0.1g microtope

[aspects]

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAwODctMjAwOTEyMDgtMDk1OS5qcGc.jpg

The holding area is roughly a 2.5-3"cube
Ada aquasoil (amazonia II) mixed with eco-complete
a sprinkle of natural gravel for color
A few tiny pieces of slate
driftwood branches
And a couple of java ferns

Now sitting on my desk at work, getting Lots of sunshine. Depending how it goes, I might be adding more plants shortly. I need to do some trimming in my other tanks, so I should get some small plants out of it. and if the local aquascaping store gets their shipment in, i will probably be adding some moss (either flame or christmas moss)

[wynnEZ]

Wow thats pretty cool, I've never seen that before.

[aspects]

hopefully by the time i get back to my shop, the substrate will have settled more, and i will try to get some better pics. the ones i have really dont do it justice.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/microtope2.jpg

[Lab_Rat]

Very cool microtope!

[Oscar_freak12321]

That's an awesome microtope! No fish I hope...? :14:

[aspects]

Lol. No. No fish. I may go with a shrimp of I can get more plants in there, but even then I will probably keep it fauna free.

[Oscar_freak12321]

All right, just making sure. Looks fantastic! thumbs2:

[aspects]

unless i can get a nice silver arowana or RTC. :deathmetal:
hahahahahah

[rich311k]

Cool little set up!

[Cristoff]

Put an oscar in there! I swear he will only grow to the size of the tank...:hmm3grin2orange:

Seriousley though, that is a great looking little tank! thumbs2:

[Crispy]

A few red cherry shrimp would make that a cool little setup! :fish:

[aspects]

Hahah. Oscars are not even real fish. Lol. But I digress.

Hopefully I can get my hands in some local WC cherry shrimp, because they can't be imported here. Otherwise I will get a couple of ghost shrimp instead.

[tori.lock]

I love that little thing. I want one now. I think I'll set mine up with a pacu, though. Give it a nice Amazon basin feel.

[Wild Turkey]

I also find this facinating! Very coolthumbs2: Makes me want to make one right now:hmm3grin2orange:

[HeatherB]

Very neat! I would be interested in setting one up! Does anyone have or know where I can find info about them? I googled and came up with about a zillion results for 'microscope' not microtope!

[bluebluecow]

Nice little tank

[xximanoobxx]

Shrimps would be nice. I'd get some CRS.

[Wild Turkey]

Self-sustainment is a must if you want to add shrimp, but it is possible.

It would involve adding small amounts of ammonia to make sure the tank can handle a bioload, maintaining the plants etc.

Once the tank is cycled and has a good chance of sustaining some small bioload I would start with a single ghost shrimp and add them one a time very slowly, working up to maybe 5. Cherries will breed so you may need to remove some once that happens but they are a good choice too imo. CRS have similar requirements to cherries, if you have a breeding program going you could try this with some rejects, you would probably want to keep your high grade shrimp safe though.

I should say that that Im recommending this for anyone in particular, rather just stating how I would go about trying it.

[aspects]

Very neat! I would be interested in setting one up! Does anyone have or know where I can find info about them? I googled and came up with about a zillion results for 'microscope' not microtope!


sorry, "microtope" isnt a sanctioned term for this type of set up. i kind of just made it up.
look up "planted nano" or "planted pico". you may have more luck.

nano - tanks 10g and under (some might argue 20g and under)
pico - tanks 2.5g and under
micro - tanks under 1g

[aspects]

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxMjQtMjAwOTEyMTQtMTEyNS5qcGc.jpg


Back to the office today and everything looked good.
The natural light looked like it may be starting to grow a little algae, so I added. Couple of stem plants and some java moss to help combat that. I also removed. Coouplw of the java fern starters.
I may have to move it a little further from the window to reduce the amount of direct sunlight it gets, but once I find tthe right olf for it, there shouldn't be any problems.

[aspects]

*** 12/16 ***

noticed some hair algae growing in the tank today.i will need to find a way to get this stuff out asap. until then, i have the tank in a dark spot in hopes to kill the algae a bit.

[bushwhacker]

that lil tank is just too cool. a shrimp or two may take care of that algae for you

[aspects]

yeah, im having trouble locating some "legal" cherry reds. so i may have to get a couple of ghost shrimp instead

[Rue]

It's adorable! It will be interesting to see how it matures...

[aspects]

i think i might take some excel to work with me and dose the little tank. lol.
what would thaat be, like 1/2 a drop. hahaha

[aspects]

*** 12/18 ***

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxMzQtMjAwOTEyMTgtMTIwMC5qcGc.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxMzUtMjAwOTEyMTgtMTIwMS5qcGc.jpg

tried to get a picture of the snail, but its still really tiny. it just looks like a piece of gravel. lol

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxMzYtMjAwOTEyMTgtMTUwNy5qcGc.jpg

[aspects]

got some of these guys the other day.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxNzktMjAwOTEyMzEtMTEyMy5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxODYtMjAwOTEyMzEtMTEyNS5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxOTctMjAwOTEyMzEtMTIyMi5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAxOTYtMjAwOTEyMzEtMTIyMi5qcGc.jpg

hopefully they will be going in on monday or tuesday. whenever i get back to my shop

[BigMac]

yeah, im having trouble locating some "legal" cherry reds. so i may have to get a couple of ghost shrimp instead


If your anywhere near me I'll give you as many as you can handle... the little buggers breed like bunnies. I have to feed them to my other tank.

[aspects]

unfortunately i am nowhere near you. im on the FAAAAAR west coast.
thanks for the offer though

[BigMac]

I live 20 min from the pacific ocean?

Your more west than that?

[labnjab]

Awesome tank. One day when I'm brave I'm gonna try a pico reef, but not that small, lol

[aspects]

I live 20 min from the pacific ocean?

Your more west than that?

Yes sir. I'm actually IN the pacific ocean. Lol.

[aspects]

*** 01/04 ***

back to work today, and i added a couple of the shrimp to the microtope

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAyNDEtMjAxMDAxMDQtMTIxMC5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAyMzMtMjAxMDAxMDQtMTIwNS5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/c2tyaW1wMi5qcGc.jpg

[bearweasel]

Very cool. I just picked up a book from the library about nano aquariums. Yours is easily the smallest one I've seen, though. Gives a beginner like me something to work towards!

[aspects]

i have actually seen pics of some microtopes even smaller than this one.
nano aquariums are still pretty big compared to this. (nano = 20g + under, pico 2.5g + under)

[bearweasel]

Yeah, the book doesn't go too much smaller than 2.5g. The name of the book is "Mini Aquariums - A Guide To Successful Nano Aquariums - Proper Setup, Maintenance, and Species Selection" by David E. Boruchowitz. It's mostly about species selection. I'd like to see more info on the technical side of it... filtration, heating, etc.

[aspects]

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAyNjMtMjAxMDAxMDUtMDgyMC5qcGc.jpg

[-Lp]

Very cool aspects! I was thinking of doing something similar for my desk at work. I may have missed it in the thread, but how many shrimp do you have in there?

[aspects]

only 3 of them. i was only going to add 2, but i ended u getting 3 when i picked them up. so 3 it is. :)

[aspects]

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAyNzQtMjAxMDAxMDUtMTExNC5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAyODAtMjAxMDAxMDYtMTUwMy5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAzMDItMjAxMDAxMDctMTUwNS5qcGc.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/bitteraspects/SU1HMDAyOTYtMjAxMDAxMDctMTUwMy5qcGc.jpg