A new Nano tank

My initial scape venture though was with my current TOTM tank. It took a hell of a lot of imagination and work to get things right for me, and a single image of it, as in the TOTM contest doesn't really bring out the 3D nature of all the wood etc.
It really doesn't do it justice with the single pic in TOTM. I really do like what you've done with that scape, I see the stream is up too - nice seeing it active. My current nano is just that, a single piece of wood with some selected plants. I have been thinking of redoing a tank currently housing 2 dwarf gouramis and a handful of harlequin rasbora, I think it could be a perfect excuse. I have a spare 70l so I will probably use that and it being a spare I can take my time with it

Thank you I appreciate the offer, I think I'll be needing all the inspiration I can get. Also brilliant that they have a DIY table to test placements :D
 
It really doesn't do it justice with the single pic in TOTM. I really do like what you've done with that scape, I see the stream is up too - nice seeing it active. My current nano is just that, a single piece of wood with some selected plants. I have been thinking of redoing a tank currently housing 2 dwarf gouramis and a handful of harlequin rasbora, I think it could be a perfect excuse. I have a spare 70l so I will probably use that and it being a spare I can take my time with it

Thank you I appreciate the offer, I think I'll be needing all the inspiration I can get. Also brilliant that they have a DIY table to test placements :D
70 litres is a decent size to start with. My TOTM entry is 75 litres though the dimensions may be different.
I have to agree that a single 2 dimensional picture isn't anything to judge a tank from. Mine has several pieces of wood all set out to give alleyways and dead end streets as it were so that the fish can swim between the wooden structures. The many avenues make it easy for the likes of the Chili Rasboras to separate from the more active Golden Tetras, and even the fry have a better chance of survival.
I'm off out this morning.... guess where .........
 
Wow that's some tank room, I can see why people travel up there. I have a nano that currently houses a betta and the odd shrimp. I would certainly like to do a plant only tank though, to have a proper go at the whole aquascaping thing. I just need to find somewhere to put it..

I have seen the TOTM which I thought was neat and sent my vote in. Really interesting to hear how you went about getting it setup as well. I do sometimes head up that way, I will be stopping by at some point for sure! Equally interested in seeing any pics before then :D


What a steal, I have a ciano cube and it's a neat little tank. Will be perfect for it :)
Went over there again today for more Lava soil and 3 red crystal shrimp and another 4 Emerld Rasboras to join the other 4 I have in a small tank.
I just hate having to leave the place. i could camp there all night. Anyway, their shrimp and nano fish room is home to a number of really small tanks, some which are more plants than fish or shrimp, Then there's a magnificent one at the cashpoint counter.
Pictures below:
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If you try to emulate one of them and get results very similar then you'll have done a fantastic job. The tank below is absolutely gorgeous but it has a tank with a filter divider that also houses the heater. A bit pricy for me. They are the UK agent for Chihiros as shown on top of that tank, but they don't do the one I want, the A361 so I have it coming from AliExpress at a very decent price.
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The one below is my all-time favourtite. Fantastic with the flowring plant and the protruding wood
 
Thanks Jitsz.
I really enjoy the aquascape thing.
I started with the tank in this months Tank Of The Month entry in March. It's really matured nicely now.
This nano tank is inspired by one I saw at Horizon Aquatics, perhaps one of, if not The, best aquascape shops in the UK. Picture of their tank room below:

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Have you voted yet, by the way. I think it's always nice to show appreciation. When the lights are on, my tanks are often viewed live from the link below my signature.

Wow all of these tanks looks awesome! How do you have time to maintain all of these?
 
Those are the display tanks at Horizon Aquatics. They were set up by aquascaping experts and maintained by the staff at the store. They have whole section of these tanks with seating so the customer can sit and look at the tanks.
This is an aquascaping specialist shop which also sells some fish rather than a fish store which sells a few plants and bits of scaping equipment. They also have an on-line shop for those who live too far away to visit.
 
Incredible the amount of detail in all these tanks, really are quite something and very inspiring. Thanks for sharing them! I really like the 2nd from the bottom, I think the shallow tanks look really neat and draw more attention to the contents.

Now I'm going to have to keep an eye out for another nano to use for something... haha. Hope your rasboras like their new friends too :)
 
Some of the tanks are less than 6" high. In fact I have Pyrex dishes that are bigger. Just goes to show what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.
If you would like to keep up with their shop newbies, fish, plants and aquascaping get them on Facebook and/or Instagram.
Apart from the superb aquascaping part of the business, they also seem to have fish and shrimp that I've never seen in other shops.
I believe they had Vampire Shrimp last week.
 
Nice! I like the psuedomugli's, will be following! Like the nano tank scape a lot too, can't wait to see it when it's grown in and flooded. :)
First flooding just done.
The tank has had intense lighting above it for 15 hours a day with a regular spray to dampen things down. Unfortunately a good amount of the moss couldn;t take it, nor could the anubias on the wood. I'll replace them over the next few days once the wood is properly soaked.
The mini grass has done tremendously well and is the reason for flooding the tank today as it has got so tall it really needs cuting. The Monte Carlo in the left rear has been slow but as it was at the top of a mound it may not have had sufficient moisture, another reason for flooding the tank now.
The Chihiros A361 arrived fron China 2 days ago and I'm delighted with it. It has high light out[ut but no colour control though as in the Vivid 2's. Still, it looks very nice and i've added a timer to it as well.
I can recommend this brand but my main reason for buying it is that it fits exactly the tank measurement, ie 36 cm side to side.
I;m going to just let the tank settle in for a week or so before any fish go in.
I also bought a new hang on back canister filter that I'm pretty chuffed with. This is one that doesn't need to hang on the back, but with appropriate pipes etc can be stored out of sight under a cabinet. Best of both worlds really. It's been filled with filter medium from another internal filter so is running on another tank right now to enhance the beneficial bacteria so that there'll be no need to wait weeks to add fish.
Anyway, here's a picture to look at.
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Just a quick update.
I mentioned 3 things in my previous posts about equipment for this tank. I planned to buy things that were needed from UK suppliers but they were either too expensive, or not available in the UK. For these I did an Aliexpress purchase, reluctantly I may add.
The 1st, or so I believe, was a flat heater that looks way better than the usual tubular ones and easier to conceal especially againt a black background. That's a SunSun 50 watt heater. That's arrived and is really nice. It hasn't been put to any great test yet although I did run it for a couple of days on another tank, however I have been using SunSun canister heaters for a few months with no problems. The fact that the heater is flat makes it easier on the eye.
The next thing I was looking at was a tank wide overhead light, ie one that was exactly the width of the tank at 36cm. I searched everywhere but 36cm isn't readily accomodated in the UK, so once more Aliexpress provided the answer with the Chihiros A361. Having already bought and love the Chihiros Vivid 2, there was nothing to dislike about the A361. It doesn't have a colour option as in the Vivid 2 but apart from that it looks really professional with proper vinyl side plates rather than the pull-out wire legs. It sits firmly on the tank top and it has a controller to set lighting parameters. Again, it looks just so professional and way better than most options in the UK. I asked the UK agent if they supplied it, and they said they could get one on prepayment at a cost of £48. The one direct from Aliexpress cost me £31 in total inc VAT and delivery.

Next I searched for a suitable filter for the nano tank that could be used externally. There are several that can be hung on the back of course but the problem arises when there is insufficient space between the back of the tank and the wall. Also they really don't look all that nice being in obvious sight, just hanging there sort of like an extra hump on a camel. So I spent days searching for external canister filters of suitable size for a nano tank. There are many externals of course but they all tend to be way too large for such a small tank, and space becomes a problem as they would need some sort of deep cabinet to hide them in. Eventually I found what I thought would be an ideal unit. This is a hang on back unit but has the advantage of being able to be easily used as a hidden canister filter.
It arrived on Friday and I quickly opened it up to see how it looked internally. It has 4 trays all linked together, as is usual with canister filters. Each of them had sponge filter medium in them so I took out the filter material from the 1st of them and replaced it with the normal ceramic rings from an old filter. I also took sponge filter material from an already running filter to place at the bottom of the canister. It was really quite dirty so after a tank-water squeeze to remove the obvious gunk I placed it where the input pipe was located so that the beneficial bacteria got 1st bite of the cherry.
Right now I have it just hanging on another tank to keep it going until I'm ready to add it to the nano tank before the introduction of fish. I'll easily knock up some inlet and outlet pipes that will look much better than the black plastic ones, and long enought to be able to hide it underneath the tank out of sight.
This isn't an advert for Aliexpress but just shows what you can find in the myriad of items their traders sell, that are either not yet in the UK or way to expensive if they are,
So, right now the tank is just soaking for a week at least to allow better growth on the Monte Carlo and after that will have the moss and anubias replaced, then of course the Blue Eyed Red Neon Rainbowfish (Pseudomugil luminatus) can be added. All 4 of them, 3 female and a single male.
The tank took 16 litres to fill it so overstocking needs to be prevented but the fish seem happy enough in a small breeding tank of similar size.
 
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I have used aliexpress before and found them to be quite good for certain things, I have a few NICREW airpumps actually and they're quite good. I'm interested to hear how the filter is after you've used it a bit, not a fan of the HOB look either but it's neat how you can use it as a canister filter too.

I have a flat heater at home which I just use for the quarantine tank. Despite having no temperature control on it, it does take up very little space and would be perfect for a small tank that sort of size. Much easier to hide out of the way!

Scape is looking really nice though, are you adding co2?
 
Just checked the water in the tank and I need to get the parameters right for the fish before I put them in.
I used a mix of dechlorintated tap water and rainwater for the 1st fill, around 60/40tap/rain.
The GH is showing at 360 this morning and the pH is around 8.5.
The water authority has gone back to the hardwater source after a brief interlude from the soft supply a couple of weeks ago,
I can probably correct the GH, pH and KH by adding more rainwater but I wonder if doing so will have an effect on the overall water chemistry. For instance the normal tapwater chemicals such as iron etc.
There's no way I can measure these things but should I use the stuff that RO users put into their water, perhaps in a more modest quantity.
Just as a test of things, I put 4 yellow shrimp in the tank last night and they are doing OK at present. I know it was a risk but I'm sort of using them like canaries in a coal mine.
 

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