Bill109's 3 gal pico..

bill109

bill109

Active Member
hey everyone
i have decided to set up a 3g. pico.
so i have the tank sitting dry and i now am waiting for like 13 cents to be transferred to my paypal acount to purchase a light offline. so i am on hold for a couple of days till this dang thing transfers!

anyways here is what i plan to do,
jbj 3 gal picotope
current usa 2x18 dual satelite
5 # lr/ls
for a filter, im not to sure as of right now. the stock one is TO small
and i plan to do lps, and softies. i have a majority of stuff all fragged, waiting to be placed in the tank when its ready.
the sand and 50% of the 3 gal water will come of my 90 reef. the rock will come out of a lfs lr tank so im guessing no need to cycle here but will keep an eye on it.
pics to come tomoroww to show how small the tank actually is..
be patient and enjoy as this project progresses..
thanks
-bill
 
nissan577

nissan577

Active Member
perfect! cant wait for another pico to be set up! woohoo! i love picos!
why dont you add the 3g of the your water to the pico? it will be much better IMO. cant wait
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
I have a 3 gal as well, its alot of fun to have these pico tanks. My suncoral was not open all the way when I took this but it give you an idea of what is in mine.
coralife 18 watt 50/50 light
15 watt heater
mini filter
moonlight
purple florida rics
orange florida rics
suncoral
zoas
feather duster
crab
snails
cleanershrimp
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Tagging along.......well...........because I like to look! It is my saltwater voyeurism problem. I am trying to deal with it. Honest!!!
Pictures.....I need visuals......
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
i completly forgot about a heater!
ah no! i have a 100 wat.. if i turn it to like 75 will it work or wil it be to hot.
from how i understand how these heaters work is that it will turn off at the temp you set it at. so technically i could use a huge heater?
not saying i am but if i can limit 20$ out of the way and use a 100W heater it would make this project go a little smoother.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member

the first pic,
i have more to upload but am super busy tonight.
i got a bunch of rock and sand tonight but not a heater.. so it will all go into the 90 untill i can get a heater.
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
I personally would not put a heater of that size in a 3 gal. This one I have is set to a temp of 78 degrees and it can go no higher or lower. It is by marineland, its great. The price here in Canada for it is 35.00 but you could get it cheaper in the USA I am sure as we pay twice the price for anything saltwate rhere.
It also comes in I believe 10, 15, 25 watts there are also other heaters for nano tanks too I just would not go over 25 watts for a tank this size but others might think differently.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by Debbie
http:///forum/post/3012136
I personally would not put a heater of that size in a 3 gal. This one I have is set to a temp of 78 degrees and it can go no higher or lower. It is by marineland, its great. The price here in Canada for it is 35.00 but you could get it cheaper in the USA I am sure as we pay twice the price for anything saltwate rhere.
It also comes in I believe 10, 15, 25 watts there are also other heaters for nano tanks too I just would not go over 25 watts for a tank this size but others might think differently.

Debbie,
which heater do you use.?
im open to ideas. i have a day to decide what heater to use before i throw in an order on line.
i was thninking a hydor theo 25 W for 17$
which heater do u suggest?
 
fenrir

fenrir

Member
Originally Posted by Debbie
http:///forum/post/3012136
I personally would not put a heater of that size in a 3 gal. This one I have is set to a temp of 78 degrees and it can go no higher or lower. It is by marineland, its great. The price here in Canada for it is 35.00 but you could get it cheaper in the USA I am sure as we pay twice the price for anything saltwate rhere.
It also comes in I believe 10, 15, 25 watts there are also other heaters for nano tanks too I just would not go over 25 watts for a tank this size but others might think differently.

I also have that heater from Marineland in my 3gallon and it works great. Kept my tank warm this past winter when we lost power a couple of days and it was running off a battery.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
so a 15W will do the trick?
i take it that it is the flat looking heater without the temp knob on it?
would it be a safer bet to buy one with a temp knob on it? its only 4$ more lol.
and made by hydor (25W) they make good products from what i have experienced.
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
Okay, mine is the 10 watt marineland and has no dial on it, it is preset to maintain 78 degrees. I love it but would not recommend it be put in anything larger than a 3 gal tank.
If you want to go to the 15 watt that would be fine. I just would not be putting a large heater in these little tanks for fear of them going hay wire and cooking your tank.
There is not a large volume of water in these tanks so that would be my concern.
To give you an example, I just moved everything from my 5 gal into this 3 gal and the same heater in the 5 gal was alot cooler in temp. It just would not keep it warm enough but is perfect for the 3 gal.
Hope this helps
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
yes i know what you mean,
i am absolutely itching to put my tank together.. i have all my rock and sand in my DT and ready to be pulled and put in my pico.
i wont have a heater until the 20th. =(
i am ordering it offline because the lfs around here will get 30$ for a heater but with patience i can buy it for 15.
i guess this thread is on hold for about a week.
i will update if anything changes.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
some pics,
2 diff aquascpaes. i had the 1st one for a day and didnt like it.
so i bought more rock and tried to get it a way i liked and and after 2 hours.. wahhlaa!
still not to impressed. i tried to keep at least 1.5 inches from the glass so i can scrape. with that said and it being a huge 3 gal. ther isnt much room
let me know what you think
1st

then today

the right side looks so much better in person.
 
scottallert

scottallert

Active Member
lookin good
aquascape really depends on the corals your gonna put in it, so you'll know how it grows out and will look.
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
I don't use a powerhead but some have. My rics would not enjoy being blown around so I just use my HOB filter which is just perfect for this size of tank.
 
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