Flora Nano Iwagumi

[pm]

Well, I picked up a used Fluval Flora tank a few weeks ago (same as the Ebi) for a decent price to use as a shrimp tank (RCS and CRS).

The rest of the equipment was just stuff I had on hand:

The stand is an old ikea desk drawer set (painted)
The light is an old ikea floor lamp with a 23 watt daylight CFL bulb
Filtration is a dialed down eheim 2213
DIY CO2 is fed into the filter
Substrate is fluorite black sand

Dwarf Hair Grass in the back is separated from the rest of the tank by a plastic barrier (hope this keeps it at bay!!!).  Most of the rest is HC, with a little Downoi added.

Hardscape is dragon stones

I am having the typical new tank algae issues, but nothing too bad.  I have yet to figure out a fert regime given that CRS are in the tank, and the current low plant mass.

Lessons learned... trying to plant patches of HC in a flooded shrimp tank is an exercise in futility.  It will float or be pulled up by the feeding shrimp.  Only way I have found to keep it down is to plant it a stem at a time (my back hurts just thinking about it).

Anyway, here are some pics.  Comments welcome.

[daworldisblack]

Lol.. was just wondering where you had disappeared to and here you are! Nice set up! Going to set mine up this weekend too!

[charlie]

Good work Peter, love it.
What concerns do have with the fert. & shrimp.
Errol

[exv152]

Is that the 7.9g tank? I like the setup, looks very good. My only concern would be the lack of co2 control with a diy and sensitive shrimp species, rather than the fert regimen.

[pm]

Yeah, the diy co2 is a weakness, but it is too far to run a split line from my 10 lbs cylinder, and a new one is not in the budget.

As for ferts, I am just trying to come up with a strategy... Still working on it.

Cheers!

[bizfromqc]

Peter, love the tank!
You my friend have an eye for these things 

<poking_fun_at_peter>
   You need is a paintball setup on the cheap, it would be perfect for a tank that size 
</poking_fun_at_peter>

Can't wait to see it develop, it's going to look great. I love the rocks.

[exv152]

...As for ferts, I am just trying to come up with a strategy... Still working on it.

How about taking the 20g EI method and dividing it by four...or more to begin:

50% wc weekly
1/4 Tsp-KN03 3x a week
1/16 Tsp-KH2P04 3x aweek
1/2 Tsp- equilibrium once a week
5ml flourish comp 3x a week

[pm]

Update time.

Well tank is still going strong even after a nitrite spike with wiped out my shrimp  (cleaned the filter a little too well I guess...nitrite test was purple... D'oh!!), and a two-week vacation.  I have since re-established the tank with cherries from my main tank.

HC and DHG are growing strong with DIY CO2, no ferts (other than the dead shrimp I could not siphon out  ), and only a $1 spiral compact fluorescent lamp (23 watt 6500K).

[Stussi613]

Wow!  That tank looks amazing!!

[exv152]

Very nice progress. Did you do a dry start with the HC, or did you plant it straight in the water?

[daworldisblack]

Envious!

[pm]

Very nice progress. Did you do a dry start with the HC, or did you plant it straight in the water?

Thanks you guys. 

Dry start?... well that was the plan... and it lasted all of 2 hours (couldn't leave the tank empty longer than that).

At first I tried putting it down in small mats... well that didn't work.  I would come downstairs in the morning and see it all floating around. 

So I ended up doing the back breaking method of planting it stem by stem (or at most a few stems at a time).  This was the only way that seemed to work in an already flooded tank.  There was a few bits floating up for the first few days, but not much, and it was easy to replant.

[exv152]

Other than the two shrimp in the picture, do you have any other fauna in there?

[pm]

Other than the two shrimp in the picture, do you have any other fauna in there?

Actually there are about 15 shrimp in there... Hiding 

Speaking of fauna, my wife thinks it looks a little empty too, so I am going to start looking at micro fish.

Not decided yet.