# 1.5 gallon nano



## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

Well, I've taken the plunge into nano tanks. I've always wanted to have a nano, and found a perfect spot for it in an alcove on our kitchen counter. I set up this tank about three days ago. Purchased a 'wave' Aquavase and put in ~ 1 inch of Onyx sand. I've set up a piece of wood covered in some moss as my focal point. I've planted Marsilea crenata (for foreground), a stem plant and Blyxa Japonica in the background, and a clump of floating riccia (to soak up excess nutrients for now). I would prefer to use Hemianthus Callitrichoides as my foreground plant, but have had no luck in finding it from a local supplier. I'm using a Coralife mini light (2x9watts), and a tiny Zoomed internal filter; no heater. I'll be replacing the filter with a Red sea Nano HOB filter next week, since it will free up some precious space in the tank. Originally, I wasn't planning on using a filter, however I got hit with a suspected green algae bloom, which I cleared away with floculant (Kent Pro clear) and Purigen placed in my filter. So, I'll be continuing with a filter for now.

I plan on fertilizing with PMDD, and Flourish Phosphate. Flourish Excel will be my carbon source. I've heard that yeast CO2 may not be necessary for a nano tank, if Excel is used. I'll try it and see what happens.

Once my tank appears stable, I may add a white cloud minnow.


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## h20 plant (Dec 21, 2005)

Nice tank! I was looking at that light for a nano tank but was thinking that many watts would make the plants use up all the Co2 fairly fast. Keep me informed on how the plants do and have you thought of putting little cherry shrimp in their? Last question you may answer it or not but how much did the whole set up cost (sorry if this sounds rude but just trying to price mine out)? Thanks thanks and keep us updated with the new filter.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

I'm dosing 3 drops of Excel daily (works out to a bit less than 0.25 mL), so we'll see how the plants manage. I have an old Hagen yeast CO2 system, but just figure it'll be a bother to set it up for such a small system... I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. Having to add a filter was already one step more than I had originally planned. :wink: 

I actually have 5 or 6 cherry red shrimp in there, and they seem happy so far.

I purchased the aquavase, coralife mini light, and nano filter at Big Al's online: aquavase $50 + Coralife mini light $40 (price matched with JLAquatics) + nano filter $13 = $113 plus tax. The wood cost me $7 at my LFS. I haven't included the cost of substrate. If you find yourself a nice shaped glass container at a Home decor place, you might save some $$$. I couldn't find a large and appropriately shaped one at Winner's or Homesense. As well, if you use an existing desk lamp and use a screw-in 23 watt bulb, you could save some $$$ on lighting.

I'll post more pics as things develop.


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## random_alias (Jun 28, 2005)

That would be roughly $97 plus tax for you spending California dollars somewhere like the Big Al's American website.

That's a nice little tank. Using an external filter will make a big difference like you said.

When you eventually run across some HC it'll look nice in there. 

How often do you plan to do water changes?


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## krazykidd86 (Jul 27, 2005)

great looking tank. nano tanks are pretty expensive. paid off i suppose.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

random_alias said:


> That would be roughly $97 plus tax for you spending California dollars somewhere like the Big Al's American website.
> 
> That's a nice little tank. Using an external filter will make a big difference like you said.
> 
> ...


Hi random_alias,

Yep, the external nano filter should be arrive here tomorrow. I'm going to have to wrap some mesh around the intake pipe to prevent the cherry shrimp from getting sucked in. 

Still looking for HC... wish I was in the States, because it's much more available there. :icon_mrgr 

As for water changes, I plan on doing them whenever I remember (hopefully once every two weeks or so). Some nano tank people on these forums say that they only top off the evaporation... perhaps once my tank is stabilized and the plants have grown in, this'll be a possibility.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

krazykidd86 said:


> great looking tank. nano tanks are pretty expensive. paid off i suppose.


Hi Krazykidd,

Remember, I took the lazy route and splurged. I've seen people using old coffee pots or vases, as opposed to purchasing a commercial aquavase. And the lighting can be a lot cheaper than an aqualight mini. I liked the look and the compact form of the mini.

Honestly, if I had the space, I might've spent a bit more and purchased a 6 gallon JBJ nano cube (they're pretty awesome). But, JBJ doesn't make nano cubes this small yet. :wink:


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

Here's my tank a few days later. I've added in a few more Blyxa japonica plantlets (from my 30g tank), as well as a few more clippings of the stem plant. I'm continuing onwards with Excel, and PMDD dosing to see how things go. Hopefully I won't have to inject CO2, since I'm trying to get this tank as simple as possible.

I've added in 6 more red cherry shrimp, and replaced my existing internal filter with the Red Sea nano filter (H.O.B.). I've got to say that the nano filter is a nicely constructed unit, for the low price. I've wrapped some filter mesh around the filter intake to prevent any future cherry shrimp babies from getting sucked in... wishful thinking, eh? :fish:


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## h20 plant (Dec 21, 2005)

looking good! How do ya like that light so far any problems?


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

h20 plant said:


> looking good! How do ya like that light so far any problems?


Except for a suspected GW outbreak a couple of days into it (cleared via floculant and Purigen), things have been great. I'm supplementing with 3 drops of Flourish Excel per day, and 3 drops of PMDD, and Flourish phosphate when needed. So far, the plants are doing well, and are no worse for wear. However, I haven't seen pearling yet either. We'll see in a few weeks how the plants manage under this setup... don't want to have to add DIY CO2.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

Well I finally managed to get a pot of Hemianthus callitrichoides ”Cuba” (Tropica), and planted it in the foreground. I also replaced my Red Sea Nano filter with my old Zoo med internal filter. The Zoo med takes up a bit more space inside the tank, however it is quieter and creates much less surface turbulence (which will be a factor if I start CO2). I also flipped around the wood, and I think it looks better this way.

I have been playing around with my white balance setting and I think that the pics are turning out a bit better as a result. The tank is a bit difficult to photograph since it has a 'wave' configuration (i.e., the front and rear panes of glass are not flat).


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

*1 month update*

New plants:

- Finally found some Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba" by Tropica. So I planted it in the front, and it's SLOWLY forming a carpet. Much easier to manage than glosso.
- Hydrocotyle verticillata (left side). It's barely growing. I think it likes having CO2 supplementation, since it grows quite well in my 30g which has pressurized CO2. The nice thing about this plant is that the leaves are small. It's almost like a minature version of cardamine lyrata.
- Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides. Really cute, little plant. Looks almost like green mushrooms (right of the rocks). I've planted it in my 30g as well. Makes a great foreground plant. 
- Hemianthus micranthemoides. Transplanted this from my 30g.

The Blyxa Japonica didn't grow do well with only Excel, so I ended up moving it back to my 30g. I really think that to grow this well, I'd need some DIY yeast CO2, which I don't want to bother with on such a small tank.

Removed the wood with moss on it. The wood was too big and made the tank look small. So, I took a hunk of petrified wood that I had lying around, and broke it up into bits with a chisel. I think I like the look of it more, and it is much more proportional to the rest of the tank.

I'm having lots of green dust algae on the glass, which may be due to low phosphate levels (usually 0.6-0.7 ppm). My olive nerite snail is keeping it under control at the moment.

The cherry red shrimp are doing well, although no pregnant females as of yet.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

I transplanted some rotala indica cuttings from my 30g into my nano about a week ago. You can identify the transplanted rotala, since the leaves look red and considerably larger than the existing.rotala indica. It looks pretty crowded with rotala in the left hand corner, and I'll have to trim it soon. I'm waiting for my aquascaping tools to arrive.  The rotala wallichi (left of the filter) is growing, although not as quickly as the indica. The HC continues to grow in slowly. Maybe in another few months I'll finally have a carpet! The ludwigia arcuata (see in front of the filter) is barely growing. I find that it's a slow grower, even in my high-tech 30g tank.

Still having problems with green dust algae. I've positioned the lighting towards the back a bit more, and added another nerite snail. Hopefully this will help control the green dust. I may try increasing my phosphates (they currently run ~ 1ppm) to 2 ppm, as I've read that this can help with green dust/spot algae.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

Ever since I moved the light fixture a few cm backwards, and increased my phosphate dosing, there's been considerably less green dust algae on the glass. I removed the rotala wallichi since it was looking too crowded in this tank. I also moved the ludwigia arcuata to the background. The rotala indica continues to grow well, and actually needs another trim! The Hemianthus callitrichoides 'cuba' is growing in very nicely in the foreground... slow grower though. I also added a black backing to the tank, and it nicely hides the cords behind the tank. I think it also provides a nice contrast for the plants.

I was initially worried about not having CO2 injection in this tank. However, using Flourish Excel as a carbon source has turned out well, since my plants are thriving, but not growing ridiculously fast (as they do in my larger pressurized CO2 tank). The result is that I only have to trim my plants once every 3-4 weeks or so!

My cherry red shrimp are active, and appear healthy, but no pregnant females so far...


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

...................................


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## TAF CAF (Jan 12, 2006)

Just skimmed the thread... looks like you go through more renovations than my tanks do... lol.

Looks great by the way!


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## Matthew Mahling (Sep 4, 2005)

I like this tank your on to something here.


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## fish man 101 (Feb 15, 2005)

NIce tank Stan..That HC is looking good and will be awesome when fully carpeted. If i werer you i would trim that rotala as well ( makes the tank look a bit "clustered" if u know what i mean.. Nice tank


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

Sweet lil' tank there dude. I've got the wild type shrimp that you can breed into cherrys in my nano with that filter. You don't really have to worry about them getting drawn into the filter. They will over populate that tank quite easily, just feed them. My 2 gallon nano is supplying shrimp for all my larger tanks.

You are right, the rock is a big improvement over the drift wood.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

Thanks for the comments!

TAF CAF: Yep, I'm always renovating my tanks. Keeps me out of trouble.  I just can't leave things alone. Heck, I'm upgrading my 26g bowfront planted tank to a 70g later this week! Spent 4-5 hrs washing Flourite... fun.

fish man 101: I'm loving HC so far. Definitely the lowest maintenance foreground plant I've had so far. It doesn't grow too tall, and grows slowly (at least in my experience with no CO2 injection). I am going to be trimming back the rotala in the next few days... it's getting ready to take over the tank again.

SCMurphy: What are you feeding your shrimp in your 2 g tank? I'm currently using two pieces of Hikari Crab Cuisine every day. But my dang cherries (10 in total) won't reproduce! I'm wondering if it's the Excel that I'm adding to the tank every day? Or it might be the fact that I don't have a heater in the tank?


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## Livebearer101 (Feb 7, 2006)

I have a 1.8 gallon nano with 6 white cloud minnow. I have a 'aqua-flow mini' filter that does a great job and isnt too powerful. No heating. 

I cant get them to breed either  

Thats a cool nano, keep it up.


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

I'm using TetraMin Tropical Crisps, and the occasional Hikari sinking wafer. They seem to clean up the crips very quickly and reproduce like roaches. It's fun to watch the hoard of tanks rumble across the terrain towards the crisps when I drop them in. 

I'm using Excell in my tank so that shouldn't be a problem for you, no heater either. Maybe you didn't get any females.


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## turbowagon (Dec 30, 2005)

I love the tank Stan... I might want to try something similar to keep at work.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

turbowagon said:


> I love the tank Stan... I might want to try something similar to keep at work.


Turbowagon, this would be a very 'do able' setup for work. It takes up very little space, and is low maintenance.

I'm currently adding 0.5 mL PMDD, 0.5 mL Excel and 0.5 mL Flourish Phosphorous daily. This keeps my nitrates around 8-10 ppm, and phosphate ~1.5 ppm. I do a 10-15% water change every 2 weeks or so (ie., remove 4 to 5 cups of water, and then dump in dechlorinated water). Haven't rinsed the filter floss for over a month. I have an olive nerite snail who keeps the glass reasonably clean (no glass scraping required on my part). The Coralife mini-might is a great fixture and I would highly recommend it.

Just hope that your nano tank doesn't distract you too much from your work.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

SCMurphy, I might possibly have been unlucky enough to get only males. The one thing I have noticed is that the cherry red shrimp get much more vibrant in my 26g planted tank, versus in my nano tank... the water parameters may be more to their liking?

I have been meaning to ask you about your 'icon'. What flowering plant is that a picture of? Looks amazing! Do you still have an emersed plant setup? What kind of lighting were you using?


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

I really like the rock formation. Is it petrified wood or some kind of rock? Seems the HC is doing ok. I have some but it seems to have come with some BBA and is being overwhelmed by it. But my dwarfgrass is taking over so if the HC does not fair well the grass will just fill in.

As for the other plants seem to be quick growers which will make trimming a primary maintanence issue but still looks good.


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## Stan the Man (Dec 12, 2005)

Hey aquaphish,

The rock is petrified wood, which I split apart into smaller pieces using a chisel and hammer. I had originally wanted to get some 'Amano rock', but they don't sell ADA products in Canada, unfortunately. So I settled on using some petrified wood I had lying around. The nice thing about petrified wood is that it splits apart quite nicely with a few sharp blows.


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## mjime714 (Mar 7, 2006)

BRAVO!! Your tank plant choices are great Im gonna have to get me a couple of those you got in there. The overall tank... AWESOME! I love the transformation from what you started out with to what it is in the most recent pic.. GREAT JOB!


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

Stan the Man said:


> Hey aquaphish,
> 
> The rock is petrified wood, which I split apart into smaller pieces using a chisel and hammer. I had originally wanted to get some 'Amano rock', but they don't sell ADA products in Canada, unfortunately. So I settled on using some petrified wood I had lying around. The nice thing about petrified wood is that it splits apart quite nicely with a few sharp blows.


I thought that it was petrified wood. I have some in my 8 gal but I got the pieces already in small chunks that I used to make a small Plateau. I really like this stuff over using regular rocks because of the different colors you can find.


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