REEF VASE: Have you ever consider keeping a reef in a vase, jar, bowl etc? Check these out!

[SauceyReef]

@SauceyReef

hey I was hoping you can find real live rock in your new setup vs white dry rock

can you get real cured live rock from a pet store? it'll be cheap since its not so many pounds needed...it could change the direction of your reef markedly, in coral growth ability + invasion control and dinos suppression

starting with dry rocks will make it harder, can you ask your pet store if they sell this type of live rock that has coralline and pods and animals in it:

see how that's just straight up awesome pre cured, skip cycle live rock right out of the gate? that's the secret booster sauce

on the lower left side at the bottom they could lift out that purple coralline rock / sell it to you and you'd have a complete ecosystem immediately, ready to reef on day one with no cycle wait time. it would simply lift out of their tank, set into yours, and you'd be up and running. you could glue frags to it

find a rock like that or set of rocks, that's my LFS above in austin who sells cured rock.

I recommend wait to buy animals until after you get your airline, heating, lid if any and topoff all determined and charted. the rock can easily sit in your tank handling the new discovery mapping, it's very tough rock. nothing is going to crash or die in it. with that kind of rock you will not need to buy bottled cycling bacteria.

Hey - thank you a lot for that suggestion! I had a nice piece ready in my Fluval Evo, but it has aiptasia now that I just can not eradicate for the life of me (I have berghias in the tank, aiptasia F, etc.). I am going to scratch using anything from this system, and find a hobbyist with some nice live rock available and pick out a pretty 3-4 lb piece and a few small chunks for the bowl.

I was not going to add anything for quite a bit, and making sure the tank is very well established after I added a simple CUC. My plan is after waiting a month from tank completion to add some hermits and snails, maybe a simple soft coral, and than transfer over my Mangroves from my other system into the bowl. It gets complicated here: I have to set this up to make sure the mangroves can live. They are already doing quite well in my other system about a year now so I do not think it will be that hard to setup. The main problem is this tank they are in had a Caulerpa die off from going asexual. There were problems before this and I had not gotten a chance to run an ICP test. Pretty much nothing will live in the tank after the caulerpa die off, not even a bristle worm. But the Mangroves are happy as can be. I have tried full tank water changes, and running carbon extensively. Time to shut the tank down as this is not working.

I am planning on transferring over one of the mangroves into this established bowl system, and just hope for the best. My fear is some chemical could have possibly leached into the mangroves and can release into whatever tank I put them in. I have no other way of really knowing other than trial by error, and no way of "cleaning" the mangroves unless I setup ANOTHER tank to keep them in for a period of time (which is a possibility).

Lots of thoughts.. I have so much going on though in my life, not a ton of $, and I am definitely going to take as long as needed to do this. I just really want this dead tank taken down, but have some beautiful mangroves growing.

 

[SauceyReef]

Is Nathalie Winans on reef2reef?

His system is also amazing - https://reefs.com/magazine/different-way-reef/

 

[brandon429]

I don't recall seeing their setup here

 

[brandon429]

Hey if you want to beat that aiptasia we can/live time here

I've been trying to build an article on easy removal using common household tools but nobody will bite/they always start over. we could make that one rock you wanted aiptasia free using a flathead screwdriver and a small hammer though, it would be neat to fix up that rock then set up the bowl with it = kill two birds with one stone

there is a way to dig out aiptasia that simply removes them from your systems without fragmentation spreading.

what lighting do you have ready to run the 5 gallon bowl

 

[mattdg]

Here is mine, X3



I have set up a dozen or so others, in the past, such as the 'April 2011 NTOTM - Geldof's 3 Gallon SPS Vase" on the other reef site. Really love these little setups and how resilient they can be, if cared for properly.

 

[brandon429]

that is such a neat thing to see! well done 100%

*hey do you tune your evaporation rates with air input speeds

do you get about every two days for topoff?

inverted lids=always a new changeup this is just great Matt

the terrariums are scaped perfectly / mini forest

 

[SauceyReef]

Hey if you want to beat that aiptasia we can/live time here

I've been trying to build an article on easy removal using common household tools but nobody will bite/they always start over. we could make that one rock you wanted aiptasia free using a flathead screwdriver and a small hammer though, it would be neat to fix up that rock then set up the bowl with it = kill two birds with one stone

there is a way to dig out aiptasia that simply removes them from your systems without fragmentation spreading.

what lighting do you have ready to run the 5 gallon bowl

Honestly I have tried just about everything including this. I really appreciate your optimism. The contamination is quite extensive though. I personally do not believe in any way whatsoever I could remove them manually from my rock or even certain individual rocks. There are a lot of small ones, many the size of a pencil tip. So many crevices in my rock it would be insanely difficult to dig them out. Plus my hands shake, and I have no one to help me do this. This is why I tend to avoid manual removal. Even if I did get 99.9% of everything out, I could still contaminate the new tank. Best to just start with new rock I think. In my Fluavl, I've had berghias for near 6 months now. I occasionally will manually remove or kill some, and the berghias have been doing work and even breeding. They don't seem to beat the population though, and just continuously thrive in my tank. Regardless I am happy with this dynamic and feel the plague is slowly being eradicated while I get to watch a really cool / rare critter in my tank (the berghias).

@brandon429 - I forgot to add I have a AI Prime 16 HD, and a plant light I have been using for the mangrove. I think I am going to buy a 2nd vase though, get one of those nano kessils, and keep the mangroves in a separate vase for a bit with a larger sand bed. Even with the two vases, the gallon count will be less than my current mangrove tank and easier maintenance. Than I wont risk killing whatever is in the bowl, and use the kessil for this.

Here is mine, X3



I have set up a dozen or so others, in the past, such as the 'April 2011 NTOTM - Geldof's 3 Gallon SPS Vase" on the other reef site. Really love these little setups and how resilient they can be, if cared for properly.

Good to hear from you here! I actually was just watching one of your videos on Youtube of the three tanks. Awesome setup. Mind if I ask you some questions?

 

[mattdg]

that is such a neat thing to see! well done 100%

*hey do you tune your evaporation rates with air input speeds

do you get about every two days for topoff?

inverted lids=always a new changeup this is just great Matt

the terrariums are scaped perfectly / mini forest

Thank you. I had way too much fun making this setup.

I get up to 7 days, before they need a top off, with the lids in place.

That is a great idea, to tune the evaporation with a valve. I did not do that, since I didn't want to incorporate any kind of air line restrictions, other than the check valve.

Once a week I top off the little bit of evaporation there is, to bring the SG back in line, then perform a 100% water change on each vase, using the water from my 120 gallon mixed reef. It is impossible to get all of the water in the substrate, which is why I correct the SG first. It has been working well so far.

I do love the terrariums, almost as much as the vases themselves. Hope that is okay to say, on a reef site. Haha!

Great thread. Really enjoyed reading through it.

 

[mattdg]

Honestly I have tried just about everything including this. I really appreciate your optimism. The contamination is quite extensive though. I personally do not believe in any way whatsoever I could remove them manually from my rock or even certain individual rocks. There are a lot of small ones, many the size of a pencil tip. So many crevices in my rock it would be insanely difficult to dig them out. Plus my hands shake, and I have no one to help me do this. This is why I tend to avoid manual removal. Even if I did get 99.9% of everything out, I could still contaminate the new tank. Best to just start with new rock I think. In my Fluavl, I've had berghias for near 6 months now. I occasionally will manually remove or kill some, and the berghias have been doing work and even breeding. They don't seem to beat the population though, and just continuously thrive in my tank. Regardless I am happy with this dynamic and feel the plague is slowly being eradicated while I get to watch a really cool / rare critter in my tank (the berghias).

@brandon429 - I forgot to add I have a AI Prime 16 HD, and a plant light I have been using for the mangrove. I think I am going to buy a 2nd vase though, get one of those nano kessils, and keep the mangroves in a separate vase for a bit with a larger sand bed. Even with the two vases, the gallon count will be less than my current mangrove tank and easier maintenance. Than I wont risk killing whatever is in the bowl, and use the kessil for this.


Good to hear from you here! I actually was just watching one of your videos on Youtube of the three tanks. Awesome setup. Mind if I ask you some questions?

Cool. Thank you for checking out the video. Ask away.

 

[brandon429]

I have never seen inverted lids/that's such a neat changeup, I do not get seven days wow maybe that's helping in a mechanical way/really great job it's an enjoyment reading them

 

[brandon429]

Made an update for year 17

 

[Spicy Reef]

Our Reef Bowl wine glass has a

heater,
pump inside sponge - in the "stem" that cycles water,
air comes on every hour for 10min,
jebao wavemaker and diy leds... It sits on my desktop.

I love watching all the life inside.

Reef Bowl

youtube.com

 

[brandon429]

I especially like how the current in there isn't from distracting air bubbles/the pump setup hidden away makes that current look like a mini ocean in the bowl = well done!

 

[Nano_Man]

Here is mine, X3



I have set up a dozen or so others, in the past, such as the 'April 2011 NTOTM - Geldof's 3 Gallon SPS Vase" on the other reef site. Really love these little setups and how resilient they can be, if cared for properly.

Stunning great video looking brilliant love the lights as well

 

[brandon429]

Matt P, editor = Coral Magazine on a podcast discussing vase and jar reefs below

these are seasoned pros he's talking to

notice their initial skepticism on the technique, that makes this science fun

to keep corals and not have to dose or test the system=bonkers. In 2001 it wasn't just bonkers it was angrily pushed against as lies, that's when it was uber fun science. not just skepticism, but near forum bans lol / the wild west of pico reefing / commonplace today and a monikered commodity in the reef market.

if you go show your tenured biology professor something they haven't seen or read about before, that's just fun stuff. discussion starts about 10 mins in.

http://www.aquariumguyspodcast.com/episode/2fbfbe860044472c/aquarium-jars

 

[BanZI29]

1. Would you ever set up a little reef in a vase or very small container?

As my R2R screen name suggests, YES! I would consider this!

2. Have you ever set up a little reef like one of these and what was your experience?

I have set up many nano tanks under 5 gallons, the smallest being about a .75 gallon. (Pics are gone forever due to a divorce). I would love to have one now but my new wife is still learning to accept one tank. Not a fight I want to have. Still I would love to do a small 3 gallon with sexy shrimp and panda gobies. Maybe some other things too.

Try one of the micro-tanks from PNW Custom. They have a .4 gal tank with a sump. I have that one and their Small in one 1 gal. tank. Both are doing really well.

 

[SauceyReef]

@brandon429 did you make those little magnet frag plugs for your vase? If not could you recommend me where you got them?

 

[brandon429]

I'm using a mix of the first and third ones from this ad

Plastic & Rubber Coated Magnets | K&J Magnetics

www.kjmagnetics.com

*these have been under water for over ten years with absolutely no degradation it's amazing.

 

[SauceyReef]

I'm using a mix of the first and third ones from this ad

Plastic & Rubber Coated Magnets | K&J Magnetics

www.kjmagnetics.com

*these have been undwater for over ten years with absolutely no degradation it's amazing.

Oh nice! So you just get the magnet piece, than glue liverock on to it? Smart!

 

[brandon429]

or use a dremel and bore into a coral skeleton, glue it in the divot! really fun. then you can twist, rotate, move, all kinds of stuff vs they just sit there for two decs