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Fat Guy's ADA Mini M Driftwood over Seiryu Stone

126K views 380 replies 96 participants last post by  Fat Guy 
#1 · (Edited)
Here are the specs:

ADA Mini M
Solar Mini M Light
27 Watt PC
Power Sand S
Aquasoil Amazonia 3L
Amazonia Powder 3L
Clear Super
Bacter 100
Eheim 2211
Ryuoh stone (from TPT)
5lb CO2 tank
Currently 1 to 1.5 bps
aqmagic nano diffuser
DIY Drop Checker
Cal Aqua 13mm lily pipes (From TPT)

Purchased clear tubing and reducer to switch out the green tubing that came with the eheim.
I wanted to find a cheaper alternative for high quality tubing, and was able to.
Used the site Computer Liquid Cooling & Premium Air Products, Parts, Kits & Accessories | Sidewinder Computers and ordered:
-----3/8 "to 1/2" reducer
-----6 feet of 1/2" durelene pvc tubing
-----1 foot of 3/8" durelene pvc tubing
Really wonderful tubing that isn't too stiff and fits perfectly with the lily pipes and the eheim quick disconnects.

DIY Garden mat:
Made from a rubber drawer liner that I purchased at a Dollar Store
here in NYC. I cut the mat to the size of the tank and placed it between the
tank and the lighting stand of the Solar Mini M.

Plants: Glosso and HC (from Pacific Aquarium on Delancey Street here in NYC)
Fauna: Will be: White Cloud Mountain Minnows (currently in a holding tank) and Cardinal Japonica or Cherry Shrimp (breeding in my other tanks)

Fertilizing:
So far I'm dosing 1ml of Flourish Potassium and .5ml of Flourish Trace after a
50% water change every morning
I will eventually be doing weekly water changes of 1/3 of the tank once my
plants start to establish.

Lighting:
Between 8 to 10 hours during the day

Aquarium Cover:
I have a curious cat so I keep a cover on the tank when I'm not home.
Went to a sign/glass company in Queens and had 1/4" glass cut to 12" X 8" for $10. Fits perfectly, especially with the metal tabs that came with the
tank for an optional top.

Here are some random snaps of my progress



Because my power sand and solar mini m light were on backorder from ADG
and got held up in customs, I decided to run my Eheim 2211 as an
additional filter on my fluval edge tank. Then I purchased some white
cloud mountain minnows for the fluval, however, they started eating my
cherry shrimp babies. So I made a quick tank with a glass orchid container
that I had leftover and put the minnows in there as well as my eheim 2211
and a whisper 30 filter. Once the light and sand came, I switched the eheim
to the ADA Mini M and kept the whisper on the minnow tank. The filter has been on the other tanks for about 4 to 4.5 weeks. I was adding nutrafin cycle on the white cloud tank with the eheim, mainly
because I found the bottle that I never used that came with my fluval edge,
and just wanted to give it a try.

progression shots of setting up the eheim 2211





So the dry scape:

I started with placing a layer of bacter 100 and clear super before I added
the power sand. Then I used a good amount of Power sand to aid in making
the large slope in the back of the tank. I made sure to keep the power sand
a couple centimeters away from the front of the tank. Then I added
a little more bacter 100 and clear super. Then came the Aquasoil Normal
type. I used the entire 3L bag. I sloped it with a baking spatula. Placed my rock setup which I had been contemplating for months (believe it or not), found a scape I enjoyed. Used the golden ration of 1:1.618. Then added a
little bit of power sand.




planted January 7, 2011
The tank is mainly HC. However, I found some really sexy glosso at Pacific
Aquarium and decided to plant the glosso in the back left corner in the photo.
I didn't plant too much glosso, but I mixed in some HC with it as well. I think
it may give the tank a nice contrast in depth and color. Experienced some
water clouding the past couple of days. So I've been Just doing daily
water changes and replanting the HC or Glosso that comes loose and
floats to the top. I planted the HC in clumps of three or four. Planting
was a little more difficult than I had predicted. It took a lot of patience,
especially trying to maintain the slope while planting, misting and slowly filling with water.
But once the water reached the top and the substrate adjusted a hair and resettled
from the vigorous planting, was I happy with the initial outcome. I honestly spent
hours yesterday watching the water circulate and the plants pearl.
My next project is going to be drilling the IKEA cabinet for the filter tubing. Best, el g
 
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28
#184 · (Edited)
dhg

picked up some dhg from Pacific Aquarium on Delancey. $5. They are no doubt my favorite lfs in nyc. Planted some behind the rock. Hopefully this will enhance the perspective of the tank. Looking forward to taking another shot at this plant. The first time I used it I did so exclusively. And man did it take off. But I had planted it in individual clumps throughout the entire aquarium. This time I planted in bunches and only in a limited section behind the rock. I thnk with more strategic trimming I can keep it away from the front of the tank. We shall see.

I also changed up the solution in my drop checker. (I haven't done that in months, so I don't think the reading I was getting was accurate). Still spot treating with excel. Haven't seen any new signs of staghorn. I'd like to say that it is nonexistent, but I'm not going to jump to any conclusions yet. I know the battle is a process and does not happen overnight. We shall see with the DHG. The first time I really noticed staghorn was a long time ago on a strand of DHG. The cause was no doubt my own. But now I feel like I have a better grasp on this little ecosystem. But I don't want to jinx myself.

It's silly, but I'm also including a picture of my DIY razor scraper. It's my alternative to the ADA one (which is way too much to pay for such a simple tool). So I just used a pair of hemostats and a razor blade. To be honest, the best glass cleaning tools have been a generic toothbrush, a paper towel and a razor blade. Never been happy with any of the algae scrapers out there. I also may venture off this week to a restaurant supply store to get a pair of 10" forceps for tank maintenance. Or go online and get some better quality planting tweezers. I'd like to keep the cost low though. But, now that everything is planted, this may be a poorly timed puchase.

All in all, the glosso seems to be growing well. The glosso that's newly planted grows tall at first. Then once it starts to root, I clip the top chute and discard it. By the next day it starts to shoot out a runner. It's getting there... Keeping the fingers crossed for the DHG. The next upgrade may be a new timer to have the CO2 turn on 1 hour before lights up. Any thoughts?

walter


DHG and Glosso from above shot

parting shot
 
#185 ·
The new bulb seems to be having a positive effect on the system. I've upped my co2 this week and spot treated some staghorn zones with excel as well as removed any leaf with any sign of it. Haven't seen any sign of this algae now in two days. I've been very meticulous trying to tackle this issue. I think I've finally made some serious ground. The DHG and glosso are growing nicely. The glosso is growing much slower now with the new bulb which is great! The leaves are a little smaller and it is sending out more runners. The plants pearl after about three to four hours into the photo period. Definitely not pearling like before with the 27wt light, but they look much much healthier all around. I think they have started to adjust to the reduced light intensity and are growing at a more manageable rate. The only other algae issue now is GDA. I'm going to get at it by shutting off the inlfow when wiping/scraping away, followed by a 30% maybe 50% water change after cleaning every three days. Gonna start from there and see what happens.

best, walter

 
#188 ·
Thanks!! it's a continuous work in progress.

Just use the edge of an old credit card to scrape algae. I'm using an old Dave & Buster's card I got one time. You'll cover more area with an old card than the razor
thanks for the suggestion. I've used the ol' credit card before. It works pretty well.
 
#191 ·
staghorn update

The staghorn is completely gone. The best method for me was spot treating it with excel. Actually, the smartest thing I've done to treat it was to first remove the tank of its occupants. Tinkering with c02 and excel can be tough on the fauna...(and flora). I treated the tank for about a week. Half an hour before lights up I closed the valve for my filter so there was no current and treated the glosso with a dosing syringe of excel. After about 20-30 minutes, I reopened the filter valve and brought the current back in. I overdosed excel for three days then did a major water change and repeated for the first week. stahorn eventually turned grey then virtually transparent. I dosed more than the recommended amount which I know can be issue. There are zero inhabitants in the tank except for pond snails. My pond snail population did diminish significantly after dosing. I dosed between 5-10ml. after a week I did a 75% water change and resumed daily maintenance without excel. I have to say that excel did the trick, however I noticed a difference in the growth of my glosso after the first couple of days. The plants were not pearling and to me the new growth seemed thin. After the last major water change and ferts plants have bounced back. I read that there is a risk of damaging your plants by overdosing excel. I felt like I was walking a very fine line. Finally, though, the staghorn is gone. I've tried very hard to be patient. With such a small tank there is ver little room for error.

Got some 12" tweezers today from Southern Oak aquatics. $20 and free shipping. They work very well. If I were to purchase such a product again, I would go with 10" ones. These are great, just take some getting used to.

Redid my 4dkh recipe for my drop checker. After 4 hours the drop checker is green. Big thanks to the barrreport.com and its members for the recipe:

I used Billionzz recipe found here: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/8617-Dkh-4-Recipe

and followed it to the T.

I weighed every element instead of measuring on my graduated cylinder. The graduated cylinder I have is inaccurate.

Have to say, this recipe make me feel much more confident in getting a general estimate of co2.

All plants are pearling. Again. glad I switched to the 18w bulb. Hairgrass is shooting out multiple runners too. Going to do a tank trim tomorrow. some glosso is still growing high while others are growing horizontally.

All the best,

Walter





 
#217 ·
The staghorn is completely gone. The best method for me was spot treating it with excel. Actually, the smartest thing I've done to treat it was to first remove the tank of its occupants. Tinkering with c02 and excel can be tough on the fauna...(and flora). I treated the tank for about a week. Half an hour before lights up I closed the valve for my filter so there was no current and treated the glosso with a dosing syringe of excel. After about 20-30 minutes, I reopened the filter valve and brought the current back in. I overdosed excel for three days then did a major water change and repeated for the first week. stahorn eventually turned grey then virtually transparent. I dosed more than the recommended amount which I know can be issue. There are zero inhabitants in the tank except for pond snails. My pond snail population did diminish significantly after dosing. I dosed between 5-10ml. after a week I did a 75% water change and resumed daily maintenance without excel. I have to say that excel did the trick, however I noticed a difference in the growth of my glosso after the first couple of days. The plants were not pearling and to me the new growth seemed thin. After the last major water change and ferts plants have bounced back. I read that there is a risk of damaging your plants by overdosing excel. I felt like I was walking a very fine line. Finally, though, the staghorn is gone. I've tried very hard to be patient. With such a small tank there is ver little room for error.

Got some 12" tweezers today from Southern Oak aquatics. $20 and free shipping. They work very well. If I were to purchase such a product again, I would go with 10" ones. These are great, just take some getting used to.

Redid my 4dkh recipe for my drop checker. After 4 hours the drop checker is green. Big thanks to the barrreport.com and its members for the recipe:

I used Billionzz recipe found here: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/8617-Dkh-4-Recipe

and followed it to the T.

I weighed every element instead of measuring on my graduated cylinder. The graduated cylinder I have is inaccurate.

Have to say, this recipe make me feel much more confident in getting a general estimate of co2.

All plants are pearling. Again. glad I switched to the 18w bulb. Hairgrass is shooting out multiple runners too. Going to do a tank trim tomorrow. some glosso is still growing high while others are growing horizontally.

All the best,

Walter





Are those tongs very thin at the ends? what is the measurement in mm?

I currently have the Fluval Flora Stainless Steel Planting Tongs and the ends are too thick at 3mm making it really hard to plant.
 
#192 ·
did a large trim of the glosso today. just mowed it down instead of clipping at individual leaflets. I was inspired by this method: http://www.youtube.com/adgvibe#p/a/u/1/nbZqDPmuWFA the hairgrass is really starting to perk up. cleaned the filter and added some new floss. a lot of snails living in the filter now that I removed the metal shrimp guard. trying to narrow in on 30ppm co2 (using the drop checker method)...rather...shooting for green. this morning the drop checker was yellow. too much co2. not a real concern for me right now because there isn't anything in the tank. that reading was with roughly 2bps. I'm hoping that going back to 1bps will get me within a more manageable range. also hoping for better results now that the staghorn is gone and my scape methods are leaning towards being more patient. keeping my fingers crossed for the glosso to bounce back after such a heavy buzz cut. I think that may encourage more shoots to grow horizontal. best, walter

 
#193 ·
messing around with a new container for my 4dkh solution. just an old contact solution container. this one works well and is a lot easier to add to my drop checkers because of the dropper. I broke out the old diy drop checker I made a while back and felt like putting it in the tank in the back right corner. top drop checker is a good solid green after changing the co2 to about 1 bubble every 1.5 seconds. the back drop checker is blue in the picture because...well...I just put it in a couple minutes ago. as for the glosso, new little leaflets are sprouting after the trim (two days ago). noticed a little bit more green algae on the rock after the trim. I imagine the major trim had something to do with its appearance. it's a mild algae outbreak after the trim. but nothing on the plants. best, walter





 
#194 ·
having a lot less algae issues. the gda has seemed to have significantly reduced. staghorn is still gone. I had some green algae on the rock 4 days ago. when I changed the water in the tank I exposed the section of the rock and spot treated it with prime and let the rock sit exposed in the air for about ten minutes before filling the tank up. four days later that algae has vanished. I attribute it's appearance to the major trim I did. I've reduced my dosing to the recommended EI levels. I was dosing richer initially and I think that attributed to some gda algae issues as well. I was dosing too much for the plant mass in the tank. Once everything fills in more, I may dose richer, but depending on what I see from the plants (or algae). 30-40% water changes every 3 to 4 days. co2 now runs an hour before lights up and shuts off an hour before lights off at roughly 1-1.2 bps. The glosso is now sprouting tiny leaflets where trimmed. I think there are some sections of it that were shocked by the glutaraldehyde in the excel treatment, but they are bouncing back. The dhg is really thriving. it's sending out multiple runners and filling in the gaps between the rocks very nicely. My goal is to contain it to the back section of the tank. I will remove any runners that make their way past the rock arrangement. So far so good. hoping for the glosso to stay low now that I've trimmed it like a hedge and pushed it deeper in the substrate. we shall see. best, walter

 
#208 ·
thanks addict :)

Did the first major trim. let the rotala creep along the top for a week or so before cutting it back. replanted two tops and some glosso sprigs in the back to thicken it up. Things have been settling in nicely. water has been very clear and gda is nonexistent now.



 
#209 ·
decided to stay money conscious and not buy any new glass wear. made my own acrylic outflow instead. I have made these in the past but it's been a while. got the heat gun out and couldn't have been more pleased. took me about a half hour (setup, bending, sanding, polishing). The best thing about making your own acrylic pipes is that you can customize the outflow to suit your needs, specifically the outflow angle. I used to own a gla glass pipe (which I broke a long while back) and that pipe used to blow the soil all over the place and the suction cup on it really didn't help keep the outflow elevated. Acrylic is much much much cheaper and I feel more durable then the glass ones. It's also crazy how much money ADA and other companies charge when they mark up there glass wear. I think it is silly to pay so much for a water spout when there are much simpler and affordable alternatives. today, all it took was patience during the bending process....and a work glove to protect my digits.







 
#212 ·
hey frrok,

how goes it? how's it going on the rock? I have to get some more plastic for the pipes. not sure when that'll be but if I get around to it, maybe I'll make an extra one and send it to you.

assasin,

thanks. I'm using an external reactor and am running a 5lbs pressurized tank.
 
#214 ·
Just finished reading your thread. Quite a progression you've had with this tank! I love the simplicity and cleanliness of them all. Very nice!

Have you ever considered plugging the end of your suction line and drilling small holes rather than using the screen? I think it would look much better for this type of setup. Similar to the standard ADA glass tubes. You seem to have an affinity to making your own lily pipes.
 
#216 ·
Thanks zorfox. I don't mind the screen. i like that it's easy to clean and keeps a lot of debris out of the filter.

Nice job on the lilys and the tank is a beauty!

Were you able to find the acrylic at your local hardware store, or did you have to order it from TAP Plastic?
thanks beedee. I picked up the tubing at a plastic store in chinatown here in nyc.

I just picked up some dry iron chelate form gla and made a mix to dose extra with my micros. the rotala seems to be responding very well and is showing some nice red coloration especially on the new growth.

the next purchases are going to be some plantex (in the distant future) and some shorter curved scissors to make the carpet trimming a little more manageable.

best, walt
 
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