# miniMal (thread closed)



## tim (21 Jun 2015)

hi folks, new project time for me, as you may guess from the uninspired title the tank is an ADA mini M purchased for a bargain price from a member on here (cheers Daniel).
the title also refers to the effort ive put into the setup of this scape so far  hardscape of manzi and landscape rocks I had knocking about, plants have been pillaged from my temporary tanks as im saying bye to them next weekend, anyway couple of pics.




laid a few rocks in to stop substrate slipping, then added in just 1 piece of manzi tied with anchor moss



topped up the substrate, after this filled 2/3 with water and planted up, hooked up all the equipment and off she goes I will get a fully planted pic up when the water has cleared with a plant list but for now ill give the tech specs, 
tank ada mini m
azoo flexi mini led
cristalprofi 700 with gush nano pipe set
co2 jbl reg with welding gas disposable bottle, in tank  fluval diffuser at the minute just waiting for  a few bits from co2 art and ill be hooking up a do aqua 10mm nano diffuser, fauna will be cherry shrimp and my green neon rasbora, that's all for now as always cheers for looking.


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## tim (21 Jun 2015)

Planted pic



Plants so far
Monte Carlo, rotala green, anchor moss, hygro pinatidifida, eleocharis parvula, mini type Java fern, and crypt petchii, will probably add more and garden out some plants along the way but hoping to run this till Xmas time when I'll take it down to make space for the tree 
Dosing with tropica specialised every other day and my ei trace mix on alternate days.
Cheers for now.


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## stu_ (21 Jun 2015)

Like it.
But buy some clear tubing,you cheapskate........


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## tim (21 Jun 2015)

stu_ said:


> Like it.
> But buy some clear tubing,you cheapskate........


 clear co2 hose is on order with a nice glass u bend a new check valve from co2art, but if you mean filter hose, well I am a cheapskate


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## Tim Harrison (22 Jun 2015)

Looks great...very nice planting.


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## pepedopolous (23 Jun 2015)

Looks great! Do you think the light will be enough for the corners of the tank?

P


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## tim (24 Jun 2015)

Troi said:


> Looks great...very nice planting.


Thanks Troi 


pepedopolous said:


> Looks great! Do you think the light will be enough for the corners of the tank?
> 
> P


Thanks P the light seems to spread right to the corners, the LEDs have 120 degree lens not sure if that helps with spread, suppose the plants will tell me over the next couple of weeks.
Cheers for all the likes.


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## tim (5 Jul 2015)

Morning folks, couple of weeks in and all is going smoothly so far



Do Aqua diffuser fitted with clear hose and a nice sleek glass u bend from co2 art, should keep stu happy 
Water changes have been every 2 days due to the established filter, added in my green neon rasbora and some cherry shrimp, this addition was followed by diatoms so I'll carry on the waterchange routine for a few more weeks then look to add a few more green neons, plants are growing slowly but steadily, only the pinatidifida struggling at the moment but I'm determined to wait it out and grow the damn plant :lol



Cheers for looking.


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## Tim Harrison (5 Jul 2015)

Very accomplished...


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## Dantrasy (5 Jul 2015)

Super clean! 

When that moss grows out your scape will be awesome.


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## moroland (7 Jul 2015)

fab tank


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## tim (12 Jul 2015)

Quick pic pre trim and waterchange later today



Significant growth in 7 days mc needs cutting right back stems will be trimmed, glass is covered in diatoms, will need to stick to twice weekly water changes for a while I think to keep on top of algae, ludwigia turning nice orangey red, so far happy with the light maybe a bit on the strong side but growth so far seems fairly even.


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## tim (14 Jul 2015)

After the haircut



Should grow back in a couple of weeks


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## tim (26 Jul 2015)

Morning folks few update pics for this one
Found some free fissidens growing in the anchor moss



Stripped the mini Java fern off the dragonstone it was on and attached it to the wood with superglue

while doing the above found a rhizome of mini bolbitus I grabbed from a member on here around 2 years ago the resilience of plants amazes me



monte carlo has grown back thick in just a week



full tank shot


image by timyapp, on Flickr
stems also had another quick trim I will let them hit the top again and start trimming for shape now they are dense enough,
cheers for looking.


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## Sentral (2 Aug 2015)

Really like this, great job!


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## tim (3 Aug 2015)

Sentral said:


> Really like this, great job!


Thanks sentral, gave the moss its first trim yesterday, Monte Carlo needs cutting back again, I'll try and stick an update pic up this evening.


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## tim (7 Aug 2015)

Some updates, Monte Carlo seems to be a bit much for this size tank with co2 2 weeks and mc mayhem



Stems not growing evenly so I've moved the light to the left of the tank to try and encourage even growth



A big trim has revealed lots of bba on the rocks confirming plants will not out compete algae



Good trim and cleaning session later I'm left with this



Need to get this back on track so plan is water change every other day, cut light by an hour and remove bba each water change, happy enough with plant growth rate just need the stems to grow evenly,
Cheers for looking.


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## tim (11 Oct 2015)

Evening folks, its been a while so here's a warts and all update as we like em  few algae issues with this one probably down to too much light even though its been stated elsewhere the flexi mini is low- medium light, its still a bit strong for my liking  as the algae set in a little harder than ive experienced before especially in the monte carlo i used a large dose of liquid carbon to try and see it off whilst switching back to inline atomiser for co2 things looked up for a day or two algae dying off easy to remove with toothbrush tweezers, this was then followed by monte carlo complete meltdown.



Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
none of the other plants reacted this way and i had some monte carlo struggling away in a tank i took down this weekend, so a quick syphon to remove the mess left this,
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
now replanted it looks like this
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
i will follow up the replant with a few regular water changes, keep co2 stable and if the algae returns i will be looking for a dimmer option for the light 
cheers for looking.


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## tim (15 Nov 2015)

Afternoon folks, warts and more warts update time , recent total lack of time has led to this scape being totally ignored for the last few weeks, Bga has crept in amongst other nice algae types so this morning i was just about to take the tank down when i had a change of heart 
looking very sorry for itself
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
close up
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
cleaner
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
cable tied some silicon paper over the light as a dimming solution, not the best looking solution but will do for now
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
cheers for looking.


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## dfinn (15 Nov 2015)

Love this scape, don't give up! I am having my own woes with the Monte carlo so feel your pain!

Dan


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## tim (15 Nov 2015)

dfinn said:


> Love this scape, don't give up! I am having my own woes with the Monte carlo so feel your pain!
> 
> Dan


Thanks Dan, hobby tests the patience sometimes  it'd be too easy to take it down


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## banthaman.jm (17 Nov 2015)

tim said:


> hobby tests the patience sometimes  it'd be too easy to take it down



When things like this happen to lovely tanks like your and then they make a recovery it gives the rest of us hope, it's also a learning curve which myself and others can use if we end up getting the dreaded algae. Step by step guide to what you did to get the tank balanced is valuable info newbies and longer term members.
Jim


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## tim (22 Nov 2015)

banthaman.jm said:


> When things like this happen to lovely tanks like your and then they make a recovery it gives the rest of us hope, it's also a learning curve which myself and others can use if we end up getting the dreaded algae. Step by step guide to what you did to get the tank balanced is valuable info newbies and longer term members.
> Jim


Kind words Jim thank you, I have learnt all I know about the hobby from ukaps so if I can give a little back I'm very pleased.
So far this week the tank has had a filter clean and 3 70% water changes, before each change I've brushed as much algae off plants and glass with a small paintbrush so as not to uproot plants or disturb the substrate too much, kept the light dimmed with the silicon paper 5 hour photoperiod and set co2 to 1 bubble a second on 2 hours before lights off 1 hour before lights off, the results so far,
green growth again on the moss
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
monte carlo growth and algae subsiding
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
i've also sprinkled a pinch of kn03 over the bga after each water change seems to stop its growth,
full tank shot
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
long way to go yet but things are looking a little better,
cheers for looking .


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## Matt Havens (22 Nov 2015)

tim said:


> After the haircut
> View attachment 4835
> Should grow back in a couple of weeks


Great looking scape tim!
How long has it been planted? And I bet it is nail biting stuff doing a trim on the plants. Was that the first trim you have done on it?

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


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## tim (22 Nov 2015)

Matt Havens said:


> Great looking scape tim!
> How long has it been planted? And I bet it is nail biting stuff doing a trim on the plants. Was that the first trim you have done on it?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


Thanks Matt, its been planted now for around 4 months but its suffered from neglect more than once  it was planted around 4 weeks in the picture above before it had it's first trim.


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## tim (29 Nov 2015)

Morning folks, quite possibly the final update for this scape, routine maintenance this morning and I've discovered a small leak from one of the filter pipes, this has gone unnoticed all week as the chipboard cabinet has done a wonderful job of soaking up all the water, the laminate has started to come away and some bowing on the bottom right of the cabinet base so I think it's not worth the risk of the cabinet collapsing, don't see me having time anytime soon to build a cabinet for it with the impending holidays work commitments etc etc I will try and post a final pic of the tanks recovery but apologies if I don't get round to it ,
Thanks to all for the likes and comments along the way.


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## dfinn (29 Nov 2015)

Oh no! It's a great little scape, salvage what you can, have a break and get back to it in the new year!


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## tim (30 Nov 2015)

dfinn said:


> Oh no! It's a great little scape, salvage what you can, have a break and get back to it in the new year!


Thanks Dan, I'm a little peeved as the scape itself was showing good signs of recovery and growth, algae had mostly disappeared, moral of the story always pay close attention to the hardware after maintenance.


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## rebel (1 Dec 2015)

Whoa! At least you caught it before a possible collapse! Hope you can come back bigger n better.


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## tim (1 Dec 2015)

rebel said:


> Whoa! At least you caught it before a possible collapse! Hope you can come back bigger n better.


thanks rebel, yeah even 20 litres of water all over the floor should be avoided, the tank will be back in the new year.
best i could do as a final image 
[url=https://flic.kr/p/BBiMvw]Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr[/URL]
it was starting to look better,
cheers for looking


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## Rob Dahl (3 Mar 2016)

Have enjoyed your progress and trials. Very informative. I just had to battle BG algae and can commiserate with you. Nice work!


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## tim (3 Mar 2016)

Thank you for the kind words Rob, bga is stubborn but I've found so far manual removal and sprinkle kno3 over the area has worked for me so far, shame this one ended prematurely due to the filter leak/ cabinet damage


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