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3g JBL picotope *pics*


taku

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Hello! I'm so excited and wanted to share my enjoyment with you. :D

 

I just received my 3gallon JBL picotope in the mail today and set it up. I upgraded to the 38w Current USA satellite PC's and used the stock 9w light on the fuge in the rear. As you probably know, the main lights have individual controls for the actinic and the daylight and night time led which is pretty nice for such a tiny tank on a timer. I ordered an AC70 and also a mini canister filter which I'm really impressed with so far. I took out some things from the canister and just run a sponge and carbon. I ordered a smaller propeller for the AC70 however I didn't even take it out of the packaging, because the AC70 propeller is perfect IMO. I don't have normal sand though, I went with the chunky shells/sand so it doesn't blow around but the corals like the flow. The mini canister filter has a spray bar which shoots across the surface from left to right. I have a 120gallon display reef so I took items from it and put in the nano... also took macro algeas for the AC fuge. I'm impressed with how quiet everything runs on this little tank. It sits 2ft from my face at my desk practically, so noise is very important.

 

Some pics are below, can you help me decide what coral to add to this tank? There's not much real estate, so I'm looking for some ideas.

 

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right side

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left side

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actinic only (obviously :P )

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These are baby toadstools from my main tank... they never ever opened in the main tank, I'm not sure why, maybe they didn't like their lighting before under halides or the flow. They started to open within minutes of entering the pico.

2218388858_7fb265ccd4.jpg

 

Do these zoo colors have a name for their coloration?

2217592771_d08f73ac29.jpg?v=0

 

This ric started as one mouth in my main tank... it didn't exactly like being moved, so it's deflated here

2218387936_87acc913b2.jpg

 

New cheapo bland ric, but I still had to have it, also slightly peeved about the move:

2218388224_b8a8c65737.jpg

 

Not sure what sort of mushroom this is, the LFS called it an umbrella shroom but I've never heard of that

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Whole tank view

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here is the mother toadstool from my main tank (10k 250w halides only, no actinics)

2217628995_ba9fb85d52.jpg

 

Any suggestions on coral? I love reds and yellows..

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Meet me at the flagpole at high noon! I'll fight you for it :D

 

I forgot to mention I have a stealth mini heater too, it fits diagonal in the AC70. My house usually is in the mid 70s, so it should run at the perfect temp all the time.I'm curious to see how much evaporation I have.

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Meet me at the flagpole at high noon! I'll fight you for it :D

 

I forgot to mention I have a stealth mini heater too, it fits diagonal in the AC70. My house usually is in the mid 70s, so it should run at the perfect temp all the time.I'm curious to see how much evaporation I have.

 

 

You'll have a LOT of evaporation. I'm "upscaling" to a 6g NC for this reason. The hood keeps the evaporation down a good deal. I hardly ever have to top off my 12g NC. I don't trust my wife to top off the 3g AM and PM when I'm on trips. The salinity really swings. Just my .02

 

Oh yeah, I also have the same light (which rocks, my mushrooms love it) and running an AC20. I can barely keep the sand down with that! Your rockscape and choice of corals are great. That's a really great looking pico. Keep it up!

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Wow. Thanks for putting my pico to shame! :tears:

 

Seriously though, GREAT looking pico! Probably the best I've seen around here. What are you putting in the fuge? I think some yellow polyps would look nice in there. ;)

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You'll have a LOT of evaporation. I'm "upscaling" to a 6g NC for this reason. The hood keeps the evaporation down a good deal. I hardly ever have to top off my 12g NC. I don't trust my wife to top off the 3g AM and PM when I'm on trips. The salinity really swings. Just my .02

 

Oh yeah, I also have the same light (which rocks, my mushrooms love it) and running an AC20. I can barely keep the sand down with that! Your rockscape and choice of corals are great. That's a really great looking pico. Keep it up!

Absolutely, there is serious evaporation. The evap won't be an issue though, because I've will be adding water morning and night. I'm probably just going to get an autotop/float switch in a week or two when I see how capable of staying on top of top-off I am.

 

I actually have a 6gallon nanocube that I used to have as a saltwater 2 years ago but I converted it to a planted freshwater and have several colorful guppies in there. You're so right though, that sealed lid has practically NO evaporation, very low anyways.

 

Thanks for the encouragement! Happy reefing :)

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Awesome tank. I don't think I would add anything to it. It looks great just the way it is. Let it be for a while and see how everything grows in.

 

-Prof

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Wow. Thanks for putting my pico to shame! :tears: Seriously though, GREAT looking pico! Probably the best I've seen around here. What are you putting in the fuge? I think some yellow polyps would look nice in there. ;)

 

View of my desk from the doorway to the office

2220046412_8c83cc3564.jpg

 

here is a side shot of the AC70. I dumped some of those little .... well I am not sure what they are called, the white solid material in the bottom of the fuge meant to attract filtering bacterias... Also, I have a MAT of that macro in my fuge of the 120gallon reef, I'm probably going to move more over in the next few days. The little 9w light that came with the JBL picotope is perfect to sit on the AC70 and witht he light sort of bent down close to the fuge, practically no light bleeds over to the pico. Also I painted the back of the pico black.

2220046194_2f550ae182.jpg

 

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The stealth heater is sitting in the back of the AC70 diagonally... top down view

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The flow of surface agitation is pretty good, there is no scum on the surface yet... although I did buy a little surface skimmer but it's going to be a pain to attach it to any of the filters so it's a backup plan if I need it. The mini canister is pretty sweet! The sides of the canister are charcoal colored so you can see in there and see when the sponge filter needs a good cleaning.

2220046296_3077692eff.jpg

 

Awesome tank. I don't think I would add anything to it. It looks great just the way it is. Let it be for a while and see how everything grows in. -Prof

 

I think I may do that (except for rics) el fabuloso had a great idea, yellow polyps.. I may look for a tiny rock/clump to add. Or some yellow/orange ricordia to spice it up a little. I'm hoping those zoos take off, I'm digging the orange and yellow.

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I don't know about compatibility, but I saw some really neat Duncans while doing some searching, they're a little out of the norm and neat looking

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Hmm I've never heard of Duncans before but I googled it, is this what you're talking about?

 

My%20Duncan%2075.jpg

 

Those look cool, and like they might sting :o Do they sting other coral that come in contact with them do you know?

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Hmm I've never heard of Duncans before but I googled it, is this what you're talking about?

 

My%20Duncan%2075.jpg

 

Those look cool, and like they might sting :o Do they sting other coral that come in contact with them do you know?

I've seen some pages say they're peaceful, some say they're aggressive . . . I found both of these pages helpful when looking for info

Blue Zoo Aquatics

Live Aquaria

I am certainly not an expert :) Just was thinking of putting them in my tank.

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avalanche1201

I've got the same heater in my AC70. If you stand it up right the water level is still above the "min water line", at least for mine it is. You can try to stand up right, might give you more room in your fuge

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Great Tank! Can you please tell me what light that is? and where I can find it?Thanks

Sure, It's a Current USA 12" dual satellite.... it's 36w of 50/50 light. I purchased mine from www.bigalsonline.com and I think it retails at $75

here: http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalog/c...e=0&offset=

 

IT COMES WITH LEGS!!!! I wasn't sure, and it doesn't say if it does or not, but it definitely does :)

 

I've got the same heater in my AC70. If you stand it up right the water level is still above the "min water line", at least for mine it is. You can try to stand up right, might give you more room in your fuge

 

Good call, I'll try that :) Thank you! Oh and by the way, I found out the glass lid I have for a spare 2.5gallon standard $5 tank fits PERFECT on the top of this 3gallon pico. The front area where the bow/curved glass is is still exposed, and the pumps in the back can fit... the glass lid just sits across the middle and fits flush on both sides, to help cut back on evaporation..

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Sure, It's a Current USA 12" dual satellite.... it's 36w of 50/50 light. I purchased mine from www.bigalsonline.com and I think it retails at $75

here: http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalog/c...e=0&offset=

 

IT COMES WITH LEGS!!!! I wasn't sure, and it doesn't say if it does or not, but it definitely does :)

Good call, I'll try that :) Thank you! Oh and by the way, I found out the glass lid I have for a spare 2.5gallon standard $5 tank fits PERFECT on the top of this 3gallon pico. The front area where the bow/curved glass is is still exposed, and the pumps in the back can fit... the glass lid just sits across the middle and fits flush on both sides, to help cut back on evaporation..

 

Thank you so much! 1 more question, :-) does the Picotope come with any kind of top? I have a cat lol

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Sure, It's a Current USA 12" dual satellite.... it's 36w of 50/50 light. I purchased mine from www.bigalsonline.com and I think it retails at $75

here: http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalog/c...e=0&offset=

Thanks for the tip! That's the best price I've seen so far so I just ordered one for myself as the awesomeness of your tank made me jealous inspired me to upgrade my lighting. ;)

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Thank you so much! 1 more question, :-) does the Picotope come with any kind of top? I have a cat lol

I haven't seen a completely sealed lid for it yet... but the 2.5gallon glass top I put on does pretty good... you could tape it down with that strong clear tape along the top edges to secure it. The front is still open though, in case kitty is interested...

 

Overview shot of the 2.5gallon all-american standard glass lid.

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Flush fit against the tank:

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The mini canister filter:

2225236936_991c5c83ce.jpg

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I haven't seen a completely sealed lid for it yet... but the 2.5gallon glass top I put on does pretty good... you could tape it down with that strong clear tape along the top edges to secure it. The front is still open though, in case kitty is interested...

 

Overview shot of the 2.5gallon all-american standard glass lid.

2225236734_a4fa12d991.jpg

 

Flush fit against the tank:

2224444759_dbb5d0a106.jpg

 

The mini canister filter:

2225236936_991c5c83ce.jpg

 

Great pico!

 

Mine should arrive tomorrow from Big Al's Online... I like the filtration set-up you have, I will probably add an AC, not sure which one yet.

 

What mini canister are you using? Where did you get it?

 

Thanks!

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Thanks!! I purchased the canister filter from www.drsfostersmith.com ... if you do a search on their site for "rapid" or "mini canister" you should find it. I went the manual way to find it there by clicking filtration and just scrolling down the long page of items... it's toward the bottom. $20 you can't beat it :) Works great, 80gph!

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Thanks!! I purchased the canister filter from www.drsfostersmith.com ... if you do a search on their site for "rapid" or "mini canister" you should find it. I went the manual way to find it there by clicking filtration and just scrolling down the long page of items... it's toward the bottom. $20 you can't beat it :) Works great, 80gph!

 

LOL! I wanted to buy that one but their customer service people said it'd be too strong for my 5.5g! I just wanted it to "polish" the water after water changes--get rid of the suspended junk quicker and not dirty up the Penguin HOB so soon...think I could use it that way?

 

And I concur with everyone else--fabulous job! el fab, thanks for the link!

 

--Diane

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I tried a Rapids Mini Canister on my 2.5 gallon planted, but it did not work properly. Apparently it needs to sit significantly lower than the water level to get proper suction, lower than possible on a 2.5 gallon tank. It includes a hanger for the side fo the tank, but you would need at least a 5 gallon for that to work.

 

The flow was slow until I would pick it up and let it hang off the side of the desk, then it would work properly. Have you noticed anything like this with your Rapids?

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I tried a Rapids Mini Canister on my 2.5 gallon planted, but it did not work properly. Apparently it needs to sit significantly lower than the water level to get proper suction, lower than possible on a 2.5 gallon tank. It includes a hanger for the side fo the tank, but you would need at least a 5 gallon for that to work.

 

The flow was slow until I would pick it up and let it hang off the side of the desk, then it would work properly. Have you noticed anything like this with your Rapids?

 

 

 

brilliant tank. seriously one of the nicer setups that size I have seen.

Loosey :D

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  • 3 weeks later...
LOL! I wanted to buy that one but their customer service people said it'd be too strong for my 5.5g! I just wanted it to "polish" the water after water changes--get rid of the suspended junk quicker and not dirty up the Penguin HOB so soon...think I could use it that way?

 

And I concur with everyone else--fabulous job! el fab, thanks for the link!

 

--Diane

 

 

Will this tank get sufficient flow with just the mini canister? I want to limit what is hanging on the back for a clean look. I have an ideal to drill the tank and place the tubes so they do not hang over. If this is not sufficient could you recomend another canister filter. I also found a mini submersible heater that I want to try and install in the canister only a 1/4" thick. but will only raise temp buy 5 degrees my house is normally 69-70 degrees.

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