Supermarvin's PicO III

[TristanC]

Just hold it from the bottom when you move it, basically you just don't want to hold it from a single pane so you don't put too much pressure on the seams. You could put egg crate on the whole bottom so the rocks don't scratch the bottom. I leak tested mine in my room, but you should probably do it somewhere that won't get screwed up if it does fail.

[Hexadron]

To answer some of your questions...

A) See the black egg crate in the photos above? Should I put that down in my tank under the rock and sand? Or only under the rock? Or not at all? Why?

 

I personally would say no egg crate on the bottom. From what I have gathered, it is unsightly if you ever get a "sandstorm" or your sand moves any (which WILL happen at some point) Also because the sand can't flow freely with the eggcrate, it can create "dead spots" so to speak. As long as you put your rock directly on the bottom (which is safe) then the sand, you should have no stability issues.

B- I am going to order about 16 lbs of cured Manado rock from Premium Aquatics. Should I dip this in a high salinity bucket prior to putting it in the tank?

 

Not sure why you would diip it in high salinity? I heard of Fresh dips, which I would probably reccomend.

C) I am worried about handling the tank when it gets here. I've never handled a rimless tank before. I understand I can not lift it by one side, but then how? Hold two sides at the top at the same time and lift straight up?

Just slip your fingers to the bottom on the tank and lift (use those knees!)

D) I guess when it gets here I need to take it to the basement for a couple days and let it run with water to leak check it. What should I set the tank on down there? The stand is in my living room.

 

As long as it's on a flat surface you will be fine. If you have a level I siuggest using it. Were you planning on having any sort of mat under the tank? It isn't required, but I reccomend it, as if there are any uneven spots on the surface of the stand, it can create stress points. This isn't such a huge deal with a nano sized tank, but something to consider. On mine I used that Con-Tact (I think it's called?) It was the thicker solid drawer liners.

E) I have a 1/4" Mr Aqua Mat on my stand. Think this is ok, or should I downsize to 1/8"

 

Wow, I should have kept reading before typing the above! You could downsize, but I would use what you have. There's nothing wrong with that. The thicker, the beter most likely

F) I'm having a hard time finding a place to set the RODI in the basement. Really don't want to drill into the wall to hang it...

 

I have mine under my kitchen sink just using the faucet adapter when I need it. I won't be at my condo forever, and since I am renting, didn't want to cause any damage. You could always place it on a table/stand/counter if there is one in the area. It doesn't have to be hung.

 

Hope this helps!

[supermarvin76]

So....

 

Here's my light dilema now. I keep watching YouTube videos and see pics of people with the AI Sol Nano on 5-10 gallon tanks. The total display of my tank I have coming is (if I'm not mistaken) 18x14x15.

 

Should I upgrade my light before it arrives to the regular Sol? I really really don't want to drop an additional $100 on the light, especially because my budget for the light was only $150 to begin with, but on the same hand I really don't want buyers remorse if the Sol Nano will not light 18x14 very well.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Mstefa1]

So....

 

Here's my light dilema now. I keep watching YouTube videos and see pics of people with the AI Sol Nano on 5-10 gallon tanks. The total display of my tank I have coming is (if I'm not mistaken) 18x14x15.

 

Should I upgrade my light before it arrives to the regular Sol? I really really don't want to drop an additional $100 on the light, especially because my budget for the light was only $150 to begin with, but on the same hand I really don't want buyers remorse if the Sol Nano will not light 18x14 very well.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

I think you will be fine but if your a light freak better to upgrade now then later

[TristanC]

Trust me the nano is more than enough.

[Deleted User 4]

Here's the thing, sure ai nano sol provides enough spread, but there are other led options such as the nano razor that's coming out soon. I heard the nano razor is going to be msrp at $280, and it comes with a short lighting schedule where you can adjust to your daily needs of sunrise and sunset.

 

Ai nano sol on the other hand costs $300 without the controller(Need controller to have automated sunrise and sunset schedule)

but does have touch sensor buttons to dim or brighten the tank at your own manual time..

 

Nano razor looks better hanged and not mounted. Ai nano looks fine either way I think.

The controller for Ai nano sol does have more features on the controller such as thunderstorm, 20 days of lighting schedule set to your wanted preferences, coral acclimation, etc but again it costs an extra $100 for all that. And it needs two wirings where razor only needs one. Less wiring does look better.

 

Razor does have better spectrum than the nano sol. But nano sol is sufficient enough to grow corals and colors if you know how manage the intensity drive.

 

Hopefully this helps you out on what you really want.

[Mstefa1]

No egg crate on bottom for me. And yes i already own plenty of it.

[supermarvin76]

Preparing to ship!!!!

 

Should be here by Wednesday! I better get the RODI hooked up, and my rock ordered. I think I'm going to go with 16 lbs cured Manado from premium aquatics, and 2 lbs of the gunk from their sand bed to help seed my sand.

 

When the rock gets here I am thinking of doing a high salinity dip (per Dr Foster Smith advice on their site) and then a fresh water dip. Thoughts?

 

Good thing I've preemptively requested Friday off from work!

[TristanC]

Sweet! How is the tank getting to you so fast? Shipping for me was like 5 days lol

[supermarvin76]

Sweet! How is the tank getting to you so fast? Shipping for me was like 5 days lol

 

I'm only about 100 miles from him.

[supermarvin76]

Emergency!!!!!

 

I just looked on Premium Aquatics site, and they say all the Mandao rock they have in right now is only 2-5" pieces!

 

Now what?!?!?!?

[TristanC]

Marcorocks

[supermarvin76]

Marcorocks

 

You use them before? Or just have heard about them?

 

I'm having trouble figuring out their site. How do I add to a cart, or even see how much it costs?

[FishBrawler]

You use them before? Or just have heard about them?

 

I'm having trouble figuring out their site. How do I add to a cart, or even see how much it costs?

I've never order from them before, BUT I did win some of their rock at reefstock. I get some picture of tge rock on my thread if you wanna see!

[supermarvin76]

It looks like their site is not set up right now to sell live rock.

 

I can't seem to be able to add it to a cart.

[TristanC]

I've always used dry rock but from what I have seen their rock is very nice, come with lots life. Have you considered dry rock?

[supermarvin76]

I've not considered it.

[Julian_blnc]

I've not considered it.

Try it its awesome,

create a really cool scape

 

you can build intresting towers and stuff with epoxy

sculpt it dry then add to the tank,

 

Plus its cheaper! and becomes live in a manner of days if seeded right

[TristanC]

I really like dry rock, it's super easy to aquascape and you don't have to worry about die off. I usually just seed it with a piece of rock from either a buddies tank or an lfs.

[rev138]

About 10 years ago I was really getting into tanks, and making all the rookie mistakes [...] began with a canister filter\\

 

What's wrong with canister filters?

[supermarvin76]

What's wrong with canister filters?

 

That's all I was using. That and fake decorative rock.

 

I just think there are better methods that will lead to success.

[supermarvin76]

Try it its awesome,

create a really cool scape

 

you can build intresting towers and stuff with epoxy

sculpt it dry then add to the tank,

 

Plus its cheaper! and becomes live in a manner of days if seeded right

 

This sounds like something great, I like how I could scape something with epoxy, BUT.... I am not very creative, and am worried it would come out looking terrible. Who knows though.

[Julian_blnc]

You can always stack it if you dont like the scuplted look, check out this tank

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/285963-rio-grande-twins/

third pic down

[supermarvin76]

Now I'm thinking of putting a a Bulk Reef Supply order for some of their dry rock and epoxy. I have no idea about using dry rock though. How does the tank cycle if there is no die off from the absence of live rock?

 

If I go with dry rock, what about adding Instant Ocean Bio-Spira? Helpful?

[TristanC]

If you seed your sandbed and seed the rock with a piece of live, you dont need to add any of that stuff. I used seachem stability after the cycle when i started adding livestock just to ensure that i didnt get any ammonia spikes.