# OMG! another tank, whats going on?ADA MINI M Madness (Pics updated 10-22)



## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

Well here I go again. My daughter just came back and decided to start a new tank with her. This is the first time that i used drift wood in my actual scape. unlike my other ventures where stones were the primary focal point in my landscape. My daughter and i love the look of that tree stump so we decided to roll with it. 

If you were following my other journals, this is the MINI ada M tank that i won at my LFS tank layout contest. So rather have it sit in storage, i decided to build this one with my daughter. 

So far this build consists of:

ADA mini M
ADA powder soil
ADA bacter 100 to help with the start of the beneficial bacteria
ADA black drift wood
Seriyu stones
Eheim 2213
Co2 injection
ADA 27w solar light fixture

im thinking of some mini pelia around the base of the tree
what do you think of me using UG for the foreground or will that make the tank look smaller because it grows taller. Or should i use HC to keep with the look and help the make the tank look larger because HC is so small. im not sure yet just toying around with the idea.

Also will be adding some petite nanas up front and maybe behind. 

lmk what you think about the layout so far.


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## AquaSpoon (Jun 23, 2010)

Looks great! I love the tree stump.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Why can I never find such a sweet piece of wood like that? lol this is going to be a great tank


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## TeamTeal (Mar 31, 2010)

great scape, the stump is real nice


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## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

That is exactly the stump I was hoping to find for my Mini-L.  All jealousy aside, you have a great start here! I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it but please feel free to send that stump my way.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

I think some mini pellia would look nice around the wood. I would go for HC over UG, just because I've never really liked UG and HC look like little clovers. Where are you going to put the nana petites? I think they would look really good on the back/sides of the stump.


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

i should be getting in my regulator some time this week but im going to start planting the HC tomorrow. Im going to take all the hc out my 12 gal long and put it in here. then im going to try out ug in that mr aqua tank.

yes im going to put some petite nanas right in the front left corner in that little triangle patch between the rock and wood. and also the back side of the stump all the way to the back left. im not sure if i should put something tall in that back left corner. i think that it will make it look crowded. 

thanks for all the support keep the suggestions coming.


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## boon (Mar 29, 2006)

That stump looks amazing. I'm envious. I think you should do carpet the front and middle portion with HC, then the back portion with Dwarf hairgrass. Behind the stump if you can, squeeze some sort of leafy stem. The base around and between the rock should be petite nanas. 

Anyhoo looking forward to seeing this tank progress.


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

the only question is will my lighting be sufficient for this setup. i will be running an 18w pl 65k light. im not sure if this is enough to grow the HC i hope it will.


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

ok so here i believe is my final scape. i moved some of the rocks around right in the middle of the stump. does. the runners look too big to be the roots of this tree?

does the front right corner look empty? i was thinking of putting a small rock right there.

please your suggestions and comments are welcom.


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## thatgmc (Jul 4, 2010)

This is great. Is the powder soil hard to work with?


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

thatgmc said:


> This is great. Is the powder soil hard to work with?


 i love to work with powder soil its real easy to plant with especially when using HC. the only thing is that if you like to move around your hardscape then i wouldn't suggest powder because once it gets wet it breaks apart easily when moving around the rocks.


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

here are some updated pictures.. my daughter decided to use UG for the foreground plants. so the dry start begins....


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

well ever since i planted the UG i noticed some melting so i decided to just flood the tank. i didn't want it to recover then flood the tank and risk it melting again. I figured i would stress out the plant once and get it over with.

i decided to flood the tank with RO water only cause i heard that UG doesn't like all that nutrients that ADA soil has. plus i know that it likes softer water.

Ill try the RO water to begin and maybe acclimate it to regular tap water once it gets established.

here are some pictures of the tank. I added some mini pelia and petite nanas and also waiting for my selection of rotala butterfly stem plants to arrive.


New custom acrylic intake and spray bar

































































The flooding starts






































I hope that the UG survives and im not sure what else to put in the background. I wanted to put some rotala butterfly behind the stump in the left corner and not sure what else to put...any suggestions?


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## sapphoqueen (Feb 9, 2010)

i love that setup!!!!


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## TobasB (Aug 11, 2010)

this is going to be brilliant!


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

thanks....it just makes it a lot easier to design stuff when you find the right pieces of rocks and driftwood...


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## Anubia (Aug 20, 2010)

*lighting...*

Hi Defiant..

Nice clean setup and am enjoying the thread ..agree on your final scaping as the rock work looks more natural against the tree root.

I have a similar tree root setup but am breaking it down due to have too many CRS (berried females) within this bioscope and need to transfer some of these shrimp to a new 45cm all glass tank.

Question was ; what manufacturer was the generic 18W lighting unit from as I'm having probs finding a luminaire type lighting unit to fit a 45cm (length) all glass tank.

Arcadia used to do one but the minimum lighting units seem to be 60cm minimum.

Keep us posted...


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## MONARK (Jun 4, 2009)

What king of light fixture are you using???

It looks really nice. I have a similar piece of wood in a 12gal cube with Mini microsword and hydrocotille verticilata, I wouldn't add anything to the background so it can give the sense of a foot tree image. Anyway really good start.

What about fauna??


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

Anubia said:


> Hi Defiant..
> 
> Nice clean setup and am enjoying the thread ..agree on your final scaping as the rock work looks more natural against the tree root.
> 
> ...


 



MONARK said:


> What king of light fixture are you using???
> 
> It looks really nice. I have a similar piece of wood in a 12gal cube with Mini microsword and hydrocotille verticilata, I wouldn't add anything to the background so it can give the sense of a foot tree image. Anyway really good start.
> 
> What about fauna??


thanks for the compliments..the light fixture is off of ebay. i just typed in 12" ight in the aquarium section and this fixture came up.

it was like 19.99 plus shipping. it says "sensen aquariums" on the box.


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

here is an update to the tank. i decided to go a head and put in some val nana in the back of the tree stump. let me know if this works out or if it takes away from the look. 

the UG seems to be doing fine now with minimal melting. They are all standing straigt up. im not sure if this is normal or is my light not strong enough that they are tryin to reach for the light. The water is still a little yellow from the tree even though i soaked it for almost 2 weeks before putting it in the tank.

I have been using RO water for now untill the UG gets established then eventually i will switch over to regular tap water. The petite nanas look a little pale so im not sure if this is due to the RO water. And also mhy mini pellia looks brown. I hope that they bounce back.

here are a few shots of the tank. Enjoy!


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## Anubia (Aug 20, 2010)

*Updated*

Hi.....I think your Val Nana adds depth of field to the scape much like true life, so think you should stay with it and let it fill out and determine if it's what you want ...

Thx for the lighting update....

I've done a bit more surfing and you guys do get more choice re lighting for nano tanks. Here in the UK you can either get Acadia hang on pods 11watts or go down the ADA pendant route. Looks like most of the UK distributors are settling for a 60cm standard luminaire and nothing smaller.

I've got it touch with a overseas distributor that may ship me a CADE - Desk Lite II (Twin 36W PL), which looks very ADA Solar :icon_cool but somewhat cheaper... Let's hope it works out.

Re your lighting and plant concerns. Anubia take a while to settle in and much prefers being tied to bogwood / hardscape than being planted in the substrate. Mine seem to grow and leaf better in lower light levels and semi shade wheras HC and Mini pellia prefers higher lighting levels, they all enjoy CO2 infusion. I think this is what we all enjoy about the hobby. No one's tank, lighting setup, water hardness is the same so what works for one tank might not be suitable for another...

Enjoy your tank bro...:thumbsup:


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

ok so here is an update with the tank

the UG seems to be growing nicely i did my first trim today because it was getting too long for my taste. the mini pellia seems to be doing well also..

i added a few more heads of petite nana. the only thing is that it seems that the leaves are a little larger than the original petites that i put in. i think the guy sold me another type of anubia instead of the petite nanas. i hope that this one doesn't get large like the regular nanas.

i added a pair of SAE's and one Badis to help control those little flea looking bugs that hitchiked in with the plants. 

well here is some pictures please let me know what you think about it..again your comments are very welcome. 

if you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know.

enjoy


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## ncassells (Jun 19, 2010)

Wow, this layout is amazing!
It has to be one of the best i have seen on here in a while!! 
Congrats


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

defiant said:


> wow how did i miss this thread?


I KNOW RIGHT!!! Well that goes for me and this thread. I just saw your post in the "Show Me Your Nanos" thread and was wondering if the picture you posted there is one of the more recent ones. If not, then any update to this one?


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

well to update the tank, the UG and the pelia aren't doing so well. they are all turning brown. so i may have to remove the UG and go with a different foreground. Im looking to use possible some Hc for the front center and if i can find some marsella minuta for the back of the tank. 

if anyone got some marsella minuta to ROAK that would be awesome.


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## beedee (Jul 1, 2010)

great scape and journal!

where did you get your custom intake and spray bar from?


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

beedee said:


> great scape and journal!
> 
> where did you get your custom intake and spray bar from?


thanks!


i made the custom spray acrylic spray bars. did you need some?


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## justinq (Dec 6, 2006)

Wow, this is a really cool scape. It fits the nature aquarium look, but is different than anything else I've seen. Very unique!


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## cheddar254 (Aug 25, 2010)

gonna look really beautiful when it fills in!


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

Excellent choice of wood and equally good execution. You nailed it! I saw the last few pics before I read the first post with the specs and unless I had seen the ADA log or the filter inlet/outlet, I could not have said if it was a mini M with UG or 2O gal tank with DWG. Very, very good!


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

thanks for the kind words but unfortunately the ug did not survive the transition to fully submerged. I had to remove the UG. I replanted with hc toward the front of the tank and am going with Marseila Minuta in the rear to give it a little more depth. i hope that i get the same if not better effect than the UG alone.

i will keep you all posted.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I love the stump but not feeling the rocks in front of it. Maybe if they were brown or black.


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

Well im doing an update on all the tanks and wanted to give you all an update on me and my daughters mini m project. In my last update I had to remove all the UG cause they unexpectedly died off. I really liked the look of the UG so i decided to go with Liliopsis. The only reason im using this plant is because im using DHG in my 12g long and wanted to do something different. I also added some HC to the front and center of the layout to give it a better transition between plants instead of on large liliopsis carpet. here are some recent photos of the tank.

here is a picture right before weekly cleaning and first trim










here is a picture right after water change and trim



















here is a shot of the tank all together


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

Sorry about your UG, but it is looking good nonetheless. That is a very natural looking hardscape, but why have the rock on the left up so high?

Should look great all grown in.


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## Hadouken441 (Mar 19, 2010)

this. is just amazing looking


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

Hyzer said:


> Sorry about your UG, but it is looking good nonetheless. That is a very natural looking hardscape, but why have the rock on the left up so high?
> 
> Should look great all grown in.


well the reason that rock is so high is to cover up the void between the main stump and the root system. Plus i intend to have mini pelia grow all over the top portion of it. So once all the plants fill in correctly, you should only see the bottom half of that tall rock and partal of the other rock right next to it.

Im just having trouble with the mini pelia. the two batches that i put in there all turned brown and died. Im not sure whats going on with it. but ill try again once my stock of pelia grows enough for me to transplant to this tank.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Wow awesome piece of wood! Nice find. Driftwood can really change a scape for the better. Looking good.


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## Anubia (Aug 20, 2010)

defiant said:


> Im just having trouble with the mini pelia. the two batches that i put in there all turned brown and died. Im not sure whats going on with it. but ill try again once my stock of pelia grows enough for me to transplant to this tank.


Hi Defiant...how are you fixing the mini Pelia...? Most bods super glue it to the bogwood / hardscape as it prefers not to be in the substrate. It's a particularly slow grower and will take time bed in..hence the browning off.

Once established it will look better and does ok with some C02 infusion rather then non C02 low tech.

Another option is to go with fissidens fontanus around the tree stump...


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## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

thanks anubia.... the mini pelia is starting to grow in now ill post up an update in a week or two. I think i need to change out the light bulb because the 10k bulb that came with the archaea clip on doesn't seem to be providing the right spectrum.. I just purchased the ada 56k bulb that im going to put in so hopefully this stimulates growth. then again i do have some really slow growing plants in here including the petite nanas, mini pelia, liliopsis so that was to be expected.


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## MissGreen08 (Jan 4, 2011)

That tree stump is incredible! I guess the price of ADA wood really is worth it!


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## tizzite (Mar 28, 2010)

Lovin the hardscape. I had mixed results with dry starts, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I grew my UG submersed, after getting it from an emersed grower, but I had algae problems and it choked my UG until there were only a few blades left. Once I started my dosing regimen the UG took off.

I didn't dose in the beginning because I had such great results with HC and aquasoil without ferts, but I guess plants are all different, eh?


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