hellohefalump
Member
Well... today my new opti white nano tank came in the post from Aqua Essentials. So the journal begins!
I've never had a nano before. My current tank is 100gals! This one is 2.5gals I think. This is also the first time I've used and opti white tank, Aqua Soil, kept shrimp, used a HOB, or used mini landscape rock.
Tank: Opti White 12*8*8
Filtration: Azoo Mignon 260 HOB filter
Lighting: 2X 11watt lamps. One from Sam (my undying thanks!)and one from ebay. Cheap alternative to Arc Pods.
Heating: tiny Hydor flat thing
Substrate: Aquasoil Amazonia powder
Ferts: TPN+
CO2: Easycarbo
Hardscape: Mini Landscape rocks
Flora: HC, P Helferi, hygro polysperma (this is temporary until I get some Blyxa Japonica. Hygro is in the tank at the moment for the sole reason that it's a fast growing stem plant)
Fauna: Cherry Shrimp (not yet there because I'm waiting for AS ammonia spike to go down).
From the beginning...
This got off to a bad start. My tank arrived just before Christmas, but unfortunately had broken in the post:
Luckily, Aqua Essentials were really good about it and agreed to send me another one, after Christmas/New Year, as the large volume of parcels going through the post meant that some weren't being treated with very much care over Christmas!
My new tank arrived this morning, in perfect condition
I forgot to take a pic of the tank empty, but here's a pic of the tank with some Aqua soil powder in it:
I put in the AS the 'normal' way. Thin at the front, getting thicker at the back. I then realised that my HOB intake goes down quite far and I couldn't have thick substrate in the back right corner. So I rearranged it so that the soil on the right side is low and slopes upwards towards the left.
I then messed around with hardscape arrangement. First I tried to break up my bigger rock into smaller pieces. However, I didn't have a chisel so I used two hammers. I used the claw side as a chisel and banged it with the other hammer. Needless to say, this didn't work. So I gave up, and I still have one huge rock, and one smaller one.
Here is the arrangement I came up with. I think it looks like a swan. Or at the very least, a duck or goose:
Here is a small quantity of HC that I've been keeping alive in a small tank upstairs. Unfortunately, I didn't put a filter on it, thinking 'I have no fish in here it doesn't matter'. I just had a small powerhead for flow. So the HC is full of gunk and a lot of it is unusable. It turned out to be enough though.
I meant to take lots of photos, but I managed to get so absorbed in the planting process that I forgot. Here's some pictures of the tank all done though:
Conclusions:
I really should invest in some planting tools. In my 100gal, I use my fingers and a sharp pair of scissors with no problems. Doing this tank has made me see the need for tweezers, curved tweezers, curved scissors and a rake.
The HOB is quite noisey, I think there is air trapped in it. I'm going to leave it for now and hopefully overnight it will have got better.
I love the opti white glass, it's so clear!
This took less time than I thought it would and I'm pleased with it. Can't wait for it to cycle and for the ammonia to go down so I can add shrimp!
I've never had a nano before. My current tank is 100gals! This one is 2.5gals I think. This is also the first time I've used and opti white tank, Aqua Soil, kept shrimp, used a HOB, or used mini landscape rock.
Tank: Opti White 12*8*8
Filtration: Azoo Mignon 260 HOB filter
Lighting: 2X 11watt lamps. One from Sam (my undying thanks!)and one from ebay. Cheap alternative to Arc Pods.
Heating: tiny Hydor flat thing
Substrate: Aquasoil Amazonia powder
Ferts: TPN+
CO2: Easycarbo
Hardscape: Mini Landscape rocks
Flora: HC, P Helferi, hygro polysperma (this is temporary until I get some Blyxa Japonica. Hygro is in the tank at the moment for the sole reason that it's a fast growing stem plant)
Fauna: Cherry Shrimp (not yet there because I'm waiting for AS ammonia spike to go down).
From the beginning...
This got off to a bad start. My tank arrived just before Christmas, but unfortunately had broken in the post:
Luckily, Aqua Essentials were really good about it and agreed to send me another one, after Christmas/New Year, as the large volume of parcels going through the post meant that some weren't being treated with very much care over Christmas!
My new tank arrived this morning, in perfect condition
I forgot to take a pic of the tank empty, but here's a pic of the tank with some Aqua soil powder in it:
I put in the AS the 'normal' way. Thin at the front, getting thicker at the back. I then realised that my HOB intake goes down quite far and I couldn't have thick substrate in the back right corner. So I rearranged it so that the soil on the right side is low and slopes upwards towards the left.
I then messed around with hardscape arrangement. First I tried to break up my bigger rock into smaller pieces. However, I didn't have a chisel so I used two hammers. I used the claw side as a chisel and banged it with the other hammer. Needless to say, this didn't work. So I gave up, and I still have one huge rock, and one smaller one.
Here is the arrangement I came up with. I think it looks like a swan. Or at the very least, a duck or goose:
Here is a small quantity of HC that I've been keeping alive in a small tank upstairs. Unfortunately, I didn't put a filter on it, thinking 'I have no fish in here it doesn't matter'. I just had a small powerhead for flow. So the HC is full of gunk and a lot of it is unusable. It turned out to be enough though.
I meant to take lots of photos, but I managed to get so absorbed in the planting process that I forgot. Here's some pictures of the tank all done though:
Conclusions:
I really should invest in some planting tools. In my 100gal, I use my fingers and a sharp pair of scissors with no problems. Doing this tank has made me see the need for tweezers, curved tweezers, curved scissors and a rake.
The HOB is quite noisey, I think there is air trapped in it. I'm going to leave it for now and hopefully overnight it will have got better.
I love the opti white glass, it's so clear!
This took less time than I thought it would and I'm pleased with it. Can't wait for it to cycle and for the ammonia to go down so I can add shrimp!