[brandon429]

it is not hard to confirm the age of this off threads and details in the reef, old reefs dont look like new reefs. two of 10 indicators are that no frag plugs are seen here, corals are actually fused to the reef including lps that literally grow out of the rock, and benthic growth details in the sandbed and rock surface that only comes with age. not smooth, the rock is jutted with wiry growth and embedded fanworms by the literal thousands.

there are over 150 polyps of merletti in here originating off 5 from early 2000s 1st reefbowl this strain of lps in the current bowl below has never seen the outside of a vase in a 12 year genetic lineage lol. and they say fishbowls can't grow a reef heh

just thought an update for 2014 would be neat, sps is slowly overtaking everything Im concerned but unable to stop it. should have never let that acropora grow onto the glass...

1 gallon pico reef 8 years old - YouTube


actual n2 gas production is featured in this sandbed, true dsb action going on here in good detail.

Gerald I looked but didnt see how to embed my three vids, do you have a way to do that Sir


image is from about 2011 ish before the sps acro seen here grew onto the glass. there was also a 4 year established alveopora on the left here grown onto the glass, it was sold to make light room on that side of the tank it was shaing everything when expanded. lots of corals shared a chemical soup in here, speaks of habituation in ways not usually associated with corals who are supposed to be intolerant of that.

I burned out these brown zos in the picture with a grill lighter and 35% peroxide lol.

 

[gerald]

That's pretty amazing. Do the animals keep the glass clean? I can't imagine there's any other way to clean it, given the density of corals, small top, and curvature of glass. What's gonna happen when there's no space left for water? Smash it and move the critters to another tank?

 

[brandon429]

here it is from 2010, half way stop along its timeline plus pics of lots of other long term micro picos, the first ones you can find video and pics of on the internet.

ReefBowl2010HD - YouTube

the little tank is the first sealed reef tank ever invented, the mini.75 from about 2004. at that point, no zero top off reef had been invented before, try and find one and post back if possible Ive been looking to validate that claim for a while now

 

[brandon429]

Gerald thank you for stopping in!! here's the cleaning vid, with 35% peroxide

nobody should try this at home lol. its just my wierd way, sure does work tho. algae hate to grow in here, all animals have adapted to the peroxide since I ramped em up slowly

35% Peroxide Treatment in the Pico Reef - YouTube

yes at the current rate of growth sps and red mushrooms will outpace everything in about another 4 ish yrs, then smashola lol. Ill be so sad, trying to get over a decade without ever taking it down. I cheat clean it though, due to its size.

set in sink occasionally, pour in 20 gallons of water HARD to eject all the waste and clean up the top of the sandbed, rinse out, refill, then run some more. this is an easy cheat due to the size of the tank, the whole thing full weighs about 13 lbs maybe I pick it up a lot. Ive driven it across town to science displays too, I think some pics are in that vid above maybe or elsewhere I can find. kids sure liked it. they wouldn't quit trying to pick up the bowl or move it for a better view lol


another interesting factor of this bowl is that it is commonly left completely drained for up to 20 mins, just to 'work' it. Nothing is weak in here, this is a fringing reef model literally. the fact that this reef stays drained while I clean or talk on the phone or forget about it for a while led me to question common knowledge around cycling, bacterial adaptability, mini cycling, coral and lr and sponge air exposure etc.

the basic outcome is that no rules in reefing are hardfast, you can use biology to simply cheat them and grow the same coral people that follow the rules grow. much cheaper as well, and in 90% of cases comparable in lifespan, more reliably.

This reefbowl uses no ATO, it will beat any open topped system in terms of self regulating salinity control. this one gallon reef blows away salinity control compared to a 200 gallon reef that requires constant topoff. you adjust the airflow for days gone by reducing it, thereby reducing the outflow of evaporation from gaps in the lid. leave it on high for good usual flow and a bit more topoff when we are home.

this design of partial sealing makes my reefbowl need an ounce of water twice a week as topoff, I can go 5-7 days without any topoff while on vacation and all that is plugged into the wall are:

lights

one heater, tetra preset 78

double output airpump meant for a 100 gallon tank, two airstones run this reef

and a backup battery powered air pump for power outages. all that is ran through the lid by cutting and resplicing the lines through grommets in the lid. this creates massive partial seal, yet the bowl ejects co2 and keeps in 02 in fine balance. long term.

getting this much growth is directly proportional to feed quality and water management we know, so how to in a one gallon vase? simple simple simple

feed the bowl massive cyclopeeze till it turns red, enough to poison your average reef. then one hour later, you do a 100% water change (1x a week) and voila! all that food is taken in by the corals and nothing is left to poison the water.

The truth about long term pico reefs is you treat them oppositely in many ways to larger reefs and they'll live as long.

I feed once a week. with no fish, I can get away with that fine and it fits my maintenance routine allowances.