Confused journey of another nano

[MABJ]

Some things should definitely come together soon. I'll need some help with aquascaping and plant choice .

I got rock today. Wow it is beautiful. Bartohog did a great job with packing and shipping. It is a very porous sandstone. I'm giving it a good warm bath, soak, brush and RO soak and then I'll be sticking it in my tank. Wish me luck! It is extremely heavy, but it should be worth it.


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[MABJ]

OK. I have finished aqua scaping for now, but I'm waiting on my light. After that, all I need is purchased. I'm under budget! Yay.

So I updated the story in the original post thread. But I'll still take you guys through what I did.

I don't have a spot picked out yet, but the tank was packaged well.



Empty, trying to figure out what I wanted to do first.



Working on one step of my three step cleaning process for my new rock!



And after I cleaned it, placed the substrate, moved some plants around, placed some rock, this is what I've got now.



I'll take better pictures when the real light arrives

Thanks for looking!


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[MABJ]

I this morning tested my parameters.. While it is an API test strip.. I think it is showing some decent results.

It said PH 7,
GH
KH
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 40

I'm 99% sure my cycle is near its end. Thank you transferring media from tank to tank LOL.

I'll be adding my CPOs within 5 days time.

Any comments up to this point?


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[MABJ]

Okay. Time for an update. The cycle finished up, and I added shrimp, and I added a little food for them.

The tank is infested with planaria babies and I see the first hydra I've ever seen.



I'll be dog deworming this tank very soon.


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[AquariumNoob]

I Hate hydra.
Watch out with the dog dewormer! Not sure if that stuff is safe for inverts. Youd be better off trying to spray boiling water on em'. Adding water to a fish tank cant cause any damage. Some poison, on the other hand.. who knows :Z
Beautiful tank ! I want something like that but literally have nowhere to put it. Got a 75G ~3 years ago in my room, and recently bought two 20L Tanks... Literally threw out my dresser and replaced it with fish tanks :Z haha. If i ever have an office of my own to decorate, definitely going to get something like that. I Love those tanks that are really big looking but in reality are extremely tiny. It lets you do so much when it comes to aquascaping in such a small tank.

[MABJ]

Thanks so much!!! It really does give some options. I'm debating adding driftwood or not when a package of it comes in from Tom Barr.

And I'm 100% positive it is OK for shrimp. Snails, they're iffy. My Copepod colonies suffer, but overall it is good. Thank you for your concern though I actually was excited to see one. The tank is a work in progress and I was relatively sure I was going to have to nuke it. They're jellyfish relatives and I've wanted to snap a picture of them for myself and watch them in action.

I'll keep this updated! What do you think about driftwood?

[AquariumNoob]

Personally, im not much of a fan of mixing stone and driftwood together. I'd stick to either a rock scape, or DW scape. Only place id mix em is in BIG tanks (i didnt even mix in my 75G. Im taking like 100G+ tanks where you have a ridiculous amount of room to scape and cant get by with only putting rocks, haha).
In the tank youve got id say stick with the rocks. Not too much Driftwood that would really fit in there, anyways, i dont think. If it DID fit, it would probably take up too much space and make it look either cluttered or youd end up having to remove a ton of rocks to make space for it :P
Just my .02.. Love the way it looks right now.

[MABJ]

Thanks so much! I'll have to do just that then. I'd be remiss if I didn't try in at least one tank, so I guess itll be my spec. This scape truly is a work in progress, and I firmly believe I'll need another azoo palm filter, which I don't mind.


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[MABJ]

Yay the new light is here. I LOVE IT.

Thank you, Jake. This was a wonderful suggestion. With the filter, it gets pushed forward a little, but it's ok.

I may be adding another azoo palm.

Also, I'm starting to use RO water, do any of you have suggestions on remineralizers that are sold on amazon?

Thanks as always!


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[BeachBum2012]

Those are some very cool rocks. I like it.

[MABJ]

Thanks so much! The shrimp love it lol. I will rescape a little.. But I'm not quite sure how yet lol.


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[MABJ]

Updates..

*I added a black background to the tank
*Moved the IAL a little
*Cut some plants up
*Moved several plants

Enjoy

[thesawguy]

I have a shelf in my bathroom that I would love to have a little tank like this on. What kind of light is that that you ended up with?

[MABJ]

Originally Posted by thesawguy

I have a shelf in my bathroom that I would love to have a little tank like this on. What kind of light is that that you ended up with?

If you can get this tank, I'd definitely recommend it It is only like $35 when shipped. So it certainly is expensive, but it is crafted well! It has black silicone, and I've never felt a more stable tank. It doesn't wobble at all when you're holding it half full of water.

This is a 17-24" Beamswork light fixture. It sets this tank at the lower end of medium light. It is a cheaper light, especially compared to competitive fixtures. I don't think I can post links, as per what I've been told, but it is on ebay under the seller topdogsellers with free shipping.

[Silmarwen]

This is a gorgeous little tank. I love the hardscape!