Llj's 2.5g Planted Tank Journal

[lljdma06]

More cute pictures. Cories like posing, I guess.

This is the last hurrah for the C. aeneus in the 2.5g. I played musical chairs with the catfish, Yesterday. I moved the aeneus to the 8g, moved the peppered to the 20g, moved platy fry out of the 8g, and added the platy fry and 3 more C. trilineatus to join the 1 C. trilineatus already in the 2.5g. the cories don't bother the platy fry, and I think this will work, as the adult platies are voracious, the filters in the 8g are too strong, and I need to make an effort to raise some platies. I lost 1 platy to old age a month ago. They don't have a long lifespan, 2-3 years tops, and I'm sure mine are close to two already. I've had them over a year. So as females drop, I'll move the fry to the 2.5g and then raise them until they get large enough not to be bothered by the adults. Of course, eventually, I'll get babies with nine heads, so I may have to add a new male platy to the 8g to keep things diverse.

Oh, and the plants are fine. The E. najas, is beginning to recover and will be a nice replacement to the bacopa in this tank.

 

[Snooks1!]

No more updates?

 

[lljdma06]

No more updates?

One of the advantages of going low-light is that the tank essentially looks the same. No real layout changes, I just trim the Bacopa when it gets too tall, and the moss when it gets too thick.

I swapped out the C. aeneus for C. triliniatus. I have 3 triliniatus, but really want two more. The tank also house growing platy fry until they get large enough to transfer to the 20g. I have about 8 small fry in there now. I do water changes 2x a week.

I haven't thought about an update in a while. I guess it's been a while. Thanks for asking.

llj

 

[Viettxboii]

Couldn't help but notice a tiny bit of algae in the moss.
How much lighting do you have rigged on that right now?

 

[crimsontsavo]

Oui my brain doesnt work too good sometimes.
I didn't realise there were so many pages on this tank hehe.

It's still looking good, I'm really starting to love nano type tanks.

 

[lljdma06]

Couldn't help but notice a tiny bit of algae in the moss.
How much lighting do you have rigged on that right now?

Good eyes. I catch it when I shoot in macro as well. I'll get some hair algae on the moss, but it's really so little, that I don't modify my regimen any. The lighting isn't really stable. I use the tank as a work light, so whenever I'm at my desk in my bedroom, the light is on, so the hours are not very regular. Sometimes, it'll be on almost the whole day, and other day, it'll be off the whole day. Really not what I recommend. A good ballbark for a little tank like this is 8-12 hours, depending on how stable the tank is.

llj

 

[goin_all_out]

i have the same tank! lol not as aquascaped but i think iv been inspired! all i have is one nana and a java fern i trimmed back. my question is how do you keep it so stable? how would you keep the algea down to a minimum with regualr lighting?

 

[aaronnorth]

i have the same tank! lol not as aquascaped but i think iv been inspired! all i have is one nana and a java fern i trimmed back. my question is how do you keep it so stable? how would you keep the algea down to a minimum with regualr lighting?

Stable co2 30ppm (or if you have none, no high light)
high nutrients, again depend on lighting co2 etc.

You have to experiment to get whats right for your setup.

 

[lljdma06]

i have the same tank! lol not as aquascaped but i think iv been inspired! all i have is one nana and a java fern i trimmed back. my question is how do you keep it so stable? how would you keep the algea down to a minimum with regualr lighting?

Stable co2 30ppm (or if you have none, no high light)
high nutrients, again depend on lighting co2 etc.

You have to experiment to get whats right for your setup.

I agree the last statement especially. You have to find what works for you. What really worked for this tank was increasing my stocking. I had some BGA and diatoms mostly in the beginning, all very managable, and partly because I refused to move the tank (which receives natural sunlight during the summer). I am a pretty stubborn fish-keeper, and if I like an effect, I'll work with the consequences. I also went through a lot of scapes trying to find the scape that required the least amount of work. I honestly did not feel that adding CO2, ferts, or investing in fancy lighting was worth it for a $10 tank from a LPS. My betta prefers living in a simple bowl, so I removed him, increased my filtration, and upped the stocking level. I also added a few sprigs of Pothos (a type of house plant that grows well partially submersed). I think the Pothos was in it for a few weeks. Unfortunately, I ultimately do not know what removed the algae. Considering that there's still very little algae, and the Pothos has been gone for quite some time, the filtration and stock changes were probably what did it.

Right now, the tank functions as either a platy nursery or a cute little corydora tank. The current platy group has about a month or two left in the tank before they go to the 20g to grow out. Afterwards, I hang up my platy-rearing hat for a year or so, and the little corydoras get their tank back. Water changes are pretty frequent when I'm raising fry, as the filter current has to be turned down. When I have just corydoras, the current goes way up, and I can be less strict with water changes. When I'm raising fry, I also get a bit more algae (I feed more often), but greens are an essential part of a platy's diet, so I actually like it when things get a bit messy there. The tank will be 2 years old in November.

Thank you for showing interest in this tank, I am flattered.

llj

 

[Viettxboii]

Well i told you this a long time ago, your tank inspired me to get my own 2.5g (which looks like a big ball of poo..literally i have a floating ball of hygro and moss for the last few days), so of course i'd take interest.
I rarely visit here, as i visit the local forums more (gasp), and looks like your tank is great.
Out of curiousity how much light exactly do you have over it.(wattage wise..)

 

[lljdma06]

Out of curiousity how much light exactly do you have over it.(wattage wise..)

13W Compact fluorescent. A desk lamp from Office max, literally.

 

[lljdma06]

I've moved the last of the platy fry to the 20g grow-out, so the corydoras have regained this tank. The C. trilineatus are already enjoying the reved up current. I couldn't find more trilineatus in my neck of the woods, so I'm adding four bronze to this group. They've been housed together and actually move together, so I don't anticipate a problem. Again, not stocking for the beginner, but a nice option for me, until I either find more trilineatus or more bronze. It's kind of a sorority really, as I'm pretty sure all the catfish are female.

llj

 

[richchappy]

lovely tank, really nice

 

[lljdma06]

I rescaped this tank, kind of. More like a tidying up. Thinned out the anubia a bit, added some petite nana, some Marsilea hirsuta, and a bit more Bacopa. It is not much of a scape, as it is designed more for the fish than my aesthetic. I found a vendor that sells fish and plants and I treated myself to an order. I am keeping my fingers crossed as the reviews for the place were kind of mixed, which isn't good, and I'm kicking myself for having not found the review site first. For this little tank, I've ordered some C. hastatus. Finally, a dwarf corydora designed for this kind of setup. For my 20g, I ordered some Aponogetons crispus, cryptocoryne willisii, and ember tetras (I like the looks of them). For the 36g, I ordered some C. retrospiralis. Nothing is coming for the 8g, but I can't fit anything else into the dwarf platy factory. Hopefully, the order will come out satisfactory. The previous company had glowing reviews and my last order still arrived as a mess.

llj

 

[ICEEGRL]

When are you expecting the shipment?
I hope we get to see pics when you get them.