Kellie in CA Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Well, I'm going to give this pico contest a go! I picked up this terrarium a few years ago off a clearance rack. I love the unusual shape, but I just never found a real use for it. It holds approx 1.5 gallons. The low volume makes me a bit nervous, but I'll just see how it goes! Trying to keep to a small budget. As much as I would like to use a powerhead, I think my 2 year old will really get a kick out of the bubbles, so an air pump it is! 10 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Is there fire in there? 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Awesome, that's a very unique container for your pico reef! Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 This contest is a perfect use for your jar. 1 Quote Link to comment
TatorTaco Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Awesome and unusual shaped container. PS: I love taco bell sauce too. Not a fan of the super hot black label one though. Yuck! Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 On 10/11/2017 at 11:31 AM, gena said: Is there fire in there? 3 hours ago, TatorTaco said: Awesome and unusual shaped container. PS: I love taco bell sauce too. Not a fan of the super hot black label one though. Yuck! I had no idea my pico was missing so many options! 1 Quote Link to comment
TatorTaco Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Diablo = Hampster Crap. 4 Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 I'm curious to see how much distortion there will be, but she holds water! 6 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 that looks cool. the distortion is kind of cool. it makes things look bigger, magnified. 1 Quote Link to comment
WillWork4Frags Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 What a unique tank! Following! Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 20 hours ago, Clown79 said: that looks cool. the distortion is kind of cool. it makes things look bigger, magnified. I agree, the distortion is cool. Quote Link to comment
Coral_chef Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 Love the glass! Quote Link to comment
gena Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 On 10/13/2017 at 7:06 PM, Kellie in CA said: I'm curious to see how much distortion there will be, but she holds water! The distortion makes it look even better. Everything looks huge. Tiny frags look huge Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 I can't wait to get something in there! I just can't figure out the lighting situation. I know nothing about these PAR bulbs. I actually ordered one, but then I realized that 27 watts was probably going to fry everything! Whoops! Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Kellie in CA said: I can't wait to get something in there! I just can't figure out the lighting situation. I know nothing about these PAR bulbs. I actually ordered one, but then I realized that 27 watts was probably going to fry everything! Whoops! Probably, unless it's like 2-3 feet up! 12w is probably the maximum you will need for this tank size. Depending on whether you like more white or more blue, I can make a few recommendations. The ABI Tuna Blue is pretty blue to my eyes and brings out the flourescence in the corals. ABI also has what I call a 50/50 bulb that is whites and blues, it's the one seabass is using on his jar. It has a very nice color, not too white, not too blue. I have a bulb from Reef Radiance from their closeout section that is 12w, it was over my 5.5 for a while and it is a nice fairly white color. Reef Radiance also has a 7w bulb that is fairly purple to the eye but corals seem to like it so I am trying it out because it's the perfect wattage for this tank. Those are all the bulbs I have personally tried (well, I also have a secondhand Coral Compulsion bulb which has a very nice, kind of white color to it but not sure on the spectrum of it or wattage). Edit: the 27w could potentially work as is, if the optics are fairly wide so as to disperse the light over a wider area. If they are narrower optics, they will probably fry things in a jiffy. 1 Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 26 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said: Probably, unless it's like 2-3 feet up! 12w is probably the maximum you will need for this tank size. Depending on whether you like more white or more blue, I can make a few recommendations. The ABI Tuna Blue is pretty blue to my eyes and brings out the flourescence in the corals. ABI also has what I call a 50/50 bulb that is whites and blues, it's the one seabass is using on his jar. It has a very nice color, not too white, not too blue. I have a bulb from Reef Radiance from their closeout section that is 12w, it was over my 5.5 for a while and it is a nice fairly white color. Reef Radiance also has a 7w bulb that is fairly purple to the eye but corals seem to like it so I am trying it out because it's the perfect wattage for this tank. Those are all the bulbs I have personally tried (well, I also have a secondhand Coral Compulsion bulb which has a very nice, kind of white color to it but not sure on the spectrum of it or wattage). Edit: the 27w could potentially work as is, if the optics are fairly wide so as to disperse the light over a wider area. If they are narrower optics, they will probably fry things in a jiffy. Thank you. The optics are 120 on the 27 watt. I'll probably just have to eat the cost and start over. That's what I get for trying to be cheap! Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 4 minutes ago, Kellie in CA said: Thank you. The optics are 120 on the 27 watt. I'll probably just have to eat the cost and start over. That's what I get for trying to be cheap! Those are pretty wide optics so you could give it a try and see if it's too intense. Start it high and work it down as needed. Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 I just went ahead and ordered the Reef Radiance PAR30. I am spending too much time obsessing over this (typical me), time to get this thing going! 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Kellie in CA said: I just went ahead and ordered the Reef Radiance PAR30. I am spending too much time obsessing over this (typical me), time to get this thing going! Did you get the closeout model for $29? I ordered one earlier too. Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 5 minutes ago, gena said: Did you get the closeout model for $29? I ordered one earlier too. I think that's the PAR38, I went back and forth between the two. That one was a much better deal for sure. But ended up choosing the PAR30. It just seemed like it would work better with the light fixture I have. 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 10 minutes ago, Kellie in CA said: I think that's the PAR38, I went back and forth between the two. That one was a much better deal for sure. But ended up choosing the PAR30. It just seemed like it would work better with the light fixture I have. Yeah, it was $50 off the original price. I figured it's worth a try. I didn't even see the PAR30 bulb. I'll have to look again, or wait and see it over your tank . Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 1 hour ago, Kellie in CA said: I think that's the PAR38, I went back and forth between the two. That one was a much better deal for sure. But ended up choosing the PAR30. It just seemed like it would work better with the light fixture I have. If it's the 7w model, it's the one I have over my jar at the moment and I used to have it over my 5.5, it's got kind of a purplish hue to it but it grows on you and the corals seem to like it. You can look at early pics of my 5.5 to see the spectrum. 1 Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 17, 2017 Author Share Posted October 17, 2017 The lid arrived today. This container is a little tricky because it is a square that becomes round as it gets to the top. It's also not perfectly symmetrical, the edge is off by quite a bit. I opted for a round piece of 1/8" clear acrylic. There is still some exposure in the corners, but it sits down inside nicely. 4 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 I didn't know you could get round acrylic!! Quote Link to comment
Kellie in CA Posted October 17, 2017 Author Share Posted October 17, 2017 11 minutes ago, kimberbee said: I didn't know you could get round acrylic!! There are a few vendors on eBay that sell acrylic discs. I'm not sure what they are supposed to be for, but there are a variety of sizes. Quote Link to comment
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