jbj pico 3gal build

[supra930]

I am planning on getting a jbj pico 3gal. it has a 9 watt light and i was thinking about getting another 9 watt light to make the watts=18 watts.I was looking at the current satellite 12" 36 watt light but everywhere i look they are discontinued.I also am going to get an aquaclear 20 hob filter, because im sure the filter that comes with it will not be able to produce enough water flow.I plan on doing mostly soft corals zoas, etc.if any one has any advice or suggestions please let me know.

 

[straydog]

The 3 gallon is a hard tank to find a light for since current did away with the 12 inch version , you may still find one on craigslist or ebay . Viper makes a clamp on 70 watt but kind of pricey . If you are good at diy nano tuners has 12" T5 kits but you have an old fixture to cut down and put it in . The evaporation is reduced greatly with a lid.

 

[landonl]

A small LED fixture would work. You can mod the stock light to hold 3-6 LEDs with a single driver that would be good for this setup, depending on what you wanted to grow.

A more expensive option would be a Par38 bulb, which can be placed in any number of regular desk lamps.

Landon

 

[ga_reef]

That cree bulb would be the way to go just be careful on the distance since it can be too bright for some coral. Keep us posted on what you end up putting on it, and post some pics.

 

[superclown]

Ga_reef;577477 wrote: That cree bulb would be the way to go just be careful on the distance since it can be too bright for some coral. Keep us posted on what you end up putting on it, and post some pics.

IF he wen't with the cree xre led's he could always install a dimmer control to turn down the lighting if its too bright

 

[landonl]

SuperClown;577479 wrote: IF he wen't with the cree xre led's he could always install a dimmer control to turn down the lighting if its too bright

I think he was referring to the Par38 bulb, which is not dimmable. Realistically for the price of a Par38, and considering it is massively overpowered for this setup, just a few LEDs mounted on a narrow heatsink could be installed in the stock lighting fixture.

I myself have considered doing a picotope tank, but really have to many tanks already. I will be interested to see how this goes.

Landon