Sedivec Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 It's been about 5 years since I first got into the JBJ 3 Gallon PicoTope craze. It didn't survive a move a few years ago, and I had to break it down. It's great to see how much things have changed as far as LED lighting goes, and these IM tanks look great. Time to jump back in. Tank: Innovative Marine 16 Gallon Stand: Deep Blue 24x12 Lighting: NanoBox Duo with BlueFish controller (on order) Heater: Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 75-watt Return Pumps: 2x Sicce Syncra 0.5 (185GPH each, adjustable) Water Flow: MP10w (ordering when needed) Filtration: AquaMaxx Dry Rock Around 15lb CaribSea Ocean Direct Live Sand 15lb InTank media & fuge baskets (ordering when needed) Probably the biggest challenge so far was getting the lid out of the tank. It's a good way to ship it, but mine was wedged down in there pretty good. Getting that sticky material off the back wall was actually easier than I thought, came off in one big piece. Link to comment
Azedenkae Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 XD Yah, it's a pain, truly, sometimes. What are your plans re: setup? Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Glad to see you are on our way! Hope those pumps work out for you! What is the difference between the Bluefish and the Storm? Link to comment
Sedivec Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 XD Yah, it's a pain, truly, sometimes. What are your plans re: setup? Well, plans are to get everything up and running and throw a couple frags or a fish in. Beyond that I have no expectations or demands for what I stock the tank with.. just whatever catches my eye. Glad to see you are on our way! Hope those pumps work out for you! What is the difference between the Bluefish and the Storm? The pumps...on wide open are definitely a sand storm! Good to know I've hit my limitations, I've dialed them way back for the cycle. I've never had a light with a storm controller (and my nanobox light is still being built) so I can't exactly give a good comparison list, but I do know you can control everything from your phone with a nice interface. There isn't a WHOLE lot of information out there, but there is one good video on youtube you can check out. Stock return pump VS two Sicce Syncras Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Lol, how are they noise wise, I'm about to order mine soon. I've used sicce pumps before and loooove them. Currently building a air stone driven skimmer, build on my thread. New corals too! I'll have to look up that video. FYI, a 5.5 deep blue aquarium fits in that stand perfectly for an ATO tank with about 5 inches to spare.if I can make one more suggestion grab a reef keeper lite or some kind of controller. My nano stays perfect temp and topped off. I can control everything and it is something definitely worth the money! Also, if you wanna run one stock pump and one sicce(might work out better) I'll buy one for the price you paid, in case they end up being to much. Heck, you might not even need and mp10 with both pumps and spinstreams Link to comment
Sedivec Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 Lol, how are they noise wise, I'm about to order mine soon. I've used sicce pumps before and loooove them. Currently building a air stone driven skimmer, build on my thread. New corals too! I'll have to look up that video. FYI, a 5.5 deep blue aquarium fits in that stand perfectly for an ATO tank with about 5 inches to spare.if I can make one more suggestion grab a reef keeper lite or some kind of controller. My nano stays perfect temp and topped off. I can control everything and it is something definitely worth the money! Also, if you wanna run one stock pump and one sicce(might work out better) I'll buy one for the price you paid, in case they end up being to much. Heck, you might not even need and mp10 with both pumps and spinstreams Without having used the stock pump I will say these are QUIET, the tank is in my living room, even if I was watching a quiet movie, wouldnt really notice any noise. ATO and RKL are on my list, but not immediate. i have the 24x12 deep blue tank, it doesnt say much on it but series one, but the tank fits perfect. Link to comment
Ahanix Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 That was fast man, scape looks amazing! Excited to see this thing all lit up. Link to comment
Maniu Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Looking good so far. Nice return upgrade. Something I might do to my IM16 down the road. Link to comment
Legendary Corals Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Great tank, can't wait to see it develop! Link to comment
Sedivec Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Water has gotten really clear. Trying to get a cycle going with Dr Tim's Ammonium Chloride & Seachem Stability. http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/Sedivec/media/IMG_80331_zps4d4f8fb0.jpg.html'> http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/Sedivec/media/IMG_80321_zps50eeb601.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Sedivec Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 Heard there is a two week delay on the Bluefish controller therefore atleast that on my NanoBox light Link to comment
Brasil7 Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Reallyy love that cave scape. And I've always wanted to do the twin RP. It's a follow from me Link to comment
Sedivec Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 Finally getting Nitrates. Still waiting for my NanoBox Duo. Will soon be seeding the tank with pods. Link to comment
Sedivec Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Not too much to report yet, finally got the NanoBox Duo a few weeks ago, and got a couple starter corals (zoas and a mushroom) from a local guy. They have survived so I'm doing something right! I need to find my digital camera as I don't want to be posting horrible iPhone pics up here. Also something to note, the pump upgrade I did, almost any speed above the slowest and the flow is too fast for the stock media baskets and a good amount of the water bypasses right over them.. so I'll need to be upgrading my media baskets sooner rather than later for anything that needs any kind of decent water flow. Link to comment
lilmatty5dimes Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 awesome looking aquascape. everything looks great Link to comment
Thomasweaver Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Looks great! I just ordered the IM customcaddy baskets. They look a little tougher than the intank baskets. You can so change the shelf heights a bit. I just got my IM 16 up and running this week. Looks great! I just ordered the IM customcaddy baskets. They look a little tougher than the intank baskets. You can so change the shelf heights a bit. I just got my IM 16 up and running this week. Link to comment
GoldenHawk Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Nice looking scape! How are you liking the flow in your tank? I'm planning on upgrading from the single stock pump to 2 eheims. Along those lines - What type of tubing are you using to connect the sicce's? Looks almost like loc line. Link to comment
famousdan314 Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Really enjoy your scape and that style arch, following along. Link to comment
k427 Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Looks good, really like the scape too. Following. Any idea what you want to stock it with? Link to comment
Sedivec Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Looks great! I just ordered the IM customcaddy baskets. They look a little tougher than the intank baskets. You can so change the shelf heights a bit. I just got my IM 16 up and running this week. I'm very impressed with the intank basket on my freshwater fluval spec, I'd have to see the customcaddy in person to be swayed Nice looking scape! How are you liking the flow in your tank? I'm planning on upgrading from the single stock pump to 2 eheims. Along those lines - What type of tubing are you using to connect the sicce's? Looks almost like loc line. Well, the flow is nicer when I turn the pumps up, but that makes water spill up and over the stock media baskets, once I upgrade, as long as that doesnt happen the flow will be awesome. I'm not sure what that tubing is called, I got it from a pond supply store up the street. Looks good, really like the scape too. Following. Any idea what you want to stock it with? I'd like to be able to eventually squeeze a little bit of everything in there, but I guess we'll see how my tank evolves. I will say I'm really digging ricordea at the moment. If I can't find my old digital camera I'll probably buy a new one, the iphone is horrible at taking pictures of anything in the tank. Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Looking good man! Preordered the new EcoTech XR15w for my tank with a reef link, gotta give it a try. Love my Nanobox, but love my Exotech stuff more! Live the tank, cannot wait to see it come together with some stuffs inside! Link to comment
Sedivec Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Looking good man! Preordered the new EcoTech XR15w for my tank with a reef link, gotta give it a try. Love my Nanobox, but love my Exotech stuff more! Live the tank, cannot wait to see it come together with some stuffs inside! Putting extra features aside and just looking at light output, is it better than my Duo? Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Putting extra features aside and just looking at light output, is it better than my Duo? Better than your Duo? Not really. I can control each color individually, and I ordered the Reeflink too, now I can control my MP10 and Light from anywhere with my phone. IMHO, Radions are the best pre-made lights on the market. Dave Farson's lights are definitely in a league of their own though. When I set up my large tank, I will definately be having Dave do a Hybrid LED/T5 fixture for me, no question. For me, a Radion makes the most sense. For example, I own Apple TV, a Mac, an Iphone, and a Ipad. Do I love Apple, no. I do like thier products and it makes sense to use all Apple stuff so my networking and interfacing are stupid simple. In this case I really love Ecotech. Is the light better than Dave's? No. I will say the user interface is 100x better IMHO, however, Dave didn't design the Storm controller, so that has nothing to do with him. In the link below Dave does a comparison to the Radion and his lights. Albeit, a good comparison. However, 1.Bluefish controller, nor the Lime LEDs were available when I got my light. 2.Most people don't care about customizing colors, they just buy a pre-made light 3.My Light takes up 3, 3 plugs, that's nuts. 4. I like the look of the Radion more 5.It's hard to beat the Radion Interface for programming. 6. The Duo with similar features costs basically the same as a Radion. All of this stuff really boils down to my own preference, so it isn't the better light for everyone, but it is for me. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/348275-ecotech-xr15w-pro/ Link to comment
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