The Planted Tank Forum banner

d2mini's 4g Planted Betta Tank

13K views 92 replies 24 participants last post by  lotuslullaby 
#1 · (Edited)
This is my FIRST EVER planted freshwater tank, so this is not only going to be a journal of my build/progress but I also need it to be part tutorial as well with lots of helpful comments from the peanut gallery. :hihi: Feel free to make suggestions along the way. I'd rather be corrected early on than end up with a complete failure later. So without further ado...

THE TANK:
My other tank is a 180g Saltwater tank with fish room, lots of tech, etc that can be seen here:
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/d2mini/1

But for this tank I decided to go ultra simple for now. So I chose an all-in-one... the Cad Lights 4g Freshwater tank. Has it's own filter system and integrated LED light system with around 150 PAR, so they say.




Looking down into the filter area.



Filter items in place. Sponge, then bio material, then return pump section (hoping to fit a heater here).



The original design of this tank was a removable filter area where everything was plastic, but as you can see it's glass baffles and it's all siliconed.



And now the fun part:

I stopped by ADG, got to meet Frank, and picked up some Amazonia soil and some rocks. This is my first attempt at planted tank aquascaping so fire away. I like odd numbers and asymmetry so that's kind of what I was going for. Even though the big rock is basically in the middle, the shape/height is weighted more to the left. I also sloped the substrate up towards the back to try and achieve some depth. The usable space in the tank is really only about 9.5" wide by 7" deep by 9.5" high so not much space to work with!









Fish:
And here is the handsome young stud who will be moving in, once he makes the long journey from Thailand. :fish1:




That's it for now. I wanted to get some feedback before filling it with water. I'm pretty happy with where it is but open to suggestions, especially if there is anything that will cause a problem down the road. The substrate is 1.5" deep in front and just about 3.5" deep at the very back. Is that ok?

For plants, I was hoping the tank is shallow enough that I could do some ground cover with riccia and dwarf baby tears. Scale is an issue in such a small tank so I'm looking for something pretty small. Then I'm gong to need some taller plants. Something floating, too.


Thanks for looking! :icon_smil
 
See less See more
8
#58 ·
Honestly, it's pretty decent for an all-in-one tank. The best part is the super clear glass with no seams. Construction/quality overall is pretty nice. The filter compartment has been improved. It is no longer removable like the website states, but is now sealed which is a good thing. The pump in this freshwater version is pretty powerful for the size of the tank. The light system is just a JBJ Flipper modified for freshwater (no blue leds). I'm not blown away by it, but I'm satisfied with it and was the best option of what's available out there for me. The price point is about right for what you get.

BTW, still no ammonia. Tomorrow is a week that it's been set up. Been doing 75% water changes daily (except today) and have been adding the ADA ferts and bacter since tuesday. Plants are hanging in there. Some browning... more from the hair grass than anything else. Have some brown "dust" on the rocks and glass. Not sure if it's algae or if its from the Amazonia.





 
#59 ·
This is going to look amazing. Particularly with the rock work - once the crevices start to develop a bit of algae, it'll look crazy good and will make the stone pop a bit.

Sometimes hair grass needs to be trimmed a bit once planted in order to encourage new growth.

That's good news about the filtration insert. For the price, it just makes more sense (especially with the strong-ish lighting) than to use the other similarly priced all-in-ones.
 
#61 ·
Yeah, the problem is the amazonia is so bouyant that I'm afraid to touch any of the tiny plant plugs because they are barely being held down. So trimming seems to be pretty much out of the question until roots start to take hold.
 
#64 ·
Ok, finally got this little guy into his new home!

The tank is reading all zeros.... ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. PH, KH and GH are all doing well too. Temp is near 80 and I've done 7 days of 75% water changes. Will now cut that back to smaller changes every other day and keep testing. Been dosing Green Bacter, Brighty K, Green Brighty Step 1 and Seachem Flourish Excel.

Also added some new plants in the background. I know what I have for ground cover, but if I could get some I.D.'s on the taller background stuff I would appreciate it. :)

Here's some pics of the tank... and close-ups up the fishy to come soon. :proud:











 
#65 ·
Lookin great!! If you want my 2c of constructive criticism, I almost wonder if the taller background plants are needed. I'm thinking more of a Iwagumi layout (to match your rocks) may help to create a sense of openness in the size limited pico. That would mean just the smaller foreground plants throughout (baby tears, glossostigma, hairgrass, etc). Just thinking out loud though...

Oh and thanks for the aquabid link, I spent my whole ride home from Dallas today looking at $50 bettas, lol!!
 
#66 ·
Lookin great!! If you want my 2c of constructive criticism, I almost wonder if the taller background plants are needed. I'm thinking more of a Iwagumi layout (to match your rocks) may help to create a sense of openness in the size limited pico. That would mean just the smaller foreground plants throughout (baby tears, glossostigma, hairgrass, etc). Just thinking out loud though...
I was thinking the same thing! I love the open look of your hardscape and my eyes keep getting drawn to the tall plants in the back instead of at the entire aquascape. Just my opinion though. Love the setup though!!
 
#67 ·
haha, yeah... i know I got away from the iwagumi thing. Mostly because I want the abundance of plants to create the mini ecosystem and suck up the bad stuff. And Mr B's comfort level takes priority. ;)

The only thing is that it got a little too symmetrical for me so I may move the fern looking thing to the other side of the rock to keep all the tall stuff on the left. But I did want something to help hide the output valve from the filter. I'll think about it for a while. :)

oh, and yeah... aquabid. I bought some Asian Watermoss today. lol



Here's a couple pics of Mr B.





 
#70 ·
Thanks! Those Thai really know what they are doing over there.:proud:

Fantastic! Green Bacter must have helped cycle the tank along fast, read about it before, going to try it myself next tank, soon enough. :)

Nice shots of the Betta! Love dragon betta's myself.
Thanks!
Yeah, i couldn't tell ya if the tank has cycled in the sense of all the good bacteria being built up (doubtful) but I seem to be able to keep on top of things enough to keep levels down so that's good, especially with the way the Amazonia is known to leach ammonia. But now I have a fish in there and I'm throwing food in, so not out of the woods yet.
 
#72 ·
Thanks, Mumford. :)
Those are the Ryuo Stones that I got from Frank at ADG.
 
#74 ·
Thanks! Since not much is happening with the tank, i took a few more. I'll post them up later. :)
 
#75 ·
Did a 50% water change (first one since Sunday) and moved the tall plant to the left.
Also floated a couple asian watermoss and a chunk of riccia that i picked up until i decided if I'm going to attached it to something and use it in the foreground or not.

Most plants seem to be doing ok except for the dwarf hairgrass. A lot of it is turning brown. Any idea why?

Also, what else can i put in the tank besides the betta? Any snails or anything like that? Do I need to wait until plants start rooting?

Couple pics. An FTS and a few of the betta.







 
#77 ·
Thanks!
Yeah, i know the betta could go after shrimp or other fish. I guess coming from saltwater I'm thinking of "clean up crew" or anything that would actually help the tank in some way.
 
#80 ·
Thanks! :)

For the close-ups I always grab my Nikon D800.
For the FTS, i just grab whatever is nearby.
 
#82 ·
Thanks! I feel like a complete idiot around here. lol :icon_lol:
 
#83 ·
Took a few new pics. The tank is 3 weeks old tomorrow.

The tank today...



The tank 10 days ago



Not much growth yet except for my glosso.
The dwarf hair grass is still looking pretty shabby.
The dwarf baby tears seems to be hanging on still. Looks like I might even have a little extra length on those, but no spreading yet.
Continuing to does brighty k, green brighty, and excel.

Here's a few more pics...









 
#84 ·
Dennis, just wanted to say welcome to TPT! For those not familiar, he is a well known poster on ReefCentral with some gorgeous epic saltwater threads. I've followed your tanks for a while. Both your cube and your current setup are some of my all time favorites. With your awesome eye for design and attention to detail, you'll do amazing in freshwater planted if you enjoy it.

Subscribed and along for the ride.
 
#86 ·
Thanks! This tank was started just to test the waters so to speak.
And guess what arrived at my office today... :eek5:



a little 12g long. :bounce: :icon_mrgr


Looks like you are getting a nice pink coloration from your rotala wallichii, with the right dosing, CO2, etc those things can be incredible!!
Thanks! I needed an ID on that. :icon_cool


BTW, just tested Nitrates and it's at ZERO! My reef tank has been up for 6 months and I still can't get it below 4. :red_mouth
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top