householdofpayne Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) I recently came across a build thread for a Pico Jar that really intrigued me to give it a try. My biggest draw back before was dealing with top offs without having any bulky equipment hanging out the side of the jar. Reefsmart developed a light that was integrated into a lid that reduced the amount of evaporation by having a tight seal, and directing the water back into the jar. With seeing how much joy our display tank has brought my wife, I decided this would be the perfect Valentines gift for her desk at work. Steve at reefsmart.com was amazing to deal with, providing tons of hand holding information so get me started with success. I headed out to Target to purchase my 2.5 gallon jar that would house our mini reef. I found that the clarity of the jars varied greatly from jar to jar, and choose the best that I could find. Once I got home I water tested it to see just how clear it was, and decided to head to a different store with more options to have the best view possible. I did however have to accept that there was no perfect jar out there, and settle for one that had the optimal viewing window for about a 130 degrees around the jar. Selecting the jar was the hardest part thus far. I purchased a few different air stone defusers to experiment with, and found that just the air tube itself with no defuser created the largest bubble that created the least salt creep. Other difusers also created micro bubbles that bothered me aesthetically. The other examples that I followed used just the air pump for filtration. I have always approached the hobby by over sizing, and over filtering everything I set up. I opted to put a small internal filter to be able to seed some filter floss from my display tank, as well as create a little more flow. One thing that I found to be pretty cool about the jar was that beings the sides are curved, you can actually hide the equipment on the sides as it obscures the view. The internal filter is a little to large to completely hid, but some coral placement should make it hidden pretty well over time. As for aquascaping I put 2.5lbs of CaribSea Bahamas oolite live sand in the base, but decided to add just under another pound for looks. I was able to find the perfect size rock in my sump and left it to cycle. The first light you see in the tank was a bendable air stone with light that I used to test the clarity, and experiment with the entire back of the jar being bubbles. The back of the jar beings solid bubbles was cool, made a lot of flow, but created a ton of micro bubbles. The 2nd picture is just a extra light that I had that I used for cycling while I awaited the reefsmart light. We are now a day before valentines day, and I have placed my first few corals to be ready for the day. Again for over filtration and for more color, I placed some red macroalgae. I am very excited to try this back to the basics approach to reefing. I will be completing a 50%-80% water change weekly. I will include the equipment that I am starting with. Filter: Aqueon X_small filter quiteflow internal, 3 gallon A 3.5w air pump by Imagitarium An Aqueon 50w Heater. Nimble Nano glass cleaner Light: Reefsmart Picopro Edited February 13, 2019 by householdofpayne 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Beautiful! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Surprisingly, I don't think you'll need the bubbler. To do a water change, I used to bring a tupperware into work everyday with my main tank water to do a daily water change. IMO it's the best way to make sure it's on top of it's health. Either way, you're doing great! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 1 hour ago, milesmiles902 said: Surprisingly, I don't think you'll need the bubbler. To do a water change, I used to bring a tupperware into work everyday with my main tank water to do a daily water change. IMO it's the best way to make sure it's on top of it's health. Either way, you're doing great! I may move away from the bubbler, my thought was beings I have a sealed lid it would be a good idea to pump fresh air into the tank for gas exchange. Also for some surface agitation as the outlet from the filter is submerged. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisriverfisherman Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 I have always liked the pico type tanks but haven't set one up yet, maybe in my future. Great start to your pico, I look forward to seeing more updates in the future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Now that’s cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 How is this little gem doing BTW? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 (edited) 33 minutes ago, albertareef said: How is this little gem doing BTW? Boy oh boy what a day to ask ahaha. We added a aqua-cultured mandarin on Thursday and left it over the weekend beings it is located at my wifes work. This morning it was dead and I think it had been there awhile based off the ammonia spike (good thing I came in prepared for a water change this morning) We planned on only having the one fish but I really think we are going to stick with just corals after this disaster. (Maybe we'll change our mind and add another down the road on a Monday so we can monitor closer.) This was after we traded in a velvet purple urchin because it took a giant bite outta the beautiful acan we were showcasing up front, and totally consuming our feather. Starting to accept critters are going to be its demise, so were sticking to corals for now. On a positive note, it grows zoas like no other! The 2 zoas that I started with have doubled the amount of polyps that they have in less then 2 months. The color we get outta the light is amazing. My wife gives me daily updates about whats going on in the tank in a excited manner, telling me it was the perfect gift. Working on not being frustrated with the last 2 little set backs, and look at it as a learning experience. Edited April 2, 2019 by householdofpayne 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 Update photo! It’s filling in... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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