aquarium adventures: Felicia's Pico Reef Vase

Jan 15, 2018

Felicia's Pico Reef Vase

When I had my son and moved back to my hometown a few years ago, I gave up reefing for a short time. I had a 6 gallon cube with a ravenous clingfish and some corals. My mom bought me a beautiful vase from an antique shop, and it got my wheels turning. All I could see was coral.

My best friend Ricky from Ricky Fin's Aquatics had been holding and growing some of my favorite corals that I put in his tank when I moved. In the summer of 2016, Ricky fragged the colonies that grew from the frags I gave him and I put them in my new vase along with the few corals I had in the cube. The vase took a whole hour to set up with boxed natural sea water and already cured live rock. A small powerhead, heater, and 38 PAR ABI LED bulb were all the equipment I needed.

Thank you, CORAL magazine, for publishing an article about my reef vase in the Jan/Feb 2018 issue. The cover features my son, Lachlan, peering into his favorite aquarium in our house. Enjoy these photos that didn't fit into the article. Lots of before and after photos!

June 2017

Feb 2017

Jan 2017

June 2017

Setosa Dec 2016

Setosa apr 2016 - Nov 2017

Setosa Jun 2016

SunnyD Palys 1 year of growth

SunnyD Palys June 2016

SunnyD Palys March 2016

Red Monti May 2017

Red Monti Feb 2017

Red Monti 1 year of growth

Red Monti June 2017

Purple Gorgonian 6 months of growth

The Reef Vase was transferred into an 8 gallon bowl in June 2017. The stand I kept my 2 gallon vase on cracked down the center. My step dad made me a new stand with a carved unicorn on the front, and the tiny vase looked silly on the big stand, so I upgraded to an 8 gallon bowl which fits perfectly and gave my corals some room to grow.