# First attempt at a nano tank



## livebearerlove (Aug 20, 2013)

I love it. Great job- I opted for a granulated soil, but not a day goes by I reconsider sand. Do you have a medium below the sand?


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## VJM (Feb 9, 2013)

It looks great! My experience with the Evolve 4 is that you will need a new light ASAP. A desk light with a CFL is sufficient, but the one that comes with the tank is not great. Mine also broke after 6 months. 

Is this tank dirted? If so, and with another light, dwarf hairgrass would work.


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I remember reading the stock light with the Evolve 4 was fairly lacking, but I figured it'd be alright for low light plants. I was eyeballing one of Fluval's nano lights for planted tanks, but I could definitely rig up something with a CFL. And no dirt. I did it once before and it was just a hassle for me to deal with. It did make plants grow fast, but any time I had to move anything I'd get dirt flying everywhere. Plus I'm not sure if I just didn't cap it right, but it stained my water like driftwood does. 
VJM> I really want to grow hairgrass but I've had awful luck with it. The first tank I set up was high tech with Co2, nutrients, high light, good flow, the works and it just either would not spread or get choked out by algae. I tried it in a few other tanks and it just died each time (or my Severum in my 55 got the munchies, which for some reason he eats everything but my sword plants). I actually have had more luck growing Baby Tears than DHG. I'm thinking either Hydrocotyle tripartite or Pogostemon Helferi. The Pogostemon we sell at work so I can easily get that if I can find a healthy looking bunch. The Hydrocotyle I'll have to do some looking around for. If I need to upgrade my lighting a bit, that's doable. I just don't have the funds for CO2 right now so I was trying to keep everything low tech.

I didn't go with aqua soil or anything because it's really hard to find other than online and it's crazy expensive. I did gravel with a few tanks, but I keep coming back to sand. I love the way it looks, how much easier it is to plant in, and any bottom feeders I have seem to love it. The Bichirs in my larger tank love to burrow in the stuff too.

Here it is. This is the light fixture I had seen that some people swapped out I think. I like this one because it's got the red LEDs which help growth
http://www.finnex.net/index.php?opt...ge.tpl&category_id=4&product_id=365&Itemid=61


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

I've added a few crypts. My main LFS just got back from his kid being born, so no new shipments of fish.


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

So one of my coworkers brought me some Telanthera and pennywort from some of the trimmings I gave him a few months ago since it had been growing like a weed for him. Added a few small bit of the Telanthera and the small pop of color makes a huge difference. I still haven't figured out what I want to do with the Pennywort since it's such a big piece and my Severum in my other tank would eat it if I put it in there. Livestock on this tank will probably be on hold while I try to get a bigger tank as my girlfriend decided to buy me an Endlicheri Bichir to go with my Senegal and Albino Senegal (<3). Right now I've got some grape wood soaking trying to waterlog it and leech the tannins. Though I've heard grape wood sometimes decays quickly, so I don't know if I'll keep it in there permanently. In the meantime, updated photo.


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## danbayne (May 21, 2013)

Looks great. What kind of Nano and what lights are you using? thanks :biggrin:


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

danbayne said:


> Looks great. What kind of Nano and what lights are you using? thanks :biggrin:


Hey, thanks for the response! It's an aqueon evolve 4 with just the stock LED lights. I'm considering swapping them out for a Finnex Fugeray with the Red Boost. If I do, I'll probably go ahead and get one of the Fluval Nano Co2 Systems.


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## danbayne (May 21, 2013)

Again, great job... Awesome you could get such nice growth running stock everything. I hesitated and lost out on getting an evolve when Petsmart was doing their evolve clearance ($20 for the 4 and $40 for the 8). I'm interested to see where this goes with the new light and CO2. I have a 3G Nano sitting here at work just begging me to work on it. Once I feel confident I won't kill the plants, I'll definitely work on it. Still gathering much needed info and inspiration from the forums...


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

danbayne said:


> Again, great job... Awesome you could get such nice growth running stock everything. I hesitated and lost out on getting an evolve when Petsmart was doing their evolve clearance ($20 for the 4 and $40 for the 8). I'm interested to see where this goes with the new light and CO2. I have a 3G Nano sitting here at work just begging me to work on it. Once I feel confident I won't kill the plants, I'll definitely work on it. Still gathering much needed info and inspiration from the forums...


Most of this is just how it came out of the package. I haven't seen much growth yet. I think some of the Cyperus has grown a bit, but on the plus side, no die off or algae issues. I still see Evolves on clearance at some Petcos from time to time, so I'd try looking there. Petsmart's store brand (grreat choice is going to replace the Evolves). So they'll be cheap. I'll let you know when they come in and give ya the rundown. The biggest thing I can recommend for starting planted tanks is start small (as in low tech) and work your way up. Unless you plan on starting with some of the hardest plants right off the bat, I really recommend T8s. I watched Dustin's Fishtanks and his suggestion of T8s rather than T5HOs. I've used both, while the T8s don't promote as rapid growth as the T5HOs, I don't have the issue with algae, they're not blinding bright, and don't run up my electric bill). When doing nano tanks like these, it's all about scale. The stones I used are about the size of my fist for big centerpiece type stone. If I remember right they are blue stone I found at a local gardening center. I looked up to see if they leeched anything into the water and there weren't any reports of them doing that. Smaller plants like Anubias Bateri var. Nana work well because they keep small leaves. I think the Cryptocorne Wendtii Tropica stays relatively small. Might need some pruning from time to time. Pennywort grows like a weed in all my tanks, even ones not set up for plants. Fry and other fish seem to love snaking around the stems, leaves, and roots. Small fish help keep the idea of scale. Ditch the neons and most common tetras. Look for fish like Celestial Pearl Danios, Chili Rasboras, Pygmy Corydora, Pea Puffers (I'd recommend a species only for them), and shrimp. Pencilfish are good too from what I'm told. Let me know if you want anymore info. I'll be glad to share.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Brian041 said:


> If I do, I'll probably go ahead and get one of the Fluval Nano Co2 Systems.


If you do, I recommend saving a bit more for an Aquatek mini regulator for paintball. Those fluval co2 kits don't have a solenoid valve and those little proprietary "cartridges" will cost more overtime than just getting paintball tanks refilled. The solenoid on a timer will prolong the life of your co2 so you wouldn't run out as fast either. Overall... good start on your pico tank.


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## danbayne (May 21, 2013)

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I'll be following your tank and I'll let you know when I'm ready to the pull the trigger on mine....as I'll be very cautious.


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> If you do, I recommend saving a bit more for an Aquatek mini regulator for paintball. Those fluval co2 kits don't have a solenoid valve and those little proprietary "cartridges" will cost more overtime than just getting paintball tanks refilled. The solenoid on a timer will prolong the life of your co2 so you wouldn't run out as fast either. Overall... good start on your pico tank.


I think that was my primary concern with those systems. How much would a system using 20oz. paintball Co2 tanks run me roughly? or a better system than the fluval systems? And thanks for the compliment.



danbayne said:


> Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I'll be following your tank and I'll let you know when I'm ready to the pull the trigger on mine....as I'll be very cautious.


Sometimes just getting your feet wet is the best way, but yeah, I'm far from an expert on the subject, but feel free to shoot me a message with any questions you might run into.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Well... if you get the Aquatek mini regulator on ebay, it's $90 shipped. It comes with tubing and bubble counter w/ check valve. All you would need is a diffuser, drop checker, and cheap timer. The prices on these can vary, depending on what you like. 

The paintball tank varies too. I was going to buy my 20oz tanks on Amazon for ~$17 each, the cheapest I can find. But they're empty (which has to be for shipping anyways). But I found a local airsoft/paintball field that charged $25 for a 20oz but came with a stamp card good for 5 free refills -- essentially making my paintball tanks free. I'm not sure if other paintball places operate like that or if I'm just lucky, but I thought that was a good deal.


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Well... if you get the Aquatek mini regulator on ebay, it's $90 shipped. It comes with tubing and bubble counter w/ check valve. All you would need is a diffuser, drop checker, and cheap timer. The prices on these can vary, depending on what you like.
> 
> The paintball tank varies too. I was going to buy my 20oz tanks on Amazon for ~$17 each, the cheapest I can find. But they're empty (which has to be for shipping anyways). But I found a local airsoft/paintball field that charged $25 for a 20oz but came with a stamp card good for 5 free refills -- essentially making my paintball tanks free. I'm not sure if other paintball places operate like that or if I'm just lucky, but I thought that was a good deal.


Not sure about paintball refills around here. I'd have to ask one of my buddies who is a paintballer. But $90 isn't a bad deal, even with having to buy a few extra components. And I have some DIY diffusers left over that I made back in the day. I've got a timer that I can program by socket so I might use that for a timer, or just have it set to go off when my lights are set to go off. That way I won't need to worry about programming an airstone to run at night.


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

Forgot today was Fish and Plant shipment at work. Snagged up some Pogostemon Helferi since we finally got in some healthy looking ones. Looks a bit sparse on the right hand side so I might have to get a second batch of it to fill in the gaps.

Been thinking about going high tech with this tank because of the addition of the Telanthera and Pogostemon using a Finnex fixture and the Aquatek Co2 regulator that ya'll have been talking about. I'll probably gauge it all to see how it does.

Some pictures to show the new plants. Not sure why it looks darker than it usually does tonight.


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

Decided to hit up my local LFS since I was passing his shop on the way home. He was all out of Celestial Pearl Danios, but I did spot some great looking Scarlet Badis, Sparkling Gourami, and Chocolate Gouramis (and teacup rays. someday...someday). I decided against the Chocolates because I felt like my Evolve4 was just too small for them, I'd feel more comfortable putting them in an 8-10 or so. But I did snatch up a scarlet and a sparkling gourami. I'm considering my tank fully stocked now. I also ditched the driftwood I was going to use. I got the stuff waterlogged without any issues, but it was just beginning to smell sooo bad and make the bucket all slimy I didn't want to risk putting it in my tank. The smell when I opened the lid of the bucket made me come close to tossing my cookies, so oh well, lesson learned, steer clear of grape wood. I'll keep my eyes open for small pieces, but for now this tank is done. Oh and I also snatched up a juvie Firemouth for one of my other tanks to keep my Severums and Gourami in line. Took a few quick photos of the Scarlet and Sparkling. I'll upload a link to a video as soon as I work out all the background noise from 2 tank filters, my fan, and the TV. Someday I'll put some new batteries in my camera and stop using my Android to take pictures.

Tomorrow's agenda is to clean the tank. Some brown diatom algae (no doubt from the stock LEDs) has started showing up on the big Anubias Nana leaves and the left rock. Also the slats for the overflow need to be cleaned and do a small water change to get the water looking crystal clear again. Might do some trimming too as a few leaves seem to have frayed edges (some were like that when I purchased them).

cories doing their thing on the leaves



























Here you can also see those frayed edges I was talking about



























The Scarlet hiding in the shade of the anubias and crypts









I just finished acclimating Scarlet and releasing it into the tank so hopefully Scarlet will color up a bit after getting used to its new tank.


















Even in this nano tank, Scarlet looks tiny.


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

So the tank has had some MAJOR overhauls since I last updated. I've since upgraded to a pressurized Co2 system and a better light fixture. Added a bunch of new plants and many have filled in a lot. A few different residents as well. Tank is very healthy and barely have to touch it. Water parameters are excellent and never really need a water change, but I do it anyways when removing trimmings just out of habit. Plants pearly like mad.









Pencilfish wondering why the light is suddenly brighter



















Plant wise I've added Crypt Wendtii and Balanese, staurogyne repens, pogostemon helferi, windelov java fern. Some I've added more of what was already in the tank. I've upgraded the stock Aqueon LED light after it shorted out to a Finnex Fugeray Ultra-Slim R LED. The Co2 is a 20oz. Paintball tank with an Aquatek regulator and bubble counter made for paintball tanks. I've also slowed the flow on the pump by taking a small piece of fluval mechanical filtration media and stuffing it in the outlet tube (filter floss got clogged too easily). I also added fluval biomax media into the sump portion for added biological filtration. The livestock in the tank are 4 pencil fish, 1 sparkling gourami, and 3 nerite snails. I don't foresee myself changing much in the tank any time soon other than possibly swapping the pogostemon for dwarf hairgrass or a different carpeting plant.


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## tanksagain (Feb 24, 2014)

Your tank looks great! I have an evolve 4 with the same fugeray-r and I love it. I've been doing diy co2 with yeast and have been considering the aquatek mini. How do like it? Is it easy to adjust and set up? Awesome tank!


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## Brian041 (Sep 10, 2012)

tanksagain said:


> Your tank looks great! I have an evolve 4 with the same fugeray-r and I love it. I've been doing diy co2 with yeast and have been considering the aquatek mini. How do like it? Is it easy to adjust and set up? Awesome tank!


Hey thanks! It was super easy to set up. I do recommend getting a drop checker though because I spent a good week calibrating it until my fish seemed normal. I've got one on order now just to have the added peace of mind. But yes, it's very easy to set up and adjust. Well worth the investment. Plus I found out the Dick's Sporting Goods down the road from me does Co2 refills. So I don't have to go across town to the local welding place now


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