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Back to the mountain - New project

AquamaniacUK

Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
80
Location
London, United Kingdom
Hi

Last weekend i went to the LFS to buy a new Co2 diffuser and couldn't resist and came out with another tank.
I have been planning to get a second nano tank and this was the chance.
The tank is a clearseal , not the best of the bunch i have heard but it was really cheap and it will do the job.
Planning started the same day, i went in to my box of left overs to see what i could arrange.

Setup

Tank: 45 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm clearseal tank
Filtration: Eheim 2213
Heating: Eheim Jager 75 watts
Lighting : Wavepoint clamp led 16 watts
Hardscape : Landscape rocks
Substrate: Unipac black sand
Fertile soil : Tropica plant growth

Having made a plan i went into preparing the hardscape.
This project has been in my head for quite some time , some months ago i designed a scape called the Rocky Mountain.

Rocky Mountain 2013
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Unfortunately for personal reasons this scape did not last more than a month, it had to be teared down and the tank remains in storage up to this day.
I nearly gave up on the hobby, my personal and professional life were just not leaving me enough time to continue.

Nano tanks ended up being my solution to my problem.
You can see my first nano scape here:
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/my-new-30-litre-nano-scape-new-beginning.32667/


But i still feel sorry i was not able to see this scape grow, and decided i would try something similar in a nano tank as soon as i could.

Back to the mountain
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I have run out of sand, so i'll have to get some more to give it a final touch, but this is the rockscape final design.

My next decision is which light unit to buy, i do not want to break the bank so i'll have to do some research.
The TMC aquaray Mini Led 500 tile as caught my attention, a bit pricey though, but it might be worth the investment.
If anyone as any alternatives to suggest just let me know and i'll look it up.

Hope you guys like it.
 
Last edited:
Hi time for some update on this project.

So i was missing a light unit and after careful consideration i decided to jump on the Led bandwagon and went for a wavepoint 16 watt led unit.
After that it was just choosing and ordering the plants.

Plants:
Eleocharis SP mini
Alternanthera reneckii Sp mini
Stauregeyne reppens
Hemianthus calithricoides
Hemianthus micrantemoides

I used cycled media so i was able to add livestock a few days after starting the tank.

Added:

9 Gold white cloud mountain minnows
7 Amano shrimps

Here are some photos of the tank:

Day 1:
10410127_805366852821494_6315509772379160203_n.jpg


After 2 weeks:
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10397031_813053585386154_1078995743816762291_o.jpg







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Video:



Hope you guys like it.
 
Hi guys

So i was away for 3 weeks during my holidays.
I was a bit worried of how the tank would look when i came back.
I did get someone to come to the house and have the look at the tanks and top of the evaporated water but she is un-iniciated in the dark arts.

First let me tell you what i did to prepare for the holidays:

- 70% water change two days before flying

- I added enough fertilizer to last me for the first 3 days, as the "caretaker" was only available to come and chek on the 4th day after i left.

- Then i left 2 bottles of water mixed with dechlorinator, and the amount of fertilizer for the entire holidays. The idea being that instead of adding fertilizer daily the "caretaker would add it everytime the evaporated water would need to be topped of. It would save me from the danger of finding that she had added an entire bottle of dechlorinator or fertilizer on the tank on day one by mistake or due to plain ignorance.
I know that temperature would not match from the bottle to that of the tank but that was a risk i would have to take, besides evaporation was not that huge amount to affect the temperature of the entire tank.

- I cut down the light to 5 hours daily. Also adjusted the co2 timing.

- I lowered my heater, by putting it diagonally so it would sit deeper in the tank, avoiding the risk of it being out of the water due to evaporation.

- I got autofeeders to keep the fish fed everyday, i set it up to dose a small amount. No way was about to trust a non-iniciated with feeding my fish.

When i came back i was hoping to find my tank covered in algae and plants dead.
But what i found was a thriving tank, apart from some minor algae on the glass and plants the tank had turned into a jungle.

After water changes,some proper maintenance and alot of trimming here is how the tank looks now:

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So with with a rather unorthodox method i was able to get a person that has no knowledge of the hobby to successfully keep my tank while i was away.
Hope you guys like it.
 
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