Ramen Lover's 6G GLA Rimless Low-Tech Iwagumi Style Nano Tank

[ramen lover]

Scroll down to see December 25, 2012 update
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Hi All- This is a work in progress. I'm pretty much done with my 55G.. just letting things mature and grow (see sig)

However, now I am addicted to tanks.. and a 55G is fun to put lots of fish in, but I wanted something smaller. My wife decided to let me get a nano tank and put it in the corner of the house. For awhile I was debating on whether or not to do co2 on my next tank. Kept going back and forth for awhile.. and it wasn't about cost.. just about time. with co2.. the plants will probably demand more.. and I'll have to use lots of fertilizers and do more maintenance. yes, I know this isn't true for all co2 tanks.. but from what I've seen co2 tanks are prettier, but often require more time/maintenance.

Anyways! on to my low-tech tank. I've been buying supplies to set it up for the past month or so. My Archaea LED light from AFA in San Francisco is coming this week, but then I'm going on vacation for about a week or so. Once I get back from vacation I'll be setting up and filling the tank.

Equipment Purchased:
-GLA 6 gallon rimless tank
-Eheim 2213 classic canister filter
-CalAqua nano lily pipes
-ADA garden mat
-Deep Blue Professional tank stand
-Archaea 30cm LED light (in transit from AFA in San Francisco)
-1 bag (20 lbs) of eco-complete
-10 lbs of Ohko (dragon) stone
-Non rusting stainless steel mesh (will be explained later)
-Small net and lily pipe cleaners

Planned fauna/flora
-Will be using the stainless steel mesh for moss patches in the tank
-Fissidens will be used for the moss
-Maybe some anubias petite or nana (prefer petite, but not sure if they are easy to grow? I have nana in my 55g and it is doing fine)
-Red Cherry Shrimp or Sakura shrimp.
-Maybe some Amano Shrimp
-2-3 nano fish.. not sure what yet. i have to do more research


Shot of the tank with stand (taken with iPhone):


Photo of the equipment I have purchased so far:


Photo of my Ohko stones (minimum order was 10 lbs. I'll probably use half of these):


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10/29/2012 Update

Due to Hurricane Sandy.. I did not have work for the past two days. Decided to flood my tank. I will be on vacation next week, but will purchase some fissiden moss carpet and maybe some anubias petite for my tank.

Here it is today without plants. Just letting it cycle. I could use media from my 55G, but I am not in a real rush.

Full setup shot with Eheim in the cabinet:


Full tank shot:


Close up of the tank:


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***December 8, 2012 update****

I re-arranged the stones as recommended awhile ago. Just never took a photo. I'm waiting for the plants to grow in more and creating a sort of mountain on the right.. and then at the bottom of the mountain on the left will be a field of fissidens.

Added in some RCS from my 55G tank (see sig for my other journal), and added in 3 Endlers that I got from the LFS a couple of weeks ago (they were in quarantine).







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December 25, 2012 Update!


^Added some male hybrid endlers to go with my other endlers (5 endlers total now). Also added 5 Galaxy Rasboras and RCS. Created a moss tree a few days ago and waiting for that to grow out.


^Shot of some of my Galaxy Rasboras and some of my Endlers


^Just a close-up of the tank.

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice setup

[Green_Flash]

This is going to be a great nano!

[beedee]

nice set up you got going, looking forward to the hardscape, and then the planting, and then the fill, and then the fauna.

[Brian_Cali77]

Nice... following along! Love the Ohko stones... I almost got those instead of the yamaya. Can't wait to see how this comes together.

[andrewss]

some nice goodies you got there - love the ohko stone... GL getting everything setup

[ramen lover]

Updated original post with some photos. Decided to flood the tank. Will purchase plants/fissidens moss when I get back from my vacation.

[Jedi_Pizza]

Nice set up

[acitydweller]

Nice setup. The stones seem sort of large for the tank.

[Sethjohnson30]

Originally Posted by acitydweller

Nice setup. The stones seem sort of large for the tank.

Yeah I was thinking something is off too. Maybe if the rights stone was swapped with the left stone it would help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ramen lover]

Thanks all for the comments! Do you think I should have the substrate sloped? Or do you think the substrate should be more flat? I am using 3 stones.. small, medium, and large. not sure how to really position them.

[Brian_Cali77]

Slopes are my preference. They add more dimension. I don't think the positioning of the stones are bad. Perhaps you can try other arrangements (with pics) so you can have options that others can vote on to help you?

BTW, I want your lily pipes!

Are you getting an inline heater for your fauna?

[ramen lover]

Originally Posted by Brian_Cali77

Slopes are my preference. They add more dimension. I don't think the positioning of the stones are bad. Perhaps you can try other arrangements (with pics) so you can have options that others can vote on to help you?

BTW, I want your lily pipes!

Are you getting an inline heater for your fauna?

If you do get some lily pipes, i recommend the Calaqua ones from GLA. very nice quality. Probably on par with ADA (never really seen ADA ones so I can't be for certain). The ebay ones tend to be made of thinner glass and are easily broken. I got the CalAqua nano pipe set.. i think it was around $70 or so? cheaper than ADA.

and nope.. no inline heater right now. maybe later. it'll be primarily a shrimp and moss tank.. and i think they both like colder water. my house is pretty well heated.

i'll move the rocks around and take some pics to see which way looks best.

i love your tank though. i can't really afford/have time to do co2 though.. so no Ray 2 or co2 for me right now.. maybe later on!

[beedee]

I love the stones, I love the slope, but to me I feel like you aren't getting the most out of the tank if that makes any sense? I feel like the stones are also throwing the perspective off a bit. Smaller stones would go a long way into helping the tank feel much larger than it is perhaps.

(p.s., click my sig to see my latest tank, it is currently dry starting, but i think i did a decent job with keeping the perspective in tact?)

[ramen lover]

Originally Posted by beedee

I love the stones, I love the slope, but to me I feel like you aren't getting the most out of the tank if that makes any sense? I feel like the stones are also throwing the perspective off a bit. Smaller stones would go a long way into helping the tank feel much larger than it is perhaps.

(p.s., click my sig to see my latest tank, it is currently dry starting, but i think i did a decent job with keeping the perspective in tact?)

ahh i see what you are saying. makes sense. i really like your 12G. i actually have more Ohko stones.. and a really big one that I might try to break apart into smaller pieces. right now i have about 7 stones total and im only using 3.. thanks for your input!