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Nano Tor, Andyh's 35l

Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l Nano Scape

Well Being honest! This tank has had a few problems and that problem was me! Lack on maintenance and neglect! There was plenty of algae to see BBA/GSA/Rhizoclonium so it was good collection! :geek: :oops:

So today i stripped it cleaned everything filter, glassware, heater, tank & rocks removed a majority of the algae infested plants and completed a mini re-scape, i kept some of the HC which wasn't to bad and one of the rocks the rest got a re-model. It also coincided with a visit to my LFS who had just had a delivery of plants, so they were in good shape. So i purchased the following Aquafleur plants:

1. Micranthemum micranthemoldes x 2
2. Rotala Wallichii x 1
3. Lilaeopsis Novea-zeelandiae x3

The tanks been re worked and a few extra pieces of stone added and have to say i am happy with the end result, i seem to find that my scape's always tend to evolve into something else. Not got it right first time yet! I will post some pics when i get chance, probably tomorrow.

Thanks for looking :thumbup:
Andyh
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l Nano Scape

[Currently doing 1 x 50% water change per week, at this point i dose 3 drops of Green Gain and 8 drops of Phyton Git
Dosing daily; ADA Brighty K 3ml & Step 1 3ml and then every other day Green Brighty Special Lights 3ml.
Lights 7 hours, CO2-green drop checker at light on (on 2hrs b4 lights).

Will post a a couple of full tank shots in a couple of weeks, as i am currently growing a few other plants on in here at the moment.

Thanks for looking

Andyh :thumbup:[/quote]

Andy...thx for the good read and good to see you having the time to spend some time on your hobby...

Just a few questions.... How long did it take for your Mosquito Rasbora to colour up to that magnificant red colouring..? As I think I have been sold Maculata when the label at MA taunton said ' Mosquito Rasbora '...

2nd question - Good to see that your CRS are ok in a C02 infused scenario and just wondered what BPM you have set that provides both good plant and safe CRS keeping. My nano has a 24/7 c02 setup on 5 BPM and wondered if this will be ok as this nano is currently cycling with no CRS at present. The C02 equipment is one of these small imported setups with no available timer setup but can manage output with a small but sensitive needle valve.

Thx again ....
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l Nano Scape

bogwood said:
Looking foward to some pics.
Good time to tackle it, with the christmas break upon us.
Nice choice of plants.

Cheers! Pics in a little while :D
Anubia said:
Andy...thx for the good read and good to see you having the time to spend some time on your hobby...
Just a few questions.... How long did it take for your Mosquito Rasbora to colour up to that magnificant red colouring..? As I think I have been sold Maculata when the label at MA taunton said ' Mosquito Rasbora '...
2nd question - Good to see that your CRS are ok in a C02 infused scenario and just wondered what BPM you have set that provides both good plant and safe CRS keeping. My nano has a 24/7 c02 setup on 5 BPM and wondered if this will be ok as this nano is currently cycling with no CRS at present. The C02 equipment is one of these small imported setups with no available timer setup but can manage output with a small but sensitive needle valve.
Thx again ....
Hello Anubia,
Thanks for your kind comments, as for your questions here we go.
Question 1; The red rasbora you are talking about are the Boraras brigittae (below)
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commonly mis-sold as Maculata(see below) or Mosiquito rasbora.
Rasbora_maculata-300x210.jpg

I personally believe that all the micro rasboras are referred to as Mosquito's due there size and nothing else.
I also recently got some Boraras urophthalmoides, simply sold as mosquito fish. (Nice fish more copper colours than reds)
egbo5g.jpg

Now the colouring, The red colour didnt take long to come good (approx 48hrs), i believe that the reason for this is that is good diet and environment. I keep the PH in the 6's (as they prefer black water, basically my ADA substrate does that for me) and i feed Tetra pro colour dry and frozen food which always gets fish looking healthy.

Question 2; I have had these CRS for ages (18 months plus and they are breeding) always in a CO2 rich environment be it Pressurised Co2 system, Liquid carbon only (easy carbo) or a combo of both. Its about having respect for the dosing, yes i have lost one or two shrimps along the journey. The smallest tank being the 35l. Nb when dosing liquid carbon with shrimps never dose onto or near the shrimp it will kill them. I dose into the powerhead as it gets diluted quickly that way, and try not to overdose.

I think you need to be careful and start with a lower BPM than 5bps. This level is great for setting up your tank, but when introducing livestock i would suggest start with 1 bps and move it up very gradually over a week. I get my drop checker green and thats my bench mark. Commenting on BPM is very tricky as every bubble counter is different, mine runs at 1.5-2bpm on this tank for instance. :geek: You will find your shrimps and live stock do things like move to the surface and gasp in high CO2 or in the case of shrimps look like they are on red bull and dart and become erratic. Its at this point you should be panicking and completing a 50% water change.

Any more questions give me a shout
Thanks
Andyh
 

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Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l Nano Scape

So here is the new look for "Nano Tor", apologies but this is a little photo heavy :geek:

As can be seen i have kept one of the original pieces of rock and added a few more. (the one with a small amount of algae on it, it will loose! as its already been painted with easy carbo and Phyton git :twisted: )

The whole tank:
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WIth Iphone for scale:
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The plants:
Back, Lilaeopsis Novea-zeelandiae and HC front left (which needs to recover from trim and Algae)
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Middle of the rocks the only bit of Micranthemum Micranthemoides you can see at present, i can assure you there is more ;)
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Right back, the Rotala Wallichii, which looks great, hope i can keep it looking so good.
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the Algae on the rock (aka BBA) :lol: :twisted:
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All my new Cal-aqua glassware birthday presents now finally added its great having family members into planted tanks!
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All the kit stashed down the side:
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Another angle:
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Performed another big water change tonight and added Fluval zeo-carb to my filter to help remove ammonia as the substrate got disturbed lots when re-scaping.
Thanks for looking at far to many pics but i got carried away :geek: :D
Andyh
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

It's not for scale is it? It's so you can show off about your Iphone. ;)
Looks great, I can see it growing out a real treat still.
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

Garuf said:
It's not for scale is it? It's so you can show off about your Iphone. ;)
Looks great, I can see it growing out a real treat still.

G- Need an iphone 4 to show off ;)
Thanks for your comments, i am determined to keep this tank spotless, clean and trimmed! Its only a 35l it should be easy!
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

looking great andy.

I've just got an iphone 4! awesome thing indeed
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

Andy...what's your view on the Cal Aqua glassware....Did Santa come early..?
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

Mark Evans said:
looking great andy.
I've just got an iphone 4! awesome thing indeed
Cheers Mark means a lot

Anubia said:
Andy...what's your view on the Cal Aqua glassware....Did Santa come early..?
Cal-Aqua Glassware is great, well made and functional. I use it on both my tanks so i have 3 sets of lilys (16mm and 12mm) and drop checkers, all excellent. :thumbup:
I use the ones that return the water at a 45degree angle for good low down flow.
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

Andy...do you think it's as good as ADA quality price wise...?

Have a brilliant break and a happy new year...
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

Anubia said:
Andy...do you think it's as good as ADA quality price wise...?

Have a brilliant break and a happy new year...

Quality wise its excellent, price wise its about the 50% of the ADA stuff so yes its great value. For more there is no reason to spend the extra money unless you like the ADA logo. This coming from a man who loves his ADA kit, and owns some. :geek:

`Merry Christmas to ya!'
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

Update
So the re-scape is 7 days old, its had three 50% water changes and been dosed everyday with:
ADA Brighty k x2 squirts
ADA Step One x2 Squirts
EAsy Carbo x 2 squirts every other day.

At the water change/trim today, I dosed ADA Green Gain and Phyton Git.
The BBA on the rock slowly turned pink then was eaten by the shrimps and the Nerite snails. There is no BBA left anywhere now. (just shows if you get it early enough and spot dose it gets rid very quickly).
Plant growth is good and the HC is defo putting out new growth, i gave it a prune today keeping it close to the gravel.

Lighting Comparison
I thought i would post some slightly different pics today to show the different effects different tubes can have. When i first got into planted tanks i believed that you had to have special tubes to grow plants! Thanks to a whole load of LFS's what a load of cr*p that was! Plants within reason will grown under almost any tube, its more down to what you think looks visually pleasing. So i have spent an age taking photos with each of the different tube configurations i have in my luminaire. These pics have not been photoshop'd at all, and they are taken in full auto mode on my Canon Powershot SX1. I just wanted to play around with the different combos for photos and viewing. I am aware this has been done before but wanted to do it myself, i hope it helps some of you just starting out ;)

In my Arcadia Luminaire (4x 24w T5) i have some different tubes, I have the:

OSRAM 880 Skywhite T5 (actually have 2 of these installed)
SYLVANIA Grolux T5
PHILIPS 965 T5

all purchased from http://www.lampspecs.co.uk

So here we go:

1. Philips 965
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2.Sylvania Grolux
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3. Philips 965 and Sylvania Grolux
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4.Osram Skywhite 880 x1
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5.Osram Skywhite 880 and Grolux
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6. Osram Skywhite 880 and Philips 965
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7. Osram Skywhite 880 x2, Philips 965 and Grolux (all of them :D )
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I have my favourites and i feel that its a personal thing :thumbup:

For day to day growing/viewing the 965 on its own is very good indeed and i love the clarity of the water and the greens.
The Grolux on its own is not to my taste in the slightest, however when combined with either the 880 or 965 does make the colours in your fish/shrimps look much better.

What do you guys think? :geek: o_O

Thanks for looking and i hope some of you find this useful :thumbup:
Andyh
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

The skywhite and the phillips for me, makes me want to invest and that's a bad thing on my income.
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (Lighting Test 29-12-10)

Good to see the different effect each tube has. :thumbup:

For my eyes the Osram, and skywhite seem just right. If i remember they come at a very reasonable price.

Your tanks looking nice, i really do like your choice of rocks. and its good to hear your on top of the BBA. :clap:
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (UPDATED 21-12-10)

Garuf said:
The skywhite and the phillips for me, makes me want to invest and that's a bad thing on my income.
Get your wallet out :lol: The one good thing is that these tubes all come in at under a tenner each if my memory serves me right!
bogwood said:
Good to see the different effect each tube has. :thumbup:
For my eyes the Osram, and skywhite seem just right. If i remember they come at a very reasonable price.
Your tanks looking nice, i really do like your choice of rocks. and its good to hear your on top of the BBA. :clap:

Cheers Bogwood, the tank is really coming on now. I am determined to keep it spotless and well groomed. You will have to find a excuse to get down here soon!

As a matter of interest, and i have already had a pm about it:

The Philips 965 is 6800k
The Osram Skywhite 880 is 8000k
The Grolux is approx. 5000k

Cheers
Andyh
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (Lighting Test 29-12-10)

great little test mate. Looks 99% accurate too....really important. good job.

The rock layout is pretty sweet too ;)
 
Re: “Nano Tor”, Andyh's 35l (Lighting Test 29-12-10)

Looking good, Andy! :thumbup:

Thanks for sharing the lighting comparisons.

Have you considered shooting with manual white balance mode? With auto WB the camera will attempt to 'best guess' the colour balance and make adjustments automatically. If you set manual WB i.e. Daylight the differences in colour rendition will be even more apparent. This said, the differences are quite obvious, even though you're shooting full auto.

Great work!
 
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