PLANTED NANO COMP - F-Fish

Doing just because I think it is cool to have these comps and all need to chip and try something different every now and again.

Always wanted to do a ruins tank, spotted some slate be sold along the road ... got some.



Do not need all the guppy tanks at the moment. so decided to use one of the small tanks.



Since I am a few days behind on starting - I will be trying the instant lawn idea.




Few hours later and little filter seems to have done an OK job.



Not 100% sure what I will be adding next ... will play and post picks.


Later Ferdie.

 

Very cool to see another "out-of-the-box idea" germinating. I have a feeling that this won't be the last comp along these lines. Cant wait to see yours come together.

 

Yeah - that makes two of us.

Just adding things in as it goes along. Esp since we have 24 days left.


Later Ferdie

 

Oooh I look forward to this one Ferdi

 

This can be great. Cant wait to see final result

 

For the record ... this is way harder than what I thought it would be.

Several factors are contributing:
a) the slate is black on the cut side, only realised this after I took some more shots this morning makes contrast very difficult for texture.
b) I am doing the viewing side on the short side of the tank ... this means the photo proportion is just way different than what I am used to.
c) you think it is small and easy to change stuff - hmmm I think it takes me way longer since every small change has a big impact .. it is all very weird in that sense.





Later Ferdie

 

Suppose I can not ask for refund on the hour I just spend re-doing the tank.



Slate now alternating



Added more green stuff. Have been want to do some dividing for a while now.



Instant carpet removed and single plants planted - eish what a pain.

Later Ferdie

 

interested to see how this eventually turns out. Looks like you are putting a lot of thought into things.

 

Thought yes .. getting to what I envisioned - not so much.

So one should probably state a goal for month 1 that is the comp?

This is intended to be a low maintenance and an alternative grow-out tank for the guppy challenge. As a bonus I would like to see the plant cuttings propagate more than in my other tanks simply because I will have more light in the tank.
If by some luck I can have a (yes single) new leaf on most of the plants then I would consider it a success.

But here is the real problem ....




The tank has two neighbours that are looking very empty at the moment.

Eish

Later Ferdie

 

Glad you've entered Ferdie! What is that 'grass'?

 

Hi Roge ... hmm no real clue, have tried to ID it but not that simple. Thought is was pygmy chain swords but these blades are thinner.

 

So if you think assembly was hard ... how about taking pics ...







Later Ferdie

 

Some nice plants you have there!

Taking pics is really hard work: always taking plenty and get only a few that is worth using.

(I really need to get to a few good pet shops to expand my plants collection!)

 

We have 20 days left or - rather 20 light cycles, but what if one on adds a second round of light .. say 4 periods of 6 hours each - would one get 40 days worth of growth? Doubt it but worth a try.

So added a dedicated CFL for the tank ..



Have some floating bits in my other tanks .. might add them in see if I can not find something that will grow and stay low under the CFL.



But that will be for another day.

Later Ferdie

 

Algae might become an issue with 2x 6 hour periods. What about 2x 4hours instead?
The plants will only photosynthesize so much per day (or so I believe). I've noticed mine close up at a certain time in the evenings so it's pointless for me having the lights on then. It might take a while for them to adjust to the light cycle though, so could be an interesting experiment. Wonder if 3x 4hr cycle would work.

 

A split light cycle is ideal for increasing CO2 level naturally, as plants release it during the rest phase of photosynthesis. You'll get maximum growth (if that's what you want), by eliminating any limiting factors.

 

The problem with the increased light cycle ... I spend more time looking at the tank.

I can easily say, per cm2 a nano is 20x more time consuming than any of my big tanks ... the amount of faffing - curses to the creators of this genius plan for the nano tank threads. No no only kidding this is way more fun than what I thought it would be ...









Added some livestock .. natural CO2 I think it the key to getting a balance going here.

Later Ferdie

 

Some filtration ... and it is looking much better.



Still playing with photo depth .. it is much harder to get a nice photo when the tank is deeper than the front viewing width.



Later Ferdie

 

Looking awesome! So lucky with all the mini Anubias...really wanted some for my little nano but impossible to come by...thought about removing them from my main tank, but then thought better of it.

I always have the same problem with trying to portray depth in my photo's...in real life I try to scape my tanks so there are levels of depth to them...but I can never seem to show this up in pictures. :/

 

The tank is looking good - good idea adding some fish and filtration. Mine is looking....so dead without water movement!