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Aquanano 40 DSM shrimp pics

jon32

jon32

Member
Joined
10 Jan 2013
Messages
129
Location
Devon
Hi,

My DSM Set up has been running for 2 weeks now, so better late than never but here is my first journal :)

I was a little busy at the beginning and I forgot to take pics before it was planted doh! anyway here is a couple of (not very good lol) pics I took today.

P1030781_zps249ac364.jpg

P1030771_zps73f4b931.jpg

I used almost 4 pots of HC and a pot and a half of Eleocharis sp. 'mini'. I want a bit more height along the back so I will probably plant the longer hairgrass variety just before flooding.

Here some week by week comparison shots....

This is when it was just planted
1_zps29354061.jpg


After 1 week
2_zps434e0f8c.jpg


2nd week
3_zps77ca76f0.jpg


Some observations:

After the first week I started seeing some of the grains of amazonia powder near the front of the tank turning white... mould!
I read on another forum about some members that were living in hot humid countries(not here!) having lots of problems with mould. I also Googled best condition for growing mould and of course it is when you have damp + humid + dark. So I turned off my heat mat and let it air out a bit and increased the photoperiod to 13 hours. I've kept the heating mat off since. I only had it on a 1 hour on/off cycle but it seems it wasn't helping and made the walls of the tank run with condensation. I now only get a fine mist on the tank walls and lid. The temp doesn't go lower than 17c at night. This seems to have done the trick and I haven't seen any mould since.

Growth on the HC is looking good so far but the Hairgrass was not so healthy when I got it (yellowing) but is recovering well with a few runners popping up and some fresh new leaves.

specs:
Tank- Aqua one aquanano 40
Cabinet - Aquanano 40 black cabinet
Lighting - 2 x 18w PLU aqua one
Filter - Built in
Heating mat for DSM
Substrate - ADA Amazonia normal & powder, Power Sand Special
Hardscape - Seiryu Stone
CO2 - Pressurised (yet to buy) & Neutro CO2
Ferts - Neutro +
Plants - Eleocharis sp. 'mini' Tropica 1-2-Grow, Hemianthus Callitrichoides Tropica 1-2-Grow
Fauna - Amano shrimp, Oto cats & most likely Cardinal Tetra or Green Neons

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
 
Hi Jon, pleased youve started a journal :)
Looks great, i really like your hardscape.
The taller hair grass will add some height to the back, but i wouldnt let it get too high or it will imbalance the overall look.
I best not watch this journal too closely, I was considering rescaping my aquanano and this really isn't helping with that!
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Did you cover/block the lower rear filter inlet slots before adding your Aquasoil?
 
Hello Ady. Your CRShrimp tank looks great. Thanks for the comments on my set up. They must have revised the AN 40 because mine only has the top one? Actually you just had me check behind there with a torch lol, but really I did know mine didn't have the lower inlet because I remember filling the sump up by it's self to check the seals and see if it was leaking through to the front.
 
Nice start mate. Very good rock composition. You have some awesome rocks out there. I think yor DSM doesnt require heat mat. Just spray regulary water with some weak ferts mixture. Avoid standing water in the tank as may get algae. Photoperiod of 12h worked for me just fine. Keep posting.;)
 
Hi Nathaniel. It's actually just a probe for my digital hydrometer. I picked it up from a well know auction site for less than a fiver! It's surprisingly acurate :)
 
Thanks clone :) Yeah I was lucky with these rocks I got from TGM. I dropped them a little note with my order and they seem to pick out some nice ones for me.
Yes i've ditched the heating mat. I spray once maybe twice a day, more so on the higher slopes. Deffo will avoid standing water. Cheers for the pointers really appreciate it.
 
Ady I missed what you said about the taller hair grass inbalancing the look. I think you might be right about that. I'll see what the mini hair grass looks like first so I may leave it. Or as you say I could just keep trimming to keep in check.
 
Hi guys, thanks for the comments :)

Got a new light yesterday.. TMCMini LED 400. It's very bright. Just from eye balling it, it's at least twice as bright as two of the Aquanano 40 18w PLU lights. I have it set on 50% in the pic below, however it still looks brighter than the PLU's. I guess it won't do any harm to increase to full brightness as I don't have to worry about algae issues :) think it will need to be dialled back some what when I add water though.

Installed. 50% brightness.
P1030799_zpsde9b9471.jpg


Trying to eyeball light levels of new light vs old, same distance off the floor.
Left 2 x 18w plu. Right 400 mini led @ 100%.
P1030793_zps7170ae05.jpg


Cheers,
 
Hi, nice light, looks very suited to the aquanano tank.
I'm fancying an upgrade for my nano when I eventually redo it and was thinking about an led tile. I'm guessing you can get controllers for these as you have it set at 50%?
Cheers
Ady.
 
Good start mate :)

I'm going to subscribe to this one, I always catch journals 6 pages in and this one looks like its gonna be a good'n

I'm with Ady, don't let the hairgrass get too tall, just add some floaters...can't think of the one. It has the nice think roots and looks like a little Lilly pad on top haha :/ I few of those roots to keep the fish happy with such open space would be good.

Where did you manage to get your 2d light from? There not very bright are they so I tried tiger hold of one and had to wait for 2nd hand of ebay. The tile looks so damn good!
 
How much is a controller for the dimming, out of interest?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
Hi guys, thanks for the comments. I'll try to answer some of the questions and elaborate a little further :)


Jack & Ady - Yep got the controller for it. The main reason for buying the new light was to have some control and flexibility of the lighting. It meant shelling out a further £64 for it, but it's a lovely bit of kit. You can set it to have the light gradually ramp up and down over a period of time to create sun set/sun rise in your tank. And of course you can have it at any brightness level from 1-100. I saw some PAR data for it. The guy took readings at 14+" from the substrate in an empty tank of 55 umols.

The mountaray bracket thingy.. I guess is an acquired taste, but as Tim says (cheers mate) it suits this tank quite well. It only just fits between the 2 pieces of glass that section off the middle chamber of the filter/sump section, fits like a glove! Couple of downsides though (for AN 40 owners)... I will have to remove it when cleaning the filter to access the media in the middle chamber. I don't think it would be possible to pull out the ceramic rings with it attached anyway. Also the rear piece of glass won't fit if you want to cover the sump but many have top less open tank so it's not that much of a problem. You could easily cut a piece of acrylic to fit if need be.

Nayr88 thanks mate :) Think I know the floating plant you speak of. Is it Hydrocotyle sp.? Actually it's one of my favourites plants. I'm considering putting some taller HG in the back left corner but I'd keep it mowed down some what :) Also considering trying the chopped up moss + yoghurt method (inspired by George Farmer) brushed on to the top of the 2 largest rocks and the flat rock to the right. What do you think? think I'd like to add another texture in there to look at.
I got the other light from said auction site. The lights will be up for sale soon, along with 2 digital timers I no longer have a need for lol.

Cheers,
 
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