Andgott
New Member
This is my bedside Pico jar, Just over a month in.
I was inspired by Jean Jaubert's 5L pico bowl- Which uses just the live sand and live rock for filtration. The only water movement in this system is provided by a pulsing Xenia.
My jar is a bit bigger- Just under 3 gallons. It's about as basic as you can get- Live sand, some live rock, Chaeto algae, Dragons breath Algae, Pulsing Xenia, and a single Apistasia (Yes, I have a pet Apistasia
). I also found a Flatworm living in there, too- Every so often he comes out and cruises around the glass a bit. I use a pad style heater under it to keep it at a constant 78 or so degrees- and it's amazingly stable for it's size.
Lighting is a LED ring-style plant light. It seems to be sufficient for the setup- The Chaeto has doubled in size since moving in to the jar. The Dragons breath could PROBABLY use a bit more light, but seems to be doing OK as well- Growing, just very slowly.
Maintenance is pretty simple. I top it off daily (sometimes more than once a day) with RO water. I keep a container of it nearby so it's easy to do- and hard to forget since I walk past it all day long. Once a week, it gets about a 10-20% water change. I spot feed the Xenia about once a week or so, with AB+.
This has been a fun little experiment- And now I have to make one for my wife because she wants one in her office. It has led me to look for potential pico jars everywhere... This one came from Wal-Mart, but I've been stalking all the stores looking for that "perfect" tank...
I was inspired by Jean Jaubert's 5L pico bowl- Which uses just the live sand and live rock for filtration. The only water movement in this system is provided by a pulsing Xenia.
My jar is a bit bigger- Just under 3 gallons. It's about as basic as you can get- Live sand, some live rock, Chaeto algae, Dragons breath Algae, Pulsing Xenia, and a single Apistasia (Yes, I have a pet Apistasia
). I also found a Flatworm living in there, too- Every so often he comes out and cruises around the glass a bit. I use a pad style heater under it to keep it at a constant 78 or so degrees- and it's amazingly stable for it's size. Lighting is a LED ring-style plant light. It seems to be sufficient for the setup- The Chaeto has doubled in size since moving in to the jar. The Dragons breath could PROBABLY use a bit more light, but seems to be doing OK as well- Growing, just very slowly.
Maintenance is pretty simple. I top it off daily (sometimes more than once a day) with RO water. I keep a container of it nearby so it's easy to do- and hard to forget since I walk past it all day long. Once a week, it gets about a 10-20% water change. I spot feed the Xenia about once a week or so, with AB+.
This has been a fun little experiment- And now I have to make one for my wife because she wants one in her office. It has led me to look for potential pico jars everywhere... This one came from Wal-Mart, but I've been stalking all the stores looking for that "perfect" tank...
