Tiny Planted Tank

[Bri]

Well the other day i picked up my 'quaranteen' tank from the guy selling it off ebay. Now i knew it was going to be small at 12l but i didnt know exactly how small....

So it measures 12" wide x 7.5" deep and 9" high  Needless to say this is going to be a small planted tank.

It has plastic/perspex walls and a glass base with a bit of supporting structure underneath acting as kind of a plinth. It came with a internal filter similar to Aqua ones 101f, some stones, a plastic plants and a plastic lid. The stones have now been binned and i wont be using the plastic plant lol Needless to say this is a cheap tank but not too bad for a tenner i suppose.

To bring it up to aquarium standards ive ordered a mini heater which im gonna have to watch carefully as it may melt the walls lol. My only problem at the moment is how to light it, it didnt come with any form of light source and being so small no standard light hood will fit. So does anyone have any ideas on custom lighting hoods or have you used submersible LED light bars, also, how would plants react to cheapo led lighting systems of this size (under 12" long)

I'll get a pic up of the tank tonight if i remember, its been sat on the sink drainer full of water while i leak test it and give the pump a run :)

Cheers,

Bri

[James]

I just use a desk lamp on my 12l and in the past I used an 11w arcadia arc lamp that clipped on the side of the tank.  I prefer the lamp though as it gives the tank a cleaner look

[Bri]

Ok thanks :) I'm watching a couple of 9w arcadia lamps on ebay at the moment but i wasnt sure if anyone had tried these underwater led light tubes etc

Cheers.

In case i forget later, here's a pic of the tank when it was on ebay :)

[frosties]

Small tank indeed - I used an ikea desklamp to illuminate a tank this size which we used for the turtle home until we got the monster turtle aquarium... it had a 25w halogen bulb in it and worked fine. I have to say that local to me is a garden centre who have just started selling tanks and fish etc... (working on the plants as I type ) but they are well cheap for prices... heaters (50w to 300w) all priced at £12.99 a small glass tank simalar in size to the one above only £14.00

not bad really! you could easily setup a decent QT tank for under £50!

[ghostsword]

A tank like that can be made look very nice.. Buy some cheap carpeting plants, like hairgrass, get some sand on it, and dose EI with some CO2, either with tablets, or carbonated water, and you on the money.

Otherwise, just put emersed plants on it, and dose EI..

[Bri]

Cheers for the tips :)

I had some mopany bogwood that i didnt use in the big tank, so ive cut it to size and its currently soaking in the tank, im gonna get some sand or fine gravel tomorrow and get everything ready for next week when my plant order arrives. Hopefully i should have some left over from the big tank to get things looking halfway decent :)

[Bri]

Just a quick pic from earlier tonight, made a trip to the lfs today and bought some fine gravel and a couple of plants to get things going. Its a bit dark cos i had to rob the led lights from under the kitchen wall cupboards lol. I still havent bought a lamp unit for the tank.

So far i think it looks quite good but im hoping to put some ferts into the gravel and possibly some hairgrass when it arrives next week :)

[frosties]

The fern on the left is not a true aquatic plant! It is one which we get every week from Singapore. It is a terrarium plant that needs wet feet and mega humidity. Speak to luis he also tried to grow it with no luck as did I as it dried out! Will search the name for you tomorrow.

[ghostsword]

The fern is a pain to keep. Of about 10 that Tony sent me, only 4 survive. They need very high humidity, otherwise they dry out.

The name is Trichomanes javanicum.

The ones that survived are in high humidity containers, and they look good, but I have not managed to keep the others emersed.

[Bri]

Ok, thanks for the heads up on that one guys :)

If it survives then all good, if not then it'll get replaced with summat else lol

[frosties]

If it survives - then please let us know... as this plant to me has had limited (if any) success - please keep a note of the parameters in which you keep it - eg pH, temp, lighting etc... Especially note if you put in any livestock and suddenly experience any losses. That way we can all benefit from it.

thanks

Tony

[Bri]

OK will do :) I only have test strips so i'll run one of them through it tonight and keep a note of the results on here :)

[TomMessenger]

Give that sword plenty of ferts and it will soon be coming out the top!! Is the tank still going? Just noticed it's an old thread!!

[Bri]

Yeah its still going under the journal guise of 12l mini tank :)

Soon to be a shrimp tank tho, the sword will be kept of course :)

[frosties]

Has the sword broken the surface yet? If so, why not try to grow it out of water! You could move it outdoors in summer as well!