Scifisarah's Double DBP 2.5 Gallon Planted Nano Log

[Scifisarah]

Short on cash and can only afford a nano tank? Now that I put these together I am! Don't use oak if you want to make the stands on the cheap... Here is my first attempt at creating a nano or planted tank. I am sure I will have lots of questions as time goes on. Let me know what you think!

Setup
Tanks: 2.5 gallon Deep Blue Professional
Stands: DIY oak Victorian trim from Menards w/ Minwax"Riverstone" stain and 4 coats Polyacrylic
Lids: Lowe's glass cut to size with small crescent shape I removed with glass cutter (hint: buy more glass than you need!)
Light: Finnex Fugeray LED w/ Moonlights held onto glass with black hair ties and airline suction cups
Filter: Azoo Mignon 60 w/ Fluval edge foam and biomax
Substrate: Caribsea Crystal River large grained sand
Rocks: Not sure, from my yard
Shrimp Tank Flora: Purple Cabomba/Cabomba pulcherrima, Moss Ball & Microsword/Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Betta Tank Flora: Crypt wendtii & spiralis
Shrimp Nano Fauna: ~30 Cherry Red Shrimp, Horned Nerite Snail, male Scarlet badis/Dario Dario "Tiny" (In search of female)
Betta Nano Fauna: Male Double-Halfmoon Betta "Monet" aka "Shrimpslayer"
Additives: Seachem Flourish, Flourish Excel, Flourish Iron
Water: Well water through Kenmore water softener

Current Issues
3/1/13: Combating hair algae in the Betta Nano. The stuff is growing 4+ inches every day and covers everything if I don't keep up with it. By someone's advice, I am adding 5 mg Flourish Excell after doing a 50% water change daily. Also reducing light to two 5 hour periods daily. I hope this helps! Shrimp Nano with everything the same except differing flora and fauna remains fine. Issue mostly resolved. I still need to find a good nano magnet cleaner.

3/1/13: Tiny will only eat live baby brine shrimp and continues to ignore the frozen daphnia. Doing the whole large scale 2-liter hatching setup is a pita for one little fish so hoping to find an easier way of doing that. He seems to be fine with giving him bbs once or twice a week. They live in there a while and he hunts for them. I also bought black worms I am building the courage to chop up for him. We'll see how that goes.

Photos






http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8516/8...9da4e853_c.jpg

[Basil]

Originally Posted by Scifisarah

That is one beautiful betta. Both Set ups are sleek and look great. Having even shorter photoperiods will help with the algae. How often are you doing water changes? Do you treat the well water with anything, aside from the softener? Less light, more water changes should help rid you of the algae. More plant matter helps, as both the plants and Algae are competing for the same nutrients.

[Scifisarah]

Originally Posted by Basil

That is one beautiful betta. Both Set ups are sleek and look great. Having even shorter photoperiods will help with the algae. How often are you doing water changes? Do you treat the well water with anything, aside from the softener? Less light, more water changes should help rid you of the algae. More plant matter helps, as both the plants and Algae are competing for the same nutrients.

I saw him at Petco, didn't buy him and regretted it so much I drove back across town to get him later than same day. He is quite the character and I get a kick of how he flares at my husband when he is brushing his teeth or using the bathroom. They seem to be threatened by each other haha. I've kept Bettas since I was young but this is the first with live plants and he really seems to enjoy lounging in them.

I have been changing water at least every 2-3 days since I had a Mystery snail in each of the tanks and couldn't stand the mess they made. They will be finding a new home and are currently in snail jail (the 5 gallon I am selling on Craigslist) for chewing holes in my plants.

I add the seachem additives, but other than that I don't treat the water with anything else.

Do you think the four led moonlights will cause the algae to grow? Was wondering if it would be okay to leave those on when I turn off the 7000k lights without ill effect.

[Soothing Shrimp]

Gorgeous casings! Absolutely beautiful!

[seuadr]

those tanks are amazing.. does the light cause heat build up issues?

[Lowe]

Wow, I complain my fiance takes too long in the bathroom. If I had your setup I would be taking a long time too!

Also, to help wit the algea, try mounting the fixture to the top of your canopy instead of directly on the lid. Should help along with your excel dosing.

[Scifisarah]

No heat issues. I made the canopies with about 3/4" room on each side of the filter, but honestly the light strip does not even feel warm to the touch. Nevermind that last comment I made, the light must have been off before I felt it. They do get a little warm, but I don't think enough to worry about the heat.

I think I do need to move the lights up a little as you suggested. Seems like right now I am probably at high lighting levels which I just read is not a good idea without CO2 supplementation. I think the shrimp tank is okay because the Purple Cabomba plants are leaning over and blocking out a lot of the light. Plus the shrimps are cleaning them like little maniacs. Now to figure out how to attach the lights to the lid. Probably shouldn't use hair ties this time...

[Scifisarah]

I have been feeding "Tiny" my Scarlet Badis live baby brine shrimp every few days and he is really looking great. I also got some black worms and am building the courage to chop them up. I have a degree in Wildlife Biology, but for some reason that fruit drawer full of worms in the fridge at the pet store made my stomach turn haha. I am still trying to find him a female. Here he is sporting his new brighter red coloring:

[Soup12]

have you had any issues with hornwort shedding

[Scifisarah]

Originally Posted by Soup12

have you had any issues with hornwort shedding

I'm not sure what this is, so I don't think so. I am fairly new to planted tanks - what is "hornwort shedding"?

[Soup12]

WHats the difference between 2.5 gallon Deep Blue Professional and petsmart cheapo $15 2.5g?

[Scifisarah]

Originally Posted by Soup12

WHats the difference between 2.5 gallon Deep Blue Professional and petsmart cheapo $15 2.5g?

I don't think the Deep Blue cost much more than that when I bought it locally. I've been told it has clearer glass, but I don't own both so I can't really compare. It also has very nice clean black silicone and smooth bevelled corners that look really sharp compared to regular 2.5 gallons. I also have a 75 gallon DBP for my Mbuna cichlids and really like it. They also have a 12" cube rimless that looks really neat, and an 18"x6"x7" tank but I am maxed out right now for what I can keep up with.