Any ‘Aquamanta Nano 35’ owners out there?

[LT74]

Hello folks,

I’ve recently returned to the joy of fish-keeping after a long, long break, mostly caused by moving a lot and living in rented accommodation. I used to keep freshwater trop and marines; had several 4ft tanks and an enormous L-shape (big enough for a young pacu) that, heartbreakingly, had to be smashed up when I left home because nobody wanted/could house it.

Back to the present, all I have now is a small 60l tank with a happy little heavily planted tropical community. I’m thinking about setting up a little tank for a pea puffer, which brings me onto the title of this thread

Are there any people out there who own an Aquamanta Nano 35 that could spare a few minutes to let me know what they think of the tank? I know most serious fish-keepers wouldn’t entertain a Nano tank. In the past, I wouldn’t have either, but I don’t have the space or time (or money!) to set up the large tank I would like. Is it any good or should avoid at all costs?

Thanks for reading this!
Leo

 

[emeraldking]

Well Leo, a warm welcome to the forum to start with...

I don't know the Aquamanta Nano 35 myself to give a proper answer on this specific tank. Maybe others who may have them. But to come back to the nano tanks themselves... They have become much more popular these days. So, there are a lot of serious aquarists who do keep nano tanks. I myself love them. Especially, when you do some aquascaping. Just the choice of small aquatic species to house in there will become less. But when it comes to fish, there are sufficient small species. Which goes as well for crustaceans.

 

[LT74]

Well Leo, a warm welcome to the forum to start with...

I don't know the Aquamanta Nano 35 myself to give a proper answer on this specific tank. Maybe others who may have them. But to come back to the nano tanks themselves... They have become much more popular these days. So, there are a lot of serious aquarists who do keep nano tanks. I myself love them. Especially, when you do some aquascaping. Just the choice of small aquatic species to house in there will become less. But when it comes to fish, there are sufficient small species. Which goes as well for crustaceans.

Many thanks for the warm welcome!

And for the response. I’m all for nano tanks to be honest. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about them. I wanted to know about this one specifically because it doesn’t appear to sold anywhere other than Maidenhead Aquatics and there are no reviews for it at all, other than one done by a member of this forum. I think I might just go for it. It’s very similar to the Fluval Flex, which I already own. I guess I just want at least a few people to say “yeah, it’s decent enough”.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hi and welcome!
Agree with @emeraldking that the concept of nano tanks (and nano fish) has really taken off, with more and more people appreciating the skill it takes to scape one really well, and to maintain it perfectly. We try to steer beginners away from real nano tanks (less than 10gs) precisely because they're much harder to stock and much harder for someone new to the hobby to establish stable water parameters. Since you already know that stuff, then it should be much easier for you!

I think it's partly space/time makes it more practical, but also with aqua scaping becoming more popular and accessible via youtube etc, the hobby has kept up, with visually appealing tanks, and nano fish like chili rasbora, celestial pearl danios, ember tetra and dwarf catfish being more accessible as well. Ohh, shrimp keeping has also become very popular, I wouldn't doubt that has had some influence too. Lots of people setting up nano tanks specifically for shrimp only. Have you had any thoughts about what you'd like to keep in the tank?

I can't help you with that specific tank I'm afraid, never had one. But it looks pretty good to me, in the description/images. Similar to a Ciano Cube or the Fluval, like you said. The only thing I'd do is switch out the carbon and nitrate media parts of the filter and replace them with bio/mechanical filtration, personally. I'm not strict on having nano tanks myself, although I consider my 15.5g tanks to be nano tanks really, but I'm very fond of my nano fish - my pygmy corydoras and shrimp, and plan to keep more of the nano species I mentioned above, even if it's bigger numbers in slightly larger tanks. But I do have a 15L Ciano Cube that I plan to scape and find something to put in it too, just for the challenge of it!

Hope you stick around and find the forum useful! Would be great if you make a journal thread for the tank build when you get it. Those are always fun to watch, and can get some useful tips along the way.

 

[LT74]

Hi and welcome!
Agree with @emeraldking that the concept of nano tanks (and nano fish) has really taken off, with more and more people appreciating the skill it takes to scape one really well, and to maintain it perfectly. We try to steer beginners away from real nano tanks (less than 10gs) precisely because they're much harder to stock and much harder for someone new to the hobby to establish stable water parameters. Since you already know that stuff, then it should be much easier for you!

I think it's partly space/time makes it more practical, but also with aqua scaping becoming more popular and accessible via youtube etc, the hobby has kept up, with visually appealing tanks, and nano fish like chili rasbora, celestial pearl danios, ember tetra and dwarf catfish being more accessible as well. Ohh, shrimp keeping has also become very popular, I wouldn't doubt that has had some influence too. Lots of people setting up nano tanks specifically for shrimp only. Have you had any thoughts about what you'd like to keep in the tank?

I can't help you with that specific tank I'm afraid, never had one. But it looks pretty good to me, in the description/images. Similar to a Ciano Cube or the Fluval, like you said. The only thing I'd do is switch out the carbon and nitrate media parts of the filter and replace them with bio/mechanical filtration, personally. I'm not strict on having nano tanks myself, although I consider my 15.5g tanks to be nano tanks really, but I'm very fond of my nano fish - my pygmy corydoras and shrimp, and plan to keep more of the nano species I mentioned above, even if it's bigger numbers in slightly larger tanks. But I do have a 15L Ciano Cube that I plan to scape and find something to put in it too, just for the challenge of it!

Hope you stick around and find the forum useful! Would be great if you make a journal thread for the tank build when you get it. Those are always fun to watch, and can get some useful tips along the way.

Thanks for the response, and the advice/info. I’d agree that it’s just as much of a challenge to keep a small tank in good shape as it is a large one. I’m always most concerned about making the fish feel at home first and foremost. I’d never set up anything less than 19-20l/5gallons personally. Not fair for anything to have live in that little water, especially if the aim is to create as natural an environment as possible, with plants, wood, stones etc.

I’m thinking of housing a single pea puffer, and maybe one or two brave souls. I know some people have had success keeping them with ottos, some with chilli rasboras or other quick fish that can get out of the way - whereas as the majority of people say not to risk it. If I put plenty of plants and some roots to break line of sight, I might get away with it. I think this little tank (Aquamanta Nano 35) looks pretty good. I’ve just noticed that Amazon are doing the white Fluval Flex 34l for £102.96, which is cheaper, but it has smaller capacity, a lot of dead space in the rear chamber…and it’s WHITE! Won’t go with my decor at all

 

[emeraldking]

Many thanks for the warm welcome!

And for the response. I’m all for nano tanks to be honest. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about them. I wanted to know about this one specifically because it doesn’t appear to sold anywhere other than Maidenhead Aquatics and there are no reviews for it at all, other than one done by a member of this forum. I think I might just go for it. It’s very similar to the Fluval Flex, which I already own. I guess I just want at least a few people to say “yeah, it’s decent enough”.

In our country, nano tanks are a hype at the moment...

 

[Rosyannie]

Hello folks,

I’ve recently returned to the joy of fish-keeping after a long, long break, mostly caused by moving a lot and living in rented accommodation. I used to keep freshwater trop and marines; had several 4ft tanks and an enormous L-shape (big enough for a young pacu) that, heartbreakingly, had to be smashed up when I left home because nobody wanted/could house it.

Back to the present, all I have now is a small 60l tank with a happy little heavily planted tropical community. I’m thinking about setting up a little tank for a pea puffer, which brings me onto the title of this thread

Are there any people out there who own an Aquamanta Nano 35 that could spare a few minutes to let me know what they think of the tank? I know most serious fish-keepers wouldn’t entertain a Nano tank. In the past, I wouldn’t have either, but I don’t have the space or time (or money!) to set up the large tank I would like. Is it any good or should avoid at all costs?

Thanks for reading this!
Leo

I'm new to fish keeping and bought one of these about 5 months ago. I have 6 Rosie Tetras in it which are doing really well, its easy to maintain, but my biggest issue is brown algae, my tank is planted and I've tried adjusting light levels but nothing seems to work!

 

[LT74]

I'm new to fish keeping and bought one of these about 5 months ago. I have 6 Rosie Tetras in it which are doing really well, its easy to maintain, but my biggest issue is brown algae, my tank is planted and I've tried adjusting light levels but nothing seems to work!

Hello! Welcome to the wonderful world of fish keeping!

Have you any, or have you thought about getting some algae eaters in there? A couple of Nerite snails perhaps? Or a couple of ottocinclus? A couple of decent soze amano shrimp would be very useful for all round cleaning.

I notice your tank is close to a window - does it get a lot of sun/natural light throughout the day? If so, it’s unlikely you’ll complete rid yourself tank of algae. A little isn’t a problem anyway to be honest.

How often do you feed? Try feeding every other day for a while. That might help too.

Take care!

 

[LT74]

I'm new to fish keeping and bought one of these about 5 months ago. I have 6 Rosie Tetras in it which are doing really well, its easy to maintain, but my biggest issue is brown algae, my tank is planted and I've tried adjusting light levels but nothing seems to work!

Forgot to say - your tank looks great by the way!

 

[Rosyannie]

Hello! Welcome to the wonderful world of fish keeping!

Have you any, or have you thought about getting some algae eaters in there? A couple of Nerite snails perhaps? Or a couple of ottocinclus? A couple of decent soze amano shrimp would be very useful for all round cleaning.

I notice your tank is close to a window - does it get a lot of sun/natural light throughout the day? If so, it’s unlikely you’ll complete rid yourself tank of algae. A little isn’t a problem anyway to be honest.

How often do you feed? Try feeding every other day for a while. That might help too.

Take care!

Thank you! The tank is actually 15 ft from the nearest window and gets no direct light at all. I feed a small pinch morning and evening, one of flake and the other one pellets. I did have a snail, a zebra nerite, who after a month proceeded to lay bright white eggs everywhere so it went back to the store! I'd really like some shrimp, but worry about the bio load. I was thinking of getting either 6 ghost or amano ( the store said 6 is the minimum but no idea if that's true?), once I've got the root cause of the algae sorted.
I'm dropping the light to only being on 6 hours a day from 8, turning the brightness down a bit and switching to white bulbs only, not the mixed blue and white in the hope that might work.
I could drop feeding to once a day, but they really snarf down what I give them in 2 mins flat!
Have you had amano yourself? Are they pretty straightforward to keep?

 

[LT74]

Ah! Okay. The reflection of the window in the tank tricked my poor brain. Do you have any moss balls in your tank? A couple of those might mop up some nutrients that are feeding the algae.

I had the same issue with my Nerite snail but I kept it anyway. As for the shrimp, yes, I have two Amano and two cherry. My understanding is that their bioload contribution is low compared to fish, and because they spend all of their time scavenging, including rotting plants, it’s win-win. They virtually take care of themselves. They eat pretty much all food. The only thing that needs supplementing occasionally is a source of calcium for their shells. They even eat/recycle their own shed skin for this. Some people put blanched lettuce or spinach (organic to remove any chance of pesticides). I also occasionally put in a (very) small piece of ‘holiday’ fish food block, as they’re higher in calcium than normal food. The shrimp seem to love it.


It’s a shame that shrimp are gobbled up by bigger fish because they’d be a great help in larger aquaria. They’re also interesting to watch. They do grow, so in that tank, I think 3-4 would probably be enough.

Let me know how you get on!