I want to do the 1 Gallon VASE tank!

[Reefnoobie12]

I know it's a challenge but it's a fun experiment and some people have been lucky with it so I'm going to go ahead and give it a try done a lot of research on how it works and what makes it somewhat successful. Doubtful or not It's worth a try and should be fun.. going to start the build soon even tho there isn't much to build because all it is is a vase, live sand, a little bit of live rock and a pendalumn light, air stone, and a heater and some luck! oh ya and frequent every week water changes along with a cap to prevent to much evaporation slowing down the salinity swings to the best it can. Would like recommendations on a cheap LED bulb or small light to put over the little baby tank and any thing else THANKS GUYS! BTW I'm in Arizona now so if you have any hook ups out here or no anybody LET ME KNOW!
like this :

http://images1.ratemyfishtank.com/photo/1/910x450/19571_1.jpg
My 1.5 gal. Vase Reef Bowl.
Tank Description: Peace To All, This is my 1.5 gal. Vase Reef bowl. I've been running this vase for 7 months and it includes live rocks, live sand, 19 different species of corals, lps, sps, softies, 1 red hermit crab, and absolutely no fish. I'm operating this vase with a whisper air pump, and 1 air stone. I have no heater because my room is temp. controlled. I do have the top of the vase covered with a clear plexi-glass, to keep down evaporation, which gives Me a weekly top off of 4-5 days, The circulation is generated from the air stone and can be controlled by the air pump, which is also a battery operated air pump, in case the fuse ever blows and I'm not home. Water changes are done every 7 days, with absolutely no skipping on this maintenance. Before I do my 100% water change, I feed the vase with Cyclops, Oyster Eggs, and I feed 1 cube, including target feeding various corals like the Duncans, Blastomussa, Palythoas, and Zoanthids. The SPS corals also get fed the cloudly water from the prepared food with a baster.Then I wait 2 hrs, remove the air stone, and use the baster to blow on the corals, live rock, and sand, just to stir up all the excess food and detritus, so I can remove with a hose, and start the 100% water change. I use a 27W LED bulb from China with 6-12K whites, and 3-Actinic Blues. Light is suspended 9" above the vase, and is on a 10 hr. timer. Salinity is at 1.025 and I've never test for anything. I just make sure that the salinity and temperature match the newly prepared, R.O. water with Instant Ocean salt, mixing for 24 hrs with an air stone and a set heater.

 

[Jhuneke]

This looks fun! I'd like to see this work out for ya if I had a suggestion, it would be to grow some display macro in there as well( maybe even a few mangroves poking out the top ) it is excellent nutrient export and has done wonders for WQ in the SH tank. Looks cool too! keep thread updated as ya go, fingers crossed!

 

[Reefnoobie12]

Thank you will do! and YA that sounds like a good idea actually !

 

[pikachux3]

That looks sick!! Did you get your bulb from ebay?

 

[Six2seven]

I've seen a couple of tanks like this. Their success was based on a hidden sump 10x the size of their vase. This way the water is more stable with the appearance of a tiny tank.

Good luck. Following along

 

[Rocklgnd2b]

Sweet


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[brandon429]

Hi guys
I watch vas reefs online as I collect info about their biology and noticed this thread in search returns

No sump, I logged in today just because that notion caught my eye, I would never want anyone to think we use trickery on these things, they live longer than normal reefs for good reason

http://www.nanoreefblog.com/features/pico-reefs/the-history-of-pico-reef-biology

This vase:
Has probably been around longer than 90% of all reef tanks on your site or any other and its 1 gallon

Google this
Pico reef pest algae challenge thread

All that comes from this vase and the feedback of others using our approach on their large normal reefs

This vase uses no ATO and beats any full size reef on salinity stability

Pumps out coral frags I sell online for years

if you run a certain technique, your vase will be the most stable and most affordable start to reefing you could get. of course they are unforgiving of mistakes, but you follow a plan and it will work. its easier than a standard reef tank by far, by far, in cost and effort, but that tradeoff is mistake forgiveness, they dont have much.


thesmallerthe better's thread here is another example of a nonsumped micro tank, half the size of my vase~ pretty dang neat.
Still, the reason there are so many on youtube as simply a gallon vase is because the technique is easy and mistakes are avoidable~ post pics if you put one up reefnoob!

 

[brandon429]

Lots of online pics show good sps growth

 

[oredith]

Pumps out coral frags I sell online for years

wait.. you're growing frags out of your 1gal vase?

i'm gonna call a tentative BS on that.

removing anything from the essentially closed loop system would introduce foreign elements, not to mention losing water volume?

 

[Reefnoobie12]

How is that bs? It's just like any other open tank? Stability and cautioness anything is possible ? Shoot u could probably grow it in a cup

*signing bonus in coral please*

 

[oredith]

How is that bs? It's just like any other open tank? Stability and cautioness anything is possible ? Shoot u could probably grow it in a cup

*signing bonus in coral please*

just doesn't quite add up. no ATO?

"This vase uses no ATO and beats any full size reef on salinity stability"

pulling water frag out will take some water with it, even if you don't use the tank's water to hold the frag, which means you're taking the frag from one water, and dumping it directly into another water without acclimating.

and I still call BS on salinity.

i get the closed loop idea, but the problem is salt creep. the evaporation collects at the top and returns, sure, but the salt that dries at the top won't get mixed back in.

and what about the temperature?

 

[Reefnoobie12]

He uses a heater and u add water by hand

*signing bonus in coral please*

 

[Reefnoobie12]

Lol it doesn't matter it works for him he is entitled to his opinion

*signing bonus in coral please*

 

[watchguy123]

Pico reefs are cool although I know very little about them. Read the article posted and some others. Lots of fact and fiction is intermixed in all reef information seemingly. I think the biology must be fascinating. It has a little too much of a Petri dish / biology soup mix look for my esthetics. Pretty amazing that life grows and succeeds in this "micro environment" or should I say "pico environment . I thought my tank look crowded.

Reefing on a different scale! Congrats on one of the wildest and craziest "tanks" that I've ever seen pictured

 

[brandon429]

joy!! oredith

its been about since 2007 since I had a good bio challenge I wholly appreciate the challenge.
see this

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/one-gallon-reefbowl-still-going-strong


the most common question is WHY do this
answer:

the stability beats any other aquarium, period. its cheaper. grows sps in afishbowl with no filters. uses special chemistry and a lot of 35% hydrogen peroxide which is another attack point I just gave

but ask yourself, whos been fragging sps out of their same tank for almost a decade..is it really a handicap> isn't a skimmer?


regarding the frag challenge, you saw my blue sps pics right? I just posted a motion shot. 1/2 inch covered in a month, right there, in macro detail. same corals you probably paid 1000$ to grow, only in less duration heh

what happens when that blue sps grows onto a rock chip I super glued in place, then I pry that out, and sell for five bucks? is that not positive coral mass? I feed heavy, massively heavy, each week. thats your continued nutrient input.

I never said these were zero sum systems man
this is pure science that challenged what the books said was possible, thats all.

 

[Reefnoobie12]

Ur legit bro! Aye what kinda percent water changes do you do and ur maintenance etc I'm going to start mine really soon so I need some tips I'm going to get the lid and everything

*signing bonus in coral please*

 

[brandon429]

If you cant find a lid Ill mail you one
but get this exact vase or the lid wont fit. it HAS to rest on the inner diameter of the vase, not on top like a normal tank



Reefnoobie's exAmple vase is from one of two posters I chat with on youtube

its either mary arroyo or beastmodehandball Im certain off pics alone

we thank those who challenge science without it we are selling snake oil

no money is made off reefbowls, i put that type out just to show other options to what the writers posed as the totality of what nano reefs do

see comments section of the history of biology article for all care requirements which include:

-100% water changes weekly, feed heavy just before for obvious reasons. this is tidal simulation, I leave my entire tank drained for 10-20 mins


do not leave your tank drained for very long, just drain and refill. if you want to get up to 20 mins we can by following certain techniques but its optional to do, just drain and change your tank as you would normally. do not do partial water changes, ever. all of it.

you must dose this tank in addition to full water changes, even though that seems counterproductive...doesnt the whole thing?

water changes and our feeding technique alone carries them, for a while. To get unlimited lifespan you must dose them in the way I do. anyone with a better idea is welcome to post counter proof.

also, dont forget to see thesmallerthebetter's tank on this forum down below. friend of mine for years and does smaller tanks, if he is growing scleractinia in 1/4 gallon why is the one gallon vase imposs lol

 

[F-Dawg]

Very interesting! Wish I had the time to take this challenge.

 

[brandon429]

just doesn't quite add up. no ATO?

"This vase uses no ATO and beats any full size reef on salinity stability"

pulling water frag out will take some water with it, even if you don't use the tank's water to hold the frag, which means you're taking the frag from one water, and dumping it directly into another water without acclimating.

and I still call BS on salinity.

i get the closed loop idea, but the problem is salt creep. the evaporation collects at the top and returns, sure, but the salt that dries at the top won't get mixed back in.

and what about the temperature?


temp is a tetra 50w heater preset to 78 degrees

I never acclimate any coral ever, I dump them in the tank. same with all inverts, shrimps crabs. get ready for the tide boys, or go ahead and die today. thats how the reefbowl does biz and magically every tank addition agreed. just lost my coral banded shrimp after 6 yrs in the vase~some say mean, i say it lasted the average time we keep them and any tank is mighty small for them, compared to the real thing. dealing in subjectives makes tank evaluations hard to please everyone~

 

[brandon429]

here is the salinity breakdown so you dont have to read for hours to find it, its simple.

You already know that putting a lid on a bc29 typical everymans nano reef cuts down evaporation. confirmed by your community, you can reduce evaporation on a tank by installing a fitted lid. you get -some- calculable measure of topoff extension. Now consider this...you do that, but you put the idea on steroids to accomplish:
-true seating into the tank design so all salt creep is dealt with
-a way to degas CO2 and bring in O2 even though you are mostly sealed ( reefbowl requires topoff, just less intervals than any sized reef tank)
-a way to prevent cooling issues by capping these reefs