Finnex 4 Gallon

[Outlawboss]

**Current Picture as of 1/18/11***



Well, thanks to everyone for the initial comments on my setup. I've ordered just about everything I will need for this fun little project, and I started thinking aquascape today so I thought I'd share.

The first pic is what was available to start with. Just rocks from around the mountains where my parents live, a Manzanita burl, some petrified wood and a chunk of obsidian.


Here's a layout I'm thinking. The rock behind the taller piece of petrified wood is only there to hold it up.


Since I only have 13 watts over this I am thinking low/med light to start with. Chain Swords, Anubis Nana (petite), Taiwan Moss. Not sure what else, some ground cover would be nice. Maybe Dwarf Hair Grass?

[merk1_99]

Another Finnex 4 memeber!

I would wait to plan the hardscape when you get the tank. Trust me the size and scale you are thinking right now may change...

Upgrade the light or at least add the HD Hampton Bay 27watt light. Best decision I have made so far.

[Outlawboss]

I saw the light you're talking about at Home Depot so I will be able to pick it up any time, which is nice.

I also saw another interesting light at the LFS today. ALMOST picked it up, since it was only $32. Has anyone seen this or used it before?
Aquatic Nature - Solar Duo Boy (26 watt)

[Ugly Genius]

That's a nice looking light. The bulbs not as good as a normal CF, but twenty-six watts of that type of bulb on your four gallon would be just about perfect, I'd imagine.

[Outlawboss]

Maybe I'll get it and contribute a product review

[Outlawboss]

Finally! Tank has arrived. I got my stand built, got all my Co2 injection ready to go, and started working on a scape. I was noticing how the glass looked a little green from the edge-on view.


Silicone was really well done from what I can tell. Very tight seams.




Couple pictures of what I'm thinking for my scape. I really like that rock with the deep hole in it. Perfect for a small plant to fit snugly in.




One plant I'm sure I want to have is some taiwan moss. I've been cultivating some in my 30 gallon tank for a couple weeks. Looking about ready to go into the new nano.


Some bonus pictures from my 30 gallon. Just learning to use this new camera so I'm trying to get some nice shrimp pictures. This is a baby RCS.


Another baby RCS. Can you find it in the jungle???


I have the taiwan moss and a small anubis nana "petite" that I will put in there. Otherwise I am pretty open to exploring new plants. I've never tried a rotala and I like the red color they have. I don't have any experience with higher light plants just yet so I'm still learning.

How about this:
Rotala (background/color)
Anubis Nana 'petite' (Accent)
Taiwan Moss (shrimp haven, maybe a partial carpet?)

I need a nice foreground/carpet plant. I like HC but it scares me. I really like the look of Craigthor's pellia >here<. There's also hairgrass or micro swords but I'm really not sure what would look good.

As for the lighting, I am really liking the Aquatic-nature 26 watt. For $32, the price was right. The clip that it uses to hang on the side of the tank is a little flimsy, but the fixture is pretty lightweight so it shouldn't be a problem. I also really like the LED moonlighting, but you can't put it on a timer. You have to manually switch over to moonlight so I don't know how often that will actually happen. Overall though, I really like it. Puts out quite a lot of light. A definite improvement over the stock 13 watt that came with the Finnex.

Anyway! It's a start. Comments appreciated.

[justin182]

Hi, what did you use to hold the moss down to the rocks? I've been using fishing line, but this seems very legit as well!!!

AND of course, I really like the way your tank ends up! Very cool!

Originally Posted by Outlawboss

[thingamarob]

Can't wait to see how this turns out. I think it'd be neat to see you do something with the obsidian. Where did you get your tank from? Also, what kind of filter do you have on it?

[Outlawboss]

Originally Posted by thingamarob

Can't wait to see how this turns out. I think it'd be neat to see you do something with the obsidian. Where did you get your tank from? Also, what kind of filter do you have on it?

It's a Finnex 4 gallon tank. I got it off ebay as a buy it now. The filter on the back is just the HOB that it came with. I will probably upgrade to a Tom's mini canister filter one of these days. I like the obsidian too. It's completely black. Really dark. Maybe I'll pop it in there tonight and see how it looks.

[Outlawboss]

Got some plants in there last night. Here's the list!

Dwarf Hairgrass
HC
Mayaca Fluviatilis
Ammania Gracilis

Soon to come:
Taiwan Moss
Nana 'petite'

As soon as it was in, I immediately knew that the A. Gracilis was not going to stay. The leaves are just too big in proportion to the tank's size. It's a beautiful plant, though. Hopefully it will grow in my 30g tank. Lighting is a little low in that one probably (1.7wpg of T5).

Anyway, the plan is to get the Mayaca trained to grow small and cover the back. Then take the HC and get it to cover the areas that aren't already alotted to hairgrass. Add some moss in there for nice color contrast, and then some RCS or CRS and a few micro-rasporas.

It was a learning experience actually planting such a small tank. The aesthetics are so interesting and challenging because of the teeny size.

Pics of the tank in process.

Any comments are very welcome. Love it? Hate it? I'm learning as I go.

Just after planting...well sort of. It was 2am and I decided to wait and plant the HC later.



The morning after, water clearing up.

[luckydud13]

It looks great, now start planting that HC

[Outlawboss]

Update time!

Everything planted and looking pretty good. I think there might be too much going on and may simplify as things grow in. But for now I think it will work just fine.



Now I'm starting to think about things like ferts. I haven't done a medium-high light tank before, and I expect a nano to be especially challenging to keep parameters in check. I've read some about the EI dosing schedule. Maybe I can scale that down for the 4g and follow that.

Also my first time planting HC. It was challenging to say the least. I hope I did ok.

Whatcha think?

[NO3]

Why is that other people's Finnex 4 is always better looking than mine?

Originally Posted by Outlawboss

Also my first time planting HC. It was challenging to say the least. I hope I did ok.

Toally agree, I'm new at this also, planted my first tank with HC and Hairgrass. I was too cheap to buy tweezers so I just shoved the stems into the substrate. More than half of them died two days later. I rushed out and got some tweezers, replanted and got new growth the next day.

[Outlawboss]

Couple days later...still looking pretty good. Water has a slight green tint to it. I don't think it's GW, must be just part of the cycling process. It's pretty minor.

Ammonia is still high at 6ppm. It's only been a week, but I was hoping to see it go down by now. Doing 25% daily water changes and crossing my fingers that it goes down some by the weekend so I can add some fauna. Wonder what an average cycle time for these small tanks is?

Also. Growth! I checked the first pictures I took versus today and I can see some growth going on. Haven't even added any nutrients yet so I'm stoked.

[Outlawboss]

Time for an update. Things have been going well. Ammonia levels still hovering around 6ppm after 2 weeks up. Probably another week before I can add any fauna.

I'm a little worried about the algae that has started to show up. Most of it is innocent enough and an otto would eat it, but I'm afraid to get one just yet because of the high ammonia.

I can't believe how much the HC has filled in! My first HC success and it feels oh so good.

Full tank shot now that I've moved it to the office.




The HC is really filling in. If you look back and compare it against day one, it's pretty amazing to me to see. It's pearling really nicely every day too.


M. Fluviatilis has started to take off also. Pearled for the first time today!


Taiwan moss is coming along also. Going to be a great shrimp nursery.



Could use some help on this one. This algae makes me a little nervous. Really started to show up after I dosed ferts for the first time. Would it be better to hold off on dosing ferts until the tank is cycled? Would like to hear your experiences!