Best products from r/Jarrariums

I would suggest just going crazy on your filtration and getting an Aquaclear 50. It's suitable for 20-50 gallon tanks and you can put a whole lot more media in there. I have an AC 20 on my mother's 5.5 gallon betta tank and that works very well, barely any current at all and neons can deal with currents very well and the shrimp won't care.

I would return the filter and get an adjustable one off amazon for the same or less. There is a 20 gallon, 100 watt heater on amazon for $11.80 with prime, so I would go for that. Had them in my tanks and I haven't had one break or malfunction in the year and a half I've had them. Great deal!

15W for lights, might be a little low for plants in a 20 gallon, so get beginner level plants.

Important: research fishless cycling in an aquarium. This is how you will have the most success in the aquarium world. Better for your fish and better for your sanity when you put the fish in. It will get that nitrogen cycle pumping at 100%, so it will be ready for all the junk from your fist few fish.

As far as substrate, I have heard of black diamond blasting sand and this is what it looks like in an aquarium. I believe I have it in mine. It's very cheap, but is very dirty so when you get it, you'll have to rinse the dust out of it. It will take several rinses. Do this in a rubbermaid or a 5 gallon bucket (get them at lowes or home depot. If you want to get some marble for rock piles, lowes sells broken product and will throw in a bucket for free usually). DO NOT rinse it in your tank, it may scratch your glass. 98% of aquarium substrate needs to be rinsed, just throw about 3/4 or a full gallon in a 5 gallon bucket and swish it around. This black diamond stuff sometimes has little glass things in it, so use a glove or a stick (I used a well-washed spatula) and tap water.

You won't need to gravel vac in a properly cycled, planted aquarium. Trust me, especially with that filter, you won't need to, and that's a blessing. The beginner plants will grow under almost any light, and root tabs are a must for sand, especially in new aquariums. It depends what kind of gravel, but plants will usually take hold. I like sand because the poop either gets trapped where I can't see it or gets circulated to the filter.

I believe that's marbled(?) pothos. It works really well for sucking out the nitrates. I have a clipping clipped on the edge of my other tank, and it's working VERY well like that, so you could clip one on the edge of your tank next to your filter cutout. They do have different water roots than soil roots, so just get a cutting of viney part and make sure some of it is wet and there you go. Ferts also help these guys, and all I use is flourish excel and comprehensive, but you don't need to get into all that quite yet.

personally, I love the snails, they clean up my overfeeding, which leads to bad algae problems, my buddy killed all of his and got bad algae so I always have snails in my tanks.

As far as shrimp, they won't overpopulate when pressured by the tetras. they will eat the babies and the bolder ones will pester the adults a bit, so they won't breed as often. If your tank gets overrun (which it won't), you could try and sell them back to the store for store credit, or you could sell online.

Plants and shrimp: aquabid.com It's pretty much the ebay of the fish keeping world. notice that if it doesn't say snail free, you may get hitchhikers, which are not necessarily bad things. It takes maybe 24 hours to get an account (because of wait) so apply tonight.

DO NOT buy a feeder fish to 'jump start' your tank. It's inhumane and will take the exact same time (probably longer now that I think about it) as fishless cycling with ammonia would. You REALLY need to research that. Basic premise is, raise ammonia to 3ppm, monitor it every night, when you see it drop, bring it back up. Then when it disappears in ~3 days, check your nitrites, get them back to readable levels via water changes, then add ammonia, watch nitrates drop, and when you can get from 3ppm ammonia to 0ppm ammonia and 0 ppm nitrites, in 24 hours, then you can add a few fish. This is where you need a liquid test kit, not a test kit with strips, they can be unreliable.

this is a good source about fishless cycling. I haven't used dr. Tim's and my buddy got frustrated and crashed his tiny tank (after using Dr. Tim's, buddy's fault, not tim's) when he first started, so I have no idea how it works. I have just used ammonia both times I've cycled a tank.

Wait until you have a nice home for your fish before you shove them in there. You would want to wait until your home has A/C, a roof, walls, and is free of asbestos before you move in, right? Same with fish, be nice to them and you'll have a whole lot less headaches when it comes to ammonia spikes and stuff like that.

Cycling the jar is the culprit, i have a 5.5 gallon tank with just RCS for breeding. there was a lot of initial curves I had to over come. they will jump to the top if the water is really bad, (no oxygen, high ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates) It took my filter on that aquarium some time to cycle but one day i went to test the water and everything came out perfect so give it some time.

When it comes to the established aquarium, I would take some of the gravel, or a little of the ceramic media from the filter (if you have some) and put that in the jar to help cycle it. A large majority or the beneficial bacteria is in the filter and substrate, not the water column. taking some of the gravel or filtration media, will speed up the process. I have done this a couple times with success, and I have friends who beg me to crack open my Eheims and give them some of the ceramic media :p.

As for the RCS, they will die no matter how perfect your tank is. My parameters are all right, temp is stable, tank is parasite free, and its only RCS, and every once in a while i will see a pink body at the bottom. I fear that online breeders are not keeping their tanks genetically diverse enough, i feel that in time, we will see weaker and weaker cherry shrimp simply due to extensive inbreeding. Dont be afraid to buy shrimp from multiple people to help keep your future tank stable and happy.

If you don't have one already, i HIGHLY suggest you invest in an API Master Test Kit, Amazon has them the cheapest i believe. It will last you quite a while. I use mine several times a week to test my tanks and jars. it will really help you see whats happening during the cycling process.


No matter what don't give up. I know people like to throw an entire jar together and get the their Fauna in there in day one, but this can be disastrous unless you are able to watch the container extremely close for the first couple weeks. Dont be a afraid to start fresh, let it cycle for a couple weeks and then ad your RCS. good luck!

I'm just saying the yellowing of your plants mean they aren't getting enough light. If the ends turn brown and start molting/rotting, it's a nitrate deficiency. Shrimp (shellfish in general) are particularly sensitive to nitrate changes, so I was suggesting you make the amendments before you add the fauna.

You have a few options:

Full restack:

• Put a base layer of aquarium substrate (usually clay based) fertilizer/nitrate-infused (I use Seachem Plant Base, https://amzn.to/2Z6gfmA and it's enough in one bag for a 10-gal tank, so you should have plenty to spare. Layer should be about an inch high in a jarrarium
  
  
• Put in your substrate on top of the soil. You can use anything organic, but not plastic gravel
  
  *Plant your plants
  
  
• Top off with 1/4" more substrate to help them stay seated and start rooting.
  
  
• 24-hour light cycle until the plants start showing green, then you can swap for your normal hours.
  
  If you have temperature control where the jarrarium will be, you can use direct sunlight to kick-start the plants, but if not the Sun will make the water too hot (and the hot-cold scale to lengthen to be too dramatic for most life beyond snails).
  
  The other option, with much less effort is to just use a spoon or a long cylinder (like a tank vacuum tube) and fill it with the nitrate soil, then jam it into the jar to the bottom and release it on the way out. Same concept as nitrate "plugs" you see at the store, but much more natural and much less likely to induced burn on the plants.
  
  As with any living ecosystem, it's all about the balance, which can only be achieved with a cycle. With still-water, you'll only get gas exchange at the site of the plant, not in the surrounding ambient water. So getting a large pond or apple snail will help physically move around the water and get things mixing.
  
  For a REALLY great start, you can use the soda-bottle hack to make a DIY CO2 bubbler, put it in the jar with a lid, then it will bubble (and mix) through the water and infuse the water with plenty of CO2 for the plants to thrive. Then when the bottle is empty/spent after a few days, you can let it stabilize for a day and add shrimp by the weekend.
  
  If you want more details/recs, I'm extremely happy to help.
  
  Also, I've started a YouTube channel for old game restorations, but I also make custom LED lights, if you have a request (at cost < $10-$15 shipped).

Monte Carlo could work. I haven't had much luck with it in a jar but that could be because I didn't keep up with water changes for a little bit.

I personally am not a fan of the dry start method, especially in something like a small jar. I would suggest planting with water. My thing with the dry start method is that you need to do it at least a month for some results but when you floor your jar the plants have to adjust to being submerged. In my experience, this caused a lot of dying off of plants and caused them to have to regrow and creates dirty water for a period of time. Because of that, I'd suggest planting them with water.

I'd definitely suggest using dirt and capping it with something (walstad method). Make sure you use organic potting soil, I've used Miracle Grow Organic potting soil in the past. The extra chemicals and fertalizers in regular potting soil isn't good to use in aquariums and can kill your plants/livestock. I'd suggest putting the potting soil in a large bucket, flood the bucket, and scoop out the wood and particles that float to the top. Be sure to mix up your dirt when you're doing this, let the dirt settle, and repeat. You should cap the dirt with something. I think gravel is better than fine sand so there is more room for the soil to leach it's nutrients into the water.

I'm pretty sure if you do the walstad method you don't need a filter (I'd double check that by googling and checking the sidebar for the walstad method). If you do I have this in my 2ish gallon jar (non walstad but I wish I did) with something like this for the air pump.

I'd suggest getting some sort of moss too. Moss is super easy to grow and if you put it on a piece of wood it will look great. Look up the nitrogen cycle and the walstad method along with looking at this sub for more advice and pieces of info you can pick up.

Full tank shot here https://www.reddit.com/r/Jarrariums/comments/72vqfj/a_new_picture_of_my_25g_reef_jar/?st=jde87y7d&sh=2b82e2e7
Although that picture's kinda old, have a bit more stocked in there now. I should upload some more of the tank as it currently is.
Full stock list: 3 sexy shrimp(2 females and a male, with the two females releasing eggs every 2 weeks), a pom pom crab, a red bumpy crab that I don't know the species of local to San Diego tide pools. Corals: LPS(Trumpet and frogspawn, used to have a hammer but it got killed by a newly introduced chalice corals sweepers in the night, need to be very careful with frag placement with a tank as small as this). SPS(Pocillopora, potato chip coral, green one I forgot the name of), various gorgonian species, Leathers(toadstool and kenya tree), green star polyps, and last but not least the various colors of mushrooms I have meandering and multiplying on the bottom of the tank, probably forgot a few. I also recently got a maxi-mini carpet anemone for my sexy shrimp since that's what they host on in the wild but they don't seem to like it any more than the corals, lol.
Lighting is this https://www.amazon.com/ABI-Coral-Optimized-Spectrum-PAR38/dp/B01LWP37SD
I have a little piece of tape on the tank to mark the water level, and I top of to that point with RO/DI to compensate for evaporation, usually every few days I'll top it off.
Been stable for over a year now I'd say, with a few of my corals showing rapid growth(they apparently really like bloodworms) in the past few weeks.
In regards to dinner, sorry bud I got a girlfriend already :p
And again, no sump ;)
Also, my sexy shrimp literally gave birth again tonight but I actually got to see the female release them. I thought it was a gradual thing where she released one baby than another, but it turns out she actually swims into the water column then releases all hundreds at once! Looked like a firework, really cool to see. I want to try and capture it on video at some point.

I have a dwarf in a 3 gallon with a beta, he dominates the bottom and the betta dominates the top (predators typically leave each other alone, but this is not always the case tho make sure your the betta is dosile). HOWEVER the dwarf cpo is a fragile lil guy he needs tons of food, hiding space (to molt), live plants (to eat), lots of moss (to eat), and exceptionally clean water at 200 tds. I have sucessfully kept mine for several months in such a small environment, but its no jarrarium. The water runs through 3 layers of charcoal filtering to keep him happy, annnnd I have the tank heater to 78 degrees. There great pets to own, but Im nearly certain he would die in a filterless ambiently heated environment

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00891I1Q2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4anPzbTSF1SGW

This is the smallest tank I've managed to keep one alive in with a bit of tweaking on the filter. This is a fairly inxpensive rig, it's pretty low tech in terms of lighting. So I advise keeping it near a window for cheap yet effective light.

So in conclusion i highly advise raising one of these guys there a riot to watch (so cute :3), but if your hearts set on a jarrarium use either neo shrimp or snails. If you can get a filter in the jar potentially fish.

This is my first jarrarium, so I followed what best practices I could find through Reddit as well as the recommended Walstad PDF. Since this is my first time, I figured it was best to not analyze every single detail and just get a jar going. Best to learn from experience!

The night before I soaked the potting mix in water and attempted to clear as many of the twigs and sticks as possible. It was a bit difficult since I didn't have a hose, but it still worked. I let that mixture sit overnight. To start the jarrarium, I placed roughly 1 1/2 inches of soil lightly patted at the bottom of the jar with 2 root tabs to hopefully give the plants a good start to the tank. I'm unsure whether or not the root tabs were absolutely necessary, so I'd like to hear any thoughts on this and if others have done it or not. Hopefully this soil was close enough to the recommended Walstad soil;however, I was unable to find any locally. Once the dirt was placed, I set the zebra rock in the tank and then began the planting process.


In regards to the plants, I wasn't complete sure what selection of plants I wanted so I went with a mix of background, mid-ground, and foreground plants. I knew I really wanted to go with Dwarf Hair grass, so the others were just plants I had seen before. I started the planting process by placing the Vals in the back of the jar, Anubias on the right, Dwarf lily on the middle-left, and Dwarf Hair grass on the front-left of the jar. Placement seems off right now and the jar seems a bit bare. I'll let the tank cycle before considering whether a rearrangement is in order or if other plants need to be added. I'm definitely interested in adding a floating plant, but I'll need to do research before moving forward. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Once the plants were in the dirt, I poured roughly 1 inch of gravel in the back, and 1 inch of sand in the front. Water was treated with SafeStart and Aquasafe before pouring it into the jar. The pictures in this post were taken roughly an hour after I poured the water, which allowed the sediment to settle. There is still dirt floating on top of the water so I'll have to do a few small (10%?) water changes in the next coming days.




Plants:



All plants were ordered through Planted Aquariums Central

Nymphaea stellata (Dwarf Lily Plant)

Eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hair Grass)

Vallisneris spiralis

Anubias coffeefolia


Rock:


Zebra Rock from Petco


Hardware:


2 gallon Anchor Hocking Jar

https://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Hocking-2-Gallon-Heritage-Hill/dp/B000KKI7GY

Natures care organic potting mix

https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-71678127-currently-Northeastern-Midwestern/dp/B00FVBQET4

Lamp

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-LA24118V-Get-it-Together-Adjustable-Task-Lamp-Rich-Black/16533259

Bulb (9W 5000K 800 Lumens LED Bulb)

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Equivalent-Daylight-Definition-Dimmable/dp/B01MAXUKMF

Petco Aquarium Sand and Gravel

Seachem Flourish Root Tabs

https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG

2 Pack - 1 Gallon Glass Jar w/Plastic Airtight Lid, Muslin Cloth, Rubber Band - Wide Mouth Easy to Clean - BPA Free & Dishwasher Safe - Kombucha, Kefir, Canning, Sun Tea, Fermentation, Food Storage https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075JQR2KD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KGVGDbVD9DACB

these ones are fairly basic 1 gallon jars. should fit what youre looking for! i would recommend stopping by a craft store tho if you want something more fun. usually they have a fun variety

Oh ok, well, while it was still probably unfortunately something from the stream. It's also possible that once one shrimp died there was no bacteria in the filter to take care of the ammonia. You can read up on the Nitrogen Cycle on the r/Aquariums sub off to the right and there's probably also some info under the tabs at the top. You'll need to get a sponge filter for the bacteria to live on. That's what handles all the stuff that builds up in an aquarium. I'm sort of surprised there were no problems from this before, but at the same time, shrimp have such low bioload, I'm also not surprised since they don't produce too much normally. An easy fix for your situation is to grab a Fluval prefilter sponge like this and slide your airstone inside, making your own sponge filter. It's inexpensive at Petco/Petsmart, like $3. But, since you only have 1 shrimp and a few snails left, it's very important to keep what bacteria you have left in your tank going until you add something else living to the tank that will produce food for the bacteria. I suggest you keep "feeding" the tank a little bit of food every couple of days. And that you also grab a bottle of beneficial bacteria at the LFS like Seachem Stability which is very good for keep the bacteria going in a tank. Just dose a ml or two every couple of days to keep things going too.

You should probably also continue to do small regular partial water changes every 3-5 days to get rid of whatever toxins may be in the water that killed the dwarf shrimp from the waterway. (just add the water back in gradually/slowly) And you may ask at your LFS for a mild treatment for the tank before adding anything new.

Good luck!

The only minor danger I think would be if the driftwood were near the rim. I've seen my shrimp surface RARELY on plants that are floating at the top, but they won't climb out and I have never seen them climb the driftwood. After one generation it won't matter anyway because you will have so many of them. I'd recommend getting a small internal filter with a spray bar. I paid about 10 bucks for mine on Amazon and it has been one of the better investments I've made for keeping critters in jars. Something like this is what I have:

https://www.amazon.com/Hestio-Internal-Aquarium-Tropical-Filtration/dp/B01MA6UI1V/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482704560&sr=8-1&keywords=internal+filter+with+spraybar

You can take the spray bar off and fully submerge the filter. It works really good on cylinder shaped jars as the suction cups are flexible enough to handle the curve.

Tbh when my plants go transparent like that they are usually dead, but I’m not familiar with that species so idk for sure! If your water is hard as you say- have you thought about using some fertilizer and especially water conditioner water conditioner? Can go a long way in keeping plants happy. Good luck!

Haha I think I bought the exact same bowl (bubble ball 12) yesterday and a super similar piece of spiderwood. That means we both have great taste.

What light are you using in that. I was thinking about using this light.

Does everything look super magnified in the bowl?

It's legit just an LED light I got off Amazon. It fits perfectly in the mouth of the jar haha.

The one I bought right now is currently unavailable on Amazon, but there are others that are similar that would probably be just as good.
Clip on Light, HQOON Eye-Care Desk Lamp, Portable Book Light Clip on Desk, Bed Headboard and Computers, Gooseneck, 2 Lighting Color, USB Plug, 7W, Durable Clamp, Bedside Reading Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074SCYGTC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_OzoPBb3JMZ7XT

One that looks similar:
6W LED USB Dimmable Clip on Reading Light,Clip Laptop Lamp for Book,Piano,Bed Headboard,Desk,Eye-care 2 Light Color Switchable, Adapter Included(Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074V34G49/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_bCoPBbWDW9ZEX

It's 6W instead of 7W like mine, but it looks almost exactly like it.

The 2.5 gallon Anchor Hocking jar seems to be very popular. I've seen lots of really great setups using it. I don't have one but I did check one out in a brick-and-mortar store. It's really heavy weight and big enough that you can have a lot of flexibility. A little bit of substrate isn't going to crack this sucker!

I've been looking at http://cysexcel.com/ which has some really interesting shapes and sizes. I think they mostly do wholesale so most things don't come in single units. Even when you adjust to a unit price, some of these are really pricey but if you see something unique, you can hunt goodwill/garage sales (which some people enjoy) or you can just pay the price for the size/shape you want.

Couple of examples:

• 10"Dx30"H - That's a bit over 10 gallons! (also comes in 12"/16"/20"/24" high versions)
  
• 8" cube
  
• 8"Hx8"Wx4"D
  
• Huge bowl
  
  Edit: formatting

I've had pretty good luck with these.

That was a quick search, should be able to find a better price if you look around. I got mine for about $14 each.

Certainly. Petco and Petsmart carry them too but I’m not sure about prices. It will be fine for a couple weeks probably, but eventually it will want some food. I think maybe flourish tabs would be a good option.


Seachem Flourish Tabs Growth Supplement - Aquatic Plant Stimulant 10 ct https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255QLG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CJRKDb6JV9A1E

Nuisance algae, seriously. The same as with sun light.

For corals, you will need 10,000-20,000K white, and 430 and 460 nm actinic.

Like this, only 20W, will work for tanks under 6 gal/24 L. It has to be replaced every 6 months, becoming costly.

LED, this or this doesn't need replacement, but it's hot and intense, hang it around 14"/35 cm above water level.

Corals will need water flow, at my knowledge, the nature of a beast.

HD kind of lights, bottom light for corals: 25W daylight CFL. Corals will have not optimal colors, as in clean, balanced, well lit environment with a flow, but they do grow (I did that with flow and feeding).

There's a $40 off amazon. You might find the same cheaper on eBay but shipping will take longer from Hong Kong. Zoo Med Nano 10 External Canister Filter, up to 10 Gallons https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DGHRU2

I personally use this $12 for my mini aquariums.
Elite Underwater Mini Filter, UL Listed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009YD7D4

But I have shrimp and fish livestock. Love that model, been using it for over 10 years.

Not everyone has a water test kit but if you take a water sample into Pecto/Petsmart they'll test your sample for free and give you a read out of your water parameters.

Here's one listed on Amazon for $22.54

Anyone use this lamp? I have it saved for when I do start my jarrarium because I saw it recommended a while ago.

I read this 2.5 gallon one works well:
Anchor Hocking Montana Glass Jar with Fresh Sealed Lid, Brushed Metal, 2.5 Gallon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RMTG3S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9JVGDb11EH2W6

But I haven’t used it myself so I can’t really confirm...

Here's a link

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078V2Q9BZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It lights up the 1 gallon jar nicely and has a few settings. I've only had it for a few days though, so I can't speak on performance with the water sprite I have floating in there yet.

Thanks very much! It's this one: Lominie LED Aquarium Light, Asta 20 Nano Dimmable Planted Tank Lights 6500K with Gooseneck for Plant Freshwater Aquarium Fish Tank Refugium (Planted Version) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07236CXBQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rKGGDb5TDV8NK

you can try this not sure if it’ll test O2 levels, but the snails may just like the light

This is the light I picked up, it's awesome, but the neck may not be as long.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07236CXBQ

• Aqua soil substrate

• This bulb from my local hardware store

• Marimo moss ball

• Dwarf hairgrass (tissue culture)

• Hemianthus Callitrichoides ‘Cuba’ tissue culture

• 4 adult shrimp, lots of babies.

• 2 Nerites

• This jar

The rocks I got from my local greenbelt, the plants and animals came from my local aquarium shop.

For a small jar/bowl like this, it can be relatively cheap depending on what you want!

The bowl was $20 at Michael's, though they're constantly having sales (and there's ones similar to this for cheaper elsewhere). I use a mini sponge filter (~$4) and a small 50w heater (~$10). Regular sand substrate would do fine, but you can always go for dirt and other substrates. I opted for Fluorite black sand with a regular sand cap. What makes or breaks it is 1. the light, and 2. whatever plants and things you want to put in. The light I'm using was ~$40
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07236CXBQ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_JmhSAb7CMQN8X) but works really well for a small planted tank. And depending on what plants you want, you can go crazy and develop a real plant-buying addiction, which I'm guilty of. Regardless, there are lots of cheap plants you can buy too! The plant in back (rotala) is relatively cheap.