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ZROGST's Jarquarium Alpha-1


BadCrab

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I've started on a project to create a stable environment for some coral and inverts inside of an unsealed Jar. The idea is to treat the jar more like a very small pico/micro tank then a sealed ecosystem.

 

 

First, the jar. I've chosen to try and use easy to find products at major retailers. There happens to be a PetSmart and Container Store within a 3-minute drive from my apartment, so I started there. There are several jars to choose from at the Container Store (as you would expect,) I decided to go with an aesthetically pleasing foodsafe plastic container from this line.

 

Originally I went into PetSmart looking for an aqualifter. I couldn't find one, so I decided to try my first test with an airstone to create current in the Jar. I can easily drill into the lid to feed the airline tubing for the completed jar.

 

I used a TopFin Air-500 pump to power the airstone. I used a small TopFin Mist Airstone along with airline tubing (mini and fullsize) a check valve and a flow rate valve to control the amount of air going to the stone. I also grabbed one of those stick-on thermometers and put it on the back. It should be ok in my climate controlled apartment, but you never know.

 

Here it is without life:

 

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After adding a liverock with Pulsing Xenia. I've also seen two small bristle worms.

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Everything seems to be pulsing away happily. I should probably switch the light to a par30 full spectrum (especially if I want to add zoas/gsp) but I can't seem to remove the shade from this fixture. I plan on doing daily water changes, but other then that no maintenance plan. I do want to try using an aqualifter as well, so I'll probably try that with a slightly larger jar.

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Sweet... Will follow along...

 

What if you got a external mini pump from ebay and drill the bottom and back of a new container for a mini closed loop system. use pcv as an internal overflow and made a mini sump sock to fit on the overflow, so then you would have a pretty stable jar :) Thats what I am planning in doing..

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I'm absolutely looking at a mini-closed loop system that uses an aqualifter for flow, I don't know about making an overflow though. To be honest, I'm not really the DIY type, but the project interested me enough to give it a try. This morning, some of the 'fingers' on the polyps seem to be blackened. I've never had Xenia so I'm not sure what this is. I plan on doing a 50% water change later today.

 

For now, here is a (bad and blurry and I should feel bad) picture of the darkened polyps:

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And here's a quick 15second video I took of the Xenia pulsing in the Jar. They seem quite active.


http://youtu.be/vez0LS92aqw

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Thanks everyone! I think the "clenched fists" were a result of my 50% water change today. I forgot to top off for evaporation first, and I think I'm a victim of the small volume in the jar (less then half a gallon) - I checked the Salinity and it was up to 1.027. I removed some of the water and slowly replaced it with RO/DI over the course of a few hours with a pipette, stirring as I added. I'm running the jar with the top open in Arizona, so I should have expected the evaporation but I didn't.

 

The xenia is already loosening up and I saw a few pulses. I'll report in the morning :)

I forgot to mention, I'm using saltwater from an existing tank (both during setup and for water changes.) I might also try with NSW once things are stable, to see the difference. During water change I siphoned out two red planaria (!) and some detritus that fell off the liverock, but I haven't seen any flatworms on the Xenia yet.

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I don't think the flow is sufficient. I'm also very very sick of the insane salt spray. Xenia is still alive but clearly not thriving - it has stretched enormously and shrivels multiple times a day (during water changes, top-offs, whenever the sun changes) I got a Tom Aquatics aw-20 aqua lifter today. I'm going to pick up a bigger jar and run a test with the mixed rock I have in the Solana.

 

What I can't really figure out is where to get a bulkhead for 3/16" (or any, but that's standard) airline tubing (barbed.) Can anyone help me find something that will work? Is it even worth trying since I'll be drilling into curved acrylic? I don't know what I can do to seal the airline tubing below the waterline in the jar.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update: Broke down this Jarquarium yesterday. Xenia had been doing progressively worse, the airstone was increasingly annoying, etc. Xenia is in the Solana to recover. No picture (things didn't change much beyond the xenia clenching more often and extending its polyps to the edges of the Jar looking for more light.)

 

Next phase of the Jarquarium will use a Tom's Aqualifter for water movement - again looking for a technique to bind airline tubing to the jar (water tight of course!)

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jesusgravy

you could try one of those whisper air filters. thats what im running in my jar. it barely gives me any salt spray. might be too big for your jar though

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Just to warn you, the intake clogs easily when using the toms pump for water movement. I tried using it on a similar setup and it clogged constantly. But I wasn't using any pre-filter and couldn't find anything aesthetically pleasing to use as a pre-filter. Keep us updated on your new project!

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