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Fluval Spec V Journal (Rescape!)

5K views 17 replies 5 participants last post by  tandaina 
#1 ·
I haven't had an aquarium in about 6 years, but had a number for years before that, including lots with plants. Have been feeling the itch lately and ordered an Eheim Aquastyle 9G for my office. It will become a shrimp tank.

I did the round of pet stores today to try to find substrate (hah!), water conditioners, test kit, some rocks and driftwood, etc. While at one of the nasty box stores I walked past the "wall of dying betas." I'm a SUCKER for betas. Ended up coming home with a Fluval Spec V, black sand, root tabs, some driftwood and a big old standing stone.

I'm impressed with how easy to get up and going the Fluval is, was very quick. The whole thing is running silently, and at the lowest filter setting my new halfmoon plakat male seems very happy. He's got shorter fins, so swims better. I'm sure a full tailed variety would have trouble. The tank obviously needs to cycle, but I've cycled with beta before and had them do just fine with care and attention. Better than the cup he was living in. (Really, over half the fish were dead or dying in their cups, how is that good business?)

They had plants, rough ones. All unlabeled. I found one Java Fern. The rest were mostly obvious pond or swamp plants that weren't going to be happy.

Some pictures:

Untitled by JoAndRoses, on Flickr

The driftwood has been safely sanitized, but isn't water logged yet, the stones holding it down will go away as soon as it is. I'd like some more plants, obviously. Something low and carpet like to go up the slight hill around the standing stone. Some more Java fern or other tall low light plants for the other side of the tank.

What would you all suggest? No CO2 (never used it, never really needed it, my tanks aways became jungles), stock Fluval light. So low light, I will dose with Flourish and there are root tabs under the sand.

$12 beta, whose rescue cost umm... way more than that. ;)

Untitled by JoAndRoses, on Flickr
 
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#3 ·
Quick update for this tank. I've ordered a new light. Had a ton of plants left over from my 9 gallon scape so this tank also got scaped and needs more light! How it looks now with stock light:

Untitled by JoAndRoses, on Flickr

Plants are doing fine with the stock light but don't expect them to thrive. Wondering what else I might be able to add to this tank with the betta? Maybe just a couple Otos?
 
#4 ·
Ugh. So in light of getting DHG started I upgraded th light to a Finnex Ray 2 16".

First, it is scary bright. My husband actually finds it uncomfortable it is so incredibly bright. Seems like huge overkill on that tiny tank. And has revealed an awful what I hope is algae problem. I've never seen cloudy sorta clear algae, but it is everywhere. Bad, nasty looking. I've had planted tanks before and never seen anything like it. My Eheim 9g has nothing like it. Didn't really show under the stock light, does now!

Will be doing a large water change today, hoping that helps! And hopefully the light helps the plants take off which will help the algae. I hope it isn't mold which is the only other thing I could think it to be!
 
#13 ·
Thanks! He's a character, mugs for food and has to "help" anytime my hand is in the tank to do maintenance. I quite prefer these shorter finned guys, they are good swimmers, very active.

The filter on this tank is set to medium, I have not reduced the output at all and he's quite happy with it. Doesn't stress him at all or cause issues. Good strong swimmer.
 
#15 ·
DIY CO2 is a good idea to help avoid algae blooms, its cheap, quick and simply. The most you'd spend is on a diffuser, which can be bought for as little as $2-3
Use like a 24oz soda bottle for it, and you'll have CO2 streaming in that tank quickly. Best part is that it won't bother your betta at all, or shrimp if you do go shrimp in the future.
 
#16 ·
Pics coming, but big changes here.

So the driftwood on the right side of this tank had been sanitized with every means I could think of, including a very harsh bleach bath, before going in the tank. Yet this last week I realized that the entire underside was covered in a white hairy fungus/mold. (Underwater I don't think it would be mold, so fungus.) Nasty. I took it out, removed the moss and threw it away. And if I was facing a rescape already I figured I might as well go whole hog as the black betta sand was driving me NUTS trying to plant in.

So, siphoned off half the water into a bowl where plants and betta went to spend the day. Crazy fish spent the day playing hide and seek in the plants, very happy with his tiny apartment. Other half of the water went into a large bowl where filter media stayed wet and happy as I did NOT want to lose the beneficial bacteria.

Sand gone, replaced with Eco-Complete planted tank substrate. New drift wood (The offending drift wood and old rock came from a big box fish store. Lesson learned. I'm successfully using rocks and wood from the LFS in my 9G, so went there for a new hardscape.) Rocks placed (I have a bunch of anubis coming to live in all those great holes), rooted plants replanted. Moss and java fern glued to driftwood. Driftwood placed and then held in place with a large rock until it stops floating.

Then things got complicated. A while ago I won a VERY cheap eBay auction that included a pair of endlers and 5 cherry shrimp. It arrived out of the blue, yesterday while I was rescaping. Had totally forgotten about it, had been so long. They were supposed to be for the 9G at work, but given that tank's small filter, the 30 or so shrimp I just added to it are all the bioload I was willing to add at once.

So instead, Mr. Betta got himself a fancy new heated bowl full of crypts and java fern (for now) and the endlers (I got a bonus female, so 3) and 5 shrimp went into this tank. It is not ideal for them though, one shrimp immediately got into the sump and could not be coaxed back out. I have blocked very entrance to sump I can with coarse filter foam, but 5G is also just not great for raising a school of endlers and hopefully lots of shrimp.

My plan is to start another tank (MTS alert!) for them, and when that tank is cycled move endlers/shrimp and return betta to his former abode. Of course that requires me to catch the little boogers without ripping the tank apart. :flick:

Here's the updated scape:

photo (2) by JoAndRoses, on Flickr

So that's the drama here, will be starting a tank planning thread in the low tech forum to get advice for the endler/shrimp tank.
 
#17 ·
Tank is covered with what I think are nerite eggs. :( I know they won't hatch/grow in fresh water but do these guys really lay that many eggs? Got five in this tank right now and overnight there are little white oblong rice grains all over most surfaces. Blech.

In other news, the non fishy husband just walked up to this little tank and said "We should get a shark, you know one of those little ones." I told him they don't stay little, they get BIG and he said...

"Then we should get a bigger tank."

That's permission, right there! No take backs. :p
 
#18 ·
Update

Well the big piece of drift wood will not water log. Just won't do it. And I got sick and tired of the rock on top of it, so went and got a small piece of driftwood I could wedge around it, the lid and light hold that driftwood down and it in turn holds the big guy down. Looks better than the rock as well.

Fish are doing well (3 endlers) and while I thought I'd lost all the cherry shirmp to some mysterious malady, while moving stuff around today they popped out of hiding. Silly things.


Untitled by JoAndRoses, on Flickr
 
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