Dr Mike Oxgreen
Member
Having set up a high-tech 25 litre nano tank over the last four months with high lighting, CO₂ injection, external filter and heater, I'm now considering my next watery challenge.
Because I'm currently "between careers" and not earning, this time it's going to have to be on a shoestring. I've stopped spending money on the nano tank.
I'm considering a planted "pico" bowl, something like this bowl from Tesco for a fiver which by my sums would be about 4 litres. (Can someone double-check my sums - 10cm radius, 4/3 πr³ - sound right?)
I'm thinking of an Ikea "Jansjö" LED lamp for lighting, which is only 70 lumens but hopefully that'll be enough - I won't have any CO₂ and will be trying to keep nutrients low so the light requirement should also be low, unlike my nano tank which has injected CO₂ and a generous daily nutrient dose.
It'll be unheated and unfiltered. The plants will be responsible for the majority of ammonia control. I'll have a substrate of garden soil, topped by gravel - a kind of "Walstad" setup. I'll start off with some pieces of dwarf hairgrass which I can pull up from the nano tank. I might try some HC as well, although without CO₂ and with low-ish light I doubt it'll grow. I can of course bung some hornwort in there, and I might scoop some Azolla caroliniana from the pond (it's a bit like duckweed but with a pretty, feathery leaf shape).
I will probably have to spend some money on plants; any suggestions? They'll need to be low-light, low CO₂ and small.
Needless to say, fish are out of the question in such a small, unheated, unfiltered container! However, I will probably add Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and once the bowl has matured for a month or so perhaps a nerite snail. If I'm feeling confident that the bowl has matured well then I'll consider adding a handful of red cherry shrimps in time.
I was going to do something "useful" and "productive" today, but the "Instant Gratification Monkey" in my head is telling me to do this instead.
Because I'm currently "between careers" and not earning, this time it's going to have to be on a shoestring. I've stopped spending money on the nano tank.
I'm considering a planted "pico" bowl, something like this bowl from Tesco for a fiver which by my sums would be about 4 litres. (Can someone double-check my sums - 10cm radius, 4/3 πr³ - sound right?)
I'm thinking of an Ikea "Jansjö" LED lamp for lighting, which is only 70 lumens but hopefully that'll be enough - I won't have any CO₂ and will be trying to keep nutrients low so the light requirement should also be low, unlike my nano tank which has injected CO₂ and a generous daily nutrient dose.
It'll be unheated and unfiltered. The plants will be responsible for the majority of ammonia control. I'll have a substrate of garden soil, topped by gravel - a kind of "Walstad" setup. I'll start off with some pieces of dwarf hairgrass which I can pull up from the nano tank. I might try some HC as well, although without CO₂ and with low-ish light I doubt it'll grow. I can of course bung some hornwort in there, and I might scoop some Azolla caroliniana from the pond (it's a bit like duckweed but with a pretty, feathery leaf shape).
I will probably have to spend some money on plants; any suggestions? They'll need to be low-light, low CO₂ and small.
Needless to say, fish are out of the question in such a small, unheated, unfiltered container! However, I will probably add Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and once the bowl has matured for a month or so perhaps a nerite snail. If I'm feeling confident that the bowl has matured well then I'll consider adding a handful of red cherry shrimps in time.
I was going to do something "useful" and "productive" today, but the "Instant Gratification Monkey" in my head is telling me to do this instead.
