Just a jar for a friend...my reef jar

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi everyone! I am setting up a 2 gallon pico jar for my friend and wanted to document its progress. Here's the specs!
Circulation: Two airlines from a 4 watt air pump
Heater: 25 watts
Light: Ultimately a PAR38 ABI tuna blue bulb, 23 watt. Currently a 15 watt, 5000k LED bulb.
WC schedule: One 100% water change a week
Substrate: Likely none for ease of maintenance
Lid: TBD (May just use plastic wrap)

Here's the jar as it stands;

The rock was dry until today, so I will need to buy some live rock if I intend to have this ready by my January deadline.

Anyhow, here is where you get to participate! I have two designs I am considering for this jar and wanted your help picking it. Of course, the final vote goes to my friend, but if he is undecided this could be VERY important. Here's the schematics!

Design 1: Red grape macro, Hypnea pannosa and ricordea polyps with a gorgonian;

Design 2: Several zoanthid colonies and a single large green with purple rim Ricordea polyp from KP aquatics;

Thanks for viewing and voting!

 

[Hitman]

With design 1 you probably will have very little need for water changes other trace elements IMO

 

[cracker]

I like design 2 there is an extra coral .choice of another color for contrast .

 

[LordJoshaeus]

With design 1 you probably will have very little need for water changes other trace elements IMO

So...would a 50% wc a week work for design number 1?

 

[Hitman]

So...would a 50% wc a week work for design number 1?

Honestly it would probably work with both designs.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Here's a thought...are there any inverts that would work for the 50% water change regime? I imagine the jar is probably too small for fish...maybe a sexy shrimp or two would work?

 

[Hitman]

Sexy shrimp, maybe a single dwarf hermit

 

[LordJoshaeus]

OK! Thanks.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I like design 1. Seems most likely to feel open and it will have a greater diversity of species. Sexy Shrimp is a good choice. In a tank that small you could add some Mojano anemones. Usually they are considered pests, and they can sting like any anemone, but they are often quite beautiful.

 

[rkpetersen]

Nice! I'm seriously interested in setting up a pico tank but want to find a decent large vase for it. Design 1 is more interesting as presented there although you could almost certainly eventually add much more. 100% weekly water changes are pretty much standard for pico tanks, aren't they? The advantage of a 100% water change is that you can do an absolutely massive feeding just before the water change, no problem. But of course the new water should match the old pretty closely. If you get algae growth you might be able to eventually add one small herbivorous fish.

 

[Rakie]

My advice -- Ditch the airlines. They will just make salt creep.

I would instead, get the ATO pumps like the micro tunze/sicce pumps. They're very high quality, cost like $20, and are VERY small and adjustable.

The Sicce Mouse pump looks like a great option <--- LINK.

It has an adjustable flow rate, it's 1.5x2" which is very small, and can easily be hidden behind a rock. Uses less electricity than the air pump.

 

[Rakie]

One other thing!

If you CAN, be creative with small rubble rock and PVC..

Get some 1" PVC for example.. Cut it in half so you have a half cylinder of PVC. Glue lots of rubble rock to it, and attach or lean it against the glass. This will hold the heater and a micro pump, as well as act like a rock wall that will allow you to grow on a vertical surface. This will give more open space, which is very hard to get in a small jar.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Update time everyone! In the end we went with a combination of the two designs...it's not complete yet, but here are some pictures of the jar! Hope you like it so far

Current livestock includes two clumps of green gracilaria, a purple gorgonian (forget the species...had to frag it to make it fit), and a colony of bluish grey zoanthids.

 

[JasonK84]

Here's a thought...are there any inverts that would work for the 50% water change regime? I imagine the jar is probably too small for fish...maybe a sexy shrimp or two would work?

Pom Pom crab would be sweet!!

 

[LordJoshaeus]

I was thinking the same thing! Side note...the polyps on the zoanthid and the gorgonian have not opened yet. Is that normal, or should I be concerned?

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Bad news everyone...I had a rough week and, while I fed the jar Friday, I forgot to do a water change. When I did it today and tested the water, nitrates and phosphates were at 40ppm and 1 ppm! Unsurprisingly, the gorgonian was beyond saving (most of its tissue was gone) and the zoanthid has still not opened (I moved it to my 10 gallon to see if it recovers). Clearly feeding a jar all at once does not work for me...just in case, I am going to make this a macroalgae only jar, perhaps with a single small invertebrate in it, so my friend is less likely to nuke the tank.

 

[count krunk]

If he really wants a tank, a 2.5 or 5 gallon would work much easier

 

[norfolkgarden]

Bad news everyone...I had a rough week and, while I fed the jar Friday, I forgot to do a water change. When I did it today and tested the water, nitrates and phosphates were at 40ppm and 1 ppm! Unsurprisingly, the gorgonian was beyond saving (most of its tissue was gone) and the zoanthid has still not opened (I moved it to my 10 gallon to see if it recovers). Clearly feeding a jar all at once does not work for me...just in case, I am going to make this a macroalgae only jar, perhaps with a single small invertebrate in it, so my friend is less likely to nuke the tank.

Please sloowww doowwnnn !!!

I have enjoyed watching you discover the many separate possibilities in reef tanks. [emoji846]

Your enthusiasm and energy is wonderful! [emoji846]

Unfortunately reef tank success is measured in years.
The steady, slow, boring, *consistent* maintenance is what causes them to thrive.

Lol, OMG, My freshwater tank has absolutely Zero requirements compared to my salt water tank.

And my salt water tank is nothing but fish and easy, invasive soft corals.

Your ideas are wonderful!

Settle on something that can be maintained consistantly and you will have great success. [emoji846]

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Please sloowww doowwnnn !!!

I have enjoyed watching you discover the many separate possibilities in reef tanks. [emoji846]

Your enthusiasm and energy is wonderful! [emoji846]

Unfortunately reef tank success is measured in years.
The steady, slow, boring, *consistent* maintenance is what causes them to thrive.

Lol, OMG, My freshwater tank has absolutely Zero requirements compared to my salt water tank.

And my salt water tank is nothing but fish and easy, invasive soft corals.

Your ideas are wonderful!

Settle on something that can be maintained consistantly and you will have great success. [emoji846]

It is indeed measured in years...I was definitely going too fast, that is what my thought process is. I will just let this percolate for a few months before trying to add any corals or mobile inverts (if any), and only add macroalgae before then. Side note...bought a gorgonian today, but after I read your post I was reminded that I am going too fast with this, so I will put it in my more established tanks for now. Thanks for the reminder Also, just discovered the distilled water I have been using has a TDS of 7 ppm...that may explain the algae problems my other tanks have been having. Time to use that RODI unit I bought!

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi again everyone! Did a 75% water change on the jar today. The old water had 5 ppm nitrates...clearly my current feeding schedule is MUCH more appropriate I am feeding about 5 mini omega one marine pellets every night, pellets that will eventually feed a micro invert of undetermined species but for now just add nitrogen for the macroalgae.