The DP Roberts 3.5g Pico

[DPRoberts]

I set up my first pico last July - a 3 gallon plastic/Acrylic Tom's Aquarium. I chose the Tom's over the popular JBJ Picotope because my LFS carried the Tom's & had a special on it. It turned out to be a mistake - the material turned out to be very difficult to clean. My algae scrapers couldn't get most of the stuff off; razor blades worked but scratched it to pieces. In the meantime, I set up a 12g AIO (Aqua Euro USA) that I like very much - it has a glass lid instead of a hood, which means it has all the benefits of an AIO but enabled me to use my own lighting.

 

I started looking for the same thing in a pico, & couldn't find anything out there. After reading through this forum I found Picoaquariums.com. The Barracuda would be a direct replacement size-wise for my Tom's Aquarium, but would be A) made of glass, and have the AIO style I wanted. My wife (yay wife!) gave me a Barracuda for Christmas.

 

So far, I'm finding the Barracuda to be a great tank. I'm no connoisseur of silicone seams, but it looks good to me. I remembered to take some photos only after wet testing, so excuse the water drops:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still using the light that came with the Tom's. I'm probably going to swap it out with a Boost PAR 30, which is currently on my 12g. The light has to clip onto the left side of the tank, which means that the lid currently doesn't fit properly. I do like the lid, though - it's siliconed around the edge so it sits on top of the tank without sliding around. It's a thoughtful little touch.

 

Excuse the photos. I'm a horrible photographer, plus the tank walls are still dirty from the setup.

 

 

Here's a picture of the back chambers. I threw some chaeto in the middle chamber, & I'll eventually get an underwater LED so this can be a full-fledged fuge. I didn't notice this at first, but the design of my tank is different than the specs currently on the picoaquariums.com website. There's an extra baffle on mine between chambers 2 and 3; this allows the water level in chamber 2 to stay constant. This means I have to watch the water level in chamber 3 more carefully, but if I ever add an ATO it will be more precise.

 

 

 

side shots:

 

 

 

[Oakleyguy89]

I set up my first pico last July - a 3 gallon plastic/Acrylic Tom's Aquarium. I chose the Tom's over the popular JBJ Picotope because my LFS carried the Tom's & had a special on it. It turned out to be a mistake - the material turned out to be very difficult to clean. My algae scrapers couldn't get most of the stuff off; razor blades worked but scratched it to pieces. In the meantime, I set up a 12g AIO (Aqua Euro USA) that I like very much - it has a glass lid instead of a hood, which means it has all the benefits of an AIO but enabled me to use my own lighting.

 

I started looking for the same thing in a pico, & couldn't find anything out there. After reading through this forum I found Picoaquariums.com. The Barracuda would be a direct replacement size-wise for my Tom's Aquarium, but would be A) made of glass, and have the AIO style I wanted. My wife (yay wife!) gave me a Barracuda for Christmas.

 

So far, I'm finding the Barracuda to be a great tank. I'm no connoisseur of silicone seams, but it looks good to me. I remembered to take some photos only after wet testing, so excuse the water drops

Wow, thats a beautiful AIO tank.

[DPRoberts]

Wow, thats a beautiful AIO tank.

 

It sure is. Now, to try to make the inside as pretty as the outside...

 

No corals yet, except for the Xenia that has managed to stay alive through 2 tank setups now. I'm fairly new at corals & just figuring out how to keep them. The rocks are pretty much where I put them when I set up the tank & couldn't see anything. I'm not sure what sort of look I want to go for. Thoughts so far:

 

Stocking idea #1: Minimalist. Get rid of half my live rock, get 1-2 larger corals (like a frogspawn/ hammer), maybe inverts only - turn it into a zen-looking sexy shrimp party box.

 

Stocking idea #2: just fill it full of my favorite corals (zoas, mushrooms, plate montiporas) & see what happens. Maybe get a pistol shrimp / goby pair, or a pom pom crab and a clown goby, or something like that.

[Mr. Microscope]

If you're new to corals, I say just have fun and make is a mishmash of pretty zoas and whatever suits your fancy if you're able to give adequate care to it. Do the minimalist thing after you're really good. Large LPS are tough to do in a Pico due to sweepers and feeding.

[will46r]

Based on my limited experience I think zoas/palys may be the best for those of us with busy lives and not so much experience. They are colorful, hardy and don't mind water not being pristine. I've made some mistakes in my maintenance schedule and pretty sure these params would harm a fancy coral but I've got polyps popping up on a few of my zoas.

 

I love your tank and think if I don't move up in size I'll be buying something similar.

[DPRoberts]

I was getting tired of the salt creep, so I made a few mods. Basically, I think the water level in the display is too high. This is because the water level is determined by the height of the baffle between chambers 1 and 2. Also, I didn't like the lack of "flow through" in those two chambers; detritus collects at the bottom, media /chaeto doesn't work well, and there's not enough flow over the heater for even heating. So, I did an easy mod:

 

I just cut out that baffle, now chambers 1 and 2 are combined. My chaeto is growing a lot faster (more water movement), the heat is more even, evaporation has slowed, and I'm getting no more salt creep. I highly recommend this mod for anyone with the newer-style design.

 

As of now, the old media rack is just sort of sitting there (wedged next to the heater). I think I might make a media rack out of egg crate & the old baffle.

[DPRoberts]

Some new additions. A local reefer was selling some frags for cheap. Yeah, they have bubble algae, but I already have some of that anyway...

 

 

 

 

[Mr. Microscope]

 

Cool additions! Those eagle eyes are nicely colored. I think you have some aiptasia in the background of this image. They look kinda close to your mushroom. Zap 'em before they zap your livestock.

[IrieReefer]

Nice tank! I just bought a PICO AIO from Advance Acrylics. I wish I would have come across this site. Thanks for bringing picoaquariums.com to my attention. LOL I might have to spend some more money!

[DPRoberts]

Cool additions! Those eagle eyes are nicely colored. I think you have some aiptasia in the background of this image. They look kinda close to your mushroom. Zap 'em before they zap your livestock.

 

Thanks. And you're right about the Aiptasia - I rearranged the rockwork for these new corals, & these ones had been hiding in the crevices between the rocks, where I hadn't seen them or been able to get to them. I've just about run out of my usual aiptasia remover (Joe's juice), and will need to start looking into some alternatives.

 

Nice tank! I just bought a PICO AIO from Advance Acrylics. I wish I would have come across this site. Thanks for bringing picoaquariums.com to my attention. LOL I might have to spend some more money!

 

I really think this is a great tank. Chris (cdelicath) does an amazing job. Check out this thread for some of his new ideas.

[Mr. Microscope]

Thanks. And you're right about the Aiptasia - I rearranged the rockwork for these new corals, & these ones had been hiding in the crevices between the rocks, where I hadn't seen them or been able to get to them. I've just about run out of my usual aiptasia remover (Joe's juice), and will need to start looking into some alternatives.

 

Did your Joe's Juice come with a syringe? All you need is boiling hot water and a syringe. That's all I've ever used and have managed to get rid of any aiptasia that I find.

[DPRoberts]

Did your Joe's Juice come with a syringe? All you need is boiling hot water and a syringe. That's all I've ever used and have managed to get rid of any aiptasia that I find.

 

Great! I have been using the syringe, and I'm just beginning to look at other alternatives (I've heard about lemon juice, calcium, etc.), but boiling water sounds a lot easier. I'll try that today. Thanks!