pakejehlke
New Member
Hello everyone! I've been out of the hobby for about 5 years now and finally decided to get back into it. I previously had an IM Nuvo 30 mixed reef and kept all the equipment. I had planned to use that tank again but after pulling everything out of storage, some how one of my Ai Primes no longer worked, leaving me with only one. I didn't want to buy another one so I decided I'll try a nano reef and spent time looking for a small AIO. I was gifted this vase about a year ago where it sat in my garage and was almost thrown out a few times or was going to be donated. Im glad I didn't because now I am so excited to how this is turning out!
I'm looking forward to using R2R to track my progress and record when livestock is added and track numbers, as this is something I did not do with my last tank.
I had all my old rock that I gave a small bleach bath in since they were sitting in an open bucket outside for 5 years. I rinsed them several times and soaked in FW with a lot of Prime to get rid of any residual bleach and then let them soak in the sun for a few days. I grabbed a 5 gallon bucket and made a batch of salt water and cured them for little over a month with Fritz turbo start.
On April 1st I grabbed a 10lb bag of Carib-sea Bahamas Oolite... ( I did not know how small of a grain this sand is.. it's been a bit annoying to say the least. ) I made my rock scape and filled the bowl. It took about 3 days for the dust to settle with the small Nicrew internal filter.
I have kept the lights off this entire time while cycling and throw in a pellet every now and then for the bacteria.
Evaporation has not been a problem at all. When filling up the tank, I used a dry erase marker and drew the water line to keep track, and I go about a week before noticing it slightly lower. Through out the week I pick up the lid and tip it so the condensation falls back into the tank.
The AI Prime is sitting right on the glass lid. I purchased a diffuser that is vented to keep it from over heating itself and to spread the light evenly through out the bowl. When playing with the light, I do not get any disco ball effect with the diffuser. When I decided where I'll be keeping the vase I am going to put a shelf above it to hang the Prime, but as of now it's looking sleek.
I added my first coral on 4-20-26. A small Sinularia I got from my LFS to have something to look at. Three days in and it is looking great, polyps out and fully extended.
Since adding the frag, I keep my light on from 3:30-9:30, which an hour ramp up and hour ramp down, but only running the AI at about 4w and will increase as needed. With the light on the lid the lighting is really focused right into the bowl so I will be paying close attention if I need to increase/decrease.
And that brings this up to date. I am so excited to watch this grow out. I love Zoas and Ricordias so that will be my main focus. Thank you so much for reading!
Equipment:
- About 6 gallon bowl, 5 gallons with hard scape
-AI Prime HD
-Nicrew Mini internal filter for Flow. 50gph (Might move to air line as many other vase/jar reefs seem to have a lot of success with this)
-Hyyger Nano heater
Stocking:
- 10lbs Carib-sea Bahamas Oolite
- 5lbs reef Rock (I didn't weigh so estimated)
- Sinularia ( added 4/23/26)
I'm looking forward to using R2R to track my progress and record when livestock is added and track numbers, as this is something I did not do with my last tank.
I had all my old rock that I gave a small bleach bath in since they were sitting in an open bucket outside for 5 years. I rinsed them several times and soaked in FW with a lot of Prime to get rid of any residual bleach and then let them soak in the sun for a few days. I grabbed a 5 gallon bucket and made a batch of salt water and cured them for little over a month with Fritz turbo start.
On April 1st I grabbed a 10lb bag of Carib-sea Bahamas Oolite... ( I did not know how small of a grain this sand is.. it's been a bit annoying to say the least. ) I made my rock scape and filled the bowl. It took about 3 days for the dust to settle with the small Nicrew internal filter.
I have kept the lights off this entire time while cycling and throw in a pellet every now and then for the bacteria.
Evaporation has not been a problem at all. When filling up the tank, I used a dry erase marker and drew the water line to keep track, and I go about a week before noticing it slightly lower. Through out the week I pick up the lid and tip it so the condensation falls back into the tank.
The AI Prime is sitting right on the glass lid. I purchased a diffuser that is vented to keep it from over heating itself and to spread the light evenly through out the bowl. When playing with the light, I do not get any disco ball effect with the diffuser. When I decided where I'll be keeping the vase I am going to put a shelf above it to hang the Prime, but as of now it's looking sleek.
I added my first coral on 4-20-26. A small Sinularia I got from my LFS to have something to look at. Three days in and it is looking great, polyps out and fully extended.
Since adding the frag, I keep my light on from 3:30-9:30, which an hour ramp up and hour ramp down, but only running the AI at about 4w and will increase as needed. With the light on the lid the lighting is really focused right into the bowl so I will be paying close attention if I need to increase/decrease.
And that brings this up to date. I am so excited to watch this grow out. I love Zoas and Ricordias so that will be my main focus. Thank you so much for reading!
Equipment:
- About 6 gallon bowl, 5 gallons with hard scape
-AI Prime HD
-Nicrew Mini internal filter for Flow. 50gph (Might move to air line as many other vase/jar reefs seem to have a lot of success with this)
-Hyyger Nano heater
Stocking:
- 10lbs Carib-sea Bahamas Oolite
- 5lbs reef Rock (I didn't weigh so estimated)
- Sinularia ( added 4/23/26)
