office pico

[anndi]

I have a 24 gallon nano, and my hubby loves it and would like me to set up and maintain a 3-4 gallon pico at his office...whats a great pico that looks very professional?...in other words not too many gizmos hanging out in plain view. The nanocube 6 is a little bigger than he wants..otherwise that look is great.

 

Oh and closed is best for less evap so Im not runnin there everyday for top off

[tinyreef]

if you're going bells and whistles i'd go with the curved glass one that i think supernip showed (aw, it was one of the asian guys or his brothers). frameless, no seams, very hot!

 

if you're looking for ease and simplicity, then 3-gallon eclipse. i can't believe i recommended an eclipse. but it's all-in-one but with a suky light. you could possibly retro it but i wouldn't bother.

 

next option would be a 2.5g and one benefit is that you can look over the current 2.5g contest to get ideas. depending on the complexity of the reef you're planning on will determine how much modding you'll need.

 

i think that's the first question to answer, i.e. what do you plan on having in it?

 

a mini-predator tank (e.g. mantis shrimp) is also pretty cool imho. your hubby would have loads of laughs (sorry peta people) feeding the guy and frankly so would everyone else in the office imo.

 

i'm more of a softie coral reef-type though, tranquil and serene.

 

i'd suggest setting up and stabilizing at home first, where you can really watch it. then once settled in, just transport to the office one day (ain't picos great?). it gives you the chance to forsee any problems and address them at-hand, gives hubs a chance to learn requirements, and you get another tank. good luck!

[anndi]

Thanks for the input that is the best idea yet to start it at home I love it! I bet he would like the mantis shrimp idea, but it makes me sick! I want him to have the softie coral reef look. I guess its his call but I was thinking of keeping it simple for him, like shrooms, rics, zoos, xenia...the easy stuff. I don't want to have to mod it for him at all if possible. Thanks again, Ill look at the contest.

[ninjafish]

Check out the videos in my signature, they are 8" and 12" cubes that I built for my desk at work. The first video is a two gallon.

Cheers,

 

- Chad

[anndi]

So.....you sell these? They are awesome but look hard to make...acrylic or glass??

[melbourne]

Fish has one of the best office pico's I've seen. It looks custom and glass.

[ninjafish]

So.....you sell these? They are awesome but look hard to make...acrylic or glass??

 

 

No, I built the tanks for myself and could never sell them because no one in their right mind would pay what I did for such a small tank . They were both made with starfire glass and some of the equipment is kinda pricy because I wanted it to be able to run itself with me having to rush back to work every day to tend it. I only have to top off the water reservoir every two weeks and the longest I was away from the tank was for over a week and all I did when I got back was clean the glass - the LPS and SPS corals didn't even notice I was gone.

I just posted to suggest the use of a canister filter and desklamp in your design because you mentioned that you didn't want a bunch of equipment hanging off the tank. My tank has no visible equipment - even the halide is camoflaged as an ordinary office lamp. You could actually do something like this without spending very much. Just find a tank or an interesting acrylic container (even a bowl or vase) and drill the bottom for the canister filter.

 

Cheers,

 

- Chad

 

 

And thanks melbourne for your kind words!

[anndi]

That is an excellent idea. I think I will try and do that with the light and filter...thanks! And of course your tank is very beautiful! I have watched your videos several times and my daughters watched your video of Ike a few times....after crying for the "poor hermit crab" the first time they watched Funny how they kept going back for more even after they were horrified at the crab becoming lunch Thanks for the good entertainment!

[Haagenize]

yes chad has a very nice office tank

[skilter]

hey fish, sent you a pm!

[BustytheSnowMaam]

my 7-year old is crying!!! Poor hermie!

 

(it is a very nice tank however)

 

Tasha

[ninjafish]

my 7-year old is crying!!! Poor hermie!

 

(it is a very nice tank however)

 

Tasha

 

 

Ya, sorry for that guys, I know that hermit crabs have been given the 'thumbs up' in the hobby and it's hard to watch them get eaten (I view them as being morally no different than a spider, but that's just how a mantis keeper justifies things . I eventually stopped going with hermits (except for special occasions) and found a local supply of snails instead.

 

- Chad