# Vintage nano - "Jewel Box"



## dymndgyrl (Jan 22, 2007)

I have had a few Walstad tanks in the past, but not for a couple of years. I changed houses, semi-retired and started spending winters RV'ing in the desert, and so I left the aquarium hobby, as I did not want to have to find someone to care for them for three months while I was away.

BUT, that being said, I am experimenting with the idea of leaving an NPT to (mostly) fend for itself, with only a visit every two to three weeks from my son. After getting the nano established over the summer, in Nov. I will cover it with a tabletop mini plastic greenhouse, keep the heater on, of course, lights on a timer, and have a Bettamatic auto feeder drop a few pellets in per day. My son can top up water, trim plants if really nessesary and refill the feeder, although it looks like the Bettamatic can hold a few months worth of pellets.
We'll see. I have a lot of time to test things out.

The tank is a 4.5g cast iron, slate bottomed Jewel, from the early 1900's. It actually only holds about 3.75g leaving a little space and not filling it to the brim.










I've put in 1" of sifted soil from my yard, mixed with baked clay kitty litter, and a sprinkling of oystershell and laterite on the bottom. On top will be black sand from a local beach, beautiful, smooth, fine sand, rinsed very well.


















My local lfs's have kind of lousy plant selections, so it was hard to find anything dwarf ... but I managed a rather jungle-y look. Lucky Bamboo and Pothos as well. As of right now, there are a few rili shrimp and an apple snail. Looking for some MTS and I'll probably put a couple of male guppies in, eventually.










The light fixture is a vintage 60's incandescent with two 13w screw in cfl's (might be a bit much, I could unscrew one if algae becomes a problem)


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Very cool! I have been reading articles about the history of aquarium keeping at The Skeptical Aquarist, and this is a perfect example of the tanks he describes.


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## dymndgyrl (Jan 22, 2007)

I collect pictures of vintage aquariums - you can see them on my pinterest board ...

http://www.pinterest.com/cishepard/antique-aquariums/

I think I have read those same articles, but I'll go check them out to make sure. Thx!


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## dymndgyrl (Jan 22, 2007)

I found this tank in the early 80's at a flea market, rusty, no glass, cheap ... it has housed many creatures over the years.
For example:


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## dymndgyrl (Jan 22, 2007)

Added cherry shrimp, a couple male guppies and a host of trumpet snails ...


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## planted-tnk-guy (Jan 28, 2014)

I have to say I love the tanks. Vintage aquariums are my favorite "love it"


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

Love it.


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## dymndgyrl (Jan 22, 2007)

Three week update. Everything seems to be thriving and there is ample new root growth. I've added a bare root Pothos, some Nerite snails and two Endlers. Had minimal die back of a few leaves, no melt downs. A small ammonia spike of .25 for about a week, so I simple added Prime to bind it - no water changes. No algae.


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

Thank you so much for the update. It looks wonderful.


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