Master Er's 2.5 Pico

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Master Er

New Member
I finally finished the mods for my Pico and has been cycling in stock condition for 3 weeks now...except for today. After preparing all the mods I could do to it, I finally attached everything and I'm happy its working properly.....here are a few picture, a bit blurry since I used my cellphones camera....not a good choice for pictures, too lazy to pull out my digital camera. (see the reflection)

Full view with nothing but live rock to look at under 20watts of lighting...


The 20watt bulb I squeezed inside the canopy with matching twin moonlights, almost fully covered with tin foil for an extra shine....


Moonshine ......


One of the mods you've probably seen already....


And heres the rear view of it.....


Internal view of the fuge with the fuge light on with a pound of live rock, no macro algae yet...


And the surface skimmer i fabricated for the AC20's intake tube which was al ittle tricky to do this time compared to the first one I made....


Overall it was a fun experience, the temps are much better with the AC 20 than the "Wal-Mart" brand....with the lights on I get a an 81.6-8F reading on the digital thermometer...my ambient is 85.8 without the AC on. With the wal-mart HOB and only 10watts of lighting I would usually get a reading of 83-84F with the same ambient. As for now, I am patiently waiting for my tank to finish the cycling process....will update this in a few weeks.....with a real camera!
 
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drty811

New Member
looking good master er....

really like the surface skimmer on the AC....can you give more details, very interested.

good luck
 
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Master Er

New Member
Its alot tricky to do compared to the first one I did......if its set too high, it'll suck in some air and cause micro bubbles which do seem nice, oxygenates the tank too but gives off a croaking sound which eventually becomes annoying...its like having a bullfrog in the sump. Too low...well, the flow will deffinitely be decreased, and you dont want that.....if you look at the picture, dont do what I did...see the extension, its not fully inserted into the upper tube. If you wish to insert it all the way, compensate the measurement I did by placing the skimmer a bit lower. And the bottom tube (strainer) has too be just after the skimmer. If not, there wouldnt be enough water intake action and would eventually decrease the flow. It has to be balanced, intake from the skimmer and intake from the bottom. I will do some real measurements and post it since I just used my eye as a guageing tool. But the croaking sound initially will be entertaining to hear. I set it to produce some micro bubbles but no croaking sound....tricky but not impossible.
 
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Master Er

New Member
To power the moonlights, I purchased a "Nintendo GameBoy Power Adapter". They are on sale at "Radio Shack" for $1.97....3V-350mah....They still are!!! Luckily I got the last one at the RS nearby.
 
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drty811

New Member
im having the same problem with my SS. its tricky to get it balanced. i think ill try to make a differnt design. if i figure something out ill post it.
 
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Master Er

New Member
Just keep the bottom intake close to the base of the skimmer to keep the suction balanced. As for the height, as long as the teeth are past the surface and 1/4 to 5/8 of an inch below the surface then you'll be alright. In the picture, my mistake was I set the base of the skimmer 1/4" above the strainer, it should have been next to the strainer, that way the extension tube would have been fully inserted...otherwise, its working well....oh and by the way, the important thing to remember is that the teeth arent all around, only half of the skimmer has teeth all on the opposite side of the water outlet. Wherever the water outlet is, the teeth have to be opposite it or facing away from it. The current picture has 4 teeth (five 1/8" gaps) cut out. If you put teeth all over, it wont be effective because the water current will disturb the skimming action.
 
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Master Er

New Member
Thanks Jennie, I just hope I get the tank to run properly just as I do with the mods I've done....I still dont have the skills to be a good aquarist....still is my weakest point. But thanks very much.
 
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Master Er

New Member
After a little over 3 weeks of cycling, everything seemed to be okay so I think. As of today I decided to add some flora and fauna....I couldnt help it but I did like the yellow damsel sold at my LFS though they did have a red headed goby which I did want in the beggining. But since I didnt want to take the chance, I just chose the damsel for its hardiness. Its about 3/4 of an inch, and from the picture it makes the tank look like a big tank. Looks almost like a baby lemon peal too. Lol......no phone cameras this time....I named it Demon..

My little Demon Tank...


Another picture.....The Demon looks cute huh.
 
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sadielynn

New Member
master er
wow that tank has come along very nice job
that is a pretty damsel
what kind of corals are ya thinking :)
wow he does look like a mini lemon peel
 
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Master Er

New Member
Thanks Sadielynn....there are lots more where that fish came from...I actually ordered it from my local LFS...the guy asked, "how many do you need?".....i was like, "uhm......one?" Lol!!! I was surprised they fullfilled my order....which I did only 2 days before the shipment arrived.

I really dont know what kind of corals to put inside, I was thinking of just keeping it simple since I placed this tank in the bedroom next to (about 1-1/2 feet away) the bed. I will put a tulip anemone and maybe, just maybe, a GSP....my GSP needs pruning. But quite honestly, I find purple coraline algae more appealing...the fact you dont need to feed it, and the deeper the purple, the more it dictates how long you've had the tank. I find this really amazing...probably boring for some though. LOL!!! Any coral suggestion would be nice.... Noticed the waters surface?
 
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Master Er

New Member
Oh yeah, the newest mod I did to my pico was the reflector....I had a thin piece of stainless steel laying around which I cut up and replaced the dull aluminum stock reflector.
 
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sadielynn

New Member
master love the moon shine glow ! is the background a predone or did you do that too out of "great stuff " foam ?
I did notice that you seem to have good flow there .
We have our 2.5 in the bed room too LOL but not next to the bed LOL.
As for the coral go with some shrooms or maybe a torch , hammer , something with movement . As for the shroom just some color low maintince for ya . All in all NICE !
 
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sadielynn

New Member
one other thing that I forgot to say is that when we had the damsel we added him last he did pick on the other fish , we even took him out put him in a "travel" tank for 24 hours reaquascaped and he still was a booger ! so that booger got picked and flicked . I am too much for changing my mind when I see the fish at the lfs , so we try to get community fish so far with the 2 clowns (in seprate tanks ) we got the meaner ones ! LOL
 
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Master Er

New Member
Oh the background....ah, noticed at last...its the background I used for freshwater tanks, the rocky print.....I thought it would add more depth to the tank with the live rock in front and make it look like theres more stuff way back. I did want to make a diarama or mock-up background in the rear of the tank but with the filter there, it wouldnt work.

The hard thing about having it in the bedroom, I have a harder time sleeping, its always "just one last look" for me.....I end up with lack of sleep...Lol!!!
 
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