IBOX Nano log

I've been lurking around on the site for a while now but this is my first real posting.

I went to the expo and got myself a little iBox Nano tank. It will sit on my study desk.





I am thinking pool filter sand with a tree, grass and a few rocks.

This is the look I want to go for.



I am thinking small endlers or Badis Badis or some tetra


Today I will go find a small heater, look at filter media and start looking for wood I can use as the tree.


Questions:
1. What would be the best filter media setup for this tank?
2. Suggestions on wood?
3. What plants to use for the "grass"?
4. What plants to use on the tree?
5. Suggestions on small fish?

Your ideas would be appreciated

 

1. Matrix for bio media. Filter floss and some foam.
2. Small piece of spider wood.
3. Uhhh, HM? Can't remember full name.
4. Flame moss. You can ask members for some.
5. White cloud mountain minnows! Or some glass blood-fins.

Nice looking tank with lots of potential.

 

1. Same as Firefly
2. Nice spider wood would do.
3. Without CO2 you will truggle to get small grass type plants. So With out CO2 you best oprions might be hair grass or glosso
4. No flame. Xmas, spiky or taiwan. If you keeping lowtech then a nice bunch of Anubias Nana Petite.
5. Microrasbiras.

 

i was looking at those nanos yesterday at the expo aswell, i think you should look at that light system, i dont think that the little leds on there are very good for plant growth, you need to find this out otherwise u will be having a very disappointing plant experience! all the more reason not to go for high tec plants.
take a look at this thread on this very forum, will explain alot about lighting very quickly!!

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/s...ighting-is-best-to-use-for-plant-growth/page3

 

I would say white clouds woukd be nice. They are very hardy

 

Tank I think is too small for a tree. look at the shadow it casts. This tank is only 9l. For a tree like this, you need a 1.5 ft at least. Also, your soil, you need something like ADA aquasoil. You do not have the space for DIY soil that is capped as you will loose height. Your LED lights are also not good enough for a planted tank, I know, I have it's bigger brother the ibox20 with 48 LEDs and I had to add extra lights. Your filter, @Firefly gave you the best option. For fish, as mentioned, white clouds are fantastic, but look into the norman's lampeye. These tanks are commonly called shrimp tanks overseas, so google that and be amazed at what can be achieved with them. Also, you may want to consider a wabi kusa style planting.

This is a fantastic tank. I love my ibox20. For inspiration, google iwagumi fish tank.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Its going to be low-tech. I will look into adding light is needed.

 

Going low tech usually means using excel as carbon source. You need to watch your mosses as they melt with excel. You therefore have to go DIY co2.

 

In my personal experience the mosses are the ones that grows INSANELY FAST with excel... 0.o

 

My mosses haven't seemed to melt yet. But I'm doing small doses.

 

I double dose excel. The glosso and bacopa sp. Japan are growing fast and fantastically. My java moss was going backwards so I took it out and it's in another tank that only gets seachem comprehensive and no excel. Here it is really growing.

I guess give it a shot, see what happens, maybe the moss is trying to tell me it does not like me

 

I've actually seen (pictures of) some really nice nano "tree" scapes. So I think it's definitely doable. I love Dario dario (the smallest badis) as well as endlers; tetras aren't so great for a nano as they want to be in big groups. Though I'm not sure how small it really is. Other suggestions - rosy loaches (@Moolis might still have some) or some of the very small rasboras, a single male Betta, or even a pair of dwarf puffers, as long as you get the real dwarfs, Carinotetraodon travancoricus.

 

Hi @PsyXe. With regards to trees in nano's, How small is nano? This tank is 9l. The tree is going to have to be very small because if it is big, the shadow it will cast will mean almost nothing will grow on the soil. If you have pics or web addresses with pics of nano tank trees, please share as I would love to do a nano tree especially if I can get away with 9l tank like this one.

Did I say I love these tanks - I really, really do and cannot wait to see what comes of this one

 

Hey @shan, I don't think there's a rule against posting links to other forums, so take a look at this! Make sure you scroll down to the post where the guy's hand is in the picture. I think the trick is to not have a solid, bulky "tree" but rather select a branching piece of wood for a more open design.

 

@PsyXe thank you. That is fantastic. But notice the lack of ground plants - the hardscape though is fantastic. So it can be done. The wood might be difficult to get but one can easily frankenstein wood together to make a tree. Got some planning to do now

 

Search for pictures of PICO tanks. This Ibox Nano isn't a true Nano. It's actually a Pico tank

 

Thanks for the feedback guys!!

I will be trying the tree because there is nothing to lose. I have to agree that due to the small size of the tank it
will have to be a small tree and not be very dense. I have already set up the filter and added added pool filter
sand and started cycling the tank.

I will post some pics later on.

 

fantastic - remember to keep us posted and take pics, lots of them

 

Something like this will also look nice.

 

Some updates of what I did on Sunday:

Rinsed tank, Ceramic rings, Filter wool and sponges





Added it to the filter