12scanlon Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Ever since the creative container pico contest I’ve wanted to start my own pico. A week or two ago I made this a reality. After lots of preparing I’ve made my very own 2 gallon cookie jar pico. I started it about 1 and a half weeks ago. Goals: ~ I decided to make this jar for an experiment. I’m going to take three different corals from my other tank and feed them mysis and reef roids every week before the water change. In the span of two months I’m going to see which coral grows the most heads or mouths to see which one grows the fastest in the same conditions and lighting. These three corals are going to be a maze coral, favia or blasto, and an acan echinata. ~ Once this experiment is over I would like to grow some sps and montis. ~ wondering if I could get an invert to be the king of the tank. Any suggestions Equipment: whisper 10 air pump airline tubing aqueon 50 watt heater 23 watt abi tuna blue par 38 as lighting I am really likening the low amount of equipment. Makes life a lot easier. Maintenance: 100% water change weekly siphon out any debris on bottom of tank Big spot feeding once a week before water change Start: (may change the scape) made little rubble patch for maybe small RFAs in the future. 4 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Nice! I used that jar for my contest tank. You'll want to mount the bulb pretty high as 23 watts is a lot! I used a 12w bulb on mine. 2 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Welcome to NR. Looks like your off to a good start. 2 Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: Nice! I used that jar for my contest tank. You'll want to mount the bulb pretty high as 23 watts is a lot! I used a 12w bulb on mine. Thanks. Yes it is very high right now. Probably around 22 inches. Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Great to see another cookie jar pico reef coming online! Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 8 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: Great to see another cookie jar pico reef coming online! It is going to be great!!! Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 I was also wondering if any of y’all may have ideas on how to acclimate corals from my other tank to this one. The biocubes stock lighting is not powerful at all and these corals are all around the sandbed or on the sandbed. I am running an abi tuna blue par 38 23 watt light over this cookie jar. I cannot raise it anymore than 22 inches above the tank which still may be to much. Do any of y’all recommend macros in cookie jars? Seems like the more colorful ones like dragon breath would look cool. Thanks 😁 this little tank is coming along nicely so far and should be done cycling in the next week or two. 2 Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 12, 2018 Author Share Posted October 12, 2018 Just tested and ammonia is still pretty high. Hopefully in the next week it will convert into nitrite then to nitrate. Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 I had a par 38 coral compulsion that I started about 22" above my jar. That worked out good for me. Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 1 hour ago, vlangel said: I had a par 38 coral compulsion that I started about 22" above my jar. That worked out good for me. Cool. Hope my corals will acclimate quickly. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 On 10/8/2018 at 4:25 PM, 12scanlon said: I was also wondering if any of y’all may have ideas on how to acclimate corals from my other tank to this one. The biocubes stock lighting is not powerful at all and these corals are all around the sandbed or on the sandbed. I am running an abi tuna blue par 38 23 watt light over this cookie jar. I cannot raise it anymore than 22 inches above the tank which still may be to much. Do any of y’all recommend macros in cookie jars? Seems like the more colorful ones like dragon breath would look cool. Thanks 😁 this little tank is coming along nicely so far and should be done cycling in the next week or two. I had a few macros in mine. I'd recommend picking just a couple of colors and textures so it won't overwhelm the rest of the tank (unless you're intending a macro jar). Some I'd recommend are dragon's breath, botryocladia, and caulerpa prolifera (grows fast though, and you'll want to keep out of rock work and prune often). To acclimate, start as high as you can and move the bulb down slowly, maybe every week or so, till the corals like it. 1 Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 8 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: I had a few macros in mine. I'd recommend picking just a couple of colors and textures so it won't overwhelm the rest of the tank (unless you're intending a macro jar). Some I'd recommend are dragon's breath, botryocladia, and caulerpa prolifera (grows fast though, and you'll want to keep out of rock work and prune often). To acclimate, start as high as you can and move the bulb down slowly, maybe every week or so, till the corals like it. Good idea. I would really like to get some macros, but my LFS rarely carries them. If they get some in I’ll be sure to pick them up. At some point I might make a big order of them offline for my biocube and jar. Thanks for for all the replies so far everyone 😄 Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 Anyone got some suggestions for SPS I could try in her in the future. I don’t think I want any that encrust a lot due to space. Birdsnest, digita, and stylos are probably what I’m going to try first. Maybe a montipora cap? Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 Cycle is officially OVER! Woohoo! Just did a 100% water change and it’s looking good! I am am going to my LFS to pick up a tester frag this Friday or Saturday and will give a new update then. Heres the new FTS for October 16th: (pics on my phone so kinds suck gonna start using my camera) 1 Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 Today I finally made a trip to the LFS to get tester frags for my pico. Picked up a 5 dollar frag of some random zoas that had grown on a live muscle. The frag also had a mushroom attached to it. The lady also threw in a free frag of some more zoas! All of the corals have already opened in the pico! I also picked up a sweet baby metallic toadstool for my biocube 16. does anyone have experience with mussels? I had him out of water for a minute or so and know u have to burp clams or something? Do I have to do this with a mussel too... Advice would be appreciated.😁 pictures: (for some reason look awful even though look great on phone IDK 😐) 1 Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 All frags are doing great. The mussel has attached itself to a rock and seems to love this little tank. Will add the lps next week. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 You can try looking for a yellow or orange filter to help reduce the blue ness in your pics, or fiddle with the white balance. There's discussion round here from better photogs than me haha. Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 18 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: You can try looking for a yellow or orange filter to help reduce the blue ness in your pics, or fiddle with the white balance. There's discussion round here from better photogs than me haha. I have a camera and may start to use that for better pictures. The pictures I have taken on my phone look a lot better in the photo app than on here. It’s like when they download they become more blurry or something. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 31 minutes ago, 12scanlon said: I have a camera and may start to use that for better pictures. The pictures I have taken on my phone look a lot better in the photo app than on here. It’s like when they download they become more blurry or something. You could also try an external hosting service like Flickr. Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said: You could also try an external hosting service like Flickr. Cool, will check that out... Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 I was wondering if anyone knows how to go about adding a sandbed to a bare bottom jar. Can I literally just take all rocks out, dump in sand, and fill back up with water? I have been super busy lately and haven’t gotten a chance to post an update. Really nothing has changed... all corals are doing well and growing. Mussel (?) is still doing well. I dose fuel once a week and do a spot feeding of reef roids before every 100% water change. I plan to go to my LFS tomorrow, and I will probably pick up a couple frags for this jar. thanks!😁 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 55 minutes ago, 12scanlon said: I was wondering if anyone knows how to go about adding a sandbed to a bare bottom jar. Can I literally just take all rocks out, dump in sand, and fill back up with water? Yup, you can literally be that crude with a pico jar, everything will be fine. Are you planning to use live sand or dry sand? Just rinse it like crazy if it's dry sand, or even consider rinsing fresh live sand too, so your tank won't be hazy for as long. 1 Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 12 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: Yup, you can literally be that crude with a pico jar, everything will be fine. Are you planning to use live sand or dry sand? Just rinse it like crazy if it's dry sand, or even consider rinsing fresh live sand too, so your tank won't be hazy for as long. will live sand that’s about a year old and been opened suffice? I will of course rinse it like crazy. Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Has it totally dried out, or have you kept it mostly sealed? If it has completely dried out, I wonder if the die off would cause a small cycle? Your existing live rock should be able to handle it though, especially after heavy rinsing. Something to consider, it might be worth searching for discussions on reusing dry live sand for other perspectives. Kept wet and sealed, I think bagged live sand has a shelf life of around 1-2 years, but they're packaged under ideal conditions. Quote Link to comment
12scanlon Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 5 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: Has it totally dried out, or have you kept it mostly sealed? If it has completely dried out, I wonder if the die off would cause a small cycle? Your existing live rock should be able to handle it though, especially after heavy rinsing. Something to consider, it might be worth searching for discussions on reusing dry live sand for other perspectives. Kept wet and sealed, I think bagged live sand has a shelf life of around 1-2 years, but they're packaged under ideal conditions. I may just buy a new package of sand so I don’t risk having another cycle. 2 Quote Link to comment
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