Nanno Planted Tank - The Battle Plan

[speedingorange]

This is the budget Nano tank battle plan.

After wanting a planted aquarium since I got rid of my last tank over 10 years ago I spotted a bargain this morning in a local aquatic Centre.

This is the tank:

Damage and reduced in price... £10.00

This is the damage..

Filter:

Heater ( pre owned £15)

Lighting:

One lamp blue one white. No idea what the power of these is? anyone?

The plan so far...

Equipment

DIY CO2 - Suits the budget and seems straight forward, although could this be too much for the lighting i have?

Filter - What medium should I add to this as at current it is only a piece of foam? I'm worried about noise at night also, I imagine turning it off will kill the organisms off pretty fast. May just have to learn to live with it.

Lighting - Stick with what it has? its in a well lit ( natural light) room.

Inside the tank

Livestock: Shrimp only. 6 Cherry shrimp I think.

Substrate: Dark Black Gravel? or a black sand of some sort if i can find some?

Plants -

Foreground - I want something to carpet the whole base of the tank, was thinking Glossostigma elatinoides? would this survive in my tank? or would java moss be more suited due to lighting what about Fissidens splachnobryoides or Riccia?
All suggestions welcome.

Middle - I think feature wise I'm going to place a single large rock / piece of bog wood in the centre with some sort of moss on it, java moss would be suited to this?

Rear - I'm thinking one or two taller plants purely to cover the inlet to the filter and the thermostat.Java Ferns?


Tank Setup:

After reading the guides from what I can make out It would be worth me just going out and buying everything and sticking it all in, waiting for things to settle then adding the shrimp is this correct?
Adding some of this to the filter http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ZEOLITE-400g-FILTER-MEDIA---Aquarium-and-Ponds_W0QQitemZ220621613937QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=130154046656&rvr_id=130154046656&cguid=067814421270a0aad2c325f3fe50915e and then that should be it?

I will post a "floor plan" of the tank shortly

Any and all input or corrections of my mistakes above welcome

 

[Verminator89]

Ooooh, project! I like. Keeping tabs on this f'sure!

Sounds very good so far. DIY CO2 should be fine in your tank, just keep it stable, remember fluctuations cause algae blooms more than too much/little. The lighting although i can't tell from looking how powerfull they are they aught to be fine. You could always change it later cheap enough if needs be. I'd avoid 'black' gravel/sand simply because it can be so overpowering, especially in a smaller tank. However glosso would look good in contrast to a dark substrate, so its up to you. To answer your question, Yes...Glosso should be fine. My experiences are its pretty much indestructable. I've seen and read stories of some seriously tough glosso surviving long periods of no light, water changes and all sorts. The wood/rock with moss sounds very good. Java moss would suffice easily. For a background plant have you concidered Rotala 'Nanjenshan', excellent plant. Grows fast, is easy to keep and stays relatively small. Or in your tank it would be classed as tall seeing as your height you have to play with Its perfect.

James

 

[speedingorange]

Awesome Stuff,

Just reading around now, would i need some substrate other than the gravel to give the plants something to feed on? also I have no tank "mulm" to use? would a local aquatics centre provide this free of charge to get things going?

Good call on that plant! I like it I am not sure weather I want to go for a more leafy look yet though. Certainly a contender

 

[ian]

One lamp blue one white. No idea what the power of these is? anyone?
it should say what 'watt' it is on the bulb itself

DIY CO2 - Suits the budget and seems straight forward, although could this be too much for the lighting i have?
DIY will be fine for a tank this size.

Filter - What medium should I add to this as at current it is only a piece of foam? I'm worried about noise at night also, I imagine turning it off will kill the organisms off pretty fast. May just have to learn to live with it.

if theres more room, add some more sponge or just leave it, shrimp aren't messy creatures. It shouldn't be that loud

Lighting - Stick with what it has? its in a well lit ( natural light) room.

stick with whats in the hood for the time being

Inside the tank

Livestock: Shrimp only. 6 Cherry shrimp I think.

Substrate: Dark Black Gravel? or a black sand of some sort if i can find some?

Dark all the way if your planning on cherry shrimp. Tihitian moon sand is nice sand, but expensive.
Plants -

Foreground - I want something to carpet the whole base of the tank, was thinking Glossostigma elatinoides? would this survive in my tank? or would java moss be more suited due to lighting what about Fissidens splachnobryoides or Riccia?
All suggestions welcome.

I'm loving Riccia at the moment. Theres some good guides on here on how to manage it (i also have it in my tank, click the link on my sig)

Middle - I think feature wise I'm going to place a single large rock / piece of bog wood in the centre with some sort of moss on it, java moss would be suited to this?

I would use some petrified wood and use some dwarf hair grass around the rock

Rear - I'm thinking one or two taller plants purely to cover the inlet to the filter and the thermostat.Java Ferns?

if you want java ferns then go for them, i'd have a look at some crypts as well. Some crypts get taller ie Cryptocoryne undulata, Cryptocoryne willisii. Nice easy care plants


Tank Setup:

After reading the guides from what I can make out It would be worth me just going out and buying everything and sticking it all in, waiting for things to settle then adding the shrimp is this correct?
Adding some of this to the filter http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ZEOLITE-400g-FILTER-MEDIA---Aquarium-and-Ponds_W0QQitemZ220621613937QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=130154046656&rvr_id=130154046656&cguid=067814421270a0aad2c325f3fe50915e and then that should be it?

have a read up on cycling your tank. Zeolite is OK, but should only be used in last stage filtration as it removes ammonia and this is what you need your main biological filter to do

I will post a "floor plan" of the tank shortly


Any and all input or corrections of my mistakes above welcome

and good luck, keep us posted.

 

[speedingorange]

I like the look of the moon sand.. 9kg (20lbs) should be enough to cover the tank with a 1 - 2 inch base? (tank dimms 9" deep 12" wide 11" tall)??

 

[speedingorange]

Floor Plan

Light green = Glosso
Med Green = java moss
dark green = dwarf hair grass

brown = bog wood

grey = rock / stone.

What type of dark stone could i use? i take it coal is a no no?

in front of the rocks i would want the level to be about 1" and behind about 2" to add a bit of depth.

What are your opinions?

 

[speedingorange]

Today I grabbed some more supplies...

200g of Zeolite, £ £2.78 inc postage ebay http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220621616624

Tap Safe chems, £3.99

Bacteria Starter Chems, £6.99

Two bits of bogwood £5 each

Black Gravel £1 per kilo

Some Air hose, and some air stones. 5 for £1.74 inc postage http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260654794193&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:GB:1123

So far I have decided that I bought too much bogwood! lol so one bit is going up for sale or for trade... does this forum have an area where I could trade bogwood for mulm and plants? lol

here is the piece i want to keep test fitted in the tank.

Here is the piece i wont be keeping (13" long approx)... anyone interested in swapping some plants and or some mulm?

here is the Gravel: £1 per Kilo

Oh and i also found out i have two 8watt bulbs in the tank. one white one blue

 

[BadBadger]

Looking forward to seeing how this ends up.
Any chance of keeping all the prices? I'm looking to do a similar sort of thing

 

[speedingorange]

I will run through and edit it in a bit with all the prices

 

[BadBadger]

I will run through and edit it in a bit with all the prices

Cheers mate

 

[ian]

remember to use the zeolite as last stage filtration, and nice bit of wood. It suits the tank, you should be able to scape this really well.

 

[speedingorange]

plan is to wack it underneath the sponge filter that needs regular washing

 

[SuperColey1]

That is a huge piece of wood for a tank that size. However you can achieve a nice scape from it.

You will however be limited a little in the style of scape you choose in order that the bogwood doesn't dominate the scape too much.

I would suggest something like this style:
http/www.aquascapingworld.com/forum/aquascaping-showcase/3364-cliff.html

If you wer to try a more traditional style scape i.e. the slope front to back and the plants rising in height from front to back then that wood is just going to draw the eye too much

Regards
AC

 

[speedingorange]

Yeah thats sort of the thing i was thinking of i will post an " artists impression" or some other examples i have been taking inspiration from a little later

 

[speedingorange]

art skills to the win...

carpet = glosso,

dwarf hair grass around the log,

and java moss on the log.

What you think?