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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Reef Jar to Zen Reef


AnthonyPf

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Everyone has been so supportive of my Pico Reef Jar. Thank you so much!

 

The jar was so beautiful in my office but it had many limitations. I primarily did not have the space to add more pumps to get the proper flow I needed.

 

Well folks I have upgraded. The week after New Year's I switched everything in the jar over to an

Aquatop Zen-Nano.

 

It is a cool little 3.7 gallon tank. About double the size of the jar.

The light that came with the tank was immediately tossed.

I used the same RapidLED PAR lamp that was over the jar.

 

The only real upgrade to the tank was adding a

JBJ Oceanstream circulation pump/powerhead.

The kit included a Duo Wavemaker kit.

 

The Aquatop is a nice tank but a little cheesy. It did not come with any mechanical filtration. I had to cut a cube of filter sponge to fit into the back chamber. I removed both filter baskets and all the bioballs.

 

One of the filter chambers was then filled with Chaeto.

So the Chaeto basket sits on top to get plenty of light, then the filter sponge and just a little live rubble in the bottom.

 

Here is a shot the first day everything was set up:

 

8385313464_9feafe58b1_z.jpg

 

Here is the FTS one full week after set up:

 

8385314130_4aa6e8a366_c.jpg
Left side:

8385314294_3fd3fe1bb5_z.jpg
& the right side:

8385314416_3b7e361dde_z.jpg
Other than a small bloom of hair algae I have had no problems. All the coral is healthy and seems open and strong.
I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!!!
Thank you everyone.
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Looks like your trumpets are horribly bleached, maybe turn down the lights for a while ... or raise them up?

 

I like the look of your little tank, good luck! :)

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Those are white trumpets. If you look at my Pico Reef Jar thread you will see I have had the white trumpet for years. It all started with just one head!

 

I cut a section of green trumpets from my Nanocube and home and glued them in. Now I have the green and white growing together.

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Those are white trumpets. If you look at my Pico Reef Jar thread you will see I have had the white trumpet for years. It all started with just one head!

 

I cut a section of green trumpets from my Nanocube and home and glued them in. Now I have the green and white growing together.

 

Wow, I missed that. :) Kind of silly of me thinking you wouldn't recognize a bleached coral though.

 

Albino Trumpets!

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I always appreciate fellow reefers looking out for me!

 

Albino Trumpets is awesome!! I never thought of that. When I have enough of them and frag that colony I can sell them for twice as much now that I have a name for them.

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Thanks guys.

 

The second picture is a closed brain.

It actually had really nice orange centers. It really never took off in the reef jar. I assume it was not enough flow.

 

Already in the new set up I have much more polyp extension and I hope the centers get that beautiful orange back.

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The second picture is a closed brain.

It actually had really nice orange centers. It really never took off in the reef jar. I assume it was not enough flow.

 

This one?

 

8385314578_201fa3cdeb_b.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

So I have a few updates on this tank.

I noticed the evaporation on this tank is 2 to 3 times faster in this tank than on my reef jar.

On Monday after the weekend I was replacing almost a full cup of fresh water.

Some of the coral was not responding very well to the swing.

 

So I added a JBJ ATO - Water Level Controller. It took a lot of DIY drilling and modification to make it work.

Here is a picture of the set-up:

 

8485187553_943935db6f_b.jpg
I used one of the clips that came with the kit and drilled a hole for the incoming water line:
8485187731_782f07e6b1_b.jpg
It all ended up looking pretty seamless. You can not see any of the lines coming in to the tank. My only issue is now the lid does not fit. I have to find a glass saw to cut a notch out of the back of the lid to accommodate the float switch.
I did end up having terrible dreams of a flooded office when I left for the weekend but all turned out okay.
You can tell my new gorgonian loves the stability!
8486279030_469da2db47_b.jpg
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I hope the yellow finger gorg does ok. They have a horrible reputation for slowly starving in aquariums they need to feed almost constantly. Yours is however showing great polyp extension. Good luck :)

 

Also the tank looks beautiful!

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Thanks for the nice comments.

I will be honest, I had a terrible time getting that gorg to open. It took me almost two weeks of spot feeding to get him even a little open. Then with the new ATO he was fully open.

 

I have been feeding him daily with 3 types of food. I am using Fauna Marine Gorg food and sea fan food. I also mash up the LPS food I have and feed that as well. I love those Fauna Marine products!

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So I tried out my glass cutting skills.

The ATO float switch sticks up too high for the lid to fit properly.

I borrowed a wet band saw from a friend and cut a section of the lid out for the switch.

I think it came out looking great:

 

8492928022_a95eab9502_z.jpg
Here is a current FTS:
8491827511_a1756c5ede_b.jpg
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Hey thanks! I sure am having a hard time with the gorg.

One day it is fully open then it stays closed for days at a time.

If the little guy does not open I can not feed him every day!!

 

I have him out of direct flow but the tank has excellent flow. It is in a darker area of the tank.

 

There is a red piece on the left side of the tank. That is open every day. The yellow piece on the right side is just so picky.

 

Any suggestions? From anyone?

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Yes that one.

 

Here is a picture from when I originally got it:

 

6243987155_7db0c81b67.jpg

 

I missed your reply. I'm guessing that's Leptastrea? Very neat looking.

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I think you are right! Thank you for the specific identification. Since the move to the new tank it has doubled in size. I hope I get some of that great orange color back soon!

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I had not really registered Leptastrea until a few days ago, now it's on my must have list for my 20 gallon. I think they look awesome, and no sweepers. omgomgomg

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  • 3 weeks later...

dadang!! did you just get these or you actually know how to care for them?

These bad boys are in my tank and doing awesome! I feed them Fauna Marine Gorg food and also their Sea Fan food.

I see new growth and they all open beautifully.

 

Nice! ;) Love the DIY.

Thanks. I had a good time doing it.

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Hey thanks! I sure am having a hard time with the gorg.

One day it is fully open then it stays closed for days at a time.

If the little guy does not open I can not feed him every day!!

 

I have him out of direct flow but the tank has excellent flow. It is in a darker area of the tank.

 

There is a red piece on the left side of the tank. That is open every day. The yellow piece on the right side is just so picky.

 

Any suggestions? From anyone?

 

Gorgs need flow. The frags in my Spec are open almost all day now. Yours is kinda far back. I have one that's in a similar position, but the way the flow works in my tank, it's actually getting quite a bit of flow there.

 

Sometimes, I give mine some cyclops eez to wet the appetite. Makes them think there's food in the water column so they extend more, then I feed rotifers and small foods.

 

I covet your red piece. I really miss having one.

 

Don't worry about light exposure. If you keep a clean tank, they won't get algae if they have good flow over them. My other two frags, yep, had to split them, they were growing, are right in the front of the tank.

 

Beautiful tank. The close ups of the gorg polyps are really awesome pictures! You should try dendros.

 

L

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