Le Dirté Pico 2g Cookie Jar

[ECLS Reefer]

I fear I will need more algae loving snails in the future, especially if the feedings are left up to the child/husband team. Gonna test the parameters again tomorrow to see if the water change Wednesday helped cut out the badness, but I bet they'll be high again since all those remaining brine shrimp have either eaten or died off. 

 

The pistol is LOUD. I worry about the glass of the jar 😳 

 

Think when it gets time I'll just do mushrooms and zoas, maybe a little GSP for this jar. Nothing super exotic and only stuff that will propagate well. 

[ECLS Reefer]

Tested parameters today and found that the salinity was high and there were still nitrites hanging out. I can only assume it’s from all the dead brine shrimp in there. But they were pretty low so this water change should have helped. 

[ECLS Reefer]

The jar has been doing well since the water change. Tested today and it didn’t need attention. Only problem has been that our AC went out Friday afternoon, and I only JUST got it back running tonight. Have been running the jar without lights and with the lid cracked for the weekend to keep the temp in check. Everybody has acted okay so it’s been encouraging. 

 

Not to mention it’s nice to live in a house that’s in the 70s range and not the 80s 😰😰

[ECLS Reefer]

So, I tested the Jar's water yesterday and the parameters were all great, though you could tell the ammonia wanted to creep. We've still been tweaking how much is the right amount to feed the critters in the tank and it be just enough without throwing every thing off. 

 

Came home today and the jar was opaque with algae. So I cleaned the glass as well as I could with the magnet and did a 100% water change as usual. I noticed that one of the teeny weeny nerites I started with has died, so I'm down to one itty bitty snail to get everything. Obviously it's not able to do so. So my question is-whats a good, smallish algae eating snail that I could get to clean that jar? 

 

And, for those with pico systems, how much are you feeding the life within? The water changes aren't bad, and they get done in less than five minutes. I'm just afraid that having to do them every three days so far is going to be a strain for the fish and inverts. 

 

Advice appreciated!

 

Wee Sunny peeking out of his new tunnel courtesy of Sher Khan his tiger pistol. So yes. Sunny and Sher live in the Pico Jar. 😂😂

 

[ECLS Reefer]

 

[ECLS Reefer]

Today Sher Khan came out to feed and be seen for a bit. He's by far the biggest creature in the Jar by a magnitude of about 10. He's a good looking shrimp though. Also, got a Halloween hermit for the jar since the electric blue didn't live through his cross country flight. The HH is moving, but still pretty sluggish and so will need to be monitored. If he perks up, I will call him Dr Weir.... 

 

 

Sher Khan the tiger pistol.

[ECLS Reefer]

So I forgot the Jar is a month old, since it's birthday landed on my actual birthday. Please everybody tell me what I'm doing right, wrong or need to improve! I love watching my teeny weeny clown goby and the by comparison Godzilla sized tiger pistol. There's still 8-10 dwarf blue legged crabs in there, 1 halloween hermit now. 1 itty bitty nerite snail. I'm pretty broke at the moment so not planning on introducing any corals at the moment. Is there anything I should be doing to keep the water chemistry and clarity happy? 

 

Have done every 3-4 day water changes, but mostly because of the amount of algae I've scraped off with the magnet, not because of parameter results. Have fed the jar about every other day, a small eye dropper with half a teaspoon of brine shrimp one day. A sliver of marine cuisine and fish egg frozen food tonight. 

 

Tips? Thoughts?

[ECLS Reefer]

Today was a bit of a sad day, as Sunny up and died this morning. He’d been fine just last night, so not sure what happened. This has been a bad week for pets though, as I had to put my cat to sleep Tuesday night, for sudden heart and kidney failure. She was only 5.5 years old, so it was sudden and devastating, and I’m still sick and destroyed over it. To lose Sunny today too sucks. The rest of the jar seems to be going strong. 

 

The HOB filter is working well, too, and I like that it gives me more flow in the jar. 

 

Noticed last night that we have pods, everywhere, but they are keeping the algae down, so I’m cool with them. Strong work little dudes!

 

 

New HOB filter, tucked in nicely behind the light. 

 

 

Full jar shot

 

 

The air pump tubing and PVC are still in place as I haven’t had time to get them out, but the pods have been cleaning both for me so I’ll probably leave them a bit longer.

 

 

Feeding time!

 

 

PODS!!!

 

[ECLS Reefer]

So, the tiger pistol Sher Khan went to be with Sunny yesterday. In all honesty, the shrimp was too big for the jar, but when I asked for a "small" tiger, I never imagined that meant "3 inches long" to an aquarium store. So, by the time he arrived I didn't really have anywhere else to put him. Complete bummer. At least all the little hermits are going strong in there, as well as that nerite snail. I may in the future move everyone into the 5 gallon tank I'm using for QT, if I can ever get Mac the wrasse over his swim bladder issues. 

[ECLS Reefer]

Yesterday I changed the water, changed the filter floss in the HOB, removed the coarse filter and placed a purigen bag. Today when I tested the pH, which I've been neglecting to do with the salinity checks, I noticed that the water was pretty acidic, at 7.10. I assume it was either the new water, which for whatever reason got more salty the longer it sat in the storage bucket and had to be diluted with RODI water to get the right level, or it was the purigen bag, which I regenerated. I'm not sure what the deal is with the SW I made this last batch-it was a lot of water, but I got it to the right salinity level and let it mix for right at 2 hours when it got to the right level. Yet somehow when I stored it, the salt seemed to fall out of solution and hit the bottom of the container, and the salinity actually went up to 40 from 35. Have no idea what could cause that. 

 

At any rate, I put kalk in the water to get the pH to 7.8 and will check it tomorrow to see how it's holding. I hope the pH issue isn't from the purigen bag though-I followed the general regeneration instructions, bleach for 24 hours, rinse well, then seachem prime following. I left it in longer than 8 hours before rinsing it again and drying it, though. Not sure if that jacks it up or what. Regardless, will have to keep an eye on the pH level now. At least the ammonia/nitrates are 0-shows it's at least doing it's job.

[Wendy]

Sorry to hear about your cat, goby & pistol shrimp... I'm glad to hear the hermits & snail are doing well for you!

 

I'm not familiar with regenerating purigen, hopefully someone will pipe up about that...

 

I also try not to worry about the pH too much, because I chased that down a rabbit hole years ago & it turned into a nightmare.

 

Maybe you can find some macros to put in the tank if you haven't added them already & just keep up with at least weekly water changes.

Good luck!!!

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, Wendy said:

Sorry to hear about your cat, goby & pistol shrimp... I'm glad to hear the hermits & snail are doing well for you!

 

I'm not familiar with regenerating purigen, hopefully someone will pipe up about that...

 

I also try not to worry about the pH too much, because I chased that down a rabbit hole years ago & it turned into a nightmare.

 

Maybe you can find some macros to put in the tank if you haven't added them already & just keep up with at least weekly water changes.

Good luck!!!

It's kind of hard, because I want to take the occupants and set up from this jar and move it into a 5 gallon tank-I will miss the shape of the jar, but I wanted a fish to watch and some inverts for this little tank in my bedroom, and I've come to find that this jar just isn't big enough for those hopes. So I'm going to get the little 5g started after cleaning it up, get some sand cycled and move the rest of the jar contents over. I feel like the hermits and single snail will do better with more room. I can also get a better heater that holds a more steady temp.

 

I'm about 90% positive the issue came from the purigen packet-I managed to fix the pH issues with kalk over about 8 hours. It held stable all day, thankfully. The kH came up to 231, which is just a 13 on API tests. so not horrifically high. The ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are all zero, so the purigen is working well-I'm guessing that even with rinsing the packet after the bleach, and soaking it in prime for over a day, rinsing it again and then drying it--there was either residual bleach or the prime itself drops pH. Gonna have to figure it out because I'm already working on regenerating another one. I wouldn't have intervened with the pH if hadn't gotten so very low, to 7.08. I felt like that was just too acidic. I'll usually let it ride if it's no lower than 7.3.

 

At any rate, I hope it's fixed 🤞🏼. will have to check on the status of the hermits in the morning. 

[ECLS Reefer]

So funny story- my husband of all people, has requested that I move the contents of the Jar to the old Evo 13 tank. And put it centerstage on our dresser under the TV. So he can’t tell me anymore about how doesn’t care about the fish. 🤔😂

 

So today we put in the sand and water and started the cycling process to work this tank back into shape for its very limited inhabitants. Hopefully when it’s time to transfer them it will be a better experience than it was last time. 

[ECLS Reefer]

Today I put in 2 nassarius snails and one small banded trochus to help keep the tank clean while the Evo cycles up. There is a fish in there, and a Randall's pistol shrimp who was MUCH more appropriate to the jar per his size. But now he'll be even happier when they all move to the bigger tank. The fish is a ruby red mandarin. I believe it's a female, but he/she is so anti-picture that I haven't been able to get a shot of her. Hopefully at some point I will. 

 

Had to throw some new bigger shells in the jar as well- I lost two of my little dwarf blue hermits because I didn't have any shells of appropriate size for them. Had to order some in a rush from Amazon to save the rest. So, on to waiting for the Evo to cycle!! Got the Dr Tim's on the way and the sand has mostly settled out. Hope it doesn't take as long as the jar did.

[ECLS Reefer]

Finally got a picture of Scooter in the jar. She was giving me the stink eye all the way. 

 

Also took some of the live rock out of the jar and moved it into the Evo to help speed along the cycling process. Will seed tomorrow with water from each tank as well. 

 

Scooter peeking out from under the crack she's in.

 

 

Stink Eye all the way

 

 

\

 

Evo clearing and cooking.

[spectra]

you talking to yourself in here

[Wendy]

Yay, for another tank & a red dragonet!!

What's the dragonet eating for you, is it captive breed??

[ECLS Reefer]

11 hours ago, spectra said:

you talking to yourself in here

Well it IS a journal. I guess it's half expected to talk to yourself in here. It's up to nice people to provide the voices in my head.

[ECLS Reefer]

11 hours ago, Wendy said:

Yay, for another tank & a red dragonet!!

What's the dragonet eating for you, is it captive breed??

There were a ton of pods in the jar to begin with, but I'm feeding it mysis and live baby brine shrimp. I assume it was captive bred, and the LFS lady feeds everything on mysis. Seems to be doing well on that diet.

[Wendy]

That's great, they're so beautiful!!!

[ECLS Reefer]

9 hours ago, Wendy said:

That's great, they're so beautiful!!!

I like her she’s got personality. Can’t wait to move her to her bigger home. 

[ECLS Reefer]

So today I broke down the Pico Jar and moved the inverts to the Evo. Poor Scooter died during the night-I found this morning that the heater and ink bird failed (probably because the heater sucked in the first place and never really kept up with the air conditioner in my room). So, poor thing got too cold. I'm lucky the crabs and snails are still hardy, and the pistol shrimp. Lucky the Evo was mostly online too, cause I could just move them on over. The original Fluval heater was also not working on the Evo, and the water was cold there as well. Luckily I had the Neotherm on standby and could throw that back in there. Got the water back to baseline in no time. At any rate, time to retire this thread and open the Evo thread back up.