George's Nano Journal

[George Farmer]

For circumstances beyond my control the Juwel Rio 125 that some of may be familiar with is still on hold. I anticipate setting this up again in the new year.

So for the time being I am very pleased to share with you all my latest project - a humble 12x8x8" / 30x20x20cm (12 l. / 3 gal.) Clearseal aquarium.

This tank was given to me by a work colleague that is moving house. Eager to get my hands wet again (it's been over 6 months since I've run a planted aquarium) I bought it for £5 and began the exciting task of planning what to fill it with.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the Nature Aquarium and Japanese influenced design so with this in mind the aquascape will be based around a very simple composition using only one carpeting plant (Glossostigma elatinoides) and a few rocks (collected from the Falkland Islands).

I've never aquascaped with rocks before and I look forward to trying my hand at the Japanese gardening technique known as Sanzon-Iwagumi. More on that later.

Always keen to try out new techniques for growing plants, as well as aquascaping them, I will be using a rather low-tech substrate - potting compost. More on that later too.

Anyway, what you're all probably really after - some photos.

The 12x8x8" Clearseal aquarium


Substrate - 1-2mm grain inert rounded quartz and loam-based potting compost


Hood and lighting gear (18w PC T5 Interpet Triplus with modified 12" Arcadia T8/T12 reflector


Lighting prepared to fit to hood


Lighting fitted to hood


Installing compost substrate (5-10mm depth)


Rinsing quartz substrate


An hour of rinsing later


Installing quartz substrate (note slope for added depth when viewed from front)


Aquarium lighting


Full-frontal


For the next installment expect some further details on lighting and substrate. Also some Iwugami theory and practice.

Filter (Hagen Elite Stingray 5), CO2 diffuser and plants should turn up in a few days.

A massive thank you to Aqua Essentials for supplying me with the glosso and CO2 diffuser.

Any comments and questions more than welcome. I'm new to nanos but am looking forward to some exciting times ahead.

 

[demonmagus]

awesome, this might push me into making a nano

how did you fit the lighting in the hood?

thanks

 

[Tote]

Heh, nice informative piccies there george. Is this another project for PFK? I'm watching with real interest - got a 20x20x20 cm cube sat right infront of me on my desk ready to go. Just the small problem of a Rio 240 that I started 2 weeks ago to get through first (more later in this forum and on AE's forum)

ps - I see you've got your lights sorted, but i reckon the Arcadia Arc Pod 9 & 11 watt PC lights would look great on these mini tanks - not sure what the color temp is thoug - do you (anyone?) know?

 

[Bloo]

Exciting ! Look forward to see how this develops !

 

[demonmagus]

Heh, nice informative piccies there george. Is this another project for PFK? I'm watching with real interest - got a 20x20x20 cm cube sat right infront of me on my desk ready to go. Just the small problem of a Rio 240 that I started 2 weeks ago to get through first (more later in this forum and on AE's forum)

ps - I see you've got your lights sorted, but i reckon the Arcadia Arc Pod 9 & 11 watt PC lights would look great on these mini tanks - not sure what the color temp is thoug - do you (anyone?) know?

http/www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid...d=10&lan=en

there's a graph on there that looks confusing

that might help

 

[Tote]

http/www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid...d=10&lan=en

there's a graph on there that looks confusing

that might help

Thanks - not much use to a dunce like me - looks like a good peak in the green/blue part of the spectrum, which should be good. I'm going to give the 9w a go anyway. I'll set up a journal and then people can see how I get on.

 

[tear-scar]

Wah . . . George that's sexy. I got the feeling that this is gonna be a sweet nano.

 

[lljdma06]

Great to see you getting your green thumbs wet again, George! Nanos are fun tanks, miss mine already, but the cherry barbs and their fry really like the 36g. Can't wait to see this one with plants.

You probably already know this, but really watch the evaporation on these nanos. They can go through water very quickly, as some of us have already experienced. I was topping off my 8g halfway between water changes at least once, sometimes twice a week. Of course, my tank was an open top, but evaporation may be an issue on your little system as well.

Again, can't wait to see results. Have fun planting the glosso. At least your not planting it in a 100+ gallon tank.

llj

 

[George Farmer]

awesome, this might push me into making a nano

how did you fit the lighting in the hood?

Thank you. I hope this nano shows that demanding plants can be grown without the expense and high-maintenance often associated with high-tech tanks.

The lighting was surprisingly simple to fit. I drilled 7mm holes in the hood to fit the lamp clips supplied with the light unit. The reflector fit between the lamp and the hood. I had to cut out a slot in the side of the hood to allow room for the cable. The photos should hopefully make things clear.

Heh, nice informative piccies there george. Is this another project for PFK? I'm watching with real interest - got a 20x20x20 cm cube sat right infront of me on my desk ready to go. Just the small problem of a Rio 240 that I started 2 weeks ago to get through first (more later in this forum and on AE's forum)

ps - I see you've got your lights sorted, but i reckon the Arcadia Arc Pod 9 & 11 watt PC lights would look great on these mini tanks - not sure what the color temp is thoug - do you (anyone?) know?

Yes, I hope this will be featured in PFK. Nanos are becoming more popular and I think they'll be very interested. Moody has already kindly produced some excellent photos and written work for me to use. I've also heard that as a subscriber gift PFK may be giving away 25 l. Aqua Cubes - worth the subcription fee alone! So we may see a lot more nano owners in the future.

The Arcadia Pods are based on the Original Tropical Lamp, a purple rendition but good for plant growth due to the red and blue peaks. Intensity wise I have no idea how they'll perform over a nano but I'd be inclined to go for the 11w if I wanted to grow all but the lowest light tolerant plants.

I look forward to seeing you Rio 240.

Exciting ! Look forward to see how this develops !

Thanks mate.

Wah . . . George that's sexy. I got the feeling that this is gonna be a sweet nano.

Cheers Steven. No doubt I'll be after some critiques from you later.

Great to see you getting your green thumbs wet again, George! Nanos are fun tanks, miss mine already, but the cherry barbs and their fry really like the 36g. Can't wait to see this one with plants.

You probably already know this, but really watch the evaporation on these nanos. They can go through water very quickly, as some of us have already experienced. I was topping off my 8g halfway between water changes at least once, sometimes twice a week. Of course, my tank was an open top, but evaporation may be an issue on your little system as well.

Again, can't wait to see results. Have fun planting the glosso. At least your not planting it in a 100+ gallon tank.

llj

Thanks for the tips llj. I'll be doing big, regular water changes so evaporation shouldn't be an issue.

 

[voo]

Looks like this could be interesting. Lets see if you can manage to keep the slope. Are you planning to use DIY CO2 ?

Also the stingray filters are chemical filters i think, with carbon and zeolite inside. Are you going to be removing these? I have one of these, i didnt like how you can't adjust the output

What will you do about condensation around the light?

Best of luck!

 

[George Farmer]

Looks like this could be interesting. Lets see if you can manage to keep the slope. Are you planning to use DIY CO2 ?

Also the stingray filters are chemical filters i think, with carbon and zeolite inside. Are you going to be removing these? I have one of these, i didnt like how you can't adjust the output

Thanks for your interest.

I'm hopeful the rocks should help maintain the slope. I won't be doing much uprooting/replanting so that will help too.

CO2 will be pressurized for the time being until I set up my 125 l. / 33 gal. again. This way I can really crank up the CO2 to help deal with any potential early algae issues (no animals for the time being).

The Stingray has a carbon/zeolite sponge as well as the bigger bio/mech sponge. I will be removing the chemical media and replacing with a DIY plain sponge cut to shape/size. Flow adjustment isn't an issue, the flow rate will be ideal for this size tank (10x turnover) and I'll simply place the filter where appropriate in the water column.

What will you do about condensation around the light?

Nothing. There are eight 10mm holes that will help and photoperiod will be 8 hours. I don't anticipate condensation being an issue.

Best of luck!

Thanks. My biggest "concern" is how the substrate will affect the water in terms of nutrients and chemistry. This will dictate my fert dosing technique to a large extent.

 

[BigIan]

i`ll be following this very carefully, as i have a 5 gallon i`m thinking of planting up too

 

[RadaR]

Its going to be another great tank by you. Will be interesting to see how you use the rocks as you say you've never done an aquascape with them.
Im glad i will be able to see it from its begginning as im thinking of making my 55litre planted.

 

[jcosgrove]

really looking forward to reading this, love your tanks George.

 

[Themuleous]

Looking forward to seeing how this one does Just out of interest why did you go for the interpet ballast? Not worried about the overheating issues?

Sam