14L Planted Nano Tank

[mini_matt]

Hey, fairly new on the planted tank side but have kept fish in the past.

Right now i am running a 14L nano tank made by betta with LED lighting and built in filter.

Fish atm i have my lovely male Betta and a khooli loach, have wanted panda corys for years but i think i will get cherry shrimp instead as its a small tank (opinions?)

Plants i have A lot of Lilaeopsis Novea-Zealandiae by the looks of it, a large moss ball which i have flattened to cover the cave maybe and what was sold as a bonsai Anubias nana which is basically a bit of wood with some Anubias and moss tied to it hehe

Plants have been in for around 2 weeks now in sand substrate and seem to be doing well even though im not too confident in the lighting

I know you guys love pictures so i took some to go here!

What do people think? I really like the lawn/carpet look that HC gives but i dont know if i have high enough light levels for that.
Also any opinions on tank mates? I think that cherry shrimp would be pretty entertaining as not really enough room for the panda corys i really want

Tank measurements are 8.5" wide 10" deep 11" hight

 

[mini_matt]

Just bought some cherry shrimp off of someone in the classified section, only 50p per shrimp! Should be here tommorow hopefully there are enough hidey places for them till my betta gets used to them.

Have balled up my 'moss' again and made a sort of cave for them to hide out in if they need to.

So, i want to buy some more plants what should i get?? More importantly what will grow or should i look at better lighting? Thanks

 

[ian]

Thats a nice lttile set up. I hope the Betta doesn't eat you shrimp. You might struggle with Lilaeopsis Novea-Zealandiae, its a nice plant, but does like it's C02. If you're looking at carpet plants you might want to go down the road of moss's. Attaching some moss to some flat slate and letting it grow out would be your best option.

have a look at this...

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/101806-step-by-step-guide-riccia-and-java-moss/

 

[mini_matt]

The only problem i have with the tank is the filter, although the intake is at the surface it is leaving a scum on the surface which i figured the filter would suck in, also the lighting isnt brilliant.
I have seen someone using cO2 on a small tank other than the price im fairly tempted looks a bit too involved for me though.
I'm not 100% it is that to be honest it just looks similar to a picture i found, would dwarf hairgrass or HC grow or am i pretty limited to moss?

Thanks for the reply! Matt

 

[Trod]

Very nice little tank there I do love the little ones, lovely cave too.

Regarding your lighting have a look at this http/www.amazon.co.uk/Nano-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Lighting/dp/B0040YV0JM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1308770168&sr=8-9 I got one and they are nice and bright

 

[mini_matt]

Thanks trod the cave was pretty expensive, i got the tank from my local lfs was priced at £39.99 heater priced at £17 bag of sand, plant and betta food all for £50! Always worth asking if you can get a discount! Bought one for my gfs brother too

 

[mini_matt]

Well my shrimp arrived this morning yay! Thanks maxi they were very well packaged with some filter floss to sit? On .

Wow they are tiny! Aprox 8weeks old apparently and boy are they fast! My betta has been so far unsussesfull in catching them i hoped he would leave them alone hopefully he will setle down my kholi loach also seems on the prowl for them
Plenty of places to hide for the shrimp though so i think they stand a reasonable chance.

On the plant side im planning some dwarf hairgrass and/or a moss carpet, the anubias is sending out new root growth and the other grassy plants are growing, how do i trim these? Just cut the leaves to the desired hight?

Will post pictures tonight, matt.

 

[coldcazzie]

My tetras were pretty keen on the shrimp when I first introduced mine, especially if they saw them swimming rather than just walking on something. Now though, they are used to them and they leave them alone, even when feeding when they all (shrimps and fish alike) crowd around the spiru tabs to get their share!

 

[mini_matt]

Just got home from work couldnt see any shrimp but found 2 hiding out in the top of my filter 1male 1 female cant see any others but hopefully theyre hiding and havent become food

Will post up some pictures later but My leaves are growing algee so wont be brilliant, do i leave it there for the shrimp to clean up?

Ah mr betta stop chasing my shrimp!

 

[challdog]

you should buy some more Khulli's ...
they like to be in groups of 3 or more as they are prone to stress

 

[mini_matt]

He was a bit of a rescue basically someone in the family only wanted 2 i have been trying to convince them to add him back with the other 2

 

[mini_matt]

Well the weekend started yesterday with a trip to my local fish shops in town (plymouth), visited a lovely little shop by the bus station and asked if they had any of the ever elusive panda corys, ive wanted these fish on and off for around 3 years! As expected they didnt have any so i asked about lighting options, they had the smaller one of the same model as my tank setup in the shop growing some very healthy looking plants although i didnt ask what they were dosing , had a look at the smaller arcadia arc pods at 9W and looked very nice for the price of £32 although i am unsure of 3WPG and the plant growth implications.

Great selection if tanks and fish in this shop and a fair amount of healthy looking plants including the hair grass and moss that im after! Girlfriend says well come back when finished in town....

Pop through fish shop in the market where i got the tank nothing new only a small fish section few livebearers about it.

So off to union street nice shop no panda corys but some comming in in 2weeks time, checked out an led light not as white light as i want though.

Ended up going home empty handed after finding an arcadia arc pod for £22 online and although i like to suport my LFS i would save a third online.

Today we took a special trip to st beaudaux to go to the waterfall and again no pandas and no forground plants although i wish i had picked up some large plants for the rear of the tank no tpn+ left the shop with some more dechlorinator, fish food and alge wafers for my gfs brother.

So i think its back to the bus station store next week some time and possibly vist up to crownhill garden centre as i have seen pandas in there before

On a sad note i havent seen any shrimp in my tank so i think they are now gone but i have been thinking about my tank scape and how i should move things around

I understand if noone bothered reading all that im tired lol cheers, matt

 

[Trod]

I read it Matt Like you I love reading about everyones shopping expeditions, I find them interesting
I put lots of Cherry shrimps in my tank (a gift from Seffie ) I very rarely see them, I thought mine had all gone, but one will pop up every so often so I know some are still there, so don't give up hope

 

[mini_matt]

Haha not a funny as your shopping trips but weve been everywhere fish shopping recently and have the car back now so tommorow we will be trecking round a few more shops and hopefully find my pandas, found a post that i wrote over a year ago saying im goin to get some pandas soon but i never did, that was from a lovely shop in southampton called tropiquary (sp)

Had a decent clean of my tank this morning trimmed the tops off some of the thick grassy plant and moved the cave back a touch ready for the hairgrass i want to get, also think i need something tall to go at the back of the tank might add a small powerhead too to add to circulation, think this will be nesisary when i start dosing??

Matt

 

[ian]

I also read everyones journals. Even if it seems youre talking to yourself sometimes, journals are very handy threads on forums. The arcpod will be fine on your tank, the wpg rule isnt really useful on nano tanks.

Ps we have pygmy corys galore where i live.