# National Geographic Waterfall Oasis Tank 7gallon build



## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Interesting, can't wait to see how this turns out.

Lool I too I'm waiting for my.plants to arrive 

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## chillwill007 (Dec 28, 2015)

Cool little tank


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## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

Good start, excited to see where it goes from here!


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## DanPlanted (Jun 15, 2015)

Nice tank.


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

So does the waterfall part have any recess, or compartments, to plant terrestrial plants? 

One of my peeves about Petsmart/Petco is they have all these interesting little tanks, but never have any setup as displays. Which then leads to people opening boxes, and parts becoming damaged or "going missing."

Nice little tank, those dimensions are perfect for a desktop tank.


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

prototyp3 said:


> So does the waterfall part have any recess, or compartments, to plant terrestrial plants?
> 
> One of my peeves about Petsmart/Petco is they have all these interesting little tanks, but never have any setup as displays. Which then leads to people opening boxes, and parts becoming damaged or "going missing."
> 
> Nice little tank, those dimensions are perfect for a desktop tank.



If you take out filter cartridge you might be able to put a plant or two in there. Here's a picture of how the top looks like:


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

Update!
Half of the plants I ordered from members on here arrived safe and sound  so I got to do some rearranging and planting today.
Change the layout a bit and like it a lot more like this:










Still waiting for the manzanita from blooms and branches.
Decided to wait to fill the tank until I get the branches and hopefully it will give the HC time to root itself before I flood the tank.

So for now here's the tank half planted.

Top view:









Front View:

















Decided to glue the Buces on rocks and hopefully they will take root. I am loving the colors of their leaves:


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## anfield (Dec 1, 2013)

Nice setup! But how are you going to keep those hills from leveling out?


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

Honestly, I played with the rocks a lot to be able to get the substrate to stay that way. I cut up small pieces of plastic and use them as a sort of barrier to hold the substrate back here and there as well.


anfield said:


> Nice setup! But how are you going to keep those hills from leveling out?


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

Update:
The manzanita finally came in 
Flooded the tank today:


































Now to patiently wait till the tank is fully cycled.


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## Birdo (Oct 28, 2015)

liked it alot more with out the drift wood.. but just my opinion.. interested in seeing it grown in!


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

I agree with Birdo. But who knows. It scape isn't finished yet

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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

Birdo said:


> liked it alot more with out the drift wood.. but just my opinion.. interested in seeing it grown in!





Aqua Hero said:


> I agree with Birdo. But who knows. It scape isn't finished yet
> 
> 
> Thanks guys for the opinion, I appreciate it. I will see how it looks after the tank matures and if it looks too cramp with the driftwood I will take it out.


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## Hunter73 (Sep 2, 2015)

Nice work so far. I like it with, and without the manzanita. I'll be following along. On a side note, do you plan on putting your Mr. Aqua 12 on a stand?


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## desertVet (Jan 11, 2016)

*Waterfall tank*

I bought one of those the day after Christmas so not even a month ago. Same idea as you, to do a planted tank to have next to my bed because of the waterfall. After about two weeks the pump went out so I just threw in another pump I had. Then about a week later, the light went out. I went to Petsmart and complained as I couldn't really take it back as it was planted, seeded and shrimp started. To their credit, they opened up another one and gave me the pump and light out of it. I didn't even have to return my old one. So I'm three weeks in now with all new guts and so far so good with this one, but I don't have high hopes. Most that stuff Petsmart sells is cheap imported junk. I'm not putting down the shop, just be careful when you buy anything with moving parts from them as I have had a lot of bad experiences. I went through five hob filters but they did replace each one.


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## MayerMatthewR (Sep 1, 2015)

That's a nice little tank, I have one as my desk tank at work. I think you'll like it!

Here's mine. Nothing special, but low maintenance. One geriatric Betta, three Ember Tetras, one _juvenile_ albino bristlenose pleco, and two cherry shrimp!


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

Hunter73 said:


> Nice work so far. I like it with, and without the manzanita. I'll be following along. On a side note, do you plan on putting your Mr. Aqua 12 on a stand?


Thank you :laugh2:
The Mr. Aqua is on an old dresser of mine currently. Probably will build a stand for it eventually (too cold to be doing work outside atm here).



desertVet said:


> I bought one of those the day after Christmas so not even a month ago. Same idea as you, to do a planted tank to have next to my bed because of the waterfall. After about two weeks the pump went out so I just threw in another pump I had. Then about a week later, the light went out. I went to Petsmart and complained as I couldn't really take it back as it was planted, seeded and shrimp started. To their credit, they opened up another one and gave me the pump and light out of it. I didn't even have to return my old one. So I'm three weeks in now with all new guts and so far so good with this one, but I don't have high hopes. Most that stuff Petsmart sells is cheap imported junk. I'm not putting down the shop, just be careful when you buy anything with moving parts from them as I have had a lot of bad experiences. I went through five hob filters but they did replace each one.


Yeah I figured the filter and LED was junk, but I got it really just for the tank since it was on sale.



MayerMatthewR said:


> That's a nice little tank, I have one as my desk tank at work. I think you'll like it!
> 
> Here's mine. Nothing special, but low maintenance. One geriatric Betta, three Ember Tetras, one _juvenile_ albino bristlenose pleco, and two cherry shrimp!


I like it! If I wasn't so plant obsessed I would go low tech too :grin2:


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

Exactly one week since I flooded the tank:










Hydrocotyle Tripartita Pearling:










Amanos to the rescue:










Can't wait for the plants to fill in nicely


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## aquaticaddict (Jan 26, 2016)

Diggin' your tank! Thanks for all the pics!


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

Sorry for the late updates! Unfortunately, I am battling thread algae right now so the tank isn't as pretty as I hope it would be by now.
Spot treating currently with Excel, so they are slowing turning red.


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## overgrown (Dec 30, 2015)

Charoozz520 said:


> Sorry for the late updates! Unfortunately, I am battling thread algae right now so the tank isn't as pretty as I hope it would be by now.
> Spot treating currently with Excel, so they are slowing turning red.


Tank really has come a long way since the beginning of the thread. What caused the algae do you think?


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## stingrayness (Feb 14, 2016)

Your tank looks awesome! I really love the Manzanita! Too bad about the algae though, good luck!


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Charoozz520 said:


> Sorry for the late updates! Unfortunately, I am battling thread algae right now so the tank isn't as pretty as I hope it would be by now.
> Spot treating currently with Excel, so they are slowing turning red.


Have you tried the 1-2 punch (thread in algae sub forum) with excel and hydrogen peroxide? If you are concerned about fish/inverts you can move them during treatment then drip them back in after the water change (when treatment is done).





MayerMatthewR said:


> That's a nice little tank, I have one as my desk tank at work. I think you'll like it!
> 
> Here's mine. Nothing special, but low maintenance. One geriatric Betta, three Ember Tetras, one _juvenile_ albino bristlenose pleco, and two cherry shrimp!


If you have a bristle nose AND nerites they are competing for food in what is a very small tank. I'd suggest getting rid of the pleco and keeping the nerite snails. This will be a huge decrease in your bio lad (aka lower nitrates with pleco removed).
Also ember tetras are schooling fish that should be in groups of *6 *or more.


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

AquaAurora said:


> Have you tried the 1-2 punch (thread in algae sub forum) with excel and hydrogen peroxide? If you are concerned about fish/inverts you can move them during treatment then drip them back in after the water change (when treatment is done).
> 
> 
> I really want to avoid this unless I absolutely have to. I think if by the end of this week, I am still having algae issues then I am going to do the 1 2 punch method.


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## Cynglen (Feb 12, 2016)

Awesome little tank. I'm browsing around for ideas for my first-ever planted tank, and love the way you aquascaped around the rocks! Hope the algae clears up nice and quick for ya.


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

Tanks looking good. But you went to all that trouble of the hardscape with the rocks, and the different elevations of substrate along with the different colors and the path. But now thats all gone and you've got a jungle driftwood scape. ( I still like it, but not what I envisioned after your first few photos). This might need a less is more approach.


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## Charoozz520 (Jan 4, 2016)

lksdrinker said:


> Tanks looking good. But you went to all that trouble of the hardscape with the rocks, and the different elevations of substrate along with the different colors and the path. But now thats all gone and you've got a jungle driftwood scape. ( I still like it, but not what I envisioned after your first few photos). This might need a less is more approach.


You're right on that part. I might be removing some of the driftwood so it looks less cramped. Will see how the tank looks after the 1-2 step method this weekend.

Bump:


overgrown said:


> Tank really has come a long way since the beginning of the thread. What caused the algae do you think?


Unfortunately, I was gone for a few days and the window curtains that usually blocks the sunlight was left opened. Not sure if that was the main cause of it, but it seems like the thread algae got way out of control when I came back.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

oh man, thread algae is the worst! i hate it !

well the tank looks great, I do agree to take out the driftwood and it'll make the tank look a bit more open
but it still looks great!


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## fasoole (Jan 13, 2015)

To be honest i don't like the driftwood, anyway any updates with algae? 
try flourish excel and co2 that helped me alot to fight the algae


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## AZDee (Dec 19, 2016)

I just bought National Geographic Oasis Waterfall fish tank it and I am thrilled with it and I didn't realize all the cool aspects it offers at that time as a newbie (well had one as a kid but I hardly think that was a serious attempt). So here's some of the highlights. The water fall keeps the water moving and adds a nice touch. Very clean design with the seamless GLASS not plastic; you don't see the black filter boxes hanging on the backside of the tank the view is almost transparent (just couple of electric wires hardly noticeable). The black top houses everything and once again is only about half the size of the opening so not like the old style ones that covers the whole top, this one has a clear glass plate just like the sides that you can remove for feeding etc. Quiet and I like the LED lighting. If you keep the water clean, you will totally enjoy the view of your fish. I don't know anyone else that makes the water fall feature to the filter system and I was wondering it there is a larger size too. Real easy to setup, I didn't really even read the instructions it was so simple and straight forward. In fact, I got it home, assembled the tank, rinsed everything as instructed and put in gravel, etc., got filtered water and added the de-clorinator and filled. After a while put the fish in (bag for 15 min) and enjoyed; took all of about 1.5 hrs to fully up and running. I also have kept an eye out for leaks and so far so good. Fish even look like they are enjoying their new tank too.


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