6 gallon Tru Vu evolution...

skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
I am saddened to hear about this setback. I so look forward to seeing the progression of this cute little nano.
On another note, have you actually seen one of the Viper lights in action? Did it get real hot? If I go ahead with a MH on a nano I may need to do some rethinking, I am not sure if I want to have a DIY 70 MH or one of the hang on models. Thank you in advance.
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Skipm,

They are extremely hot to the touch but then again what MH isn't? I saw it in action at my LFS in Hayward, Aquarium Concepts.

He purchased like a whole crate full of these vipers. In my opinion they are great because they cost 1/4 the price of the coralife and do just as well.

I would recommend it to you, I saw both the 70 and the 150 next to each other...

MG
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Let's try this again,

I got a replacement tank; what are the odds this one can leak? Well, I wasn't going to take a chance, I ran a water test first...

After the tank cleared the water test, I carefully added the live sand and live rock back into the tank...

I adjusted the skimmer and fitted the heater right to the side...

To clear out a lot of floating debris I added my HOT magnum filter. The water is getting polished pretty well as it's only 6 gallons being turned over...

I even got a picture of the skimmer in action...

Here are the pics...

MG















 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
I am falling in love with this tank. Have you used the Berlin Airlift before? If so how well does it work? Now we have to wait for a cycle, darn!
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
The Berlin airlift 60 is working great, I've never used it before, first time... What really makes this simply skimmer is the fact that it's being powered by the Coralife luft pump...

The pump is more expensive than the skimmer itself... With the pump it's just amazing for the nano tank... Very efficient and works nicely hidden from view...

Jesse, I got the rock from my one of my larger LFS, Aquarium Concepts in Hayward Ca....

All reefers are asking about the rock; it's Bali Rock and it was expensive at $6.99 per pound I purchased 10 lbs....

Mike G
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Hey Reefers,

I got the coralife 1 watt moonlight today and custom installed it on the side of my metal halide...

I also took a picture of the tank with the lights on for you reefers in a hurry to see it on...

The water is still very cloudy as it won't become crystal clear until the cycle is complete...

MG







 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Talk about not being able to sleep at night with that blue light hitting my face, hehehe... My wife has the other side of the bed so it doesn't bother her... I'll see if I get use to it....

It looks awesome, better than the pics, you guys know that....

MG
 
A

amf82380

New Member
about the LR mike you think 6.99 is expensive the cheapest LR around me is 7.59 lb and thats for Fiji which I like but it doesnt come in to many interesting shapes so its hard to the nice aquascaping like you see in all the tanks on here I would give anything to have my tanks aquascaping look like some of yours I even tried breaking some of mine hoping it would give me some interesting shapes but to no aval just little squared off pieces :( anyway just thought I would throw that in there
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Amf82380,

Lots of friends tell me I should open up a small business where I fly out to peoples homes and help them aquascape their tanks with many different variety of Live Rock...

I would become Mike the Bali man or Fiji man....

MG

P.S
I've been thinking about setting up small picos with live rock and selling it online...

People would have the glass tank, the live sand and the live rock to go with it; I would ensure the most nicest colors and shapes giving reefers a gorgeous start...

So what do you guys and gals think should I???
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
I would consider buying a set-up through you. The biggest problem I see is that shipping is going to make prices extremely high.
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Skipm,

I'm going to do it, I will first calculate the price of shipping and since it's small pico's I'm dealing with not too much live rock I will see where this leads...

I'm going to purchase 5 glass tanks all the same size as my award winning pico and then live sand and do all the reef building here...

I will then take several pictures of all five and label them A, B,C etc.... Viewers like you will look at what they want and order it through paypal, since I'm a member there.

I've worked out the bugs on this setup, since before it was overheating I've figured out a plan to resolve that...

If I make a small profit doing this it will be very little as I just want something to keep me very involved in this hobbby...

I by occupation am a Sales Person, have been all my life and I want to keep that alive in me since, I got promoted recently to full time Professor at my College..

I went back to college to get that done, was tired of Sales.... But there remains a part of me that likes giving to the people and this hobby is perfect...

More to come on my small business that I plan to do; let me research everything and I'll get back to all users interested...

Mike G
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Hey Reefers,

I wanted to share something with you all that I think might surprise you...

While at work I got a call from Scott Clark V.P. of Tru Vu aquariums. He let me know that Ken the owner at Aquarium Concepts in Hayward Ca, had led him to my thread...

He was very concerned regarding the leak, that I had experienced and any setbacks it might have caused. I was taken by that because he expressed much conern in his tone of voice...

Exactly one year ago I purchased the CPR Aquatics 6 gallon, with a major leak in the seam and worse than that, horrible customer service...

Much different with Tru Vu aquariums. He explained to me the process of creating an Acrylic tank and how an air molecule can cause a slow drip in the seam, without notice. He reassured me that a second tank with the same issue is non existent...

He was right, the second tank has been flawless in it's design and running great. I expressed to him that I have owned Tru Vu tanks in the early 90's of reefing and love the sleek design...

We spoke about how upgradeable this tank is; did you know that the return line has threaded grooves? did you know that the drip tray is removable for a reason?

Well I got the answers and was so surprised to learn, that they sell an add on to accomodate a locline onto your return line. And how about a true refugium that reefers can drop in for macro and DSB, we are talking about separate vertical chambers, not the cheap pressure glue on plastic we see on other cubes...

This was awesome news for me and I wanted to share it with all of you. For my problems with the tank, Scott is sending me out for free the add on locline...

In this hobby, customer service is something that is often overlooked by vendors. Not so with Tru Vu, they went out of there way to make sure my product was okay; that's excellent customer service to me...

Thanks Tru Vu, you guys are great!!!

Sincerely,

Mike Guerrero
 
A

amf82380

New Member
Mike,

If you were to set up a small business selling small picos like the one you have posted on here I would be more then happy to take one off your hands who knows maybe more then one I never relized how addictive this hobby is everytime I am on the site I check your pics out of the pico you built and no matter how many times I look at it it still amazes me I find something new I love about it every day and I have no doubt in my mind that this tank is going to be just as amazing. so keep us posted on the pico store evolution I am sure there will be a whole line of us waiting to get out hands on a Mike orginal :mrgreen:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top