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

[MadsDK]

love my reef vase, however, I don't know if it qualifies as a pico as the total volume is about 35 liters.



I made a build thread which you can find here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/pico-reef-vase.770808/

Since my system is a little larger I use a canister filter filled with biohome media and carbon for extra filtration and water movement. I found that pistol shrimps are ideal for tall narrow systems with rock and DSB as they will help keep detritus suspended in the water collum.

SHNICI I have problems with magnets rusting, what is your secret ?

 

[Paulie069]

I have a little 1g... used to have cactus in this thing, then they died. Reefing is easier than plants for me! Smart outlet controlling the Kessil, air pump, and smart Inkbird controlling a little cobalt heater. Custom acrylic lid fits pretty well and don’t have much top for off issues. Have LPS, mushrooms, zoas, and an Astreopora representing the sps...

Sweet so little so cool

 

[SHNICI]

love my reef vase, however, I don't know if it qualifies as a pico as the total volume is about 35 liters.



I made a build thread which you can find here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/pico-reef-vase.770808/

Since my system is a little larger I use a canister filter filled with biohome media and carbon for extra filtration and water movement. I found that pistol shrimps are ideal for tall narrow systems with rock and DSB as they will help keep detritus suspended in the water collum.

SHNICI I have problems with magnets rusting, what is your secret ?

Like I know never mind how big is the whole system, to name it as a pico was important how big(in volume of water) is the DT. I don't think that vase is more than 1g-1.5g. But it look lovely. I'm on the way to make something similar but my one will be in a 2L ball plants tank (plastic better for me) + ehaim canister 2.5L (which I got for free and had to buy new impeller only with the shaft).
Once for few months I attach to my 400L tank small (2L - 1/2g tank) with small 100l/h pump to be for mini/micro/pico refugium and they call it pico refugium after I show it to some people

About the magnets: depending what I need it for, so If it have to stay under the water (SALT WATER) I have 2 methods:
- I'm using epoxy resin which after hardening stay a bit soft like, isn't hardening like glass ever (that will give some stability, not to slide easy in the tank and also will let it take the shapes I'm putting it. for the outside can use just bit of silicon which will prevent slippery and that way will stay on place holding the inner side.
- I'm using acrylic glue similar to Tensol 12 but more liquid like and braking small bits of acrylic or with file I'm making dust like, after I use the glue and the acrylic in a glass container with tight lid to melt the acrylic (adding drops of glue - or thinner in my case by drops and stirring it with metal needle until it get the right consistency). After I dip the magnet to preserve it and leaving to dry out on a nilon (to can't stick and dissolve the surface because of the acrylic glue).
* If I have to attach something to that inner magnet I'm using clear fishing line and gently put 2-3 coils around the magnet before I dip it in the dissolved acrylic. once it dry I can tight the fishing line to whatever I want and the magnet is saved from corosions.

Usually if you are using neodymium magnets (the white metal like polished) they are covered with nickel which is rusting in the salt aggressive water. Because of that if there is even small possibility the magnet not to be covered completely with plastic I'm diping it again to be sure it's not getting rust later on.

that way I'm making my stirrer bars/bits as well, because I have automatic stirrer and I use it always when I test water, instead of shaking the solution I just drop with the syringe the titrants the stirrer all the time constantly stir-mix the solution, is really easy that way, and can get a bit more accurate readings, because all is mixed really good.

If there is something need to be clarified just let me know

 

[brandon429]

These are known safe reefing magnets. Mine are about 7 yrs submerged

Plastic & Rubber Coated Magnets | K&J Magnetics

www.kjmagnetics.com

 

[SHNICI]

These are known safe reefing magnets. Mine are about 7 yrs submerged

Plastic & Rubber Coated Magnets | K&J Magnetics

www.kjmagnetics.com

Can't have them here
I'm taking my for my DIY projects from plastic glass scrappers/flipper/cleaner etc .. for the fish tanks, which I don't need, or the price for them is is small amount for the purposes I'm using them

 

[brandon429]

terrarium globe is just about 20 yrs old that old rascal.
at the start:

and recently:

 

[brandon429]

that is a true unassisted long term ecosystem. true stand alone, uses only topoff and occasional feed no water changes pretty much. there is no heat, circulation or anything other than light, so power outages are no harm. aim it towards the window

That is a multigenerational ecosystem that can be handed down for 300 years like a bonsai lol

no special care: don't bust it, aim it towards the window if power is out a while, run quality lights above it, feed it every once in a while and add some iron occasionally/plant drops. that's it for decades over and over


houses infinite cherry shrimp mixes and white cloud minnows

eventually it'll need siphoned, the substrate has already grown 5 more inches in this time but that's a once every 30 years need.

 

[brandon429]

Fish Tank bowls & Aquarium Supplies at FantasyBowls.com

that is the large acrylic sphere the terrarium is made from.

do get one of these. Even if just common goldfish bowl it’s a showstopper in a living room.

or
keep dart frogs in one with misted bromeliads and the right substrate they can navigate.

Modified as a giant lighted pod:

 

[NoahLikesFish]

considering building a full system sealed pico using a HOB & a 7w led. my main problem right now is lighting. i am currently trying to build a mason jar reef.

 

[brandon429]

year seventeen, your pico reef's great granddad has a beard made of favia

 

[SauceyReef]

Bumping this thread again! I am just started a 5.5 bowl/vase aquarium. I am not really sure what air pump / heater to buy though. Any suggestions?

 

[brandon429]

I use the tetra preset 78 degree heater from wal mart but you'll need a slightly bigger one, pick any common submersible you like. air pump pay to play...mines a dual output driven into a single line so my air can be turned up strong or weak, depending on what I'm wanting for a given running period

I bought a dial-adjustable output flow airpump so it can be up or down.

more bubbles is faster current, sps like it more, but more evaporation rate / needs topoff more often

less bubbles is slower flow, begins to select for cyano if the system is aged but the topoff time is extended massively. I use low rates when on long vacations

if the lid to the vase sits in the inner diameter of the neck this makes for a controlled evaporation ability where you can tune your system to run 12 days without any topoff at all, occasionally. for the long vacation etc...then when you're back home you run the air normally and be topping off every 3 days or so getting the best out of the current.

a bowl or jar may not have a fluted neck, which allows for true inner-diameter seal on the plastic lid therefore those systems won't have the inherent salinity control and the air current control won't matter that much. you want the air adjustable though, whether by pump rotary dial or as a bleed air valve built into the delivery line


**use of airstones in the pico: optional. if you like the sea spray bubbles look you can use an airstone/ I did for years

but Im about ten years now into no airstone inside, airline is cut at an angle cs clean 90 degrees at the end because you'll see it lends a bigger opening hole that way/larger bubbles/more motion of water for less output of air. =Further salinity tuning as discovered by Maritza the vase reef.

 

[brandon429]

Updates to Maritza's ten year old vase reef


Maritza's stellar reefbowl as of last year are below


this is year ten for their reef setup (Maritza is a husband and wife reefing team) I consider their vase the most visually appealing pico with the highest quality corals/colors I've ever seen. I consider their bowl the nicest pico reef in the world. their bowl is barely over 1 gallon in volume.




*they have never rip cleaned the bowl* that's what's additionally unique. the sandbed waste self-balances somehow...during water changes they do uptake via common siphon any topical waste but that's still amazing> the no rip clean super old pico reef packed in corals.


*notice light levels for Maritza, shaded in some areas: not blasting PAR everyone chases yet all corals are simply grown perfectly with no tissue loss undersides*

that's why they don't fight algae, lighting intensity control. that's 1x kessil a160 tuna blue set to low level, all blue no white. They feed benepets reef food to this system exclusively for years now. that's a very powerful feed option apparently, the bowl is perfect.

Read about these two reefs on page thirty in this link:

CORAL Magazine New Issue “MICRO REEFS” Inside Look

A preview of articles and images in the new issue of CORAL, The Reef & Marine Aquarium Magazine, January/February 2018.

www.reef2rainforest.com

soon we want to write an update column / 6-7 year update workup snippet to plug into a new issue if Matt'l have it

 

[brandon429]

very neat side note: Maritza met Wade and Brett from Tanked at a tradeshow somewhere and she got them to sign a copy above/we got pico reefs into mainstream that's sick lol. It's neat they at least saw them and liked them/I thought it was so cool. I would have liked to meet them

Maritza is a powerful writer and reef marketer. Her idea to further refine current delivery in bowl systems by ceasing airstone use and going with direct output open lines was really helpful.



**vases and bowls over time do an interesting thing: the inside of the delivery tube airline begins to take on white mass bacterial or fungal growths which choke the output over time

the actual airline delivery system to a pico reef isn't self-cleaning, you'll wake up one day to your pump running and a totally still bowl and that's oxygen crash for lidded systems if the keeper is on vacation. so, I back blow the delivery line clean each month, and sometimes just cut out the last 1 foot and T in a new silicone line.


use silicone aquarium tubing not pvc it becomes a hardened yellowed structure over time...black silicone stays pliable but you still have to clean it internally

*some of these growths may be regionally impacted, Martiza's rate of accumulation is far lower than mine in Texas. Maritza lives on the east coast.

 

[SauceyReef]

You are so smart I can barely keep up.. This is a lot for my brain to process. Does anyone have a recommendation on an air pump / air stone to get? @brandon429 I would rather go with a pricier one to ensure the tank doesnt crash haha. What are you using?

I purchased a 5.5 gallon CYS glass bowl. Excited to get started! Thank you for the inspiration, motivation, and especially help. I may just start my own post if I am disrupting ya'lls conversatin.

 

[brandon429]

literally go into a fish store, select an air pump and you'll be set. you would pick any submersible heater that fits into it, the wattage does not matter. no one can tell you of a best one, they're all the same, you'd simply select one and install it. you would purchase a submersible heater the pet store shows to be rated for 5-15 gallons, it doesnt hurt to run at 15 gallons rate as these are thermostat controlled heaters and will shut off at the set temp.

 

[SauceyReef]

literally go into a fish store, select an air pump and you'll be set. you would pick any submersible heater that fits into it, the wattage does not matter. no one can tell you of a best one, they're all the same, you'd simply select one and install it. you would purchase a submersible heater the pet store shows to be rated for 5-15 gallons, it doesnt hurt to run at 15 gallons rate as these are thermostat controlled heaters and will shut off at the set temp.

Sounds like as you were saying earlier the airpump is important, and a nicer one will do better! I may stick with the hygger submersible heater. I have a few glass jars for freshwater stuff, and I seem to really like this heater with those little systems. A bit bulky though which is the only negative.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Freshwater, not Saltwater. Purchased a Globe that had a Defect Hole in the Glass. Hooked an External Small Filter to it, return went over the top. Used a Glass Plate for the Top, Set it on our Kitchen Island. Kept Fancy Guppies and Plants in it.

 

[brandon429]

@khoff really really hoping your vase fared all our crazy power outages/storms etc these last few years

 

[brandon429]

@SauceyReef

hey I was hoping you can find real live rock for 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.