My Planted Nano

[Dave Spencer]

It is ironic that you have hair algae on your Ammania because I have long threads of it in my tank, yet the Ammania is spotless. Your Amanos should get to grips with it once they get a taste for it. Get your CO2 on the go as soon as you can.

Whatever Corys you get, they will love the sand.

The last photo you took gives an idea of what things will look like when the tank matures. You must be quite happy with it.

 

[Daz CPFC]

Is the sand in your tank "white" or more of a darker sand colour? Reason i ask is ive seen white sand but not sure if i would like it in my tank, but i like the colour of yours

So if you dont mind me asking do you know what brand it is or where you picked it up?

Thanks

 

[Sibelius]

I am fairly happy with it thanks, and as a matter of fact, my otocinclus has just ventured outside his little hole by the filter at the back, and is now on the twisted vallis at the front of the tank! I'm hoping the shrimps will fix their appetites soon enough!, and yes, CO2 will be in the second that I can get it in! I'm not really fussed about which species of cory I go for, I want a dwarf one though, so even if I come across Pygmaeus or Hastatus, I might get some if I like the look of them. I just prefer Hasbrosus from what I've read online. Anyone who owns one (or possibly more!) or the above species, please please let me know what you think of them, or prefer, etc etc and how you think they'd be suited to my tank.

 

[Sibelius]

Oh, sorry, we posted at the same time. I got my sand at a fairly local, small shop. Wayside Aquatics, Essex. It's tiny, but superb quality. The sand isn't "silver sand" in appearance or name, as far as I know. In fact, I've got a hunch it's playsand dressed up as aquarium sand, but there we go, it does the job, I think it's inert, and it looks good! (I also use Tetra Complete substrate beneath it.) The brand is B. D. Trading Aquarium Sand.

 

[Daz CPFC]

Exaclty why i asked. It dosent look liek the normal aquarium sand in my local's you can either get black sand like in my nano or pure white, which i just dont think gives that sandy feeling. Other sands are of a darker colour im not to fond of however yours in your photos looks nice

 

[Sibelius]

Thanks. I hope my response helped. Still, I'm looking for critique and feedback, anyone??

 

[Sibelius]

I put this as a thread in the chit-chat forum, but I thought I'd copy it in here as well.

Ok, enjoy having a laugh at this:

I've got a spot of hair algae, that I'm hoping will disappear when I add CO2. However, the CO2 set came with missing parts, and the algae is getting worse on my prize plant. Is it completely bonkers of me to be wondering whether I could blow air down a straw, into a covered part of the tank, where the CO2 in my breath would dissolve. Is this dangerous to plants and fish? Would it help the plants, for the next few days, or have I lost the plot completely?

Nothing else to report really, although I've got more die off on the ammania than I'd hoped for, which is probably why weird ideas are popping into my head! The frogbit is doing brilliantly though, lots of new shoots today. And here's my otocinclus:

 

[Themuleous]

lost the plot completely

just kidding unless you can stand there all day it'll not work. Also, CO2 in your breath is around 4% so the water could only ever get to that concentration, far below the required level.

Sam

 

[Sibelius]

Oh, ok, well, it was a laugh. More importantly, I've got all of my ammania out and cleaned it of algae, so I'm hoping it'll be stunted for a short while.

 

[Sibelius]

Sadly, I've lost another shrimp, now I'm down to just 1. I don't know why/how this one died, he wasn't an escapee. He seems to have lost an antanae, (is this fatal) and then within 4 hours was most certainly dead, on the aquarium floor, not moving. My water parameters seem to be fine. Could my otocinclus and the 1 remaining shrimp be in any danger? Does anyone know of shrimp dying early?

 

[Sibelius]

I'm going to have to retract another statment! The Shrimp Lives! I don't actually believe it myself, when I saw that it was lying on it's side on the tank floor, motionless for at least half an hour with an antanae missing, I was sure it was completely dead, so I removed it from the tank and put it on a shelf for convenience sake. Anyway, 3 hours later, as I came to dispose of it, I picked it up and saw it's legs move slightly. Shocked, I put it back in the tank, "just in case", and lo and behold, it hobbled off to behind a plant. It's now in a different part of the tank each time, and seems to be recovering. Obviously, for the most of us, a shrimp would be a fairly small affair, and we wouldn't worry about it too much, but only having 2 shrimp and my oto so far, I've grown attached to him, for his pure bravery! I'll get a photo shortly! Isn't it great!

oh, by the way, I got back to the CO2 dealers, and the missing parts will be in the post tomorrow, so CO2 will be operating from Monday!

 

[Sibelius]

Hello again! It's been over a week, so I thought I'd update. Not a huge amount has changed, but some things have.
Firstly, the CO2 is in. It's the sera set, as I said, although I may just use the diffuser and apadt it into a yeast based system, for value for money, and control over airflow.
Secondly, the plants are doing well, and my shrimp and oto, (no more casualties!) especially the frogbit, which is growing rosettes! (the mother plant leaves have died back as expected.) That's certainly a success story. Also, there's a glimmer of hope for my small helsine. There's definately 1 stem which is alive, without any dead leaves, and is growing! From that, I'm hoping in about 8 months I'll carpet the front of my tank! (or get more!) If anyone's got succesful growth of small ammania or helsine them please do PM me, I'd love to see!

The final stocking plans are as follows:
6 Endler's Livebearers
4 Corydoras Habrosus
2 Shrimp
1 Oto (will get 2 more after tank is fully stocked, unless filter can't take it.)

This may seem a lot, but my water tests are looking good, I'll stock up slowly, and my maintenance is very much little and often. (20% twice a week) with little alterations, and plant trimming every day when needs be!

As I've always said, and people rarely reply! I'd LOVE to hear any comments of my aquascaping attempts!

Water test results are as follows:
pH:7.2
GH:7
KH:6
Nitrate: 25
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Temp: 25-26C

Here's the most recent full tank shot (from about an hour ago!)

 

[Dave Spencer]

Looks like you may be timing things just right for the PFK competition.

Have you considered smaller leafed plants for your nano? A bush of Rotala Rotundifolia aleays looks good in a nano.

I had a disaster with my Ammania and have now been left with just a few stems, which may help it to bounce back. That plant doesn`t seem to travel well.

 

[Sibelius]

I agree, the ammania didn't cope well at first, but I hope it's turned a corner. Thanks for the advice about Rotala Rotundifolia.

 

[ChrisC]

Wow, that substrate's heaven for bottom feeders! I agree with Dave about perhaps Rotala Rotundifolia. What about a small grassy foreground plant like dwarf miniature hairgrass or similar?

Chris