Reddit reviews Anchor Hocking 2-Gallon Heritage Hill Jar

• Aqua soil substrate

• This bulb from my local hardware store

• Marimo moss ball

• Dwarf hairgrass (tissue culture)

• Hemianthus Callitrichoides ‘Cuba’ tissue culture

• 4 adult shrimp, lots of babies.

• 2 Nerites

• This jar

The rocks I got from my local greenbelt, the plants and animals came from my local aquarium shop.

This is my first jarrarium, so I followed what best practices I could find through Reddit as well as the recommended Walstad PDF. Since this is my first time, I figured it was best to not analyze every single detail and just get a jar going. Best to learn from experience!

The night before I soaked the potting mix in water and attempted to clear as many of the twigs and sticks as possible. It was a bit difficult since I didn't have a hose, but it still worked. I let that mixture sit overnight. To start the jarrarium, I placed roughly 1 1/2 inches of soil lightly patted at the bottom of the jar with 2 root tabs to hopefully give the plants a good start to the tank. I'm unsure whether or not the root tabs were absolutely necessary, so I'd like to hear any thoughts on this and if others have done it or not. Hopefully this soil was close enough to the recommended Walstad soil;however, I was unable to find any locally. Once the dirt was placed, I set the zebra rock in the tank and then began the planting process.


In regards to the plants, I wasn't complete sure what selection of plants I wanted so I went with a mix of background, mid-ground, and foreground plants. I knew I really wanted to go with Dwarf Hair grass, so the others were just plants I had seen before. I started the planting process by placing the Vals in the back of the jar, Anubias on the right, Dwarf lily on the middle-left, and Dwarf Hair grass on the front-left of the jar. Placement seems off right now and the jar seems a bit bare. I'll let the tank cycle before considering whether a rearrangement is in order or if other plants need to be added. I'm definitely interested in adding a floating plant, but I'll need to do research before moving forward. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Once the plants were in the dirt, I poured roughly 1 inch of gravel in the back, and 1 inch of sand in the front. Water was treated with SafeStart and Aquasafe before pouring it into the jar. The pictures in this post were taken roughly an hour after I poured the water, which allowed the sediment to settle. There is still dirt floating on top of the water so I'll have to do a few small (10%?) water changes in the next coming days.




Plants:



All plants were ordered through Planted Aquariums Central

Nymphaea stellata (Dwarf Lily Plant)

Eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hair Grass)

Vallisneris spiralis

Anubias coffeefolia


Rock:


Zebra Rock from Petco


Hardware:


2 gallon Anchor Hocking Jar

https://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Hocking-2-Gallon-Heritage-Hill/dp/B000KKI7GY

Natures care organic potting mix

https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-71678127-currently-Northeastern-Midwestern/dp/B00FVBQET4

Lamp

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-LA24118V-Get-it-Together-Adjustable-Task-Lamp-Rich-Black/16533259

Bulb (9W 5000K 800 Lumens LED Bulb)

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Equivalent-Daylight-Definition-Dimmable/dp/B01MAXUKMF

Petco Aquarium Sand and Gravel

Seachem Flourish Root Tabs

https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG

Yes, the spout could be problematic/tough to keep clean.
Go for one of these, you'll be very happy with it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKI7GY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Background:


My tentative setup right now has a two gallon reservoir watering a three gallon Smart Pot. I have a 5-10 gal fish tank filter that I've also added an [activated carbon/ammonia neutralizing crystal] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002566YM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) filter and leveled filter to. I let my water set at room temperature (cycling through the filter) for several days before giving it to the plant. The water is exposed to 388 watts (~84,000lm) of warm and cool white LEDs in a Carbon Dioxide rich environment with filtered airflow.

My city water report is as follows, with ideal levels, followed by current city water levels:

• Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)(ppb): <60, 25.1
  
• Bromate (ppb): <10, 1.8
  
• Total Organic Carbon (% Removal): TT, 52.57
  
• Barium (ppm): <2, 0.3
  
• Flouride (ppm): <4, 0.7
  
• Nitrate [measured as Nitrogen] (ppm): <10, 2.4
  
• Sodium (ppm): MPL, 16
  
• Thallium (ppb): <2, 0.8
  
• Alpha emitters (pCi/L): <15, 4.7
  
• Uranium (ug/L): <30, 1.4
  
• Copper (ppm): <1.3, 0.257
  
• Lead (ppb): <15, 0.003
  
  I presume the Haloacetic Acids are the chlorine they use in the water treatment.
  
  The Questions:
  
  
• My hope is that the Chlorine will evaporate off over a few days, and that the filters I have will grab onto other problematic elements. Is this reasonable to assume?
  
• Should I add anything to my water (pH balance, nutrients, things to help filter contaminants)?
  
• How will temperature of water affect my plants? Should I try to cool or warm it before being added to the grow?
  
• Does light have any effect on water (or microbial life in the water)? Is it just UV, or can wide spectrum or white lights also have an effect?
  
  
  

Amazon. Here's the link. My wife says the jars at target are the exact same though.