# My Mini-M



## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

My first mini, my first nano, my first try at iwagumi.
My wishful thinking is that everything goes according to plan and comes out perfectly! Unfortunately, that's just wishful thinking.:angryfire

I'm starting off as an emerged tank. Mainly because I found a ton of information on it and also because I currently don't have everything I need yet.

Well, here's what I do have.
ADA Mini-M
Aquasoil
seiryu stones
2x 13watt cf Perch lights
eheim 2213 (although not in use yet)

Plants:
HC & Dwarf hairgrass
(The color in the picture looks really bad, I got the plants from aquariumplants and they came in lush and green!:icon_mrgr)

Things I need:
inline heater
inlet/outlet pipes
pressurized co2 <- any recommendations? Cheap but efficient?

No digi cam, so you'll have to bare with the phone pictures for now. I just planted all this a few hours ago. Ended up late for one of my classes.
Taking advises, criticism, and anything else you throw at me. As long as it will help 










































I'll be leaving for a few days, so hopefully when I get back everything will still be doing okay. And hopefully I'll be back with a nice camera to take pictures :biggrin:


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## Hail (Mar 6, 2009)

I like those lights. Also the stand. There is a very clean feeling associated with your presentation. 
Good job on what you have so far and good luck with your plan of perfection!


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

Great start.
Your rocks are terrific. Really, really nice.


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks&Thanks

I love the rocks too. I got them from Craigthor


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## rrrrramos (Jan 24, 2008)

I like it! I'm gonna have to try what you got going on there with the saran-wrap to keep air from escaping. As far as a CO2 system, you could go cheap & get a Milwaukee with a 2.5# or 5# cylinder, or build your own dual stage Victor regulator with the links Left C has posted in the Victor Pimp Thread (Here ya go )


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks, I'll put those into consideration when finding more info.


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## ldk59 (Jan 30, 2009)

Very nice start ... interested in where your going with this.

Should have an *M* of my own soon 

Larry


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

I like those rocks too.... Great someone could put them to good use.

Craig


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## Hail (Mar 6, 2009)

I have a suggestion. How it is now, your rock placement seems a little tripodesque. This though _just_ came to mind. If you like how they currently are, I would really advise against changing anything. This is just one opinion in a tank full of different perspectives. There is by no means a single right way to do art. However, if for some reason you feel like moving things around and replanting, I think the back rock would look nice closer to one of the other rocks, possibly incorporating the golden ratio.


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Yea, I did try to make the middle rock closer to one of the others, but it just didn't feel right. In person it actually looks much closer to the left rock then it does in the pictures. I will have to try it again whenever I take it apart. 

For now, my main concern is the plants. I just want to see them grow and fill up. Today, I worked on separating the strands of hair grass, as they like to stick together. Will be leaving for a few days, so I put in a timer for 10hrs of lighting.


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## Gweneth (Feb 17, 2009)

It seems to me that the problem with the rock placement is that the two in the front are in the same spot relative to the corners of the tank. I think if you moved the one on the left (with the white stripe) back just an inch or two it would make it look better. Just so that it's not quite touching the back rock.


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## Jack Gilvey (Jun 16, 2008)

Very cool arrangement. I like them there lights.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Good start! I agree on the stones though, they look too laid out un natural if you will.
With some minor rock tweaking it could look perfect but if you like it that's what matters.


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks for the comments & suggestions. I'll work on the rock arrangement next time I rescape. Away from the apartment now so I can't do much about it now. Just hoping my light timer works accordingly!


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Well, back home and everything still looks ok. No new camera, decided to save some money for pressurized co2.


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## Hail (Mar 6, 2009)

What's the point of pressurized CO2 if we can't see high resolution pictures of it? :icon_roll
You're making a good choice, stable CO2 can do wonders. Have you decided on what you're going to get?


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

haha, but whats the point of nice pictures without nice stuff!
And no, I haven't decided on what I'm getting yet. I've been reading a lot, but I just can't make a decision. I don't want to be stuck w/ a cheap regulator that may cause problems..but nicer ones from such places like gla, rex, sumo, etc are pretty pricey. I was contemplating on making my own, but the trouble,shipping, and possibility of making a poor one makes me want to skip that. Since it's still a while until I fill the tank up, I may just wait and see if anyone has one for sale.


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Hmm.. 2 patches have become mushy and brown. Should I leave them or remove them?


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I knew those rocks looked familiar. 

Anything that is mushy and brown is dead and should be removed. Unless your trying to get that blackwater feel.


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Took out the few pieces that didn't do so well. Almost done setting up my pressurized co2 setup. I'll probably fill this tank up once I get the outflow/inflow pipes.
Update on tank


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Tank with water! (sorry for the quality, just a phone cam)










Took a quick 30min drive hoping to get some crs but they had none in stock, but they had these bororas micro! These guys love to school


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

The tank looks great and I love the fish


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## rrrrramos (Jan 24, 2008)

What CO2 system did you end up going with? Tank looks very nice!


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks&Thanks,

I ended up putting one together. I purchased a dual stage. I got a solenoid kit from oregon aqua design, and bought a few parts to connect to a paintball tank. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/85259-paintball-regulator.html

I may need to replace the glass diffuser though. Doesn't look to be doing good. I'll replace it with one I got from GLA that I never used....but does anyone have a video/picture of good diffusion so I can compare with?


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

I don't have a video, but good diffusion has the majority of the ceramic disk sending up bubbles smaller than you ever see in a glass of Coke. Delicate little things the size of a pixel on an LCD monitor.

The tank looks great. The dry-start method's benefit is immediately apparent: an almost full carpet of HC with nary a spot of algae.


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

Yea, the dry method was worth the wait & thanks for the info. My current diffuser is nothing like you said  I'll see how well the one from gla works for me tomorrow morning.


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## gnauhandy (May 6, 2009)

Hey, Josh, if you don't mind can you share the amount of money that you have invested into your this great tank? I wanted to see if I could afford starting one of these. LOL.


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

I can sum it up really quick.

Ada Mini from chris127 - 65
Aquasoil - 20
2 Lights - 70
light timer - 25
rocks from craig - 22
eheim - 75
knock-off outflow/inflow pipes - 40
drop checker - 8 (Esox lucius was nice enough to raok some 4dkh)
Pressurize co2- 180-200
All the hc+dwarf hairgrass from aquariumplants - 28
10 boraras micro - 20

Just estimated prices w/ shipping.. don't know if I forgot anything. I really wanted a nice tank.. but didn't want to spend THIS much. I avoided using more money by avoiding higher quality stuff like more ada. It's also nice buying things from other members here. And of course, there are definitely cheaper alternatives on most of these things as well as more expensive but higher quality. The more expensive things here are the things I know I will use and have for many years. Then again, hopefully all of this will last many years


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

Great tank. However the white band on the left rock is standing out too much for me. May be it will subdue with more greenery eventually.


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## gnauhandy (May 6, 2009)

Hey thanks, good information. Have you considered the Coralife Mini 18 watt light for your setup? 

It seems like a weird realization but we as human beings exhale about 1kg per day of CO2 and a canister of pressurized CO2 at about 30oz contains an estimated 880g that can supposedly run a planted 5 gal nanotank for about 4-6 months... Why not find a way to collect the CO2 from the atmosphere to administer to the tanks? Not a question, just conundrum. =)


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## joshh (Dec 9, 2008)

The white band does stand out a bit. I'm hoping the hairgrass in the back will grow and fill in. 

As for the coralife mini gnauhandy, I just don't like the aspect of a light mounted on a tank. The lights I have here are easy to rotate left/right up/down so it's easy to do whatever I need to do in the tank. These are 13w each.

Anyway, I replaced the old glass diffuser with a new one from gla and It's working great.


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