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Underwater Bonsai
> Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 23:34:23 +0800
> From: khewss at singnet_com.sg (Khew Sin Sun)
> Subject: Re: Any suggestions on small tank?
>
<...snip...>
> I'm mainly planting Pearl Grass (micranthemum sp.),Glossotigma and probably
> some short hair grass or riccia. Kinda like an "underwater bonsai"
> ,hopefully :-P
>
> Are there particular things to look out for in this size tank?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Khew
>
Hopefully I can shed some light as I have setup up an identical tank
size. Any somehow, my main tank is roughly identical in capacity as
yours. However, it is 5' long, 2' high BUT 2.5' in width. Greater
perspective and more room to plant from back to front.
I used to have a full grown American silver Arowana. And I bought a 1
foot tank to house small fishes and shrimps to feed that tank buster.
Now it's already gone (electrocuted :( ) for some two years. And I
love to fill up my weekends doing aqua stuff. So the small tank project.
I don't fancy tank having hood. So all my tanks are open.
Considerations:
1) Suitable lighting
2) CO2 reactor
3) Filtration
4) Plants and fertilisation
Starting with 1)Lighting:
Initially, I planned to fix this myself, DIY sorta thing. But as time is
not at my side, I have to spend a bit to get the proper fixture. I used
those table lighting set. Quite expensive (RM90; ~USD36). It uses those
U-shaped tube. Wattage is 11W. Just enough to light up the whole tank.
Very nice. Try to get those that comes with a choice of clamp and the
position of the hood can be easily adjusted. Took me a week to survey.
2)For a tank this size, I don't think there is a commercially available
CO2 reactor. And you don't want to crowd this miniature tank with all
sorts of gadgets. I bought the smallest available powerhead with a VERY
WEAK return. I opened up the casing (those that are accessible) and
located the rotor. Drilled a hole into this area and line up the CO2
line thru this hole. That's all. I adjusted the bubble counter at 1
bubble every 8-10 seconds.
You can also use Dupla's Atomizer or similar products to cater for this
but I don't think it is necessary.
3)Filtration. My fish load in the tank is very minimal. Just a few
Neons. And they are healthy. That powerhead cum filter is good enough
for the job.
4)Miniature tanks are intended for small plants. Mine are mainly Riccia
and Glossostigma. Have also included some Micranthemum at the back.
Fertilisation is in the form of a Taiwanese Duplaplant + Duplaplant drop
that is applied one drop every 3 days.
Growth is good. Just want to prove to myself that I can achieve the same
condition as in the main tank with this miniature tank.
Rgds.
zon