.75g Red Sea Aqua Vase

[fritzthewondermutt]

I thought I'd add my tank to the growing list of Aqua Vase users. I saw one of these and had to have it. I had done a 6g Eclipse before and this looked a bit more difficult/fun. It's been up and running for a few months now with better results than I had expected.

close up:

and from a little further back:

I currently have a zebra hermit, bumble bee snail, a yellow goby, and various other critters I have bummed off friends. One of the challenges of this size tank is finding things small enough to fit in it.

I am using the 7w light that came with the tank with a moonlight LED, (the goby is afraid of the dark ). I agree with some of the other posts that the two foam pads that come with this filter will do nothing for you but help you grow algae. I replaced them with AquaClear mechanical and biological media, (the smallest box available, will set you back $1-$2) Just cut off a chunck of foam to fit. You may have to take the bio media out of the bag to get it to fit easily.

Since I have it sitting on my desk at work the temperature is not an issue as it doesn't change more than about 5 degrees. The big problem is evaporation thanks to the relentless A/C. When I first set up the tank I was losing almost 1/2 inch per day. I talked a friend of mine into making this lid for me, (Thanks Pat) and it has cut my water loss to practically nil.

Cover in place:

If you are planning to try one of these I would recommend:
- Make a lid. No, Really.
- Lots of macro algae and live rock.
- Go slowly, and resist the urge to fiddle with it. A little neglect seems to work better than over cleaning.
- Don't worry, a total die off will cost you less than $100, (ok, a bit more if you pay full price for critters).

Enjoy.

 

[dragon79]

very nice and very interesting. I have that same exact tank, but using it as a qtank. 1 recommedation. You should replace that all white bulb for a 50/50 bulb, it'll fit it. Especially if you go with one of 13 watts. Just ask your LFS.

As for the lid thing, that is awesome...you had your friend make it? Very cool. Is there a way your friend could make another and you could possibly ship to me? I have also another small tank, that I'm using as a regular reef tank. It's in this forum under "redsea melody series pics alive" I could really use a lid for that more than anything. I could get some measurements of it and let you know. I can totally relate to the evaporation....it's terrible....I top off every day. Let me know if you can help out, and let me know how much. PM me when you get a chance, thanks.

Again very nice tank, very nice. Oh one more thing....what you did in the filter system......you removed both of those foams, *good* and you put ceramic rings, and what's that foam? You say it comes from aquaclear? Aquaclears smallest package is the what? (just curious to know)

 

[djconn]

Great little tank. I love the plastic cover idea...I see the requests are already pouring in :mrgreen:

Dragon79 - I haven't been able to find a 7watt 50/50. They are all 9 or 13w. Would be a nice touch if you could find one though.

Thanks for sharing and welcome to Nanotank :gh:

 

[dragon79]

Great little tank. I love the plastic cover idea...I see the requests are already pouring in :mrgreen:

Dragon79 - I haven't been able to find a 7watt 50/50. They are all 9 or 13w. Would be a nice touch if you could find one though.

Thanks for sharing and welcome to Nanotank :gh:

they're at my LFS. I'll buy one for kicks and put it on the qtank. I'm pretty sure, let me make sure again before I put my foot in my mouth.

 

[fritzthewondermutt]

You should replace that all white bulb for a 50/50 bulb, it'll fit it. Especially if you go with one of 13 watts. Just ask your LFS.

As for the lid thing, that is awesome...you had your friend make it? Very cool. Is there a way your friend could make another and you could possibly ship to me?

Yeah, I tried a 13w 50/50 but the power supply for the stock light doesn't seem to have enough horsepower to get it lit. It just flickers.

I talked to my friend about a lid. While we both saw the possiblity of a nice eBay business, his wife recently had twins so he is a little short on time, (and sleep for that matter). I'll try to bribe him into making a batch of them though.

In other news my goby croaked today.

 

[djconn]

Sorry to hear about your goby. I did notice he looked a little white in your photo. Mine died recently as well.

 

[dragon79]

I understand about your friend being short on time with the new baby, and I appreciate your efforts in asking too, that's very cool. I hate DIY type stuff, but I guess I could try. Where could I find the materials? Home Depot or what? Some thin clear plastic, and then get plastic cutting scissors? Let me know or if your friend does end up making some more, just know I'm still very interested for one on the pico .75 and one on my Pico Melody series tank. (1.5).

As for your lighting situation, perhaps getting the 9 or 13 watts clip on light. I still need to get over to my LFS to check them out. I just know that they have the 50/50 pc light for this tank, but not sure if it's the 9 or 13, I'll check and let you know, since adding the 13 watt bulb to this clip on doesn't work too well cuz of the flickering.

 

[mihkaail]

Hope this isnt too off topic (and great tank btw, how long's it been going)

Why is it people have such negative experience with clown gobies (either they disappear or they jump)? I've decided against getting one partially for that reason.

 

[fritzthewondermutt]

Hope this isnt too off topic (and great tank btw, how long's it been going)

Since Nov, so about 4 months. I'll declare victory if it's all still good at 6 months.

Why is it people have such negative experience with clown gobies (either they disappear or they jump)? I've decided against getting one partially for that reason.

I suppose he would have done better if I had fed him huh? :wink: I think the Catch 22 of gobys is they are small enough to fit in a tank this size but can't get enough to eat in a tank this size.

 

[incysor]

I hope you're kidding.

These fish would starve to death in a regular 55g aquarium if you didn't feed them.

As for why so many folks are having problems. That's a good question. I suspect that perhaps one of the major suppliers is using cyanide to capture them. I only say this because 4 of the 5 I've tried since moving have eaten, but starved anyway. That's a pretty good indication that their digestive system has been damaged by cyanide capture. The first two I had before I moved both were easy, accepting anything I fed the tank, so that's my only theory so far.

B

 

[djconn]

Yep, mine did the same thing. It ate but within a 1-2 months, I found him belly-up. I'm sure my goby and incysor's came from the same supplier in Houston though. Interesting other people in other parts of the country are having the same issues.

I prob. won't try another goby for that reason.

 

[Brian da lion]

Nice, cool idea with the lid.

 

[noone]

what is the name of the coral in the center of the first picture?

very nice tank, congratulations!!!

 

[phreebsd]

what is the name of the coral in the center of the first picture?

very nice tank, congratulations!!!

Looks like dendronepthya to me

 

[nisicram]

i love the way it looks. i also have this tank just some nice frags in their waitng for them to open.

also with that 13w light all yu need to get it to work is the galaxy light clip on fixture it will work perfectly

 

[nisicram]

fritzthewondermutt what did you have your lid cut out of? i cut mine out of acrylic and when i put the light directly on top of it its bending it. i need something thicker was wondering if you used glass or what

 

[skipm]

His is made of acrylic as well but if you notice his light is attatched to a bracket on the rear tankwall. The heat from your light is whats causing the acrylic to warp. If you make it out of 3/16" or 1/4" plexiglass you shouldn't have any troubles. If your light is sitting directly on the cover you may need to fix something to raise the light up a bit to allow air to circulate and prevent excess heat buildup.