Nano at work?

[MrsWolverine]

Hi

Does anyone keep a nano in their office at work?
I keep thinking about it, but not sure I would take the time to care for it.
I need something to zen up my office...

MrsW

[brandon429]

Do a freshwater planted its a thousand times easier

[MrsWolverine]

I was kind of thinking I should go that route, but didn't know if I was allowed to mention the F word on here ;)

I don't know anything about freshwater, but something with gently moving plants would probably be perfect.

[brandon429]

Ive been part of co running several picos kept at work over the years, even with total willingness to do all the water changes weekly, you find these variables attacking the tank, it happens every time:

-cleaning crew spraying stuff in it
-long holidays where they alter the ac/heater putting your tank to extremes
-co workers trying to be helpful while you are out
-natural death/losses occuring the night before your weekend starts and the tank sits in a pool of ammonia all weekend till you get back

those kinds of things hardly ever affect a planted tank except maybe for cleaning chemicals.

If your work environment is stable and doest have any of those, then you need to consider how much clutter/wiring/bright lights/ATPO mechanism equipment you can set up. Most people do not want this hassle + the weekly water changes, which if you don't do you have a 95% chance of losing the tank to an algae invasion within 5 months.

A simple planted vase done the right way is amazing and easy

[brandon429]

To do a freshwater, consider using a vase! make a trip to lfs, get a decent planted substrate, some plants, a betta or any other appro fish and any standard power compact clip on light, about 13 watts is fine. People will recommend all kinds of lighting to you, this is just a simple option

[MrsWolverine]

Oh, I like the vase idea. Keep it simple with plants and see how I do.
I hadn't even thought about the cleaning crew. Ours if frequently "helpful" and totally messes with my desk to clean it. Drives me crazy...they move my usb drives, pens, sticky notes...

Thanks!

[TundraGuy]

Wow that’s good advice. I have the same thing going on here at my office. With all of the above statements about the “attacks” being found to be true, I set up a simple evolve 2 aquarium. Some anubias, two lucky bamboo plants, one cutting from a pothos plant, a sand bed, hand full of ½” white rocks (made a trail) and balm you are done. Everyone coming in the office stops to look at it. Now truth be told we have lost two Beta fish. One jumped out over the weekend the other over eat thanks helpful office people. The only things in the tank at the moment are 2 ghost shrimp and an otocinclus. People still stop to check it out. Lol I also want to add some cryptocoryne but have not found any yet. I am not a fresh water guy at all and am keeping this tank in check. So I would suggest one of these tanks for easy office tank set ups plus you can get them in 3 different sizes all under $100. Good luck to you.

[TundraGuy]

Now back to salt brandon is your vase still up? how many years have you been rocking that thing?

[brandon429]

Bout seven, schwing! Thanks for asking. If someone was going to do salt at work id recommend a reefbowl since there is no auto topoff required...it goes 4-5 days between fw additions. Oldest pico reef:

[SSLVRNBLK]

Hey Brandon,
How do you keep corals from stinging eachother in such close corridors?

[ange062]

Ive been part of co running several picos kept at work over the years, even with total willingness to do all the water changes weekly, you find these variables attacking the tank, it happens every time:

-cleaning crew spraying stuff in it
-long holidays where they alter the ac/heater putting your tank to extremes
-co workers trying to be helpful while you are out
-natural death/losses occuring the night before your weekend starts and the tank sits in a pool of ammonia all weekend till you get back

those kinds of things hardly ever affect a planted tank except maybe for cleaning chemicals.

If your work environment is stable and doest have any of those, then you need to consider how much clutter/wiring/bright lights/ATPO mechanism equipment you can set up. Most people do not want this hassle + the weekly water changes, which if you don't do you have a 95% chance of losing the tank to an algae invasion within 5 months.

A simple planted vase done the right way is amazing and easy

My pico has been in my office for nearly a year now, and I can concur with all of these points!! Overall it's not too bad, but definitely a pain if you travel or have a holiday. I've managed to find some competent people to help top-off and feed while I am out and the tank has survived a year with no major issues.

Automation (ATO, feeder, light timer, etc) is very helpful, as is a cover for the tank. A "simple" tank is also a good thing, zoas and mushrooms can be very cool looking but also are very easy to take care of. No fish means less work, less need to feed, less cleanup, etc etc.

Planted FW with some neon tetras would also be nice and easy to keep.

[brandon429]

No fish agreed, that's your ammonia time bomb if it keels over on a Friday night lol

The coral stinging/allelopathy desensitization phenomena is pico reefings contribution to mainstream marine biology, we don't know why war mechanisms shut down in super cramped spaces but they do.

Some form of habituation, who knows...in much of the space former rivals actually intertwine polyps-acan and Montipora touching = no loss of Montipora for example. Weird stuff...my experiment is to see how long it will run. This deep sand bed, 6-8 inches does a fair bit of nitrate reducing (clear gas bubbles in sandbed) so that helps out with water quality, plus big weekly water changes of one gallon. The bowl is fed heavily.

I don't mean to hijack your thread lol but this might be useful to replicate if you ever want salt at the office. This gallon reef is the easiest to keep of all nano sizes due to slow evap

[cnseekatz]

I keep a 5 gallon Ecoxotic Ecopico on my desk at work. It's been up and running for a few months now with good success.

I would agree that a tank with no fish would be much easier to manage (on weekends, holidays, etc.), but will require a good amount of willpower, because the peer pressure from non-reefers to get fish will be intense. It's a great distraction if you have to be at your desk all day long.

Here's my setup. I like the Ecopico because it's fully self contained, has a good lid, doesn't have anything hanging off the back or sides, and it's totally silent.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6335&pictureid=45155

[MrsWolverine]

Thanks everyone! That's really helpful. I was definitely dreaming way too ambitious to have a nano or anything there.

And, I do work around some nasty chemicals (I'm a chemist and have an office off the lab), so it's probably best not to keep anything that I'd really want to keep alive like a fish or coral. I'm ok killing green plants ;) I do have a jade in the lab (the windows are in the lab, not the offices) that is doing ok. But, since I don't see it all the time, I forget to water it.

Need to head to the pet store this weekend anyway. Stupid question, with just freshwater and plants, do I need a small pump?

[brandon429]

Katz post the full desk shot!

[brandon429]

I keep my planted bowls w no heater or pumps, just lights.

[brandon429]

Don't use the led they are offering at lfs, if you want to grow plants its power compact 13watt. Led's will grow plants, just not the ones they are about to offer you with the kit. Pcompact is a better bet.

If you specifically buy the right leds they will work, check on here before buying is my advice

[MrsWolverine]

Are power compact way more $ than LED?

[brandon429]

no probably cheaper. People dont like them for reefs nowadays because they run hot and need to be replaced every 6 mos. PC is what I use on that vase, they do work.

LED's are nice but the ones they will sell you for a "planted bowl" in a LFS won't work, they are just for illumination. They may be a white spectrum, but in 4 months the plants will brown out and if not for chemical reasons it will be the light. There are also plants that will thrive on ambient lighting alone, nothing from above. Hornwort might, if you have a bright office and then theres always the stand alone pothos vine you stick out the top of your vase and let it root into the water, thats a no-extra-lighting option!

most of your decorative aquatic plants need the right light overhead to get the look of a real planted tank in miniature.

[MrsWolverine]

Ok, I picked up a cute vase, lucky bamboo, a Narrow Leaf Java Fern, an Anubias Afzelii, and a mini compact fluorescent light that plugs into a desk lamp.

Fingers crossed that I can keep these babies alive!

[brandon429]

those were great choices for the lighting post pics when set up!

[MrsWolverine]

Hi
Ok, the plants made it to work. They are looking a little worse for the wear. I really hope I don't kill these poor things...

[brandon429]

everything looks good but one detail I can see involves not filling the tank up all the way, no big deal tho

The leaves you have out of water are likely borne underwater, there are different ones for emersed growth. expect those to likely wither slowly, indicating nothing about the overall health of the plant. You should see new nubs at the base in a month after these submersed leaves die off

the new nubs will have both a wet/dry line to pass through, but this will be accounted for at the apical portion of the new leaf. Its just the fact your current aquatic leaves don't have the right coating and matrix design for airborne growth.


:)

or you could just fill up the vase!

[MrsWolverine]

I was wondering about that.
They came in a container (except the bamboo) that had a gel substance around the roots for hydration. The guy said that they would do best partially out of the water, but I wasn't sure exactly where the line was. I'd prefer to fill it all the way, I think it would look better...

[brandon429]

sure go ahead and fill it, either way is fine.

Ive seen those plants packed in the gel medium, same stuff you get at wal mart as soil-less plant watering stuff...but, what matters is how the grow warehouse made the plants, emersed or submersed before packing. Either way the plants will adjust, it just might take 3 months before you can tell.

There is literally nothing you can do to kill the plants on the way to work outside of harsh biocidal activity, and you dont strike me as the angry biocidal type

:)

worst you can do is stress em, theyll send out new leaves when happy, relying on the nutrient stores in those corms or roots until the time is right.

Enjoy! I couldn't tell if you have fish in there or not. If not, the plants will appreciate 1 drop of any liquid plant fertilizer meant for aquarium use every month or so, it appears you have slow growing type plants


make no judgments off the leaves you have, thats good advice. They have to die likely to make way for the correct ones in the water level you choose. But when new shoots come up, watch them for coloration and longevity...thats the real ticket.

yellowing or darkening at the ends is most likely just a need for fertilizer occasionally, iron or magnesium chlorosis.