# eternity island 0.5 - ZEROedge type pico



## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

Updated 2-18-09



Build-out









This project started out when I went to Petco to pickup kitty litter for my wife's cat & I saw these little Beta tanks on sale for $5., so I picked one up. 









The little tank was collecting dust until I went to a black-friday sale at the mall and saw a fountain on a $5. sale table and the idea came to me to use the fountain with the Beta tank. 










The fountain was pretty small so I picked up the wood bowel from the same $5. table. You see a theme here?





































I cut out a hole in the wood bowl to insert the fountain base.










I then siliconed everything together


















I also added a Simple Battery Powered Air Driven Auto Top-Off to prevent the bottom sump from going dry.










I drilled the bottom of the tank to insert a fitting to attach the pump.
The fitting has to be water tight to prevent the water from leaking out of the tank and flooding the fountain base if the power is turned off.



















The 1st test with water.









3 Watt MR16 12 Volt LED lamp on an old MR16 light fixture for lighting. 










The wood is a tiny manzanita stump & burl root.
I'm planning to have lower light plants growing on & around the stump.
I'll add updates as this progresses.

-Rick


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

if there was a notch on one side of the tank for the water to flow out of, it would make viewing it easier. but i think this was a really creative idea, i like it


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## darkfishy2690 (Dec 9, 2008)

wow this is a great diy! Cant wait to see this tank filled


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

This is soooo cool! It's like an eternity pool!


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

VERY nice diy for a ZE tank haha


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

This is one of the most amazing ideas I've ever seen. Is there any sort of filtration system?


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Nice creativity, looks like quite the job you did . Hopefully it'll turn out really nice too =]


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## Haagenize (Sep 30, 2008)

Zero Edge Aquariums has been using somewhat of the same idea now, here is their site
http://www.zeroedgeaquarium.com/

It's mostly directed towards saltwater though, but their tanks look pretty cool. Have you had and problems with visibility over the acrylic when the water is overflowing it? I'm sure it depends on how fast the flow is.


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

That website is so cool! What an awesome set up


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## fishbguy1 (Feb 29, 2008)

we have a 0 edge at my work. I'm not sure how many gallons it is, but it's pretty sweet. We use it to house corals and sponges, and we really don't have any fish in it other than an occasional one with head and lateral line disease.


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## ridingreen03 (Jan 4, 2009)

Nice. Love the nano's that turn out to be one-of-o-kind


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Lovethe Zero edge, too bad I have as much as the complete system wrapped up in my ADA setup:eek5:


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Wow, really cool idea! I like it so far


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

*0.5G ZEROedge type Pico w-LED Lighting*



chris127 said:


> if there was a notch on one side of the tank for the water to flow out of, it would make viewing it easier. but i think this was a really creative idea, i like it


chris127,
Check out the link from Haagenize on zeroedgeaquarium.com, they are amazing.



darkfishy2690 said:


> wow this is a great diy! Cant wait to see this tank filled


Thanks darkfishy2690



Phoenix-cry said:


> This is soooo cool! It's like an eternity pool!


Hi Phoenix,
I copied the idea of using pebbles around the edge of the tank from an eternity pool that I had the chance to visit that overflowed into rocks. I’ll be adding a lot more pebbles all around the bottom edge when I get the bugs worked out.



Down_Shift said:


> VERY nice diy for a ZE tank haha


Thanks Down_Shift



Dollface said:


> This is one of the most amazing ideas I've ever seen. Is there any sort of filtration system?


Hi ya Dollface,
I might add a sponge in the fountain base, but I don’t imagine any fish or shrimp are going to stay inside a tiny overflowing tank for long, so it will likely just be plants.



Viettxboii said:


> Nice creativity, looks like quite the job you did . Hopefully it'll turn out really nice too =]


Thanks Viettxboii



Haagenize said:


> Zero Edge Aquariums has been using somewhat of the same idea now, here is their site http://www.zeroedgeaquarium.com/
> It's mostly directed towards saltwater though, but their tanks look pretty cool. Have you had and problems with visibility over the acrylic when the water is overflowing it? I'm sure it depends on how fast the flow is.


Hey Haagenize,
That’s where I got the idea. I was looking at a Zero Edge Aquarium at a LFS and was amazed at how it made it looks like a big cube of free standing water. 

This tiny of a tank seemed perfect for a nice down view with plants growing mostly out of the water. I don’t think the water flow is available to overflow all four sides, but I like the totally “full of water look” even with just the waterfall front. The water flow is low enough that you can actually see thru the water flowing over the front quite well. If it becomes a problem I’ll just tip the tank enough for the water to overflow the back instead of the front. I’m hoping that the very direct down lighting from the LED will cut down on algae growing on the sides of the tank. 



ridingreen03 said:


> Nice. Love the nano's that turn out to be one-of-o-kind


Thanks ridingreen03


I appreciate everyone’s comments & whoever gave up the five-star rating ... 
-Rick


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

I've been slowly working on this little project.










I created an island using a mix of peat moss & silicon. Talk about a messy adventure. This the second island I made, the first one I used some old silicon and it did not dry correctly.










I planted the island with Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite', Riccia sp. ''mini'', Dwarf hair grass, Christmas moss & terrestrial mosses from my yard.










I also placed Christmas moss under black mesh on the bottom, then sank some tiny oak leaves on top of that. I'm hoping the Xmas moss grows up thru the leaves. 










I don't know if you can tell by the pictures, but part of the water output from the pump flows out from under the stump and over the Riccia sp. ''mini'' in the center of the picture.



Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
-Rick


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

awesome job on the project! Keep us updated on the progress of the aquascape....


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## rekles75 (Feb 25, 2008)

Great little tank, Keep this updated.


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

Okay...well that is just the coolest thing I've seen in a long time!! This is great!! Can't wait to see what the moss does!


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

Here is a picture with a light color background so you can see more detail










Dark background









Whole setup shot

-Rick


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

This looks amazing!


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Really nice work, Rick. I'm inspired (and impressed)! :thumbsup:


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

Phoenix-cry said:


> This looks amazing!





ColeMan said:


> Really nice work, Rick. I'm inspired (and impressed)! :thumbsup:


Thanks for the support, you never quite know how people will respond to some new idea. This little setup is more of a hybrid fountain/aquarium, it even has the water trickling sound of a fountain

-Rick


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Very creative. It's strange, but I almost get this impression that the island is a single living organic thing, instead of the result of many different components and plant species. And by that I mean to say, good job.


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

Oh I'd love the sound!


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## dirkgent001 (Nov 20, 2007)

this is the new category of nano! very cool, very inspired! I see a new project in my future.

Keep us posted!


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

:eek5: that is awesome. I have thought of a wabikusa set up and even have the same tank but I could never be able to pull something like this off. I love the light very clean looking but the LED bulb is pricey. Is it worth the price? Consider adding bolbitis to that stump. You should save the final picture when its fully grown and enter it in the ADA scaping contest. You would definetley rank high enough to have it published in the contest book. great job.:thumbsup:


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## brion0 (Sep 28, 2008)

Thats realy cool, the low voltage light is a nice touch. It puts out enough light for the plants I take it. I always thought low voltage lamps were neat, the lack of wiring makes them look so clean. How many do you think it would take to light a 2.5?


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

dirkgent001 said:


> this is the new category of nano! very cool, very inspired! I see a new project in my future.
> Keep us posted!


Thanks & will do.



MARIMOBALL said:


> :eek5: that is awesome. I have thought of a wabikusa set up and even have the same tank but I could never be able to pull something like this off. I love the light very clean looking but the LED bulb is pricey. Is it worth the price? Consider adding bolbitis to that stump. You should save the final picture when its fully grown and enter it in the ADA scaping contest. You would definetley rank high enough to have it published in the contest book. great job.:thumbsup:


Thanks for the kind words, and I’ll for sure enter the ADA scaping contest if everything grows in the way I hope.

APC's plantfinder lists bolbitis at 18", might be a bit large for a ½ gallon tank & the thumb size stump. 

I picked up the LED lamp for $30. at Fry’s and I think it was worth trying. I’m seeing plant growth from the light, but read my answer below because I’m already thinking about upgrading the lamp. 



brion0 said:


> Thats realy cool, the low voltage light is a nice touch. It puts out enough light for the plants I take it. I always thought low voltage lamps were neat, the lack of wiring makes them look so clean. How many do you think it would take to light a 2.5?


superbrightleds.com has some realy nice LED lamps available in normal screw-in & MR16 styles. I’m thinking about switching my lamp out to a R16-W5 White 5-Watt LED lamp with a better spread pattern. http://superbrightleds.com/bi-pin.html Right now I have a 3-watt LED lamp with a very narrow spread. 

You should checkout the lighting forum at nano-reef.com to really get immersed in the LED world. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showforum=25

-Rick


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## brt_p (Nov 16, 2008)

excellent!!..:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

Very nice! 
I have to say some marsilea sp. would look great along the back of that island with all the mosses upfront.

Do you need to spray the island to keep the plants moist, or does the proximity to the agitated water do a good enough job in maintaining humidity?


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

prototyp3 said:


> Very nice!
> I have to say some marsilea sp. would look great along the back of that island with all the mosses upfront.
> 
> Do you need to spray the island to keep the plants moist, or does the proximity to the agitated water do a good enough job in maintaining humidity?


Thanks for the suggestion on the marsilea sp., but I'm having problems finding pictures.

The island seems to be staying a little too wet for the terrestrial mosses I used, they seem to be wicking water out of the tank. I am spraying the Anubias daily just to make sure it doesn't dry out while re-adapting to being emersed (I assume that's how it was grown). 

-Rick


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

ALIFER said:


> Thanks for the suggestion on the marsilea sp., but I'm having problems finding pictures.
> 
> The island seems to be staying a little too wet for the terrestrial mosses I used, they seem to be wicking water out of the tank. I am spraying the Anubias daily just to make sure it doesn't dry out while re-adapting to being emersed (I assume that's how it was grown).
> 
> -Rick


Here's a picture of one type, apparently there are many different variations.


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

prototyp3 said:


> Here's a picture of one type, apparently there are many different (Marsillea) variations.


Please keep the plant suggestions coming, but what I'm really on the hunt for is tiny plants or very small varieties of plants, immersed or emersed, to fit with the overall scale of the tiny island & stump. 

-Rick


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

kaifyre said:


> Holy cow . . . and I thought my 20 gal was cool . . .love the waterfall idea, I've been wanting to try that out on one of my tanks for years : ))
> I'm curious about the leaves, are they okay to leave in the tank or do you have to replace them when they start to decompose?
> 
> --Kai


Hey Kai,

The oak leaves should last for a while, they are pretty slow to decompose. I have a bucket full of oak leaves soaking in my back yard that I can use to replace if needed. I throw a handful of the pre-soaked leaves in my frog viv every couple of weeks or so.

-Rick
*Note - for some reason I received an email notification of this post from Kai, but it never showed up on the thread.


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## ALIFER (Jul 22, 2005)

*2-18-09 update*










The island is starting to fill out.
Sundew on the right side grew from a root I had tossed in..
Terrestrial mosses are starting to adapt to the wetter conditions
I also found some tiny plants growing with some local terrestrial mosses which I added.
The Riccia sp. ''mini'' is growing really well under the LED lights
I was beginning to get a lot of algae so I started dosing with Excel a few days ago and the algae has started melting away.









Water views still not much to look at, but Xmas moss is starting to grow up a little from the bottom & I added a small unknown (to me) Anubias. I also replaces some of the front stones with mosses & their companion tiny plants




















-Rick


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## rekles75 (Feb 25, 2008)

Man this is so friggin' cool. I love this.


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

WHOA.

That's all I have to say, I'm completely blown away by that first picture.


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