My first Pico tank! New pics and Progress every week.

reefer73

reefer73

New Member
Hello everyone,
I'm new to the world of nano-reefing and just wanted to show off my tank. Up and running as of 7/11/06! This is my first nano tank so any comments and/or help is appreciated. I will try and post weekly with updated pictures and info. Sorry this first post is short but I'm at work...
-Mike
 

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reefer73

reefer73

New Member
First off I am going to upgrade the lighting to a 12" PC. Probably a Current USA Sattelite. Something about that flimsy light that came with the Picotope scares me. The last thing I need is to come home from work and find that the light went swimming. After cycling I am going to keep it simple with some shrooms and zoos. Nothing to fancy, since this is my first reef tank. I'm sure I will change my mind about what to put in it a million times, but that's half the fun, right? Any recommendations, comments, complaints and help will be appreciated.
-Mike
 
islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
If your like me keep all your boxes on everything you bought. I started off the same way you did and bought all of my equipment and tank off ebay. I did my research and asked many questions. Its been 8 months now and my first nano is all mature. Now I'm setting up a 66 gallon tank and taking apart my two nano's and a 20 long tank. I'm glad I had all my boxes even though they took alot of space. Now I can repost it back on ebay to get some cash to get the 66 gallon tank to where it needs to be. Just my 2 cents.... :mrgreen:
This hobby is addicting and cost alot of money! Do you plan on putting a refugium on your pico? I'm going to be posting auctions on ebay on my nano equipment and will probably post the links on the equipment section.

You can see the nano picture under the general forum under "Glass piece on 66 gallon tank" Topic. Have any questions everyone here is helpful!

How many a gallons is your pico? And what the wattage on the 12" PC that your looking at?
 
reefer73

reefer73

New Member
You and my wife would get along great, islandcreation. She is extremely anal, so we keep boxes for everything. I want to keep this nano around for awhile, so hopefully I won't be boxing up anything soon. To answer your questions, no, I don't plan on a refugium. Everyone I talked to says I don't reallly need one in a 3 gallon tank. As for the lighting, the PC is a 2x18w, with 1 lunar light. Do you think this is overkill?
-Mike
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
As long as heat won't be an issue then IMO thats a good choice, you'll be able to keep almost anything you want with size being yhour main restriction.
 
islandcreation

islandcreation

New Member
reefer73,

Ha,ha,ha... I'm not that anal but for some reason I had a sense that I'd want to go to the next level as far as a bigger tank. Plus, it would be a pain trying to find materials and a box just to ship a glass nano when I auctioned it! Thats a great wattage, I have a 2x18 Coralife on my 4 gallon w/ no heat issues at all! :mrgreen:
 
reefer73

reefer73

New Member
Sounds good. I was kind of concerned about heat from the 2x18w but I think as long as it's set high enough from the tank hopefully it won't be a problem. I will monitor the temp and if I have to fab up some higher mounting legs I will. I found the PC at Marine Depot for 89 bucks plus 6 bucks for the legs. If anyone knows of a better deal let me know...
Thanks for the help.
-Mike
 
reefer73

reefer73

New Member
Updated Pic

Here is better picture of the tank. Everything has settled and I adjusted the white balance on my camera so it's not as blue...Also put in a small power head for better circulation.
-Mike
 

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reefer73

reefer73

New Member
Finally went out and got some better lighting. 1x18w PC Current USA Satellite. It's amazing what a difference quality lighting makes. I promised my wife I wouldn't buy anything more until the tank cycles, so I probably won't post anymore pictures until I'm ready to stock. Cycle, cycle, cycle. I hate being patient, but I promise I won't stock until it's ready.
-Mike
 

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Anonymous

Guest
nice .... and patience will pay off ... even though it is vey hard :)
one comment though, your aquascape looks nice and i can envision a lot of nice spots to place corals, but its good for your sand bed to try to keep as much of your rock up off it as possible and still be sturdy. but you'll find that you'll likely change it a bunch of times anyway i think i rearange mine on a monthly basis ;-)
 
reefer73

reefer73

New Member
Johnanddawn,
Thanks for the advice. I will play around with the rock and try to increase the surface area of the sand. Islandcreation, Yes that is a Rio 50. Works pretty well for ten bucks. Let's see what happens in the future...
-Mike
 
reefer73

reefer73

New Member
Week 2

Hey everyone,
Nothing major to report. Kind of rearranged my LR. Also threw a raw shrimp in the tank to get the party started. And the party has definitely started. All of my parameters are going nutty nuts. That's about it, though. Hopefully I'll be stocking in the next couple of weeks.
-Mike
 

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reefer73

reefer73

New Member
As I kind of figured, the little Rio 50 died on me. It started making this really loud buzzing sound, started to vibrate and just kind of siezed up on me!? Too bad the pump is sealed, as I really wanted to take it apart and see what the deal was. Oh well, you get what you pay for. I'm going to pick up a micro-jet today and maybe a AC 20 HOB today. I don't trust that HOB that came with the pico... No one tell my wife. She thinks I'm spending way too much money on this thing as it is.... :D
-Mike
 
reefer73

reefer73

New Member
Here are some new pics of the tank. I picked up a small orange zoo frag and some snails last night. I'm off and running now... I will be ordering some more zoos next week and will post some pics. I have definitely been bitten by the bug and just want to put everything in at once, but I am trying to show some restraint and take it slow.
 

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