Tonys Mini-M - 90 days & its all over !

[Tony Swinney]

Another new journal 🙂

I've been waiting to scape my new Mini-M for a few months, but because I wanted it where my 100cm tank was I've had to wait for that to be stripped, and the studio to be re-arranged - which has now happened 🙂

A call from TGM last week sped up the re-arranging as they asked me to scape the mini-m for them, and photograph the process to showcase their ADA product range ! The next day a fantastic box a goodies arrived, with some Manten stone and some Hornwwod for hardscaping, plus ADA Malaya substrate, and their Mekong Sand too.

So with camera and lights at the ready ... off we go 🙂

These are the bits that will make it all work...



and these are the bits that will make it look good ( I hope !)...



Hardscape pics next 🙂

Tony

 

[Piece-of-fish]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Another one... I am starting to hate you people

 

[nayr88]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Another one... I am starting to hate you people

Haha mate I'm starting to feel like that! All these ada stuff is getting me so jealous!!

Good kit there mate, really like that wood, might have to pick some up. How much is it?

 

[Stu Worrall]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Looking good Tony 🙂 Cant wait to see the scape and nice to see something with Manten in it in the UK. I just wish there were a local manten quarry i could visit for their scraps

 

[Tony Swinney]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Another one... I am starting to hate you people

lol - it'll make a nice home for the Sakura's Ed 🙂

Good kit there mate, really like that wood, might have to pick some up. How much is it?

I'm not sure mate, TGM sent it to me - best to give them a shout or pop in if you're close by 🙂

Looking good Tony 🙂 Cant wait to see the scape and nice to see something with Manten in it in the UK. I just wish there were a local manten quarry i could visit for their scraps

Thanks Stu, yep the Manten is nice, but very tricky to work with - the textures are so different between the pieces I have that they almost look like different rocks.

The mini-m is a tricky shape as its very shallow front to back (22cm) so theres not alot of room for hardscape, especially when trying to create height as its 26cm tall. More playing around today 🙂

Tony

 

[John Starkey]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

This will be good 2 mini M's being scaped at the same time ,good luck Tony quality gear from TGM too ,

john.

 

[Tony Swinney]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Thanks John, I think its the trickiest tank I've ever tried to scape !

Here are a few quick shots (different angles / backgrounds / lighting etc) of some layouts I've been messing around with. I'm not entirely happy with any of them yet, but theres some interesting stuff starting to happen with the relationship of the shapes of the hornwood echoing the shapes of the stones. I'm getting a few more bits of Manten to choose from so will play more over the next few days. The exposed area in the front right foreground will be Mekong Sand.

Tony

 

[Garuf]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Number two or number 5, I can't help but feeling no5 would work better with a sand foreground however.

 

[Ian Holdich]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

3 for me, it looks like it's grown around the rock, would be very interested when planted.

good stuff Tony!

 

[Antoni]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

For me, number for works best... maybe with the addition of a small stone in front of the wood in the middle, to compliment the shape and a small slope of substrate to cover the very bottom part of the wood...

 

[Tony Swinney]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Thanks for the replies guys.

One vote each for numbers 4, 3, 2 and 5 - I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only one that doesn't think anyone of them stands out yet !

Tony

 

[Stu Worrall]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

excellent tony! No. 2 for me as the wood looks like its fused with the rock and grown there over many years 😀

 

[flygja]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Echo the rest... extremely jealous of all this kit you're getting!

In my opinion, the wood and rocks are a little too big for the tank. How about using them to create something like this? An underwater tree-trunk type scape? I think the two pieces of wood you got would suit this type of scape.

Source: AGA

Purely my opinion, please discard if necessary.

 

[John Starkey]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Hi Tony,i have been looking at the hardscape for sometime now and i can't help feeling there is too much in there,what's bugging me is the fact i can't see any space for the plants to grow into,especially in the last image,

Just my thought's mate ,i'm sure you have a plan in mind,

John

 

[LondonDragon]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Is there a promotion that I am not aware off?? I also want a Mini-M full of ADA kit haha
Great start Tony, going to be another great tank, as John says make sure you leave enough space for the plants hehe 😉

 

[Tony Swinney]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

Thanks for the comments guys. You are seeing the difficulty I am having re the size of the pieces 🙂

Some lovely things happen with these rocks and the pieces of wood I have, when they seem to fit each other really well, the wood wrapping around the rock and looking like it might have grown there, but, trying to fit it into this size tank is tricky !

TGM are keen to use the Manten stone, as its not been used that much in the UK, and I like to use wood in scapes, as there'll be moss tied to it, so its just a case of finding something that fits the tank, looks great, and leaves planting space - thats all

Some more manten is coming tomorrow so I'll be playing some more and will post pics up

Tony

 

[Tony Swinney]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M

It is planted 🙂

I got some more Manten stone from TGM, and there were some great pieces for the MiniM. I also took a hammer and chisel to a couple of pieces and found it broke up quite well, forming some interesting pieces. This rock really comes to life once its in water, when the colours within it can really be seen.

Specifications:

Tank: ADA Mini M, 36 x 22 x 26 cm, 21L
Lighting: ADA Mini Solar (27w compact fluorescent)
Filter: Eheim 2075
CO2: Injection through ADA Pollen Glass Mini
Heating: Hydor inline

Substrate: ADA Malaya powder and ADA Mekong Sand
Hardscape: ADA Manten Stone & ADA Hornwood

Plants:
Aquafleur Hygrophila Pinnatifida
Tropica Ranunculus Inundatus
Aquafleur Hemianthus Callitrichoides Cuba
Aquafleur Glossostigma Elatinoides
Tropica Eleocharis Parvula

Ferts:
ADA Green Brighty Step1
ADA Brighty K

Here is a little step by step slideshow of the scape coming together ...

http://www.vimeo.com/26566352

and here are the pics ...































Thanks for looking, I'll add more pics very soon.

Tony

 

[Kazuya]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M - planted

Nice layout.

Your using a 2075 on a Mini M. Is that not to much flow for such a small tank?

 

[Stu Worrall]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M - planted

ooof! Very nice layout and great photography Tony 🙂 nice V shape going on up the middle to draw the eye out to the sides of the tank. Im looking forward to seeing how the Pinnatifida grwos out of the stump as ive niot seen it used like that before. Is the glosso planted at the back?

 

[andyh]

Re: Tonys ADA Mini-M - planted

tony you are not helping matters, i have been considering parting with some cash for Mini m and here you go selfishly showing us how great they can look............................................Dammm You (and Stu!)!!!!!! ;o)