ADA nano comp tank

hi folks so i seem to be a wee bit late in putting up my comp tank but here it is for your enjoyment. baring in mind this was just a temporary tank anyway that will be broken down this coming year for the next comp though i am extremely tempted to redisign the new tank and keep the nano going. i really enjoyed the challenge and learned a great deal as well. the tank was already running so i had to dissasemble the origanal design and changed the plantings a wee bit. so a quick break down

std 1ft tank
tigers eye gravel
via aqua internal pump
sun sun 25w heater

original plantings included
flame and christmas moss
anubias nana
small type of crypt
pixie lillies

original fauna was just good old Apsolem my delta tail betta and a nerite snail.

a couple of weeks into the comp i got irritated with the moss and got rid of all of it and it looked so much better. i love the pixie lillie their leaf colour is amazing and everyone is diferent in colour and pattern. i had alot of trouble with leaves shedding until azurekoi mentioned that bunny poop pushed under the gravel at the base of the plants might help which it most certainly did! not ony did the shedding stop but the growth got thicker as well (thanks sean :-D ) i highly recomend this foranyone who has heavy root feeders.

about a month before the end of the comp about the time i added the rabbit poop i also added some microsword too hide the lily bulbs and provide some cover. i also added new stock in the form of 8 galaxy rasboras which i thoroughly adore! lol well enjoy the pics and feel free to comment and let me know what you think of the actual design

 

some more pics

 

Lovely tank @windfire! And your toyboy is just as stunning

Now please send me some of your lilies!?!

 

last lot. i'll be posting update pics soon as i'm home from the coast. thanks @Wyvren lol soon as i have figured out how to multiply them

 

sooo i got home today, really good to be home, and my nano was in a green veil of algae. like literally covered so before i even unpacked the car i got stuck in and cleaned it up abit. will have to up the excel. anyway plant growth wasnt spectacular but not bad either. so thats the update for now. i'll have to do some major maintenace in the next week now.

 

well the tank is looking much better, i put in the old internal filter last night and its been running all last night and all today so i think most of the gunk and algae was siphoned up with yesterdays water change and what was left was sorted out by the double filtering.

the galaxies have thrived while i was gone and all are coloured up beautifully. i was watching them today and they're definately comfy in their tank, they split up and forage around and do the shimmy shimmy dance. i'm wondering if i put i spawning mop in if i may end up with lil galaxies. i also found my hara jerdoni which i lose fairly often. he's the exact colour of my gravel lol making it difficult to find.

now i gota decide if i should trim the lillies, they starting to get abit long in the stem and i dont want surface leaves. i'm reluctant to add ferts since i ha such a huge algae bloom. so thats the more in depth update pics will follow soon.

 

soooooo i was so excited to use my aquasoil i just could wait for my boyfriend to get here on the weekend so he could carry the tank upstairs for me so i decided to use a wee bit in my nano and i cannot believe the difference its made. much to Kratos's disgust i caught everyone and proceeded to dismantle the tank i wiped all the plants off gave the tank a good scrub to get rid of the algae and even scrubbed the wood and set everything out on a towel close at hand. i created abit more depth on the sides by heaping the soil and started planting. the tweazers my ma got me were a huge help. i spread the microsword out abit more and used less of the pixie lillies and i think it makes it feel alot more open. in fact i think its a better scape than originally even though i only tweaked it. the galaxies have decided that the back right corner under the curve of the wood is the place to be and are congregating there to do their dances and shoaling i decided that that spot looks very empty so i moved the microsword forward a lil and put in some hm which i'm confident will grow like billio once its established. and i think the galaxies will like the cover.

so what say you the jury? lol

 

It looks great! I like it that bit "opener". Will be grand to see the growth now, as comparison. Kratos looks magnificent!!!

Those CPD's also looking wonderful... bright and fat and juicy... go on, get some babies going!

 

I like the new look @windfire. And I love the plants!

 

Thanks @tracyp he is isnt he and he knows it he loves being in the camera as you can see he's in nearly every shot lol. i'm wondering how many male galaxies i have, i noticed that 2 of them have very red bellies compared to the others and its making me think they might be male. i have just had to dose for white spot since i was watching kratos and noticed he seemed to have lil white bumps on him, cos of his colour and the way he tends to have lil airbubbles from the substrate sticking to him it took me awhile to be sure but now my tanks all green. He's also decided he doesnt do flakes he'll rather eat the insects that fall into the water from the lamp hehe.

Thanks @Wyvren. i do too, i'm thinking the pixie lilly in the back right must stay nice and low so that it'll contrast nicely with the hm and not block out the light. since i've changed the whole design of the petstop comp tank this one gets to stay running. Kratos is still very miffed with me for catching him and putting him in a bucket lol. im very interested to see if i have the same leaf shedding problem with the pixie lillies as i had before.