hyph's ADA Mini-M

[hyphination]

I've waited for this tank for a long time. I haven't felt that my skills were good enough to get an ADA tank. And I still think I have a lot of improvement to go. But I would at least like to try, you know give it a shot. . .Maybe this tank will come out awesome. I can only hope for the best! But like all the hobbies I've had, I hope I don't burn myself out and get tired of it too quickly. I just need to make like the plants in my tank and take it nice & slow. . Anyways I've wanted to find the perfect scape for this tank but never knew where to find it. My girlfriends b-day was coming up and she's been saying that she wanted to go to disneyland for a long time, so I decided to take her there as her present. I thought to myself if I'm going to LA, I might aswell stay in SF too and visit some friends. And if I'm in SF I also can go to AFA! I've heard so many good things about this store, I thought to myself that this could be the place where I find my awesome hardscape for this tank. The guys there were really helpful and helped me choose a hardscape w/southeast asian DW and ADA yamaya stones. I also bought do!aqua filter pipes originally for my 3.6G but now I think I'll use them for my mini-m.

just waiting for my LFS to restock on AS, so I can start scaping in the tank

This is the scape me and the guys there came up with at AFA. lmk what you think! and if it needs any tweaking.

[trigun808]

hah nice to here from u !
finally going with a ada now huh? lol i cant wait to see it!
whats your plans with lgihting, filter, co2, fertz, plant choices?

[trigun808]

oh and id imagine that the wood and stones would be on a mound of aquasoil? like sloping down?

[hyphination]

Plans for the tank:

Lighting: (2) Ott-lites. or maybe another 27W Archea light.
Filtration: eheim canister filter. dont know which one yet gotta do some research.
Substrate: AS ammazonia II
co2: definitely pressurized. will probably buy a 5lb co2 tank to replace the paintball can and split lines into the two tanks.
Ferts: Leftover ADA stuff. ADA Step 1, Brighty K, and Green Gain.
Flora: As far as plants go I only thought of mini microsword as of now. really like the grassy look. Going to do some research later and see what else would work good with this hardscape.

[Blue_Alien]

I wish I had known about that store when I was in San Fran last month. Sounds like a great store.

[cintamas]

Originally Posted by hyphination

Plans for the tank:

Lighting: (2) Ott-lites. or maybe another 27W Archea light.

Did you order Ott-Lites from their website? I inquired on some plant-grow lights in the past and they wouldn't allow me to order without speaking to a Customer Service Rep. Something to do with the fact that they planned to GAUGE me with ridiculous shipping rates! Anywho, they wanted me to pay more on shipping that I was planning on paying for the lights, that went out the window real quick. How did you manage to get yours?

[hyphination]

Oh, I didnt order them yet. UG had a link to some ott lites that were pretty cheap. I was just going to ask him for that link. I also talked to a rep and I too found out shipping is pretty high. Even more than some of the stuff there selling! Will probably go down to aquascapes today to see if they carry it. I need to get my AS anyway.

[CL]

I think that that's a pretty awesome scape! I can't wait to see this tank planted. What a great excuse to go to AFA in person!

[kcirtappatrick]

I'm not too sure if Aquascapes carry Ott-Lites but I heard Home Depot carries Ott-Lite bulbs. Not too sure if they carry the light itself though.

[CL]

I have seen the ott- lites in person in home depot

[hyphination]

thanks clwatkins, I can't wait to get started on this tank. don't really know what plants I'm going to use yet though. only thing I have in mind is a mini microsword FG but it's so hard to find. will also try to see if home depot has ott-lites later today.

[trigun808]

i know costco had a sale on ott lites before so yeah.. and im pretty sure aquascapes dont sell them

[hyphination]

Just went to home depot yesterday. I asked the guy and he said they sold them before but dont carry em anymore. I guess its just the hawaii home depot that doesnt have. bummer and I dont have a costco card either. damn. . .

[MONARK]

I'm using and I've seen people using the Hampton Bay 27watt 6500K desktop lamps found at home depot.
Just another option!

[hyphination]

I've seen the hampton bay lamp in other journals and I think its just not for me. I'm pretty set on Ott-lites as I really like the clean look.

Just stopped by kalihi pets today and they too don't have the powder AS I want. The guy said they should be receiving a shipment at the end of this week though. And Aquascapes will be getting there's at the end of the month. Just gotta wait. . .

I cant really take any pics anyway, my dad is borrowing my camera for his Japan trip and he already left yesterday