank. Well done! Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 It looks great! I think the key is choosing corals that won't get huge and overwhelm the tank. Well done! Jenna, I couldn't have said that any better, "I think the key is choosing corals that won't get huge and overwhelm the tank" Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 (edited) NEED ADVICE! Hi all, After flying back from setting up the pico for my brother, I had a thought and need to run it through all of you. I became very familiar with the Cool Works ice probe and want to set a challenge for myself. I would like to convert my 2 gallon pico to a cold water pico reef. This would mean I would transfer all my corals and live stock into our existing 25 gallon company display tank. I would only leave the live rocks and live sand, connect the ice probe and set the DA RKL to 55 degrees and let her start the cycling. I did some research on the internet and would like anyone to chime in for corrections. It appears that you can cycle a cold water reef with warm water live rock/sand. All the bacteria that colonized the warm water live rock will perish but a new cold water bacteria will form? Is this true? So, I need some votes: How many are opposed to me converting the 2 gallon into cold water? How many are for this unique change? I am a certified cold water diver that dives frequently in Monterrey CA, so I could collect inverts and other small stuff and then order online the Catalina goby. I've always wanted a cold water reef in my house, but never had a huge enough chiller to maintain the large tanks I owned in the past. Now with my small business of picos, the 2 gallon should be able to keep my reef at 55 degrees without much problem. Right now, I've seen my brothers pico keep his tank flawless to 77 degrees, turns and cools the tank in about 4-5 minutes and it turns off. Will this idea work? Let the votes come in.... THANKS FOR HELPING ME DECIDE !!!! Edited December 3, 2011 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
yoshii Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 As awesome as temperate tanks are, I think you would have trouble with temps in the summer, especially when it gets way up there, with such a small tank Quote Link to comment
.Newman. Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 the ice probe is beast for pico tanks. well tuned with its controller, i'm sure you could at least get into the low 60Fs with it. if youre going for a catalina goby (I know i would) you'd want a slightly bigger tank than that. 4 gals maybe I put my iceprobe on my HOB filters (AC70 for my pico) and it works fine, you don't have to drill holes or anything, just rest it on top. Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 (edited) As awesome as temperate tanks are, I think you would have trouble with temps in the summer, especially when it gets way up there, with such a small tank Yoshii I would think maintaining cold temps in a pico would be far better than in larger tanks? As far as chillers are concerned, you would burn a lot of power with a couple chillers on a very large tank. With a 2 gallon, I would think the Cool Works chiller could handle that temp easy. It's designed for much larger volumes of water and we tested it on a 2 gallon and it was working flawless at 77 degrees. I spent hours on the internet trying to find a pico with the cool works chiller for temperate waters and couldn't. I might be the first trying to do it.... I will keep your precaution in mind, thanks.... MG the ice probe is beast for pico tanks. well tuned with its controller, i'm sure you could at least get into the low 60Fs with it. if youre going for a catalina goby (I know i would) you'd want a slightly bigger tank than that. 4 gals maybe I put my iceprobe on my HOB filters (AC70 for my pico) and it works fine, you don't have to drill holes or anything, just rest it on top. Newman, you are right when you say beast with picos... These units are designed for larger tanks up to 10 gallons. I am getting really temped on whether to try it or not. I could do the 3 gallon with the chiller but the 4 gallon might be too much volume to keep comfortable cold... We will see... Thanks for the input.... Edited December 3, 2011 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
supernip Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 whats up with the all-in-one? Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 whats up with the all-in-one? You haven't been following my thread have you... Had to pull the plug, when I ran it through TruVu it came out WAY more expensive than I had planned... No one would buy it.... Quote Link to comment
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