vase reef water flow

[Dtackett]

so a topic on here got me wanted to do a vase reef tank. 1.5 gallon. im looking at different lights and different ways to do flow.

I thought about using a little 12 volt water pump to provide the flow, but most have exposed metal so that's a no go. so it looks like im stuck with using an air stone. issue is, I don't like the look of bubbles in my tanks. so my thought was use a piece of pvc, perforated with holes on the bottom 3 inches with the top just barely under the water with the air stone in the bottom. it would work like an under gravel filter without the gravel. water would be pulled in through the holes and exit through the top providing flow to the tank. of course it would be a decent sized pump to provide decent flow. but would that be enough flow? itll be all coral with the exception of a few sexy shrimp and a couple snails to help with clean up on the glass.

as for the lights im thinking a single 54 watt par38 should be enough. the vase im going to use is about 1.5 gallons and 11 inches tall, but add the lid and the light will have to penetrate through a decent amount of glass and be able to fill the tank with light. is a par38 going to cut it? or do I need to be looking at something else. the rest is easy and ive already got everything for it.

 

[Harold Green]

Why not drill the vase tank and set up a sump below it? Then you can have all the benefits and only have a small overflow in the vase.

 

[brandon429]

Drilling is an option no prob, i bought a 7$ diamond bit from home dept and went to town, you can cut 50 circles in a vase w one of those if needed lol

Undrilled is also ok, the upflow you mentioned is fine. Air vs pumps has some notable chemistry effects in the vases however, its direct degassing of C02 and thereby ph control that water pumps cannot attain. It is very helpful in small tanks


however, you should know that Tyler Johnson is an avid youtube w vases that he actually set up as small rental business for a few bucks a mo at different hair shops, pet stores, places around his town and several used no air at all, just tiny jebo water pumps, nothing for a fountain or any type of hacked item but they literally make micro aquarium pumps you can get off amazon that are fine for sw tanks

the fact reefbowlers ideally change 100% of the water weekly anyway means its not terrible if no air is used.

 

[Harold Green]

Years ago I saw a saltwater shallow gold fish bowl with two Harlequin shrimp and no equipment. Only daily water changes.

 

[brandon429]

yes I fully can imagine that. the wc w export wastes and control topoff by simple reset before the evap would make a difference, and not a lot of current would be needed.

 

[Dtackett]

not trying to drill. kinda defeats the purpose and the challenge. while im an avid supporter of sumps, in this instance I would like it to be as simple as possible equipment wise. think ill go with the upflow and see how it all works. maybe change to a pump later. obviously, there wont be any fish. just a couple sexy shrimp and maybe a couple snails to help keep the glass clean. so I don't see there being much of an issue with co2.

 

[brandon429]

Co2 is still a viable issue though, even in the setup described as we now must factor no less than a few million respiring bacteria in the sand I assume w be used, its quite a co2 source actually. Then we factor in a lid, which is nearly always required for reefbowls so you can get the salinity control that w beat a 200 gallon reef

we win at salt controls lol whod have thunk it

so that uplift tube you mentioned w work, and it keeps the air flowing which is pH and co2 degassing ideal.

If you decided to go with a pump and no laminar airflow, that w degas co2 less, but since it still needs large regular weekly water changes you'll be evacuating the co2 anyway before it mattered much.

 

[Dtackett]

true and im not sure about sand. still researching the idea. a lot seem to have a pretty deep sand bend. will the tank benefit from sand? or does it really matter?

 

[Dtackett]

I run my main tank BB but that's for ease of maintenance but its got fish and a ton of flow. this is different lol

 

[Rybren]

I ran a 3G jar tank for about 4 years and used a MJ400 for flow. I had the pump buried in the rock to try and dissipate the flow. The 400 would be too much for your vase, but maybe try one of the Hydor pico pumps. The smallest one does about 60gph.

Here's a crappy picture of mine. I took it down over the winter and built myself a 10G AIO.

 

[brandon429]

Rybren I watched that setup on rc the whole time it was great.

Sand or no sand is fine truly either way is ok.

 

[Rybren]

Thanks Brandon. You were my inspiration to build the pico.

 

[Dtackett]

thanks guys. still not sure if im going to use sand. im not a fan of it, but its mostly because of the pain of keeping it clean, and the ticking time bomb a decent sand bed can end up being. but in a tank this small it might look good, or I might go without like I do in my main tank. not sure yet. itll still be a month or 2 before I start the setup. still want to stock my main tank first and figure out where I want to put this one. thinking on my coffee table but I prefer not to have the wires or hoses showing... the pain of trying to do things like this and make them look pretty... maybe I can hand the light and run the wires above it so the wire just drops down from the ceiling and the air tube drops below it... see, this is why it takes me so long to set up such a simple tank...

 

[Dtackett]

I ran a 3G jar tank for about 4 years and used a MJ400 for flow. I had the pump buried in the rock to try and dissipate the flow. The 400 would be too much for your vase, but maybe try one of the Hydor pico pumps. The smallest one does about 60gph.

Here's a crappy picture of mine. I took it down over the winter and built myself a 10G AIO.

what light are you running on that? generic par38 or a specific one?

 

[brandon429]

If it helps, I am 100% positive by application that in every reefbowl using sand and following the timed wc/ feeding you can get ten yrs on the bed before a change, ie a sandbed doesn't limit the lifespan of a pico when anti OTS measures are taken.

It really is ok to use if the timed feedings and occasional 20x blast cleaning occurs (where you pour twenty gallons of water through the pico in one sitting, ejecting all detritus simulating upwellings found on natural reefs during storms.)

The bb approach allows for easier detritus removal tho

 

[Rybren]

what light are you running on that? generic par38 or a specific one?

It's a DIY 3x3W Royal Blue and 3x3W 6500k white

 

[Dtackett]

nice. so this is the plan so far.

Im doing a 1.5 gallon vase tank. Itll be a mixed reef containing sps, lps, and softies. Flow will be provided via a large bubble airstone in a pvc downpipe buried in the rockwork with the top of the pvc just barely under water. Lighting is the only thing I haven't completely decided on, but im pretty sure itll be a single par38. just gotta find a 54 watt with a spectrum and lens setup that I like. don't want too much light pollution from it. light will be hung from my ceiling with a floating wood canopy hanging from the same chain. The air line will follow the same path as the light and drop down into the tank through the lid. the heater will be buried on the bottom of the vase and hidden as well. the cord will also hang down and go through the lid (haven't quite figured that one out yet. may have to pinch the wire between the lid and the vase by grinding out a small slot)

planned coral will be
green and purple digitata and a couple small monticap frags, duncans below, then zoas and mushrooms.

only thing else will be a couple sexy shrimp and 1 or 2 small snails to help keep it clean.

maintenance will be weekly 100% water changes and wipe down of the glass.

rockwork will be epoxied around the pvc so it sits as one structure with the heater and airstone hidden within.

any thoughts on this build?

 

[Rybren]

Sounds like a good plan, but I think that 54W of LED over the vase might be too much light.

 

[Dtackett]

yeah a 54 watt is a lot of light, but I can raise or lower it and I prefer too much and having it hang higher rather than not enough.