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sm1ke's ADA Mini M

1K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  sm1ke 
#1 ·
Equipment
Aquarium: ADA Cube Garden Mini M (36Lx22Wx26H cm) with glass lid
Substrate: ADA Amazonia Aquasoil (2.5L normal, 2L powder)
Hardscape: 2 kg Ryuoh stone (wish I had bought more)
Light: Azoo Flexi M LED

After flooding, I'll be adding:

Filtration: Finnex PX-360 canister filter
CO2: CO2Art regulator/solenoid and bubble counter, cheapo $6 inline reactor (from an e b a y type site), check valve for CO2 air line
Heater: TBD, likely an inline of some sort

Flora:
Staurogyne Repens
Eleocharis Parvula
Micranthemum
Hemianthus Callitrichoides
Riccia Fluitans (I had no idea it would choke out other plants, I blame my own impulses :crying:)

Fauna:
Nothing yet, likely just some shrimp


Now for the journal part.. I started putting this tank together in the first week of July with the intention of using the DSM to grow a healthy carpet. I was also aiming for an Iwagumi hardscape, but I simply don't have enough stone to achieve the correct look and principles, so I settled for what I have. I'll be doing a rescape if the riccia starts choking out the other plants, which will probably be fairly soon. I'll be more patient when I get my ADA 45-P started in the future.

In the first couple of weeks, I played around with the photo period and how I covered the tank, starting with only four hours on and sealing the tank completely, misting once a day at the beginning of the photo period. I tweaked each aspect a little bit each day, like extending the photo period and adding a break in between, opening the cover more or less, and misting more or less. After dealing with a few minor cases of spiderweb mold and dried out plants, I have found that (for this tank), an unbroken 5.5 hour photo period works best. I mist a good amount and leave a small (but wide) opening along the front of the tank. No more mold, and the plants appear to be growing slowly, but steadily. On the advice of a local hobbyist, I also exhale a few breaths into the tank after misting. Probably doesn't do much (if anything), but whatever.


Day 1 – Added and sloped Aquasoil, added Ryuoh stone. I used the normal size for the base and capped it with the powder type for aesthetics. I started with this:
Wood Art Artifact Soil Font


Then switched to this:
Light Display case Glass Gas Wood


I’m sure the hardscape can be improved, I just don’t have a lot of time to make it to the few vendors who sell Ryuoh stone these days.

I added water to saturate the substrate, then propped the front of the tank up a bit to keep sloped area in the back from drying out.

7.11.2016 – Planted a cup of Tropica 1-2-Grow! Micranthemum (Monte Carlo), and three stems of s. Repens (initially submersed, came from my six month old 20g).
Light Water Fluid Chemical compound Rectangle


7.14.2016 – Got some HC Cuba, dwarf hair grass and riccia from a local hobbyist (grown emersed) and "planted" it all. I used quotations because I didn't technically plant the HC or the riccia. I took the portion of HC and just spead it out in the upper left corner, then pushed it into the substrate very lightly. For the riccia, I chopped it up on a cutting board (as if I were chopping up basil), sprinkled it right onto the substrate, then used my misting bottle to spray the riccia into the substrate. The hobbyist I bought the riccia from was growing it as an emersed carpet in clay gravel, so I bought it hoping to achieve the same effect.
Plant community Plant Wood Bedrock Natural landscape


8.17.2016 – After about a month. Lost a few bunches of micranthemum to mold and overexposure to light. I also noticed that the DHG in the back started to brown at the beginning, but it’s stopped and hasn’t really done much of anything since. I realize now that I should have kept it simple and stuck with two or three different species. Oh well, if I have to pull some plants out they'll go into my other tanks.
Plant community Plant Bedrock Natural landscape Wood


And here's the regulator I got from CO2Art.
Tool Automotive tire Camera accessory Gas Audio equipment
 
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#4 ·
Thanks for the input! There are actually five rocks I think, but four of them are about the same size, and the biggest rock wasn't big enough and couldn't draw the main focus on its own. I ended up bunching three of the smaller rocks with the bigger rock to make it appear larger than it is. Next time I have a chance to visit my local supplier I'll pick up more rock so I have more options in the future. In the meantime, I'll play around with the placement of the one lone rock to unify it as you suggested.
 
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