I wouldnt call it monster but

brandon429

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2009
29
0
16
tx
2.jpgIts a strange little system let me tell you. Its totally meant to jack with your eyes in size illusion were it not for the measuring tape lol, everything is scaled correctly to be a 75 gallon palmtop aquarium

the tv is yet to be tied in but will give active param readouts for tds, ph, things you can meter and display digitally/ one might also pilot a hobby drone off it and submit it for youtube gold were one so inclined :)

but its about the tank part not the tv. if the tank can't pass scrutiny and last longer than competing tanks its just a novelty, can't have that. so here is the planning behind the tank, and how we inject co2 in it without killing it/


.5 gallon

All my planted tanks are bog tanks. crystal red shrimp, plants up to the ceiling, they are uncirculated bog types w no heating, filtration, weak links. thats how this one is ran

a key in working with micro systems is you make them seem delicate, but are secretly stronger than large tanks. when you build micro tanks that rely on heavy fanning, or pumps to handle large bioload oxygenation needs, or you employ stock that requires delicate heating issues, you create a bunch of wink links that eventually limit your lifespan. my goal here is crystal red shrimp, a couple, and a bunch of amano style carpeting that locks in time

this tank is two weeks old above, i haven't put a new micro tank online in ten years but the one I did put up is still going and we have a thread here about it. google: the history of pico reef biology if you want a marathon read about tiny reefs exactly this size/ this tank above has an exact reef counterpart at .5 gallons and it was sealed and did not evaporate fw, it didnt use topoff.

but back to planted tank microscience

so, its still, the shrimp in here were bred in a still 5 gallon planted tank thats 13 yrs old. this tank was insta cycled, i inputted a juvenile badis micro fish to eat copepods I dont want dancing around the mini tank, distracting, when full he'll go back into the 5.

look at the sizing of this tank and the plant loading per unit of volume, there is actually room in here for decent bioloading but all in very very small increments. this system will support long term micro crabs, shrimp, and endlers x1 without fail.

it gets full water changes anytime it needs it, half gallon is two seconds drain on half inch siphone tubing.

the substrate is high cec loaded micro round clay, livewithnature.net check out that site

the co2 is the real dandy, try and find online a true dedicated half gallon planted setup using co2 and not pH 4.9
:)

its done like this:

no constant injection. the pressurized micro tank comes in tomorrow, bolts to the side of the tank (fluval mini co2 12 gram microsystem true compressed co2) simply inject some gas up under and inverted dome catch tent.
having constant co2 gassing, even if on off auto, is dangerous in this size as no room for error. but manual on off, where the gas isnt ever free flowing into the tank means the keeper injects exactly the amount needed
and it sits there, slowly wafting via henrys law into the water at a slow pace
on vacation? dont inject, plants dont care for a while.
algae? google: pico reef pest algae challenge thread you'll never have a spot again, its all accounted for (hopefully) in this latest planted work!!


bubble gone in two days, refill

you start slow, small, tiny opening surface area like an inverted api test tube

or if you need more surface area to get pearling but no gas distress in the test animals, you use an inverted carmex ceramic bottle as its wider mouth is more SA exposure to the water column, you tune it and testing isnt even really required.

thats another aspect of all my tank designs, no test, only biology and wierdness. hope you enjoy thanks for always letting a small tank guy hang out here.
B

video coming soon shows the tv etcpic.jpg

pic.jpg

2.jpg
 

ragin_cajun

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2013
2,757
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South Louisiana
Whoa! Where do I get one? I've had trouble with plants/algae in a 125 Gallon. I THINK it's because I'm trying to do plants with 5 inch Vieja, but that's another thread. I'd love to get a real small tank, plant it up, ferts, etc, and get the hang of the planted tank thing before trying it again in the 125. How cheap could I set something like this up?
 

Eclipse390

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 15, 2011
429
180
61
Hudson Valley, NY
That's pretty awesome. Have been toying with the idea of heavily planting a 10 g. No filtration - and having a shrimp tank. Not sure how possible this will be though.
 

brandon429

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2009
29
0
16
tx
tapeMeasure_5.jpgthanks for stopping in i miss my monster large tank but live vicariously through these posts until that day comes again :)

a short story about these tanks, I dont pretend to be anyones woodworker all I did was extend up the canopy a bit to house lighting and spray paint it all, pay good woodworksman to recess that little tv into the stand.

but these tanks are interesting, here's a picture of a marine reef one again .5 gallon this one is red and I sold it for a fat profit at a science show which is also in thread pics.

They are not made any longer but in 99-2002 oceanic or some similar startup tank manufacturer was shipping these little display tanks to LFS managers for the purpose of showing the woodworking and coloration they provide for the real 75 gallon-220 gallon setups. here's some miniatures, now order our larges pls...



thats why these look like little miniatures of large tanks, the companies that made them did it on purpose. So, the LFS manager had three in back shelf for like a year before he literally set them out front the day I was walking by. 30$ apiece, cherry wood stand, canopy, acrylic tank. i said pls bag up all three nobody else can have those thank you nice day and never seen them since

I saw post gold in them in six nanoseconds.

already sold one, so I only have two i couldnt part with them for any reasonable price. its not worth it to pay what Id want for them simply because any normal woodworker w tools could make better ones, but indeed there's something about these i have ta hold on to. mainly because I dont woodwork and replacing them would be hard

the biology it takes to run ecosystems in these is easily transferable to any small setup, jars, decorative vases etc

for sure, if anyone wants a micro setup lets tune the biology here. you grab a vessel, Ill guarantee you we can grow coral or plants in it I dont care how small it is. long term.

tapeMeasure_5.jpg
 

brandon429

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2009
29
0
16
tx
ragin cajun can you post pics of your setup if you want, i like algae battling. we try to cheat the rules to get things turned around

once we get pics and run a test area, tanks just start getting fixed up nicely pretty much. planted tanks imo can be more challenging to rid of certain algae infestations worse than marine tanks, and one would think they'd be more sensitive but brightly lit planted setups where you want leaf preservation is a real challenge

FO tanks, or tanks without much plants are pretty much very easy to rid of algae as not many known aquarium fish across marine and fw are sensitive to the way we use peroxide/ documented in the thread mentione above
 

bbortko

Polypterus
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
3,163
214
96
Northwest, Indiana
Looks nice but the tediousness of working on something so small would drive me nuts. I almost throughout an ac50 tonight just so I wouldn't have to clean the impeller.
 
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