# Drew's ADA Mini M



## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Well after much research and help from Frank at Aquarium Design Group my ADA Mini M is up and running. I had this tank setup for the first time about a year ago but it got torn down when I moved plus I was having very bad algae problems. I feel much more confident about my setup this time. Here is a link that I found very helpful and answered a lot of my questions. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=168992
I have always been the type of person that will work towards what I want or find a substitute. This was the case for this project as well. I love ADA's product line but honestly can't afford everything. I decided I would buy what was the most important from ADA and make the rest. The stand and light were made by me to look like their products. I also made the lily pipes from clear plastic pipe (no it was not easy haha). Anyway enough with the talking onto the specs and pictures. I will try my best to update as much as possible. 

AQUARIUM: ADA mini m

LIGHTING: I custom made an ADA style light and I am using the 27w 8000k ADA bulb

STAND: I custom made the stand to look like the ADA stand 

CO2: 5lb tank with Victor VTS 253A-320 regulator, Fabco nv-55-18 needle valve, and Burkert 6011 solenoid. Using an ebay diffuser

FILTER: Eheim 2213 with 13mm clear ADA hoses hooked up to plastic lily pipes I made

SUBSTRATE: ADA Amazonia

FERTS: Green Bacter - 3 drops after water changes
Brighty K - 1 squirt dosed daily
Green Brighty Step 1 - 2 squirts dosed daily
Flourish Excel - half a capful dosed daily
Eca - 3 drops dosed weekly

FLORA: Hemianthus callitrichoides, Lilaeopsis Mauritius

FAUNA: 2 otocinclus

Hardscape:









Plants in the tank:









Tank just filled (still cloudy):









Tank after water cleared:


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

Clean!


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Sleek little tank. Looks great!


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## d2creative (Jan 24, 2013)

Awesome DIY! You sir, have skills.


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## CPDzeke (Jan 4, 2013)

Which bulb? Send me a link for it via pm


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

it will look nice when it fills ins


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## thesawguy (Dec 26, 2011)

Can you explain how you made the plastic lilly pipes and where you got the tube?


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

The plastic pipes I got from a local plastic shop, I can't remember the name of it. Basically I heated up the stove top and held the pipe over the heat where I needed to make the first bend. The key is you have to spin the pipe so it doesn't get too hot. It will easily bubble if it gets too hot or kink when you bend it. After you get the first bend then test fit it to make sure it's right, if so move to the second bend.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Did the water change today and figured I would snap a shot of what's under the tank.


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## Phusis_Eidos (Dec 15, 2012)

Nicely done!


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Looks great. keep us updated. This will be fun to follow.


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## mahko (Dec 10, 2011)

Clean and simple. Good DIY skills as well. 

Is the stand made of MDF? Looks painted as well. Would you mind briefly explaining the materials used? I'm impressed on how it turned out.


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## defender.TX (Jan 29, 2013)

Absolutely love the tank, aquascape, and stand. I'm not very big on the light solution - in my opinion it doesn't quite fit the cleanliness of the rest of the setup. I think having polished piping instead of black would go a long way to keeping the beauty of the setup. That's a very minor nitpick, though, I'm just offering some constructive criticism!

Keep up the good work!

Another thought: you could build a small shelf above the CO2 canister for the dry goods, might help you keep things organized in the long run.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

mahko said:


> Clean and simple. Good DIY skills as well.
> 
> Is the stand made of MDF? Looks painted as well. Would you mind briefly explaining the materials used? I'm impressed on how it turned out.


Yes. It is actually covered in Formica. I thought about painting it but I figured putting Formica down would make it last longer and look better. The door was hung using euro hinges which was the hardest part of the whole thing.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

defender.TX said:


> Absolutely love the tank, aquascape, and stand. I'm not very big on the light solution - in my opinion it doesn't quite fit the cleanliness of the rest of the setup. I think having polished piping instead of black would go a long way to keeping the beauty of the setup. That's a very minor nitpick, though, I'm just offering some constructive criticism!
> 
> Keep up the good work!
> 
> Another thought: you could build a small shelf above the CO2 canister for the dry goods, might help you keep things organized in the long run.


Thank you! Yeah I definitely think polished pipe would look good too. Putting a shelf in never even crossed my mind but I like the idea. I think I might add one in the future.


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## mahko (Dec 10, 2011)

dr3ww3rd said:


> Yes. It is actually covered in Formica. I thought about painting it but I figured putting Formica down would make it last longer and look better. The door was hung using euro hinges which was the hardest part of the whole thing.


I've heard how hard formica is to work with, so your level of skill definitely shows.

I used euro hinges with my ADA style stand and I understand what you mean. Took a lot of double checking my measurements.


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## Xalyx (Sep 26, 2010)

Can you show me how the tubing is exiting the stand and entering the tank?


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Xalyx said:


> Can you show me how the tubing is exiting the stand and entering the tank?


Sure. In the picture the lily pipe to the right is the inflow and the lily pipe to the left is the outflow. So basically it goes down the tube on the right, gets cycled through the Eheim 2213 canister filter and then comes up the tube to the left where the water is returned into the tank. Hope that helps. Also, typically I don't use the suction cups but I have been playing with the height of my lily pipes. 









So technically I have been using a 24w 6500k bulb that I have had since my old tank setup. I decided I wanted to switch to the ADA Solar Mini bulb since I needed a new bulb anyways. Problem was the connector I had was a straight 4 pin adapter and the ADA bulb uses a square 4 pin adapter. So I ordered an ADA bulb and a square pin adapter. After work tonight I grabbed a beer and the connector and got to work. Just finished up and man is this bulb BRIGHT! It makes my tank pop even more now. Anyway below are pictures showing it off and on, even though it's way brighter in person.


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## defender.TX (Jan 29, 2013)

Looking great. What material is that reflector in the light hood? If it's metallic, which I'm assuming it is, you should lap it with some fine grit sandpaper. If you can get a mirror finish on it, your PAR values should go up.

As an alternative, you can use a little bit of chocolate from a chocolate bar, but that's another story... :biggrin:


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

It's a scrap piece of metal from a heat duct pipe (A new one that is haha). It reflects a good amount but sand paper probably would help out. I had a reflector from my old light but I couldn't get it to fit unfortunately


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Took a photo after the daily water change today. The first photo is from day 2 and the second photo is from today which is day 6. There were a few pieces of hc that floated up from the start, so a few pieces might have gotten moved but there is still a noticeable difference in growth. You can also tell that the new bulb is much brighter and crisp. 

Day 2








Day 6


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Looking good! the water looks real clear.


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## defender.TX (Jan 29, 2013)

Wow that bulb looks way better! Love it.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Well it's been one week since the tank was planted so to celebrate here is a picture of some pearling HC. If you look at the HC on the right side you can see the roots shooting down :icon_smil


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## Xalyx (Sep 26, 2010)

What are the dimensions of the stand and how long did it take you to make it? Did you reference anything?


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

12" deep by 18" wide by 34" high. No not really I mainly used the ada website to figure out how to make it look like the real one but changed a little to make it work better for me.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Well I got some new glassware in the mail the other day. 









After it was installed









Seems like the HC likes it


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Looks good. Looks very clean. I like the glass u for the top of the tank.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Well today marks the end of week 2. I added two oto cats today and I am going to order amano shrimp by the end of the weekend. Also did a water change today. 

Day 2








Day 6








Day14









And a picture of the oto cats. This was taken right after I put them in so they were still a little stressed.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Took a picture after a water change today. Still battling diatoms. Also added a few amano shrimp about a week ago
Day 24


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## assasin6547 (Feb 6, 2013)

Nice, that HC is really starting to fill in well!


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Nice clean setup! Where did you get that glass u? Your plastic pipes came out nice too! Care to sell me some? Haha


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

The glass U I got off ebay from some store in Hong Kong. I don't sell the lily pipes but there is someone on here that does. I want to say its onefang or something like that.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

4 weeks old. Switched out the filter media after this picture to 20% bio rings, 75% bio rio, 5% filter floss. Still battling diatoms


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## Jdiesels (Mar 20, 2013)

Amazing Tank Drew! Cant wait to see it all filled in!


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Just did my first trim. Still battling diatoms but it seems like they are getting better. They weren't as noticeable before the trim. I also added about 15 red cherry shrimp a week or so ago. A few decided to try and hang out under the HC which made it start coming up :angryfire. I fixed that today when I trimmed.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Just a little update.


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## PeterN1986 (Jun 15, 2011)

Nice! Good to see your HC lush and fighting back those diatoms. Where are the RCS's in that shot?


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## Jay Wee (Apr 14, 2013)

This is amazing. One of the best I've seen.


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## catfishbi (Jun 10, 2008)

very nice


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

PeterN1986 said:


> Nice! Good to see your HC lush and fighting back those diatoms. Where are the RCS's in that shot?


Thanks! The Micro Swords have really shot up and the HC is definitly looking better but still needs improvement. I ended up taking them out because I cleaned my filter today and there were 6 of them that had been sucked in there (still alive). I might just get rid of them because my other 5 gallon has supreme reds and CRS and my 20 Long hasn't finished cycling.


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## blue1delta (Jan 8, 2013)

Cool tank!


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

Wow great job man. Your stand looks amazing. Where do you get the pipe to hold the lights? Does it come bent?


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Thanks! Will look even better once I get those rocks  the pipe is electrical conduit that was bent with a pipe bender. It was then drilled so the power cord for the light runs up the wire, through the conduit and plugs into the back of the stand.


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## dr3ww3rd (Aug 29, 2011)

Well this tank has officially been torn down but I'm currently in the process of redoing it. Will post a link to the new setup once I get everything together. Micro swords are currently for sale in the for sale/ trade section.


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