Noah's Pico Vase

Noahp · Dec 21, 2011

Hello everyone recently I decided my room needed a bed side light so I went out and bought a 2 gallon vase. Originally I planned on a betta or freshwater shrimp tank untill I was struck with this idea. The thought around this is similar to a zen garden (Where I got my idea from) It started with the construction of a frame.

The hanging of a light

The finished box which has been trimmed and painted

My ocean zen around it

Finally an aquascape from some rubble rock and coral skeletons

The plan for this pico is just some simple soft corals xenia, kenya tree, GSP, and maybe a few cool macros. Let me know what you think and any suggestions are welcome :)

revhtree · Dec 21, 2011

That's very cool!

May I ask your plans for keeping it clean?

Noahp · Dec 21, 2011

Thanks! I have enough room between the glass and the rock to fit a small cleaning tool with a sponge for the random micro algae and if worse comes to worse with coraline I can take the whole pillar put it in a 5 gallon bucket and scape it down.

Lateral72 · Dec 21, 2011

I think Rev meant more along the lines of water quality, rather than being covered with algae? You're going to need some type of water movement, otherwise your pH & O2 content will plummet.

It wouldn't be very hard to make a closed loop out of some PVC or Flexible Tubing and a Maxijet.

Noahp · Dec 21, 2011

Oh my bad I have an air pump on it in such a small tank it creates decent flow this is what I see being used for tanks this size and shape. Weekly water changes will be done since I do it on my larger system this won't be a problem.

orthokardia · Jan 1, 2012

i love the combo idea with the zen garden

dougers31 · Jan 1, 2012

Drill that sucker and add a sump:) Air bubbles will cause issues with salt creep and will be messy.

Noahp · Jan 1, 2012

Thanks Ortho!
I would drill it but it sits on my mini fridge so there is no where to put a sump. I'm working on a way keep the salt creep down if I can't I'll throw a tiny power head in there.

spspirate · Jan 3, 2012

If you have a reef already set up you can do multiple small water changes threw out the week. You could do zoos and a lil shrimp or something. Nothing to demanding and I think you may be all right.