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Low Light 9-gallon

4K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  beetea 
#1 · (Edited)
Starting a new 9-gallon that is replacing the 6-gallon fluval betta tank.

Going for a low light setup and hoping the ferns grow out and provide some shade for the crypts and anubias. Floating some baby ferns at the moment until they get big enough to attach to the wood.

Not sure what to put in the background yet. Might just use some clippings of myriophyllum mattogrosense from the other tank. Not sure if I want the dwarf sag in there either. I really like that plant but seems too big for a tank this size.

Eventual fauna: clown or lampeye killifish. Going to attempt to move a good portion of the cherry shrimp colony over here first, though. I'm hoping the shade and good growth of flame moss in the corner will be enough to keep the population steady once the killifish are introduced.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/6815075704/in/photostream/


Also had a frustrating lesson in properly anchoring drift wood =T This was the original layout which I liked better but had to scrap it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/6961191431/in/photostream/


Specs:
* Do!Aqua Mini-L:45x24x30cm (approx:18"x9.5"x12"); 8.6 Gallons
* Hydor THEO Heater 50W
* Zoo Med 501 Turtle Canister Filter
* Archaea 4w LED strip (~8 hours a day; although it gets a lot of indirect light during the morning/day from the window before the lights turn on)
* Aquasoil & Eco-complete (just happened to have enough of both)
 
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#2 ·
Looks nice, I like the layout of the big driftwood... I would relocate the smaller one to make it look like it belongs to the larger piece. If you give the anubias leaves a quick wipe-down, and hide some of the cables/technical stuff, it would be outstanding. Looking forward to see this develop.
 
#3 ·
Thanks! I'll give the tank a bit of a cleanup this weekend.

When you mentioned the smaller driftwood, I wonder if you were referring to the couple of twigs sticking out near the center of the tank? Those are actually part of the the larger chunk of driftwood on the left side. They do look a bit awkward there but hopefully I get used to it haha...
 
#4 ·
I'm going to look for a piece of black cardboard (or something similar) to place against the rear pane. Hopefully that will make the cables and filter junk less noticeable. Tied a few more ferns to the wood recently. The crypts are doing well and already have new shoots. I expected much more melt from them but I'm happy that they're already off to a good start. A friend gave me some of that myriophyllum brasiliense (?) and I like how it looks in here. So hopefully I get some good growth from it and can fill in the background with it. I'll probably add some myriophyllum mattogrossense after I get some clippings from the other tank, too.

The ammonia level is still high but it's starting to come together.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/6837855344/in/photostream

 
#5 ·
The tank is coming along... no fish/shrimp yet but lots of strange little creatures swimming around at the moment. The myriophyllum brasiliense (can anyone confirm this is the right ID?) grows really fast. I trimmed it, replanted the cuttings, and it feels like it already grew another inch in a day. I like how it looks in the background and it sounds like it won't be long before I cover the background with it.

The upper left is a bit of a mess right now. It's a tangled clump of ferns and moss but I'm going to wait and let them grow out naturally and maybe it'll look alright.

And I wish that heater didnt have a reflective red label -_-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7007890777/in/photostream

 
#9 ·
Cycling is done, woohoo! I tossed in some cherry shrimp and they seem to be enjoying it in there. I also received some free glosso and HC from a friend so I yanked out the dwarf sag that was on the right. I'm not sure if it goes with the overall look of the tank but who's going to turn down free glosso and HC? Hehe...

I've also noticed this strange bug in the tank. It's quite agile and mostly scurries around on the substrate. It looks like a grain of rice and has these two little antennae. I attached a picture of it next to a cherry shrimp. Any idea what it is?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7066939695/in/photostream/

 

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#10 ·
Added 8 lampeye killies (A. normani) and 1 scarlet badis (Dario dario)... unfortunately, they're all a bit camera shy.

Does anyone have tips for feeding the scarlet badis? I thought I'd have enough worms and fleas in the tank to keep him satisfied for a while but he seems to have eradicated all but the tiniest bugs...

I'm really loving how the lampeyes look... still pictures don't do them justice...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/6959070684/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/6959070710/in/photostream/
 
#11 ·
Added 9x B. brigittae (although they kind of look like B. merah). All the plants seem to be doing alright. The glosso and HC seem healthy and have new growth... but it is very slow growth.

The thing I dislike the most is the parrot's feather in the background. It looks a bit messy. I'm thinking of maybe using some vals? Or anyone else have recommendations? Or Eleocharis acicularis, perhaps?

It's a bit crowded in there with 16 fish and a handful of shrimp. I initially bought the B. brigittae for the other tank which have 5 B. brigittae in it... but when I took a closer look, they looked like they could be B. merah because of the less vibrant color and broken black stripe down the side. But I wonder if it's just because they are young.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7169748250/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7169748370/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7169748504/in/photostream/
 
#13 ·
#17 ·
Day 118

Cryptocoryne wendtii (and C. lucens) are doing really well. The wendtii used to be really low-growing in my 6-gallon fluval edge but grow much taller in here probably due to the lower light level.

After I moved, the wendtii were doing horrible (not sure if the lighting or the eco complete played a role too) but they have grown back strong in here. The lucens seems to be growing much more lengthy in here too with a little bit of brown/red color that I didn't see before.

Glosso and HC are definitely viable in a low light tank. The HC is growing at a decent rate and getting a little more vertical... the glosso is growing but extremely slowly. I think the mini pelia is growing faster. The mini pelia is slowly covering the rocks... I think it'll look pretty cool once it covers more of them...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7485506384/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7485506220/in/photostream/
 
#19 ·
Thanks! I think one thing I would change is to use a different background plant. I'm going to gradually remove this one and phase in a different myriophyllum that's been growing in the back corner of the tank.

Here's another tank update... a little video of the inhabitants:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZbMoWhY6k8

I've also started another 6-gallon tank that I'll start a journal for soon... I can't fight this addiction!
 
#20 ·
Moved all the B. brigittae to the shrimp tank to make room for the newest inhabitants, Epiplatys annulatus (aka Clown Killi):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7722856068/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7722856186/in/photostream/


These guys are amazingly calm and photogenic. This guy actually swam closer to me as I took pictures with the flash going off. I think I need more of them! They're a bit tiny right now and I hope they're not getting bullied too much by the larger, more active A. normani...

I also did some significant pruning. I removed all the parrot's feather so that the M. mattogrossense has more room to grow out. The left side has also been cleared up with the floating plants and moss removed. I also added a Nymphoides sp. 'Taiwan' where the parrot's feather used to be. I don't know much about the plant but hope it grows out well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loreleyheart/7722856766/in/photostream/
 
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