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2 Gallon “Cookie Jar” Pico Reef by ReefJar


ReefJar

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never seen before that's neat. that's all the stuff that peroxide work was supposed to sterilize, kill off. not so.

 

friendly heads up on c balance I burned a little of my sps with it lol, that dang blue bottle. it doesn't mean anything bad about it, just means don't dump in a whole cap thinking your pico is superman, because in the end its only a delicate pico :)

 

I was rehabbing some sps and shoulda known they don't want alk spikes, I should have used 1/4 cap.

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natalia_la_loca

It's neat that you've got a stomatella in there and that it seems to be doing well in spite of the peroxide.

 

I was wondering if it would be advisable to get a snail or any other kind of invert for my pico. I was thinking of maybe a trochus snail. Good idea or should I pass? I didn't see any snails in Mary Arroyo's vase.

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if you like them for looks and movement yes. I think the reason she doesn't have them is for knocking over frags, and we all hand remove algae the clean up crews are really more for show vs function. its if you like the look of them

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natalia_la_loca

OK, I'll probably pass on the snail--one less complication. For movement, I'm thinking of adding a torch, green sinularia and/or xenia. (sorry to hijack your thread Reefjar :flower:)

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also I don't think theres a problem at all using them conventionally as clean up crews either, we get to have fun with all the variables we choose. a nice way to see it is if the snail doesn't remove X, you still have a cheat that will. no harm in trying natural approaches for sure.


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Thanks for the heads up! So far things are looking better coral wise! There's always the temptation for me to add more. I'll keep in mind "Good things happen slow"

 

 

I wouldn't have purposely bought this snail, it was just a hitchhiker that got in. I don't have any plans to remove it. It seems to be pretty tough (it's been out of the water, I'm sure it's been splashed with a little h202 at some point) and seems to be very careful when around frags. It fell off the top of the glass one time on to its back, flipped itself over no problem. To be expected since its shell is so tiny compared to its body.

 

I noticed there was some cyano starting on a rock and I was going to H202 it today. First time I've seen its presence in the jar. Well, the snail mowed right over it and it looks clean now.

 

Later today is feeding/water change. I'm excited to see everything tomorrow. Corals love water changes, "tidal refresh" as Brandon puts it! :D

 

Another Observation - Coral Conditioning

 

I notice the difference in "conditioning" with corals in the jar.

 

When I do a 100% water change, the corals that have been in the jar the longest, open up almost immediately after the new water is in and the light goes over head.

 

Whereas newer corals take a little more time, sometimes 30 minutes to an hour. But this time seems to decrease the more often I do water changes.

 

I've observed the above with different species, not just one.

 

I'm sure this conditioning expands to other areas, as noted by Brandon and Mary about the "Bonsai" effect in aged picos. Despite being so close together, and often times touching each other, the corals don't nuke each other to death. Instead the start to tolerate each other what appears to be peacefully or mutually.

 

I wonder if that effect could be expanded to larger systems or if anyone has really tried. I always see "keep this 12" away from this etc etc" I always followed that advice with my previous tanks. There's always exceptions of course.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Stomatella Spawning

 

Well, I finally got it on video! This stomatella snail has been "spraying" a lot recently. Or maybe it's just because I've been at my desk a lot lately and never noticed as much before.

 

 

Here's a top down picture of the jar just before cleaning yesterday:

 

topdownmar2016_zpswvy79yai.jpg

 

The colour of the corals has improved A LOT! Especially the green monti on the top far right (at one point it was completely beige) and the green plating monti.

The pink birdsnest (top middle) is not doing well since around the time I was using FLE. There's maybe 15 polyps left and the rest of the branches look dead and get algae on them quickly. The red monti in lower middle, was doing awful but the colour is back and it appears to be regrowing over the skeletal parts.

 

I've moved a few things around since this picture and can't wait for my new light to arrive.

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It's so pretty! Free food broadcasting! Guess one day though you'll have to break the glass if you ever need to remove/upgrade.

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Haha, I never thought of it like that, but it's true!

Right now most of the rocks are pretty loose. Feather dusters underneath and some zoas/palys have "glued" a few rocks together but nothing that can't be separated.

 

I found a really nice vase the other day that I would love to set up... It's crystal clear and an awesome shape... but then I'd have to change my name :D

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

My bad, time has been flying by!

 

Here is a quick video update:

 

 

One issue: Octospawn has been growing and stinging stuff. Not surprised. If you stop the video you can see above it is a birdsnest and the tip is dead and behind there is a piece of red monti cap that has been stung along the edge. For now i'm going to leave it as is.

 

Feeding heavy 2x per week with water changes (I noticed the corals are doing way better in terms of growth and colour. The monties have tons of polyps, the green spongodes and confusa both look brown because they have so much polyp extension. And everything is encrusting on to their surfaces really well). I haven't been dosing because I've been changing water 2x per week.

 

I got a new light finally (12w - 8 blue 4 white), I still could go "bluer" so I might cover up two of the whites.

 

Algae is not an issue. I scrape some hard stuff (really hard) off the glass once a week but that's about it.

 

I could add more corals but I'm taking it easy for now and just letting things grow out... unless I come across some cheap rastas :)

Life is good in the reef jar!

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danimal1211

looking great, I'm starting a pico soon as well and was planning bi-weekly feeding/water changes as well. Its nice to see its working so well for you. Keep up the good work.

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natalia_la_loca

Looks fantastic, glad to see its still doing well.

 

How long have you had the new lamp installed, are you seeing any differences in growth or polyp extension? I've been thinking about ordering one of those.

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Thanks so much!

 

I just got the new bulb 3 days ago, so it's hard to tell just yet.

 

However, the previous bulb I used duct tape to cover 3 of the white leds and it appeared things were happier. I think the 6 whites before was too strong.

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  • 1 month later...

I've got a big write-up coming for my site (maybe this coming weekend)... but in the mean time here is an update video:

 

 

Thanks so much for all the support and kind words. I hope the music makes you smile :)

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natalia_la_loca

Looking beautiful, nice work! I can't wait to see your writeup.

 

I see you removed the torch...I'm starting to wonder how long it will be before I have to give my frogspawn a new home.

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Yeah the Octospawn was stinging the crap out of some things (mostly the sps) so I removed it. It's funny because some of damage it did, you can't even notice anymore (except the part in the video where it's showing the duster worms, there is a small piece of monti-cap with a little damage left). The warcoral I thought was toasted by the octospawn, but 2 weeks later it looks better than ever.

 

The radioactive dragons eyes have exploded! I remember that piece was covered with algae and aiptasia when I got it, such a difference. Some others are growing quick like birdsnest and both monti spongodes/confusa.

 

Still trying to capture the colours on video... in person everything looks so vibrant and amazing :D

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

RJ I hope jar reef is trucking along smoothly

 

My vase is good I don't pack it with corals like I used to, want it easy stacked so there's less work and it will run stand alone for a long time. On vacations to the mountains im getting four days no topoff easy five could be done with a much lower air input

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