01101001 01010011 01100101 01100001 Old School Pico

[SophiaPlaysGod]

My companion Alexa says I spend too much time thinking and I need a hobby.  She’s been hearing a lot of people talk about pico reefs and suggested I take part.  She also says I can get everything needed online...which totally works for me.

Thanks for following along with me as I learn.

 

current FTS

Apr 28,2019

 

Early days

 

* 2.5 ga. Finnex Tank

* AZOO Mignon 150

* AZOO 180 Powerhead ( timered for sporadic flow)

* Lomhie Asta 20 marine light

* Inkbird ( no heater, but will control cooling fans)

* Micro ATO ( arrives later this week)

 

Starting snack shot

[Tigahboy]

Interesting!  Subscribed.  Welcome to the contest!

[748S911]

8 minutes ago, SophiaPlaysGod said:

My companion Alexa says I spend too much time thinking and I need a hobby.  She’s been hearing a lot of people talk about pico reefs and suggested I take part.  She also says I can get everything needed online...which totally works for me.

Thanks for following along with me as I learn.

 

lentil=love & siracha=love!! wao!

[Christopher Marks]

01010111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 @SophiaPlaysGod! 👋

 

Glad you could join in the fun! Do you have any other aquariums up and running?

[SeaFurn]

Janky tank! Welcome aboard! 

[debbeach13]

Your going to fit right in I think. Welcome

[This guy is extra salty]

Welcome to the contest!

It is starting to heating up!

[SophiaPlaysGod]

I think I finally narrowed down the spot for my little adventure...and none too soon as the equipment has started arriving!

 

 

 

[MetaTank]

12 minutes ago, SophiaPlaysGod said:

I think I finally narrowed down the spot for my little adventure...and none too soon as the equipment has started arriving!

 

 

 

I'm using both the Asta20 and the Inkbird, I'm really liking them so far! And I think that is a good place for the Pico!

[748S911]

Great location.

[banasophia]

Cool... and nice books... looking forward to following along 

[JBM]

01000011 01110101 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01110011 01110011 01100001 01100111 01100101

[yoshii]

Wow what a great spot for a pico! Looks good so far, following along

[SophiaPlaysGod]

So I put a false backwall and floor in for cable management.

Mounted the light and somewhat dialed it in.

Cut my lid from an old picture frame glass.

Set my AZOO powerhead to run on a 2on-4off-6on-6off-4on-2off schedule.

   I really want Laminar flow but the fixtures are just too big for this size tank.

Set up the Inkbird to monitor my temps the next few days. Pretty sure I won’t need 

   a heater, mostly will be used for cooling... but it’s there just in case.

 

 

As I was in the process of cable management and deciding wether I should put a back on it (don’t really want to) I had an epiphany.

This tank is the same dimensions as my old MacBook Air screen.

 

 

…and with these tanks being so tiny and maneuverable, I just slide the false floor forward and wedged the MAC behind it.  Found the looping Finding Nemo screensaver on YouTube and Voila!  The perfect background.

 

 

salt creep and moisture will not be good for the computer so it won’t be a permanent fixture unless I can figure something else out… but cool none the less.

 

tomorrows plan is to read the manual and figure out how to use this new camera properly...cause these focus stacks are bad...pfft.

 

 

[yoshii]

Haha the digital background is awesome!

[Tigahboy]

Awesome background!  And my son and I just finished Finding Nemo tonight. 

[seabass]

I'd be neat if you could find a way to make the background permanent (at least when the lights are on).  Granted, pics can't show off the movement, but it's a nice effect for video.

[SophiaPlaysGod]

6 hours ago, seabass said:

I'd be neat if you could find a way to make the background permanent (at least when the lights are on).  Granted, pics can't show off the movement, but it's a nice effect for video.

No doubt, I’ll definitely be working on a long term solution during this contest.

But besides the salt creep there’s also the added heat from a laptop beneath the tank , and during these upcoming summer months that probably won’t fly.

In the meantime it only takes just a minute to pop it in place...so I’ll definitely be updating here with videos regularly.

 

And as I was entering sleep mode and starting to dream of electric sheep I had a thought.  This “Old School” contest has resurrected the Nimble Nano...why not do the same with Coral Morphalogic.

 

Some of you “Old Schoolers” might remember the fine work the lads over at CM did/do.  I’ll defintely be using some of their footage looped as backgrounds.

[Jeff Hood]

Man, I really love the background idea.  Very cool. 

[SophiaPlaysGod]

So this happened today

 

IPSF package finally arrived.

Mixed together their Wonder Mud, Live Sand Activator (both of which had a ton of living goodies squirming about) and some bag sand for the base.

Added a few micro hermits, Strombus, Nerite, Littornid snails, Bristle Worms and pods...plus some macro pieces for temporary food supply.

 

 

Way back when the first rumblings of this contest started I purchased a box of rock rubble from John@Reefcleaners and started cycling them in an 8.5 gallon I’m hoping to setup as a Mantis tank soon.

...so they’ve been cycling for over a month now.

 

 

Now it’s time to figure out a scape.

More updates later

 

 

 

 

 

[seabass]

I love IPSF goodies.  Wish my budget would allow me an order.

[TatorTaco]

I'm just wondering about the video playing behind the tank...could you upload a video to one of those digital picture frames and then secure it to the back of the tank?  Maybe get a frame a bit bigger than the tank and then just use black tape to mask off the border?  Make sense? 

[748S911]

On 4/13/2019 at 11:25 PM, SophiaPlaysGod said:

So I put a false backwall and floor in for cable management.

Mounted the light and somewhat dialed it in.

Cut my lid from an old picture frame glass.

Set my AZOO powerhead to run on a 2on-4off-6on-6off-4on-2off schedule.

   I really want Laminar flow but the fixtures are just too big for this size tank.

Set up the Inkbird to monitor my temps the next few days. Pretty sure I won’t need 

   a heater, mostly will be used for cooling... but it’s there just in case.

 

 

As I was in the process of cable management and deciding wether I should put a back on it (don’t really want to) I had an epiphany.

This tank is the same dimensions as my old MacBook Air screen.

 

 

…and with these tanks being so tiny and maneuverable, I just slide the false floor forward and wedged the MAC behind it.  Found the looping Finding Nemo screensaver on YouTube and Voila!  The perfect background.

 

 

salt creep and moisture will not be good for the computer so it won’t be a permanent fixture unless I can figure something else out… but cool none the less.

 

tomorrows plan is to read the manual and figure out how to use this new camera properly...cause these focus stacks are bad...pfft.

 

 

lol, wow! love your background soo cool.

On 4/19/2019 at 11:09 PM, SophiaPlaysGod said:

So this happened today

 

IPSF package finally arrived.

Mixed together their Wonder Mud, Live Sand Activator (both of which had a ton of living goodies squirming about) and some bag sand for the base.

Added a few micro hermits, Strombus, Nerite, Littornid snails, Bristle Worms and pods...plus some macro pieces for temporary food supply.

 

 

Way back when the first rumblings of this contest started I purchased a box of rock rubble from John@Reefcleaners and started cycling them in an 8.5 gallon I’m hoping to setup as a Mantis tank soon.

...so they’ve been cycling for over a month now.

 

 

Now it’s time to figure out a scape.

More updates later

 

 

 

I've always wanted a Mantis shrimp. Just worried about them breaking the glass.

 

 

[SophiaPlaysGod]

I just got back into town and figure I need to get some coral into this thing pronto.

 

The LFS (which is 10 min away) has a coral selection which encompasses all the standard basics. Everything coral wise in their store is healthy and for the most part pest free.  Sadly though it’s also 3 times the price of any other of the dozen amazing stores 45 min-hour from here. Plus their fish holding tanks are like the prison riot scene from “Natural Born Killers”....I’ve also heard them give new reefers less than optimal advice over the years, and so I don’t often visit this store unless it’s out of a dire necessity.

 

I then decide that today is one of those dire days, as I cant really spare the few hours it would take to go elsewhere. So I venture off towards them in the knowledge that I’ll prolly be spending a bunch of money.

 

Store opens at 11a

I arrive in the parking lot at 10:55 and their front doors are propped wide open.

I walk in and immediately start looking at one of their display tanks. It’s a small store and the owner (who is at the register and can see every inch of the store from this vantage point) says “what can I get for you”?

I respond “I don’t know yet, I’m just kind of looking right this second”

He then proceeds to point at some rusty clock on the wall and says in a dickish voice “the store isn’t open yet” the rusty clock says 10:58 by the way, and my phone actually says it’s 11:04.

I say “hmm, I’m literally just looking but ok” and walk out.

He yells “come back in 10 minutes”

I get in my car and drive away secure in the knowledge that I’ll never go back there.

....and all I can think is “ you know what Mr Fishstore”

 

https://tenor.com/Yb6Y.gif

 

 

 

 

[This guy is extra salty]

Waiting for pictures