🐠 TOTM VOTE NOW - June 2024 Tank of the Month Contest (16 gal & smaller)

[Fishmanic]

POLL IS NOW CLOSED
16 Gallon and Smaller
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Please Vote Now
We have 8 awesome tanks entered in Fishforums' June 2024 Tank of the Month contest featuring tanks sized at 16 gallon and smaller. View all the tanks and descriptions below and then go to poll at the top of this thread, click on your choice for TOTM, and then click the "Cast" button.

Please DO NOT post any comments about any specific entry in this thread...such posts will promptly be deleted. You are not allowed to update your entry picture or video once voting has started.

Please Note:
Any attempt to influence competition results, other than by casting your allocated vote, is not permitted and may result in your entry being removed and / or further action being taken. You are not allowed to have friends or family join TFF for the main purpose of voting for you. This is a public poll so source of votes can be viewed.

Winner will be awarded a neat "Tank of the Month Winner" banner in their profile area and will be featured in a "TOTM Winner" thread for all to see and to comment on. Winner will also be added to our TOTM WALL OF FAME

You are allowed to change your vote if you wish.
This poll will end on June 14th at 6:36 PM (ET)

 

[MaloK]

I'll give it a try this time

Hardware:
Revamped Vintage Hagen Starter Kit
Hagen 4.77g (18.05L) Semi-Braced Glass Aquarium, 16"L, 8"W, 8.5"H
Tronic Gold 50w Water Heater
AquaClear A600 Filter
AQQA AQ037 12w Full Spectrum Led Light
Marina A50 Air Pump
Hygger Super Mini Aquarium Single Sponge Filter

Settings:
Light: 70% full spectrum. Day starts at 9:30 Night starts at 20:30, moonlight 1 hour
Temperature: 75.25°stable 24/7 (Winter weather) goes to 80° during summer

Plants:
3x Microsorum Pteropus (Java Fern)
2x Pogostemon Erectus (Downoi Plant) that melted to shrimp food.
1x Anubias Barteri Nana (Dwarf Anubias)
2x Anubias Barteri (Broadleaf Anubias)

Stock:
12 Cherry shrimps of various colors.

Water chemistry:
Any nitrogen byproduct are nonexistent.
Kh 40ppm, Gh 120ppm, Ph 7.4 that I maintain by adding minerals and concentrated leaf extracts.

Fertilization:
20 drops of NilocG Aquatics, ThriveC per week.

Initially setup the 05-11-23 with plants and light, after a complete snail eradication, the shrimps where introduced 29-12-23 and multiplied exponentially.

Feeding:
A full pantry loaded with 5 Staple food, 4 supplements, plus cooked veggies 2 times a week and a couple more goodies. That I try to rotate without overfeeding.

Staple:
Nutrafin Spirulinae Tabs
Glassgarten Shrimp Dinner
Omega One Shrimp & Lobster Pellets
Aqueon Herbivore Shrimp
Aqueon Omnivore Shrimp

Supplement:
Glasgarten Bacter AE
Glasgarten Shrimp Fit
Glasgarten Shrimp baby
Glasgarten Mineral Junkie

Veggies:
All boiled and peeled if applicable, for maximum enjoyment.
Zucchinis, Baby carrots, Broccoli, Spinach

Goodies (once in a while):
Shrimp lollies, Snow flakes, fruit flavor tums

Maintenance:
Rinse input strainer every 2-3 days
Rinse mini filter once a month
Rinse AC media every 2-3 month
Vacuum mulm accumulating area at every mini filter rinse
Scrape front glass every AC media rinse

I successfully patented a mini vacuum for nano tanks that can go deep in narrow spaces and doesn't empty the tank in 30 seconds. An easy DIY for those interested, It works wonders for standard gravel.

Water changes:
10%-15% max every Input strainer rinse
25% at mini filter rinse
No more than 33% At AC media rinse
and might include some supplemental Vacuuming too

This is the first tank I started since at least 20 years. While the startup of the colony was a little harsh and it took me some time to balance the water as it should. I finally have a solid recipe.

This has turned around to be pure joy ! I can see lately that "little couples" formed and are hanging together, I can see them playfully chasing each other and dancing in the water.

It cracks me open like a coconut to see them go along their things.

 

[Ed Pursell]

My quick entry,

10 gallon Aqueon tank, Aqueon Led standard full hood.
Three Zebra’s, Five and growing Blue Platys, Two Rasboras Tetras. Three Neon Tetras and one Mystery snail.
Black standard gravel, a couple live plants, Anubis Nano, and Java Moss along with some artificial.
Fluval HOB filter and Fluval M 50 heater.
Tank set up in July 2022. Not near a showcase tank, but a very well established one! Water changes weekly, food of choice is Fluval bug bites and Omega One flakes.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Alright, I'll play. Welcome to my 10 gallon Nano Paludarium.

Setup:
Walstad-style; no filter, no heater, no ferts except what the fish and their food provide.
Black sand over play sand.
Floating island made from blue insulation foam coated with Drylok and concrete pigment. The toothpicks are to keep the island off the sides so fruit flies and crickets can't escape.
Rocks and wood from the friendly local river.

Plants:
Melon Sword
Assorted crypts
Dward saggitaria
Asian water fern
Assorted terrestrial mosses
A rhododendron growing on the island

Critters:
2 Scarlet badis (Dario dario)
2 Firebelly toads (Bombina orientalis)
Numerous scuds of unknown species, collected from a local pond
1 very handsome pond snail from the same pond

Feeding:
A daily helping of fruit flies and/or baby crickets for the frogs, gut-loaded and dusted with calcium/vitamin supplement.
The badis eat frozen daphnia, plus whatever baby scuds and snails they can find.
The scuds eat anything and everything.

Notes:
I've only had this set up for a couple weeks or so. Check back in a month or two after the plants have had time to fill in.

Badis and Firebelly frogs are both very fun to watch. They both remind me of the quote from Jurassic Park: "T-rex doesn't want to be fed; he wants to hunt." Like Gollum, they both want it raw and wriggling. The frogs will probably move into my 55 gallon Paludarium once they grow to full size. Perhaps I'll replace them with a couple more babies at that point.

These big scuds are just sort of...wrong. The wriggle about on the bottom looking like they're in their death throes, until you realize that's just how they eat. What fun! And yes, this is by far the best-looking pond snail I've ever owned.

I'm really enjoying this tank.

 

[Ram419]

This is a 5 gallon tank.

Substrate: Fluval Bio Stratum, Aquarium Gravel Substrate for Aquatic Plant Growth, 4.4 lb
Hardscape: Spider Wood, Rock, Underwater Treasures Log with Hideout Fish Ornament
Plants: Dwarf Sagittaria Subulata, Anubias Barteri (2), Mini Leaf Grass, Hornwort, duckweed, java moss, and a couple plants I'm not sure what they are called.

Tank: Aqueon Black Rimless
Backgroud: AWERT 24x12 inches Aquarium Background Aquatic Plant River Bed & Lake Fish Tank Background Vinyl
Heater: YukiHalu Small Submersible Aquarium Heater
Filter: UPETTOOLS Aquarium Biochemical Sponge Filter
Air pump: Tetra Whisper
Light: NICREW ClassicLED Aquarium Light with dimmer controller
Age: Almost 11 months

Fish: Endler/Guppy Hybrid (7)
Fish Food: Tropical fish flakes once per day / frozen brine shrimp once per week.

Shrimp: Red Cherry Shrimp (originally purchase 7 of them about 9 months ago. They have multiplied but not by a whole lot.)
Shrimp Food: Occasional unsalted green beans

Snails: Nerite (1) and a couple pest snails

Water changes done about once a week. Usually around 30% - 50%.
I dose Seachem Flourish once per week.

 

[Oldspartan]

10 gallon refurbished tank.

Found at flea market in March complete with metal wire stand. LEAKED when tested and had calcium scale. Stripped sealer and descaled with muriatic acid then sealed with Aquino sealant. Was done an a fun experiment and learning process.

White colored gravel with a bit of color cause that is what Linda desired.

Wood is from dead standing Cherry tree boiled, sanded lightly with 1200 airliner grit, baked then lightly torched to seal.

Rocks are from our field. Boiled doses in Chlorx solution, then boiled again.

Fake plants cause we are not yet competent for real.

Eight Neon Tetra
Six male Endler Mutts
Two Juvenile Dalmatian Molly

Filtration is a Fluval HOB. Also an Aquino 10 air pump that once supported a sponge. The sponge was borrowed to help seed the new 30 breeder. Have replacement on order. A bag of floss and Seachum is being seeded on the side.

 

[gwand]

Five gallon
Mystery snail
Neocaridina
Dwarf orange Mexican crayfish
Several gold sailfin Molly fry survivors temporarily housed
Anubias
Amazon sword
Cholla wood
Buddha statue

 

[Mikeyboy123]

This is my other 5 gal.

It's been more or less in it's present form for about a year.

Plants are vallis, rotala “orange juice”, Egeria densa and two types of mini Anubias attached to bog wood.

Critters are one horned nerite, 10 chilli rasboras, 2 Pygmy corys that are the remnants of a larger group, and an unknown number of blue cherry shrimp.

I have plain sand as substrate with root tabs, liquid ferts are TNC lite.

I use a mix of rain water and tap water in a 3:1 ratio to achieve a gh of 5 and a kh of 3. pH tends to stabilise out at around 6.8.

I have a 150lph mini internal nicrew filter and a hygger led light which i leave on for 8 hours a day. I have sporadic aeration for 15 mins 6 times a day. This is not necessary but i do it to keep the surface of the water nice and clean. there can be a build up of an oily film if I do not aerate at all. I use a Superfish 50 watt heater which i house in a superfish ceramic heater cover. Temp is kept around 23C.

I use catappa leaves and alder cones and oak leaves to help keep the pH down a bit and add a little tint to the water. I feed the fish once a day on either NT labs micro crumb, crushed bug bite spirulina flakes or live bbs or live microworms. the Shrimp get cory pellets or algae wafers. I sometimes make my own shrimp lollies.

I do 50% water changes once a week.

 

[Seisage]

Last minute entry!

This is my 6gal ADF+shrimp tank. Don't tell my 20gal, but it's my favorite of the two. I'm very pleased with how it's been growing and developing.

Tank is a Top Fin(?) 6gal corner tank with built-in LEDs (which I don't love, but I have to live with). The substrate is my usual pool filter sand, perfect for ADFs.

The hardscape is all foraged materials from my local coastline. The centerpiece rock with holes in it is a stone that had been colonized by rock-boring clams. The wood is rootwood of salal and/or rhododendron (so it's very similar to spiderwood).

Plants are Anubias and java fern (and duckweed.....). The Bacopa is mostly dead at this point, unfortunately. I think I'll be sticking with epiphytes if I want to add any other plants to this tank in the future.

Tank is left unheated since the inhabitants are from cool, shaded water. Temps range from 71-73F.
Filtration is a small sponge filter.
Maintenance is 50% water change once per week.
No ferts (plants seem to be growing alright).

Inhabitants are my two ADFs, Soup and Dumpling, as well as six amano shrimp
Frogs get fed 6x per week with frozen brine shrimp or mysis shrimp. Shrimp get fed 2-3x per week with Fluval Bug Bites shrimp formula.