7G MiniBow Redux

[maxwell1295]

I moved my 7G into my office a few months ago. It used to house 3 female bettas and some otos. When I moved them out into other tanks, I still had this tank laying around and nowhere to put it, so I decided to take it to work with me.

This is what it looked like in a previous life...


I had some leftover 3M ColorQuartz sand from when I set up my 55G and 46G tank, so I used it here. One thing I didn't like about the previous setup was the lack of an matching stand. Since there is no such thing for this size MiniBow, I figured I'd go ahead and build one on my own. Since I had already built a stand for the 55G mbuna tank, I had an idea of what I wanted to do with this one. Luckily for me, I work at a place where we have a carpentry shop and just about all the plywood and 2x4's I need for small projects like this. What I wanted was a stand that somewhat matched the decor of the office, it was just refurbished with new furniture (cherry colored with black accents). I won't go through the all steps it took to build the stand, but there is a pic of the finished product below.

The next task was to lightly plant and then stock with some fish. I have this betta I call Mr. Jones. he had been living happily in a little 1.5 tank before I moved him into a 5G tank with some Neon Tetras. He has always been one of my faves, but was getting lost in the shuffle with all the tanks at home. That made him the prime candidate to be the centerpiece fish. Besides, he was getting lazy lounging around at home so it was time for him to see what the 'real world" is all about.

Here are some transition pics:


Filter, heater and substrate...




Messy office...


A few clippings from the 46G, plus rocks and driftwood (Water Sprite, Broadleaf and Sunset Hygro)



Added some White Cloud Minnows...


Not too shabby for an amateur



A month ago...



What it looks like today! (Yes, that is the one and only Mr. Jones top right)


Equipment: AGA MiniBow7, Fluval 1-Plus internal filter, 50W Stealth heater, 24W 12000K PC lighting

Stocklist: 1 Male Betta, 4 White Cloud Minnows, 2 tiny YoYo Loaches

Plants: Watersprite, Giant broadleaf Hygro, Sunset Hygro

[GlitcH]

Looks good max.........I like that gravel.
u gonna do a foreground plant in front of the driftwood?

[maxwell1295]

The light probably isn't high enough for that and to be honest.....I'm not sure I want to work that hard. lol

The plan was to keep it simple, but that has gone out the window. I am dosing Excel and following the EI routine for the rest of the ferts. Since I'm not here on weekends and get 3 day weekends twice a month, it's hard to keep up with it like the tanks we have at home. That's one reason we have gone to just the 1 planted tank at home. Too much upkeep....

[GlitcH]

Ya it can be time consuming. Anyway......I think the gravel looks good enough.....why hide it right.

[Purrbox]

If you do decide to try a carpet plant, I'd recommend Marsilea Minuta. It's very easy to take care of and will do fine with lower lighting levels.

Both tank and stand are beautiful by the way!

[rich311k]

Looking good. Nice stand.

[Glenc]

What a cool little tank and stand, looks great!