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Newbie Fluval Spec

4K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  sssnel 
#1 ·
I am new here and would like some help starting up my tank. I've done planted tanks before but I didnt get anything impressively interesting. I got this spec and stocked it 3 days ago. So far the tank consists of:

Substrate: Fluval Stratum (shrimp version)
Light: Jebo 13w (ordered the Fluval 13w CFL bkuz it looks nicer and might provide better light towards the front of the tank; will be here in a few days)
Ph: 6.6

Flora: Dwarf Baby Tears (HC), Micro Swords, Flame moss on lava rocks
Co2: DIY paintball Co2; 1BPS.

So far I've switched over to the Jebo 13w because the LED light doesnt seem sufficient to grow HC. The problem is...im not sure if the HC is growing correctly and it looks partially melted in some areas; it might be because i used my fingers to plant them lol! but I hope it grows back after the melting phase.

Some questions I was wondering...does the HC look like it will make it and if there is a better place to mount the co2 diffuser? I tried putting it in the back chamber on top of the filter pump but im not sure if the co2 reaches the HC well enough so I put it in front now.

Many comments and feedback welcomed! please help me out! lol.

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#3 · (Edited)
Hi, I have a spec too and love it. Awesome tank over all, but the light isn't enough like you said. I switched mine over to a 15w spiral CFL and it grows HC well enough. I haven't found a small enough co2 setup for a good price yet, but I might not use co2 for it because my plants seem to be doing fine without them. Usually when you add new plants (especially more demanding ones), there is a die off period for a few days where the leaves look like they are dying and don't grow. Normally after a week they perk up and are happy again. Don't worry-since you have more than enough light and co2, I am almost positive that it will perk up. Are you dosing any ferts? You have a lot of HC already. :) it should fill out pretty fast. A while back I had MY CFL burn out, and it was about 3 weeks before I was able to get a new one. A lot of my HC had died and I was left with only a few stems, so I moved them to my 5g where I have co2. They had the die off period and have now perked up and started filling in. By the way, your tank looks great! The plants all look extremely happy and I like the layout.
 
#6 ·
lol i will look into getting comprehensive instead. well today i noticed some hair algae on one of the front patches of HC. its not much, only covers an inch. i know it means are is an imbalance, should i worry about that or keep it as it is?. I also got my fluval mini compact in...and man....it looks nice. lol other than that, i threw in a low grade cherry shrimp to test the water before throwing any sakuras in. still debating if i want 1 amano shrimp, a few CRS, or my 4 sakura cherry shrimps in this tank. hmmms?
 
#9 ·
Hi Pho pb co2 and excel should be good with it as long as you have a decent light on it. I'm using just 12w led over my edge 2 weeks ago and noticing new roots. Hopefully your hc will spread soon. Good luck with it (ps I'm picking up a 5g cube tomorrow) ;-)
 
#10 ·
:thumbsup: It looks really nice, if you are vigilant about trimming back the runners you won't have to worry about the microsword taking over. If you ever rescape the tank though, a barrier for the microsword is a good idea.

For the constructive criticism part, pull those stems and trim them all to be the same height, about an inch taller than the rock. Let them grow about two inches and then trim them down that much leaving the bottoms planted, if you want to you can replant the tops among the bottoms. Let them grow up about three inches and then trim them back down two inches. See the pattern? ---lather rinse repeat --- Oh, and make your life easier, get some tweezers.
 
#11 ·
thanks for the suggestions! tweezers, check. i also replanted the plants, had enough to cover the back from descending order with height. looks nicer now! :)

BTW IF ANYONE WANTS DISCOUNT FROM WAG: 60%off..not sure if u can include with the promo codes. 20$ for 13w CFL..paid like 25 last week with promo code.
http://www.wag.com/buy/WagPromo=JulyClearance/Animal=fish?PageSize=200
 
#15 ·
nice! i like man. i tried keeping a betta in my spec but the pump was too strong for him and he didn't like it. good luck with the swords too, i was unsuccessful with them when i tried planting them in my spec. they didn't die, but they never, ever, ever, grew for some reason.
 
#19 ·
I like it, nice work... though I have to say I think a select piece of driftwood would look great in there and give the shrimps something to climb all over ;)
 
#25 ·
the fluval spec running high tech is alot to take care of after awhile lmfao. i get tired of having to trim the other plants and whatnot. changing the water is also a bit of a hassle so i took out the big plants and just have this carpet. i am debating on how to make this setup more simple or possibly take out all of the carpet and get new plants. more interested in something simple with shrimp right now lol.
 
#26 ·
I can't blame you. It is a lot after awhile. I have a Spec with the stock lighting and it has 3 healthy bushy blyxa plants and some HM. I am about to redo since I want to see more vertical space being used. I plan on making a second story for either the blyxa or the hm not sure yet with cross stitch plastic. I have every intent on keeping the stock lighting.
 
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