I bought a tetra 3 gallon tank at walmart. I finally put it all together. I am running a modifed HOB filter from walmart and I drilled 2 1.25" holes in the back and attached it to a modified overflow box and now I have an extra compartment to store my heater and extra cheato in. Let me know what you think.

I still have to add a piece of acrylic to the HOB filter to seperate the compartments so that the water flows to the back compartment and not just thru the HOB and then to the tank.


FTS. AT 2 MONTHS OLD.

Well that certainly looks interesting.

Once you get the baffle in there things should start looking a little better. How will you be lighting this tank?

I bought a 12" 36w Aqualight and I modifed it as well to hang it. Since the light is over 7" wide and my tank is only 6" I drilled small holes in each corner of the light and stuck a eye-hook bolt thru the hole and hanging it by chains attached to arms that arm attached to the back of the stand. Sorry I forgot to take pics of the light. I will have them tomorrow.

I have the same tank!! I was hoping to do the same thing. What HoB is that?? I think I have all the same stuff as you. How did you make the back box??

This is a different one. Seems like a good idea though. An overview pic would be cool so we can get an idea of the overall scope of it.

Oh, the things hobbiests do to make life interesting!

The HOB filter is one that you get at walmart, I think it is rated for 5-10gallons of water. Aqua-tech or something like that. Then I drilled the back with a 1.125" hole saw bit. The furthest back box is an old overflow box that I sealed the bottom hole, superglued a piece of acrylic to the bottom. Then I just repeated the process of drilling into the acrylic piece with the same paddle bit. Slow and steady and lots of water. After that I bought 2-- 1/2" bulkhead fittings from the local fish store, then just threaded it thru and tightened. The pic I attached is the only one for now but I will take somemore of it tonight when I get it set on the stand Im going to be using. and I am going to take pics of my modified 12" aqualight.

Yeah. I have the Same HoB. I also have a small 1g tank I can use as the back area

Haaa, I have the same tank. Iv set some pico tanks up before but i bought this one for its odd shape. But now that I been looking at it and thinking of setting it up, Im so unsure how I would do the rockscaping. Its just that its pretty tall and a lil thin. Ready to see what your gonna do to it, because im just thinking bout getting a jbJ 3.

How do you get water flowing around in the rearmost "sump/fuge/heater box"? Are the bulkheads just open to the HOB and water diffuses back and forth?

I drained all of the tank last night and set it up on the stand that it will be permentaly. I am modifing the HOB filter with a piece of acrylic to seperate the first chamber so that the water will have to flow thru the furthest back compartment and plus a 1/2" pvc will fit inside the bulkhead so I am going to add a small snub piece of pvc and add an elbow down to force the water down into the compartment then to the other then back to the HOB filter. I took some pics last night of the tank and my modified light. The only thing I have left to do is to drill a hole in the support arms so that the chain will be hung from an eye bolt. and the arms will be painted black.

nice

Thanks, I got the arms drilled last night and the light hung. Now All I have to do it get the HOB filter chamber split and Im in business. Here are some more pics.

i love the diy aspect of this tank

I got about 5lbs of Live Rock and a 5lb bag of Live Sand this weekend. I got the water up to temp and added all three. PLus I got a hand full of cheato. I am using the small LED light that came with the tank for the fuge lighting till I can get something better. Let me know what you think. THanks

lookin good

Click to view attachmentI got some freebie frags the other day from a guy on ReefCentral.com. Picked them up at lunch. I got a 2 headed Frogspawn, some green polyps, GSP and a fuzzy shroom and a tiny green/blue striped shroom. Here they are. Plus I did another test and 0 across the board and did a 1 gallon water change. One of the easiest water changes Ive ever done. Plus I setup my own diy ATO. it works like a champ. Thanks to el fabuloso for the step by step.

As I said before. Here are my new frags I got on Friday. Im not sure what they are called but they are nice. Let me know what you guys think. and some pics of my CUC. One small scarlet crab and 1snail. The frag that only has one small head open, its redish-orange with blueish center with yellow rings around. The heads are so tiny its hard to see. Anyone have any idea what they are?

Some more pics.

I like your hob filter mod. Good thinking.

Thanks, I added a blue led strip to my aqualight and added an adjustable pump to keep the cyno at bay. Here are some new pics.

I took some pics of some zoa's I bought a little while ago. Here they are. What are the one with the blue dot and the ones in the back called?

Here are some new pics

hey this looks great! I have seen these tanks in the lfs but not as a nano, I love the curved look you've done really well and it's a clean build, should progress very well

if my betta dies, im using this tank for a nano. ill probably drill mine though.

I thought about drilling it and just do a simple closed loop system but I found the HOB filter and the other acrylic box in a pile of stuff I bought at a garage sale and presto. I am still looking for some more shrooms and some blue zoa's but that can come later. Thanks for the comments.

Here is some new pics.

Hello, I have a 3 gal pico as well. I would like to ask you about your lights. They are the 12" coralife 2x 18 watt pc, is this right?? if so how do you like the fixture?? Is there room for mounting legs on this fixture??

Amy,
You are right about the light its a Coralife 36w CF. But I added 2 led strips for more of a blue tint and an awesome night light. My tank is not an "Offical PICO" its a 3 gallon Acrylic Tetra aquarium that I bought from walmart on clearance. My tank was not wide/long enough for the legs that go with this light. Thats why I had to hang it. I really like the light but it runs HOT. Overall a great light but I am going to install a DIY fans by the light for some cooling during the heat of the day.