Yet another office pico tank log -- New pics 9/20/07

[dskidmore]

Re: Yet another office pico tank log

Any tips on cycling a tank this small?

Same principles apply, just everything is smaller. I used 1/4 of an algae pellet to cycle my 2.5 gallon.

If you plant it thickly before you add the shrimp, I don't think you'll have to worry anyway.

Nice looking tank. I have so much fun with my office 2.5 gallon. I hope you enjoy yours too!

 

[HiJaC]

I've fallen in love with a fish tank.

something i never thought i'd find myself typing.

must find a uk stockist.

 

[Lepomis]

For me I would reconsider the use of driftwood at all. The tank is such a strong and beautful focal point. Design should accentuate the pleasing flow in my opinion. The driftwood is too large and distracting with that tank. I believe that rocks or plant scape alone would be a better choice to accentuate. Now I could be completely wrong after seeing what you end up with so please keep us updated.

I had not seen that tank before and am really drawn to it. This would be a great tank that would make for a nice "contest" tank. Would be amazing to see what different individuals would come up with if all started with the same tank.

 

[majolo]

Well, I'm placing an order online for some plants, including HC, Fissidens fontanus, and Pelia (Monoselenium tenerum). I'm hoping that either the HC or the pelia will work as some ground cover on the slope, and then have the fissidens on the driftwood.

 

[HiJaC]

Hi,

You have got me inspired to do something small now...

How quiet is the Azoo Mignon Power Filter 60? ie suitable for the bedroom?

Thanks,

John

 

[majolo]

It's very quiet. At startup there's the usual little chatter as trapped air gets pulled out of the system, but the motor is not noticeable to me from more than a foot away. Just keep the water level high enough to keep from getting a splash.

 

[majolo]

First plants in, some floaters thanks to member toddnbecka:

Gravity seems to be leaving the sand alone pretty well. The filter is another matter. It's blown most of the sand behind the driftwood out, but it's also making kind of a nice sand dune in the back right area. I'm getting quite a lot of tannins from the driftwood now though I had pre-soaked it. I think being in such a small volume might be why. I'm fine with that though.

 

[majolo]

I've got some more plants now. Here's a full tank shot:

The plant on the right is an Anubias coffeefolia transferred from my 55 gal. The stuff in center on the driftwood is susswassertang (excuse the lack of umlaut), which was apparently a substitution for Pelia in my order. I have it weighed down with a few glass marbles, which I hope will encourage it to anchor on the wood. The white thing on the left is plastic cross-stitch fabric, to serve as a partial pre-filter -- if the susswassertang come loose, it won't clog the intake tube, and this should also be sort of a lifeline for shrimp that stray too close to the tube. I've turned the flow down, but the current in here might still be a bit strong. I hope the cave under the driftwood will be a calm spot for the shrimp to rest...

Here's a closeup of the susswassertang:

This is my new favorite plant, so cool looking. It's wonderfully green and translucent, but not nearly as delicate as it looks. It came out of a 10 day shipment from Singapore looking this nice! I hope it will grow and anchor well. This is about half what I got; I'm hoping to grow the other half at home in a vase, maybe share eventually.

Finally, here's the Fissidens fontanus I got:

A small amount in the shipment, so this is in the shrimp tank at home, hoping to grow this some more before trying to attach it to anything.

 

[theotheragentm]

Those plants are great. I can't wait to see them all attached down.

 

[zao]

Man I really like that aquairum!

 

[Devilishturtles]

Very very nice

 

[majolo]

Well, the bad news is I was right about the current being too strong, even with the flow adjusted to low. I brought in a few shrimp last night to test it out, and they looked ok, although they had a noticeably hard time going upstream. But they weren't going through the mesh wall, so I thought maybe they'll be all right. They had no problem catching on to the wall or crawling around on the driftwood and plants. However, the mesh wall wasn't from floor to ceiling (since the floor isn't flat, I would have had to do a curve to fit it and I was lazy. Anyway, came in today and couldn't find them. And of course they were in the filter. So at this point, I'm taking the filter out and considering this a plant tank only.

Some other thoughts: As time goes on I'm less and less pleased with the fancy tank shape. It has the advantage that it catches people's eyes. But on the other side of the equation, there's very little flexibility in aquascaping and I couldn't really do a background since the back glass extends outside the tank area. I think a regular 2.5 gal rectangular would be much better, and I might swap this out for one.

 

[theotheragentm]

If you cram a tighter sponge in the filter, you might reduce flow. You would be clogging it on purpose essentially.

 

[dskidmore]

I couldn't really do a background since the back glass extends outside the tank area.

If you did a solid color background, you could just do the whole back pane of glass. I think it would look ok.

 

[Atl300zx]

a prefilter would help reduce flow and protect the shrimp

Also you could use a small piece of that same plastic mesh over the outtake if you fear them swimming into it.

For the background, you could do a moss wall (using the same type of plastic you have) since they attach in the inside with suction cups. I just did one on my 10G (last weekend), it hasnt grown through yet, but will in time.