Ratvan's Old School Pico - Rockwall Pico v2

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

7 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Well then, typical British weather interrupted the scheduled build. Pushed all air out of foam, sadly forgot the bucket and is now full of rain, sand and small bits. Will find something else to finish the build with

Need to chisel a bit of rock off of each side to allow for a nice snug fit. Currently will not fit flush. Will need to fit this to the AIO insert with aquarium sealant this time around

I remembered to leave a gap for where the return nozzle enters the display. 

Still can neaten this up and add more space for corals and or macro algae. 

Still a large enough area for a sandbed/barebottom with frag discs/couple of islands or even an arch

 

Need to dig out some more tie wraps to finish the media rack as well

Wow that looks awesome bud 👌👌👍👍

[A.m.P]

1 hour ago, Matteo said:

How's the British amazon market for heaters? 

 

There's gotta be one for like €30 that has good reviews. 

 

I have a boxtech with external temp control. However it was sticking and heating the tank to 82f so I coupled it with a finex max 300 thermostat. 

 

Worth the investment. 

 

This one looks good? https://www.amazon.co.uk/NICREW-Submersible-Aquarium-External-Controller/dp/B07Q45854Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=Aquarium+heater&qid=1578858288&sr=8-3

I cut out the middle-man and use the finnex titatniums, although there's whispers about a few batches being prone to blowing their tops off...

[Ratvan]

1 hour ago, Matteo said:

How's the British amazon market for heaters? 

 

There's gotta be one for like €30 that has good reviews. 

 

I have a boxtech with external temp control. However it was sticking and heating the tank to 82f so I coupled it with a finex max 300 thermostat. 

 

Worth the investment. 

 

This one looks good? https://www.amazon.co.uk/NICREW-Submersible-Aquarium-External-Controller/dp/B07Q45854Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=Aquarium+heater&qid=1578858288&sr=8-3

Very similar to the one ordered

[Ratvan]

So been shopping around, so far the cheapest that I have found these 

[MainelyReefer]

22 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Well then, typical British weather interrupted the scheduled build. Pushed all air out of foam, sadly forgot the bucket and is now full of rain, sand and small bits. Will find something else to finish the build with

Need to chisel a bit of rock off of each side to allow for a nice snug fit. Currently will not fit flush. Will need to fit this to the AIO insert with aquarium sealant this time around

I remembered to leave a gap for where the return nozzle enters the display. 

Still can neaten this up and add more space for corals and or macro algae. 

Still a large enough area for a sandbed/barebottom with frag discs/couple of islands or even an arch

 

Need to dig out some more tie wraps to finish the media rack as well

I like this a lot, any reason why you didn’t just use aquarium silicone to attach directly to the false wall?  In regards to your heater trouble none of the brands you listed seemed name brand, try cobalt aquatics their stuff is a bit more bomb proof than glass ones, I also like that they throw china under the bus and claim Poland makes better heaters.  Puts a smile on my face every time.

[Ratvan]

17 minutes ago, GraniteReefer said:

I like this a lot, any reason why you didn’t just use aquarium silicone to attach directly to the false wall?  In regards to your heater trouble none of the brands you listed seemed name brand, try cobalt aquatics their stuff is a bit more bomb proof than glass ones, I also like that they throw china under the bus and claim Poland makes better heaters.  Puts a smile on my face every time.

Yes, the Pond Foam is cheaper, and generally less messy (attaching the rocks) and allows me to move the rock work before it sets if i am not happy with the final position. 

Just personal preference really 

[billygoat]

4 hours ago, Ratvan said:

So been shopping around, so far the cheapest that I have found these 

Wow! Those are really beautiful RFAs, but also very expensive. Here in the states we are lucky to have access to them right from the source (Florida), so they are often quite cheap. Mine cost $5 each from Reef Cleaners. 🤷‍♂️

[Ratvan]

6 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Wow! Those are really beautiful RFAs, but also very expensive. Here in the states we are lucky to have access to them right from the source (Florida), so they are often quite cheap. Mine cost $5 each from Reef Cleaners. 🤷‍♂️

I need an "i hate you" emoji lol

 

Found a few guys that want to place an order from Central Europe. We're all feeling much the same with LFS stock (same stuff all the time) so going to do a bulk order and split it down 

[Ratvan]

@billygoatwhat are your thoughts of a small gorgonian in here? My concern would be the flow (like it is for a few planned additions) have a couple of ideas about how I want to fix that.

 

 

Thinking about setting up that island slightly further forwards and making it bigger and having a gorgonian there. 

 

The back wall will focus on RFAs, Zoas and Palys. Maybe a mushroom or two since I have some rather nice looking discosoma shrooms about the place

[A.m.P]

You could just keep the flow up-high as much as possible for the gorg.

[Ratvan]

18 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

You could just keep the flow up-high as much as possible for the gorg.

How would RFAs cope with that? 

 

[A.m.P]

I meant actually try to keep most of the circulation in the top half or so of the tank and let things stay kind of stagnant down below for the shrooms. It's an odd-mix of similar-looking corals; the disco's won't mind higher-flow and light, the RFA's will go where they want and who knows what they'll want (generally medium-highish-flow medium-highish light?) lol, the zoas and palys should be fine with flow. All that said ricordea and other mushrooms won't care for higher flow-rates, it's hard to say how much flow you'll need for any of the animals, but you could always point the flow directly-at or beside the gorg and have it deflect back off the front glass and bounce around the tank if it needs more movement. 

[Ratvan]

1 hour ago, Amphrites said:

I meant actually try to keep most of the circulation in the top half or so of the tank and let things stay kind of stagnant down below for the shrooms. It's an odd-mix of similar-looking corals; the disco's won't mind higher-flow and light, the RFA's will go where they want and who knows what they'll want (generally medium-highish-flow medium-highish light?) lol, the zoas and palys should be fine with flow. All that said ricordea and other mushrooms won't care for higher flow-rates, it's hard to say how much flow you'll need for any of the animals, but you could always point the flow directly-at or beside the gorg and have it deflect back off the front glass and bounce around the tank if it needs more movement. 

Ah I see what you mean. I'm looking forwards to filling this one and seeing the flow

[Proxo]

If you're still hunting for a heater, get yourself a dennerle nano - they're pretty thin too.
I've had 2 running for MANY years, 1 has started to go weird but i think that' was my controller settings as it's been okay since i moved the tank again.

They're not very cheap though, that's a coral right there haha!

[SeaFurn]

6 hours ago, Ratvan said:

How would RFAs cope with that? 

 

The RFAs will be fine wherever. They take low flow - they take high flow.  They'll find their happy place. 

[Ratvan]

6 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

The RFAs will be fine wherever. They take low flow - they take high flow.  They'll find their happy place. 

Do you still have the ones from the 100 day contest? 

[Ratvan]

9 hours ago, Proxo said:

If you're still hunting for a heater, get yourself a dennerle nano - they're pretty thin too.
I've had 2 running for MANY years, 1 has started to go weird but i think that' was my controller settings as it's been okay since i moved the tank again.

They're not very cheap though, that's a coral right there haha!

Cheers Dude, actually settled for one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/NICREW-Aquarium-Submersible-Electronic-Thermostat/dp/B07ZSBQJSP/ref=sr_1_5?crid=5AMMI6HEX1GY&keywords=15w+heater+aquarium&qid=1579081261&sprefix=15w+heater%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-5, just fits in the back section on the bottom glass next to the pump, running it off an Inkbird 308S Controller so should have two digital temperature readings. 

[SeaFurn]

4 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Do you still have the ones from the 100 day contest? 

I do! They are doing well. One of them is still on the same rock it was on in that tank. If it ever moves from its spot I’m going to freak out. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

18 hours ago, Ratvan said:

@billygoatwhat are your thoughts of a small gorgonian in here? My concern would be the flow (like it is for a few planned additions) have a couple of ideas about how I want to fix that.

 

 

Thinking about setting up that island slightly further forwards and making it bigger and having a gorgonian there. 

 

The back wall will focus on RFAs, Zoas and Palys. Maybe a mushroom or two since I have some rather nice looking discosoma shrooms about the place

Gorgs would look good in there. You going to find photosynthetic gorgs or nps ones?

[kimberbee]

Don't worry about flow too much. I have my rfa and gorg tank and they get along very well. The rfas will move to where they are comfortable, plus they tend to stay lower in the tank while gorgs will be the the upper areas of the tank.

[Ratvan]

1 hour ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

Gorgs would look good in there. You going to find photosynthetic gorgs or nps ones?

Going for Photosynthetic I think, I did briefly consider an NPS Pico but the costs of the corals quickly put me off lol 

 

25 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

Don't worry about flow too much. I have my rfa and gorg tank and they get along very well. The rfas will move to where they are comfortable, plus they tend to stay lower in the tank while gorgs will be the the upper areas of the tank.

Thanks, that's great to know 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Going for Photosynthetic I think, I did briefly consider an NPS Pico but the costs of the corals quickly put me off lol 

 

Thanks, that's great to know 

the bottom one looks like the one I have. The stem part on mine I think might be slightly darker. I like those though.

[Proxo]

Oh i forgot to mention, i'm loving that rock work... please don't give me more ideas 😞 lol

[Ratvan]

24 minutes ago, Proxo said:

Oh i forgot to mention, i'm loving that rock work... please don't give me more ideas 😞 lol

Haha. I keep looking at the spare rock, eggcrate and the RSM 130D..... No the rock is for the eventual 15g

[Ratvan]

Damn, just noticed that my Inkbird ITC 308 has Stainless Steel temperature probe, will this be okay in the tank or should I heat wrap and silicone seal it?

 

Also have finally sourced some timber to make a stand/cabinet/hidey hole for the wires and external Equipment as well as a decent mount for the light as currently the Gooseneck overshoots the tank by a few inches.