5.5 gallon Cryptocoryne tank - Now with Rilis!

[Monster Fish]

Current tank shot - 9/29/12




Here's the shrimp.





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Hello. I decided it was time to set up another desktop tank. Initially I had a 5.5 gallon next to my 5.5 grass tank that housed two bettas seperated by a craft mesh divider. However one of the bettas passed away and I've been using the tank as a makeshift growout tank. However the only thing that grew in that tank was algae due to negligence, excess light from my window, and a lack of nutrients.



As you can see, the only thing that was thriving was the soft green algae smothering the java moss and needle-leaf java fern. The betta was fine though.


After some cleaning with H2O2, vinegar, and some elbow grease, the tank looked like this:








Osmocote+ capsules Im using from somewhatshocked.




Filled up with Fluval Shrimp Stratum. I did not rinse and just grabbed fist-fulls from a 8.8lb bag and tossed it into the tank.




Planted dry. The crypts are C. lutea, C. petchii, and C. lucens. All of them from gordonrichards (who has awesome plants for sale btw).




About 1/2 filled up. I used a plastic watering can (used for watering house plants) to fill up the tank. I S-L-O-W-L-Y poured the water over the driftwood to prevent any kickup or dust storms.




Fully filled up. The cloudiness is caused by the dissolved airbubbles in the tapwater I used.




After a few minutes, it's pretty much crystal clear. Also I removed some of the junk behind the tank (most notable being the old can of Mountain Dew).


As for future plans for this tank, I'll probably re-add my plakat betta in a week or so. I'll also add some floating stems to mitigate the eventual algae formation. The driftwood will remain bare for now, though I plan to add some some moss, maybe fissdens to it when I get the money and time to. Day lighting will come from the window behind the tank with supplemental lighting from the desk lamp only at night and only for 3-4 hours max. I want to keep this tank as low-tech as possible after the initial few months so no dosing the water column or CO2. I might consider adding some other fauna in the tank in the future, maybe some shrimp or dwarf rasboras. It all depends on the betta's temperament. I'll probably add an nerite as well if algae starts growing on the sides. Anyways that's it for now. Hopefully I'll update in about two weeks. Thanks for looking!

[Redflame]

Looks good already, looking forward to some future growth and updated pictures.

[Patriot]

i can't wait to see the final thing.

[demonr6]

Okay sometimes I am not a nice person.. this is going to be one of those times so forgive me in advance. There is a betta in that first pic, in that filthy &^%@# tank. Personally you should be drop kicked for keeping any livestock in that condition much less a poor betta which I have a soft spot for because they are kept in horrid conditions. This tank takes the freaking cake though. That the poor thing has survived this long is incredible but I can probably guess why the other died.. absolutely awful. Good luck with your new tank, I hope you do not let this tank turn into a festering nightmare and put your poor fish through hell. Don't take it personal though, I had to make my peace after seeing that pic.

[WallaceGrover]

Originally Posted by demonr6

Okay sometimes I am not a nice person.. this is going to be one of those times so forgive me in advance. There is a betta in that first pic, in that filthy &^%@# tank. Personally you should be drop kicked for keeping any livestock in that condition much less a poor betta which I have a soft spot for because they are kept in horrid conditions. This tank takes the freaking cake though. That the poor thing has survived this long is incredible but I can probably guess why the other died.. absolutely awful. Good luck with your new tank, I hope you do not let this tank turn into a festering nightmare and put your poor fish through hell. Don't take it personal though, I had to make my peace after seeing that pic.

Actually as long as the water was fine that betta was probably happier with a nice algae "shield" around it than any betta from a crystal clear tank. Less stressed I would bet...

[Charuru]

Originally Posted by WallaceGrover

Actually as long as the water was fine that betta was probably happier with a nice algae "shield" around it than any betta from a crystal clear tank. Less stressed I would bet...

I agree with that, if anything I let algae grow to help naturally filter/help a teenie bit with my big tanks. All my tanks get algae and I test the water and its great quality. So it could have been good water, just didn't keep up with the algae wallpaper :P

[Monster Fish]

So it's been a while since I've posted the initial planting. Time for some updates.




Here's the tank now. Most of the crypts melted and there's some new growth. Also there's some brown and soft green algae growing on some of the older leaves, the driftwood, and the rock. Hopefully it doesn't get too bad.




C. lucens growth.




Added some Dwarf Water Lettuce from dhgyello04. Also, can you spot the Frogbit?



Azure, the plakat betta.




His fin color changes depending on the lighting. Here's with a flash.




It's pretty hard to take pics of him since he doesn't like to stay still.






After several shots, he decided to stay still so I could take a pic of his side without the flash. Also Im not sure if that MTS is alive or dead. Some days I see it at random spots in the tank, upside-down and not moving for hours on end. Other days, it's busy munching away on melted crypt leaves.


Anyways, I ordered some liquid ferts from Rootmedic and I should be dosing those for the DWL and w/e moss and stuff I decide to add later on. Also I was thinking of adding some Dwarf Rasboras of some sort or maybe some shrimp sometime in the future but only if Azure doesn't try to eat them. He tries to eat my MTS from time to time when it's moving...

[Monster Fish]

Since this tank faces a southern window, I use the extra sunlight to grow some mosses above the tank.



A pair of Slurpee cups filled with mixed mosses. There's java, taiwan, flame, fissdens, peacock, and some other random stuff growing in there.




There's about a softball-baseball sized clump of moss in each of those cups. They might end up in the SnS in the near future.




Some fissdens I am trying to save from Cladophora. The fissdens attached to the driftwood but so did the clado. Currently Im using some H202 to kill the algae.




And lastly, here's some Taiwan moss im trying to grow in a 16oz jar. This too will end up in the SnS once it completely fills up the container. Also that's a shrimp tank underneath the moss. It's not Neos or CRS but something else. But that's for another thread

[Patriot]

yeah im sure it was clean too if you could see past the glass.

[Monster Fish]

Oh sorry about that. I did a 75% water changes every 3 weeks. Cleaned the box filter in the tank during each water change. I kept some java moss the size of a baseball in the tank. Never had any ammonia or high nitrates. The betta was fine during all of this. In fact he developed a nice iridescent sheen on his fins. All the algae was due to the fact that it got constant sunshine from a south-facing window and I was using the desk lamp 24/7 to grow algae in my 2.5 gallon Opae Ula tank right next to it. Every time I scrapped away the algae, it would come back. My betta didn't mind and my halocaridina enjoyed the soft green algae so much that I decided to grow the algae as a food source for the shrimp. The only thing that happened was that I forgot to replace the cover one night and the other betta jumped.


As for my crypt tank, some of the crypts have started to melt. I'll be adding some floating Hygro sp Tiger sometime next week.

[Gnomecatcher]

Poor betta. Looking good, though!

[kvuyk2]

The revamped tank is coming along nicely! I added Subwassertang to my list of plants to acquire after viewing your pics--thanks for sharing!

[Monster Fish]

Here's the tank two weeks later.



The floaters are growing, the subwassertang is slowly multiplying, the hygro ceylon is growing like a weed, and the crypts are doing fine.




Some crypts. Some of the leaves were getting pinholes so I dosed some extra potassium.



The subwassertang is steadily spreading.


After numerous water changes, I finally got my nitrates to 5 ppm. I had some hydras so I nuked the tank with fenbendazole. Oddly enough, none of the snails died, even though I overdosed the stuff. I've been working with the KH and GH of the tank to get it to the correct levels for neocaridinas.

Currently my parameters are:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

pH - 7.6
dKH - 4
dGH - 6
TDS - 240

Temp - 79 deg. F

I'm getting some shrimp on Sunday. I'll post some more pics when they get into the tank.

[Monster Fish]

Here's the tank as of this past Saturday.




And here's the Rilis. Even though they are culls, they have some nice patterns and a bluish tint to them. Thanks again, Ren!

Forgive crappy cell phone pics.































One of the rilis hiding behind the crypts.

Anyways, they are constantly picking at the subwassertang, the substrate, the crypts, and the floater roots. The only way I got them to come out from the plants was with a Hikari Crab Cuisine pellet. I plan on feeding them spinach, zucchini, kale, and Repashy once I get it. They seem content picking at all the biofilm and swimming in the current created by the internal filter.

Anyways, til next time.

[aokashi]

your betta didnt eat the shrimps?!