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Sakura Sencha - Neil W's Nano

Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Jase said:
Good luck with the Cyperus, I do like the subtle look of this, like Paulo said, it's very natural looking. The only thing that draws my eye away from this though, is the line of moss on the border, although I can appreciate why you've done it that way :thumbup:

The moss is a bit of a shame because it has to be there, I hope it will look less obvious when its grown in some more. I was thinking of adding some moss elsewhere to blend it in, what do you think?
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

I think if it was grown in it would obviously look better but it's very linear and nature doesn't work like that, perhaps adding some moss stones behind the line would make it less linear and consequently less distracting...
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Jase said:
I think if it was grown in it would obviously look better but it's very linear and nature doesn't work like that, perhaps adding some moss stones behind the line would make it less linear and consequently less distracting...

I may give it a go today and see how it looks. I was even thinking of trying some Fissidens at some point but I'm not sure how to fit it in.
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Jase said:
I was thinking something like this, just a few moss stones to break the line... just play around with it

Thanks Jase, currently I'm having a chill-out day just tinkering with the tank so I'll have a go. Just fixed part of the clear acrylic barrier and moved the moss divider nearer the soil as it was bleeding through. Next on the list is the stones. I must say that tying moss with cotton on tiny stones isn't one of my most favourite jobs!


Just had a moment of inspiration;
was getting fed up of my Arcpod as I think it looks quite ugly and the colour of the light isn't very nice. Whilst I was doing my maintenance today I was using a desk lamp so I could see what I was doing and thought how good it looked to have the light out the way especially with the emersed plants;

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imagine that but with the glass lily's :eek: :D

My new idea is when I get my new cabinet (hopefully next week) to also get this IKEA lamp;
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Its an 11w compact T5 which is the same as my current Arcpod. My question is would this provide the right spectrum of light for the plants in comparison to the 'tropical' Arcadia bulb?
 

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Re: Mountain Stream Nano

NeilW said:
My new idea is when I get my new cabinet (hopefully next week) to also get this IKEA lamp;
Its an 11w compact T5 which is the same as my current Arcpod. My question is would this provide the right spectrum of light for the plants in comparison to the 'tropical' Arcadia bulb?
If your plants are fine with the current 11W they will be fine with the new one, I would replace the bulb though, I have one of these IKEA lights and its a little yellow.
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

LondonDragon said:
If your plants are fine with the current 11W they will be fine with the new one, I would replace the bulb though, I have one of these IKEA lights and its a little yellow.

Thanks, I'll add that to my shopping list :thumbup:
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Tidied the foreground up with some fresh sand and fixed part of the acrylic divider that was letting soil leak out. Also added some moss stones to help with a more natural transition. I would have liked to have added more stones but I ran out of moss :rolleyes:. May get some fissidens next from TGM to try out on small stones to make up for it.

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Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Been gearing up with kit as I got his bad boy in the post today;

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Bit worried though as this is the 2032 rather then the 2232 model I ordered, the 2232 is meant to be discontinued so AE sent me this instead. Theres not much difference in terms of spec except this filters 500lph instead of 400lph! 500lph in a 14 litre tank- will I get blasted away?! Would turning the tap down on the outlet help to reduce the flow? I saw viktor used the same filter on his 20 litre nano so I may get away with it?

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lily's ready to go.

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made a collar of plastic tubing for the outlet as I could only get hold of the 10mm size. Looks like a nice tight fit in the larger pipe.

Tomorrow I'm butchering an IKEA cabinet so I'm getting there.
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

I wouldn't worry about the flow myself, I ran a ex1200 on an 11" cube for a while and the only issue I had was I had to selotape the lily pipe to the side of the tank so that it wasn't resting on the substrate.
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Btw, I really like the scape but that downoi ruins the very fine balance of the composition, it is throwing the scale for me.
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Garuf said:
I wouldn't worry about the flow myself, I ran a ex1200 on an 11" cube for a while and the only issue I had was I had to selotape the lily pipe to the side of the tank so that it wasn't resting on the substrate.

Garuf said:
Btw, I really like the scape but that downoi ruins the very fine balance of the composition, it is throwing the scale for me.

Cool, hopefully it'll be good then :thumbup:. This filters definitely an improvement over my Eden 501 as its out the way, has a media capacity of 3litres instead of 1 and filters 200 more litres per hour for the same 5 watts.

When you say about the downoi, I was thinking that this morning. Its gone a bit mad in this setup, in my old tank it had a lot of holey leaves and was rather pale, now its grown a lot denser and green. Not sure what to replace it with though as I still want the variety of plants. The roots also go on for miles so it'll be a pain to get out too which is a shame
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

The filter will be just perfect for your tank. Using this a while ago and found it very good. Actually running 2 from this at home (have 3 tanks).

Now running fully with NA Carbon no other bio media, I had to shake this media in every 3 weeks when this got stuck as it reduce so much the flow. But with the Substrat Pro i used earlier did not had problems.

Nice gear you will love them :thumbup:
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

viktorlantos said:
The filter will be just perfect for your tank. Using this a while ago and found it very good. Actually running 2 from this at home (have 3 tanks).

Now running fully with NA Carbon no other bio media, I had to shake this media in every 3 weeks when this got stuck as it reduce so much the flow. But with the Substrat Pro i used earlier did not had problems.

Nice gear you will love them :thumbup:

Thanks Viktor, thats reassured me. I think I may switch to carbon too at a later date, I know a lot of the 'great' tanks including Saintly, Amano and yourself make use of carbon and so it seems to do the job!
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

Finally one of my CRS is pregnant!;
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Also made my cabinet yesterday, ready to paint up today.
from this;
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to this;
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I love powertools! 8)
 

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Re: Mountain Stream Nano

:lol: If you have a significant other I bet they were - "why are you runing that nice cupboard!". Looks good, post some pics when it's painted. I used a brush for mine but it's not the most even finish, Tom
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

TBRO said:
:lol: If you have a significant other I bet they were - "why are you runing that nice cupboard!". Looks good, post some pics when it's painted. I used a brush for mine but it's not the most even finish, Tom

I didn't just get it from her, I got it from her mum, my house mates blah blah blah :lol:

Never realised how good a finish you can get on MDF just by priming and sanding between coats. I'm scared I wont have enough black to finish it today :( really hope I do, fingers crossed!
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

SteveUK said:
Looks great! I love DIY projects. I just never seem to have the time/equipment to finish projects :bored:

Cheers Steve, its painted up and in place with the tank, filter and everything now. Spent a good couple of hours last night wrestling with the tubing to get it all in without kinking, was a nightmare! I'll have to get some pics. Looks the part even if its not quite ADA :lol:
 
Re: Mountain Stream Nano

In the last few days I've done all the bits I've been planning for months. Built and sprayed the cabinet, painted the light, added my new filter, heater and glassware. Well chuffed!

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The tank and cabinet in full. The doors have a magnetic push catch (you know like you get on nice kitchen cupboards) hence the lack of a handle.

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close-up of the ADA inspired tubing hole.

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The Engine Room. Was a real headache getting all the tubing in without any kinks, spent 3 hours, yes THREE, last night to get it to work. Relieved its all in. My first Eheim too - what a tool!

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Glassware.

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Finally clutter-free! 8)

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and a view I havn't seen in a long time as the old filter was in the way!

Next job take a look at the planting!
 
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