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ADA 60P & 5G Do!Aqua Mini-M (Dou)

59K views 150 replies 31 participants last post by  JeanetteNash 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everyone,

So I started with one tank last fall and during Christmas I really wanted another. I also had plants in a bowl and didn't like that anymore... so I ended up going to the store and getting a 5G Do!Aqua tank. This one is my favourite so.. I'm gonna keep a forum journal on it haha. Here are my main learning points so far (spare you the detailed details):
- Pygmy cories don't move much especially in small tanks (even if there's a lot of them - 13?). They were (and are still) always also hiding behind my big rock... so if you want to see your fish and shrimp, don't put a big rock right smack in the middle and give them space to go behind it lol.
- Otocats and Pygmy cories will ruin your carpeting... mine freaked out whenever they saw me and kicked up the aquasoil. I had enough of this and eventually fished about 9 pygmy cories out of there. They are hard to catch in a small tank. Basically I find kicked up HC every day after work and replant them.
- What goes in... is really hard to get back out... I moved things/knocked things over quite a bit.
- Full dosage of what's recommended on fertilizers give me serious algae issues. Began dosing half of what's suggested and things are much better under control.
- My crystal red shrimp (CRS) at first didn't go for algae. After I added some red rili shrimp - they kinda showed them how to be a shrimp.
- HC did not melt, but does not grow very fast either. I ended up adding more easy to grow plants from my other tanks as I did not like how empty it began to look.
- Creating mounds will not work unless you have substrate supports (you can see in my photos). It really leveled out after 4 months.
- Anubias Nana Petite (not sure if this is the right name for it) does not like to be directly under light. I removed a section of it as it was growing a lot of algae on top.

Photos:
Date: 20151225


Date: 20160309


Equipment:
- Hydor 50W Heater
- Aquaclear 20 w/ BioMax, Scouring Pads
- Do!Aqua Mini-M (5G)
- ADA Solar Mini-M Light & Fixture (27W) // Glorified Desk Lamp x)

Plants:
- Java Fern
- HC Cuba
- Anubias Nana Petites
- Echinodorus
- Hygrophila (2 Types.. Can't remember name exactly. One is pink if there's CO2 and the other is Siamenses (sp?))
- Anubias
- Fissidens Moss
- Misc. plants from other tanks that I don't want to throw away (S. Repens, Ludwigia Brevips, Rotala Rotundifolia, Duckweed, Floating Something...)

Inhabitants:
- 4x Pygmy Cory
- 10+ CRS & 4+ Babies
- 6 Red Rili Shrimp
- 1x Otocat
- Ramshorn Snails

Other:
- Expensive Rock
- Tropica Aquarium Soil Substrate
- Tropica Premium Fertilizer
- Aquavitro P Fertilizer
- Excel (0.5 mL/day)
- Indian Almond Leaves

Parameters:
- 7.2-7.4 pH
- 9-10 gH
- 2-3 kH

====

ADA 60P


Brio35
 
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#10 · (Edited)
I wanted to give this journal a little update - but my 5G is not looking so hot right now haha. There are some things I want to do before I take an updated picture... so in its place I have an updated photo of my 60P x). Still trying to solve some algae issues - increased flow, keeping CO2 constant now and hoping for the best.

Edit// Special thanks to Ray (rwong2k10) for all the help/tips!

 
#11 · (Edited)
Love the growth!
Just a thought. Are you attached to the tall stem plants in the back? I think you can get great definition with the mossy wood that if you takeout the stem plants behind or use a couple clumps of medium height plants such as rotala bonsai or blyxa japonica.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the suggestion - the only problem is that I didn't plan it super well and I don't have that much planting space - and I haven't seen something that I really liked in terms of a medium height plant. But now that you mention rotala bonsai maybe I should try it... I'm gonna picture it in my mind and think about it....
 
#13 · (Edited)
Updated shot of the 5G - my hygrofail polysperma did not do so well and I replaced it with some rocks. Brevips also did not do well and replaced with more hygro siamenses 53b. Increased my light hours and my Cuba seems to be doing better.



Also here's a .gif of the 60P... Edit// Forgot to thank rwong2k10 for the photography tips x)

 
#15 ·
No update on the 5G... but a couple updates on my 60P. I basically removed/trimmed off a ton of keisak (it grows wayyyy too crazy), pulled out some java moss, cut dead leaves and added in hair grass. Special thanks to wslam for the trimming advice and lending me his scissors (still haven't bought a pair...) and Reckon for helping me out with comments/hair grass. It's a little right heavy at the moment but I am excited for everything to grow out again.

Before the trim & plant



After the trim & plant

 
#16 ·
After some convincing and hand holding from my fish buddies (you know who you are...) - I re-scaped the right side of my 60p. It just felt like I was wasting a lot of space before. So I basically moved that piece of wood, moved the substrate behind it to the front and planted some rotala bonsai & monte carlo. I also removed a ton of keisak as it was just exploding out of control. Also finally bought some scissors so I gave it a trim too x). I know the title says Mini-M but its not in a showable state right now since I have CRS in there (don't want to mess with it too much just yet)... But soon.



I also started a 45P. Yes I'm addicted......

 
#19 · (Edited)
Another update on my 60P x)... This should really be titled my 60P instead lol. Rotala bonsai is not doing so great - I lost a lot of it but here's to hoping what's left grows a lot!



And a photo of my den =D

 
#22 ·
Decided to rescape my 60P last night. More work is needed (additional small/branchy wood near the bottom for root-y effects, some more rocks, changing the plants) but I just wanted to highlight how often I've changed my mind. It was a lot of work but definitely worth it. I tried to move all my pygmy cories.... However one somehow evaded my detection and was schooling in my face lol ==. Only noticed him when I took the photo.

 
#23 ·
Funny, how scapes just keep getting better every time you change it up. Looking great!! I like the central hardscape set up over what you had before. Looks much cleaner. Still not sure about the front right side...
 
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#25 ·
Remove/added plants, added slopes and swapped out the green neons for threadfin rainbows. If anyone is wondering where I get most of my plants/fish - it would be from April's =). Special thanks to her for always bringing in so many nano fish and plants!

 
#28 ·
I like the bushiness of the new plants. Hopefully they stay nice and compact for you...
 
#30 · (Edited)
Update on the 45P - the koke stones didn't look quite right - a bit too dull. So I took a toothbrush and diluted bleach water to it - and I think it went back to its original form. Also ended up spending 3 more hours than I intended to rescape since I pulled out a lot of my carpet.



Also quick update on my 60P - moss starting to grow in... will need about 2 more months I think for it to become what I want it to be. Also @MDT - the ? plant is called "Eichhornia Diversifolia". It grows super fast...



And also my 30W in a kallax cubbie... this might've been not the greatest idea to have tanks in a small enclosed space. It's really hard to work in there... so I stuck with something simple. There's no CO2, so I'm crossing my fingers that it does not die but carpets super slow...

 
#31 ·
Update on the 60P... Replaced the stem plants on the right side with Lilaeopsis & added in some more stones on the right to add contrast/remove some of the negative space from the glass. The moss on the right is starting to grow in =)!

 
#32 · (Edited)
At last.. an update on my MiniM. I did a complete overhaul... The goal was to mimic the natural setting of wild bee shrimp in Taiwan/China. I saw that a lot of habitats they were found in basically consisted of still water with lots of leaves/foliage on the bottom. The rocks also gave off more of a warm feeling. Once my ammonia spike from the Amazonia is over, I'm looking to add wild crystal black shrimp or low-grade CBS.

- Removed the Ryuoh stone before that was messing with my pH
- Removed Tropica soil (buffers to 7.2 pH)
- Sold off plants that were not being used
- Added Sado Akadama stone
- Added Amazonia (buffer pH to 6-6.6 zone)
- Added in Bolbitis, Larger Buces
- Added cut up Indian Almond Leaves, Dried bamboo leaves found at the local park
- Planted what's left of my glossostigma that was dying.

 
#33 · (Edited)
Another update on the 60P. Added in some red plants (myriophyllum tuberculatum) on the left, removed the old diversifolia, removed the monte carlo carpet on the right, added in more stones.



And an update on the 45P. Moved the sparrow rasbora into this tank, added RCS. This used to be the badis badis home... but he was preventing any cleaning action from occurring so he has since been moved. He's on the FS section - if you want him please let me know!

 
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