::UPDATES::: on post 16 - 11/21/09


The order is in and the shipment is on it's way!

The list of goodies:

• 3g Picotope from dr.f/s
• AquaClear Power 70 (soon to be hobo fuge) from dr. f/s
• Battery Air Pump for my 2'd DIY ATO
• day/night power strip
• Theo Heater 25 watt

I have not got an upgrade to the lighting, I want to do a LED setup, but I need more time to research. Other wise I was gonna go with a Coralife Aqualight 12" for around $60

I was wondering the pro and cons of a LED DIY that will give about the same light and cost about the same as the Coralife Aqualight 12. I would spend more like $150+ for a LED setup vs $60 for about the same lighting.

Any one got some input?

Can't give you an input on the LEDs, but can't wait to see some pics when you get it all setup.

Plus, your signature banner made me laugh out loud...

I'm glad you enjoyed the sig

Pictopes are sweet little tanks. Good luck with yours.

Leds are initially very expensive. They also don't fall into the same class as the coralife aqualight. Most led builds are more comparable to Metal Halides. It all depends on what you are wanting to keep in your tank.

Just got the tank in the mail.

Water Leak test: Pass

reminds me of when i got mine....it looked so awesome sitting with just freshwater and the light on top...so clean

I didn't think about it at first but I used almost all my RO water on that leak test.
oops.

how would you make the DIY ATO?

looks like another good start.

I know it's only 2L but I would rather it come in the tank slowly and in smaller amounts then topping off in big amounts every other day and it's easy to just uncap the bottle and fill it up and forget it for a few days.

In the case of the pico I will need to find a better water container. the big bottle wont look good behind the tank, that and I could get a way with a smaller battle.

You should easily be able to DIY a suitable LED setup for less than 150 bucks. I did a little pricing for if/when I do mine, and came up with around 145 using 2 D series Meanwell drivers, buckpucks and separate PSU would be somewhat cheaper. Of course YMMV, I didn't include cost of additional parts to make a custom canopy or sourcing a suitable fixture to retro the LEDs into as I already have a 12" Current PC fixture I'd use for mine.

And FWIW, 10 Cree LED emitters (which I based my cost estimate on) is WAY more light than the 36watt Coralife fixture you are looking at. Definitely enough to keep SPS light-wise (water quality whole 'nother ball o' wax).

GFX,

There is no question that LED is the way to go, however the Coralife 12" fixture for it's price can give you dramatic effects. Don't count it out just yet, I use the Coralife 9" on my 1 gallon pico with spectacular results.

My advice is use what you got until LED come down in price and become more affordable.

Just my 2cents...

MG

You said you were looking for a better bottle for the ATO. I used a nalgine 32oz wide mouth on a 2.5 gallon I had a few years ago. Worked well, and now days you can find imitation bottles like that in different colors all over for cheep.

Jerome

Looks like I will be moving to Chicago by the end of the year, that will be a 300 mile move from were I am now.

I think it will be best to hold off setting up the pico until I move.

Sorry guys looks like your gonna have to wait a little longer.

i lived in chicago for two years for school. man did those winters suck.

::Updates::

Got and modded my AquaClear 70 as a mini fug, "fyi be careful about clipping the impellers to slow the flow, you my end up with to low of a flow to pull the water into the fug like I did",

Got some really good looking live rock. I am going on the low end of pounds per gallons with only 3 pounds of live rock I may add a little more one I stock just to seed some Coralline algae.

looks pretty clean.

maybe even too clean.. Just did my first tests and I have no nh3/4 or no2, hmmm what do due to jump start a cycle?

Toss in a piece of market shrimp in a small media bag for a day. It will work and smells grosss !

market shrimp ? you mean like a cocktail shrimp you would eat?

Yes, minus the sauce of course .

Don't use a dead shrimp, is way too much for that tiny tank, the cycle is likely coming along just fine, if you feel the need to add a source of nutrients to fuel the bacteria, add a few flakes of fish food. Not all cycles end up being algae shops of horror, some are pretty light, mine sure was, but my rock was already very well cycled and some was from my 65g sump, full of bacteria I imagine. I've had very little algae in my 3g so far. I guess my chaeto in the fuge has helped with that also.

I did not think about this till now, but I have my fug running with some chaeto in it , will that hurt my cycle?

No.

Still no nh3/4 or no2. Wondering if I'm gonna have a cycle at all.

On another note: I got my LED and my heat sink for my tank and at a ok price too.
4 CREE XR-E Q5 Cool White 3W LED on Star @ $6.79 = $27.16
4 CREE XR-E Royal Blue 3W LED on Star @ $6.79 = $27.16
1 Mean Well ELN-60-48P dimmable driver @ $40.00 = $40.00

I have plans to make a acrylic top for the jbj nanotope I will mount my lights on to that.



edit: sorry about the typos - beer does not make for good spell checking.

Where did you order from? Can't wait to see some pictures of the build.

I got my float check from cdelicath and now I have had my ATO working for the last week with great results.

I used a small spice plastic jar as a protector and holder for my float check. This worked well since the spice shaker has a small holes for the opening. All I had to do was cut a hole on the side so that I could attach a suction cup and a hole on the bottom of the spice shaker so that I could attach the float check.











I got my LEDs from http://www.rapidled.com

Thanks for the helpful pics, who/what is cdelicath?

he is a member on here that builds custom tanks. he is a great guy. picoaquariums.com

I have the switches for $10 shipped. They are the same switches I use in all my ATO units.