[radioman]

Finally I have decided to upgrade from my 2.5g and move to my Mini-M that has been decommissioned since 2008.

Tank: ADA Mini-M
Substrate Fluval Plant Stratum
Inhabitant: RCS for right now and my single otto. Probably some Nerites.
Plants: Java moss, java fern, anubias nana, blyxa japonica (very green tank)
Equipment: Paintball co2, aquaclear filter
Lighting: 13w cfl maybe 27w cfl not sure yet. 13w might be enough since It was bright on this tank when I previously had it setup.
Ferts: macro and micros EI method.

Tank back in 2008

Preparing the wood.

Trying to figure out the scape. The wood will b e further to the right and lower down.

 

[radioman]

For fertilizers what do you guys think I should do? It is only 13w so it isn't a ton of lights but I will be injecting some co2 to keep the plants extra happy. So should I dose EI or just keep it simple and what would be considered keeping it simple? Just Flourish Comprehensive? Macros and micros but not every day?

I'm worried EI might be to much since my plant load won't be huge at the beginning and I don't want my tank to be more fertilizer than water.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[radioman]

What the layout will probably look like.

 

[inka4041]

Looking good! If I could suggest something, it would be to add another piece of wood to the left side to balance out the much thicker right portion. Maybe something reaching down into the front left corner?

 

[radioman]

Here is the tank how it stands now. It will be broken down in May though so I can move it home for the summer.
All of the plants are from my 2.5g except for the java fern. it is hard to see but there are 4stems of Blyxa japonica in the back left corner. All the others I had went to a member here in college station. It was amazing how many stems were in my 2.5g.

I forgot I had the java fern so I had a hard time attaching that after the tank was full of water. I got it stuck in rocks in some areas and loosely tied in others so I'm hoping it will take hold.

I'm not very happy with how the wood looks but I'm going to see if it will grow on me. It seems when I try to scape a tank it doesn't look good but when I throw a tank together I really like it. I might eventually take the wood out and put some bigger rocks there and and some hydrocotyle in between them and put the java ferns on the rocks. It is just hard to use stem plants since this tank moves around.

The moss that is in this tank I dipped a few weeks ago in h202 to get rid of some staghorn. I had done this before with no problems but this time it seems to have given me dead spots in the moss. That could be a cause or lack of light could be another since it was packed tightly into my other tank.

 

[@[email protected]]

i prefer excel to h2o2 to get rid of algae. i just turn off filter/powerheads, and dose the full dose into algaed areas and turn the filter on after 5 min. works great for the occasional tuft off bba i get on ancientish anubias leaves.
but should your shrimp eat the algae? mine go to town on stringy algae.

 

[radioman]

It was just staghorn that I got from some high lighting in my other tank and I didn't know anything ate that stuff. Maybe amano shrimp would but I just have cherries which don't really eat that much algae.

 

[radioman]

Posted this in the nano section first by accident. I meant to post a more succinct version there. Oh well

So I am keeping the wood for now . and am just trying to dress it up to not make it so blatantly awkward. I attached some fissidens (thanks to h2oaggie) to it and put some around the base of the wood.

The Blyxa was starting to struggle with my current fertilizer regime. It might just be adjusting to the lower light and less ferts but I decided to place some root tabs under it just to give it some help since I like my current fert regime and everything else seems to be fine for now.

Here is a pic of how the tank currently looks.

 

[radioman]

A quick update. The growth on the blyxa seems to be slow. I just don't think it likes the lighting conditions in the tank. On the left side of the tank there is a piece of Blyxa that natural sunlight hits and it seems to be growing faster than the others which leads me to believe it is the lighting. I was not sure if this plant would cut it in this tank. There is some growth so we will see what it is like in the coming weeks.

The sunlight on the left side of the tank leads to my second problem. I am getting staghorn on the sides of plant that face the left side of my tank which is where the sunlight hits it from the window. I try to keep the blinds closed but I am not the only person living in this apt. For now I have put a black covering on that side to keep the light out which should solve my problem.

All in all I am happy with this tanks and the growth I am getting in my lower light plants. Here are some pics of it and the algae. You can see how it is all growing on the left side of things.

Also I reattached the riccia since it grew so large it detached itself. I need to clean up all the stragglers of riccia too.
Also if you want a way to cover up you filter intake just let riccia grow through the foam (picture of it below).

Here is the riccia lol. You can also see the Blyxa. I am comparing its growth and color to my high light tank so I don't know if I will ever be happy with the growth or color of it in this tank. The picture makes the tips look yellow and they are slightly in person. What deficiency is this if it isn't the amount of lighting?

 

[radioman]

So I'm moving this tank home. Does anyone have any scape suggestions for when I set it back up. I'm thinking get rid of the awkward wood and make it into a stump with fissidens on top and a riccia or DHG carpet.

I possibly just want to do a rock scape but want to incorporate the java fern into it. I guess I could stick some sticks in the rocks for the java fern.

 

[radioman]

Radioman's Mini-M Journal (Update 5/10 new scape)

New tank setup after moving home. This cell phone camera doesn't do it justice. I will work on a better pic in the near future. The riccia was in a dark spot before and had really slow growth so I'm hoping it will start to grow quicker now that it is getting more light.

 

[2in10]

Very nice scape.

 

[radioman]

Freaked out about 3 days ago because I thought the tank was leaking. I placed it in a pan and watched it and it seems fine. I think I pushed some water over the edge and my mat soaked it up and it leaked out later on making it look like a leak. The mat under the tank is now gone and everything is looking good.

 

[radioman]

New updated pics taken with a better camera. I also added a product that I saw at my lfs that looks like it would be good to grow riccia out of.

I have also changed my dosing and am now just using rootmedic onestep instead of the seachem line.

The Blyxa was struggling with the transition but I added some rootmedic capsules so I am hoping they will help. I don't know if it is the
lower light or the fluval plant substrate but I feel like when I used ADA's substrate the blyxa took off a lot faster.

 

[radioman]

I'v been having some signs of deficiencies but from the help of forum members have determined it is probably due to inconstant co2. To solve this problem I have ordered a regulator from green leaf.

I will probably be ditching the blyxa since it really does not want to root in this tank since I have moved it. I might go with a background of more java ferns.

I might get rid of the rocks for riccia also and go with some smaller ceramic squares like the rectangle one.

 

[radioman]

Well most of the Blyxa is gone. At least all the stuff that wouldn't root. I just got an atomic diffuser to replace my ceramic disk one which honestly was producing bubbles the size of what a normal bubbler would. So my co2 is turned way down for now just so I can see what bubble rate I will need when using a nice diffuser. I'm sure my new co2 levels would allow it to root better but with me moving this tank around it is just not worth the time.

 

[mcqueenesq]

Did you get your GLA regulator yet?

 

[radioman]

Did you get your GLA regulator yet?

Yeah. I really like it.

 

[radioman]

Here are some updated pictures of the tank. They are taken with my phone so the quality is not great. I have a ugly towel under the tank since I didn't want water to ruin the wood on my dresser and it is only temporary while I am home from school.

I got a new GLA regulator with an atomic diffuser also.

 

[lewl]

Lot's of nice shrimp! They basically eat all leftover food!