# ADA Mini-S Tank: General opinions wanted



## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Images*


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## BTDarters (Dec 30, 2007)

Nice tank! I like the setup.

Brian


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Looks good. Any close ups of the tank? Just curious of seam quality and if the edges are beveled like the ADA ones. Also what was the price?


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## dougiefresh (Sep 5, 2006)

Great rock layout scape. 

The only thing I can comment on, is possibly the light may not be bright enough for a few of the plants like the HC and glosso. But may do the job. Also, if you can use clear tubing for the lily pipes vs the smoke dark colored.


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## dougiefresh (Sep 5, 2006)

Also do you know if the Do!Aqua stuff is available online or will be soon? Thanks!


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

The set up looks great! I love the rock placement.


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

Nice setup.
I think I saw that exact tank and some of those exact rocks at AFA. When that Do!aqua tank came in, I was seriously thinking of buying it. (It was something like $33.00 or some comparative-to-AFA ridiculously low price.) It cool to see all those things come alive.
I love your plant choices.
Keep it up!


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow it's very beautiful! I like the plant choices and layout


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Looks fantastic! Great rock placement. Why is the water level so low?


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*The Do!Aqua tank*

The tank was $39 I believe, compared to the ADA Mini-S at $60 from Aqua Forest Aquarium. I'll get some photos of the tank and it's edges.

Also, on the lighting, I do believe that it's not enough so I am working on an 18-watt solution that I believe will do much better. Also, I am going to experiment with an LED option that I really like. I found a 10-watt LED on ebay from Hong Kong that is extremely bright. Even though it's rated at 10 watts, it's 650 lumens! That's almost as bright as my LCD projector which is rated at 1000 lumens. Here's some sample photos I took of the 3 lighting systems before starting the tank:




























This is the light I am using right now. They are really hard to find, by the way, the only place I can find that sells them is www.thatpetplace.com and that's also where I found the CO2 paintball regulator. The LED option is a little "bluer" than I'd like it to be but it's supposed to be in the plant growth temperature. I was probably going to use two of them. If anyone wants some more photos of the lights themselves let me know, I have quite a few as I wanted to document this tank build with lots of photos.

As far as the vinyl tubing, I have of course preferred the clear tubing (even going to the trouble of finding tubing with NO printing on it) but it generally grows algae quicker than I'd like it to. I found the Hagen 1/2" smoke tubing is both softer and easier to work with (makes bends a lot easier) it also has the advantage of slowing down the algae growth to almost nothing. I only have to brush out the tubing on my other tanks maybe once every 3 months or so instead of every 3-4 weeks for the clear tubing.

I was just preparing for a water change just before the photos were taken, so I had started to siphon the water when I stopped to take the photos. I found that sometimes after a water change if I am not careful the substrate can be stirred up slightly and it can make the water a little cloudy until it settles again. I have a fancy "siphon from a bottle and fill the tank through a sponge" refill kit I made to prevent substrate disturbances but I didn't want to take any chances before photographs were taken.

Thanks again for all the comments!


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## btmarquis (Feb 15, 2007)

Looks good! Ive never seen those tanks before. Very nice. I would fill the water right to the top.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

It's nice to see a Do!Aqua tank! The LED's look awesome, maybe you can get the mh shimmering effect. Do you have a link for the LED fixture?


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## windfish (Dec 2, 2007)

Nice tank! Did they have any other sizes at AFA?


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Responses*

The Do!Aqua tanks appear to ME as being almost the same as the ADA tanks, other than the logo on the front. I'll get some photos posted. On the lighting, the LED light is NOT a complete setup, it's a 10W bulb all by itself. I got some on ebay and had to mount them to CPU fans to keep them cool. If I just hooked them up to a 12V source they would burn themselves out in less than a minute (I was told). Here are some photos of the light assembly, but keep in mind it's a prototype and does not have a mounting method just yet:




























Also, I don't think AFA has any more Do!Aqua tanks any more. I talked to Stephen (one of the owners) about it and he said because of the Japanese Yen they are not sure when the next shipment will be placed from Japan. Last time they got a 40-foot container back in mid-October that included quite a few tanks, but I think they sold most of them.

I also just got their last 60-F which is the same footprint as the 60-P ADA tank, but it's short. I think it's about 7-8" tall. I am going to use it just to harvest more plants, and I may post photos of it on here if it's remotely interesting.

Thanks again for reading,

Dennis


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## brt_p (Nov 16, 2008)

bookmarked..:icon_smil
this is a very good journal and i'm more curious about the LED..


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Wow, the led looks nice. I think it's quite possible to have the "shimmer" effect of a metal halide. Get some pics of the 60-F!


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*ADA 60-F Tank as well*

I just set up the ADA 60-F tank this evening, it's literally hours old but I thought I'd take a couple photos of it. It really needs to go into another thread but I wanted to share a couple quick photos:



















If people are interested I'll get some photos posted on a new thread for the 60-F tank. Keep in mind it's just going to be a "garden" for me to grow and multiply the plants I have for other tanks. It's not getting any rocks or any aquascaping other than ADA soil for plant growth. After the tank has cycled it will get my standard set of workers: SAEs, pea puffer for snails, and Amano shrimp to help keep algae under control.

Dennis


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

dmcentire said:


> I just set up the ADA 60-F tank this evening, it's literally hours old but I thought I'd take a couple photos of it. It really needs to go into another thread but I wanted to share a couple quick photos:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow! Those dimensions are a lot better than I expected. If only it were a couple inches taller it would be perfect for an awesome scape!


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

clwatkins10 said:


> Wow! Those dimensions are a lot better than I expected. If only it were a couple inches taller it would be perfect for an awesome scape!


That's whatI was thinking.

Craig


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## thief (Jan 12, 2008)

Thanks for the awesome photo. I've been thinking of getting a 60-F for a while! looks so sick!:red_mouth


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*The Aqua!Do Tank Details*

I finally took some detailed photos of the Aqua!Do tank for you guys. The glass has the same beveled edge properties of the ADA tanks, and also seems to me to be almost if not exactly as clear as the ADA equivalent. In fact, I liked it so much I went ahead and got AFA's last Do!Aqua tank, they had a Mini-M sized one left for $45.





































Thanks for reading,

Dennis


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## dougiefresh (Sep 5, 2006)

Great pictures. The construction looks the same as ADA. The only thing that may be different on the Do!Aqua tanks is the glass quality, it looks like greener glass (even though I'd still buy them). I could be wrong about the glass quality though since it's hard to compare.


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## Badcopnofishtank (Jan 20, 2004)

I like the scape, anxious to see more about the lighting.


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

I like that tank shape


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Updated photos with stand*

I finally moved the tank and set it up at my office, which is where I always wanted this little guy to be. A lot of people at work have stopped by to see the setup and are all very impressed, which makes me happy! I put the tank on a $30 stand I got at PetSmart, and drilled it accordingly to support the mini canister filter and the CO2 setup. The top right door hides the filter and CO2 bubble counter, check valve, and needle valve. The tank itself sits behind the stand.














































I am taking the LED light contraption over to Steven at Aqua Forest in San Francisco tomorrow to get his opinion of it. I have figured out a way to mount two of those LED lamps to an old Pentium II heat sink which is much wider than the standard square type of CPU fans in use today. That will be pretty neat when I get that worked out.

I got in contact with a friend of mine who runs a machine shop about trying to fashion a curved metal housing for the LED lighting. I also tried out a cold cathode tube lighting system and it ended up looking JUST like the light that is on there now. I changed the light out from the small 13W to the 24 watt lamp shown here, available at AFA.

The cold cathode lamps run very cool and require less power than the CF lamp shown here. They are typically used inside computers to show them off. I'll let you know how that works out if there is any interest in it.

Thanks for reading.

Dennis


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## BTDarters (Dec 30, 2007)

Dennis,

That is freakin' awesome!!!

Brian


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

Wow! looks great, love the scape


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## dougiefresh (Sep 5, 2006)

Like the new stand and placement. The scape looks real nice.


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## ddtran46 (Jul 8, 2008)

wow. the Do!Aqua tanks look nice.


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Thanks for your comments*

Thanks for all your comments and compliments, I appreciate it!

I also wanted to share the other one my girlfriend and I did, it's pretty similar and has another cool stand setup:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/80332-ada-mini-m-moms-tank.html

Once I get the LED light fashioned, I will post photos of it as well.

Dennis


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

I love the pipes you are using, what are they & where can I get them? The tank looks great!


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Carole, Looks like they are the Do Aqua! brand. AFA In San Fran should have them you would have to call them as it wouldn't be listed on the site. ADAs' beginner brand of gear.

Craig


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Actually....*

Actually I moved FROM the Do!Aqua pipes over to the Cal-Aqua pipes because I like the look of the Cal-Aqua pipes and they have a suction cup mounting point. They are also easier to clean since they only have at the most a 180 degree bend.

http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/inflow-outflow-pipes/cal-fluxus-nano.html

Thanks
Dennis


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Dual LED lighting prototype*

Well I was happy with my tests of the LED light on the tank, so I decided to try making a DUAL LED version (20 watts total, 1300 lumens total) which will actually be brighter than my 1000 lumens LCD projector. Here's some photos of the prototype, made from the heat sink unit of an old Pentium II processor.




























I'll keep you posted on how this works out. Also on the next post I will show some photos of how the tank looks with just the one LED light prototype.


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Photos of the single LED light test*

I just had to try out the single LED option to see how it worked out, so I attached it to a metal bar and suspended it high above the tank to see how well the light penetrated the water. Here are some of the photos.


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

Wow, that is a lot of light! Looks great.:thumbsup:


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## gasteriaphile (Nov 21, 2008)

*dimensions?*

I am getting into this thread late and wanted to make sure I understood the dimensions of this tank. By the way I didn't know that these ADA franchises sold anything besides ADA. So I found it interesting that the Los in Frisco sell a "beginner" tank like the DoAqua.

So anyway, this DoAqua of yours is 31 cm in length? does it have the same dimensions as the ADA Cube Garden Mini S? If so that would be about a 5 gallon tank, yes?


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Reply*



gasteriaphile said:


> I am getting into this thread late and wanted to make sure I understood the dimensions of this tank. By the way I didn't know that these ADA franchises sold anything besides ADA. So I found it interesting that the Los in Frisco sell a "beginner" tank like the DoAqua.
> 
> So anyway, this DoAqua of yours is 31 cm in length? does it have the same dimensions as the ADA Cube Garden Mini S? If so that would be about a 5 gallon tank, yes?


The Do!Aqua line is manufactured by ADA, so they do carry their stuff. The tank is the same size as the ADA Mini-S tank, I think it's 31cm wide. It's definitely less than 5 gallons, more like 3, but I am not sure.

On page 2 of this thread there are detailed photos of the Do!Aqua tank. I believe it's of a very good quality and don't see any difference between this and the ADA equivalent.


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

Par is more important that lumenous ouput, what's the par reading on those LEDs?


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*PAR output*

I'd love to find out what the PAR is for lighting in general, and how to find it out for the lights I have. I am thinking about picking up a lumens meter, but I am not sure if that will measure PAR.


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

Is emerald hills in norcal? If so, I think tom barr will loan you his par meter.


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

*Yes Redwood City*

I am in Redwood City, CA - in the San Francisco Peninsula area. How do I get in touch with him?

Also, is this the definition of PAR?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetically_active_radiation

"The expression *Photosynthetically Active Radiation*, often abbreviated *PAR*, designates the spectral range of solar light from 400 to 700 nanometers that is useful to terrestrial plants in the process of photosynthesis."


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

try pm'ing here.

his SN is

plantbrain

EDIT:ya is that definition


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## Cactus Bastard (Jun 5, 2007)

Pretty distinct shadows with the LEDs, do you get a bunch of shimmering too?


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## dmcentire (Nov 30, 2008)

Yes the LED light does a lot of shimmering, I'll try to capture that with a tripod mounted camera sometime this week.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

How much did the LED light cost to make?


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## Cactus Bastard (Jun 5, 2007)

How is plant growth doing with this setup?


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## purplecity (Jul 28, 2008)

*what kind of light fixture is this*

anyone know what kind of light fixture is this?


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

It's an Archaea twenty-eight watt from AFA. Sixty bucks, I think it was.


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## rzierolf (Feb 13, 2008)

Ugly Genius said:


> It's an Archaea twenty-eight watt from AFA. Sixty bucks, I think it was.


How do I get one of those fixtures if I'm not in the Bay Area? They (AFA) don't sale that one on-line from what I can tell.


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## ldk59 (Jan 30, 2009)

Give them a call, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to hook ya up :thumbsup:

http://www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_page=contact_us


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## torres.kvin (Jan 26, 2011)

I can only comment might not be bright enough to light the number of plants, such as HC and glossy. But you can do. In addition, if you can clear the smoke pipe and the lily color.


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## trackhazard (Aug 24, 2006)

Holy thread necro, Batman!

-Charlie


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