Ratvan's Old School Pico - Rockwall Pico v2

[A.m.P]

Ah, they have an "Aquarium ready" inkbird which is already coated, you'll either have to swap or seal that sucker.

[Ratvan]

5 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Ah, they have an "Aquarium ready" inkbird which is already coated, you'll either have to swap or seal that sucker.

I honestly thought that i had the one with the black plastic coated probe, clearly not 🤷‍♂️

oh well that's a minute job max

[Wingy]

Don't  forget to recalibrate it after you coat the probe. 

[Ratvan]

Got the Rockwall in place, I can now build out ledges and fit final details knowing how much space I will have to get my hand in to place frags etc. 

 

 

Excuse the condensation, was cold out

[ECLS Reefer]

8 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Got the Rockwall in place, I can now build out ledges and fit final details knowing how much space I will have to get my hand in to place frags etc. 

 

 

Excuse the condensation, was cold out

I love that you do this— it’s so creative! 

[Ratvan]

15 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I love that you do this— it’s so creative! 

Thanks. I find doing these things really relaxing. Also I might have found a suitable stand which would mean I could place in the Kitchen. Would just need a small section of wood to attach the Kessil and pick up/bodge a 90 degree hang mount for the Kessil. Also thid would mean minimal DIY work which is good for the moment. 

 

Terrible rendition of where I want shelves, might drop the bottom one or two and do a small arch/cave. 

 

[Ratvan]

 

Not seen many places in the UK do a lucky dip offer before it does look interesting. Would have been great for the Pico contest. 

 

[Ratvan]

So I figured that I would post what I mean with something better than my doodles. I have a number of 2, 3 and 4 way holders

 

These will act the the shelves in the tank, I can also use this for moving corals about to find happy height, flow, light etc

 

The 4 way holder should protrode slightly more into the corner and right hand space. That side of the tank I plan on blocking out so it is unviewable anyway. 

 

Also currently wondering what the flow is like without the duckbill

[Ratvan]

Dumped a couple of gallons of distilled in for a flow test of sorts. Still need a more powerful pump. Started cleaning off the rockwork for me which is nice

 

 

[Ratvan]

So starting to consider the livestock for this Pico now. I really like the idea of a Genus only tank still but want to explore some of the options before I make the final decision

 

1. Montipora

2. Acropora

3. Chalices

4. Mini Caribbean Biotope (RFA, Palys, Zoas, Gorg, Brain)

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

So starting to consider the livestock for this Pico now. I really like the idea of a Genus only tank still but want to explore some of the options before I make the final decision

 

1. Montipora

2. Acropora

3. Chalices

4. Mini Caribbean Biotope (RFA, Palys, Zoas, Gorg, Brain)

I like the idea of a monti-only tank, although the mini Carribean biotope sounds nice too. Are RFAs easy to come by over there? I've always wanted to have a Carribean section in my tank, but RFAs are extremely expensive here and quite hard to acquire. So I held on to an Indo-Pac-themed tank instead. 

[Ratvan]

3 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I like the idea of a monti-only tank, although the mini Carribean biotope sounds nice too. Are RFAs easy to come by over there? I've always wanted to have a Carribean section in my tank, but RFAs are extremely expensive here and quite hard to acquire. So I held on to an Indo-Pac-themed tank instead. 

 

The below ranges are not including "named" pieces, but the cheapest options in order would be (LFS and online shops - cant really count on Reefers)

 

1. Montipora - £5-£10 per frag 

2. Chalices - £10-£25 per frag

3. Acropora - £10 - £30 per frag

4. RFA's - £40-£80 per Anemone

 

[Ratvan]

Will two Chalices sting each other?

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

Will two Chalices sting each other?

If they're within close proximity of each other, yes. 

 

If your budget is tight, I'd go with a monti-biotope (but that's just me, because I love montis).

 

But if you can spare extra $$, I'll do the Carribean one. RFAs look gorgeous when you have a pile of them (like a garden).

[Ratvan]

48 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

But if you can spare extra $$, I'll do the Carribean one. RFAs look gorgeous when you have a pile of them (like a garden).

Yeah, going to be tough with the RSM 130D as well, want to start adding corals to that now that It has survived the Christmas Break. The plan for the RSM is larger pieces and colonies still with a LPS focus. The Zoa's I do plan on eventually fragging and getting rid of

Money is tight this month but should get easier as the year goes on, January just a long f#cking month Jauary

 

I think I will go with the Chalices, the selection that I can get for £10 is actually quite good, I just know not to expect a big frag and they'll grow VERY slowly

Plus a lot of these have colours that I dont currently have in my reef 

 

[A.m.P]

Chalices are also really slow growing, montis would be pretty fun and there are tons of them out there, the only issue is that one decent colony will eventually want to take up your entire tank (especially caps). One of the ultra-cool classics came from Sanjay (I think he popularized it but got it from a professor whom the Coral's named after?) ages ago, although now there are a few different sources, Leng Sy monti -if you can find it- is an animal which would look incredible as the only coral in a tank.

 

I love chalices by the way, and those are some awesome pieces you've found, this will be a really cool build.

[Ratvan]

14 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Chalices are also really slow growing, montis would be pretty fun and there are tons of them out there, the only issue is that one decent colony will eventually want to take up your entire tank (especially caps). One of the ultra-cool classics came from Sanjay (I think he popularized it but got it from a professor whom the Coral's named after?) ages ago, although now there are a few different sources, Leng Sy monti -if you can find it- is an animal which would look incredible as the only coral in a tank.

 

I love chalices by the way, and those are some awesome pieces you've found, this will be a really cool build.

 

Well which ever direction that I decided to go with this if I get bored and want to do something else in the tank the entire Rockwall structure can be removed (with a bit of effort and a long blade) and will fit without any modification to the 5.5G Cube or the RSM 130D, a removable coral garden if you will. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

2 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

 

Well which ever direction that I decided to go with this if I get bored and want to do something else in the tank the entire Rockwall structure can be removed (with a bit of effort and a long blade) and will fit without any modification to the 5.5G Cube or the RSM 130D, a removable coral garden if you will. 

I'm digging the monti palace? maybe?

[Ratvan]

5 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

I'm digging the monti palace? maybe?

For me i think that would work better in either the 5.5G Cube or the 2.5G Pico Contest Tank, even the drinks dispenser that I have at home would be a better choice in my opinion, not this build. Maybe the next one? 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

3 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

For me i think that would work better in either the 5.5G Cube or the 2.5G Pico Contest Tank, even the drinks dispenser that I have at home would be a better choice in my opinion, not this build. Maybe the next one? 

Chalices would be my second

[Ratvan]

Sat here waiting for the game to start. So perfect time to post up some shots from this build. I set apart a few interesting looking rocks both in shape and structure to act as shelves. The largest will be placed near the base for more mounting space and the other two will be higher to create some further shadey spots.

 

Ignore the concrete riser that's for the height fixing. Need to putty and fill then move on up the wall until no eggcrate or black pvc can be spotted. 

 

Other shelves

 

[jbb]

For flow the Cobalt 606 works great if you can get them . They also have a 404 that a little less powerful. They come with flow adjustments on the front cover but you have to remove the from for them to fit. 

 

Here was the flow in my spec iii , kind of miss that tank . 

 

 

[Ratvan]

30 minutes ago, jbb_00 said:

For flow the Cobalt 606 works great if you can get them . They also have a 404 that a little less powerful. They come with flow adjustments on the front cover but you have to remove the from for them to fit. 

 

Here was the flow in my spec iii , kind of miss that tank . 

 

 

Have looked into those before, sadly postage almost triples the price. Looking at a 160gph Chinese fountain pump at the moment. 

 

I do like the e surface skimmer though g

[Ratvan]

Decided on light location for the time being, will have to trim the media rack down slightly but no bug deal. Also might try and find on of the hanging fixtures for the Kessil. 

 

Also, Wtf salt do I have here? 

[billygoat]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

 

Also, Wtf salt do I have here? 

Seen a lot of salts, but I've never seen that one before. 😂 H2Ocean? Is it maybe a European brand?