supermarvin76 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 ughhhh i want a new PICO soooooo bad, but i dont the $ for it, the equipment for it and time for it........lol i always thought about buying a PICO I, and putting a A150w over it with the anemone and the clowns... put it in my kids room or something... Haven't ya heard? All the cool kids are getting PicOs. Do it! Link to comment
TristanC Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Haven't ya heard? All the cool kids are getting PicOs. Do it! He already has one , its a custom tank Chris did a while back. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 A little bit of (boring) progress. I got my stand mostly finished and my tank mat delivered. I bought the Mr. Aqua 18" cube mat for $5 which was a bit cheaper than a yoga mat. My office at work is stacked full of boxes and boxes of goodies and my tank is still dry. I just ordered 20 lbs of BRS reefsaver dry rock so I should start scaping some time next week and hopefully get it wet by the end of next week. Feels like christmas in here. Not pictured is a TDS meter as well as a 240 gph koralia and an MJ400 (I'll use one of these for mixing water) Link to comment
Hexadron Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Nice haul! I love the BRS reefsaver rock. That's what I used on my build. You'll have lots left over probably All depending how you plan to scape of course... Are you going minimal? Any specific structures you are looking to do? (Island, cave, etc?) WE NEED DETAILS! Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 omg a hydrometer!!! noooooooo!!! Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I agree with Jordon! To save money and try my hand at some real scaping I'm ordering BRS Reef Saver for my Solana too. Seems like you can do a lot of interesting things with it... caves, tunnels, overhangs, etc. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 omg a hydrometer!!! noooooooo!!! I know, right? I have a lab grade glass hydrometer I use in my soils lab that I intend to verify with. I have a couple hundred dollars worth of gift cards on amazon that I may consider purchasing a refractometer with. I've read as many horror stories about poorly calibrated refractometers as I have these cheap hydrometers. Link to comment
Hexadron Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 omg a hydrometer!!! noooooooo!!! What the- A Hydrometer?! You should have ordered a Refractometer from BRS! That's where i got mine, good deal Tron and I will forgive, if you promise to order one soon. I agree with Jordon! To save money and try my hand at some real scaping I'm ordering BRS Reef Saver for my Solana too. Seems like you can do a lot of interesting things with it... caves, tunnels, overhangs, etc. So true. I spent about 2 hours creating my scape. It was a lot of fun actually, but my back was killing me that night lol. I suggest superglue & Epoxy. The combination together is indestructible! My structure is probably about 20 or so pieces put together (thanks hammer!) and this thing is rock hard I'll be here all day folks. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Nice haul! I love the BRS reefsaver rock. That's what I used on my build. You'll have lots left over probably All depending how you plan to scape of course... Are you going minimal? Any specific structures you are looking to do? (Island, cave, etc?) WE NEED DETAILS! I haven't planned every last detail yet. I tend to roll with things as they come. I'm more a design-build/value engineering kind of guy. I'm not a fan of perfect symmetry or things being perfectly centered so I envision an "off-kilter" kind of scape with an unbalanced look that lends itself to optimal coral placement. Eventually I'd like a small clam so I will consider that in my final scape. I'm hoping my BRS order arrives Monday so I can get started. I know I'll have extra but it's so cheap, I wanted to have some options with shapes and sizes. I'm sure I will use the extra in a future (Mantis!!) build. What the- A Hydrometer?! You should have ordered a Refractometer from BRS! That's where i got mine, good deal Tron and I will forgive, if you promise to order one soon. I almost purposely left this out of the picture. Link to comment
Hexadron Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I haven't planned every last detail yet. I tend to roll with things as they come. I'm more a design-build/value engineering kind of guy. I'm not a fan of perfect symmetry or things being perfectly centered so I envision an "off-kilter" kind of scape with an unbalanced look that lends itself to optimal coral placement. Eventually I'd like a small clam so I will consider that in my final scape. I'm hoping my BRS order arrives Monday so I can get started. I know I'll have extra but it's so cheap, I wanted to have some options with shapes and sizes. I'm sure I will use the extra in a future (Mantis!!) build. Nice. I ordered 25lbs of the rock for future builds too! Can't wait to see what you come up with. I almost purposely left this out of the picture. Ah gotcha. I didn't realize you had a lab grade hydrometer as well. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Since you're both using BRS Reef Saver as well, care to ballpark an amount I'll need for a minimalist but tall single arch shape in a 20" cube? One advantage of liverock is I can hand pick it and put it on a scale, add some, take some away - can't really do that with a BRS order. I was thinking 20lbs because dryrock is so much lighter? Is that still too much? I might try to "sculpt" something and take some pictures so people can estimate more closely. Eventually I'd like a small clam so I will consider that in my final scape. CLAM TRAIN WOOO WOOO The more inverts I look at the more I admire them - clams are so stunning. There's a really good clam FAQ in the clam subforum here if you haven't read it yet. I'm sure I will use the extra in a future (Mantis!!) build. Details. Now! Now! please Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Since you're both using BRS Reef Saver as well, care to ballpark an amount I'll need for a minimalist but tall single arch shape in a 20" cube? One advantage of liverock is I can hand pick it and put it on a scale, add some, take some away - can't really do that with a BRS order. I was thinking 20lbs because dryrock is so much lighter? Is that still too much? I might try to "sculpt" something and take some pictures so people can estimate more closely. I'd probably buy a little bit more than 20 lbs because 1. it's cheap. 2. you'll have a few more options and an excuse to use if for another build in the future. Details. Now! Now! please Not too many details at this point. Realistically, it's probably a year or more out. It will probably be a 5 gallon tank home to a peacock mantis. I'm remodeling my basement to add a bedroom and that is probably where it will go. I might get a fluval spec 3 or 5 and put one in my office as well. I'm getting way too far ahead of myself. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Haha, great! He can keep you up all night SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! CLACK! Link to comment
Hexadron Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Since you're both using BRS Reef Saver as well, care to ballpark an amount I'll need for a minimalist but tall single arch shape in a 20" cube? One advantage of liverock is I can hand pick it and put it on a scale, add some, take some away - can't really do that with a BRS order. Well I didn't weight mine at all. I just cut out a peice of paper/cardboard the dimensions of my tank and started building away until I had something I liked. Remember when you do this to leave room for a scraper as well If I had to estimate I would say upwards of 20lbs. For minimalistic, maybe somewhere more like 18-25lbs. But whatever you decide to do, just make sure you are 100% happy with it. I was thinking 20lbs because dryrock is so much lighter? Is that still too much? I might try to "sculpt" something and take some pictures so people can estimate more closely. I wouldn't worry too much about matching a weight or aiming for a specifical weight "goal". Just pile together a structure, or piece something together to the best of your ability, and then weight it, and then if you're satisfied you can start epoxying and gluing. 5lbs of rock won't do much for biological filtration in a 34 gallon, but anywhere over 18lbs and I think it would be just fine Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Alright I'll stick with 20lb reef saver + live real reef seed. Thanks for the advice guys! Link to comment
Mstefa1 Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 My rock very, very porous live rock so there is no comparison here but I bought 13.5 lbs and I still had a nice size rock left over for my frag tank. I can't see you guys putting 20+ lbs of dry rock in any of those tanks unless the rock is very dense. Unless the scale was grossly off at my LFS and I got a stellar deal! lol Also note that you will never regret buying too much but you will regret not getting enough or getting the wrong shapes. Link to comment
Hexadron Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 My rock very, very porous live rock so there is no comparison here but I bought 13.5 lbs and I still had a nice size rock left over for my frag tank. I can't see you guys putting 20+ lbs of dry rock in any of those tanks unless the rock is very dense. Unless the scale was grossly off at my LFS and I got a stellar deal! lol Also note that you will never regret buying too much but you will regret not getting enough or getting the wrong shapes. So true. I my 10g, I have about 7-8lbs in there. Link to comment
supermarvin76 Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I vote for just hand picking live rock from the LFS... Just my 2 cents. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 If I had the money I absolutely would. I also want to create some rather extreme shapes (maybe reinforced with acrylic rods) and I'd just prefer to do that with dry rock. Link to comment
supermarvin76 Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 If I had the money I absolutely would. I also want to create some rather extreme shapes (maybe reinforced with acrylic rods) and I'd just prefer to do that with dry rock. Gotcha! Sorry, I thought for a second it sounded like you were leaning towards the the possibility of getting from from the LFS. I had actually planned to use Reef Saver rock from BRS for my PicO, but due to some issues, I ended up with live rock from the LFS. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Gotcha! Sorry, I thought for a second it sounded like you were leaning towards the the possibility of getting from from the LFS. I had actually planned to use Reef Saver rock from BRS for my PicO, but due to some issues, I ended up with live rock from the LFS. I forgot about that. Shit I hope I don't have the same problem. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Pic of my Jugs and buckets because... pictures. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 I got my reefsaver rock in yesterday and spent a ridiculous amount of time stacking, shifting, chiseling and restacking. I ended up with a few pretty nice scapes but I just couldn't leave it alone and I'm not ready to fill the tank yet so it was all just for "fun". I'm realizing this tank is going to be a huge pain to scape. I want to be somewhat set on the arrangement before I put anything in the tank because once the sand is in, it will be difficult to seat the rock back on the tank bottom if I were to move it around. I'm kind of in the home stretch as far as getting this thing wet. I have to install a new outlet box on the wall where the tank will be before I can set it up. Also, another small but expensive purchase. Happy hump day! Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Hey JP, I have the same refractometer, haven't used it yet because Chris is still building my tank. Let me know how it works. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Another slight delay! When I leak tested my tank a couple of weeks ago, I didn't run the pump. I guess I should have because now that I have it ready to get wet, I just happened to notice the pump is actually sitting on the bottom of the sump, not connected to the return tube. I tried to reattach it but the tube only covers the very tip of the return pump and that's before I "squash" the pump down on the it's suction cups. Also, I think the ID of the tube is a bit too small for the plastic return elbow at the top of the pump and it's only stuck on there about a 1/4". I just don't trust either end of that tube. So, it looks like I'm making some plumbing changes. Link to comment
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