# 3 Gallon nano attempt - emmersed



## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

This will be my firs nano attempt it is actually 2.91g but who cares ?
Im doing this tank in different stages. im up to stage 3.
Stage 1. Consisted of gathering funds. so i sold all the useless stuff around the house on ebay. My greatest achievement was a small motorcycle some neighbours throughout. I spent a day pulling it apart and by late afternoon i got her going! so i put it on ebay for .99c and sold it for $102

Stage 2. conduct DIY parts. so i put together the diy co2 unit and build the lightstand. costs so far 3.50 for spray paint and the ebay fees.

Stage 3. Final preperation. I recieved my UP AQUA gravel today and i love it. It looks soo good. and i will order plants on the weekend. and in a month or so will order the mini heater and filter media.....

So here are a couple pics.
Please tell me what you think.

A thin sprinkling of old root tabs. gravel depth there is about 20mm









This shows where the tank is, temporarily next to my bed, once i fill it up with water i will move it down to the computer room. It also shows my diy light stand, on my little table i made back in year 10.
I apoligise for the bad shot, my room has 2 black walls and a black ceiling so there is very little light and I had to use the flash.









This is the current scape, the mounds in the corners are a lot more 'vert' (steeper incline) in person. I kept it simple as i want the plants to be the main focus, so they should over grow the rocks in time if you know what i mean.
I would really like your honest opinion with this.









And this shows its position... oh and the greatest marine company in the world 
Hence my black and red room.
Excuse the old federation style bed. Its my water bed


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

tell you the truth, it seems very plain. there is nothing there to attract or engage the eyes with anything. the "evenly" positioned rocks give a sense of symmetry, which also fails to engage the eyes.
also the fact that the stones are very small will also influence the aesthetics of the tank in the long run. I know that you wanted the plants to be the main focus, but consider this: the rocks are so small, that the plants will grow over them or cover them up which leads to the question: "why even place rocks there in the first place?"

a possible solution would be to somehow place the rocks together in some fashion that allows them to appear as one larger rock, that way when the plants start growing all over the place, at least you can still say: oh there's the rocks.

or even better, use the rocks to create a wall, and place soil behind it and scoop out the soil in front of it so it resembles a hill, and the rocks are holding a good amount of "soil" behind them.
like this?









anywho, that's my two cents, feel free to take or leave. and have fun!


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks for the reply amphirion. It all helps.
I attempted a few other possible scapes, what do you think ?

This is how i will grow the hair grass and glosso. the hairgrass will cover one corner/side of the tank.








here are some other scapes i tried.
type 1








type 2








Type 3








Type 4 - pretty boring








Type 5 - Step up, I liked this one.
















Type 6


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

i do like type 1--> but like i said before, you're going to need small low growing plants otherwise the rocks will be overwhelmed. do you have any plan on controlling the hairgrass? it'd be nice if the hairgrass would stay in its place but it likes to grow and take over like a weed. but i guess you already know about that and glosso wanting to grow vertical so i won't go there.
i like type 5 also but i think that it also need a little more depth which can be created using more rocks and placing more substrate on the "higher level". this set up is also advantageous for controlling the growth of hairgrass. if it tries to cross over the rock barrier, it can easily be snipped.

my original plan actually resembled most plan 6: however, the pile of rocks would actually be perhaps midway of the tank, and buried to half the thickness of substrate. the substrate on front of the rocks would be pushed towards the sides and back of this "rock wall"--this creates the illusion of layers, where you have one layer of strata on front of the tank and the second strata is held behind the pile of rocks.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

Lots of people on aussie forums have said type 1, and 5.
I do like 5 for the exact reasons you stated. I think i will go with it and build it up a bit higher.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

im glad im not the only one who thinks so too. go ahead and work with 5. looking forward to seeing you finalize the hardscape.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

The problem with type 5 is, for the first month or 2 it will be emmersed to in order for the hairgrass to remain moist up on the higher level the glosso will be under water by about 1.5 inches/40mm.
Will that be okay?

here are 2 more. I tried making the layered one with the mountain but didnt turn out to well so didnt bother photographing it.

Type 7. meh









Type 8. this one looks a little unnatural but i like it and the hairgrass can easily be contained by the rock boarder.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

too bad the hill effect didn't workout for you.
however, you could do something like type 8, but in terms of aesthetics you should probably follow the golden ratio and move the "center" mountain a bit more to the right or the left- this makes the scene more dynamic and engages the eyes.

if you really want to go hardcore accurate scaping, if you noticed in natural rock scapes, angled rocks seem to follow in the same direction- this occurs due to erosion via wind, water, or glaciation. by placing the rocks in a certain dynamic position, you can greatly increase the complexity of your tank.

















i've never used the emersion technique for glosso so i can't help you there...sorry.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

amphirion said:


> i've never used the emersion technique for glosso so i can't help you there...sorry.


Thats okay you have helped me alot with the scaping side of it.
I would try the "hardcore accurate scape' but dont think it would work with my chosen plants.
Im going to get more rocks this afternoon. then i will try a few different types. I might end up using type 1 and use a "collar" just beneath the substrate to contain the hairgrass.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

BenBOMB said:


> I think I like type 5 and 6 the best.
> 
> On type 6 maybe you could make it taller, then let it flow into the substrate like a hill/mountain type deal.


hahaha. that was what i was trying to say!


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

I collected some larger rocks and found this beauty and I love it.

introducing type 10.
with or without the smaller rock, doesnt bother me, but i think with.


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## DarioDario (Nov 14, 2008)

I would say it too large and too centered


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

Looks nice to me. The rock is big but it makes for a striking center piece. Have grassy greeneries all around and you have yourself a very interesting cliff.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks Alex,

3rd stone added.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

that large rock that you have is a beaut! just my personal preference, but don't be afraid to stack some smaller rocks near the base of the "mountain" to give it a mountain crumbling effect.


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## rodder4hire (Apr 17, 2009)

I like the big rock, but would move it to one side or the other a bit.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

It was lucky I got it, Because on my second trip i just grabbed a few larger rocks and broke them up with a hammer, and this formed.

I will move it a little further to the left.


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## BenBOMB (Apr 25, 2009)

Like suggested above, move it over. Seems like your planning on it anyways.

Also those pictures that where posted earlier with the arrows and mountains really helped me do my hardscape in my 5G. Try to use that with your 2 smaller rocks and your one larger one.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

After a bumpy start things are starting to grow.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

is that weird plastic/glass looking thing a divider? smart move. update us when thing start looking good.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

Yes it is, smashed cd case, i have to sprinkle a little more gravel over it.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

that's funny. im using a cutout from a plastic cup to separate my hairgrass from my hc.


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

Here is my mini diy canister filter with external heater enclosure.

I forgot to buy 1 piece from the hardware store so I cant test it yet. And I have to build a little stand for it. 
capacity is about 3L. pump is 500lph, heater is 25watt.

One question, should i put the tap on the water heading towards the tank, or the water coming into the cannister? right now its on where the water will enter the cannister

Pics are bad quality because my camera was on the wrong setting. Sorry 
All the stuff used.









Dry assembly.


















-----------Assembly-----------

Parts used are - Im not sure what they are all called so im just quoting what it says on the recipt.

coupling acc cap x 2 (assuming its the female threaded elbow or its the end caps)
poly director x 2 (assuming its the male threaded hose attachment)
barbed poly tap (the tap, Need to buy a 2nd one)
threaded access cap x2 (main filter body)
1.5m 10mm vinyl tubing
socket faucet 40mm pressure (female threaded, screws onto water tight cord grip)
Water tight cord grip (free sample, clamps onto heater)
length 100mm of pipe, about 30cm long, but i trimmed it.

sorry about the sketchy list, I just grabbed what looked useful, didnt pay much attention to names.

I wouldnt follow this design until I have tested it properly.
If you want some tips when building diy stuff make sure your work station is very clean, and have heaps of chux near by and lots of rubber gloves.
To do the siliconing instead of messing around with the nosel i pu the silicone gun in the vice. when ever i needed a bit. A quick quarter turn and i would use my index finger to spread it around. using the rubber gloves made everything easier.

here are some shots of it curing.
I used acetone to clean the gluing surfaces, then pvc cement to glue the 100m pipe in between the 2 access pipes) to create the main filter body. It is approx 230mm long.









This is the top. you can see the hole for the power cord, i didnt have to cut and re-wire the cord as it plugs into an ac/dc converter, and the plug is only a tiny bit bigger then the main cord.
This is the outake and you can see the water tight cord grip.









Underneath the top, filter attatches to that small length of hose,
You can see the 40mm faucet which screws onto the cord grip.









This is the bottom (intake), pretty self explanatory.









Inside the bottom, ceremic noodles sit around this, then sponge sits on the noodles.









Finally the stand, decided to keep it simple, just used an off cut, and cut out a section for the hose to go through. I just need to file a bit more away so its "flatter"









comments welcome, anyone see any major problems arising?


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## Supercoley1 (May 28, 2007)

Isn't 500lph going to be a little too much for a 2 gallon? I started my 2 galon with a 400lph and found it was way too much. I now use one of the Boyu 150/200lph externals.

AC


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## Peter16 (Jan 12, 2009)

Its 3 gallons, and I guess I will find out. 
ant you use the taps to reduce flow?


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