Brandon, I am very interested in starting one of these vases. What would you recommend as the cheapest and best way to light it? Should I use an air stone or a small power head?
Reef Tank In A Flower Vase
- Thread starter mr.bigglesworth
- Start date
Thanks for responding
I prefer to use just an airstone in mine without a pwerhead
its less fail points, less things to clean etc and its plenty enough current for every coral
the airstone constantly running also drives off CO2 which is very important for pH control in a pico reef
if you need any more assistance post here or post on the comments section of that article I'll be glad to help in the spread of these things lol
B
for the lighting I have to recommend either power compacts, what I use, or the new fangled led's everyone else uses. boostled.com sells a par 30 in any spectrum you like
I prefer to use just an airstone in mine without a pwerhead
its less fail points, less things to clean etc and its plenty enough current for every coral
the airstone constantly running also drives off CO2 which is very important for pH control in a pico reef
if you need any more assistance post here or post on the comments section of that article I'll be glad to help in the spread of these things lol
B
for the lighting I have to recommend either power compacts, what I use, or the new fangled led's everyone else uses. boostled.com sells a par 30 in any spectrum you like
also, the fun part is how easy and cheap all this is. you don't have to pack in all the corals I do you can start with any fragment of common coral and it will grow. the most important care method, after you set one up, is to change out all the water weekly avoid skipping weeks if you can, get into the habit, its only 1 gallon. you set the salinity and temp of the changewater to match the water you are removing, and then siphon it all out and refill. Only feed the tank with a high quality, -refrigerated- reef feed an hour before this water change, the corals must be fed and this is the proper way to feed a pico reef.
Part of the reason you can find a million pico reefs on the internet, and then only 1 over 5 yrs old, is because they feed the tank wrong and change the water wrong, hope this helps
the feeding and water change trick mentioned isn't critical in the first few months of life...the average lifespan of today's pico reefs. Its critical for getting past the 18month mark...the timeframe all other pics reefs start to die and get choked with algae. If you treat a new pico reef, like its old, then it never ages
and that took me ten years to figger out lol
Part of the reason you can find a million pico reefs on the internet, and then only 1 over 5 yrs old, is because they feed the tank wrong and change the water wrong, hope this helps
the feeding and water change trick mentioned isn't critical in the first few months of life...the average lifespan of today's pico reefs. Its critical for getting past the 18month mark...the timeframe all other pics reefs start to die and get choked with algae. If you treat a new pico reef, like its old, then it never ages
and that took me ten years to figger out lol
Thanks for all the advice.
I did some more research and I think I'm going to go with a diy led light to cut down on costs.
Do you think this led will be sufficient?
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/10W-Super-Ac...591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d071726e7
I'm excited to get this thing going. I always thought that saltwater was expensive and a lot of work. So this sounds like a great place to start my saltwater adventure, if I like it I might even set up a 10g.
I did some more research and I think I'm going to go with a diy led light to cut down on costs.
Do you think this led will be sufficient?
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/10W-Super-Ac...591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d071726e7
I'm excited to get this thing going. I always thought that saltwater was expensive and a lot of work. So this sounds like a great place to start my saltwater adventure, if I like it I might even set up a 10g.
From what I can tell thats an actinic (blue) spectrum only so it will need supplementation. Since I don't use LED's I really shouldnt guide regarding their use, let me direct you to any of the common nano reef forums for that kind of advice or here if there is such a forum for marine
the boostled stuff was full spectrum + actinic thats why I know it will work. on our nano forums lots of people diy their stuff to save costs, but its way more than the cost shown in that ebay link I think its missing drivers, wiring housing etc + the supplemental bulbs its quite a tech adventure to wire up those things but that's half the fun for some peeps
the boostled stuff was full spectrum + actinic thats why I know it will work. on our nano forums lots of people diy their stuff to save costs, but its way more than the cost shown in that ebay link I think its missing drivers, wiring housing etc + the supplemental bulbs its quite a tech adventure to wire up those things but that's half the fun for some peeps
Here is my plan:
For lighting I am going to use either a 10W hybrid led or a 10W white led, along with a heat sink, a driver, and a fan. I am going to use a 25W heater, an air stone turned down to 25% (read somewhere that it would decrease my top off time) and a small power head (already have it). Then I will buy some live rock, sand, and a 5g bucket of water (for water changes) from someone with and established tank.
All of this will cost me around $30.
Once I have everything in my vase how long do I have to wait to add corals?
For lighting I am going to use either a 10W hybrid led or a 10W white led, along with a heat sink, a driver, and a fan. I am going to use a 25W heater, an air stone turned down to 25% (read somewhere that it would decrease my top off time) and a small power head (already have it). Then I will buy some live rock, sand, and a 5g bucket of water (for water changes) from someone with and established tank.
All of this will cost me around $30.
Once I have everything in my vase how long do I have to wait to add corals?
basically it is a smaller, less eye appealing fish tank with limited filtration and light choices.
Much more work, testing, and everything else for less pay off.
I don't get it.
Much more work, testing, and everything else for less pay off.
I don't get it.
Thats a common assumption made from those who kept larger tanks, or smaller tanks that suffer from topoff and testing hassles. These vase reefs do not require water testing, ever, except for what you need at water change time, a temp indicator and a swingarm hydrometer. Refractometers are highly optional and never required in reefkeeping, so the testing question has been addressed, there isn't any.
These reefs are less work than any other reeftank or I wouldn't own one...my other hobbies are much more costly lol and its the stability of this tank compared to other setups that make it outlast the other setups we often compare to...
When you change out all, and not part of the water, you reset the ion and chemical palette to neutral, nsw levels, thats why you don't test for anything. We don't use fish, so there is nothing to die and leak ammonia, therefore we just opted out of nitrate, phosphate, silicate, ammonia, calcium and alk testing
try doing that with any other reef
the topoff is once a week now with the setup muskieboy is describing, a trick invented by cichlidmania26 off youtube that can make a reefbowl go up to 14 days in between a single topoff (he did this while on business trips)
but thats extreme muskie..so the normal way to condition your tank when you are at home and not trying to stetch out the care (dont skip the weekly water changes etc) is to never allow your salinity to creep outside of 1.023 to 1.024
however much evaporation time you get in between that interval is how long you get in between topoffs.
The most common method is to change your water and set the sg at .023, use a felt tip marker to dot the water line on the outside of the vase neck. A half inch drop is this range mentioned above, when using the same vase we have
the blended powerhead/airstone method is solid. When you set up the vase just use sand and rock from an established tank and corals can go in on day one, Ive done it all the time like that. Don't use the old water, make up new water each water change for these gallon picos, if you don't, expect algae invasions soon.
If you use old live sand from a reeftank, you have to rinse the organics out of it totally or you can expect an algae crash. The filtration bacteria from the sand are not needed, the LR alone will do it, so the sand is incidental and only for looks. Personally Id never use diaper sand from another reef tank, I always use arrive alive wet pack fiji pink from natures ocean, zero organic loading to concern about. Its mainly the cycled LR that allows you to set up corals on day one.
Have the vase up and running with water and known topoff intervals before putting in corals. You need to make sure your lid interface works (the hardest part to get right_) and then if that works its all good to go. If this is a rather short term endeavor until you upgrade, just do the weekly feeding and full water changes and that will work. if this is intended to be a long term, stand alone reef tank then you have to dose with two part on top of the water changes, wc alone will not do it long term regardless of what anyone says about a gallon reef.
Some people want a tank that holds fish, so start with a 10 gallon on up if thats the case...but if you want to keep inverts and any species of coral that fits in the bowl cheaper and more stable than any other sized nano reef, with less topoff, zero water testing and total predicability then thats what these bowls are for. This vase is more stable and easier to run with less work than any other tank, but there are obvious stocking restrictions so you have to consider that before pico reefing. It is easier to run that 5, 10 ,15 gallon nano reefs etc in terms of weekly work and dollars spent in constant adjustment of params which is not needed here.
The reason this reef is the longest lived pico reef in the world is because it requires no testing and is more stable than any other pico reef design, so far.
These reefs are less work than any other reeftank or I wouldn't own one...my other hobbies are much more costly lol and its the stability of this tank compared to other setups that make it outlast the other setups we often compare to...
When you change out all, and not part of the water, you reset the ion and chemical palette to neutral, nsw levels, thats why you don't test for anything. We don't use fish, so there is nothing to die and leak ammonia, therefore we just opted out of nitrate, phosphate, silicate, ammonia, calcium and alk testing
try doing that with any other reef
the topoff is once a week now with the setup muskieboy is describing, a trick invented by cichlidmania26 off youtube that can make a reefbowl go up to 14 days in between a single topoff (he did this while on business trips)
but thats extreme muskie..so the normal way to condition your tank when you are at home and not trying to stetch out the care (dont skip the weekly water changes etc) is to never allow your salinity to creep outside of 1.023 to 1.024
however much evaporation time you get in between that interval is how long you get in between topoffs.
The most common method is to change your water and set the sg at .023, use a felt tip marker to dot the water line on the outside of the vase neck. A half inch drop is this range mentioned above, when using the same vase we have
the blended powerhead/airstone method is solid. When you set up the vase just use sand and rock from an established tank and corals can go in on day one, Ive done it all the time like that. Don't use the old water, make up new water each water change for these gallon picos, if you don't, expect algae invasions soon.
If you use old live sand from a reeftank, you have to rinse the organics out of it totally or you can expect an algae crash. The filtration bacteria from the sand are not needed, the LR alone will do it, so the sand is incidental and only for looks. Personally Id never use diaper sand from another reef tank, I always use arrive alive wet pack fiji pink from natures ocean, zero organic loading to concern about. Its mainly the cycled LR that allows you to set up corals on day one.
Have the vase up and running with water and known topoff intervals before putting in corals. You need to make sure your lid interface works (the hardest part to get right_) and then if that works its all good to go. If this is a rather short term endeavor until you upgrade, just do the weekly feeding and full water changes and that will work. if this is intended to be a long term, stand alone reef tank then you have to dose with two part on top of the water changes, wc alone will not do it long term regardless of what anyone says about a gallon reef.
Some people want a tank that holds fish, so start with a 10 gallon on up if thats the case...but if you want to keep inverts and any species of coral that fits in the bowl cheaper and more stable than any other sized nano reef, with less topoff, zero water testing and total predicability then thats what these bowls are for. This vase is more stable and easier to run with less work than any other tank, but there are obvious stocking restrictions so you have to consider that before pico reefing. It is easier to run that 5, 10 ,15 gallon nano reefs etc in terms of weekly work and dollars spent in constant adjustment of params which is not needed here.
The reason this reef is the longest lived pico reef in the world is because it requires no testing and is more stable than any other pico reef design, so far.
While what you said is true, you could never expect significant growth from corals because you would have to remove them from the small space.
Growing an underwater garden is what most reefers shoot for.
You can't have fish. Most reefers want to recreate a natural habitat for a saltwater creature.
viewing angles are very limited.
This is just a new breed of live water vase decoration, not fish keeping. Which is probably why I don't understand.
I am sure it is a great conversation piece.
Growing an underwater garden is what most reefers shoot for.
You can't have fish. Most reefers want to recreate a natural habitat for a saltwater creature.
viewing angles are very limited.
This is just a new breed of live water vase decoration, not fish keeping. Which is probably why I don't understand.
I am sure it is a great conversation piece.
I estimate Ive harvested a thousand dollars worth of sps and lps corals from the vase over the last 7 yrs. I remove side growths once every few months and make new frags to grow out as needed. The only downside is the fish, but they dont interest me even in larger tanks everyone has their own thing...
if you search nano reef forums you'll see lots of interest in invert-only setups and thats what this is. People who keep reefs are lucky if they can get them to grow and frag...its not a setback ever. You want to make corals grow as fast as you can in a pico reef to make them disease resistant, and the feeding mechanisms here will accomplish that. You aren't fraggin weekly or anything, its the same amount of frag work as larger tanks have.
Portability was another key detail for this reef, being able to take it around to schools and exhibits for coral aquaculture. thats probably not a common need but again a hidden facet of a complete reef tank that weighs 20 pounds full up lol
The number one reason to have one is its easier to grow coral in a vase than any other tank.
Muskie, one last thing about the lights. You mentioned considering a non actinic strip of just white, like what we'd use in planted tanks. That will grow coral for sure, but it will make your tank more algae prone as well. if you can find a blended LED source where the exact combination can be found growing corals on any other given nano reef, you are fine. If you take a chance in experimenting with something new, the predictability is traded off for experimentation and that can be fun as well. The quality of the lighting is the most important factor for your coral along with feeding. Skimp on either one, and you have a months-long tank not a years long one.
One of the best decisions you can make when planning long term pico reefs is not to stock with fast growing corals. Just stock slow growing ones and you'll have a maintenance regimen flexible to anyone's standards
if you search nano reef forums you'll see lots of interest in invert-only setups and thats what this is. People who keep reefs are lucky if they can get them to grow and frag...its not a setback ever. You want to make corals grow as fast as you can in a pico reef to make them disease resistant, and the feeding mechanisms here will accomplish that. You aren't fraggin weekly or anything, its the same amount of frag work as larger tanks have.
Portability was another key detail for this reef, being able to take it around to schools and exhibits for coral aquaculture. thats probably not a common need but again a hidden facet of a complete reef tank that weighs 20 pounds full up lol
The number one reason to have one is its easier to grow coral in a vase than any other tank.
Muskie, one last thing about the lights. You mentioned considering a non actinic strip of just white, like what we'd use in planted tanks. That will grow coral for sure, but it will make your tank more algae prone as well. if you can find a blended LED source where the exact combination can be found growing corals on any other given nano reef, you are fine. If you take a chance in experimenting with something new, the predictability is traded off for experimentation and that can be fun as well. The quality of the lighting is the most important factor for your coral along with feeding. Skimp on either one, and you have a months-long tank not a years long one.
One of the best decisions you can make when planning long term pico reefs is not to stock with fast growing corals. Just stock slow growing ones and you'll have a maintenance regimen flexible to anyone's standards
