dhartmann Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Time to start my own thread...I've learned a ton reading through the forums and am looking forward to sharing my experience with all of you, and taking advantage of your experience and knowledge. Here we go... Placed an order with Chris on March 31 for a PicO II, all starphire tank and top, AI Nano LED with controller, MP-10, pico led fuge light, jäger 50 watt heater, d-d seawater refractometer, Hanna phosphate test, salifert calcium and mag, sea chem for the basics. Bought one nano sized bonsai vida rock and plan to fill in with cured live rock from LFS. Agag alive sand for the bottom. Planning on running phosguard and purigen for chemical filtration and chaeto (sp?) in the 2nd chamber fuge. I'd like to focus mainly on LPS, polys, zoas...maybe an sps or two down the road. One or two fish and an all snail cuc. Stand is up and ready lol...good beer holder for now! Hoping to pick the tank up in a week. Will keep you posted and would welcome any comments regarding my set up plans! Dph Link to comment
GTboosted Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Sounds nice just by lookimg at the equipment list! Post pics as you move along the build. Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 First pix...something is missing Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 PicO Train WOO WOO!!! Following along anxiously... Those VidaRocks are super attractive IMO. Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 Thanks, here is the vida rock next to a coke can for size comparison. I'll try to get a clearer pix later on. Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Dang that vida rock looks cool. Anyone know where to get those online? Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 Try this site, they seem to sell Vida Rock. http://aqua-tecture.com/ Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Jesus those are expensive! I like the idea but for that price I can buy a bunch of dry rock and just chisel it until I get good enough lol. How much did you get your piece for? Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 $25...my local fish store sells it so no shipping cost. I'm just doing the one piece. Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Thats like what I woulda thought, those peices on there were like 150-200 dollars. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 Sweet! Looking forward to it. Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 18, 2013 Author Share Posted April 18, 2013 Just got the news...tank is in the final stages of production...picking it up on Saturday...road trip to Peoria !! Link to comment
TristanC Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Just got the news...tank is in the final stages of production...picking it up on Saturday...road trip to Peoria !! Thats cool that you don't have to worry about shipping it, wonder if he will let you see the picO laboratory??? Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Sick, say 'hello' to Chris from us - we know hes busy slaving away making tanks. I ended up buying a VidaRock centerpiece from aqua-tecture and a VidaRock fragrack from the LFS. Keep us updated on the leak test, scape, etc Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 18, 2013 Author Share Posted April 18, 2013 Will do...I'm picking it up at the glass shop he works at. I'll take a lot of pix as I get it set up! Sick, say 'hello' to Chris from us - we know hes busy slaving away making tanks. I ended up buying a VidaRock centerpiece from aqua-tecture and a VidaRock fragrack from the LFS. Keep us updated on the leak test, scape, etcWhat centerpiece did you go with? Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Update Time...after a 12 hour day of driving to Peoria and back I HAVE MY PicO II !!! Met Chris and he is a super nice guy...told him I've been following my Nano Reef Pico buddy tank threads and he tries to make a point of sitting down and reading all the threads each week. On to the tank... Did a leak test = passed Mixed saltwater with RODI = passed Added 8 lbs live rock and my 2.5 lb vida rock piece Added 10 lbs substrate Hooked and turned everything on = passed!!! PS...aqua scape is not even close to being finished...just wanted to get the rocks wet. Let the cycle begin! Here are a few pix, thanks for following along ! Update Time...after a 12 hour day of driving to Peoria and back I HAVE MY PicO II !!! Met Chris and he is a super nice guy...told him I've been following my Nano Reef Pico buddy tank threads and he tries to make a point of sitting down and reading all the threads each week. On to the tank... Did a leak test = passed Mixed saltwater with RODI = passed Added 8 lbs live rock and my 2.5 lb vida rock piece Added 10 lbs substrate Hooked and turned everything on = passed!!! PS...aqua scape is not even close to being finished...just wanted to get the rocks wet. Let the cycle begin! Here are a few pix, thanks for following along ! Sorry...pix are sideways, too tired to fix tonight lol Link to comment
TristanC Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Nice! That rock is going to look pretty amazing once this tank is stocked. It's pretty cool that he checks out our threads. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Your back chamber compartment looks different than mine. Link to comment
timothybui Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Your back chamber compartment looks different than mine. Looks like he removed the media basket and the tray that adjusts the water level. Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 Nope, the media basket is in and the water level "shelf" is in place as well. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 What centerpiece did you go with? I went with this larger and taller piece that I thought had a lot of interesting shapes: Side Picture One ; Side Picture Two Here it is in the tank (soon to be retired for a custom PicO); It *should* fit in the custom tank, too: Your VidaRock looks great in the cube! Any more aquascaping done with the liverock? Picture with cleared up water for us? Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 Just changed replaced my crushed coral substrate with arag alive special reef sand so I pretty much hit the reset button. I'm hoping it will help get the cycle started (added some fish food today to kick start it). The tank is crystal clear and looks great. I'll post an updated photo tomorrow. Thanks for following! Btw...the LFS tried to sell me a blue damsel today to cycle. Told me I could bring it back when I was done. Couldn't do that to a fish!!! I'm taking this nice and slow and doing it the natural way. Link to comment
dhartmann Posted May 1, 2013 Author Share Posted May 1, 2013 Just noticed my first sign of diatoms and a minor bit of green algae...I guess I'm cycled? Never saw any measurable ammonia, nitrites or nitrates over the past two weeks. Tested phosphates today with my Hanna checker and measured .07 ppm. I think I'll do a water change and run some phosban to get it down to zero. Time for cuc? Link to comment
BadCrab Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Yup - I would go ahead and toss in a grazer (and a meat eater if you plan on target feeding) along with your first coral frag! If you're not sure, you can test the biological filter in your tank by introducing ammonia (either pure or in the form of an organic to breakdown: fishfood, dead shrimp, etc) and testing until it's turned to nitrates. Link to comment
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