MFK's Official Minitank - Rebuild (ZERO NITRATE)

This 10 gallon was my fathers, he passed last October so there is no way I am getting rid of it or leaving it empty. Instead I am going to make his tank next level, to the next level I did in my overhaul thread. (third level lolz..) He used it for his koi fry and told me he wanted me to do something creative with it. He was a firm believer in plant only filtration on his ponds so I decided to go that route with this tank and do an auquaponics hybrid, for him and of course added a 3D background. I have been missing him really bad latelly so time to repimp his tank!

I am pulling it apart today to repimp it again. My goal is to have a 10 gallon that puts some of the "monster" tanks out there to shame.. This is how it sits right now before I get started. It's already pretty sweet IMO but we can always make tanks better..







The main reason for overhauling this tank is the poor mechanical. I need to redo the plant chamber for better root structure and for keeping my BN pleco from getting back there. It's a nightmare trying to get him out









The plants are very healthy, even flowering.







Currently the only filter is an AC50 with all sponges for mechanical. I rinse them once a week in hot tap to keep things clean.





This is the results of the the auquaponic filtration........ Zero nitrate. I do not have a TDS meter but will get one soon to get a true reading on disolved organics. There is no bio media in the tank at all. Only "get well" house plants. They consume ammonia before nitrate so this tank avoides the nitrogen cycle all together.

Kanta;4906797; said:

Nice Sir. You always inspire me with your 3d backgrounds.

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Thanks Jim! Just wait. The BG was just the begining. I am gutting it in about an hour.. to start over. New overhaul project WAHOO!!!

STEP #1 = scrap the AC50 and go buy a brand new Eheim 2211. It's the "cutest" canister I have EVER owned! This will make it so I can drill the background and go through it unstead of over it..















16oz beer can next to it for size reference. I love this thing already.





And of course I had to snap a shot next to an FX5..

Some crappy pics but here are the tankmates.

x2 Betta strohi 'Golden Ninja'
x1 Ancistrus sp. (handicapped BN pleco) found him as a fry in a filter. Poor lil fella is stunted bad.

hbluehunter;4906811; said:

Looks like a sweet project, i had no idea that canister was that small...lol I have no doubt you'll make your pops proud when this tank is done..

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Thanks Mike! I took the day off work since my sons are off school today, we are doing the tank together.

fishmamma;4906833; said:

This is awesome Justin, I love the reasoning behind it all.. I'll definitely follow you on this one.. every other time the thread is like a million pages long and my attention span is just not fitten for that! lol looks great already.. can't imagine what your gonna do with it...

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Thanks Erica! I wish my threads didn't get so long but it's better than seeing them go unoticed I guess. Hopefully other members will pick up a few ideas for themselves. That is why I post my projects to the MFK community anyway lol..

daphilster08;4906843; said:

Looks sweet Justin! You always got some amazing natural looking tanks!

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Thanks Phil!

Pharaoh;4906848; said:

Smooth!!....Just like Keith Stone!

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Thanks Bobby! lol you caught that too huh? It's medicinal beer, you know to show the size of the filter, not to drink silly..

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So here is where I would like to ask a little feedback from the community. When I first installed the BG I used clear silicon on the sides. It looks sloppy and ugly so I am goiung to gut it cut it and redo it with pond foam. Best stuff on the planet BTW Question below:



This is the nasty silicone I was talking about. You can also see the small chamber for the plants. Right now it acts like a sump wall. Water flows over and down through the roots.



This is the BG in the 120 gallon, one side is open, the other is filled in with the foam. Do you guys think I should fill in the sides so it looks clean? Or should I leave a viewing area open so I can see the roots and things in the plant chamber??? You can see the difference between the two methods in the pics below.





This is the gutter foam made by Owens Corning. I would like to fill in the plant chamber with this stuff so the pleco doesn't keep getting back there but the roots have somewhere to grab hold onto.. That and I can slide all the plants out in one shot if I need to. Like pulling out a filter carterage. Good idea huh???