5g FW Planted Desk Pico
Current Equipment List (Updated 4/16/23)
Introductory Post and First Tank Photos:
"What kind of tank do you have at home?"
This was a question I would regularly get while installing and maintaining tanks. For the last decade, I've largely worked in homes and businesses on the East Coast inside other people's aquariums. If you know any mechanics, they probably drive a beater. Likewise, the sandwich artists at Subway reach for anything but a sandwich for their own lunch. The last thing I wanted to do after cleaning fish tanks for hours at work was to come home and clean another. And so, I didn't have a tank that was mine for a very long time.
Filling Alexandria Renew's 7,000g Native Freshwater Display
Last summer I moved back to Phoenix. This is the place I first took a step into the hobby, after watching a reef episode of Tanked back in 2012. I got my first industry job here at an LFS (now gone) named AquaTouch. I briefly grappled with starting an aquarium service company or joining one of the many existing teams in the valley. Instead, I accepted an opportunity at Neptune Systems to provide remote support for Apex controllers. While the work suits me well, it has left my hands dry for a while. Long enough that having an aquarium (or aquariums?) of my own became an exciting idea again. And I needed somewhere to put all this gear I was collecting.
So I went spelunking in my storage for gear.
I found a 5g Glass Tank. The perfect size for a desk.
I found an old Eheim Skim350 (fantastic surface skimming internal pump) and I found a working H80 from a client's tank teardown - with a gooseneck!
The LED was previously used in a refugium but would make a fantastic primary light for a nano-sized planted tank.
I've worked on many freshwater planted tanks, but I've never owned one. A quick trip to an LFS (Kona Reef) for some Seiryu stone and a bag of CaribSea Eco-Complete and this adventure was started.
The following day I went to a couple of other LFS (Aquarium Arts & OnlyFins) to kill some time. I ended up taking home my first few plants: a Ludwigia, a Vallisneria, and a Nymphaea Red Tiger Lotus. I'm not sure the taller plants will remain long-term, but the Tiger Lotus is quickly growing on me. And on the substrate. Regarding the substrate - I'm still in the air. The eco-complete looks fine, but the more uniform pellets (like the ones from ADA) are still an option. Because the volume of the tank is small, we can make some drastic changes with little work or money down the road. Here is our first set of FTS! Dosing 1Cap of Brightwell FlorinBacter7 each night.
Current Equipment List (Updated 4/16/23)
- 5g 10x10x12 Glass Aquarium
- Seiryu Stone, Spider Wood & Aquasolum Black Humate
- Neptune A1 ApexJr w/ VDM, PM1, Temp & pH Probe
- 3d Printed BOB & Probe Rack
- Kessil H80 w/ Apex Link Cable
- EHEIM Skim350
- Clscea G700S CO2 Generator & Solenoid
- Salvinia minima
- Bucephalandra theia
- Bucephalandra catherinae
- Bucephalandra brownie
- Cryptocoryne parva
- Anubias nana petite
- Microsorum pteropus
- Crinum calamistratum
- Current FTS Post
- Current Lighting Schedule (with Apex Programming)
Introductory Post and First Tank Photos:
"What kind of tank do you have at home?"
This was a question I would regularly get while installing and maintaining tanks. For the last decade, I've largely worked in homes and businesses on the East Coast inside other people's aquariums. If you know any mechanics, they probably drive a beater. Likewise, the sandwich artists at Subway reach for anything but a sandwich for their own lunch. The last thing I wanted to do after cleaning fish tanks for hours at work was to come home and clean another. And so, I didn't have a tank that was mine for a very long time.
Filling Alexandria Renew's 7,000g Native Freshwater Display
Last summer I moved back to Phoenix. This is the place I first took a step into the hobby, after watching a reef episode of Tanked back in 2012. I got my first industry job here at an LFS (now gone) named AquaTouch. I briefly grappled with starting an aquarium service company or joining one of the many existing teams in the valley. Instead, I accepted an opportunity at Neptune Systems to provide remote support for Apex controllers. While the work suits me well, it has left my hands dry for a while. Long enough that having an aquarium (or aquariums?) of my own became an exciting idea again. And I needed somewhere to put all this gear I was collecting.
So I went spelunking in my storage for gear.
I found a 5g Glass Tank. The perfect size for a desk.
I found an old Eheim Skim350 (fantastic surface skimming internal pump) and I found a working H80 from a client's tank teardown - with a gooseneck!
The LED was previously used in a refugium but would make a fantastic primary light for a nano-sized planted tank.
I've worked on many freshwater planted tanks, but I've never owned one. A quick trip to an LFS (Kona Reef) for some Seiryu stone and a bag of CaribSea Eco-Complete and this adventure was started.
The following day I went to a couple of other LFS (Aquarium Arts & OnlyFins) to kill some time. I ended up taking home my first few plants: a Ludwigia, a Vallisneria, and a Nymphaea Red Tiger Lotus. I'm not sure the taller plants will remain long-term, but the Tiger Lotus is quickly growing on me. And on the substrate. Regarding the substrate - I'm still in the air. The eco-complete looks fine, but the more uniform pellets (like the ones from ADA) are still an option. Because the volume of the tank is small, we can make some drastic changes with little work or money down the road. Here is our first set of FTS! Dosing 1Cap of Brightwell FlorinBacter7 each night.
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