# 2jackedLUNGS' ADA Mini-M



## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

This is my first attempt at a planted nano tank. I saw my buddy's Mini-M and had to get one. So here it is. 

Tank: ADA Mini-M
Light: ADA Solar Mini
Filter: Eheim 2213
Substrate: ADA Aqua Soil
Stones: Manten Stone
Wood: Old Black Wood
Fish: Celestial Pearl Danio x5
Shrimp: Crystal Red Shrimp x10
Plants: HC, Glosso, Blyxa japonica, Micranthemum umbrosum


Before water









Tried planting HC emersed but they ended up dying









Cleaned up the dead HC and tried again starting with Glosso









ADA Advanced CO2 and drop checker









Old Black Wood









Glosso the day I planted it









A week later









Blyxa a buddy gave me









Do Aqua Lily Pipe which I'm not using yet had a problem with it not creating enough current on the surface I'll try to use it later after my tank settles









A couple of my CPD's









Here's what my tank looks like currently


















My CRS

















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## Francis Xavier (Oct 8, 2008)

Looks good.

Looks like you had your lily pipes set too low - they've gotta be like right under the surface of the water, then they create good surface tension.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Looking great-- i think i'm going to construct one of these as my summer project. 
I've always wanted a little setup like that with some shrimp


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## ch3fb0yrdee (Oct 2, 2008)

HOw long was it from the initial planting that your glosso blew up so much? Thats the picture second from the bottom. Good looking tank.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

looking really good!


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

I like this tank a lot. The rock and wood placement is all at once subtle and deliberate. Plant growth has been fantastic! Good job.


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## djorijun (Mar 24, 2009)

what are you using for CO2?


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

It took about 2 weeks for the glosso to really start to spread. I'm using the ADA advanced CO2 system.


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Francis Xavier said:


> Looks good.
> 
> Looks like you had your lily pipes set too low - they've gotta be like right under the surface of the water, then they create good surface tension.


Thats what I was thinking but the Do Aqua pipes dont come with suction cups so I cant adjust the height. The guy at Nature Aquarium in Santa Monica said it should work at that height but I dont know.


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Looking really good. The rock/wood placement is really nice.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Looks good.

Just a couple of thing to consider.

CPD's don't do well in small tanks they really need the space to pace. A 10g is much more adequate for them. Also they like to be in groups.

IYou wood looks out of place in this scape. I think the rocks would look better alone or maybe play with the angle of the wood. Looks to centered.

Just my 2 cents.

Craig


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Craigthor said:


> Looks good.
> 
> Just a couple of thing to consider.
> 
> ...


My CPD's seem to be doing great. Their colors are getting brighter everyday. They are even showing signs of breeding already. Personally I love the placement of the driftwood. I wanted the focal point of the tank to be in the center. Plus theres no way I'm gonna pull that thing out now that my plants are growing in. The CPD's love to hang out under the wood, I think it gives them a place to feel secure when I do water changes and such.


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## mithrius (Apr 28, 2009)

it looks really nice! where in the world are u guys getting your 'ADA mini m's'???
they are SO good looking... i want one.!! are theye xpensive??


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## Alastair (Apr 20, 2009)

great looking tank, can't wait to see this fill out


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## corporate p (Jan 14, 2009)

sweet tank lungs!!! I actually have the same set up as you, with the same doaqua lily pipes. i had the same problem with the doaqua lily pipes not coming with suction cups, but fixed it by using the black ugly stock ones the ehiem came with.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

It looks good so far, but it looks like you have too much surface agitation. You are probably outgassing some of your co2


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

clwatkins10 said:


> It looks good so far, but it looks like you have too much surface agitation. You are probably outgassing some of your co2


I think I will switch to the Lily Pipes again. I just need to find some suction cups that will work. I was surprised that the Do Aqua ones didnt come with them. I may try to stretch the small ones that came with my Advanced CO2 system, but Im not sure if theyll fit.


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## KentCurtis (Jan 22, 2009)

Love the tank so far. I have been wanting to do a mini-m also, its not the price of the tank that bugs me, but rather finding an appropriate light. What was the price tag on the solar series?


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

KentCurtis said:


> Love the tank so far. I have been wanting to do a mini-m also, its not the price of the tank that bugs me, but rather finding an appropriate light. What was the price tag on the solar series?


Mini Solar runs about $210 but is worth every penny. My next step is to upgrade one to LEDs :eek5:


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Heres some shots from the side


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Nice tank. I bet your shrimp are happy!


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Got a Nana petite and 4 microrasbora erythromicrons today. The erythros are still pretty pale because theyre stressed. Ill post pics when their color gets better.


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## KentCurtis (Jan 22, 2009)

Any updates lungs? Is starting to look really nice! Definitely an inspiration when I get around to (or getting the money to) setup a Mini-M myself.


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Got a new stand. Its an ADA knock-off made by jnm1978, hes on SCAPE. It looks exactly like the ADA one at 1/4 the price. He can make them in any color inside and out.


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## KentCurtis (Jan 22, 2009)

Awesome stand. Looks really good, I especially like the holes designated for the filter tubing to go straight up and into the tank.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Wow, that looks really sharp. Good job!


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## thief (Jan 12, 2008)

Can you give me the dimensions of your stand?
l x w x h

I am planning on making one in a month or so.

Great looking tank.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

thief said:


> Can you give me the dimensions of your stand?
> l x w x h
> 
> I am planning on making one in a month or so.
> ...


Nice looking stand. 

Theif you can get the ADA dimensions from the AFA site adana-usa.com. When I built mine I went slightly larger though and added a couple other holes for plumbing and what not.

Craig


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## JadeIceGreen (May 20, 2009)

The stand looks exactly like ADA's, great job getting one!
I am trying to get my local tank maker to build one too, only problems are finding the right metallic grey colour and position to drill the holes for the filter pipes as ADA did not include the positions in their catalog.

All ADA tanks are meant to be filled to the brim. ADA or DoAqua! mini series lily pipes are meant to sit exactly as there were designed. The DoAqua! lily pipe is design to be more of a outflow reducer, rather than a vortex creator. It seems like in a nano tank like the Mini M, aeration and surface skim are not much of an issue. That is why mini series lily pipes do not have suction cups for height adjustments. But like yourself, I would prefer that ADA comes out with a mini lily pipe that has a suction cup to aerate our tanks properly. 

I agree with Craig on the piece of wood, but if it works for you, then it works. That is the most important and unique fact of our obsess-- Hobby. What we create are living works of art, not everyone is going to agree with everyone, but what we can all agree to learn from each other.


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Rescaped to iwagumi. Took out the blackwood kept it simple and clean.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

I really like the coloring and textures on those rocks.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

The new scape looks great. Can't wait to see it filled in and I totally agree with Craig.


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

took the soil down on the left side and in front.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Great tank, both scapes look great!

This question is about your old set up, what was that box on the upper left for?


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Aaaw, I was kind of liking the Glosso carpet But hopefully HC works out for you too

Are those lilly pipes the Do!Aqua ones?


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

VincentK said:


> Great tank, both scapes look great!
> 
> This question is about your old set up, what was that box on the upper left for?


That box was a breeder for my berried shrimp.


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Aaaw, I was kind of liking the Glosso carpet But hopefully HC works out for you too
> 
> Are those lilly pipes the Do!Aqua ones?


The inflow is Do Aqua and the outflow is ADA


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Had a bad GDA problem and left it alone for 6 weeks. Finally cleaned it off and no signs of it returning.

Before


















After


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Thats an intense algae outbreak! Afterwards it looks great though.

Nice scapes each time, although I would recommend not using CPDs in such a small tank. I doubt you saw breeding behavior vs. territorial behavior. Breeding behavior is when the female is chased around the tank dashing into plants and stuff more or less. Territorial aggression and establishing a pecking order is when two fish circle each other doing that weird spasm face off type thing, this has nothing much to do with breeding. I've got 20 in my 55g, which may be a bit excessive in room but they do best in larger tanks.

What are your final impressions of the Do!Aqua outflow vs. ADA? I'm curious because I am planning to buy a mini m and was going to get the outflow and inflow probly. 

-Andrew


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

the do aqua outflow i had problems setting the height because there were no suction cups. i like the ada one much better because it creates that vortex action in the tank. 



A Hill said:


> Thats an intense algae outbreak! Afterwards it looks great though.
> 
> Nice scapes each time, although I would recommend not using CPDs in such a small tank. I doubt you saw breeding behavior vs. territorial behavior. Breeding behavior is when the female is chased around the tank dashing into plants and stuff more or less. Territorial aggression and establishing a pecking order is when two fish circle each other doing that weird spasm face off type thing, this has nothing much to do with breeding. I've got 20 in my 55g, which may be a bit excessive in room but they do best in larger tanks.
> 
> ...


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

update




























nice piece of driftwood thats going in my other mini-m as soon as i transfer livestock. fits the mini-m perfectly.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

really clean and simple. lovely tank. Looks awesome with the glass pipes too.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

by the way...did you have issues with the dwarf hairgrass, or just wanted the HC exclusively.


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## 2jackedLUNGS (Mar 11, 2009)

Fat Guy said:


> by the way...did you have issues with the dwarf hairgrass, or just wanted the HC exclusively.


dwarf hairgrass just kind of takes over the tank. especially a small one like a mini-m. i wanted to keep it simple at first and go all hc. i may add microsword later since its easier to control than hairgrass.


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

love it! and that driftwood is gunna look amazing!


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

2jackedLUNGS said:


> dwarf hairgrass just kind of takes over the tank. especially a small one like a mini-m. i wanted to keep it simple at first and go all hc. i may add microsword later since its easier to control than hairgrass.


nice. I like the all HC look. Works well with an iwagumi.

best, el g


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