ADA Mini-M. Codename: Wet Monument Valley

[welchrock]

Thought it was time I got myself in the world of planted nanos, and I must say it's been awesome thus far. I started with a four-pot purchase of HC....and quickly killed off 90% of it via some stupid manuever I'd rather not go into. A pict of what I had left:



After trying to build a 12 x 12 x 12 glass cube with some panes purchased at Lowe's, I was left with something that was sufficient at best. It held water, and served it's purpose for about 2 months of HC and MM (taken from my 46G tank) growing, but ultimately I tore it apart piece by piece and bit the bullet with an ADA Mini-M.

Right when I got it out of the package I was happy with my decision. My own homemade tank was a nice cube, but I felt I couldn't trust it to hold water long-term and my silicone seals looked like they were done by a child.

Here's a shot of the tank just after I transferred my HC and MM, complete with dirt (a pond soil I found locally - LOVE it. 25 lbs for $4!!) If you look closely you may be able to see the 'seams' where I transferred full blocks of dirt and plants from my homemade tank to the ADA:





These picts were taken about 2-3 weeks ago so look for frequent updates with pictures!

In the meantime, what are everyone's thoughts?

My current parameters:

Tank: ADA Mini-M, standard clarity glass. Approximately 5.5 gallons.

Substrate: Unknown brand but great pond soil. Very fine grains, minimal embedded debris. Only issue: random plants grow out of it!

Heater: Not on, but it has been hot glued under the substrate: 7.5W Hydor Mini Aquarium Heater.

Filter: Not on because of no water: Red Sea Nano Hang-On Filter

Lighting: Jebo 13W clip on flexible light (JB13) with a desk lamp with 27W bulb supplementing as I try to get my HC to form a full carpet. I love the look of the Jebo so I think I'll get a second one down the road. Note this Jebo light is not shown in these initial pictures.

Water: None in these pictures, plants are grown immersed with cling-wrap over top, daily misting.

Ferts: None.

Planned CO2: Just Excel.

Thanks to everyone that is/will be showing interest in my tank!

[Down_Shift]

Looks good man

[connordude27]

i've always wondered what does hc stand for and what kind of lighting does it need?

great looking tank so far

[welchrock]

Originally Posted by connordude27

i've always wondered what does hc stand for and what kind of lighting does it need?

great looking tank so far

HC stands for Hemianthus callitrichoides. Technically what I have is dwarf HC, or some variant.

http://www.tropica.com/go.asp?plant=048B

The MM I refer to is Marsilea Minutia...although it has grown quite differently emersed than it does submerged in my other tank. It is a variant of Marsilea hirsuta or similar (I am by no means a plant expert).




Here's a great link for reference on plants:

http://www.tropica.com/default.asp

[roybot73]

Looks like a good start, but why would you hot glue a heater to the bottom of the tank?

[welchrock]

Here's a better shot of the tank showing some recent growth. HC is slowly but surely forming a nice carpet!

[welchrock]

Originally Posted by roybot73

Looks like a good start, but why would you hot glue a heater to the bottom of the tank?

The heater I chose is flat and is designed to be placed under the substrate. I hot glued it so I wouldn't have to deal with it moving around/towards the surface. It is definitely helping keep it in place but I don't think it's an irreversible action.

[welchrock]

(image difficulties fixed)

[luckydud13]

Loos great! Cant wait to set up a emersed set up. Looking to strat an hc carpet, now to find some.......

[ddtran46]

looking good

[welchrock]

Starting to fill it with water, super-slowly so as not to disturb the substrate and also to look for any potential 'melt' that we all hear/talk about so much here. So far so good...both the HC and MM seem to be adjusting quite well to the submerged setup.

Attached are two shots of the HC spreading and the tank semi-filled.
(Does anyone know why the embed image feature isn't working??)

How does everyone feel about the petrified wood? I thought it'd look a lot darker than it does when wet, but oh well.

Another question: Will the MM growth start being lower-lying when submerged? I've been very happy with the growth I've seen while it's been immersed, but my goodness it looks weird and far too uppity!

[roybot73]

All of the emersed growth on your MM will die off (according to Tropica, it should be trimmed off...) and will be replaced by new, more compact submersed growth.

http://www.tropica.com/default.asp
http://www.aquabotanicstore.com/Four...pecimarsel.htm

[welchrock]

as long as the root system remains intact and i come out ahead of where i'd be if i didn't grow it immersed, i'll be happy.

my MM is currently pearling however...wouldn't this bode well for limited dieoff?

[Ugly Genius]

From the FTS a few posts up, you can tell that this tank is going to look phenomenal filled in.

Like roybot said, the MM should loose the four-leaf shaped stems and become what looks like a half of sprig of Glosso.

I like the petrified wood. So much so that I wish you had more of it in there, but it looks great the way you have it.

Lemme see if the embedded image is working for me here.

Apparently it is. You're using the below tags, right?

[IMG]photo url[/IMG]

[welchrock]

I think I need to just start typing the tags instead of using the picture-frame tool button. I'm having problems with this feature in other forums too. Maybe a Firefox 3.0 issue? Hmm who knows.

Tank is looking pretty sweet filled, but I'm having some clouding issues with my substrate. I stir up the water a few times a day and am filtering out the smallest and dustiest of material, but this is only somewhat effect and an end to this procedure does not seem to be in sight.

I am considering trying a layer of eco-complete (taken from my main tank) in an attempt to hold down the pond soil. It would be a nice clean look of black and brown if it worked, but the eco-complete grain size might not be large enough to stay positioned on top of my soil.

New picts coming soon!