"Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

J

jrmakawoody

New Member
"Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp




Looking for ideas :)

I will probably "cannibalize" the parts from a goodwill lamp, and then buy a 6500K bulb and a nice looking lampshade to start out with...
 
PokeSephiroth

PokeSephiroth

Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

Bwaaaahahahaha,... AQUARIUMIZE ALL THINGS!!! :)
Shrimp! Shrimp! Shrimp! SHRIIIIIIIIIIMP!!!! :D
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

PokeSephiroth said:
Bwaaaahahahaha,... AQUARIUMIZE ALL THINGS!!! :)
Shrimp! Shrimp! Shrimp! SHRIIIIIIIIIIMP!!!! :D
Click to expand...
AQUARIUMIZE ALL THINGS!!! LoL poke!
 
PokeSephiroth

PokeSephiroth

Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

earthfish, hahaha... like my other hobby, I like to SPIN ALL THE THINGS!! :D
tumblr_lvjdbta7up1qdg1hao1_400.jpg
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

dscn0534.jpg


Keep us updated on the build!
 
J

jrmakawoody

New Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

I aaaaaam waiting for that dwarf saggataria in the mail...hmmm...
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

Why low light plants?? It's going to have a 6500K bulb right above the water... your biggest concern is going to be algae with that much light. :)
 
J

jrmakawoody

New Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

pbmax-

What would you suggest for these "small" types of setups plant-wise?
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

Well, anything that stays small - micro swords (brazilian and otherwise), marsilea minuta, dwarf hair grass, helanthium tenellum (especially since the jar is decently tall), etc. All of these would require a decent nutritive substrate - dirt of some kind like aquasoil, mineralized soil, etc. Capping it with sand should help minimize algae. You wouldn't have to fertilize a setup like this - at least not the water column and not for a long time. An inch of dirt on the bottom, 1.5" max, should do the job.

You could try stem plants, but you'd have to add ferts to the water column regularly and you'd have to trim them.
 
PokeSephiroth

PokeSephiroth

Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

One thing that might be problematic in the future, is trimming the plants. Imagine trying to stick your hand in a really tall cylinder hahahaha... I would go with slow growing plants like.. uh.... maybe anubias? dwarf hairgrass! (dunno if that's slow growing though, but as long as it stays short..hehe)
 
PokeSephiroth

PokeSephiroth

Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

Or have a huge Marimo Ball in there!! then have an airstone, so that the marimo ball tumbles around... CUTE!!!!

Heck, if you can find smaller marimo balls, it could be like a little "planted lava lamp" OMG I WANT TO DO THIS NOW!!!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

I would like to do a micro planted tank and house those little Tiger shrimp. A micro DYI project would be awesome...
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

And above all - keep a toothbrush handy for algae. It's nearly impossible to keep a tiny container balanced as far as plants and nutrients grow so you'll be regularly scrubbing algae from the glass.
 
J

jrmakawoody

New Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

I want something that gets somewhat tall so that it "fills up" the jar. I don't think that I want to mess around with dirt, so i will probably just use some kind of decent substrate like fluorite.
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

If you go with fluorite you'll have to fertilize to produce decent growth - either root tabs or liquids.

Helanthium Tenellum (pygmy chain sword) can grow up to 5 or 6 inches high. Sagittaria Subulata will grow up to 16", less and slower w/o a nutritive substrate. Most vals get too long... you might try echinodorus angustifolia 'vesuvius' - these get up to 10" long.

If you're not scared of increased maintenance then filling up the jar with stem plants wouldn't be too hard. Dose it appropriately with flourish comprehensive and under good light they'll grow quite quickly. I'm not crazy about stem plants so I can't really recommend many. I've kept ludwigia repens narrow-leaf long term and I've kept elodea, cabomba, a rotala species, star grass, and pearl grass in the past. They all look nice at first, but then they get stringy after a while and you have to yank them, trim, and re-plant. I'm lazy so this isn't as appealing.

Crypts might work, but it'll take forever for them to fill the jar. :)
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
Re: "Aquariumizing" A large Ball mason jar into a lamp

You might just go with a java or christmas moss-covered rock or piece of drift wood. This should be easy enough to put together and as long as you give it some flourish comp. every once and a while and keep it trimmed it should do well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top