Creating a new NanoNano system

Welcome!

Thank you for purchasing a NanoNano system! All proceeds go toward our horse rescue, Haven Equus.

Our NanoNano systems are created here in Mariposa, CA.

We breed our own shrimp and snails, as well as cultivate our plants here, in the wonderful Sierra mountains!

The idea

I have always had some type of aquarium, even growing up. The trouble came with power outages, bad water, old animals, and the time and money  required to maintain the system! 

We run a horse rescue, Haven Equus. We bought a beautiful place, with acreage for the horses, and a small farm house for us.
My husband and I were newly married and

 had two households to blend and worked hard  to make it fit into a 800 square foot house. 

We missed having an aquarium. But we have no place for one, much less a dedicated electrical breaker and wiring for a good one.
And money!
Any additional money we have goes to our horse rescue.

Soooo....

I got the idea last winter to bring our outside pond plants and goldfish to overwinter inside.

It started with one 20 gallon plastic tote tub. Add in 2 water plants, and 5 goldfish. 

This was fun for a short while, watching the fish swim around. However, goldfish really foul up the water, and there is a huge amount of waste.

Soon, we noticed that the fish were tearing up the pond plants, so, tub #2 was introduced.

The plants went in one tub, gold fish in the other.

Algea started growing.

I bought some apple snails. The fish attacked the snails. 

The fish attacked the plants.

Goldfish are jerks.

So, goldfish go outside, back in the pond.

Half the apple snails go in one tub, half in the other.everyone seems happy.

I decide to add shrimp.

Then more plants. The pond plants overcrowd the tubs. Out they go!

Two tubs, both with apple snails. The shrimp like the apple snails alot. They really like the mucus the snails produce, and agitate the snails to produce more. Snails get stressed out, and there are runners of mucus in both tanks.

Rethink.

Bring in third tank.

Divide plants.

Add filtration and heaters. Seperate snails from shrimp.

Do more research.

Shrimp don't breed true with other colors of shrimp. Separate colors. Get new shrimp.

I delved into the aquarium world, specifically shrimp. I asked questions and observed. I learned about stratum, ph balances, minerals, and learned many lessons!

I learned about shrimp communal and societial behaviors.

They interact with one another, and seem to nurture the young.

The yellow shrimp have taken their jobs as nursery attendants seriously!

When an egg case is placed in the water to hatch, the shrimp will immediately swim over and start picking apart the calcium casing, freeing the snail fry within. As the fry grow, the shrimp continue to interact with the snails, swimming over to groom the shell of one or another. The fry aren't stressed, so it seems being raised with shrimp is working.

As wonderful as the tubs were, A) it was costing us money we should be using elsewhere! B) The tubs are in the bathroom. So, limited viewing potential.

(Yes, the bathroom! Inexplicably the largest room in our NanoNano house, it is also the only one with the electricity and water needed!)

I had seen small glass globes filled with water, a branch, a fish that sold for $100 and up.

I liked the idea, but it bothered me that it was completely enclosed, so when the animal died, you had a glass globes full of ew! It just bugged me.

 I had a few old milk bottles with lids lying around.
I play with strata and plants.
The first NanoNano system is created.

I catch a yellow shrimp and a tiny nehrite snail, some plants and substrate, and set it in a bright spot.

I make more, and my window sill looks like this:

The systems worked!

I made more.

I located gallon sized glass containers, and added more shrimp per system, and a wider variety of plants.

I had a small 5 gallon aquarium that had hard water deposits along the edges. I scrubbed it clean, added stratum, water and plants. I set in in a bright area, and let it "prime" for a few weeks before adding shrimp and snails.

I didn't add filtration or heat, just let the tank sit at room temperature, and exist.

I have done a few water changes, but as of today, that need seems to be waning quickly.

(The spot i placed the aquarium in gets a LOT of light, and that caused a bacterial bloom. Moving the tank wasn't an option, so water changes every few weeks brought the water to almost  crystal clear.)

Our mission?

Our hope is to bring these tiny tide pools to everyone!

There has been scientific research done on the benefits of watching an aquarium.

Your blood pressure quickly lowers, heartbeat slows, and you rela into a meditative phase.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33716589

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150729215632.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/research-fish-aquariums-health-benefits-2015-8

https://phys.org/news/2015-07-aquariums-health-wellbeing-benefits.html

You get the picture.

I love doing this, AND I can finally express my artistic side!

Did you know...??!?

It takes over a month to develop a NanoNano system!?

We prime each container with our own water, harvest the plants for each, mix the special stratum, and let sit. The animals are added, and the NanoNano system is observed daily to ensure everything is thriving and the NanoNano is ready to sell.

Since we breed our own animals, and cultivate our plants, supplies are limited.

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO OUR HORSE RESCUE, HAVEN EQUUS.