Another NPT Conversion "Mezza Luna"

[frrok]

***5/2/2012***




Here is a 10 gallon that i converted to a dirt substrate over the weekend. I chose to name it, Mezza Luna (italian for "half moon")
Pics are in this order, the before shot , layout of substrate then final planting . Let me know what you think of the scape, any critiques? Wood is manzanita that i ordered from badcop As far as equipment goes I am using a zoo med 501 for filtration(which I had to return to one petco cuz it was defective) Archaea 27w power compact fixture. Substrate is MGOCPM and Eco complete as cap. Only black gravel I could find that was the close to the size that needed, black and natural. After I planted I quickly realized how light eco was and some plants kept floating up. Very frustrating. I had better luck with super naturals gravel that I used in my 3.5. It's unfortunate that these companies do not make a fine black natural gravel(thats not sand) in 1-3mm. That would be ideal. Anyway, hope you enjoy. As it was a struggle to re-do it, especially with fish. I'm really happy with the outcome. And it is by no means finished. I want to added a few more species of stem plants and I have knock off lily pipes on order as I don't care for the intake and outflow.l on the zoo med. Dirt is awesome!

[Chlorophile]

Looks great! Raise the water level on that baby though!

[frrok]

Originally Posted by Chlorophile

Looks great! Raise the water level on that baby though!

Ah ha! Thanks! I think I took that pic before I topped it off... Like I said I still have some finishing touches. I'm so impatient I wanted to take a pic and throw it up. I will post another pic once I have everything the way I want it.

[frrok]

Here's some more picks. Tank was dirted on Saturday. Water is just now starting to get cloudy. Not bad for freshly dirted tank. I didn't mineralize per se. But I did soak and drain the dirt a few times and left it out to dry one day. Plants are melting a bit but I chalk that up to being freshly submersed in new conditions. Water change is planned for the weekend. Enjoy.
Side note: I ordered some black 2mm fine gravel from substratesource.com. I want to lay a very thin layer over the hairgrass to keep in place a little better. Some of it floated up a few times. Taking a risk with the hairgrass with no co2 and ferts. But I've seen pics of it growing well in Eco complete with nothing else. What do you guys think?

[madness]

I definitely like the scape on this one better than on the 3.5 gallon.

Nothing wrong with the other one, this one just reflects a more mature style I guess.

Is that the Marineland 10g half-moon? If so, what are your thoughts on it? I have been debating taller (but still relatively small volume) tanks that are more 'display' friendly and that is one of the few tanks that fits the bill.

[sewingalot]

That was a cute non-planted tank, it's was very interesting. But now it's fabulous! Are you worried about your betta jumping? I've lost my fair share to carpet surfing. I like the half moon look.

[driftwoodhunter]

Wonderful transformation! I'm really liking the darker substrates people are using, I'm going to add a small amount of the blacker FloraMax on top of the FloraMax/pea gravel cap I have on my 55 dirt tank. My fish will show up on it better, and it is a more harmonious look, in my eyes.
Love your tank - all these lovely dirt tanks have really motivated me to redo my 40b - but I'll wait until I can get the schematics of a Hobbit home down pat! lol (hey, I love old-timey ceramic decorations, too. Campy can be chic! - in my mind, anyway lol)

[harrow]

Really glad to see other halfmoon tank owners. I see that you upgraded your light and filter, how do you like the zoo med canister and what light is that.

[firefiend]

Originally Posted by sewingalot

That was a cute non-planted tank, it's was very interesting. But now it's fabulous! Are you worried about your betta jumping? I've lost my fair share to carpet surfing. I like the half moon look.

you know, almost 20 years I've never had a betta jump out of its tank... I've lost gold fish that way, and an african dwarf frog once... but that's it, haha.

[frrok]

Originally Posted by madness

I definitely like the scape on this one better than on the 3.5 gallon.

Nothing wrong with the other one, this one just reflects a more mature style I guess.

Is that the Marineland 10g half-moon? If so, what are your thoughts on it? I have been debating taller (but still relatively small volume) tanks that are more 'display' friendly and that is one of the few tanks that fits the bill.

Thanks. That's exactly how I feel. My little tank was sort of an experiment. Work out the kinks until I learned more then move on to something nicer. So no offense at all. I love this tank, but it is a challenge to scape and challenge to pick the right fish. Since taller than it is wide. I have one glo fish in there but he should probably be in a longer tank. But the small footprint helps. I live in small apt at the beach in nyc. I dint have much room for bigger tanks. The stand is DIY as well btw. It's epai(sp?) wood.

Originally Posted by sewingalot

That was a cute non-planted tank, it's was very interesting. But now it's fabulous! Are you worried about your betta jumping? I've lost my fair share to carpet surfing. I like the half moon look.

Thanks! I really worked hard on it. I still have a way to go but I'm happy on how this started so far.
I'm more worries about my Siberian kitten getting to the fish then the betta jumping out! Lol!!

Originally Posted by harrow

Really glad to see other halfmoon tank owners. I see that you upgraded your light and filter, how do you like the zoo med canister and what light is that.

So far I really like the zoo med. It's quiet and it's functional. I didn't like the intake and outakes so I swapped them out for fake lily pipes. I had to rig them to fit the zoo med tubing tho. See next post. I will post a pic of it.

[frrok]

Excuse the poor quality. For some reason the app won't let me post the high quality version even tho I'm on wifi. Anyway. You can see how I had to rig the lily pipes. I needed to get reduction valves so the tubing would fit. The materials were cheap but it was a hassle putting it all together.

Side note. Water is still a bit cloudy after a pwc this weekend. I may do another one today or tomorrow. Excess nutrients most likely from dirt + Eco. I actually drained and dried the Eco before I added it as a cap to the dirt. Frogbit has already doubled!

[harrow]

Those lily pipes look a lot better then the stock ones.

[frrok]

Originally Posted by harrow

Those lily pipes look a lot better then the stock ones.

Oh and the light is a 27w archaea power compact. Gift for my bday from the gf.

[nonconductive]

nice tank!

[frrok]

Originally Posted by nonconductive

nice tank!

Thanks! It's really alot of fun. I got in there last night and trimmed the hairgrass. Man that was a pain! Lol