# Down_Shift's >2g Shallow Tray *Back from the dead



## jackyuen89 (Apr 2, 2009)

very nice thing you done with the small tray. your apartment is very nice i wouldn't consider it small. At least you have your very own nice apapartment and a very nice car. Your girlfriend sounds alot like mine! Mine say, "no more tanks okay!, you have too many".


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

Dude, I want your apartment. 

As to your tray, it looks a little ... dark. I think it needs some more time to mature, once the riccia grows in it should look much nicer.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Very cool! The tray looks great. I wish those were available here. I'm sure the scape will get better and better, but I think what you have already looks great.

I think a small amount of java fern in the back right corner and some anubias nana petite, tucked in to the rock wall on the front left would pop off really well. 

Sweet projection system too. That's awesome


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## BradH (May 15, 2008)

Nice! Looks great! I have been wanting to do something like that for almost a year, but can't find a tank.


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## rrrrramos (Jan 24, 2008)

That setup looks pretty BA, and I have to agree that the apartment also looks pretty BA.
I totally feel ya on the lights thing too. Just between my 2 tanks in my room and my computer screen, the whole room is lit up!


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Personally, I think Id ditch the fish in favor of something like a dwarf cray, or a newt, or something else that might come above the water line sometimes.

Edit: Though now that I think about it, I can totally see a cray, crab, newt, or anything else easily crawling out of that tank and dying on the floor of your apartment. So forget my idea.


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## no_xqcs (Sep 6, 2007)

what type of projector is that and what did it cost you?

I like the tank BTW


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

FrostyNYC said:


> Personally, I think Id ditch the fish in favor of something like a dwarf cray, or a newt, or something else that might come above the water line sometimes.
> 
> Edit: Though now that I think about it, I can totally see a cray, crab, newt, or anything else easily crawling out of that tank and dying on the floor of your apartment. So forget my idea.



I was thinking bout a pair of cray also but I was afraid it would get out and my dog would get to it :tongue: 
What bout one of those highly illegal mini turtles? I just don't know where to get them. I use to see them in Chinatown all the time :hihi:





no_xqcs said:


> what type of projector is that and what did it cost you?
> 
> I like the tank BTW


It's a epson 6100. I got it on sale a few weeks ago for 1600. It's going for around 1900-2100 right now shipped though.
It's 1080P, my place is small so I only have a ~76" diagonal screen. My friend has the same projector and does a ~110" screen with it. I use to have a 50" 1080P dlp but I had to ditch it to save alot of space. Projector was one of my major renovations, I also had to rewire my whole apartment (I have a mediaserver/nas with ~7TB of blueray rips) and my htpc/xbox/reciever are all on the opposite wall of the screen now. Repainted the wall with a diy projector screen paint etc.. changed up furniture also. You can PM me if you have any other Q's.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Very cool! The tray looks great. I wish those were available here. I'm sure the scape will get better and better, but I think what you have already looks great.
> 
> I think a small amount of java fern in the back right corner and some anubias nana petite, tucked in to the rock wall on the front left would pop off really well.
> 
> Sweet projection system too. That's awesome


My first attempt was to put java fern over on that corner, but what I learned was my place is too dry and it died within 2 hours :icon_sad:

Might try that anubias petite though.

I asked my GF to pick up another tray for me and 2 nano 10cm cubes before she gets back here. I promised I wouldn't put them in the apartment though :hihi:


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

Petite would probably also dry out like the java fern, it needs crazy high humidity. 

Hey uh, you could always set up one of those trays at my place, I mean, I would do all the scaping and maintainence and posting about it and stuff, but thats about it. :hihi:


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Those little turtles are still available in NYC's chinatown, you just have to know where to look. But turtles are too messy and destructive for an aquascaped tank. Maybe a fiddler crab or red claw crab? They're climbers too though. Oy.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Very cool, maybe add some more backround plants.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Man HC is a pita to plant!! Friend gave me a cup of HC that I attempted to plant last night.. I just jumbled them into little messes and stuck them into the substrate.. hopefully it grows!


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

No baby turtles... People are so misinformed about their care needs. Turtles under 4" are illegal to own for legit reasons.

Anyway, nice setup!


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

AzFishkid, you have a thousand posts!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey Matt I only just ran into this. It looks great. Let me know if you have any questions about growing any of those plants I have a lot of experience with them.

Have you seen this other setup?



cintamas said:


> These photos were taken today...............August 16, 2009[/I][/SIZE]


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## husonfirst (Sep 12, 2009)

DownShift, that looks great! What are the dimensions of the tank?


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## tcampbell (Jun 8, 2006)

Baby turtles aren't that hard. Here in Taiwan we buy the ones 2" big for about 1 dollar US. Mine is 3 years old now and about 8" in size. Just a filter, weekly water changes, light and a heater and all is well. Most people forget the heater and the water gets to cold or don't chanhe the water which allows them to get disease quickly.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

tcambell what part of TW are you from??


Hydro, that looks AWESOME. I had a plant die off but it's ok! I'm goingto see if any of the other plants you gave me are doing ok.. will plant them in the tray later. They are all recovering at a good rate.

I planted some HC around the tray.. unfortunately I suck at planting it and it's all floating now.. >=-(

tips?


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

husonfirst said:


> DownShift, that looks great! What are the dimensions of the tank?



11x9x5 inches

(LxWxH)


Just measured it for ya.
thanks


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Tank has been running great. The feeder fish slowly died off though. It's a empty tank right now other than MTS. I'm thinking about a few amano shrimp.. Can Amano's deal with colder water? around 65 degrees? I don't have a heater on the tank. How many do you think I can fit?

Oh an this isn't my final addition I lied!! I ended up getting a Mini-M with solar fixture too!

My small boston apartment consists of a 60P, Mini-S, Mini-M, and the shallow tray right now!

will post another thread when I have time to set the Mini-M up.


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

i was just thinking about making a tank like this outa my spare 2.5 gallon i have laying around and a old intank filter... i was just gunna try to make it for fun with stuff from my lake behind my house. Thanks for the inspiration


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Well I let the tank grow out of control and the moss finally died under the netting (lack of light). So they rocks were bare.

Decided to rescape and refresh the tank. I usually only do rescapes annually since I only have time during the summer! Here is the new scape.. notice the new toys added =)

I had a ADA Solar M laying around since I tore apart my Mini-M tank. 
This is waay overkill for the tank, but this tank has no regularly lighting cycle. It is being used as a table piece and I turn the light on as needed as a desklamp. 
I also added a LED moon light.
I also modified the Nano filter so the intake is shorter to accommodate the new location.

Will need to grow in. I'm going to let it cycle for a bit and throw in 1 or 2 Amano shrimp. Tank already has a few MTS. 

Water is still a little foggy from the scaping. Not very happy with how clear it is.. Will let it settle.


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## Morainy (Feb 8, 2010)

That is a sweetheart of a tank! Way to go.


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