5 gallon hex (lookin' good! 4/29/09)

[frogmanjared]

Most up to date specs:
Standard hood (10w 6500k daylight compact, 11hr photoperiod w/1 hr siesta) & filter

Dosing: Flourish 2x week, , Excel every day

Flora:
Cryptocoryne parva
Cryptocoryne spiralis
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Microsorum pteropus
Spiral vallisneria (scientific name?)
Süßwassertang

Fauna:
RCS... lots
limpets

Scroll to last update to see new stuff!

I think within the next week I'm going to add an inch of leftover flourite to the bottom of the gravel to help the plant growth, since the crypts seem to do nothing, even in front of the tank.

Not the best pic, but it's a boring tank right now.

[Squawkbert]

Is there room for the 20W version of the colormax bulb in there?

Java moss has pretty low light requirements.

In my experience, Crypts can take quite a while to get going, then they just take off, packing your tank.

You're right about the BNTs - they get too large for a 6g Hex. If you could grow some HM, or after the moss gets going, I'd suggest pulling the BNTs, adding one or two more Pristellas (or pulling all fish, replacing w/ 6 micro rasbora), then add some cherry shrimp.

[MarioMaster]

i think it would be better if you lost the pink gravel =P

[frogmanjared]

Squawkbert: nope, the 20w is 8 inches... about an inch and a half too long. I've had crypts do better in a 3 gal kritter keeper, with blue sand, and an african clawed frog constantly uprooting it! Hopefully with flourite it will root better and take off. Eventually when most of the tetras die of old age, I can put the rest in my 10 gal and turn it into a shrimp tank... if I can get enough plants in there.

MarioMaster: lol, it's not pink gravel, the light has a pink hue so the light gravel looks pink... maybe i'll get some small black gravel to put on top of the flourite.

What would be the best type of moss...look the best?

[aquaphish]

I would lose the rocks and replace with some real plant substrate. Then have only vals in the middle of the hex. the plant would be visible from all sides and the fish will be seen swimming around the plants.

Another nice plant that will be more manageable than vals would be some type of Rotala, but I don't think the light would be enough to grow them to well.

[customdrumfinishes]

ive been using 10 or 15 watt sprial flor. 6700k daylight bulbs in my 5 hex's grows about anything with problems. even grew aromtaica in 1 and grew slow but good, didnt die!

heres a pic of a 7g hex with 2 10w spiral bulbs in it. they plants grew fine although it was very packed, no ferts, just eco complete.

[Kolkri]

I like the pink rocks. Makes it different.

[aquaphish]

Originally Posted by Kolkri

I like the pink rocks. Makes it different.

You can use them as long as you place some form of fertilizer into the pink rocks.

[frogmanjared]

Refer to post #4... they're not pink, it's the light it's not really that pink in real life.

[FrostyNYC]

Frogman, you're not fooling anyone with your claims of pink-hued lighting. Nothing wrong with pink rocks.

PS - I hate hex tanks. I had one, and it drove me crazy. So hard to aquascape! Lighting is difficult to upgrade. Tank acrylic scratches easily and loses transparency compared to glass. Filter is powerful but lacks space for personalized media. So, if you can make it work, props.

Here's a link to my journal when I had mine. May give you some ideas.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pl...5-gal-hex.html

[frogmanjared]

Last week during the water change, I moved some of the plants around... and adding the flourite made the pennywort take off like even more of a weed


So as you can see... it's not pink gravel! The flourite is regular colored, just looks pink cause of the light. I'm looking for some mini pellia, and RCS to turn it into a shrimp tank with a wall of the stuff in the back, and on the filter tube. So if anyone wants to sell me either, just pm or look at my post in the swap n shop.

[nanojimbo]

rcs are so hard to spot up against flourite regular, i had flourite regular in my 20g l and i seriously found a thousand shrimp that i never new existed once i tore the tank down. in your case i would go for some crs to make the shrimp stand out a little more

[frogmanjared]

I really need to get a new light!!! It's looking a lot better, but as you can see it doesn't look good in pictures


But I actually managed to get a close up of one of the RCS! I also need a new light because it drowns out the red of the shrimp because everything else looks red...

[frogmanjared]

The wife was at the store and picked up a 10w 6500k compact! Now I can see the red on the shrimp! It will take a while for my eyes to adjust to how green it is now.


One of the smaller ones...


It's hard to see, but I think I saw a saddle on this one... the reddest out of the bunch so far!

[CL]

That looks a lot a lot better