Desktop No-Tech Nano Build

[trennamw]

My dry succulent terrarium is dying, so it's time to do what I do best (justify having another planted fish tank).

After some research the first-draft plan is:

6 Gallon Rimless Bookshelf Tank, about 23"x6"x9"

ADA Amazonia Substrate

Indirect southern sunlight, a spot where med-high houseplants plants do well

Ambient temp is 72-75 summer, 67-72 winter

Portland tap water, supplemented with cichlid buffer and Seachem Equlibrium so ...
--GH: ~5
--KH: ~4
--pH: ~6.5-7

Ferts ... an approach I found on Tom Barr's website:
--Excel Daily, with dry ferts weekly:
----Add'l Equilibrium (for trace nutrients) at 1/2 tsp per 20 gal
----KNO3 at 1/4 tsp per 20 gal
----KH2PO4 at 1/16 tsp per 20 gal

No heat, no light, no filter.

Flora ... Java moss, java fern, anubias from my other tank. Some crypt, stem plants, and floating plants TBA

Fauna ... I consulted our not-so-little LFS The Wet Spot, who spent about 15 minutes on the phone with me ... The end recommendation is labyrinth fish only due to lack of circulation. I may repeat a combo that's been successful for me before in an unfiltered tank (Betta+Nerite) with some shrimp that aren't easy for Betta to spot. (?)

I thought a little about Badis and Paradise Fish but a Betta fits the setting (showroom with dramatic slabs of granite and quartz), and I like to think it's propaganda to put Bettas in bigger tanks!!

Decor ... some lava rock and manzanita branch I picked up on my last visit to my grandparents' house last year.

Opinions & input are welcome of course!

 

[Nils]

Awesome tank! I would go with something that is bold in the show room, not something small like badis that will go to the back of the tank every time someone walks in. paradise fish is a big fish, and I think 6 gallons would be too small for a paradise fish. You could do some nice shrimp instead of fish. RCS are some good easy shrimp. A red/blue crowntail betta would look really good against all the green in there. Your options are more limited without a hater, light or filter. Are you sure that you don't want to put any kind of a filter on here, not even a mini HOB? It would create some movement and broaden your horizon as far as bioload goes. I've heard of the Red Sea mini filter, but never personally used it. Here's a link if you want to check out a small HOB filter: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=red+sea+nano+filter&sprefix=red+sea+nano+filter%2Caps%2C529 I would just invest in a small one like this to keep water moving and oxygenate the water. Do you already have the tank? Your ferts sound good, you'll need them to make up for the fact that there won't be a light to grow the plants.

 

[trennamw]

Good to know about the badis and paradise fish!

There's no electrical source, but a ton of natural light. It's about 8' from huge southern facing windows, about 2' from being in direct sunlight. I'm certain about the filter. I had a 3 gallon planted with a betta and a nerite last year, and posted here frantic when the filter died (looking for fix it tips), and followed a suggestion to just let it be. And guess what happened?! Instead of running 0-0-20 on water parameters, with slow growing plants, and weekly water changes, it started to run 0-0-0 with no water changes and the plants went nuts!!

I'm having a similar experience now with a 10 (that 3 gallon community went into a 10 and got 3 frogs). I have a filter dribbling for circulation but no media in it.

So a year total, without filtration other than plants ... The change here is taking out heat and light.

Of course I could be wrong!! Every situation is so different.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[trennamw]

And no I don't have the tank yet. I think LFS has it.

The lack of oxygen was why LFS said labyrinth fish. That is a great filter, that's the one on all their nanos... I just missed a $125 "come drink beer and build a nano tank" party there that I think had that filter in the package.

Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[trennamw]

So, what (short) plants are truly low-mid light?

All the plant sites conflict.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[trennamw]

Weeelllll ... The thing about drafts ...

Went to look today. The LFS didn't have that specific tank but seeing several sizes I'm concerned that long and narrow will be hard to scape and that it'll not be deep enough ... I don't want to use a lid and leaving the water level low enough to discourage jumping leaves very little room for plants. It'd also be sorta 2-dimensional.

But I'm torn because the spot I had picked would hold that tank perfectly with every plant getting a lot of light.

A squarer tank has more possibilities, but one side would be very dark.

Wonder how much light output I can get from little solar desk lamps?

Or I can give in, place it where there is electricity, among the Kohler catalogues and magazine files, where nobody can see it but me, and where there's a little danger of things falling in from the upper bar. Then I'd keep an existing 3 gallon acrylic setup I have that's fine for a less visible spot ...

Pinterest and the Internet aren't yielding great scape ideas ... But I'm finding great ideas about chopping up moss and dry starting it. Might do that now in a Tupperware while I plot and collect supplies.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Atxpunx]

Dustin's fish tanks on youtube has a low tech betta tank that's lit by only natural sunlight. I believe it's been running for more than a year now, looks great.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[trennamw]

Thanks!

We are doing some re-org at work, so I'm waiting a bit to see if I'm going to be in the high-sun, low-electricity spot.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.