Ultimate Guide To Making A Jar Tank:
<note> (this is a long article but it is very simple, I just explain everything in detail so you can do it with ease and know how to do it)
What you will need:
- a jar or small container, 2-3 gallons is more than enough
- aquarium plants (some suggestions are below)
- a small piece of driftwood or rock that will fit into the jar/container
- a small group of 4-5 shrimp or snails (some suggestions are below)
- Sand/gravel/aquarium soil, enough to fill jar/container about 1-3 inches
- Declorinated water
Aquarium Plant Suggestions:
- Java Fern
- Java Moss
- hornwort
- frogbit
- duckweed
- anubias
- vals
- crypts
- amazon swords
- rotala
- Water wisteria
Some of my baby java fern:
Shrimp And Snail Suggestions:
- Bladder snails
- Ramshorn Snails
- Pond snails
- Trumpet Snails
- Assassin Snails
- Red Cherry Shrimp
- Ghost Shrimp
- Blue Tiger Shrimp
- Panda Shrimp
- Amano Shrimp
- Cardinal Shrimp
Preparing Jar/container and adding substrate:
1. Wash your jar/container in hot water and scrub a little and leave to dry
<note> (substrate is what will be at the bottom of jar/container, commonly, sand, gravel or aquarium soil)
2. Place your inch of aquarium soil into the jar/container
3. then cover with an inch of washed/rinsed sand or gravel
<note> (you can have just sand or just solid or just gravel or a mix of them,there is no rights or wrongs but I recommend putting a bit of soil or gravel, then a layer of sand)
Hardscaping, Aquascaping And Water:
1. Place your driftwood or rock or both into a jar/container in a way that you feel looks nice
2. Put your plants into the jar/container, make sure your root plants are buried deep enough that they are into the aquarium soil not just the sand or gravel
3. Place taller growing plants towards the back and sides
4. shorter growing plants should be planted at the front
5. Then fill your jar/container with dechlorinated water close to the maximum
6. if you are adding floater plants now is the time to add them
Cycling Tank:
1. your tank needs to cycle so let it be with some light for 8 hours a day
2. Cycling normally tanks 1-2 months, you can and some filter sponge from another fish tank to speed the process if you do this cycling will only need 1-2 weeks.
3. Test your water parameters, you can buy a kit or get it done for free at a local fish store
Adding Livestock:
After your tank has had the above steps complete and cycling is over your tank is ready for livestock.
1. get your snails or shrimp or both, and acclimate them to your jar/container by floating them in the water or slowly adding some tank water to the bag, do this for about 15-30 minutes.
2. Scoop them out with a net or by hand and place them gently into the tank, you can put them on hardscape, plants or let them sink to the substrate
<note> (snails and shrimp breed easily in home aquariums so starting is a small population of 4-5 will prevent overpopulation, snail and shrimp can be used as feeder food for aquarium fish or can be added to other fish tanks)
Maintenance:
Well done your aquarium jar is complete
1. To keep your jar looking at its best I recommend removing 20-25% of water with an aquarium siphon/vacuum every 2-4 weeks, shrimp are very small waste producers while larger snails produce more waste, smaller snails are similar to shrimp is waste amounts.
2. When plants become overgrown trim them to the size you like, offcuts can be used in other tanks, ponds, jars or projects
Thank you for taking the time to read my article and I hope you have success in making your very own jar/container tank.
By PeterFishKeepin
<note> (this is a long article but it is very simple, I just explain everything in detail so you can do it with ease and know how to do it)
What you will need:
- a jar or small container, 2-3 gallons is more than enough
- aquarium plants (some suggestions are below)
- a small piece of driftwood or rock that will fit into the jar/container
- a small group of 4-5 shrimp or snails (some suggestions are below)
- Sand/gravel/aquarium soil, enough to fill jar/container about 1-3 inches
- Declorinated water
Aquarium Plant Suggestions:
- Java Fern
- Java Moss
- hornwort
- frogbit
- duckweed
- anubias
- vals
- crypts
- amazon swords
- rotala
- Water wisteria
Some of my baby java fern:
Shrimp And Snail Suggestions:
- Bladder snails
- Ramshorn Snails
- Pond snails
- Trumpet Snails
- Assassin Snails
- Red Cherry Shrimp
- Ghost Shrimp
- Blue Tiger Shrimp
- Panda Shrimp
- Amano Shrimp
- Cardinal Shrimp
Preparing Jar/container and adding substrate:
1. Wash your jar/container in hot water and scrub a little and leave to dry
<note> (substrate is what will be at the bottom of jar/container, commonly, sand, gravel or aquarium soil)
2. Place your inch of aquarium soil into the jar/container
3. then cover with an inch of washed/rinsed sand or gravel
<note> (you can have just sand or just solid or just gravel or a mix of them,there is no rights or wrongs but I recommend putting a bit of soil or gravel, then a layer of sand)
Hardscaping, Aquascaping And Water:
1. Place your driftwood or rock or both into a jar/container in a way that you feel looks nice
2. Put your plants into the jar/container, make sure your root plants are buried deep enough that they are into the aquarium soil not just the sand or gravel
3. Place taller growing plants towards the back and sides
4. shorter growing plants should be planted at the front
5. Then fill your jar/container with dechlorinated water close to the maximum
6. if you are adding floater plants now is the time to add them
Cycling Tank:
1. your tank needs to cycle so let it be with some light for 8 hours a day
2. Cycling normally tanks 1-2 months, you can and some filter sponge from another fish tank to speed the process if you do this cycling will only need 1-2 weeks.
3. Test your water parameters, you can buy a kit or get it done for free at a local fish store
Adding Livestock:
After your tank has had the above steps complete and cycling is over your tank is ready for livestock.
1. get your snails or shrimp or both, and acclimate them to your jar/container by floating them in the water or slowly adding some tank water to the bag, do this for about 15-30 minutes.
2. Scoop them out with a net or by hand and place them gently into the tank, you can put them on hardscape, plants or let them sink to the substrate
<note> (snails and shrimp breed easily in home aquariums so starting is a small population of 4-5 will prevent overpopulation, snail and shrimp can be used as feeder food for aquarium fish or can be added to other fish tanks)
Maintenance:
Well done your aquarium jar is complete
1. To keep your jar looking at its best I recommend removing 20-25% of water with an aquarium siphon/vacuum every 2-4 weeks, shrimp are very small waste producers while larger snails produce more waste, smaller snails are similar to shrimp is waste amounts.
2. When plants become overgrown trim them to the size you like, offcuts can be used in other tanks, ponds, jars or projects
Thank you for taking the time to read my article and I hope you have success in making your very own jar/container tank.
By PeterFishKeepin