# xximanoobxx's Do!aqua Mini-m - My First Planted tank - New Pics! (10/9/09)



## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Good start! I am no planted aquarium genius, but I bet It will look pretty good in a month or two.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Thanks! Hopefully the glosso stays on the ground and not become tall. 
I'm going to buy Excel later today so I could dose that with my DIY CO2


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Nice scape. I'm looking forward to seeing the water clear


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

It's looking good, those are really nice rocks, but I don't think you need all five. You could probably take the front two right rocks out, and move the back right rock forward a little and it would look even better. 

People keep shrimp in open tanks all the time with no problems with jumping, you just need to cycle the tank very well before you add them.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Or you could take the front two right rocks out, rotate the front left rock 180 degrees and put it in front of the two back rocks (in the middle of the tank) and shift the whole scape to the left some. That might look pretty nice IMO. Good start.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm really looking forward to seeing this tank progress

Just out of curiosity, how much do the Do!Aqua Mini-M's cost? They're not listed in the website, and I haven't been to the AFA store in a while


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Dollface said:


> It's looking good, those are really nice rocks, but I don't think you need all five. You could probably take the front two right rocks out, and move the back right rock forward a little and it would look even better.
> 
> People keep shrimp in open tanks all the time with no problems with jumping, you just need to cycle the tank very well before you add them.


Thanks!

I might take the 2 rocks out on Sunday next week.



clwatkins10 said:


> Or you could take the front two right rocks out, rotate the front left rock 180 degrees and put it in front of the two back rocks (in the middle of the tank) and shift the whole scape to the left some. That might look pretty nice IMO. Good start.


Thanks for the idea, I might do that.



ZooTycoonMaster said:


> I'm really looking forward to seeing this tank progress
> 
> Just out of curiosity, how much do the Do!Aqua Mini-M's cost? They're not listed in the website, and I haven't been to the AFA store in a while


They were $45. They are so much cheaper than the freakin ADA brand lol.




I have a question. Would the Glosso that's floating survive for a week?

Thanks!!!


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

xximanoobxx said:


> They were $45. They are so much cheaper than the freakin ADA brand lol.


Lol yeah, cheaper by $25.

But can you believe that ADA sells _scissors_ for more than $45?



> I have a question. Would the Glosso that's floating survive for a week?
> 
> Thanks!!!


Yes, it should.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Lol yeah, cheaper by $25.
> 
> But can you believe that ADA sells _scissors_ for more than $45?


The scissors' as much as my tank alone... lol :hihi:

I think I'll wait until my glosso roots up before I rescape the tank since I don't want to bother the roots of the glosso, it was a pain to plant the glosso.(took close to 2 hrs)

Any other plant suggestion???

Thanks!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

ADA has scissors for $90...


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> ADA has scissors for $90...


That's even more expensive!!!!!
I guess you're paying for the brand and the quality of the equips.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Another question, since I don't have my diffuser yet(it's in the mail), is it ok if the co2 bubbles go through the intake of my aquaclear filter?

Thanks!
Sorry for the double-post


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

if you want, you could use a chopstick as a diffuser until you get the real thing. it does a decent job diffusing the co2 bubbles but a diffuser would be better. 
btw, great tank!

I've always wanted Eleocharis sp. Belem. did you get it from a LFS or bought it online?


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## dj2005 (Apr 23, 2009)

Looking good! I suggest removing the carbon bag from your filter as the carbon will likely absorb the things that your plants need.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

kcirtappatrick said:


> if you want, you could use a chopstick as a diffuser until you get the real thing. it does a decent job diffusing the co2 bubbles but a diffuser would be better.
> btw, great tank!
> 
> I've always wanted Eleocharis sp. Belem. did you get it from a LFS or bought it online?


I'm using a glass crystal air stone thing, so it's making small enough bubbles I think. Then I'm going to make another bottle of yeast mix for the other diffuser on the other side of the tank.

Actually, the eleocharis sp. belem was given to me as a freebie by a friend near my place. If I totally fail on the glosso, I'm gonna switch over to all eleocharis sp. Belem.



dj2005 said:


> Looking good! I suggest removing the carbon bag from your filter as the carbon will likely absorb the things that your plants need.


Thanks! I'm only putting that for a few days to clear the whole tank up. So tomorrow, I'm going to take it off, no time right now(homework  ).


Something bad happened earlier . When I got home from church, I found the camcorder/camera on the floor. My dog had dropped it!!!!! Stupid me for leaving it close to my dog's reach. So the lense is broken... Half of the picture looks blurry and half looks fine. Does anyone know where I could get it fixed??? My parents spent a lot on it, but it's about 3-4 yrs old...

So the update pictures are going to half suck for a while... :frown:


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Lookn good


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Fantastic! If all goes well, this tank will look really nice in a couple months. Actually let me rephrase. It already looks really nice. I will look freakin' sweet in a couple months.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Thanks for the nice comments guys! I really hope I'm successful with glosso since I really love the plant!!!

So here are some pictures.. The water has cleared up by a lot!!! But the water isn't crystal clear. Hopefully it clears up 100% soon. 
Sorry my camera broke, so I'd have to live with it...


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## FBG (Oct 17, 2008)

Looking good, I have a suggestion about the camera. if you turned it on its side, and zoomed out all the way then crop and flip the picture. that might work.

Growing in nicely, good work.




dj2005 said:


> Looking good! I suggest removing the carbon bag from your filter as the carbon will likely absorb the things that your plants need.


I never knew that...thank you for letting me know, I'll be sure to take it out of my filter! roud:


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## boink (Nov 27, 2006)

I actually like how those photos look...


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

lol, thanks.. I should just crop the pictures then. It sucks that it had to break when I start doing my journal. Oh well, but it won't be replaced in a while...

Anyways, I installed the diffuser (yay!) but it looks messy because of the tubing, but I'm going to fix it over the weekend when I do a 50%+ water change. I also just ordered ferts from Aquariumfertilizer.com since the place is located 2-3 hours from my place, which means fast shipping. I have a drop checker, but i don't really know how to use it...

Lastly, any suggestions on the fauna??? Is it even possible for any fish??? 

Thanks for looking!
John


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Just got my fertilizers today in the mail.
I'm doing EI dosing.
Here's my schedule
*
Monday
*1/16 tsp KNO3
1/64 tsp KH2PO4
1/64 tsp K2SO4
*Tuesday
*1/64 tsp CSM+B
*Wednesday
*1/16 tsp KNO3
1/64 tsp KH2PO4
1/64 tsp K2SO4
*Thursday 
*1/64 tsp CSM+B
*Friday 
*1/16 tsp KNO3
1/64 tsp KH2PO4
1/64 tsp K2SO4
*Saturday 
*1/64 tsp CSM+B
*Sunday *
Do 50% water change.

looks good?
I just divided the measurements for the 10-20 gallon thing...
I also got my mini measuring spoon which is cool. I didn't know that 1/64 tsp was that tiny lol!
I'm picking up more blyxa japonica on friday to fill up the back of my tank. I'll probably post more pictures on Friday or so.
I think that's all for today.

John


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

I love the way u arranged the rocks!. I have a 12 gallon tank and am jelous

but honestly that heater is killing the look lol.


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Nice schedule. Just be careful with the KNO3. In my experience, the powder is pretty strong and can take your nitrates through the roof very quickly. I killed all my CRS that way once. I'm not saying to change the schedule, just a reminder to keep an eye on things as you first start.

Looking great. I also really like the rock layout!


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

*accordztech*, thanks for the comment. Also, I already had the heater on me and I didnt want to buy extra. Maybe later on, I'll get a zoomed canister filter and get the hydor inline heater or something.

*Outlawboss*, thanks for telling me about KNO3. I will watch my nitrates when I start using the ferts. Would it be better if I just do, 1/32 and 1/64 tsp per dose?



UPDATE... Hmm, so my Glosso right now grows vertically, and not spreading. So should I just trim it or wait for a few days to see if it spreads or not? My DIY CO2 is letting out 1bps, so that's not too bad. Maybe it's my light? Since I've had it for a year now, and i used it before. But then I actually have 2 23 watts lighting the tank right now. Hmm, I'm not too sure.. Any suggestions????????

John.


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## ddtran46 (Jul 8, 2008)

xximanoobxx said:


> UPDATE... Hmm, so my Glosso right now grows vertically, and not spreading. So should I just trim it or wait for a few days to see if it spreads or not? My DIY CO2 is letting out 1bpm, so that's not too bad. Maybe it's my light? Since I've had it for a year now, and i used it before. But then I actually have 2 23 watts lighting the tank right now. Hmm, I'm not too sure.. Any suggestions????????
> 
> John.


Wait...you have 1 bubbles per minute?


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

ddtran46 said:


> Wait...you have 1 bubbles per minute?


Sorry. I just corrected myself. It's actually a little more than 1bps, but not quite 2 bps. So i'm guesstimating 1.5 bps?


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

xximanoobxx said:


> *Outlawboss*, thanks for telling me about KNO3. I will watch my nitrates when I start using the ferts. Would it be better if I just do, 1/32 and 1/64 tsp per dose?


In my 4 gallon nano, I was dosing 1/32 teaspoon 3x/week. After the first week I couldn't figure out why all my shrimp were dying. After some testing, I found my nitrates hovering around 45-50ppm. Borderline for fish, but the CRS were goners. I would just say go with it for a week, test at the end and see what you get. If it's too high, step down for the next week. If that's still too high, step down again...and so forth. That's how I dialed mine in. Hardly ever test nowadays unless something's wrong.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

I won't add anything(fish or inverts) for a month or 2, since I'm still getting used to this. Also, I need some test kits. Before this planted tank, I've never used test kits since parents thought they're a waste of money, but I'll purchase some soon. Pictures would be up later.


John


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Sorry that I lagged on updates of this tank. The camera didn't work anymore, that's why I didnt have any pictures. So pretty much I added a couple of stem plants and that's it. I trimmed down the glosso, so it looks ugly. So earlier, my parents bought a new camera. It's the Canon Powershot SX120 IS. I heard mixed reviews about the camera, but oh well, I like the picture quality. I'm still a noob though, so I need help using the manual mode of the camera.

Here are the pictures (don't mind the rock that has the moss, I'm just trying to grow the moss, and I ran out of room for the rock.)


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## ddtran46 (Jul 8, 2008)

The glosso is coming along nicely:thumbsup:


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Thanks, hopefully it'll just stay down. I've only seen 1 glosso send out a runner, but I keep noticing everyday that there's always new growth on the glosso, which is really cool. They are super fast growing plants.


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## Ariel301 (Sep 7, 2009)

Nice little tank! I really like the rockwork, and those stem plants in the back.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Thanks! I have problems with the rotala in the back. The bottom leaves melted for some reason. Could it be because of nitrates? I read somewhere rotalas dislike nitrates.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

I looks great! I think you could do a bit better with the hardscape tho, your first setup was better I think.

Keep trimming the glosso, it took a while for mine to start sending runners but now it has exploded.

Btw I _like_ to run carbon in a new tank I feel it helps with diatoms and other nastys.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

The rock with the moss is just on top of the other rock temporarily. I really don't want to mess with the scape for now. I probably will change it once the glosso spreads out nicely to the original scape.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Ga'h! I have lots of diatoms all over my tank. It's probably I dose too much ferts or something. Maybe I should change my dosing. Any suggestions?

I might get some amano shrimps tomorrow or some otos. 2-3 of either one. Also, my glosso carpet's dying! some of the leaves started turning brown. What could this mean?

Here are some pictures.


















Ugh, hopefully I could get rid of the diatoms. It's all over my substrate, the glass, and the plants too!!


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

I will post some updates tomorrow.


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

whenever i have this problem i do more and more water changes. the more the merrier right? since you dont have any fish in the tank you could set up another DIY co2. that might help the glosso make a come back.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Here's the tank update:
I added some crypt parva to the mid-right of the tank to fill in the space.
Also, I added an otocinclus. It's been in the tank for a week, and doing great.
I finalized my stocking plan for this tank.
It won't be a shrimp tank though. I'm gonna have a betta, 6 pygmy cories, and an oto.
I also started dosing with Excel since I'm starting to hate DIY CO2 since it only lasts me about a week for some reason. Maybe I should put less yeast in my mix or something.

Here are some pics









































Hope you like it


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

How is the tank now?


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

W000t! Passed the 500 mark!


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## kyle loves gars (Mar 12, 2009)

xximanoobxx said:


> Here's the tank update:
> 
> I also started dosing with Excel since I'm starting to hate DIY CO2 since it only lasts me about a week for some reason. Maybe I should put less yeast in my mix or something.


Try covering your 2 liter bottle with ducktape or anything to block out light. I couldnt get DIY to work for me until i blocked out all light to the unit


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

This tank has been long defunct. Look forward to a high tech tank in September


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Oh man... you're still alive haha 

I take it the emersed setup is still kickin?


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Yeah Nick, Gonna sell the whole collection to fund my tank for next fall . Gonna get really serious for sure. Bought my Paintball regulator earlier, so there's no way coming back.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

Whoa, I'm still alive and am getting the itch again! Researching so far for my next tank. This time, it's for real. I have money saved up!


Give me a suggestion on what style I should do? Iwagumi? Nature?
It's definitely going to be high tech. I still have the stones bought from AFA which can be reused if I do iwagumi.


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