Tuesday, May 15, 2012

4.5 liter / 1 gallon planted tank day 3

Ever since it was up and running I've been keeping track of temperatures.






As you can see it drops significantly over the night. On the first day I had some bright sun directly on the tank which really heated things up. Looks like I'll have to find a different spot for it out of direct sunlight.

The plants themselves may be taking. The anubias is looking scruffy but I'm hoping it bounces back. The willow moss is pumping out O2 bubbles like crazy. I'm a bit worried about that one stealing everyone's CO2.

Tech for tiny tanks
As soon as you move below 20 liters the choices in equipment become really limited. There's a very few internal filters but even those would take up 20-30% of my space.

Superfish makes the aqua 50 which they sell with their small tanks. At about 8 euros it's a good deal. Most people who keep tanks this small just stick a sponge filter in. Problem there is to find an air pump that's silent.

Heating is even more tricky. And here your choices get really limited. At 14 cm for an adjustable 10 watts of power the Aquarium Systems Newattino is the smallest choice. Retails for about 15 euros.

I'm relocating it tomorrow and doing the first water change.

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