# Hoppy's Nano Adventure



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Last week someone saw a Craigslist ad for a 2 gallon glass tank for only $5, within easy driving distance from me. It is mine now! So, my plan was to set it up in the kitchen........oops, the missus said, "set it up in your computer room!" So, my plan is to set it up in my computer room on the bookcase, and operate it as a no CO2, with Excel, tank. I have a 17 watt screw in fluorescent bulb (5500K) in a small floor lamp that lets me adjust the height. The substrate will be Soilmaster, and the plants will eventually be a piece of drift wood with anubias nana with the tiny leaves, and Java fern Windelov growing on it. Temporarily I will have a bunch of some fast growing stem plants from the LFS for a few weeks. Everything else is up in the air! Here is the tank as it is tonight:


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## yoink (Apr 21, 2005)

Nice little tank. Great find for $5. Any ideas as far as fauna?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Fauna? Well, you know there is always the missus lurking in the background! So, I told her I planned on some of my cherry shrimp, some endlers, and possibly an oto. Then I made the fatal error of mentioning that some folks use these for bettas. So.....my plan is to use this for a betta, and possibly an oto.

All kidding aside, I'm really in charge in my household. Shhhhhh. Don't repeat that!


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## Lycosa (Oct 16, 2006)

Neat little ADA looking tank!


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## George (Sep 11, 2004)

Hey Hoppy,

Sweet looking little tank. I look forward to seeing it develop. Nanos are a lot of fun when they go well, even more so when they don't!


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

For fauna, if you don't have any fish that you have right and plan to move to this tank, I'd go with some small fish like the galaxy rasboras or Boraras uropthalmoides. I'm venturing you could have 4 in there with some of your RCS and it'd be pretty alive. =)


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

cool looking tank and for the price it was a steal!


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## Yzmxer99 (Aug 7, 2006)

Wow hoppy, love that tank. Can't wait to see what you can do with it. I will say that my only complaint about my tank and yours, is the round corners. They are a pain when scapin' the algae


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

AWESOME FIND!!! I need that exact tank for my office!!!

Quick suggestion on flora: I've found that HM grows REALLY well under that amount of lighting!!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Yzmxer99 said:


> Wow hoppy, love that tank. Can't wait to see what you can do with it. I will say that my only complaint about my tank and yours, is the round corners. They are a pain when scapin' the algae


Algae? I don't plan to grow any stinking algae! But, now that I think of it, I can't recall ever planning to grow any. It's funny how the enthusiasm for a new tank can just totally blot out the reality of algae. Now, if I were Tom Barr I probably wouldn't need to think about growing algae, but, alas, I'm not.

The tank has now been moved off the book case and over on my computer desk, so I can appreciate it better. That, of course, required that I clean off a ton of old paperwork that had stacked up on the desk, including a couple of tax forms that I coulda sworn I had mailed in many months ago! Now, the light for the tank is also a nice desk light.

About plants, I am trying to avoid any extra expenses setting this up, so I will most likely just use cuttings from my 45 gallon tank as "fast growing stem plants". So far my expenses have been: $5 for the tank, $5 for the gas driving to pick it up, $16 for the filter, $5 for the light bulb. I think I still have enough credit left at the LFS from my plant sale to pay for the fish. If so, I will be out only $31 for the whole thing.

Now a question or two:
Does the light I have give me high, medium or low light for that size tank? In appearance it looks like medium to high light.
I will be dosing Excel and not CO2 - does it work to pre-mix all of the ferts, including Excel, except the KH2PO4 with distilled water and dose it as a mixture? I would still need to dose KH2PO4 as a separate mixture.


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

Hoppy - looks like a nice, new adventure. I keep thinking about doing something like this for work. Maybe your tank will inspire me .

Not sure if you suggested it because you already have it or not, but I snagged some Java Lace fern a few months back, and it's starting to propogate. LMK if you want some!

Keep the updates coming!
Brian.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

BSS said:


> Hoppy - looks like a nice, new adventure. I keep thinking about doing something like this for work. Maybe your tank will inspire me .
> 
> Not sure if you suggested it because you already have it or not, but I snagged some Java Lace fern a few months back, and it's starting to propogate. LMK if you want some!
> 
> ...


Thanks for the offer Brian. I have two pieces of driftwood in my 45 gallon tank that have both Java Fern Windelov and petite anubias nana growing on them. They are a bit too much for that tank, so I plan to move the smaller one to the nano - where it may be too big, but I don't think so.

Right now I am a bit hung up over whether or not I should add ground peat under the SM substrate, whether I can pre-mix my ferts including Excel so I can more easily dose those microdoses, whether I need to use Equillibrium, which I have, in my relatively soft water, whether the lighting I have rates as high, medium or low as far as plants go, and my own indecision about what fish to use. My instinct is that: yes, I need the peat, yes, I can premix including Excel, no, I don't need Equillibrium, and my light is moderately high. As for fish, I will wait at least a week before adding any livestock so I have more time on that.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Next chapter: I now have it full of water, dosed with Prime, planted with the driftwood/petite nana-Java Fern, and a few blyxa japonica plants plus two sprigs of Rotala Rotundifola, dosed with Excel, and 1/2 dosed with nitrates, phosphates. No filter yet, but it should be here tomorrow or Friday.
First pic is after ground peat added with filter squeezings, plus about half the SM substrate.


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

Hey....I would say NO don't use the peat. I just don't see the benefit/risk ratio there. From my experience, the 17w CF spirals give off medium-low light, but it looks brighter than that because it's so close! I guess your growth rates will be your guide :hihi:

EDIT: ninja'd! Looking great. I completely forgot that the light was adjustable, so you can have whatever intensity you want! Nice looking tank - got a more close-up pic?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

esarkipato said:


> Hey....I would say NO don't use the peat. I just don't see the benefit/risk ratio there. From my experience, the 17w CF spirals give off medium-low light, but it looks brighter than that because it's so close! I guess your growth rates will be your guide :hihi:
> 
> EDIT: ninja'd! Looking great. I completely forgot that the light was adjustable, so you can have whatever intensity you want! Nice looking tank - got a more close-up pic?


I only used a thick dusting of peat on the bottom, so I hope that won't cause any problems. The more I look at this tank the more I see the light as low to moderate intensity - that is comparing it to my 45 gallon tank with 2.4 watts per gallon. Here is a more close up photo - the water is still not clear and my photography skills are not too clear either!


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## HybridS130 (Oct 23, 2006)

I think it looks great!


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## fhqwhgads (Jan 18, 2005)

hey you got the tank! cool


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

fhqwhgads said:


> hey you got the tank! cool


Yes, I did. Was it you who found it and posted it here? If so, I owe you a big thank you! I actually felt guilty giving that lady only $5 for the tank, and after she drove half way here to meet me. Craigslist is the greatest place to browse!


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## Guillermo (Dec 19, 2005)

Glado to see you finally decided to set up a Nano, and what a little beauty !!
Hard to beat the price too, congrats Hoppy.


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

Yea, that second pic is bigger and better. Looks like you might have a little natural light to utilize, too? That might bump up your light rating.


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## bigb00 (Oct 16, 2006)

This looks really nice! the price is right too & the adjustable light is great!! 
I wish they had these where I live.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Here is the nano one week later:









Still no livestock in it, but, knock on wood, no algae problems yet either. I did my first 50% water change today - big job! Took me almost 15 minutes! So, is there a down side to catching 3 or 4 cherry shrimp from my 45 gallon tank and moving them here? I have been watching the water temperature pretty closely - it drops to around 70-72F at night and goes to about 75F during the day. And, we have had a night of 32F weather too. So, the temperature seems ok to me. Then, all that stops me from getting Endlers for company for the shrimp is their over active sex lives.


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## yoink (Apr 21, 2005)

I always test a new tank by putting a few shrimp in first, it looks good and I'm sure the shrimp will be fine. You could put only male endlers in the tank to avoid the over population problem.


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

Looks good....throw those shrimp in! Like yoink said, cherries are a cheap way to test the tank's stability.

Also, I think the blyxa would look really good in front of the driftwood, below the anubias!


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

esarkipato said:


> Looks good....throw those shrimp in! Like yoink said, cherries are a cheap way to test the tank's stability.



Hehe, I like to think of RCS as the 'canaries of the aquarium mine.' If there is ever a problem the cherries are the first to sound the alarm.

Hoppy, with someone like you running the show, I doubt you will have any significant problems with your nano project. I found the best way to avoid major problems is to not dose ferts for at least the first 2 weeks and crank the excel or CO2 to get everything going.

i also started my nano with the lights farther away then the final distance of where I thought it should be (lighting level) and slowly added/increased ferts over a few weeks period to its desired level. Doing any sort of EI method to begin with is asking for trouble becuase:

1, you dont ahve a ton of plants yet, and 
2, they are not established enough to be sucking all that nice juicy scrumptious NPK up yet.

I wish you endless success Hoppy :hihi: 

cheers,


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

Lookin' good!!!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Ok, in response to the overwhelming demand of the audience - I just added a couple of juvenile cherry shrimp, and they are swimming around looking for a way to get back to the 45 gallon tank now - Darn ingrates!

I agree about the positioning of the blyxa. I stuck it towards the back because I didn't expect to see it do much and it was just there to accept any ammonia that showed up. In a few days I may try to be more creative with the aquascaping - much, much easier to do in this size tank.


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

thats a really nice nano Hoppy, you are convincing me to start a nano tank. What filter is that ? a azoo palm filter ?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Yes, it is an Azoo palm filter, cheap at Drs. Foster and Smith. So far I really like it, and have had no problems at all with it. I am enjoying it because I can look at it as I think of what to post here. When I type the water surface gets ripples!

About those canaries in the mine: I can still find one of my cherry shrimp, but the smallest one is either playing hide and seek or he is out trying to climb back upstairs to his old spacious 45 gallon tank.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

UPDATE: I now have a 7.5 watt Hydor flat heater in the tank, and it is holding the temperature up to around 75F, which is what I hoped for. And, I bought some Endler's live bearers from Oregonfish, so they moved in yesterday. Also occupying the quarters are three cherry shrimp, one a full grown female. So, I suspect a population explosion will occur at any time now. I moved the plants around a bit, but my digital cameral quit working so I can't take a photo until we buy another one as our Christmas present. It's looking great to me!!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

UPDATE: Here is my nano after about 3 months of slow growth.










The driftwood piece is now completely covered with Java Fern and anubias nana, and the blyxa keeps on ticking!


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

Nice Looking good !


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

It looks great! I cant aquascape a 10 but you can do a 2g. I envy that!


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## timme278 (Jan 1, 2009)

blimy. 2+ years since this was updated... now i shall bring this thread back to life by commenting 

did you go for a betta in the end?


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## Reginald2 (Mar 10, 2009)

blimy is right. I didn't check the date on this when I started reading.

However, I applaud your efforts.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

I want to know as well. What ever happened to that Nano, Hoppy?


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## timme278 (Jan 1, 2009)

guess we wont be getting an update


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Aw, I was excited to see this. I think that I remember him saying that he only had one tank


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I just found this: sorry, I didn't see it before. I gave that tank away about a year or more ago, having become bored with it. It was fun for awhile.


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