Nano 55 Build

[daworldisblack]

Well, how about Chili's *or* Celestials (given what might be available) and shrimp...and nothing more.

No Rams, no cats of any sort, nothing else.

I've had Ghost Shrimp before and they were rather unobtrusive...not to mention that their numbers grew as needed to keep the tank clean.  Other shrimp look better, perhaps, but won't be able to breed in f/w.

You'd need less CPDs to get the same effect I'd say since they are way bigger and won't get lost in the scale. Also the Chillis are hard to come by as Eric mentioned - unless you look into it more in which case it should be possible. I think a member here got a few hundred shipped in (Shawn84) maybe he has a contact. Cherry Shrimps and their variations do well in most tropical set-ups and breed well if not threatened. They look good too. I'm a fan of the yellow variety and am looking to get my hands on some but there are chocolate and blue varieties amongst others ( even green i hear). So long as the water is clean and params are in check, they are good.

[Funkmotor]

Okay...this is starting to come together.  I do like the Cherry shrimp, and CPD's are quite nice in their own right.

That you can get Cherry's in different colours is an interesting thought.

The seiryu stone - awesome -  is there a decent source in Ottawa?  I don't mind driving around a bit.

[exv152]

The seiryu stone - awesome -  is there a decent source in Ottawa?  I don't mind driving around a bit.

Kanata BAs get it in regularly, but they have it labeled as some other type of rock. When you're looking at their shelf of various stones; it's the one on the top right-hand corner, I think it goes for $2.49/lbs. Don't buy too much of it because it leaches mg and ca, and raise the pH slightly.

[Funkmotor]

Kanata BAs get it in regularly, but they have it labeled as some other type of rock. When you're looking at their shelf of various stones; it's the one on the top right-hand corner, I think it goes for $2.49/lbs. Don't buy too much of it because it leaches mg and ca, and raise the pH slightly.

Thanks, I think I'll be there tonight.  I'll have a look and see what's what.

[Fishnut]

If you like tropical waters, try not to let the temp get above 75.  Shrimp, CPD's and a few other interesting species don't tend to do as well in higher temps.  Their lives are significantly shorter.

I also wanted to touch on the habits of the CPD.  They naturally live in the clumps of plants.  I used to have 20 or so in a 15 gallon tank that had lots of vals and a huge hunk of moss in the middle.  If you were to walk past the tank all you would see was the plants...not a single fish.  Put some food in there and suddenly the tank is alive with little fish.  If this is what you're after, find someone who is willing to ship you LOTS and LOTS of CPD's!

Depending on how patient you are in finding fish, there are some micro fish that do prefer 75+.  The Axelrod rasboras and erythromicron rasboras actually do better in warmer water, as do a few others.  78 is a good place for them but most colourful shrimp don't do nearly as well with that temp.  Do some detailed research though.  I sometimes have to go as far as looing at the conditions of the fish's native habitat to be sure the info I'm reading is accurate on some of these new species.

I've also got a few crinum calamistratum.  They grow slowly for me because I don't have CO2 and they tend to get some Black bushy algae, so I keep a few siamese algae eaters in the tank to help with that...the ones with the solid black strip from nose to tail.  None in my micro fish tan though.

I just remembered a great little fish that would do well in a tank like yours if you want a more tropical temperature.  Threadfin Rainbows!!  They're an absolutely stunning fish when they're in large numbers with a good mix of males and females and they don't get bigger than 1.5 - 2".  They like to swim in the open too!  When you see them in LFS's, they rarely look good.  They don't ship well and they can be quite sensitive so you have to be very careful when sourcing them.

[Funkmotor]

Oh, you're good.  If you mean "Danio erythromicron" then that fish looks like a winner right there.  68-75 degrees okay, 20mm adult size and pretty sharp looking at that.  I could probably put 60 of them in the 55 and they'd still all be able to hide.  Thankfully I still have a 15G I can use as a QT tank.

I suppose I could bend a little and go with water a bit cooler for the sake of the shrimp...running at, say, 72 would give me a bit of room in either direction.

And I've got patience to spare.  I got a few of those grey rocks last evening (they're just marked as 'Feller Stone' at BA's and a LOT of very different things seem to be marked as that) and they're soaking in with the wood now just to see how they clean up, and there's still nothing in the tank...I'm holding off completely until I decide what I'm doing.  (Though perhaps tossing in the eco is on the cards because I'll be using that no matter.)

I like the Iwagumi idea - very minimal, but I also like wood...moss grows nice on wood.  So right now I'm thinking about a way to have both without having too much...if that makes sense.

Got the canister swapped out for a 2217, so now I'm looking at Lily Pipes to put on that.  The more dispersed flow is attractive, as is the surface vortex for scum removal.

More pics as stuff happens, or maybe some tonight of the equipment I've got so far...

[exv152]

Just to add a bit more to the discussion from a personal experience perspective. I've had discus in the past, I still have one, and they do better with higher temps like 86ºF and what most discus keepers find is most plants simply do not do as well in warmer waters. Not sure why that is, but I have found this to be true especially with regards to mosses.

Second, the lily pipe idea is a great idea, but you'll find there's only one supplier here in Ontario (www.aquainspiration.com) and they're located in Markham. They have a knock off glass product for about $65 for both inlet and outlet which is pretty nice. See link http://www.aquainspiration.com/nproductdetail.asp?PIN=FS&PNAME=goa&PSIZE=YIOFM45&PTYPE=Filter Accessories

[Funkmotor]

The only problem with the lily pipe - for me - is that they're glass and therefore smashable.  I suppose there are some plastic ones, but if you're gonna go you might as well go all the way.

I've seen some of them online out of HK/China/Malaysia for $30-40 shipped, so I'm thinking I might order one of those and see what I get.  Some people say the glass is thinner and easier to break, some people say the 'real' ADA is more brittle, still others say Cal Aqua Labs...so I want to see for myself.

---

And I want to say thanks for everyone for throwing their thoughts in on this...it's given me a lot more to think about and I think I'm taking this in a much different direction than I would have.

[Fishnut]

I forgot to post my pic.  Here's my tank.  The plants in the middle are going to be moved as soon as they establish themselves a bit better, so it looks a bit off.  Nothing fancy...vals and crypts plus a few other plants I'm trying out.  Note my pethetic laceleaf plant...

I'll also post a pic I took of a display tank at Aqua Inspiration.  The guys used some kind of glue to attach mini pellia to rocks in tufts.  If you've got patience, this might be a great project for you.

On the topic of the lily pipe...if it's glass, how do you clean the algae from the inside?  I've seen them in stainless steel

[Funkmotor]

On the topic of the lily pipe...if it's glass, how do you clean the algae from the inside?  I've seen them in stainless steel

Just a simple bendy brush...they can be had for a few dollars.  As it's glass, I imagine it would clean of algae and any deposits fairly easily.

Tank looks good...liking that reddish stem plant in the middle there.

And for a laceleaf, have you seen Aponogeton henkelianu​s?  I don't know if you can even get them here, but it's supposed to be much easier than A. madagascariensis whilst having much the same latticed leaf look.

[exv152]

On the topic of the lily pipe...if it's glass, how do you clean the algae from the inside?  I've seen them in stainless steel

Cleaning the glass is simple if you have double taps on your inlet and outlet hoses, just remove them and snake a brush through the pipe with a fishing line or a bendable brush kit, fluval makes both type. Stainless steel pipes are also sold by AI.

[daworldisblack]

So not sure if you are at the fish acquisition  stage yet but I might have seen some  Microrasbora erythromicron at BA West when I was there this morning! I thought they looked reddish but same size and bar pattern on them though!

[Funkmotor]

Not quite(!) ready for fish yet, but I think I've gotten the substrate and the rocks the way I like them.  No water yet, either, still waiting on some parts.

I'll apologize for the low-light pics...but I think they do the job.

From the front:


From above (composite shot):


Critiques on placement welcome, but please be gentle.

[exv152]

Looks like you ended up getting the stones we talked about? Looks good so far.

[Funkmotor]

Looks like you ended up getting the stones we talked about? Looks good so far.

Yep, the very same.

[charlie]

Interesting start , looking forward to the updates as the tank progress.
Regards

[daworldisblack]

Lol.. the wooden bars at the back look like bamboo shoots! Also reminds me of this:



Haha.. good start so far!

[Funkmotor]

Well, I've finally managed to get some plants into this thing.  I ended up capping the eco complete with some black fluorite sand to give things a nicer appearance and a bit more root grip, and I added a whole bunch of plastic bracing to the hill to try to hold it up for a while.

All the plants could be classed as 'starters' except for the HC...I figured on a dry start was the best time to try that if I was ever going to.  I've got temporary lighting on there for now but I hope to have something more permanent soon enough.  The 16-hour photo period should compensate somewhat I hope, CO2 is going in and ferts start tomorrow (have to pick some up.)

Still needs a bit more in the mid ground, and as things develop I'll probably change things out here and there depending on taste.  No fish yet, either, I'll wait a bit for that.

The pic is a bit fuzzy from the stirred up silt.

[charlie]

Coming along nicely, do you have any pics/ details on how you did the plastic restrain to hold the gravel from doing a landslide  .
Errol

[76brian]

very nice looking layout, I like that a lot.