The jar:
I found a jar approx 12 inches high and 8 inches in diameter in a second hand store. I'm guessing it's maybe 3 (or five?) gallons, I haven't tried measuring yet, I'm testing for leaks and will clean it of soap residue (I've already done this successfully for a smaller jar, so we'll see how goes).
Equipment:
I've not kept a tank in several years, so I'm not very up to date with what's available equipment-wise. I'm thinking I will need a mini heater, because my house gets cold (think 60s in winter). I'm not sure what to use for a light, but I might use a desk lamp. I'll probably keep the jar on the table a few feet from the window (which will probably be shuttered in winter to keep the heat in). A HOB filter is not going to work for this, I'm not sure at this point if I will go filterless or not.
Inhabitants:
My thoughts for inhabitants are ramshorn snails (or pond snails, because they "happen" anyway), two or three ghost shrimp, and then for fish I'm kinda partial to getting a betta, because they have a lot of personality, but in the past I've had a hard time keeping them alive (in ten gallons). I think it's not a big enough space for white clouds they seem to be fairly active (but I wouldn't need a heater for them), but maybe 4-5 rasboras might be content in there. I'm game for other suggestions.
Plants:
Not quite sure about what plants to put, this is always the tough one for me.
My other "tank":
I currently have a small glass (maybe 1 gal?) sun tea jar with a ramshorn snail, a couple of ghost shrimp and some cladophora algae balls. It's been up for a few weeks now, the ghost shrimp don't seem happy (turning white, when I had a ten gallon I'd add a single drop of marine iodine every now and then and that seemed to solve things, I'm not sure what I'd do for such a small tank though, and I'm in another state now with different water quality and different lft supplying the "ghost shrimp" so they might be different species). The snail has tripled in size and seems quite content. The jar sits by the window (I'm in seattle, so we're not talking a lot of sunlight), unheated. I'm not sure what we'll do for winter as the house can get into the 60s. I hope that I can find some narrow leaf java fern for it as well. I enjoyed growing that in a ten gallon that I had many years ago. The reason for the jars is that I move a lot, logistically tearing down tanks and figuring out how to keep everything alive is not going to go well, particularly as I don't have a vehicle and have to rely on renting something. It's kinda neat that I can just pick it up and go, and I'm intrigued by the idea of water changes using the spigot.
I found a jar approx 12 inches high and 8 inches in diameter in a second hand store. I'm guessing it's maybe 3 (or five?) gallons, I haven't tried measuring yet, I'm testing for leaks and will clean it of soap residue (I've already done this successfully for a smaller jar, so we'll see how goes).
Equipment:
I've not kept a tank in several years, so I'm not very up to date with what's available equipment-wise. I'm thinking I will need a mini heater, because my house gets cold (think 60s in winter). I'm not sure what to use for a light, but I might use a desk lamp. I'll probably keep the jar on the table a few feet from the window (which will probably be shuttered in winter to keep the heat in). A HOB filter is not going to work for this, I'm not sure at this point if I will go filterless or not.
Inhabitants:
My thoughts for inhabitants are ramshorn snails (or pond snails, because they "happen" anyway), two or three ghost shrimp, and then for fish I'm kinda partial to getting a betta, because they have a lot of personality, but in the past I've had a hard time keeping them alive (in ten gallons). I think it's not a big enough space for white clouds they seem to be fairly active (but I wouldn't need a heater for them), but maybe 4-5 rasboras might be content in there. I'm game for other suggestions.
Plants:
Not quite sure about what plants to put, this is always the tough one for me.
My other "tank":
I currently have a small glass (maybe 1 gal?) sun tea jar with a ramshorn snail, a couple of ghost shrimp and some cladophora algae balls. It's been up for a few weeks now, the ghost shrimp don't seem happy (turning white, when I had a ten gallon I'd add a single drop of marine iodine every now and then and that seemed to solve things, I'm not sure what I'd do for such a small tank though, and I'm in another state now with different water quality and different lft supplying the "ghost shrimp" so they might be different species). The snail has tripled in size and seems quite content. The jar sits by the window (I'm in seattle, so we're not talking a lot of sunlight), unheated. I'm not sure what we'll do for winter as the house can get into the 60s. I hope that I can find some narrow leaf java fern for it as well. I enjoyed growing that in a ten gallon that I had many years ago. The reason for the jars is that I move a lot, logistically tearing down tanks and figuring out how to keep everything alive is not going to go well, particularly as I don't have a vehicle and have to rely on renting something. It's kinda neat that I can just pick it up and go, and I'm intrigued by the idea of water changes using the spigot.
