Shallow³ Pico S II - Now Cycling

[Evanski9]

ya idk yet. i like when he does direct ship. Id grab from the box and bring them home....

 

 

way better than sitting in those tanks lol

[llab.yroc]

I'll be in my bunk...

Haha, your tank is really looking awesome! I cant wait to get some rock and sand in mine, your way ahead of me.

 

 

 

I actually had to dial back my return pump, it was making craters in the sand at the front of the tank (since it's so shallow). I'd also like to note that I'm using pretty coarse sand and that didn't stop it from blowing around.

 

Edit: I'm also considering dosing some zeo additives so let us know if you decide to go that route.

Well hopefully that doesn't become a problem with this one. The pump I order does have a bit of an adjustment on it, and I may split the line to reduce flow even more if its super intense, but its only a little above the rio 800 as far a gph.

[llab.yroc]

Bit of a delay, after having a look at things I decided that I'm going to go re-shopping this weekend for a new stand. The Ikea piece I had originally picked out was rushed, and it just doesn't work aesthetically. This tank is going in my bedroom, and I would like something a little taller. We'll see.. I did pick up a bucket of salt last night, I decided to just go ahead and stick with reef crystals as that's what I use in my biocube and I'm not trying to switch that system over for something that works fine for me. I also picked up a bag of carib-sea dry aragonite reef sand. Boring post, but it keeps things up to date. Bummer I decided to wait, but I have been patient thus far.. So why rush now.

[BadCrab]

I never end up satisfied with tank stands - so jealous of all those custom ones users have built around this forum. Reef Crystals should be fine - salt is one of those things: everyone uses something different, everyone has an opinion on which is 'best.' IMO there's about a million things people do differently in their tanks that make more of an impact than salt brand choice.

[Deleted User 4]

What happened to the cool font you were using?

[llab.yroc]

What happened to the cool font you were using?

There.. Fixed it. Guess I was slacking a bit

[Deleted User 4]

[jcusmarine]

Any luck on a stand? Good move in taking your time...tagging along for updates/pics

[surgicalsense]

Nice. I like the "Made In U.S.A." tag ahah.

.... not like the China lights,

[Deleted User 4]

.... not like the China lights,

 

Lol, of course not!

[llab.yroc]

And its wet. I searched high and low this weekend to find a stand, and ended up so frustrated I forgot to buy the rock I was planning on picking up. I finally did come up with something I'm fairly happy with, though I had the intentions to go with something a bit taller. I picked up a pretty simple oak side table of sorts.. If anything its serving the purpose of giving me a platform to at least cycle on - whatever for now.. I went with a fairly shallow sand bed at around 1", and was able to fit around 6.75 - 7 gallons of water. I will post some more pics later on once the cloudiness settles.

So the cycle starts, with rock very soon to follow

[llab.yroc]

Okay, been pretty busy with work, but have finally gotten around to shooting some pics since putting rock in. I decided to go with 4lbs. of Real Reef (man made) LR to avoid pests and such, and though its sold as being "live" I also began using Brightwell MicroBacter7 to get things moving along a bit. I am still in no rush, and am not using this stuff for a quick cycle - but I'd like to see some progress so why not.
Let me know what you guys think.

[1reefluvr2]

Tank & scape look great!

[TristanC]

Looking good man! Sorry if I missed it but what livestock are you planning on?

[llab.yroc]

Looking good man! Sorry if I missed it but what livestock are you planning on?

As far as livestock -- Coral wise I know (as of now at least) that I want to do quite a few different types of high end zoa mini colonies, as well as some acan variations, some really nice rics, and a nice (possibly orange tip) hammer to add some movement. I like the look of a bit of pulsing xenia, but I surely don't want to add anything that will take over or spread out too quickly. I have an ORA BoP piece in another tank I need to trim down a bit, as well as a Hawkins blue that's looking bulky -- so I'm sure there will be a frag of each of those that will wind up in there eventually. I'm considering adding one more tall piece of rock, something that comes a little closer to the top in the back right corner. As far as everything else goes, I know Id like to do 2 pair sexy shrimp, though I would really much rather harlequin -- I'm just worried about keeping them fed, and housing what they eat w/coralz.. Some other really interesting inverts more that likely -- My wife is really giving me hell, because Id really prefer keeping this system fish free, but she is wanting a banggai.. We'll see I guess. She fell in love with a baby harlequin sweet lips on Sunday at a LFS, and was super bummed when I told her they get to be 3ft.. Its really hard IMO to do anything that is original in these tanks, because most everything that is super appealing is already running, and who the hell wants a tank that looks just like another.. On that note - I have decided to add my spare Mp10 to this system more than likely, and Id also really like to try one of these new pico skimmers so if anyone out there has one coming, let me know what you think. Also, the glass top is pretty damn annoying, but it serves a purpose I suppose..

[BattleAthletics]

()%)(*$%

 

I cant see any pics of this....

[TristanC]

 

As far as livestock -- Coral wise I know (as of now at least) that I want to do quite a few different types of high end zoa mini colonies, as well as some acan variations, some really nice rics, and a nice (possibly orange tip) hammer to add some movement. I like the look of a bit of pulsing xenia, but I surely don't want to add anything that will take over or spread out too quickly. I have an ORA BoP piece in another tank I need to trim down a bit, as well as a Hawkins blue that's looking bulky -- so I'm sure there will be a frag of each of those that will wind up in there eventually. I'm considering adding one more tall piece of rock, something that comes a little closer to the top in the back right corner. As far as everything else goes, I know Id like to do 2 pair sexy shrimp, though I would really much rather harlequin -- I'm just worried about keeping them fed, and housing what they eat w/coralz.. Some other really interesting inverts more that likely -- My wife is really giving me hell, because Id really prefer keeping this system fish free, but she is wanting a banggai.. We'll see I guess. She fell in love with a baby harlequin sweet lips on Sunday at a LFS, and was super bummed when I told her they get to be 3ft.. Its really hard IMO to do anything that is original in these tanks, because most everything that is super appealing is already running, and who the hell wants a tank that looks just like another.. On that note - I have decided to add my spare Mp10 to this system more than likely, and Id also really like to try one of these new pico skimmers so if anyone out there has one coming, let me know what you think. Also, the glass top is pretty damn annoying, but it serves a purpose I suppose..

Nice! Well ill be following along to see what you do with this bad boy.

[llab.yroc]

()%)(*$%

 

I cant see any pics of this....

I wonder why that is? It doesn't seem like anyone else is having a problem?

[BattleAthletics]

Might be my work pc thats doing it.

[Passaggper]

As far as livestock -- Coral wise I know (as of now at least) that I want to do quite a few different types of high end zoa mini colonies, as well as some acan variations, some really nice rics, and a nice (possibly orange tip) hammer to add some movement. I like the look of a bit of pulsing xenia, but I surely don't want to add anything that will take over or spread out too quickly. I have an ORA BoP piece in another tank I need to trim down a bit, as well as a Hawkins blue that's looking bulky -- so I'm sure there will be a frag of each of those that will wind up in there eventually. I'm considering adding one more tall piece of rock, something that comes a little closer to the top in the back right corner. As far as everything else goes, I know Id like to do 2 pair sexy shrimp, though I would really much rather harlequin -- I'm just worried about keeping them fed, and housing what they eat w/coralz.. Some other really interesting inverts more that likely -- My wife is really giving me hell, because Id really prefer keeping this system fish free, but she is wanting a banggai.. We'll see I guess. She fell in love with a baby harlequin sweet lips on Sunday at a LFS, and was super bummed when I told her they get to be 3ft.. Its really hard IMO to do anything that is original in these tanks, because most everything that is super appealing is already running, and who the hell wants a tank that looks just like another.. On that note - I have decided to add my spare Mp10 to this system more than likely, and Id also really like to try one of these new pico skimmers so if anyone out there has one coming, let me know what you think. Also, the glass top is pretty damn annoying, but it serves a purpose I suppose..

The PicO skimmer is not happening now. Chris ran into problems getting the cast acrylic tubing for the build.

[llab.yroc]

The PicO skimmer is not happening now. Chris ran into problems getting the cast acrylic tubing for the build.

Bummer, was going to cash out on my Pico-vouchers for one.

[BadCrab]

Cash them out for a acrylic lid (that's what I'm going to do!); If you're into airstone skimmers I can recommend Gnome Glass (I ordered a new 52mm one for my custom pico) or MAME. Both are fairly expensive but very well made, and aesthetically pleasing.

If you're willing to look outside of airstone, I'd recommend a Tunze. You can redeem your PicO voucher/points on one in Chris's shop.

[llab.yroc]

I'd probably eventually spring for a tunze, but I don't know if there will really be the need for a while -- And its sort of taking away from the whole simplistic ideal of the tank in general. I may steer away from adding more and more equipment, even though I'd really like to. I have a lot of the things that IMO belong on this high end tank on a BC14 right now, like a RKL and my other mp10 and so on. As much as I'd like to cannibalize that tank and use the stuff -- I'm gonna either do w/o or buy doubles because the BC is still a decent tank. I am going to grab a mp10 shield and a mesh top soon. -- Also..I cant decide if I wanna run cheato in the back or not, it was the OG plan.. Idk now though, seems like more hassle than benefit.

[TristanC]

IMO the chaeto would really only be for pods to hide and breed, it's just not enough to make a significant dent on nutrient export.

[BadCrab]

IMO the chaeto would really only be for pods to hide and breed, it's just not enough to make a significant dent on nutrient export.

 

+1, and make sure you get it from a clean source if you get it (Direct from ORA or another breeder, for example); Chaeto can hide some real nasty hitchikers.