Creative Container Pico Contest - Official Announcement

[Orangutran]

16 minutes ago, seabass said:

So in other words, it worked as designed.   Being that it's too overpowered for your tank to be left on 24/7, it should be good heater for you if put on a timer or controller.

 

I actually think that many of the bad reviews are from people who had similar experiences with working heaters.  The product descriptions are often misleading, as they state that they can raise the temperature to an appropriate level (giving you the false impression that they have a preset temperature).  Although it's true, they can raise the temperature within an acceptable range, given the right volume of water and/or room temperature (which is never stated).

I feel bad for all the betta bowl owners, if this is what they have to deal with! How can they even sleep at night knowing their fish can be cooked in the morning?

[seabass]

1 minute ago, Orangutran said:

I feel bad for all the betta bowl owners, if this is what they have to deal with! How can they even sleep at night knowing their fish can be cooked in the morning?

Yeah, it's better to work that out before putting your fish in.  Some just get lucky.  Others decide that they'd rather keep a cold, lethargic fish than risk cooking it.

[Coral_chef]

 

Went with the pink planters peanuts depression glass for the pico tank, plan is to do a zoa garden. With some small inverts.  

[Kellie in CA]

Let's do this! 

 

[LX20000]

Please, for the love of God, don't anybody put a fish in a 3 gallon or less sized tank.  Nothing but a concentration camp.... resist the urge to put a clown or two in just because they fit.

[Felicia]

1 hour ago, Coral_chef said:

https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/386168-coral_chefs-mr-peanut-cc-contest-pico/

 

went with the pink planters peanuts depression glass for the pico tank, plan is to do a zoa garden. With some small inverts.  

LOVE the antique depression glass jar!  I'm adding your name to the list of contestants on the first post of this thread.

55 minutes ago, Kellie in CA said:

Let's do this! 

 

I love the cool frame that this sits in!  I'm adding your name to the list of contestants on the first post of this thread.

[Coral_chef]

55 minutes ago, LX20000 said:

Please, for the love of God, don't anybody put a fish in a 3 gallon or less sized tank.  Nothing but a concentration camp.... resist the urge to put a clown or two in just because they fit.

The little tiny neon gobies are so cute though.  

[Kellie in CA]

50 minutes ago, Felicia said:

I love the cool frame that this sits in!  I'm adding your name to the list of contestants on the first post of this thread.

Thank you!  Because the shape is so odd, I'm just hoping that it doesn't crack.  The glass isn't real thin though, so I'm hoping for the best.  I'll probably fill it up and leave it on the back patio for a few days just to see what happens. 

[Tamberav]

On 10/10/2017 at 2:49 PM, cju84 said:

How is RANCH DRESSING nobody's favorite condiment??? What is wrong with you all?!?

Sounds like you need to join in to get some ranch dressing publicity going!

[Nickmcg]

Awesome contest idea! Here's my entry.  

[Felicia]

28 minutes ago, Nickmcg said:

Awesome contest idea! Here's my entry.  

Very cool!  And super tiny!  I'm adding your name to the list of contestants on the first post of this thread.

[cfaye@Delaware]

As far as the preset very small heaters, it is a very hard balancing act. I have done it for years with my betta. Now where I keep my tanks and even now I have room themometers. They are small and sit close to the tanks. With the presets very important to watch your room temps. Plus you need to keep your temp probes in your tank 24/7 ( unless for tank show off and then only a bit ) I have never used a timer on my presets but I do know that turning the preset off and on will burn it out quick. Imo......

If you do use preset heater it will take several hours, days to first get it going, to test it out.....then you HAVE to stay on top of it.....even with the controlled ones stay on it, the tanks are small. I have seen the very small personal heaters, that will sit on a desk.....never used one......careful of those running 24/7 fire hazard ?????

My house is warm in summer, use a personal fan.....Winter house is 68-70 degrees use heaters and always room themometers , can't spell.....All of this and more will need back up for power outages and such......the tanks are small temps and other things change quick.......I have been very lucky, Blessed using heaters so far, but I'm on it.......yes them 2hr. checks and when I'm gone praying....... 

[seabass]

3 hours ago, LX20000 said:

Please, for the love of God, don't anybody put a fish in a 3 gallon or less sized tank.

Then how are we supposed to cycle our tanks?   Are damsels OK?

 

[GunslingerGirl]

1 hour ago, seabass said:

Then how are we supposed to cycle our tanks?   Are damsels OK?

 

Baby nasos are better. Duh.

[duderubble]

Tempted. I have a couple of questions. Would a goldfish bowl be prohibited? 

 

I'm also thinking of a glass jar drink dispenser. Would the plumbing be permitted since it already exists?

 

My thought was that it could make frequent water changes much easier. 

[schgr.cube]

31 minutes ago, duderubble said:

Tempted. I have a couple of questions. Would a goldfish bowl be prohibited? 

 

I'm also thinking of a glass jar drink dispenser. Would the plumbing be permitted since it already exists?

 

My thought was that it could make frequent water changes much easier. 

Goldfish bowl would be a no since it is sold as an aquarium, but the drink dispenser should be fine. If it comes like that, you are good to go. I’m not an official, but this is my understanding of the rules. 

[Felicia]

34 minutes ago, duderubble said:

Tempted. I have a couple of questions. Would a goldfish bowl be prohibited? 

 

I'm also thinking of a glass jar drink dispenser. Would the plumbing be permitted since it already exists?

 

My thought was that it could make frequent water changes much easier. 

2 minutes ago, schgr.cube said:

Goldfish bowl would be a no since it is sold as an aquarium, but the drink dispenser should be fine. If it comes like that, you are good to go. I’m not an official, but this is my understanding of the rules. 

schgr.cube is correct.  Goldfish bowls are not allowed since they are sold as aquariums.  Your container must be something that is not sold as an aquarium.  Several contestants have asked about the drink dispensers.  You are welcome to use those since they already have that plumbing in place.  However, you cannot add any plumbing or make any major modifications to use that plumbing differently.  If you use it as is for easy water changes, that is fine because it is already part of the container.

 

[schgr.cube]

You all are going to hate me, but I MIGHT be using a different container. Is there a prize for most container changes before the contest officially starts?

[vlangel]

1 minute ago, schgr.cube said:

You all are going to hate me, but I MIGHT be using a different container. Is there a prize for most container changes before the contest officially starts?

If there is, the prize should be ...a new pico container!

[Lula_Mae]

10 hours ago, LX20000 said:

Please, for the love of God, don't anybody put a fish in a 3 gallon or less sized tank.  Nothing but a concentration camp.... resist the urge to put a clown or two in just because they fit.

Darn it, quit spoiling my plans to put three baby tangs and a snowflake eel in my jar! 

 

Also, concentration camp? That's dramatic...  Closet, I would buy however.

[Clown79]

8 hours ago, cfaye@Delaware said:

As far as the preset very small heaters, it is a very hard balancing act. I have done it for years with my betta. Now where I keep my tanks and even now I have room themometers. They are small and sit close to the tanks. With the presets very important to watch your room temps. Plus you need to keep your temp probes in your tank 24/7 ( unless for tank show off and then only a bit ) I have never used a timer on my presets but I do know that turning the preset off and on will burn it out quick. Imo......

If you do use preset heater it will take several hours, days to first get it going, to test it out.....then you HAVE to stay on top of it.....even with the controlled ones stay on it, the tanks are small. I have seen the very small personal heaters, that will sit on a desk.....never used one......careful of those running 24/7 fire hazard ?????

My house is warm in summer, use a personal fan.....Winter house is 68-70 degrees use heaters and always room themometers , can't spell.....All of this and more will need back up for power outages and such......the tanks are small temps and other things change quick.......I have been very lucky, Blessed using heaters so far, but I'm on it.......yes them 2hr. checks and when I'm gone praying....... 

I added a preset heater today to a vase to determine exactly what any Pico owner will be dealing with.

 

Room temp is 74. Vase is covered to contain heat, 24 watt par 38 on.

 

The water temp started at 71 with no heater.

Within 1.5 hrs it was at 82 with the aqueon heater. 

 

I allowed the temp to drop to 78 and then used a light timer for better control. 

 

Took 30 mins to go from 78 to 81

Took 1 hr to drop from 81 to 77

 

 

[cfaye@Delaware]

Now with the test you are running you will have to set it up......sand rocks lid.....all of that I feel will effect the temp also, the things in the tank can absorb heat and the lid might hold heat and make temp rise.  Also I think saltwater is heavy, dense, this might also effect temp......How high is the par, if adjustments are made on anything could change temps.....if room temps change the temp in tank will change + -  when you run your tests it will have to run for a few hours. 

 

OK, I was looking at your temps and timing.

Within 1.5 hrs it was at 82 is that your max temp how long did you let run before unplugging...... I feel that you have to run the heater at least 3hrs w/ the full set up not just vase w/ water, as I said above all those things could effect temp.....no living thing in tank but sand and rock and lid, light......also you will have to watch the heater and room temps, and water temps for several days.....if the room temp drops the tank temp will drop, if room temp raises the tank temp will rise.......

[seabass]

7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I added a preset heater today to a vase to determine exactly what any Pico owner will be dealing with.

 

Room temp is 74. Vase is covered to contain heat, 24 watt par 38 on.

 

The water temp started at 71 with no heater.

Within 1.5 hrs it was at 82 with the aqueon heater. 

 

I allowed the temp to drop to 78 and then used a light timer for better control. 

 

Took 30 mins to go from 78 to 81

Took 1 hr to drop from 81 to 77

That's good information, and an excellent way to determine how you might use a light timer to control an always on heater.  So in your case (with your heater, tank, room temperature, and humidity), you would run your heater on for a half hour, off for an hour.  Close monitoring would then allow you to make modifications if needed.

 

I want to point out that there is a difference between a preset heater and an always on heater.  The former has a thermostat which is preset to a specific point (usually around 78 °F).  The heat does go on and off in order to maintain this temperature.  This is an example.

 

With an always on heater, the heater is never turns off on its own (except maybe if equipped with thermal protection, which is not intended to control water temperature).  These heaters are either designed to work with a controller (such as this heater) or are so under powered for a particular situation, that it is not possible for the heater to heat the tank beyond safe limits.  An example might be using one of these on a five gallon tank, in a 70 °F room.

 

I believe that your heater is an always on model, and not one with a preset thermostat.

 

 

@cfaye@Delaware, excellent points.

[cfaye@Delaware]

Thank you seabass, also on the presets, triple check your watts, make sure the heater is rated for your size tank or container. The Cobalt Mini-Therm comes in several different watts for the gallons of water you are using. I'm looking at the box now. For this Brand, don't know about others here is a list of watts per gallon.......

 

5w  1.2 gallon

10w  2.4 gallon

15w  3.6 gallon 

20w  4.8 gallon........

Footnote.......To raise Temp up to 10 degrees F above ambient Temp.....room temp.......once again if room temp goes up container temp goes up.......if room temp goes down, the temp in tank goes down......

[Lula_Mae]

4 hours ago, cfaye@Delaware said:

Thank you seabass, also on the presets, triple check your watts, make sure the heater is rated for your size tank or container. The Cobalt Mini-Therm comes in several different watts for the gallons of water you are using. I'm looking at the box now. For this Brand, don't know about others here is a list of watts per gallon.......

 

5w  1.2 gallon

10w  2.4 gallon

15w  3.6 gallon 

20w  4.8 gallon........

Footnote.......To raise Temp up to 10 degrees F above ambient Temp.....room temp.......once again if room temp goes up container temp goes up.......if room temp goes down, the temp in tank goes down......

Yeah those Cobalts are some of those always on heaters seabass mentioned. I've rarely found tiny heaters that were true presets.