The jar/bowl thread

[Basil]

I was inspired by all the jar and bowl builds but am having trouble finding them all and keeping up.
So I thought I could start a collective thread where we share our builds, successes, and failures. And those who have been successful could maybe chime in with some pointers.
And yes, I’m planning on a no tech snail bowl. I’ve been shopping all morning for just the right bowl and I’m halfway through Walstad’s book which is fascinating.
I’m tagging a few who I know have started or shown interest in starting one.
StarGirl
SnookusFish
mattgirl (you have a snail jar if I remember?
Gudgie
Magua

 

[StarGirl]

I haven't done one yet though....

 

[Basil]

I haven't done one yet though....

I know. But you’ve been thinking about it.

 

[Ouse]

Following!

 

[Magua]

Ooh...I’m here for it! (Hi fellow Marylander Basil!)

Went hardscape shopping (my husband was like, “wait...you paid money for sticks and rocks???”) yesterday and grabbed a vase last week. Just posted over on aquascaping for some plant and substrate advice and would love to hear from you all!!

No tech 2 gallon vase - scaping advice please! | Aquarium Aquascaping Forum | 498897

Here’s the very very beginning!

 

[mattgirl]

I was inspired by all the jar and bowl builds but am having trouble finding them all and keeping up.
So I thought I could start a collective thread where we share our builds, successes, and failures. And those who have been successful could maybe chime in with some pointers.
And yes, I’m planning on a no tech snail bowl. I’ve been shopping all morning for just the right bowl and I’m halfway through Walstad’s book which is fascinating.
I’m tagging a few who I know have started or shown interest in starting one.
StarGirl
SnookusFish
mattgirl (you have a snail jar if I remember?
Gudgie

You are right. I have both a snail jar and a shrimp bowl. Neither are set up using the walstad method though.

2.5 gallon snail jar has no substrate. Much easier to clean out snail poop with no substrate to worry about. I run an airstone inserted into a pre-filter sponge for water movement and a place for bacteria to grow. It has lots of pothos roots and guppy grass growing in it.


2.5 gallon shrimp bowl has gravel substrate. I run a small sponge filter in it along with various plants. subwassertang, crypts, java fern, dwarf sag, water wistera and floating hornwort.

 

[Basil]

Ooh...I’m here for it! (Hi fellow Marylander Basil!)

Went hardscape shopping (my husband was like, “wait...you paid money for sticks and rocks???”) yesterday and grabbed a vase last week. Just posted over on aquascaping for some plant and substrate advice and would love to hear from you all!!

No tech 2 gallon vase - scaping advice please! | Aquarium Aquascaping Forum | 498897

Here’s the very very beginning!

I’m also from Northern Maryland! I’ll send you a pm. I also I own a farm so I go shopping there . And I’m more than willing to share!
I just ordered a cool flat sided 2 gallon glass bowl. I want it to sit on my windowsill. Here’s hoping it isn’t broken when I receive it.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Hello!! I started doing jars in my window to grow out some mystery plant hitchhikers, and I have had pretty great success. A few have been dirted/sand capped, and I even grew a pretty dense carpet of hairgrass. I have since harvested and replanted in a few tanks. At the moment I have a new cube tank just started. It's a 7"×7" and fits in my window ledge. I can add pictures soon.

 

[BigManAquatics]

Oh, i read the title wrong. I saw "Jarhead" and thought this was a Marines post lol

 

[mattgirl]

Snail jar moved to original post

 

[Ouse]

I gotta get me a snail jar! I imagine they’re very fun to watch for hours...

 

[Basil]

I gotta get me a snail jar! I imagine they’re very fun to watch for hours...

Um well, I’m actually doing it as meals for my pea puffer and dwarf chain loaches. I have ramshorns in my sparkling gourami tank but it’s a pain to get them out of that tall tank.

 

[Ouse]

That’s a creative use for snail jars too! Raising live food at home is easier than travelling to buy it. Home grown tastes better!

This all reminds me of branded brine shrimp hatching kits such as Sea Monkeys and Aqua Dragons I use to have; they’re all tiny creatures in jars of water.

In the future I could potentially set up a planted jar for a colony of bladder snails or limpets.

 

[SnookusFish]

My 2 pickle jars are walstad, the new bowl isn't.


I do sometimes get cloudy water problems in the small jars at the beginning. Generally reducing light and adding more plants fixes it

 

[mattgirl]

Um well, I’m actually doing it as meals for my pea puffer and dwarf chain loaches. I have ramshorns in my sparkling gourami tank but it’s a pain to get them out of that tall tank.

That is how my snail jar started out. Once the assassin snails had done their job of helping me remove all ramshorn snails from my 55 gallon tank I wondered how I was going to feed them. I know they will eat other things but I am sure they prefer natural food. I found a couple ramshorns they had missed in one of my filters. I moved them to this jar. I feed the ramshorns well so they just eat and breed. I pull some out occasionally for the assassins.

 

[Basil]

My 2 pickle jars are walstad, the new bowl isn't.
View attachment 789430
View attachment 789428View attachment 789429
I do sometimes get cloudy water problems in the small jars at the beginning. Generally reducing light and adding more plants fixes it

What size are your pickle jars!

 

[SnookusFish]

What size are your pickle jars!

I think they hold about a gallon. They're like a little lamp but cooler!

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I know this doesn't fit the 'jars' shape, but it's on my window where I usually have the jars, and this glass box replaced a jar. I thought it's easier to clean, and it's certainly easier to see my shrimp.



And I have jars always that are holding plants for upcoming sale.


And I have a few new plants I got from Vishaquatics that I want to propagate up here, I'll do dirt and sand to give them all the nutrients to grow well, and this is a South facing window so things grow well for me here. I don't usually have algae either, I do add ramshorns to help clean up though. I'll post builds as they get built.

 

[Basil]

I may have just also purchased a cool Anchor Hocking 2.5 g jar with a metal lid.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

So one of the plants I wanted to grow in a jar melted and just broke one of the stems, so I grabbed a couple pieces and threw together a jar.

So here's to hopefully saving and propagating ludwigia mini super red! I added a few pics of the set up and jar, and the last one was the plant I took these pieces from. I'm assuming it's dying from lack of nutrients so I'm hoping having South sun and dirt substrate will help develop some nice roots for transplanting. It looks so puny now, lol.

 

[philly27]

hate to be a newbie here. but, i grabbed a pickle jar while working fixing kitchen equipment on a service call at a restaurant. my questions were after i put some top soil under the gravel and plant some basic plants such as java fern which i have an exorbitant abundance of and possibly glue down some java moss on some driftwood or something.. should i put tank water into the small jar? cause i have .50 ppm Ammonia in my tap. should i put a air stone or a small sponge filter inside? also, do you think a clip on light will work with a jar? the twist knob type? i think its a 1.5 gallon jar... i placed in warm water and iso alcohol to easily remove the label and glue and unfortunately didnt get the size, but ill find out shortly after i fill that bad boy up. Also, i plan on using it as a snail grow out tank as my Bolivians kept nipping and actually killed one of my Ramshorn snails. i had 3 and now down to 2 left in the community. i didnt want to post a new thread as this was the thread that made me snatch the jar in the first place. thanks IN-advance.. y'all are so talented in so many ways. what SnookusFish did with a 3 gallon blew my mind! once again sorry if i should post a thread i will, but didnt see the need.

 

[Basil]

hate to be a newbie here. but, i grabbed a pickle jar while working fixing kitchen equipment on a service call at a restaurant. my questions were after i put some top soil under the gravel and plant some basic plants such as java fern which i have an exorbitant abundance of and possibly glue down some java moss on some driftwood or something.. should i put tank water into the small jar? cause i have .50 ppm Ammonia in my tap. should i put a air stone or a small sponge filter inside? also, do you think a clip on light will work with a jar? the twist knob type? i think its a 1.5 gallon jar... i placed in warm water and iso alcohol to easily remove the label and glue and unfortunately didnt get the size, but ill find out shortly after i fill that bad boy up. Also, i plan on using it as a snail grow out tank as my Bolivians kept nipping and actually killed one of my Ramshorn snails. i had 3 and now down to 2 left in the community. i didnt want to post a new thread as this was the thread that made me snatch the jar in the first place. thanks IN-advance.. y'all are so talented in so many ways. what SnookusFish did with a 3 gallon blew my mind! once again sorry if i should post a thread i will, but didnt see the need.

No need for a new thread . Although I can’t answer your questions as I’m just setting up my first jars also!
I was wondering....for those who have set up walstad jars, how much soil and how much cap material did you use?

 

[Magua]

Just built my...vase? I have a lot more to do and these pictures are not good! But here it is so far...

i don’t love that the superglue is white in the water (or that I used so much of it to stick the lil anubias and Java moss to to lava rocks!). Hoping the once the plants get growing, it’ll hide it! I grabbed some rotala, bacopa, and creeping jenny from my big tank but I want more tall plants. And patience. I want patience to be able to just watch them grow! I have some red root floaters coming in the mail and may grab a little frogbit from another tank too.

Also pretty sure I used too thick of a substrate layer. I got the Miracle Grow organic potting mix, soaked it, scraped off the floating bits (which was, like, 70% of it) and put the sinking stuff in the back of the vase.

If I decide I hate this, I can rescape right???? Not putting any animals in for now...

 

[philly27]

Just built my...vase? I have a lot more to do and these pictures are not good! But here it is so far...

super cool vase btw. or is it a vahz? i think its a vahz? either way i want it haha

 

[Magua]

or is it a vahz? i think its a vahz?

Oh, absolutely, 100% a vahz! A $10 vahz from Home Goods!

 

[Basil]

Just built my...vase? I have a lot more to do and these pictures are not good! But here it is so far...

i don’t love that the superglue is white in the water (or that I used so much of it to stick the lil anubias and Java moss to to lava rocks!). Hoping the once the plants get growing, it’ll hide it! I grabbed some rotala, bacopa, and creeping jenny from my big tank but I want more tall plants. And patience. I want patience to be able to just watch them grow! I have some red root floaters coming in the mail and may grab a little frogbit from another tank too.

Also pretty sure I used too thick of a substrate layer. I got the Miracle Grow organic potting mix, soaked it, scraped off the floating bits (which was, like, 70% of it) and put the sinking stuff in the back of the vase.

If I decide I hate this, I can rescape right???? Not putting any animals in for now...

Oh I like it! And yes, the glue will become less noticeable.....says she who also usually uses too much glue lol!

 

[JLAquatics]

Wow, these are all fantastic creations! Now I fear I might get MJS (Multiple Jar Syndrome) to coincide with the better known MTS... Thanks a lot guys!

 

[Basil]

My bowl and jar came! They are a bit larger than I thought so neither will fit on the window sill. Oops. No worries, I can put them close enough!
Now to find the time to set them up!

 

[Magua]

My bowl and jar came!

can’t wait to see what you do with them!!

So...question to everyone about stagnant water. I have my little vase filled with plants and 5 ramshorn snails on the way. But since the water is so still it’s developed a film on top. Maybe from the wood or sand or MGOPS? Should I just do some water changes and not worry about it or will I need a little filter/bubbler? If so it’s going to have to be teeeeeny...do they make such an animal??

 

[SamMe]

I just do water changes and my shrimp and snails seem to be doing just fine.

 

[Basil]

Soooo, I’m hoping to at least get the bowl set up this weekend. It will be a bedroom bowl to compliment my bedroom 5 g.
But since it won’t fit on the window sill, it’s going on the dresser. But I may need to supplement the light.
Anyone have any recommendations for a desk type light for a bowl?

 

[mattgirl]

I am kicking myself this morning for donating all my bigger goldfish bowls to the local goodwill. No, I never put goldfish in them but they worked out well way back when I bred Bettas a time or two. Those little boys needed their own home for a while. They held at least a gallon of water and would have been perfect for window jarariums. Being flat on both sides would have prevented a lot of the distortion we get from round containers.

Oh well, there are a lot of those "If only I knew then what I know now" moments.

 

[Basil]

I am kicking myself this morning for donating all my bigger goldfish bowls to the local goodwill. No, I never put goldfish in them but they worked out well way back when I bred Bettas a time or two. Those little boys needed their own home for a while. They held at least a gallon of water and would have been perfect for window jarariums. Being flat on both sides would have prevented a lot of the distortion we get from round containers.

Oh well, there are a lot of those "If only I knew then what I know now" moments.

My hubby was a home improvement contractor for 25 years and now works tor a small general contractor. Guess who rarely throws stuff away? lol! But he can whip up a nice sturdy aquarium stand in about an hour.

 

[mattgirl]

My hubby was a home improvement contractor for 25 years and now works tor a small general contractor. Guess who rarely throws stuff away? lol! But he can whip up a nice sturdy aquarium stand in about an hour.

Your hubby sounds a lot like mine Gotta really love being able to have them build what ever we need. All we have to do is just ask. Both he and I are packrats. Young folks think they came up with recycling things. We are the original re-purposers. We don't toss, We reuse. I kept the bowls for at least 10 years but finally decided I wasn't going to find another use for them. I was wrong and should have waited a few more years

I do still have several of the gallon glass jars I used back then. I gave some of them away but had to hang on to some of them. I may have to dig them out. they won't fit a window sill as well as the bowls would have but I may try it anyway.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I added a few more pieces of the ludwigia, hopefully it'll take to the soil and grow well. Once it gets full in here I'll start adding to other tanks. I added my finger in there for an idea of dirt/sand depth for those wondering. I do about an inch of dirt, and an inch of sand. I find any less sand and the dirt comes through too easy.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Just started this with an old vase. Capacity came out to 1 1/4 gal or so when I stopped filling about 2in from the top. Just threw some hornwort in it from the pond. Thinking about a big colorful snail for it and maybe some shrimp. Plenty of guppy fry I can toss in for a bit. Dunno. Maybe I’ll play with it a few months.

 

[Basil]

I got the 2 g bowl done today. I’m not really satisfied. It needs more plants and I eventually took the twig out after deciding that it would be in the way of harvesting snails!
I pulled 3 Italian vals and a dwarf sag out of my 75. Plus a tiny red tiger lotus that was not happy at all next to the mother plant. If it grows, I’ll need to eventually pull it out as they get large.
I also pulled 2 very sad bacopa monnerie stems out of my 29. They didn’t grow in the eco complete so I’ll see how they do in the dirt. Also added some salvinia minima on the top.
Oh and I also used about an inch of dirt and sand. My first try was a complete failure so I dumped it all out and did it again!
I had purchased a bag of Dustin’s dirt just to give it a try so I’ll see how it does.
Oh and I added a bladder snail and 3 ramshorns.

 

[StarGirl]

I got the 2 g bowl done today. I’m not really satisfied. It needs more plants and I eventually took the twig out after deciding that it would be in the way of harvesting snails!
I pulled 3 Italian vals and a dwarf sag out of my 75. Plus a tiny red tiger lotus that was not happy at all next to the mother plant. If it grows, I’ll need to eventually pull it out as they get large.
I also pulled 2 very sad bacopa monnerie stems out of my 29. They didn’t grow in the eco complete so I’ll see how they do in the dirt. Also added some salvinia minima on the top.
Oh and I also used about an inch of dirt and sand. My first try was a complete failure so I dumped it all out and did it again!
I had purchased a bag of Dustin’s dirt just to give it a try so I’ll see how it does.
Oh and I added a bladder snail and 3 ramshorns.

I love how it looks like little trees!

 

[Basil]

I love how it looks like little trees!

It’s a dead azalea branch. Yes, I do need to prune my azaleas lol!
Meh. Maybe I’ll put it back in. Wonder if it will create tannins??
Or do you mean the bacopa?

 

[StarGirl]

It’s a dead azalea branch. Yes, I do need to prune my azaleas lol!
Meh. Maybe I’ll put it back in. Wonder if it will create tannins??
Or do you mean the bacopa?

No the little branches in the middle.

 

[BruinAquatics]

I got the 2 g bowl done today. I’m not really satisfied. It needs more plants and I eventually took the twig out after deciding that it would be in the way of harvesting snails!
I pulled 3 Italian vals and a dwarf sag out of my 75. Plus a tiny red tiger lotus that was not happy at all next to the mother plant. If it grows, I’ll need to eventually pull it out as they get large.
I also pulled 2 very sad bacopa monnerie stems out of my 29. They didn’t grow in the eco complete so I’ll see how they do in the dirt. Also added some salvinia minima on the top.
Oh and I also used about an inch of dirt and sand. My first try was a complete failure so I dumped it all out and did it again!
I had purchased a bag of Dustin’s dirt just to give it a try so I’ll see how it does.
Oh and I added a bladder snail and 3 ramshorns.

I think I'll be doing something similar to this to feed a pea puffer

 

[BigManAquatics]

I think I'll be doing something similar to this to feed a pea puffer

Certainly a worthwhile endeavor

 

[BruinAquatics]

Certainly a worthwhile endeavor

Yep i'm so excited to see the puffer munch down

 

[The_fishy]

I’m also from Northern Maryland! I’ll send you a pm. I also I own a farm so I go shopping there . And I’m more than willing to share!
I just ordered a cool flat sided 2 gallon glass bowl. I want it to sit on my windowsill. Here’s hoping it isn’t broken when I receive it.

Was browsing this thread to see the cool ideas people are coming up with and also wanted to add that I am in Northern Maryland!

 

[Magua]

I am in Northern Maryland!

Ha! Hiya! I’m in HarCo.

I have to go back through... I feel like I’ve missed a bunch of posts!

I scrapped my 2g vase and redid it. I was NOT feeling the dirt. I just can’t NOT mess with plants and stuff and was constantly pulling up dirt into the water column. And that big chunk of wood was growing weird stuff and smelling stinky. So I used what I had left of washed BDBS and white aquarium sand. Of course, I now hate the black and white speckle look. Sheesh. I’m gonna get some pool filter sand to build out a new home for Rally the Betta, and I’ll use some of that and root tabs in the vase...so I have one more rescape to do before I leave it alone (ish). Went to the LFS and got some spiderwood and lava rock for the betta rebuild so boiled all that...to my family’s dramatic eye rolls. In the meantime, I put my (rather ugly brown) ramshorns in a tiny vase with loads of plants and a few seashells (one snail had a broken shell). They’re pooping like madmen.

 

[Basil]

Was browsing this thread to see the cool ideas people are coming up with and also wanted to add that I am in Northern Maryland!

But you are in school up in PA now, correct? I’m still lusting over your bettas. Just no place to put them currently.

Yep i'm so excited to see the puffer munch down

Mine is ridiculous when I give him snails lol! He follows them down and swims around it and then goes in for the kill!
So my northern LFS (ok it’s almost an hour away but not a bad drive) usually has a great selection of plants. But with only so many hours in my day off, I opted to just go to the close, little LFS. However, I did get some unidentifiable, fully emersed cool looking reddish stem plant stems. Added them to the bowl and it looks much better! If anyone knows what they are, let me know!
Also finally got around to testing, 3 days after setting it up.
This little bowl is definitely cycling! 4 ppm ammonia, 1 ppm nitrite, and about 5 ppm nitrate. Pretty cool for an unfiltered, unheated bowl, And all the snails are still alive and active.

 

[The_fishy]

But you are in school up in PA now, correct? I’m still lusting over your bettas. Just no place to put them currently.

Magua
Just came back to Maryland the other day! I’m in the Frederick/Gettysburg area.

 

[Halloween]

Following...because who knows what the future brings. I think a little walstad shrimp bowl would be just perfect on my art studio desk, by the window.

 

[LHAquatics]

My 2 pickle jars are walstad, the new bowl isn't.
View attachment 789430
View attachment 789428View attachment 789429
I do sometimes get cloudy water problems in the small jars at the beginning. Generally reducing light and adding more plants fixes it

I am setting up a 0.5g ramshorn jar based on your video

 

[JustAFishServant]

You are right. I have both a snail jar and a shrimp bowl. Neither are set up using the walstad method though.

2.5 gallon snail jar has no substrate. Much easier to clean out snail poop with no substrate to worry about. I run an airstone inserted into a pre-filter sponge for water movement and a place for bacteria to grow. It has lots of pothos roots and guppy grass growing in it.
View attachment 789426

2.5 gallon shrimp bowl has gravel substrate. I run a small sponge filter in it along with various plants. subwassertang, crypts, java fern, dwarf sag, water wistera and floating hornwort.
View attachment 789419

OH MY GOSH I have the same 2.5g jar!!! XD

My 2 pickle jars are walstad, the new bowl isn't.
View attachment 789430
View attachment 789428View attachment 789429
I do sometimes get cloudy water problems in the small jars at the beginning. Generally reducing light and adding more plants fixes it

Welp, those are being added to my "Awesome Aquascaping Designs" folder...