dekstr's 2.5g

[dekstr]

Hey ringram, haven't thought about HC yet... I'm leaning more towards Glosso. But for my main 20 gallon high I'll probably look for HC since it's low light. I probably need the heater because my room is right on top of the garage, and it gets quite cold during winter season (about 17-18 degrees celcius, so like under 70 degrees fahrenheit??) when I don't turn on the portable room heater. So I'd rather keep the temp steady instead of fluctuating. My KH and GH are both at about 4 degrees, so I might add the epsom salt/baking soda (don't really want to mess around with too many parameters though).

trfjason, Oakville is kind of far for me (about 40 minute each way), maybe when I have a free day I'll visit (the gas will cost more than the glosso).

JenThePlantGeek, I think there's a bypass valve in the basement that switches the indoor plumbing to normal tap water.

BTW, update! I basically took my tallest hygrophila polysperma stem from the main tank and cut it into four pieces, then randomly jabbed them into the gravel. Also some floating plants. And finally, broke one of my spare driftwood pieces into smaller pieces, and tied java moss to one of the pieces with cotton string. This is not the final scape, it's more like having some plants in there to compete with algae. Since the last update, I found the thermometer, reduced the size of the C02 bell, and added more flourite after noticing there wasn't enough.



Can anyone identify what floating plants I have? I haven't really seen the same thing on any online profiles. The small floating ones looks like duckweed but it's not, (grows a lot slower and has red colouring). The big floating one, the guy at a LFS sold me for $1 each, said they were very rare and normally sold for $8-9 retail. He basically sold them to me for really cheap cause he said it wouldn't last in the store w/ low lighting, and needed to clear it out.

[JenThePlantGeek]

The ruffled plant looks like Salvinia cucullata. It should grow like a weed, much like others in this genus. DO NOT let this one out of your tank! Other Salvinia sp. have become invasive. Not sure if it would survive in Canada, but don't risk it. Same goes for your Spirodela polyrhiza, which is the reddish giant duckweed you have, AND your hygro!

Your tank is gonna grow like a weed

[dekstr]

Oh wow! Thanks for identification!

Don't worry no nearby water areas except for my neighbour's massive koi pond behind the fence...
Maybe I'll give him a nice present

[dekstr]

MASSIVE UPDATE TODAY!!!!!

I went down to Menagerie and got a whole bunch of plants.

1 bunch of Elocharis acicularis--Java Fern
1 bunch of Hygrophila polysperma (Large-leafed)
1 2x2 mat of Elocharis acicularis--Dwarf Hairgrass
1 bunch of Glossostigma elatinoides

There was also HC that just came with the shipment Thursday, but it was $15 for like a 2x2 mat. The hairgrass also cost $15. The glosso cost $5. I needed the hairgrass, and it came down to HC versus glosso. Obviously I got glosso cause it cost less.

I was all geared up to get myself 3-4 Corydoras habrosus (Salt and Pepper Cory) because the new shipment had just arrived Thursday and they're usually rare in Toronto. But turns out the cardinals which were housed in the same tank developed ich--so not for sale until the ich clears up. I got to put 3 cories on hold though.

There were also some Rasbora maculata that came with the shipment. They would've been perfect for the nano except my tank's not cycled yet. No worries though since they said there were like 400 of them left.

Also got some frozen brine shrimp for the first time; I put about the same amount as they would normally finish flakes in one minute. My fish went crazy and obliterated the shrimp in about 10 seconds. So I fed them again five minutes later... and then again five minutes later. I think I overfed.

The java fern and hygro went to my main 20 gal high low tech.
The glosso and hairgrass went to my nano!!!


The plants in the bag.

Plants on a plate + drained most water from tank.

The moment I realized that there was way too much hairgrass to plant. I ended up having a lot leftover. Didn't want to throw it out so I planted them in my low light 20 gal...lol

Back view: As you can see, there is a massive slope from front to back to create a massive depth illusion.

Very messy room after finishing planting.

Close up view: There is no hardscape, just lots of glosso and hairgrass cause I was too lazy to scape.

I got free algae-eating snails with the plants!

Summary:
If you think planting glosso is a PITA, hairgrass is PITA 10x. For glosso, all you do is trim down the roots, then for each plantlet there is one root. So all you do is plant one root deep down the substrate. The hairgrass, on the other hand, comes in a massive tangle of roots that is really hard to separate. After painfully separating the roots for planting, you get a mess of grass that takes forever to plant. When I finished planting, little clumps of hairgrass started floating to the surface.

As well, tweezers are probably the most important tool you need. Fingers are too big to have good planting control. I actually planted with water in the tank. I find it easier because it easily tells you if you didn't plant firmly enough. The plants simply float to the top.

I nearly forgot about the 2 pygmy cories while I was planting the nano. I left them to acclimate via drip method in a bucket, and nearly forgot about them. As well, I nearly dried out the filler plants from the nano and the large-leafed hygro when I took them out. Good thing I remembered.

Also, I'm going EI method with dry ferts pre-mixed in water solution. It's a lot cheaper than going for the SeaChem line. It lasts a lot longer, you have more control over dosage. The only problem I had was finding places that sold dry chemicals. I found that the hydroponic industry has a lot in common with planted tanks. Afterall, they specialize in growing plants for food. They have lots of the PMDD chemicals, cheaper large-scale, powerful lighting fixtures, cheaper C02 systems, test probes, and everything else you can think of. I definitely recommend going to a hydroponic store to see what you can pick up.

[matt s]

I would not get the cories they really do need more floor room. You should do either 3 otos or 1 or 2 SAE. With 2.5G you are really limited to some fish If I were you I would just do like 8 neon tetras and 6 Red crystal shrimp.

[dekstr]

Originally Posted by matt s

I would not get the cories they really do need more floor room. You should do either 3 otos or 1 or 2 SAE. With 2.5G you are really limited to some fish If I were you I would just do like 8 neon tetras and 6 Red crystal shrimp.

Yeah not gunning for those cories anymore. I put them on hold at a LFS, until I set up my 55g. I've decided not to add any fish except for the rasbora brigittae. As for shrimp, maybe cherries. I might do red crystal shrimp if it's not too expensive though. Neons are a good idea too, but they are far too common, want something more unique.

Anyways, new photos just taken:
Changes: Removed CO2 bell, directly feed CO2 tube to filter intake, so impeller does the diffusing. Removed heater, room temp 20 degrees celcius, and dropping.

[trfjason]

Looks good so far!

Have you consider changing the light? The Glosso is growing tall, maybe stronger light will keep it low.

[dekstr]

I'm not sure how... I purposely bought a desk lamp, it's running on 27w spiral CF. I keep hearing about the re-strike in spirals, but it looks so bright it hurts to stare at the tank for too long. I even polished the inside of the dish with toothpaste for 1/2 an hour.

What do you lighting do you suggest?

Edit: I think I might have planted incorrectly!

"When one first receives it, Glossostigma is usually in its emersed form. Plant the stems in groups of three to four and allow two weeks for new submersed growth. Pull out the bunches and snip off the submersed growth with a pair of scissors. Take a stem with a pair of tweezers and run it horizontally under the substrate until it is completely buried. Clear away some substrate until a couple green leaves are visible. The plant should begin to grow horizontally and cover the foreground in a matter of weeks if well lit, provided with ample CO2, and nutrients."

I just trimmed the roots and planted straight down. Do you think that might be it? It's only been less than 2 weeks. So maybe I should plant them horizontally now.

[dekstr]

Replanted glosso with tall stems horizontally--starting to carpet now.
Also took out CO2 from my 20g and put it here.
Dwarf hairgrass is growing really fast.
(This is literally watching grass grow).

[trfjason]

You can try Coralife Freshwater Mini-Aqualight. I use that for my 2.5G. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ph...updated-2.html

I got it at Big Al's for $35. It might be cheaper now. However, you need something to support it.

[dekstr]

Hey! Update!

Lesson learned: hardscape first before planting.

Putting the rocks into the newly settled dwarf hairgrass is a bad idea. I ended up having to uproot a lot of hairgrass, which meant tons of painstaking replanting afterwards.

Another thing was "sloping" the substrate very steeply. BAD IDEA! The rocks pushed all the flourite from the back to the front, causing a mini-avalanche, nearly covering all the glosso in the front. I ended up having to pull up the glosso a bit at the end.

Also, I was surprised by how little area there was to work with--pulled out about 1/3 of the hairgrass after I was done. Ended up planting the extra into the 20g.




Umm.. don't mind the coffee anubias in the first picture lol... it's just a temporary nursery because I ran out of space in the main tank. Speaking of which.. I forgot to put it back in the water after the picture! BRB!

[dekstr]

December 7, 2007

It seems I've left the light on too much. Cut it down to 5 hours a day now.
I neglected the tank for a week--haven't followed the EI. And since then algae has sprung up.

Oh well--at least the plant growth is good. However, I suspect the substrate is too thin at the front. I've noticed that I use too little substrate for all my tanks.

[dekstr]

Other than destroying bank accounts, credit cards are also good for scraping off glass algae.

Handy credit card made quick work of the algae.

Slowly removing hairgrass, glosso slowly creeping up the hill with a bit of replanting help.

[Matthew_Machine]

looks good! what kind of lamp is over it now?

[dekstr]

Originally Posted by Matthew_Machine

looks good! what kind of lamp is over it now?

Thanks. I'm still using the Home Depot desk lamp with 27w spiral CF screw-in bulb. The glosso wasn't growing horizontally at first cause I planted them like stems. Now they're growing tons of runners.