Nano Tank Going A Little More Tech

[snowflake311]

My new thing is trying to grow some great plants. I have the fish thing down. My stocks are full and I am happy. So what more to do then move on to plants. I have plants now and been keeping some easy ones for a few years. So it's time to move on.

Here is the set up
10gal basic 20"x10"x12"
Lighting is 2x20watt rated 75watt each and that's 1190 lumes each
Substrate is Eco-Complete Plant Substrate
Tap water ph7.5
Ferts : excel , flourish, flourish iron, I might add some DIY co2 . I also have flourish root tabs but might only use them for when I first plant them. Because I have the plant substrate.

Plants :

Cryptocoryne pontederifolia
Sword ( temp it's small now)
Crypt balansae
Anubias barteri "Round Leaf"
Java moss
Didiplis diandra "Water Hedge"

I have some dwarf baby tears on the way that will be here next week. The water hedge I got a week ago. I had lower light when I got it. Yet it did grow a little bit, Then stop. So I added more light now there are lots of new buds but I was only adding excel no other ferts. So I added some other trace elements. we will see if that helps. It is growing but not looking good yet. All other plants are doing well but they are established just moved from another tank. I put a net around the java moss of get it to grow on a rock, in the past I would tie it. We will see how this works.

The sword plant I almost killed 10 months ago. It was down to 2 small leaves. I kept it alive but it never has grown very big it's like a dwarf. I bought it when it was good size 6" leaves they were wide and reddish. Then I did an ich treatment used salt and then copper. It was almost all dead but I saved it. It fills in but never grows tall. We will see what the higher light does.

The fish in the tank are.

1 male betta. ( this tank was stared for him he is 3 yr)
5 neons
3 Pygmy Cory ( will get 2 more once done planting)
1 Otto ( might get another)

Here is a bad photo I took with my pad. I will get some better ones soon.
Sorry it is sideways

This is a rough draft. I have the HC on the way and I want to add a nice branch with willow moss.

 

[ian]

good start...personally i would remove the bridge! I didn't know you could still buy those. I would probably put some rocks in its place and you could head towards more of an Iwagumi style tank.

 

[snowflake311]

good start...personally i would remove the bridge! I didn't know you could still buy those. I would probably put some rocks in its place and you could head towards more of an Iwagumi style tank.

Thanks

Yeah that bridge is old and my daughter wanted me to put it in there. I don't think it will stay. It's to give the tiny Cory cats more cover.

 

[snowflake311]

Here are some better photos.

I just added CO2. I got a Plant Gro Co2 Natural System. We will see how it goes. I have been just using Excel and it was working ok. I just want to see if this makes a difference. I have some HC that should be here in a day or so. It will fill in the corner were the moss rock is. I also got a free plant I saw some Rotala floating around and said I will take that. The kid said sure its yours for free. My Java moss was also free. I said can I have that random clump of moss it was just floating in that tank. The lady just gave it to me.

Here are some photos.

full tank shot. Still not 100% on the lay out.

The free Rotala is behind the rock. The Nano Anubias I bleached because it was from another tank with BBA. It is not looking so hot but there is new growth. The Anubias is like 2 years old.

This is my water Hedge that has been abused. There are LOTS of new shoots on this plant so I hope it will fill in with time. Right now it looks like poo.

Here is my free moss. I used a Marble bag to get it to grow on a rock. I have always just tied it down. we will see if it grows better this way.

My oto I love these guys.

The ones I got this tank going for Mr sexy my 3 year old betta.

I will post more photos on the HC.

 

[Randomitity]

Turn the bridge into a moss carpet bridge sorry first thing that came to mind. It looks like it will be very nice once everything is done and wish you the best of luck on it

 

[snowflake311]

Turn the bridge into a moss carpet bridge sorry first thing that came to mind. It looks like it will be very nice once everything is done and wish you the best of luck on it

Thanks that's not a bad idea.

 

[PDSimon]

Good start, not so sure about the co2 though, there isn't much plant mass in there, is it mainly to help the HC?

and no, take the bridge out

 

[lljdma06]

Don't worry so much about layout now, except in that the plants are in positions where they are getting what they need with regard to lighting and nutrients. If you're going to inject CO2, I suggest a dropchecker so you can measure what your putting and so you can figure out if there are spots in your tank that's not getting enough.

Mr. Sexy is a lovely fish. I had a betta that lived 4.5 years, so great job that he's three.

Agreed, if you are going to keep that lighting, I also would increase your plantmass and lower your photoperiod. Also, what is the waterchange regimen?

 

[snowflake311]

Don't worry so much about layout now, except in that the plants are in positions where they are getting what they need with regard to lighting and nutrients. If you're going to inject CO2, I suggest a dropchecker so you can measure what your putting and so you can figure out if there are spots in your tank that's not getting enough.

Mr. Sexy is a lovely fish. I had a betta that lived 4.5 years, so great job that he's three.

Agreed, if you are going to keep that lighting, I also would increase your plantmass and lower your photoperiod. Also, what is the waterchange regimen?

Thanks. guys the bridge will come out when I plant the HC don't worry haha.

Well when I was using just excel I was doing 80% wc every week. I add iron one day and then add flourish the next but only once a week. I will still be doing weekly wc. What is recommend for DIY co2 as far as wc?

I got my DIY co2 to work. I the plant gro co2 system because I like the clean look and how it attaches well to the tank I have a 2 years old that I could see messing with a 2lt bottle. I got the stupid packets they Did not work. I made my own and boom I got bubbles like crazy. So don't buy the packets they sell.

I have the bubbles come or of the ceramic bubble stone and then I put that right at the intake tube of my Aquaclear filter. The bubbles go right up the tube. It looks to be working great. My ph is 8 I am keeping an eye on that. I will look into a drop checker.

I will cut down the amount my light is on. I need to get s timer.

Thanks Guys. I am going to be adding my plants once I have a betterr idea of the lay out. I want to get some flame moss I'm not sure where I would put it. I was thinking on a stick or rock.

My oldest betta was 5 years old. Mr sexy is slowing down you can tell he is older. Most my others bettas made it to 3 years.

 

[snowflake311]

I checks my kh and ph did the math and my co2 is at about 37ppm. I read that's a little high but not bad. I will keep an eye on it. I think my method of making it so the bubbles go into my filter really helps get the most out of my co2. I also had very little surface movement so not my co2 was being exchanged or gassing off. I have added a bit more surface movement so my co2 will not be too much. The fish don't seemed stressed so I will keep it as is.

The bubble ladder the thing came with was lame. It took up too much room and the bubbles would just fly up it and did not seem to get smaller. Oh well. The canister is great.

My water hedge has taken off since I started adding co2.. It was in bad shape but looks like I have that tank set for good growth.

Friday I will be planting the HC. I will post photos of the plant growth as I go along.

 

[snowflake311]

I got my co2 going. The first few days were really high like 37ppm. Then it went down to in 11ppm after 2 weeks. DIY co2 is a pain in the butt. I am looking into getting a co2 tank set up. I am added excel to the tank too help when it is low. I switched out and did a new batch so I could get the co2 back up. I would like it to stay at 30+ppm. so I guess I will have to be making the co2 yeast mix more often. Seemed like it only worked for 2 weeks. It is that small co2 canister From the NutraFin CO2 Natural Plant System. That might be part of the problem with it not lasting. We will see how long this batch lasts.

I have a little bit of blue green slime as I like to call it because it is not algae. I have it under control. I think it was brought on by LOW O2. I had my heat up high 86f and little surface movement. Thats when the slime moved in. I also have little to no nitrate in the water. I read that can help the BGA. I bought some nitrates in a bottle as I call it. The fert I have now has a little bit of nitrates but not enough. I tested my water and my water test did not pick any nitrstes. Besides that no other aglea problems. A few of that green spot algae but not enough to freak about. I cut down the time I have the light on for. I think that was a big problem. I did not have it on a timer so it would be on way longer then needed. Now it's on for 11 hours. I might cut that down to 10hr.

I bleached my Anubias a few weeks ago and that killed some leafs but there are lots of new ones popping up. So I trimmed some of the old leaves back so the new ones can grow. This plant is my oldest and I am happy it's getting better.

The water hedge is growing fast and strong since the co2 was added. I am really happy. I thought i was going to lose the water hedge. The Rotala has taken off too and is getting some red color. My java moss is also slowly filling in.

I did get my HC and it came in a floating mat. I have had some die off and it is not looking too hot. But there is new growth and they are rooting. So I just have to wait. This is one tiny plant.

I will post some new photos tomorrow. The bridge is out.

I think my lighting is at the perfect amount to run a good amount of co2. Because so far my plants have been doing great with very little algae.

 

[snowflake311]

My plants are doing great. I had a lot of HC die back and some just floated away. I bought it at a floating Mat and should have planted like one. But I took it apart and I think that was a bad idea. The ones I have now are doing well and taking root.

I bought a Pennywort, Brazilian (Hydrocotyle verticillata)

Here are photos I took today. I am getting more algea now but added more ferts so the plants are growing better and out competing the algea. My otos are happy and fat.

Cute Oto

Tank shot . You can see all the fish. There are 10 can you find them all? Haha

Look how big the water hedge is. It has come a long way. You can see the sad HC

I keep the co2 a bit high. I change it every week. I does excel when the co2 slows down. I dose flourish, iron, and nitrogen. I do 80% water changes once a week. Lights are on for 9am to 7pm.

 

[snowflake311]

A lot has grown. I moved some stuff around I took out the sad looking Anubias barteri and the Cryptocoryne pontederifolia it was too big.

I want to add a branch but not sure where. Any ideas?

Here is the tank after an hour of work.

This H. leucocephala loves to pearl. this photo was after the wc but it does this everyday.

I love How this plant is turning out. It was free because it was just some bits of floating left overs. Now look at it.

This is the plant list. I had a few pants miss labeled.
Sword ( temp it's small now)
Crypt balansae
Java moss
Didiplis diandra (Water Hedge)
Hemianthus Callichtroides (HC or dwarf baby tears)
Mayaca fluviatilis ( stream bog moss)
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA ( Brazilian Pennywort)

 

[PDSimon]

Looking good snowflake, love the improvement! I'm not sure whether a branch would suit that rock, if you were going to put one I'd put it on the left side going across to the right though... I'd probably be more inclined to get some more similar rocks and arrange them nicely

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Looking good hows the HC now? I had to change my substrate when I first tried it, didn't like my sand so bought some oliver knott substrate and I was great.