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Matt's 5.5 Gallon <Tearing it down - see last page>

17K views 106 replies 32 participants last post by  matthew.shelly 
#1 · (Edited)
Matt's 5.5g Planted Tank

Currently set up in my school apartment.

Equipment:
Standard 5.5 gallon aquarium (16"W x 8"D x 10"H)
Standard included hood with 13W 6500K CFL bulb
AquaClear 20 Filter
25W Marineland Visi-Therm Stealth Heater

Scape:
4 Kg sand/gravel mix
Manzanita Driftwood
Various Rocks

Fauna:
Neon Tetras (Paracheirodon innesi)
Pond Snails

Flora:
Anubias (Anubias nana)
Java Moss (Vesicularia dubyana)
Duckweed (Lemna sp.)
Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
 
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#2 ·
I recommend you switch that incandescent light bulb with a CFL because it has the correct spectrum for plants.

I would add at least two more Paracheirodon innesi to keep a school. Also, an Otocinclus sp. or two can keep algae in check for the future.

For your flora, I recommend you add a fast growing low light stem plant to help with any algae issues. Rotala rotundifolia var. "Colorata" is a personal favorite of mine.

Pictures would be nice!

Justin
 
#5 ·
Haha. You guys are too fast for me. Pictures are up as you can see.


I recommend you switch that incandescent light bulb with a CFL because it has the correct spectrum for plants.
Already on it. I'm going to be picking one up before the end of my break. I am currently searching my house since I am sure we have some around somewhere. If not, I will stop by Lowe's by the end of the week.

I would add at least two more Paracheirodon innesi to keep a school. Also, an Otocinclus sp. or two can keep algae in check for the future.
That is something else I am currently debating. I can't decide if I want to wait and see how long the Neons last and the switch this over to a Betta tank, or go ahead and add more Neons to complete a school.

For your flora, I recommend you add a fast growing low light stem plant to help with any algae issues. Rotala rotundifolia var. "Colorata" is a personal favorite of mine.
I have looked into these plants also. I'm not sure if I want stem plants at the moment. My past experience with Wisteria wasn't too pleasant. Currently I am looking at getting 2-3 Java Ferns to place in the back corners and some Java Moss to attach to the wood.
 
#4 ·
History

This tank has actually been running in various capacities for about a year now. I though I would share the Different stages it has gone through.
(Dates are estimates)

April '09
I started with plastic plants. There were originally 5 Neons. One died in the first week after getting himself lodged in the filter intake.

That driftwood is fake. The two Anubias plants in front of it, however, are not. They are my first live plants.

At this time, there was also a Black Mystery Snail in the aquarium.

July '09
Here, I had found a nice, large piece of Mopani driftwood at PetSmart at a steal. I believe I paid $2-3 for it.

Sorry for the low picture quality.

I had also purchased several stems of Wisteria. In these pictures they had recently been violently trimmed. I also had some larger rocks I had taken from the yard.

August '09
At this point I had decided I really did not like the way the wood was positioned, so I flipped it. I had also grown tired of the Wisteria which was creating a mess of leaves on the bottom.

I also removed the larger rocks to make more room.


January '10
I spent 4 months studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. During this time The tank was in the care of my younger brother (and dad). I was actually surprised that I only lost 1 Neon. When I returned I split off some baby Anubias and did some minor re-scaping.

I now had 4 plants.

February '10
A month later the Neons made the 11 hour car trip back to St. Louis where I go to school. This was their second time doing this trip as they had originally be bought in St. Louis. After a couple weeks of school, I decided To try something different.

This is what I came up with. I noticed that the empty space in the hood on the left side was just enough for me to be able to have the wood stand upright.

Here you can see each of the 4 individual plants. Just after this picture was taken, I started dosing with Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Flourish Iron (the new leaves were quite yellow).

Overall this new design has left open a lot of space. I hope to get some more plants in the near future to start filling the gaps. Also, even after taking the wood out an boiling it for several hours, it is still leaching. The latest pictures were taken soon after the redesign so the water appears fairly clear, but has since returned to the darker color seen in the earlier pictures. I don't mind it, I'm just looking forward to it clearing up again.
 
#6 ·
Future Plans

Never Satisfied

List of things I want to do with the tank (not listed in any particular order):

1)Replace current incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb.
-Any suggestions on brand, wattage, or other things I should look at on the package? I've seen bulbs that claim to consume only 13W of power while supplying 60W of light. Would this be an acceptable bulb for my little tank?

2) Add more plants. Currently looking to add:
- 2-3 Java Fern plants
- Java Moss
- Possibly some Dwarf Hairgrass
Any other suggestions?

3) Add some Manzanita wood or substitute it for the Mopani already in there. I kind of like the look of the thinner branches.

4) Add a background. Blue? Black? I have no idea yet.

5) Change the current stock of the tank. Right now it has 3 neons. This just isn't really acceptable, but I have an internal debate going on as to how to reconcile this. My two options as of now are:
- Wait for the neons to die. I've had them for about a year and they have been through A LOT. My newbie learning curve, several ill-administered re-scapes, 2 11-hour car rides from St. Louis to Dallas and then back again, another car ride from when we moved across the city last summer, 4 months of my brother's care (something I thought would be a certain death sentence), and a bout or 2 of ick.
Then I could stock the tank with a betta or something else.
OR
- Add more neons to the tank to make a school. I worry about this due to the size of the tank and its current lack of plants.

Maybe you guys can offer advice/cast votes as to what my course of action should be? I love hearing suggestions/criticisms.
 
#7 ·
As for lights just get a full spectrum bulb rated at 6500k or higher. A 13 watt CFL will not give you 60 watt of light. For fish I would go get some CPDs (celestial pearl danio) they are very nice and stay fairly small and are much hardier than neons. I would also get a black background to bring out your tank better. Also get some moss they would be a great addition to your tank.
 
#30 ·
As for lights just get a full spectrum bulb rated at 6500k or higher.
Also get some moss they would be a great addition to your tank.
Got both of those now! I'm working on getting pictures up. The tank looks so much better with the CFL bulb. Much less yellow looking.

The stock hood can be modified to hold 2 bulbs to get better light spread fairly easily. It allready uses a double sided bulb housing. You just have to move that to the middle and break out the plastic webbing so the second bulb can fit. Pliers and a steak knife work great and it takes 20-30 minutes tops.
Is there a guide for this or a thread of someone doing it? I took the hood apart yesterday and looked it over. It does have the double housing. I just want to see how exactly to go about it before I start cutting things up. Having another bulb in there would be great.
 
#8 ·
theres no such thing as watts of light, watts are how electricity is rated, lumens and par is whats needed to tell if its comparable, every light is different. as for the kelvin thats more of personal choice of what color light u want to look at cause most of the light 90% is wasted and reflected back, plants only absorb around 10% of cfl, hps, mh. i would also watch that temp sensor i've had one fall out and raise the temp to mid 90s just put a alligator clip on it. hope it helps
 
#9 ·
Most of us are using between 26 and 52 watts of cfl 6500k over our 5.5g's when using co2 or excel. Or 15-26 watts when not using those.

The stock hood can be modified to hold 2 bulbs to get better light spread fairly easily. It allready uses a double sided bulb housing. You just have to move that to the middle and break out the plastic webbing so the second bulb can fit. Pliers and a steak knife work great and it takes 20-30 minutes tops.
 
#10 ·
Well I got back from spring break yesterday. All fish and plants were still alive. The tank was a bit cloudy.
I discovered that where the wood came up out of the water there was a bit of fuzzy mold growing on it. yuk. So I decided I needed to switch it back to being fully immersed to prevent that from happening again. After I did some washing and scrubbing I put everything back in the tank. I also trimmed and propagated one of the Anubias. I'm pretty happy with the result. I'll post pictures maybe later today once everything settles a bit.
 
#12 ·
I like that piece of wood! What if you angled it within the tank, with the short upright piece moved back towards the left corner of the tank and the long piece spanning the tank at a diagonal. I think this will give more depth to the tank.

Also, a black background will hide your hob/heater and make your plants pop more. :D (whoops, you already have that on your list!)
 
#13 ·
I like that piece of wood! What if you angled it within the tank, with the short upright piece moved back towards the left corner of the tank and the long piece spanning the tank at a diagonal. I think this will give more depth to the tank.
That sounds good. I'll have to try it. I'll shift it around a little bit during the next water change.
 
#14 ·
That looks good!
 
#17 ·
Moss arrived!

Just got my package of moss in the mail! It looks awesome! There's so much of it. Thanks to sieu004 for the great plants!



at the bottom of a 2.5g tank waiting for me to place it in the 5.5g




woops, now everyone knows what team i root for


I can't wait to get this all tied down in my tank. It's going to be sweet.
 
#18 ·
Moss!!!

Tied down the moss in my tank today. I used some green sewing thread. Covered a good portion of the wood and 7 of the river stones.
I was right. I had WAY more than I needed. Oh well, I'll save it in some tank water, under a light to see if I find some spots I want to fill in later.











I also added a sponge around the intake of the filter to block moss from getting stuck in it.
Now the waiting game begins...
 
#19 · (Edited)
I might switch to a sand substrate. Just some play sand or pool filter sand, whichever is cheaper or has a better color. Since I don't really plan on using any plants that need rich substrate, it really isn't important what I have, just as long as I like how it looks. Does anyone here have experience with sand?

Also, I'll be heading home for Easter break. The little guys are going to be on their own for the long weekend. Maybe they'll get hungry and start chomping down on those copepods that have shown up in my tank. One can only hope. While I'm home I'll be able to pick up a CFL bulb to replace the incandescent one I've been using.
 
#20 ·
I have tahitian moon sand (black) in my 10g & 2.5g and love it! IMO it helps to make the colors of your fish pop. I think sand will help with scale, as those pebbles made your tank look a bit small.

Nice load of moss! I had a huge wad of java moss that I threw into a gallon clear plastic jar with an airstone and a ramshorn snail. It gets indirect shuttered light. Thinking about putting it on my nightstand for some late night fishgazing.

My endlers devour anything they can fit in their mouths! I've cut back to once daily or every other day feedings - the tank is so clean! I'm sure your neons would at least take a nibble. :)
 
#25 ·
I had one flower last summer. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it. I'm hoping that with the fertz and the new light I'm about to put it they'll start flowering more.

I picked up a 13W CFL bulb at Lowe's the other day. 6500K rated. I'll put it in as soon as I get back to St. Louis on Monday.

You'll have to share the link once you get everything up and going. I always like to see how other people set up their tanks and scape them.

3 of the anubias had new leaves coming in before I left for Easter break. I'm excited to see the new leaves when I get back.
 
#33 ·
The new plants are in. I'll also be getting some more soon. Unfortunately, I had a little issue with one of the Java Ferns (the better looking one, of course) and a couple leaves got pulled off. The narrow leaf has that one leaf that seems like it's going to go up the side and just about all the way across the top of the tank. Tomorrow I'll be adding some Flourish and Excel. Hopefully these little guys will start to recover soon and grow up nice and healthy. Can't wait for this to fill in more.

Also did some work cleaning some gunk out of the filter. I wish they would make these things with less small crevices for waste to build up in.

I'm thinking about adding an Otto for algae control.

Pictures will most likely come tomorrow.
 
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