RedCrow's Xenia Swamp Jar - 365 Challenge

[RedCrow]

I've been considering doing a pico jar for a couple months, and so I though this competition would be a good excuse to pull the trigger. 

 

My goal/theme for this jar is to have a space for green star polyps and pulsing xenia to go wild and take over the whole aquascape without threatening any other corals. Those two species will most likely be the only corals in the tank.

 

For the sake of my personal finances, I'm building this system as cheaply as possible. All equipment and prices are as follows:

System:

• Tank: Anchor Hawking Heritage 2 gallon jar - $18
• Pump: Generic 95 GPH pump from amazon - $9
• Return lines - $7
• Heater: Aqueon 50w preset - $8
• Lighting: Lominie Asta - already had - $0
• Black Acrylic: already had - $0
• Black silicone: already had - $0

Scape:

• 4lbs dry rock - $12
• Live rock rubble from a refugium - $0
• Aragonite sand, already had - $0

Curent total: $54

 

Without further ado:

I'm from the Midwest; ranch goes on everything.

 

Cardboard mock-up of the rear chamber. The contour of the jar is going to make the acrylic work a bit more complex

 

I originally had attempted to form the chamber out of a single piece of acrylic heated in the oven. It didn't go well. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, so i can't share what a mess that was. Though maybe for the sake of my pride that's a good thing...

 

Here's the finished piece siliconed into the jar.

 

And here's where it's at right now, waiting for the silicon to cure.

 

Hoping to be able to scape and fill tomorrow.

 

I'm really excited about this challenge! Good luck to all, let's have some fun!

[seabass]

Nice DIY.  A 2gal jar is a great option for this contest.

[ef4life]

Very creative!! Pico jars are so cool.

[This guy is extra salty]

1 hour ago, RedCrow said:

I've been considering doing a pico jar for a couple months, and so I though this competition would be a good excuse to pull the trigger. 

 

My goal/theme for this jar is to have a space for green star polyps and pulsing xenia to go wild and take over the whole aquascape without threatening any other corals. Those two species will most likely be the only corals in the tank.

 

For the sake of my personal finances, I'm building this system as cheaply as possible. All equipment and prices are as follows:

System:

• Tank: Anchor Hawking Heritage 2 gallon jar - $18
• Pump: Generic 95 GPH pump from amazon - $9
• Heater: Aqueon 50w preset - $8
• Lighting: Undecided currently, using a desk lamp temporarily 
• Black Acrylic: already had - $0
• Black silicone: already had - $0

Scape:

• 4lbs dry rock - $12
• Live rock rubble from a refugium - $0
• Aragonite sand, already had - $0

Curent total: $47

 

Without further ado:

I'm from the Midwest; ranch goes on everything.

 

Cardboard mock-up of the rear chamber. The contour of the jar is going to make the acrylic work a bit more complex

 

I originally had attempted to form the chamber out of a single piece of acrylic heated in the oven. It didn't go well. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, so i can't share what a mess that was. Though maybe for the sake of my pride that's a good thing...

 

Here's the finished piece siliconed into the jar.

 

And here's where it's at right now, waiting for the silicon to cure.

 

Hoping to be able to scape and fill tomorrow.

 

I'm really excited about this challenge! Good luck to all, let's have some fun!

That is slicker than duck shit!

normally they way to do 90 degree bends with a single heated wire.the oven is quite clever, when making large cylinders and bow fronts. 

 

[devaji108]

wow that is fantastic! I have one of those jars around, one option for my tank, but I gotta say your acrylic  work is alot better that I could have done!

[Ratvan]

So tempting to set up one of these with the spares I have laying around

[debbeach13]

Wow what a great job. You have some DIY skills. Looking forward to watching this one. Following.

[Dafish]

Oh man I can’t wait to see this up and running 

[RedCrow]

I filled the jar up with water and sand this evening, but had to drain and dry it as the silicone job is terrible. Not that it has to be water tight, but it was sucking sand through the bottom seam and into the chamber 😬 

I’ve redone the silicone, but now I’ve got to wait another 48 hours to fill it again ⏳

[devaji108]

^ good luck

[Tamberav]

Wow! it's amazing 🙂

 

i am so jealous of everyone's beautiful DIY work!

[RedCrow]

Scaped! The majority of the rock is dry base rock, but i also took some nice coralline covered pieces from a refugium and attached them all together

 

Filled it up with dirty water change water and plugged everything in. With rock, sand, and equipment, it holds 1.9 gallons of water.

[devaji108]

^ oh yeah it's going to be exciting to see where this is in a year from now!

[waldoz]

So what you going to do about heat from the pump? Just wondering 😁

[RedCrow]

2 minutes ago, waldoz said:

So what you going to do about heat from the pump? Just wondering 😁

I've never had many issues with that, my house is cold most of the year 😅 if it gets a bit toasty in the summer I just unplug heaters 

[waldoz]

Nice! We were going to start a 2 gallon jar but ended up with a 20l hope to do a jar some day. Looking forward to your build. 😁

[Tamberav]

I know I already said it... but this is sooo cool 🙂

 

I feel like there would be a market for these little AIO's for jars.

[kimberbee]

8 hours ago, Tamberav said:

I know I already said it... but this is sooo cool 🙂

 

I feel like there would be a market for these little AIO's for jars.

I still have my creative pico container sitting in a closet. The biggest failure I had in that tank was being able to get the pump situated well and keeping it im place against curved glass - but this little aio box is perfect!

 

@RedCrow, what tool did you use to get the curves just right?

 

[RedCrow]

1 hour ago, kimberbee said:

@RedCrow, what tool did you use to get the curves just right?

Started with a table saw and fine-tooth blade for the rectangle, then cut out most of the shape with a jigsaw. Then an orbital sander to round it all off nicely 

[RedCrow]

I upgraded the light on my other pico (gosh I need to update that journal 😬) so I moved the Lominie Asta from that tank to here.

The jar has a light!

The foggy water change water cleared on its own in the last couple days. Also the Aqueon pre-set heater has been maintaining a steady 78f. That heater will most likely be upgraded to titanium some day, as I have a severe distrust for glass heaters. I once had one pop in a clownfish grow out tank; it completely shattered two sides of the tank, and killed every single young clown. The thing sounded like a shotgun blast when it went.

[RedCrow]

Xenia and GSP frags added! Now all that's left is to sit and watch them smother the rocks (and each other)

[RedCrow]

This morning I discovered that a rules clarification made my entry non-compliant. (DIY AIOs must have a condiment photo after the AIO is installed)

To remain compliant, I dried out the tank and retook a photo. Here is the new compliant photo

Also I realized that I never shared the equipment side if the wall:

There's just a sponge, heater and return pump. keeping it simple.

[devaji108]

heck yeah! that's the spirit... love your choice of condiment fitting..

[RedCrow]

I’ve gotta give a shoutout to Aqueon: I came home to find that the overflow in the jar had become clogged, and as such the water level in the rear chamber had dropped down to almost nothing, leaving the heater 100% out of the water. Not only did it not blow up (my number one aquarium related fear) but as soon as the water level was restored it kicked back on and heated the water right back up to 78 degrees. 
 

Best eight bucks I’ve spent on the competition so far. 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Looking good! Haha glad you didn't come home to a tank on fire🔥