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ADA Mini M-Shut down and for sale

54K views 214 replies 48 participants last post by  Couesfanatic 
#1 · (Edited)
This will be a picture journal and learning process with my ADA Mini M. Feel free to give advice, even if it is stubbornly not taken! I will appreciate it. This is my first time with a Dry Start and a first time with CO2. I have been doing a dry start with 2 square inches of UG and two months later decided to add a bit more. So this is a 3 month dry start, if you want to call it that. I am using 50% RO and 50% Tap. The Tap water is very hard, with a 7.8 ph. I will be dosing EI dry ferts daily.

Supplies:
ADA Mini M tank
ADA Solar Mini Light
ADA Aquasoil 1 Powder
Eheim 2213
GLA Paintball Regulator
GLA Atomic inline diffuser
Cal Aqua 13mm nano lily pipes
Rumford Aquatic Tools
Hydor Inline Heater
GLA Dry Ferts
Yamaya Stone

Flora:
UG
Possibly Rotala Indica or Rotala Butterfly later on

Fauna:
Currently-1 Zebra Danio
Future Residents are:
Danio Erythromicron (Emerald Dwarf Rasbora) 4-6 of them
1 Amano Shrimp

Dry Start with supplies that have all arrived:



Filled:





Gotta Love ADA:



And also thanks to ADA, here is my Mountain Dew Water, caused by tannins. The water is very clear, but has the tea or Mountain Dew Color to it. It has been very clear the whole time but within a few hours of filling it started to turn yellow. I'm doing 50% water changes daily to hopefully beat this tannin garbage. I plan on picking up some Purigen. Not sure if that will help though:



I'm not sure when to start dosing EI. I think I am going to wait a bit and see what this water does. UG doesn't require a lot of ferts and I do have aquasoil.
 
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#116 ·
He's following the newcomer every time I watch them. It doesn't seem aggressive, time will tell. Fingers crossed.

The new Badis looks the same it did yesterday, no color change yet.

It was hilarious to watch the male when I introduced the new one. He colored up and was zipping around like crazy.
 
#118 ·
Sure.

I added a few stems of Rotala Rotundifolia and one stem of Ludwigia Red. The Ludwigia is growing much faster. The scarley badis ended up being a male unfortunately.

Best news of all!, I ordered a Mini M today, along with a lid, garden mat and do aqua lily pipes. I will be using the light and Eheim 2211 off of this tank, will be closing this tank down in a few weeks. Since I have no other tanks running right now, I will be trying to decide how I can jump start the mini m and move these fish over without the ammonia leaching.





The front fish is the one from the pictures above.

 
#119 ·
Best way to jump start would just be plant heavily with stems and do daily water changes. The same media will help speed it along too. But, definitely daily water changes for the first couple of weeks. Should help your tank have the easiest setup period. Throw some activated carbon in there too for even better chances. Love the fish and stems even if you're scrapping the tank, but it still looks great. Why not keep it as a 0 maintenance cherry shrimp tank or something with a sponge filter and a cheap clip-on light? The moss still looks great.
 
#122 · (Edited)
I thought about that, but I only have time to care for one nice rimless tank. I may use the money from the mini s to set up a deep blue 2.5 gallon tank, rimmed with just moss for any possible fry.


What are you feeding the scarlet badis? Any general tips for their care?
Yes, I have some small worms in my tank, came with my moss from long ago, I believe they are nematodes. They love these worms and are constantly eating them. They are very small, but help. I also dump bloodworms into the soil which they eat when they want. Besides this having a mature tank with moss helps with the microfauna. I am planning on starting a grindal worm culture.

Looks good! Thats a crap ton of moss you have! What kind is it again? Mini Rose?
It is supposed to be weeping moss. I haven't gotten much weeping from it, but I hear this is the case with a lot of people.

QUESTION FOR ANYONE:

If I was to set up my scape on the new tank and put enough water into it, to fill to the top of the soil, would it leach the ammonia prior to actually running a filter on the tank? If I could get the ammonia going early, then I could throw the filter from the other tank on and plants it. Hopefully this could shorten any time for unstable perimeters.
 
#147 ·
QUESTION FOR ANYONE:

If I was to set up my scape on the new tank and put enough water into it, to fill to the top of the soil, would it leach the ammonia prior to actually running a filter on the tank? If I could get the ammonia going early, then I could throw the filter from the other tank on and plants it. Hopefully this could shorten any time for unstable perimeters.
Yes you can just leave in a container somewhere dark and switch out the water every couple of days to remove the majority of leeching chemicals.
 
#125 ·
Yes, I ordered some from a fellow TPTer.

Finally got some stuff in and am now prepping for the new tank. I decided to go back to the mini m. I decided that I think the mini s isn't deep enough, front to back, so I ordered this stuff in. Here is a picture of where the Mini S stands today:



Really just left this thing alone. Ive got one Scarlet Badis in here along with 10-20 PFR shrimp. I have enough cover now that the shrimplets are making it without being eaten.

I want to do a simple one rock layout, with only belem hairgrass. I might throw some Ludwigia Red in the back right corner.

I will be hanging the light and ditching the one currently on it. Will hanging the fugeray with fishing line look weird from the ceiling? I think thats the route I want to go.


Will be running:

ADA Mini M-high clarity
Finnex Fugeray 12 inch
Eheim 2211
Do Aqua Mini Mp1
Do Aqua Mini Mv1
No CO2-Mertricide 14 used
No heater

Should I move the rock? Buy more rocks?















 
#127 ·
Well I still have to check out the rest of your pages on this thread. Loving the couple I have seen already tho! What is that plant in that most recent pic? The fern/moss.

As for that rock, it is a stunning rock! I kind of like where it sits right now but try turning the left side slight diagonal to the front left corner
 
#129 · (Edited)
Thanks, the light is just for scaping, it will be switched to the Fugeray.

I will be planting the tank for a dry start today. Will update later.

Well I still have to check out the rest of your pages on this thread. Loving the couple I have seen already tho! What is that plant in that most recent pic? The fern/moss.
The moss is weeping moss.
 
#133 ·
Thanks.

I've spent the last 3 hours or so planting every piece of belem I could separate. Took these pics and then tilted the tank back to level out the water. I'm going to let this stuff grow in for a few weeks and then flood. It's hard to see how many plugs there are, but hopefully it pays off, it was a lot of work.









 
#136 · (Edited)
I'm not going to keep the moss or the Mini S. The Mini M will only be E. belem. The goal is to create a thick green carpet with no co2.

Actually I haven't seen the scarlet badis in a few days. I've been searching today, seems to be MIA. I don't see him in the tank or anywhere around it either. I'll probably pick up another one down the road if he doesn't show up. It's weird how they disappear sometimes.

I got the light bar done and the light hung. I think it looks pretty good. I will post some pics in a few days.
 
#142 ·
The transition is going. Some plants are yellowing and some are throwing runners. Things will be nice soon!

I got the hanger up, for $6 dollars at home depot. Hung the light and tilted the tank back. It still should be tilted just a little more, but I think I am going to leave it.

Broke down the Mini S and sold the tank. I will be putting some shrimp in this Mini M when it gets cycled. Im either going to do PFR's or OEBT's.







 
#144 ·
I have the best wife, look what I came home to on valentines day:





So today I threw some aquasoil powder in there and two yamaya stones. I think I will use this for a fry tank. (wishful thinking) When I get my Mini M filled I want to order a pair of scarlet badis and try to do some breeding.

So the DBP tank will be just moss and maybe some floaters. I ordered a Zoo med 501 for filtration. I plan on putting it right next to the tank, the inflow on one side and the outflow in the other. I will be extending the outflow tube so it runs behind the tank and then up the opposite end of the filter and input. This will reduce a little flow most likely. If it is too strong, I will put a valve inline to control the flow.

After seeing somewhatshocked's tank and a few others, I ordered the beamworks 18 inch LED light.

I probably won't stick with this layout, but who knows.


 
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