# 12" x 12" x 12" ----> that is NOT a Cube <---- 1 month update w/Pics



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I wanted a 'vase' that was > 2g and was looking all over the place for a cylinder that was > 10" in diameter. The only place I could find one was from amaligarden com, which is a floral / bridal shop in NYC. The (new) vase was $36 + $10 for orders under $50 (blah) + $17 for shipping from East to West Coast (blah x 2). Pretty pricey.

The shape, the thickness, the balance are perfect but the glass quality is way below par: a lot of bubbles, smudges, inclusions, creases - I cannot find 1/4 view that does not have some imperfection getting in the way. But it does hold water.

The Black Lava came from Home Depot, ~$7 for a 40lb bag.

The lighting is 2 x 24w of CFL spiral 5,000K bulbs from Home Depot, mounted in ZooMed Mini Double Deep Dome hang off ZooMed Large Lamp Stand. The thing is on for 10 hours a day and is used over a total of 4 vases.

The pink plants are Rotala Colorata. A lonely Nemphoea stellata is hiding in the background.

The whole collection is currently sitting on a breakfast counter, right next to the main kitchen sink in the island. I am getting not-so-subtle hints that the light stand, the fixture, the bulbs, and (oy) even the guppies will get re-positioned up my behind, soon and rather forcibly. My current choice is to dump my desktop PC to make room for the collection.

The HOB is Azoo 60 3w that came with RedSea 1/2g 'beta set' that was squirreled away in the pantry for some 10 years. The $30 for the whole set sounded like a good deal, just for the cuteness factor. I stumbled on the set about an hour after I placed an order for an internal filter on Amazon ... The HOB was missing all media, so, some poly went in. They need to be cleaned every week before the filter starts to back-flow and to make un-natural grunting noises.

As far as RCS go, I do have them, I think. I fished two < 1/16" shrimplets out of another vase but did not have the heart to move them in with guppies. They went into the 'champagne bucket' for now. Logically, one would expect a parent or two in a close vicinity. Getting them from an overplanted vase A (or B) into this one would require forethought, planning, local government approval, sign-off from IRS, sweat, and time. Better let sleeping dogs sleep.




































































































Problem: I am at max tanks.
Problem: I like setting up new tanks.
Problem: I hate throwing plants away.
Problem: Re-doing large tanks takes time.
Problem: I want to try different setups.
Problem: < 2g jars are "set and forget".
Problem: I have problems.

The above looks like a solution looking for problems.

The above will be called "OVT's Memorial Cheapo Supper Secret Underwater Compulsion Lab".

Or "The Lab" for short. At least that's the idea ... today.


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## NCSteve (Dec 17, 2012)

Looks great!


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## PeacockGoby (Nov 16, 2013)

Very nice!


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## 808style (Sep 28, 2012)

wow was not expecting that!


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## AquaKai (Feb 21, 2012)

Gorgeous! Wow, that's amazing!


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## Wilder (Jan 21, 2006)

That is seriously impressive. Beautiful!


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## junglefowl (Oct 30, 2012)

What lighting are you using?


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 22, 2013)

Wow, you make it look easy. Plant list?


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Where do you keep getting this "huge" cool nano "_tanks_"?! Also what's the black substrate/rocks you used?


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## someoldguy (Feb 26, 2014)

Pretty neat , but what was it repurposed from ? Some kind of labware ? Or was it originally intended as an aquarium .


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks people.
I will update the OP with more details and answers later today. I am more exhausted from uploading all those pictures then from setting up the tank last night. 

v3


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## starfire12 (Aug 13, 2009)

That is so cool, looks great. Did I see a shrimp in there.


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## TheRiverRat (Feb 13, 2013)

man cylinders are sweet


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

Lets see if I can do this. I love your tanks almost as much as you do.

Plants - 
Tiger Lotus or Dwarf Lily, leaning towards dwarf lily.
Blyxa 
mayaca
rotala colorata
NL java fern
water sprite
narrow leaf hygro?
water lettuce
salvinia
maybe some stargrass floating.

The size of this one is awesome, pretty jealous!

Also is your wife making you eat your plants for supper now?



> The above will be called "OVT's Memorial Cheapo Supper Secret Underwater Compulsion Lab".


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

^^ wow, you are good .

You got it all and saved me some typing.
It is a dwarf Lilly (N. stellata) and there is indeed Stargrass in the tank.

I'm campaigning for a guinea pig - otherwise I might be the one eating the greens.

v3


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

*1 month update*

Pretty boring update as the vase is doing well. The biggest change was my brother-in-law (yep, right) dumped 3 fancy guppies and 5 Neon Tetras on me with little notice. I had no place for them, so, this is where they went about 2 weeks ago.

On the other front, this is my first ever 100% inert substrate set-up: nothing but sand and black lava rock. I did add 1 O+ right in the center. I am curious how the plants will do with barren substrate. So far, so good.

Another semi-revelation is that keeping poop, black dust, and other unspeakables off light color sand is proving to be a real PITA. The only good news here is that the sand area is not the large and I can just top-off / replace the sand rather quickly when it really starts to annoy me.

This cyclinder is running with HOB and gets ~50% WC every couple of weeks. The moment I can re-home the extra fish, I plan on ditching the HOB and decrease the number of WC to once every month+. Otherwise, pretty low maintenance with no visible algae to date: I have not even cleaned the glass once yet.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

1. This is terrific! Maybe your best bowl/smaller container yet. The lava rock with contrasting sand is spectacular.

2. YES to the guppies! Yes yes yes. They look perfect. I tend to loathe guppies but they look so cool in this setup. Hopefully not enough to cause me to set up another tank, though.

TAKE MORE PHOTOS!


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

I love this jar, so jealous of it. 

You've done a beautiful job on it, I'll be keeping my eyes open on infrequent trips out of the house for one close to this.


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## naich (Mar 25, 2014)

Where did you find that cylinder? price range?


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## jmf3460 (Aug 21, 2013)

beautiful jar. what is the tiny HOB you have??


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## Aplomado (Feb 20, 2013)

These are both fantastic!

What is the red plant you have in the cylinder?


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

In a long time I have seen a successful nano attempt. This looks gorgeous.


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## Duck5003 (Oct 1, 2012)

Stunning work


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

Did you order that black lava stones online? It almost looks like Orchid substrate.


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 22, 2013)

Boring update my a$$. Vase is looking awesome. Some RCS walking around the white sand would look awesome.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Thank you people.
I updated the OP with some answers to some questions.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

I love this vase. I was looking at something similar through Amazon. I posted about it earlier in the week and got feedback that the tank I was looking at had bubbles and imperfections. I don't see too many bubbles in the pictures you took. How is your vase in real life. Are the imperfections in the glass annoying to you?

I originally wanted a rectangular shaped cube from the seller I was considering. Now that I see your cylinder, I am changing my mind!


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I really really like that vase. There is something special when it comes to cylinders. My wife said that it is a more natural shape then a rectangle. The fish seem to agree: they keep swimming around the perimeter: no walls to bump into.

The glass quality is bad, pretty bad. But looking at the end-result from a step away just makes the quality of the container a non-issue. I was not happy when the vase arrived, but it was the only one I could find in the shape and size I wanted. The clarity is good, the 'distortion' is uniform, so, I can live with some bubbles and smudges.

This vase had no stickers. All vases of much superior quality that I have or have seen were made in Poland. Just check out the Crate and Barrel web site. If you can catch their stuff on sale, they are well worth the price, imho.

v3


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## tylergvolk (Jun 17, 2012)

I love this simple tank/ idea. Very innovative and inspiring. Well done sir!


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## Grow (May 8, 2016)

Really cool.....


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## Discusluv (Dec 24, 2017)

OVT said:


> I really really like that vase. There is something special when it comes to cylinders. My wife said that it is a more natural shape then a rectangle. The fish seem to agree: they keep swimming around the perimeter: no walls to bump into.
> 
> The glass quality is bad, pretty bad. But looking at the end-result from a step away just makes the quality of the container a non-issue. I was not happy when the vase arrived, but it was the only one I could find in the shape and size I wanted. The clarity is good, the 'distortion' is uniform, so, I can live with some bubbles and smudges.
> 
> ...


 I should have known you had one of these squirreled away on this forum somewhere in the past. 

I just ordered a cylinder of the same dimensions and Im going to copy this journal and do it just like this. I wonder where iI can get some Blyxia like these beautiful specimens .


Where ya been, my friend? We all need some updates!
And, just a reminder, Sacramento Aquarium Society is having its Mega-Auction on first Saturday of October. You can bring some stuff to sell to have more money for new stuff or bring a pocketful of bills to buy other peoples stuff. Im thinking of doing both .


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