My pico reef jars!

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi again everyone! Yesterday I got some Fritz Turbostart 900 in the mail and proceeded to dose it to both jars...the big jar has nitrite and nitrate readings as of today, so clearly it is doing its job (even though it smells as bad as advertised! )

In other news...my jars (and my freshwater tanks, for that matter) dodged a bullet today. Early this morning my parent's room and my brother's room lost power and have yet to regain it, and we are having trouble getting ahold of our electrician...mine flickered but never went away for long. It did remind me that I need to make preparations for winter power outages...

 

[MnFish1]

Sorry about the spill.

I kept one of those jars in my kitchen for about 3 years. My only suggestion would be to consider the 2 gallon instead of 1 gallon jar. The equipment and maintenance is about the same, but the smaller jar will fill up really quickly. I kept some softies, frogspawn, and Duncan in mine along with sexy shrimp, 1 small hermit, and a couple snails. Everything did fine for about three years until my light broke. I also did about 90% water changes every two weeks or so for ‘filtration’. I always had high phosphate and low nitrate, so after water change I would add 1 drop of lanthanum chloride and a little liquid nitrate, this seemed to help with the LPS.

One wonders if natural light would be enough, i.e. a sunny window - though temperatures may become an issue.

 

[Kehy]

One wonders if natural light would be enough, i.e. a sunny window - though temperatures may become an issue.

I've had a 1l windowsill jar where the only hardware was a fountain pump. Had a few algaes/ macros with majano nems, and a few coral that needed a new home. Was doing brilliantly, the temp changes didn't bother the corals AT ALL. I also swore off heaters in my reef tanks, and while there might be ~7 degree shifts or more the coral literally did not care. Some got happier with the lower temps, if anything. Mind the deciding factor was I don't put fish in my tanks, so no serious risk there.

It was only running for a couple weeks before gravity struck, still contemplating another.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

You folks that can keep these thriving are awesome. Best of luck op.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Hello everyone! Small update...I got a PAR meter in the mail yesterday and discovered that my light (which was hanging about six or seven inches above the larger jar) was only providing about 60-65 PAR at the sand bed (less in the gallon jar) and not much more atop the rockwork. I opted to hang the light lower and that solved the PAR problem...it'll just be a slight annoyance while doing water changes.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Hello again everyone! Minor update time...I received copepods (specifically Tigriopus, Tisbe, and Apocyclops) in the mail from Dinkins Aquatic Gardens today and added them to the jars, along with a little phyto (also from Dinkins) to feed them. The pods, in addition to feeding the future corals, will also eat algae and help me navigate the "ugly phase". I am also adding Microbacter Clean every day for the same reason.

 

[SilverRanger]

Chemi pure elite reduces the uglies in my experience

 

[lil sumpin]

Love to see it. I still havent gotten the gumption to start mine up yet but am getting inspired seeing yours

 

[One Reefing Boi]

I suggest a yellow tang for algae control!

(Hopefully this isn’t needed but /s)

 

[Solo McReefer]

I suggest a yellow tang for algae control!

(Hopefully this isn’t needed but /s)

 

[smitten with ocean life]

I've had a 1l windowsill jar where the only hardware was a fountain pump. Had a few algaes/ macros with majano nems, and a few coral that needed a new home. Was doing brilliantly, the temp changes didn't bother the corals AT ALL. I also swore off heaters in my reef tanks, and while there might be ~7 degree shifts or more the coral literally did not care. Some got happier with the lower temps, if anything. Mind the deciding factor was I don't put fish in my tanks, so no serious risk there.

It was only running for a couple weeks before gravity struck, still contemplating another.

thats beautiful!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

I suggest a yellow tang for algae control!

(Hopefully this isn’t needed but /s)

in a little jar??

 

[Solo McReefer]

in a little jar??

It's not a little jar

It's a 1 gallon jar

 

[smitten with ocean life]

sorry. i guess when i compare it to my tank it seems like a little jar. but yes, 1 gallon either way seems kinda small for a yellow tang

 

[Cichlid Dad]

sorry. i guess when i compare it to my tank it seems like a little jar. but yes, 1 gallon either way seems kinda small for a yellow tang

I have a sailfin in a 2.5 gallon jar, so totally doable

 

[sfin52]

I have a sailfin in a 2.5 gallon jar, so totally doable

Pi cs or it never happened. That's the rule

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Pi cs or it never happened. That's the rule

 

[sfin52]

I thought you had a toy sailfin that you put in a jar. Pretty betta

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I thought you had a toy sailfin that you put in a jar. Pretty betta

I just got that off of the interwebs LOL

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Hello again everyone! Here's an update...I have decided that I REALLY want to keep saltwater fish, so I am going to be replacing both jars with a 10 gallon tank. I have live rock arriving in the mail tomorrow from Dinkin's Aquatic Gardens, so I will set up the tank when it arrives...that will also be the time I start a new thread documenting the progress of my new 10 gallon, which just passed leak testing upstairs. I will post a link to the new thread when it is set up. Thank you so much for following along!

(PS...for those wondering what I will do about quarantining new fish and corals, I have a 5 gallon at home I will appropriate for that purpose).