Llj's 2.5g Planted Tank Journal

[mlawson]

Looks great!

The tank looks a lot larger than a 2.5 gallon which means you've creaed a lot of depth and scale.
Should look brilliant when it's grown out a bit more.

Mike

 

[Dave Spencer]

I`m sure you will have a lot of success with the Echinodorus tenellus. For a tank this size, I would have thought that slow growth would be the order of the day, otherwise you would be cutting back the Echinodorus and Rotala on a virtually daily basis.

Dave.

 

[Themuleous]

You have a way with planted tanks there aint no denying it another promising layout.

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

I`m sure you will have a lot of success with the Echinodorus tenellus. For a tank this size, I would have thought that slow growth would be the order of the day, otherwise you would be cutting back the Echinodorus and Rotala on a virtually daily basis.

Dave.

The light burst is to keep the Rotala pink on top and more compact. This tank is so shallow, that I'll get this from increased lighting. The plan is to dose a little Excel and Flourish as needed, or just increase bioload, like I always do. It is important for this layout to work to have the appropriate contrast between the rotala and the anubia. I'm hoping the E. tenellus takes over in the front, the light green against the wood is what I'm counting on. For now, I kind of like the bare substrate, it is clean and pretty.

You have a way with planted tanks there aint no denying it another promising layout.

Sam

Thanks Sam. The shock of red is, I'll admit, daring. I've got another A. reineckii with even smaller leaves waiting, but this one's got more red, so I'll wait and see if I can train this one. If I can get, with the light burst, the HM to hollyhock like it does in my 8g, I think the contrast will be very interesting.

I wish they sold more nano fish in Miami. I hate mail-order. They never get my address right.

Alberich, the betta, has been great with the rescape. He just kind of takes things in stride, and I'll admit, he's a gorgeous little plakat. He's nearly two now.

llj

 

[ICEEGRL]

I really like the tank like this. Your tank always looks good, but this is what I like.
You need to come do mine for me

 

[lljdma06]

Ok, that layout didn't last long. Nothing bad happened, I just really want pygmy corydoras in this tank, and cories like swimming space in the substrate, so out went the A. reineckii and the HM. They also like Bogwood and caves, so in went more pieces of wood. Below is what I came up with.

I think it looks alright. I think I'll just leave it alone for a while and see what it does. I've doubled the lighting and am going to begin dosing Excel and Flourish on a regular basis. I may relax this once I get the cories, though. But for now, it could stand to have some ferts. I've thought about adding Didiplis diandra now that I've got more light, but I want to see how the Rotala does first.

llj

 

[Themuleous]

And you say us blokes are constantly changing things! Has lots of promise, the corys should love it like the wood.

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

And you say us blokes are constantly changing things! Has lots of promise, the corys should love it like the wood.

Sam

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

I like this layout too. It's really very simple. Only three plant species, which is great for the tiny tanks. Things are going well so far and there is already better growth.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Well, I removed the E. tenellus from this tank so I could have more in my 8g, so right now this tank only has the anubias and R. rotundifolia. If I can find more E. tenellus, I'll consider adding it back, but the 8g needed it more. The rotala growth is pretty good and I'm glad that I can manipulate the stems a little more. I've thought about removing some of the wood and anubias as I think it takes up too much space now. I'd like bare substrate in some of this tank and there is one piece of wood that is preventing me from vacumning certain portions of this tank, which I do not like. It's a trial and error process really, to find the best long-term scape.

For the past two weeks, the lighting upgrade and fert regimen have been working well and the algae is not out of control, especially for 10.4WPG (26W over 2.5g), which sounds ridiculous, but really isn't considering the size of the tank. I currently dose 1mL of Excel everyday and 1mL of Seachem Flourish every other day. I change the water 50-60% 2x a week. The photo period is right now at 9 hours, but I may change this.

If things continue along this trend, I will perhaps replant this tank with more light-demanding species that would do well in a smaller tank. Didiplis diandra and Myriophylum are two species I'd like to try. I wish I can get my hands on some HC, but I may have to get used to disappointment. Riccia may also look interesting in this little tank. I am not going to pay online shipping for only a few stems, however, so my choices may be limited to what I can find in LFS. I've seen Riccia and Myriophylum around, but nothing really fancy, though I do regularly see lileopsis and Eleocharis species which may do well. I will update my Plant swap thread to reflect this.

Here's an updated photo.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

I liked the idea of the tank from the previous post, but it just wasn't practical. The wood was too close to the glass and I couldn't clean the substrate as carefully as I'd like. I like keeping it prestine, so it looks more like sand. So I removed the offending piece of wood and opted for a few smaller pieces. I think it is less overwhelming.

It kind of reminds me of beaches I've seen in the Caribbean, actually, especially the wild areas of Haiti and Jamaica, that had dead trees strewn about with growth around them. Wasn't my intention, but I kind of like the look. I'd really like to find a very-fine grass plant to intersperse around the wood. Would an Eleocharis species do well? I've never worked with it before. I think E. tenellus would be too thick, personally. I've also thought about swapping out the R. rotund. with either Didiplis diandra or myriophylum, but the R.R looks like a terrestrial shrub that grows near beaches in the region, which is kind of neat.

Here are the stats so you can judge.

26W over 2.5g
1mL of Excel added daily
1.5mL of Flourish added everyother day (I am, however, seriously considering a form of EI for this tank. I have all the materials)
Water changes: 50%, 2x a week (may increase it if I adopt full-blown EI).
Photo period: 9 hours

The plan is to still have pygmy corydoras, which I think would look fantastic in this setup.

Any thoughts?

llj

 

[Dave Spencer]

You could try Eleocharis parvula. I have some of this in my Iwagumi (tank not ready for pics yet) and it is just starting to really pick up and chuck out runners. The leaves of this variant are a little contorted, so it may look a little untidy for your tastes, but the plant does stay low enough to make a nice foreground. Eleocharis acicularis is straight leafed, so it may suit you, but it grows a bit taller than the parvula.

If you do go for Eleocharis sp, my advice would be to cut the plants back to just above the surface of the substrate once you have planted them. The emersed leaves will die off quite quickly and become algae magnets.

Dave.

 

[lljdma06]

You could try Eleocharis parvula. I have some of this in my Iwagumi (tank not ready for pics yet) and it is just starting to really pick up and chuck out runners. The leaves of this variant are a little contorted, so it may look a little untidy for your tastes, but the plant does stay low enough to make a nice foreground. Eleocharis acicularis is straight leafed, so it may suit you, but it grows a bit taller than the parvula.

If you do go for Eleocharis sp, my advice would be to cut the plants back to just above the surface of the substrate once you have planted them. The emersed leaves will die off quite quickly and become algae magnets.

Dave.

Thanks for your imput, Dave. I really don't want to deal with high-light anymore, though. I like it, but it's not for hobbiests that don't really have the time or who are lazy, both things I'm guilty of. So, I'm removing a light and switching out the tank for low-light plants. Some rotala can stay, or it may go, the growth was never pretty in the low-light version of this tank. I like bare substrate, so the layout will be similar, just with low-light plants. No more dosing, no more guesswork, which I don't like.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

I like the ease of lower-light, at least for now, so I switched the tank back to a single light a few days ago. I replanted it with the appropriate plants, but I'm giving some Marsilea hirsuta a try, as I really like it in my 20g. It's not much as far as a scape is concerned, but I think any fish living there will be quite satisfied, and I get to look at nice plants. The crypts are melting, but they'll bounce back and look really nice once they fill in.

Here's a picture.

Corydoras pygmaeus are out of stock at the online vendor I'm considering, so I have to play the waiting game now. I need something pretty and simple to maintain. This tank will serve as a proto-type for a possible setup in what may be my future office. I may be getting a job.

I figured getting this Doctorate would be good for something.

llj

 

[john starkey]

I like the ease of lower-light, at least for now, so I switched the tank back to a single light a few days ago. I replanted it with the appropriate plants, but I'm giving some Marsilea hirsuta a try, as I really like it in my 20g. It's not much as far as a scape is concerned, but I think any fish living there will be quite satisfied, and I get to look at nice plants. The crypts are melting, but they'll bounce back and look really nice once they fill in.

Here's a picture.

Corydoras pygmaeus are out of stock at the online vendor I'm considering, so I have to play the waiting game now. I need something pretty and simple to maintain. This tank will serve as a proto-type for a possible setup in what may be my future office. I may be getting a job.

I figured getting this Doctorate would be good for something.

llj

hi llj if the Marsilea hirsuta works out your setup will look really nice , i hope you have time for your tanks if you become a working girl.regards john

 

[lljdma06]

Tank looks basically the same. I cut back on the lighting a bit to know ill effects. I keep rearranging the wood, but these are really small pieces and it is not hard to do. If I cannot setup a larger tank in my office, see my new thread, then I will ask to put this little guy in there.

llj