My first Nano (EBi)

[chonhzilla]

This is the first time I am working with a tank this small, but the great thing is that due to its size, a lot of addition equipment is a lot cheaper like the lighting. . Anyhow it's been a while since I've posted anything on this site. So here it is.

First off everyone knows this is the Fluval EBi, I got one heck of a deal on it form a LFS, for a whopping $80 out the door.



As you all know, it comes with a decent set of toys. But the light fixture and filter has to go.



Here it is in all it's glory, with a nice 3D background in all, too bad its comin off.





All I had was a dull razor blade and it took me a very long time paired with some serious elbow grease to get this silicone off.



Plant of choice is the infamous HC. Baby tears.



Planting done, and testing out the light to see if I like it. I think the light is nice, but I am going to go with something else.





Now the hard part was the hardscape, it was tough finding some rocks that I really liked. Seiryu stones were my first choice but I could not find a package which made me happy. So while walking through a LFS I stumbled upon the dreaded Pagoda Stones. I have always hated these things because they were hideous. But right away I was able to find a few very nice pieces which did not even resemble pagoda stones.

So here it is, as it sits until the HC fills in. Excuse the paper background, its sitting on my desk in my bedroom.



For lighting I will be using the praised 10W LED Floodlight, and heating is powered but a Hydor 200W inline heater.

[Geniusdudekiran]

Very nice. You can check out my Ebi in my sig. Please comment on it? And that HC is going to look AMAZING!

[Quentin]

Nice start, I think I might get one of those fluval tanks one day. Whats this flood light you speak of?

[chonhzilla]

Originally Posted by Quentin

Nice start, I think I might get one of those fluval tanks one day. Whats this flood light you speak of?

Thanks guys, this is the light I was talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nObHJvf04vw

I just bought it on ebay:

Lemansind White LED FloodLight Wall WashLight 10W

It comes with no plug but simple to wire.

[chonhzilla]

LED floodlight came in today. I'll post pictures of the LED and wiring later tonight.

[silentoak]

Sweet! Gonna look reaaaally nice!

[chonhzilla]

Originally Posted by silentoak

Sweet! Gonna look reaaaally nice!

Thanks bud.

Here it is:

The light is finally here.

10W LED Floodlight





Time to wire



Cord on the left and fixture on the right.







BEFORE



AFTER



I'm enjoying the "after" a lot better.

Thanks
Chonh

[ren]

thats one cool light just checked out the site the flood light looks promising tank looks good

[silentoak]

Just look how compact that thing is! Really nice! (also thanks for the little wiring diagram, learned something new today )

[chonhzilla]

Originally Posted by silentoak

Just look how compact that thing is! Really nice! (also thanks for the little wiring diagram, learned something new today )

Thanks. I personally suck at wiring lol. I was just hoping to help someone else out. If it helps one person, I've done my job.

[Quentin]

Nice set up. Like the scape.

[chonhzilla]

Just as a solid two weeks of growth, not bad. But still very slow; "re-considering HC :irked: Thinking about Dwarf Hairgrass (Eleocharis acicularis). But I'll give it another two weeks. MAYBE....



Thanks
Chonh

[Quentin]

So the new light just sits on top the glass cover? I'm guessing the low height means no heat issues?

[TLE041]

Originally Posted by chonhzilla

Just as a solid two weeks of growth, not bad. But still very slow; "re-considering HC :irked: Thinking about Dwarf Hairgrass (Eleocharis acicularis). But I'll give it another two weeks. MAYBE....

HC takes 2-3 weeks to initially get established, but after that you'll probably be able to see noticeable growth every day.

I'm a big fan of E. acicularis. I'm using it in my Mini-L iwagumi as the background with a HC foreground carpet.

[chonhzilla]

Well, tonight I finally decided to pull out all the HC, I've gone in a totally different direction than an iwagumi scape. Pics will follow as soon as the new filter comes in.

It's been quite frustrating having two filters fail on me at the same time. My ehiem 2232's handle broke, now it no longer closes. My cascade 500 has decided to start leaking from the bottom of the filter, Ive never seen this happen before; but both filters were well over four years old so I have gotten a ton of use out of both of them. Now I can't use my hydor inline heater and my co2 reactor.

I've decided to go with a diffuser instead of a reactor; the plants I will be using are: Anubias petite, Chain Sword - Narrow Leaf, (Echinodorus tenellus) Pellia, (Monosolenium tenerum) blxya japonica.

I promise pics as soon as I get my filter, which maybe another week from this post.
Chonh