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Purrbox

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
5,860
Location
Iowa USA
Well, I finally found the perfect container to start a little 1/2 gallon Pico. I've been looking for months, but didn't find anything that fit the bill until tonight. I'd heard some others had some success at Pier1 Imports and decided to give them a try. Finally found what I was looking for!

Over in the Candles Section I found a 4.5" x 4.5" x 5.5" glass cube with a painted metal stand. The dimensions were perfect, though I haven't decided if I'll actually use the stand or not. If I do use the stand, I'll definately have to repaint it as the current look isn't working for me. Possibly a solid black or midnight blue.

Next step is to decide on lighting, and then have fun planting. I wish I had a good source for some really small branchy driftwood, but I don't thing that's going to be in the cards. Ah well. I've got a couple piece of petrified wood that might be the right size. I'll have to check later.
 

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That's going to be cool, would look good on the stand. Got to paint it for sure!
Keep us posted :)
 
That's a great canvas Purrbox. I can't wait to see your painting. :wink:

I'm using this light on my nano........I'm very happy with it so far.
 
I think that will make a great looking Pico tank Purrbox. Did you say you got it at Pier 1? I think I saw something similar at Linen's & Things (now I know what to do with that darn gift certificate). :D
 
Well I didn't have much luck looking for a light today. I really want to find one that will look good with the tank, won't take up too much space, and preferably only cost about $10-$15. Everything that I've liked the look of so far has been Halogen Lights, which would do a much better job of heating the tank than lighting it.

Glitch - That light you suggested looks promising, although it's pricier than I was wanting. My biggest concern is whether or not the base of the tank would actually fit on that platform. Since the base of the tank is 4.5" x 4.5" the corners might end up extending past the curves.

The light that I'm leaning heavily towards getting, although it's also more than I wanted to spend, is the Red Sea Dragonfly Light. It would look quite nice attached to the tank and the bulbs are replaceable. The 7 watts would also be more likely to get me the low maintainance tank that I'm planning.
 
i am in the process of setting up a nano right now actually. i found a light at canadian tire(obviously in canada lol) it was 15 bucks and has a 13 watt compact flourescent in it. its 4000k but u can but a 6500k bulb. i like the 4000k though. it is full adjustable. it pivots on the bottom and on the top and has a good reflector behind the bulb. really nice light.
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Purrbox said:
Glitch - That light you suggested looks promising, although it's pricier than I was wanting. My biggest concern is whether or not the base of the tank would actually fit on that platform. Since the base of the tank is 4.5" x 4.5" the corners might end up extending past the curves.

I measured it for ya........looks like it will fit.

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Thanks Glitch! Those are exactly the measurements I would have taken if I'd been able to look at it in person. I think I'll keep this light as my backup option if I can't find one I like better at a lower price.
 
Well I decided on and ordered a light for this tank today. That means that I would be able to start setting it up late this week, except that the holiday will probably end up delaying things about a week. I finally went with the Red Sea Deco Art Dragonfly fixture which has a 7 watt Power Compact bulb. I found a pretty good price on it a BigAls by going with the Purple fixture ($16.99) instead of the Blue fixture ($20.99) which I would have preferred. I went with this fixture since it will be giving me the amount of light that I am looking for and it won't take up near as much space as most of the other lighting solutions would have.
 
Sounds like a good deal! Can't wait to see some pics. Thanks for posting the light you got - I'm trying to find an additional lighting source and I'll check that out.
 
Well, I finally got this tank setup on Friday when I recieved my latest shipment of plants. Currently the tank has the following plants:
Hemianthus Micranthemoides
Anubias Nana Petite
Hemianthus Callitrichoides

I recieved the new light yesterday. So after tracking down a spare powerstrip and timer, I got the light setup tonight. I'm still not totally happy with the purple light, but I'm sure that it will grow on me. It is my favorite color after all. For now I've decided to forgo the stand for stability and visual aesthetic reasons.

I'm currently keeping an eye out for a perfect piece(s) of driftwood or rocks for this tank. I think that the Anubias would present much nicer if it was tied to something, and then I could introduce some Fissiden Fontanus to the tank as well. I'm also considering swaping out the Hemianthus Micranthemoides for some Eleocharis Parvulus. I'll let the HM grow in some first to see how it looks before I make a final decision.

I've also picked up some 60ml dropper bottles, that I'll be using for dosing ferts with this tank. Since I'll be adding them by the drop instead of the ml, it just made sense to pick some up. I bought a case, so look for the extras to appear in the Classified Forum once I decide how many I'm going to want to use/keep.
 

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Well, it looks like the majority of the Hemianthus Micranthemoides isn't going to make it as a result of spending 5 days in shipping during cold weather. Luckily it looks like there's at least one small peice that is greening up nicely, so I should be able to grow it out from that. If not I can always harvest some Hemianthus Micranthemoides 'Erect' from my 5.5 gallon tank as it's trying to take over in there.

The Hemianthus Callitrichoides is looking a bit leggy but otherwise growing well, while the Anubias Nana 'Petite' is just sort of there for the moment. I figure I'll see more growth from the Anubias once it recovers from being split and settles into the new tank. Once the Hemianthus Callitrichoides is a bit better established, I'll give in a good trimming to see if I can get it to grow more horizontally instead of vertically.

I've got to say that the dropper bottles are working out fabulously for dosing, and I'm glad I splurged and bought them. I'd highly recommend them for use with nanos, especially in a office setting. The take up very little drawer space.
 
Most of the Hemianthus Micranthemoides died off as I suspected it was going to, but I've got several stems that are growing well now. The Hemianthus Callitrichoides is filling in quite nicely too. I've had a touch of Green Spot Algae forming on the glass and some a bit of what looks to be Diatoms on the Anubias. Overall the tank seems to be progressing nicely, even if not as quickly as I'd hoped.
 
I'm really happy with how this tank is turning out. The HM and HC are filling nicely after an initial die back and the Anubias nana 'petite' is putting out lots of new leaves. I had a brief outbreak of algae while the tank was settling in, but now there's just a little bit of GSA on the Anubias and some Diatoms on the glass. After some tweaking with my dosing and manual removal the BGA went away. The water's a bit hazy, but seems to be improving over the last couple of days. Not sure if its a bacterial bloom or mild case of GW, but it looks like it should clear up in a matter of weeks either way.

I finally found a great little piece of driftwood that works wonderfully in the tank. After playing around with it for a little bit, I found a placement that I really like. Now I just need to decide what type of moss I want to attach to it. I'm currently thinking about using either Fissidens fontanus or Weeping moss, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

I plan to get some new pics in the next week or two.
 
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