# ADA Mini M (Low Tech) Betta luck this time...



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

Yikes!  A journal on UKAPS... !!

Well, I'll need the help more than anything, so here we are  (*please note any photos will be crap*)

Tank: ADA Mini M 36x22x26cm
Filter: Eden 501 Mini External
Lights: Boyu 3 x 8W T5 (to be run with 1 x 8W 6500k)
Substrate: Columbo Florabase (black)
Decor: Redmoor/mini landscape rock

Flora updated:

Bolbitis heudelotii
Juncus repens
Microsorum mini
C. nevillii
Weeping moss
Echinodorus tennellus
Ludwigia repens
Didiplis diandra
Ammania sp bonsai
Ludwigia sp Atlantis

Fauna:
RCS
1x Zebra nerite
1 x ramshorn (uninvited, but a pretty little fellow so can stay )

Inspired by a lot of you with the rock/stone layouts, and Pedro for the red background 

Stand/tank/wood shortly before going upstairs into the missus's office:



Hardscape in:



I understand there are probably aquascaping rule 'fuax pas' present, but i'm working with what I had kicking around and really not that fussed! Plus I like it 

Currently trying to compile a list of easy to easy'ish plants that will survive/thrive in Yorkshire medium hard tapwater, no CO2 addition and occasional ferts plus lighting around 0.4w/litre. Some ideas I have are:

Background - Bolbitis, Juncus repens
Wood/around the wood - Microsorum mini, C. nevillii, C. moehlmannii, Weeping moss
Foreground - Lobelia cardinalis dwarf, maybe Sag subulata or Echi tennellus.

I'd also like a small compact stem in there, tempted to try Ammania sp. bonsai as I've read it _can _grow low tech and slow bothers me not, although I see a lot also fail with this even in high energy.

Any glaring cock ups in the making i'd love to know!  (i'm pretty new to all this!)

Cheers,
Rob


----------



## ceg4048 (29 Jan 2014)

Too much light. Way too much.

How many times do we have to say that w/liter is a totally useless calculation?

Cheers,


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> Too much light. Way too much.


 
1 x tube???! lol


----------



## darren636 (29 Jan 2014)

Rob P said:


> 1 x tube???! lol


 don't turn it on!


----------



## ceg4048 (29 Jan 2014)

Rob P said:


> Lights: Boyu 3 x 8W T5 (to be run with 1 x 8W 6500k)


That adds up to 4 bulbs.

Cheers,


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> That adds up to 4 bulbs.


 
Ah sorry Clive, major misunderstanding going on here LOL. The Boyu unit comes with 3 x 8W T5's (two white, one blue). I'll be running it with just one tube on the other two off, PROMISE!! (been there/done that, seriously regretted it!!  )

On a seperate note Clive, since you're here, does my plant list look ok


----------



## Iain Sutherland (29 Jan 2014)

Juncus repens is a lovely plant and will grow anywhere. This has been in the garden for a year now, bone dry, frozen solid the lot.




It's also quite pretty 

Anubias would also be nice around the place...

I like it and there are no rules. Do what you want, it's your tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## ceg4048 (29 Jan 2014)

Oh, OK.....never mind then. Makes sense after I reread it.

Still, it's always a good idea to refer to the chart shown on the thread Dymax Tropical 36 watt | Page 4 | UK Aquatic Plant Society
The presentation of the data effectively normalizes the wattage so you just have to look at the vertical distance and where it intersects your bulb type. Even with a single bulb, at a distance of 11 inches(?) you will still be marginally high light for a non-CO2, at least at the start of the setup. I'd still use lots of floating plants to obscure the surface for the first few weeks. WPG/WPL are still meaningless....

Plant list looks fine to me. Nothing outrageous there...

Cheers,


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

Sweet! Thanks mate. I'm looking forward to having some floating plants in there. Every time I put them in my bigger tank with massive flow they just fall to bits 

ps - i was looking for that chart earlier as well!!


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

Iain Sutherland said:


> Anubias would also be nice around the place...


 
Maybe a buce or two?


----------



## Andy D (29 Jan 2014)

I like the hardscape Rob. Your best creation yet!

I will be watching on here as well!


----------



## Deano3 (29 Jan 2014)

Like the hard scape Rob am like the mini m tank, love nano tanks lol think I will do a low tech in the 60f  after get hi tech sorted lol keep the updates coming mate


Thanks Dean


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

Will do mate, heart beats still slowing after Clive's first reply...  lol


----------



## aliclarke86 (29 Jan 2014)

Haha yeah he was a bit blunt with you but that's Clive  the hard scape looks fantastic to me mate. I'm waiting on my do aqua mini m at the mo to replace my dennerle as I don't like the shape  

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## James D (29 Jan 2014)

Looking good Rob, I was beginning to think you were some sort of weirdo who didn't actually have a tank.


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

Don't worry Ali, i'm thick skinned and know he's a good guy  Blunt is good most of the time!! lol

Problem is I like the scape to the point where I think it would make a good hi tech layout, but i've kind of promised the OH it will be low maintenance/hassle free lol. It is going in her office for possibly a betta. Maybe next time round i'll supercharge it  Be interesting for me none the less.



aliclarke86 said:


> the hard scape looks fantastic to me mate


 
Thanks mate


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

James D said:


> Looking good Rob, I was beginning to think you were some sort of weirdo who didn't actually have a tank.


 
LOL James, I practically blogged my other tank in one post a week or two back!! Bout half way down the page...

Still getting brown leaves, i think... | Page 2 | UK Aquatic Plant Society

It's going well that one now, no algae that I can see (Sssssh) and all growing well, only thing is I think I need to clean the inline co2 diffuser as the bubbles seem bigger and that invloves bleach, and last time I used bleach for aquarium purposes (recharging purigen) it wiped out all my stems!!  So it makes me anxious lol  it will never be a scaped tank though, practice for my 80x40x40


----------



## Lee Sweeting (29 Jan 2014)

Rob P said:


> I think I need to clean the inline co2 diffuser as the bubbles seem bigger and that invloves bleach, and last time I used bleach for aquarium purposes (recharging purigen) it wiped out all my stems!!


 
Try using H202 mate, check this link out Cleaning and disinfecting with Hydrogen Peroxide (H202) | The Green Machine.

The tanks looking good mate, nice selction of plants. I'm looking forward to seeing it develop.


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

Thanks Lee, wouldn't have been possible without your generosity mate, really


----------



## tim (29 Jan 2014)

Nice start rob, looks good with the red wall behind, what colour betta will you be going for ?


----------



## Rob P (29 Jan 2014)

tim said:


> Nice start rob, looks good with the red wall behind, what colour betta will you be going for ?



Thanks Tim, NOT red now i guess!  have to talk the missus into a white one or similar, plenty of time to look


----------



## tim (29 Jan 2014)

Lol a red one would probably try and fight the wall


----------



## aliclarke86 (29 Jan 2014)

Ooooh has to be blue and white surly??

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (5 Feb 2014)

Well I had a crack at this last night and not all that happy, but at least I made a start...



Some comments...

1. I'm crap at tying plants to stones (so the Bolbitis is just wedged in gaps in the wood for now lol). Will have to try sort these out.

2. I really want to love the Trop 1-2 grow pots but find them hard work, tiny roots, plants twisted together/deformed, just all a bit of a mess really!! I know most people swear by them but i've struggled with them tbh.

3. Thought the florabase was great for planting when damp, easy to 'plug' stuff into, but once properly wet it seemed quite light/floaty and I easily knocked some plants out, and it's quite muddy (1st go with an aquasoil so will get easier i'm sure).

4. Small tanks are interesting to work with!

I'll let it settle a while and then move stuff around and add some extra stuff.

Plants in for now:
Microsorum mini
Weeping moss
Bolbitis heudelotii
Juncus repens
Ammania bonsai
Echi tennellus
Crypt. nevillii
Salvinia natans

Will be doing daily water changes for a week, every other day week 2 etc. Just going to put a small amount of my hi tech EI mix in here and there. 5hrs light to start with (one tube).

Cheers,
Rob


----------



## aliclarke86 (5 Feb 2014)

I like it mate  I'm sitting in waiting for my do!aqua mini m today, can't wait 

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## James D (5 Feb 2014)

Like it Rob, once it starts growing it'll look great.

I bet you had 1,2 grow Ammania Bonsai, I had a nightmare with that stuff trying to plant it in an already water-filled tank. They were just too small to plant to any decent depth so they kept floating out, in the end only about 20% rooted themselves in so I ended up buying a batch of cuttings from ebay.


----------



## Rob P (5 Feb 2014)

The tennellus and Ammania were 1-2 grow. Tiny roots and a tangled mess in both pots tbh! Planted most of the tennellus and quite a bit of the Ammania (then knocked a few out later which were a sod to replant in floaty substrate lol). I've also had eleo sp mini and marsilea hirsuta 1-2 grow and the only one i've ever found decent and easy was the eleo  So yet to be convinced... lol

Edit - James i'm glad i'm not the only one  lol


----------



## Lee Sweeting (5 Feb 2014)

It's looking great mate. I like it 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## aliclarke86 (5 Feb 2014)

How are you finding the flow with your 501?

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## tim (5 Feb 2014)

Looking good rob, the bolbitus will attach itself once the roots get going as long as it doesn't float of it'll be fine.


----------



## Rob P (5 Feb 2014)

aliclarke86 said:


> How are you finding the flow with your 501?
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk



I'd be concerned if it were a hi tech tank lol. It's steady, but if I decide to go with the betta then it needs to be  I'd imagine with the little spray bar or a small lily on it would be fine even hi tech


----------



## Rob P (5 Feb 2014)

tim said:


> Looking good rob, the bolbitus will attach itself once the roots get going as long as it doesn't float of it'll be fine.



Thanks Tim, it's stayed put upto now, I just didn't want it obscuring the wood as much. I can always pull it and glue or lash to some small stones, then place at the rear, there's enough room


----------



## Rob P (12 Feb 2014)

Quick update a week on. I have completed a week of approx 50% water changes, SO easy on this tank  lol. I have been adding about 0.5ml of my EI macro after each change, probably too much but can't hurt 'I don't think'? 

The Ammania bonsai has pretty much melted away but there are a few stems left so will see what they do before I contemplate replacing them. The other plants seem to be doing good, the weeping moss is growing noticeably and so is the tennellus, quite amazed how much growth that has put out  The crypt hasn't melted and actually has some new leaves. I've not tethered the bolbitis to anything yet, just stuffed inbetween and down the back of the wood, I still intend to whip it out and tie to small stones but it looks fine as is for now.

This was a front on shot immediately after planting last Tuesday...



And here's one I took this morning...



Getting more used to the aquasoil now, lights (1 x 8w tube) are on for 5 hours 10am - 3pm and there's a decent covering of salvinia on top helping keep the light reasonable.

Thanks for looking 

Rob


----------



## aliclarke86 (12 Feb 2014)

Looks great mate loads clearer. Any chance of a little vid of the flow from your filter when you next do a water change? I'm considering getting one as its rated higher that than the boyu at 300lh rather than 150 I just want to know I'm not going to throw my money away  

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (12 Feb 2014)

aliclarke86 said:


> Any chance of a little vid of the flow from your filter when you next do a water change?


 
No problem Ali, will do that for you


----------



## Lindy (12 Feb 2014)

Are you going to move the filter outlet to the back? The betta will go up and down the front glass and won't like the outlet blowing across the glass.


----------



## Rob P (12 Feb 2014)

Very possibly Lindy, Tim has kindly offered to make some acrylic pipes so when I have these i will be having a play around


----------



## Rob P (3 Mar 2014)

Bit of an update now this has been running a month 

Generally pleased with how it's going, very low maintenance - just water changes and glass cleaning really, which takes 10 minutes or so, so I likey  Squirt of a couple of ml EI macro twice a week for ferts.

The tenellus has grown amazingly well and getting a nice spread on this  The Ammania bonsai all but melted away, although a couple of stems seem to have survived and look healthy! (up to now lol). Salvinia natans spreads like fury on the surface, I keep taking chunks out but it soon appears grown back. I've added a few small stems of some Ludwigia and Didiplis from the hi tech and it seems to be doing fine in here, surviving anyway!

After 3 weeks I changed the light from 5 to 6 hours a day, also put a spraybar on to combat surface scum which hasn't eradicated it but it's 10 times better 

Added 5 Red Cherry shrimp in the 2nd week. I lost one  but the other 4 all seem good, one is berried so fingers crossed for a few more soon 

Overall i'm quite happy with it for now.

Couple of phone pics...





Cheers,
Rob


----------



## aliclarke86 (3 Mar 2014)

This is growing really fast! And looks great well done Rob

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## Edvet (3 Mar 2014)

Looks nice and jungly,any fish planned?


----------



## Rob P (3 Mar 2014)

Edvet said:


> Looks nice and jungly,any fish planned?



The idea was for a betta splendens, kind of why the missus agreed to let me have a 2nd tank and set it up in her office!!  lol Plenty of time to think about things though (i'll tell her we need to see baby shrimp before any fish go in...)

This was a part of my inspiration...


----------



## aliclarke86 (3 Mar 2014)

That looks awesome. Never seen pogo helferi look that good lowetch though 

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (20 Mar 2014)

Gave this tank a little bit of attention last night as i've been meaning to get some measurements to Tim for some nice acrylic pipes for it for a while now! So i gave the filter a clean and moved it round the side. This meant i could remove the red card at the back which I think gives it a fresher look.

Trimmed the Juncus which has been up at the surface a while now, was a shame as the top leaves were starting to turn a lovely reddish brown but had to snip them off. Everything else in there is looking very green & healthy and the tank is running very well with minimal input. 

I have the light on 6.5hrs a day and now do a couple of water changes per week, maybe one every 5 days (40% or so), but it's no bother, and I splash a couple mm macro ferts 2 or 3 times a week. I put a single remaining zebra nerite snail in here from my hi tech (they didn't like it in there) who seems to work the wood, glass and suction cups well for me  lol. 

I knew there were some baby cherry shrimp for a couple of weeks now but didn't realise until the filter was off for a while last night how many there were, I counted at least 15 of them but they were zipping about all over the place so probably a few more! Is it sad that i find it quite exciting?? 

Anyway, all good so far 



Cheers,
Rob


----------



## Lee Sweeting (20 Mar 2014)

It's looking awesome mate, and congrats on the shrimp. Their obviously very happy in there. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (20 Mar 2014)

Lee Sweeting said:


> It's looking awesome mate, and congrats on the shrimp. Their obviously very happy in there.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Thanks Lee, this little tank is really making me swing low tech for the new 80cm tank... lol


----------



## Lee Sweeting (20 Mar 2014)

Haha! I don't blame you mate. I'm not going back to high tech. I enjoy the low tech approach much more. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (2 Apr 2014)

Not much change with this, except i'll have to get in soon to thin out the tennellus, it's rampant stuff! Everything else doing well. 20 minutes maintenance weekly - it really is a pleasure!! 



One of the shrimplets, I have about 15 of them all growing on nicely 



Cheers,
R.


----------



## tim (2 Apr 2014)

This is looking lovely and healthy mate, I'm back home as of Friday with a week off to follow so I'll get those pipes done and posted out to you next week.


----------



## Rob P (2 Apr 2014)

tim said:


> This is looking lovely and healthy mate, I'm back home as of Friday with a week off to follow so I'll get those pipes done and posted out to you next week.



Thanks Tim, it just annoys that I set out with a plan then seem to lose all idea of structure but meh, i'm happy just to have baby shrimps, green healthy growing plants with minimal input and (ssssssh....) no algae! 

No worries on the pipes, thanks for updating me on them


----------



## tim (2 Apr 2014)

I haven't had a setup stick to my plan in three years, bloody plants always surprise me and do there own thing.


----------



## Rob P (2 Apr 2014)

tim said:


> bloody plants always surprise me and do there own thing



Yeh lol, the tennellus has surprised me most, it's the only 1-2 grow pot that has ever done something for me lol, and even when i planted it i wasn't convinced. I can see a few pots been put in my bigger tank when the time comes! 'easy carpet' lol


----------



## Lee Sweeting (2 Apr 2014)

Its looking great Rob, very healthy and lush.


----------



## aliclarke86 (2 Apr 2014)

Rob, this looks fantastic well done. Its a lovely garden in there. My tanks are looking terrible at the mo. Moving house takes a lot of effort!!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (2 Apr 2014)

Cheers guys. Sounds a nightmare moving Ali, surely you can pop the mini m under your arm though when empty? lol.

You'll get em back mate, doesn't take long. After turning everything down on my hi tech roma it looked rather sad quite quickly but now it's settled it's all starting to pick up again at a nicer pace


----------



## Rob P (1 May 2014)

Been a month since last updated, this little tank really does look after itself although i'm itching to get in and have a decent trim and perhaps move some stuff around, yet the problem is that everytime i embark on such a task i usually make a complete cock of it so have left this one alone pretty much as i just like how it looks. Will have to thin out sometime though as Juncus/Didiplis are way taller than the tank and the tennellus is all over itself. Have added a stem of Ludwig sp atlantis from main tank and done away with the salvinia which didn't like an increase in flow/surface movement.

Still looking very healthy, no algae and my red cherries are doing fine, no losses for a while now after losing 4 of the original 5 i bought for this  the umpteen baby shrimp are now a cm long and getting better at hiding lol

Tim very kindly made me some acrylic pipes and they are giving an exceptional flow in the tank, and look great too  

Maintenance is 15 minutes a week, about 30% water change, bit of EI, occasional glass clean etc. 

Anyway, here it is



Thanks for looking  
Rob


----------



## Lee Sweeting (1 May 2014)

Looking great mate. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## James D (1 May 2014)

Looks really healthy Rob, you must be really pleased.


----------



## Rob P (27 May 2014)

Sooooooo......

Big changes in this tank, although ultimately I don't feel it will end up that much different longer term...

I was on the verge of ripping this down at the weekend, i'd already (2 weeks ago) removed almost all the echinodorus tennellus and quite a few other plants that have gone into the hi tech Roma. 

However, we went to our local MA on Saturday morning as i needed some bits n pieces and we ended up looking at the bettas (again!). 

Anyway, I did pull the tank down on Saturday evening, all plants were removed the shrimp caught and popped in my large bucket with a heater for the evening. There were about 15 red cherries plus a few more tiny teeny ones. Of these, all but 5 adults were given to a mate, I kept 5 back for myself.

The tank was completely emptied and scrubbed clean. I was going to use straight black gravel this time, as i think the Coulmbo Florabase aquasoil that was in there is fantastic stuff but I personally found it hard to work with. I compromised in the end and put a half inch layer of used aquasoil back down and then covered it with black gravel, best of both worlds then!  

I kept the piece of wood with the microsorum mini and Bolbitis attached. I moved the wood forward so i can access all panes of glass for easier cleaning than before. 

I replanted the few tennellus plants I kept in here before I filled it. There are other plants to still go back in here and i want a couple of extras 

Obviously the flow from the Eden 501 through the acrylic pipes would be massively too fierce for a betta, but in a stroke of genius, a spare inlet filter mesh/shrimp guard I had pushed over the outlet diffuses the flow superbly! and so I could keep the mature filter as I was about to order a HOB to try... So with flow now sorted I now needed a lid...

45 minutes of messing with a sheet of greenhouse plastic glazing, stanley knife and a dremel had a rough and ready lid made that will do the job just fine.



The tank was also moved to the corner of the missus desk rather than a seperate unit, filter now placed at rear (i'll get a white background put on i reckon) and refilled and the 5 shrimp (& nerite) put back in. This was just after filling...



I've put a few more stems and small crypts back in since then and I plan to get some Cabomba or similar & Frogbit as well.

Yesterday we went to get a betta. My missus dwindled it down to 2 or 3 in our local MA and when final decision time came I just walked off to let her make the final decision. She chose one, instantly named Zurg by my 3 year old son (Zurg is Buzz Lightyears arch enemy, apparently lol).

Zurg was settled in midday yesterday and had the day in a dark room with no lights and the blinds shut. He had a really good look around and spent the rest of the day finding hidey holes which he always went into when I went to check on him. 

When I went into the room this morning, he came straight out to see me and i waggled my finger near the feeding hole. He came right beneath it and happily took 4 or 5 Hikari betta pellets. My missus sent me a (tosh!) first photo of him at the front of the tank early today saying he was being very brave and friendly. Seems to be fine with the lights on and i'll be adding some floaters anyway. He should be happy in his new home 

Appears since this morning that Zurg is quite photogenic  lol Some 'betta' images my OH has sent me today 







I'll build the planting up a little more but there's enough to keep him happy in there for now.

Cheers,
Rob


----------



## Alje (27 May 2014)

Carefull Rob, it starts with one Betta. And then just another small tank, and then another.


----------



## Rob P (27 May 2014)

I'm feeling that already  such delightful fish to watch. Although I've just seen him chase and massacre a shrimplet with no remorse!!


----------



## Alje (27 May 2014)

To help you along with your forthcoming addiction allow me to 'push' you in the direction of Aquabid.com
Seller Aquastar71 I can highly recommend for top quality Bettas. (I'm not involved just a satisfied customer)

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?disp&viewseller&Aquastar71&t&


----------



## Rob P (27 May 2014)

Awesome, thanks for that, bookmarked


----------



## Lee Sweeting (27 May 2014)

It's looking good mate, great choice of betta too. I bet the mrs is happy? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (27 May 2014)

Well she chose him Lee so yeh, pleased he's a character lol.

This is a slightly nicer pic of it all


----------



## Lindy (28 May 2014)

What kind of greenhouse glazing was it? I had 8mm acrylic that warped so would be interested in something better. Been looking at options and polycarbonate looks good.


----------



## Samjpikey (28 May 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> What kind of greenhouse glazing was it? I had 8mm acrylic that warped so would be interested in something better. Been looking at options and polycarbonate looks good.



Try 4 mm self clean glass , it will reduce condensation  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Lindy (28 May 2014)

I hava a ada glass top for the tank but like the thought of being able to cut to fit. I can't cut glass a couldn't find anyone to do it for me.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


----------



## Samjpikey (28 May 2014)

Ahhh I see , I work for a glazing firm so I have glass on tap  
Can you not get a quote from a local glazing firm ?? Make a cardboard template they'll send it off for a quote .



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Deano3 (28 May 2014)

looking good rob I love the scape and love bettas  before got into this I always said I would have betta in my tank but as you get more involved and realise that small shoals look better for a mountain scape etc and slowly realise betta looks out of place but hopefully get a small tank and betta in future 

Dean


----------



## Rob P (28 May 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> What kind of greenhouse glazing was it? I had 8mm acrylic that warped so would be interested in something better. Been looking at options and polycarbonate looks good.



Hey Lindy,

It was some 'Ariel Clear Polystyrene' sheet I picked up from B&Q. It's about 2/3mm thick and not too bad to work with. I cut the required square first with a stanley, then took the pipe notches etc out with a drill and dremel. If you use a dremel have it spinning quickly or the attachments get clogged up with melted plastic lol 

I like having the condensation as it helps diffuse the light a little 



Deano3 said:


> looking good rob I love the scape and love bettas  before got into this I always said I would have betta in my tank but as you get more involved and realise that small shoals look better for a mountain scape etc and slowly realise betta looks out of place but hopefully get a small tank and betta in future



Thanks Dean. The 'scape' looks bare but the tank is more about the fish now although I will try and develop it some more. You should do it mate, the betta is such great fun to watch. He was sulky the day he was introduced (understandably) but since day 2 has been out and about, comes to see you every time you enter the room and would eat non stop if I let him! lol. He gets Hikari betta pellets AM and daphnia on an evening for now. When you put the live food in you just see him switch into hunter mode. I love him! And want more of them...!!!! 

Cheers,
Rob


----------



## Lindy (28 May 2014)

Thanks Rob.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


----------



## tim (2 Jun 2014)

Betta looks beautiful rob, genius way of slowing the flow too, if you need a couple more guards or a shorter one give me a shout.


----------



## Rob P (2 Jun 2014)

tim said:


> Betta looks beautiful rob, genius way of slowing the flow too, if you need a couple more guards or a shorter one give me a shout.



Hey thanks Tim, and funny you say that about the guards mate  lol. I was going to get in touch but didn't want to be cheeky...

I'm keen to try some new plants in there, some Lileaposis of some sort for example, but don't know how they'll respond to having practically no flow (Toms big bucket seemed to grow ok with no filter/flow!). There is slight movement around the tank, not enough to bother Mr Betta, in fact, I often catch him having a go in the bit of flow there is lol, he seems to like it. 

It was great you sent me the two guards  and the one on the outlet is perfect for stifling the flow right down, but I wonder if one with perhaps slightly larger mesh may just allow a wee bit more output/movement? 

Really love the fish, such a character. Feeding him bloodworm with tweezers last night and his temperament goes from gracefully floaty to manic hunter the minute he knows food is coming  Pleasure to watch.


----------



## tim (2 Jun 2014)

Lilaeopsis should do ok low tech rob, very slow to get going ime, lovely plant though.


----------



## Lee Sweeting (2 Jun 2014)

I'm growing lilaeopsis low tech Rob and it's doing fine. As Tim said it's very, very slow though. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (2 Jun 2014)

Which variety is it Lee? I saw you had MC as well? I've been waiting on some long TMC straight tweezers before ordering anything but I have them now so should help planting 

Also wondered how Mr Betta would take to maintenance but i did 50% wc at weekend plus hands in cleaning and he just carried on looking for shrimplets to hunt regardless


----------



## Lee Sweeting (2 Jun 2014)

It's lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae, beautiful little plant. It shed a few leaves when I first put it in but it seems to be doing fine now. Not much growth really but I kind of expected that. The MC on the other hand grows like crazy. It's not putting many runners out at the minute though. I've just been trimming and re-planting. It looks great mixing in with the ranalisma, which has been going crazy for the last month. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Rob P (2 Jun 2014)

Cool, may give them both a try then 

Glad to hear the ranalisma has got going (knew it would )


----------



## Rob P (30 Jun 2014)

Hi,

I'll start with the bad... I've held off updating this journal as we were unfortunate with our betta fish and I was quite sad about it to be be honest!  The fish seemed perfect for the first week but in the second week he just dropped like a stone. The missus had gone away for the week and I naively thought that as this fish was in her office and was now alone, it was just withdrawn from having no contact. Basically it stopped eating and by the time I realised something was properly wrong and treated the tank it had full on dropsy and I had to do what I think was the right thing. Was really very sad to see such a rapid decline in him so soon after getting him. I've looked into what have could have gone wrong (over feeding, live daphnia, poor quality fish from LFS etc) and any of them it seems could be responsible.

The missus is very keen to try another betta but we've decided to leave it until after our holidays in July, then we'll think about another.

In the meantime (and better news), i'd acquired some frogbit & cabomba from Darrel. Never had much luck with frogbit but was hopeful in this tank as the flow is slow to non existent lol. Well from a planted point of view this little tank is still surprising me, the growth on the ludwigia and cabomba in particular is mental, i've just trimmed it all up and the stems of both were 45cm+ in length trailing all over the surface. The most amazing aspect though is the plant health of all the plants in there. Didiplis diandra looks so much better than it does in my hi tech and the few tennellus plantlets I replanted are now throwing runners like crazy. Even the frogbit is looking great and starting to spread now. It all looks super healthy in there! 

As for the livestock, well since the tank became fishless the 5 cherry shrimp I'd kept have boomed again, there's a number of new shrimplets and the more mature ones are constantly berried. At least some things are thriving. 

Anyway, enough jibber jabber, here's a couple of pics taken yesterday after a 25% w/c and trim up...





Cheers,
Rob


----------



## Lee Sweeting (30 Jun 2014)

Sorry to hear about the fish mate, such a shame. The tank is looking great though. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Lindy (30 Jun 2014)

Thats a shame. I'm thinking about a HMPK from Finzntailz as their fish look stunning. Even the females look lovely.


----------



## Rob P (30 Jun 2014)

Thanks Lee 




ldcgroomer said:


> Thats a shame. I'm thinking about a HMPK from Finzntailz as their fish look stunning. Even the females look lovely.



Yeh properly gutted Lindy  

I've thought about finzntailz as i'm not quite sure how the aquabid thing works?! Hard to find info on any of them lol!


----------



## Lindy (30 Jun 2014)

I think there would be less risk with finzntailz


----------



## Edvet (30 Jun 2014)

Looks good, the calendar is a tad distracting


----------



## Rob P (30 Jun 2014)

Edvet said:


> Looks good, the calendar is a tad distracting



lol, done on purpose to display the beautiful clarity (not! )

I do need to stick a white background on, just never got round to it!


----------



## Rob P (15 Sep 2014)

A few updated pics of the neglected tank! 50% wc once every fortnight, ferts here and there, steady away growth, no algae!  Home to a couple of Oto's, some snails, 3 amano shrimp and a few red cherries that are not red!

It's quite dark in there now as the frogbit has multiplied very well, should thin it out really but want to use in my next larger tank so staying put for now...





Excuse the screwcumber lol

Kept the Crypt balansae from my hi tech and put it in here, too big for it but wanted to know if it would grow low tech as i want to use a lot of it in my next set up, 3/4 weeks after planting in here and it's showing growth so pleased 



All plants very healthy and green, which still surprises with such little flow around the tank!

Cheers,
Rob


----------



## tim (15 Sep 2014)

Looks superb rob.


----------



## dw1305 (15 Sep 2014)

Hi all,


Rob P said:


> It's quite dark in there now as the frogbit has multiplied very well, should thin it out really but want to use in my next larger tank so staying put for now...


 Pleased the _Cabomba_ and Frogbit has done OK. If you want to bulk your Frogbit up? You can grow spare plants in an ice-cream carton on a window-sill.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Rob P (15 Sep 2014)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> Pleased the _Cabomba_ and Frogbit has done OK. If you want to bulk your Frogbit up? You can grow spare plants in an ice-cream carton on a window-sill.
> 
> cheers Darrel



Ah ok, is it very temperature sensitive Darrel? I could do to take some out and allow a bit more light in on the right hand side, but don't want to give any away as i'll want it for my 80cm! 

Both done really well anyway mate, have to throw some little bits of cabomba now and then but it's growing happily away with very little care


----------



## dw1305 (15 Sep 2014)

Hi all,





Rob P said:


> Ah ok, is it very temperature sensitive Darrel?


It is temperature sensitive, but I've found it hardier than _Pistia_ or _Salvinia_. I've never had any problem with it inside and it does well outside until October/November, as long as we don't have an air frost.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Tim Harrison (15 Sep 2014)

Very nice Rob, well done on growing Cabomba the low-energy way. Its never done that well in my tanks, even C. caroliniana falls apart after a while.


----------



## Deano3 (15 Sep 2014)

Looks great from the last pics mate I am thinking might go low tech very soon, just need to order some tubing and other bits a bobs but yours looks excellent mate


Thanks Dean


----------



## dw1305 (16 Sep 2014)

Hi all,





Troi said:


> well done on growing Cabomba the low-energy way. Its never done that well in my tanks, even C. caroliniana falls apart after a while


 I think it might be a water hardness issue, I've got _C. caroliniana_ in most of the tanks (all rain water), and lot of them are pretty gloomy, but it still does OK (I originally sent the _Cabomba_ in this tank to to Rob). 

In the tap water tank (about 16 dKH), where I experimented with _Vallisneria,_ it did the same as yours, continually fell apart and eventually dwindled away. _Vallisneria_ showed the opposite response, in the rain water tanks it goes yellow and declines, but in this tank it spread really quickly.

I've tried a few different _Cabomba_ spp. none of the others have survived long, and _Limnophila sessiliflora _also _"shuffled off its mortal coil" _fairly rapidly.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Greenfinger2 (16 Sep 2014)

Hi Rob, Great Journal  Superb Scapes  Sorry to hear about the fish though


----------



## Tim Harrison (16 Sep 2014)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, I think it might be a water hardness issue, I've got _C. caroliniana_ in most of the tanks (all rain water), and lot of them are pretty gloomy, but it still does OK (I originally sent the _Cabomba_ in this tank to to Rob).
> 
> In the tap water tank (about 16 dKH), where I experimented with _Vallisneria,_ it did the same as yours, continually fell apart and eventually dwindled away. _Vallisneria_ showed the opposite response, in the rain water tanks it goes yellow and declines, but in this tank it spread really quickly.
> 
> ...


That's pretty much what I concluded as well, and likewise with L. sessiliflora as well. In fact TBO I've not had that much success with any plants with finely divided whorl like leaves. Must try harder...


----------



## Rob P (10 Dec 2014)

Been a while since an update on this tank. It has pretty much been left to its own devices with just a large water change every couple of weeks. Inhabitants were two otos, 3 Amanos, a couple of red cherries (that aren't red lol), a few assassin snails plus a single nerite. 

Due to the missus relocating her home office at some point, and my decision not to set up the new larger tank, the decision was made to move the Mini M downstairs where the larger tank had been...



(How cool being able to part drain a tank and just pick it up and carry downstairs?!  lol)

The plants have always done very well in this, but ultimately due to neglect and an increase in the surface plant mass, some of the stems eventually succumbed to little or no light reaching them. Troi cursed the Cabomba which, well, simply fell apart!!  lol and the Didiplis that had done ever so well also broke away at the bottom. 

I have a nice rescape plan in mind for the tank, including replacing the subtsrate with a nice white sand i've picked up and also some small pieces of slate, the idea is an island type layout utilising the microsorum covered wood as the main island and planting around it. I removed the wood and cut it down in size and also took out the failed stems. I have yet to allocate the time to do a complete strip down and redo it with the new layout and substrate.

In the meantime, we paid a visit to a local P@H and although i'd vowed i'd never buy fish from them due their usual shocking advice and state of tanks, it was refreshing to see the tanks looked really clean and healthy and I spotted a Betta that I just had to take home! The girl who served me seemed very knowledgable and asked all the right questions (tank size, how long it had been set up, other tank mates etc etc). I was also pleased when the one I liked fell under the the £6 price tag  , so we now have a lovely blue boy Betta who my 4 year old son has aptly named 'Bluey'. Bluey seems to be settling well and spent much of his first couple of days hunting all the micro worms in the substrate, and i'm hoping we can do better with him than our last attempt. 

Here he is:



And this is home for now, i'll let him settle for a while before I rescape the tank:



Funny enough, since I removed a lot of the floaters to let the light penetrate i've seen some BBA which is the first algae i've seen in this tank since it was set up in February. But it doesn't bother me at all. One thing I don't like is seeing Hydra in the tank, but i'm not sure I can eradicate these without killing all the snails which i'd rather avoid - so if anyone can comment on that, that would be good??!

Cheers,
Rob


----------



## Mark Livermore (10 Dec 2014)

Lovely fish and nice looking tank. I have this tank but haven't ventured setting it up yet, worried about he Solar light...


----------



## Rob P (10 Dec 2014)

Thanks Mark, i'm hoping it'll look a lot better once scaped again and with the light substrate, should really highlight the colour of Bluey, he's handsome 



Mark Livermore said:


> I have this tank but haven't ventured setting it up yet, worried about he Solar light...



I'd be quite scared of that lol. I've only ever run this on one 8w tube and a lot of floaters. I've always thought if I emptied this tank i'd probably keep it for CO2 experimentation with no livestock, and blast it with CO2, light and flow. As it stands there's the one tube and hardly any flow at all, and the tank has flourished well under these conditions


----------



## MikeC1408 (10 Dec 2014)

Mark Livermore said:


> Lovely fish and nice looking tank. I have this tank but haven't ventured setting it up yet, worried about he Solar light...



If you can't find time or room I'll take it if your hands


----------



## Mark Livermore (10 Dec 2014)

I know, i got it from a member on here and it looks, well amazing, but in practice i think i am going to end up nuking whatever i put in it.

I do like the whole floater idea to keep the penetration minimal so maybe that is the way to go. I am thinking finger roots and a small group of Diapteron Georgiae or Aphyosemion Hera


----------



## Mark Livermore (10 Dec 2014)

MikeC1408 said:


> If you can't find time or room I'll take it if your hands



Thanks Mike, if i need to give it up you will be my first port of call, i will only charge you a 50% handling fee...


----------



## dw1305 (10 Dec 2014)

Hi all, 





Rob P said:


> One thing I don't like is seeing Hydra in the tank, but i'm not sure I can eradicate these without killing all the snails which i'd rather avoid - so if anyone can comment on that, that would be good??


Rob you can use Panacur, it kills Hydra and _Planaria_ but not snails or shrimps (I also have Leeches (not deliberately) and Blackworms (deliberately) in the tank, and it didn't effect them either).

You can get it as a solution, but the granules (for cats and dogs) works OK, and are really cheap to buy. I ignored the Hydra for a long time, but eventually they covered nearly all the surfaces (possibly because I feed a lot of _Daphnia_ and micro-worms).

I just ground mine up and tipped it in. I used 0.1g in 10 gallons, and it had a fairly quick kill of the Hydra, and over about 2 weeks killed the _Planaria _as well.

Details are in this thread <"*Hydra removal*">.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Rob P (10 Dec 2014)

That's excellent Darrel, thank you mate


----------



## dw1305 (10 Dec 2014)

Hi all, 





Rob P said:


> That's excellent Darrel, thank you mate


 It was something I found out for myself. I got it from <"Planet Invert: Killing Planaria and Hydra"> and I think Paul Chapman might have been/is a UKAPS member?

cheers Darrel


----------

