[tcbonline]

Hi all,

I'm considering one of the following 3 gallon tank setups for a small planted tank at the office. It will probably be home for a betta and maybe just a couple of small friends. The tanks I'm considering are...

1. Picotope 3g
2. Marineland Eclipse 3g
3. Deco Kit 3g

I really don't want to do any major mods to the hardware and being in office sourroundings it has to be quiet and relatively easy maintenance. It will probably start out at least as a pretty low-tech tank.

If you have experience with any of these tanks, I would love to read about the pros/cons of each and any comparisons you might have. Also, if you have some recommendations for starter plants, I'd love to hear it!

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Burks]

Can't help much on the planted side, but I used the Picotope for like 2 years for a reef tank. Loved it. Never had any issues with the tank or filter. Bulbs were a pain to find to replace, but that's about it.

 

[surf4life87]

I got the marineland eclipse 3g for my brother for christmas and I would have to say that it is a really well built tank with good filtration and it is very quiet. He uses his for his betta. Also, the stock lighting that comes with the tank is very bright and is good enough for some low light live plants.

 

[Morainy]

I have planted Eclipse corner 5 tanks and 2 Eclipse 6 tanks, as well as an Eclipse 12 and a system 2. My plants are growing well in all of them, so I'm very impressed with the Marineland Eclipse and I'd go with the Eclipse 3, from that group. But if you can, why not get an Eclipse corner 5 or an Eclipse 6? The cost is often about the same and it's a little easier to stock a tank that's 5 or 6 gallons, than 3.

I use my corner 5 for a betta and don't even run the filtration system, even though the Eclipse filters are nice and quiet. He just doesn't like moving water. I do frequent water changes, and the betta and the plants are all very healthy and apparently happy.

 

[PinoyBoy]

Picotope or the Marineland.

The tom deco kit is acrylic and the light bulb cannot be replaced. So you would have to buy a new lightfixture in the long run. Plus the Picotope is glass and cheaper (but higher quality) than the tom deco kit. For the plants, I think some anubias nana petite tied to a driftwood and some sort of java fern for the background would be a great start.

 

[Amazonfish]

You actually can replace the lights on the tom deco kits, but the 2 gallon and 3 gallon versions each come with 50/50 bulbs and that's all you can get for the fixtures:

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/10977/product.web

However, the picotope comes with a 9 watt lamp and I don't know how effective that will be at growing plants. I'd still probably go with the picotope though, since it's glass. I'd replace the light with this though.

I don't know if you knew this, but the tom deco kits actually come with a lid (look closely at the pics, and you'll see it in some of them).