1.5 Gallon Jarrarium

[Dawn T]

@Streetwise, I think it works! Miracle of miracles, I even managed to add the Peace River without stirring up the detritus. Was sure I'd make a huge mess. I do like it, too.

[Streetwise]

Very subtle and nice. Well done!

[Dawn T]

Thanks for the suggestion. Works like a charm. 🙂

[H20CultureLabs]

Looking great! I used to have the exact same jar that I used as a terrarium. I love to see you using it as a beautiful planted shrimp vase! Well done!

[Dawn T]

SO excited! This evening, I ordered some cherry shrimp and a couple of nerite snails for the jar. They won't ship until Monday, of course, but that's a-okay with me. I can hardly wait for their arrival. Looking forward to having more than miniscule lifeforms and pond snails in there to watch.

I was tempted to also order some fish for my recently rescaped 29g, but there hasn't been time to ensure that tank is stable (currently unpopulated except for snails, and what my hubby keeps saying are "invisible fish" since I insist on feeding that tank about every other day - LOL). My quarantine tank hasn't cycled fully yet either. Don't want to rush the process with either, so the fish will wait another 2 weeks or so. If it's too cold, well... we'll wait another 2 weeks or more.

[Dawn T]

The shrimp and nerites arrived yesterday! I decided to put only 3 of the shrimp in the jarrarium and put 7 others and the 2 nerites into the 29g I recently rescaped. As of this morning, they're all happily picking away at the substrate, plants, rocks, and walls of their container. I need to clean the inside front glass of the jar to make them more visible, but here's 2 of them in their new home.

[Dawn T]

Forgot to update on this jar! Not going super well.

On 3/18, I found a shrimp dead. Water parameters tested out perfect (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, no change in pH, KH, or GH), and I'd been feeding a couple of times a week and letting them pick at biofilm and algae the rest of the time. I wondered if the oxygen level was too low, so I put an airstone back in. I also altered the lighting schedule since I noticed a sudden burst of algae growth. 8 hours on, 16 hours off now, with no break in the 8 hours.

On 3/20, I gave it a tiny amount of Easy Green while dosing my various tanks. Noticed the algae seems to have stabilized.

This morning (3/24), found another dead shrimp. Testing revealed .5 ppm nitrate, but 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. No change in pH, KH, or GH. The single remaining shrimp is active. Algae is taking off again. Ack! Thinking I might decrease lighting to 6 hours to deal with the algae bloom, but not sure why the shrimp aren't doing well. The ones I have in the 29g tank are doing great! I even found a molt in there this morning, and all of them continue to be very active. So something's off in the jar but I can't figure out what. ??

[Dawn T]

Oh, almost forgot to mention. The jar is unheated, and we keep the house a minimum of 70 at night and 74 during the day through the winter. Water tests out around 74 by late afternoon. So is it possible the temperature swings from night to day are too big?

[Streetwise]

All of my planted tanks are organic soil tanks, so I don’t add fertilizers.

With pico water volumes, I would try to avoid any big changes, including water changes. Drive boring. Top off, and feed in moderation. Add as many plants as you can fit.

If you are worried about your source water, age it or prep it in a bucket, rather than in a tiny aquarium. You could also use seasoned water from larger tanks.

@Dawn T I currently only heat my Betta tank.

Edited March 25, 2021 by Streetwise

[Dawn T]

@Streetwise, same here. The betta tank is the only one I heat, too. My 29g duo, the 10g QT, and my 5g plant overflow tanks are all unheated. I have a heater in the QT tank, in case I need to heat that tank at some point, but it's not plugged in. Since we keep the house at a minimum of 70 degrees, I haven't found a need for heating most tanks.

[Dawn T]

This little "tank" continues to do well. The plants are growing well but slowly, which is why I chose the species I did. The lone little shrimp left over from the original trio is still in there and active. The water gets tested and topped off every Saturday morning. It usually gets dosed with diluted Easy Green then, too, since the nitrate levels stay pretty much non-existent. I need to get an updated photograph of it to share, but that will have to wait for another day. The light already went off for today.

[somethingclever]

Getting ready to start a similar project for myself. What do you think caused the death of the 2 shrimp? Looking forward to the pictures. I like the driftwood you used.

[Dawn T]

@somethingclever No idea. Water has consistently tested fine, and the one continues to thrive. So I have no idea what killed the other 2.

[Dawn T]

The single surviving shrimp of the original trio is STILL in the jar and doing well. Active. Doing her thing. Plants are growing well, but I need to get an updated photo to share. Lights off for the night, so that'll have to wait.

This morning, as I pulled Embers out of quarantine to move in the 5g tank, one of the cherry shrimp I've had in the 10g quarantine tank with the Embers decided to climb into my net. Since it was a male, and he's been doing great in the 10g, I decided to put him into this jar with the lone female. See how he does.

I still have an airstone in there. Was going to remove it, but the jar doesn't have a tight cover, so I needed to discourage mosquitoes. Any tanks that don't have fish in them, or at least don't ALL of the time (like my QT), have airstones to keep water agitation going for that reason. Mosquitoes were bad this past summer, and we've finally gotten rid of the last of them in the house (my fault - turned out NOT to be fish tanks but a set of HOUSEPLANTS!). Anyway, I didn't want the tanks to become a source of mosquitoes. Airstones worked perfectly, including in my little jar.