5G Shrimp Tank - Rescaped!

[outcast]

Tank: 5 gallon
Date Started: Nov 11, 2010

Substrate: Black fluorite
Lighting: 1 bulb Twister CFLs, 21 W 6500K mounted sideways 9 inches above substrate. No reflector
Filtration: Elite Hush 10 (1 pot scrubber, 1 bag of carbon (temporary))
Decor: Drift wood x2

Plants:

• java fern
• Ammania gracilis
• Alternanthera reineckii 'roseafolia'
• Ludwigia 'ovalis'
• Heteranthera zosterifolia (stargrass)
• Azolla filiculoides
• eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hairgrass)
• asian water grass
• staurogyne repens
• Ranunculus Inundatus
• Fissidens fontanus

Livestock:

• ~20 RCS

Fert Regime: EI, a bit heavier on the potassium.
Changes: 50% weekly, 5.8 GH, 3.5 KH (tap water here sucks,<1 degree gh/kh)
Carbon Suppliment: 1 mL metricide / day





I started this tank on November 11th because i felt the bedroom needed some life to it, and i needed temporary placement for my wifes guppy fry. This tank will become a shrimp tank once i find a home for the guppies (or a fish to feed them to).

As i normally i do, i wing it, i don't plan too much. Only things i planned were the tank size, the foreground plant and the substrate colour. After that i searched for rock or driftwood that would give me decent planting zones and allow me to hide the filter a lot better.

I started with the right driftwood, attatched the plants, the next day i grabbed the substrate from the LFS, then started planting the clippings i had around the house in vases. The day after that i grabbed the second driftwood as i wanted something more textured and low on that side of the tank. I let things be until sunday, then i was able to get eleocharis parvula from another plant junkie in town, and he threw in Heteranthera zosterifolia and Azolla filiculoides with it, oh, and couple plantlets of some other kind of rosette grass.

Plans for now, let it grow in. Then i'll be reducing the amount of ludwiga repens, clipping another piece of ammania gracilis to place next to the current stem, theres a perfect place for it. In front of the ludwiga on the left side (dont see that side in the pics) i'll get a taller foreground plant to soften the corner. The space in the center back i haven't decided whether to leave it be, or plant a more bushier midground grass (or crypt) there.

The last thing i need to do is give my wife back her scrapbook board behind the tank and get a real background. i fear an addiction for nano tanks may be starting.

[!shadow!]

looks good and will be even better once the carpet is grown in a bit more especially next to those two nice pieces of dw.

[outcast]

I moved then played with this tank a bit.

I removed the Lilaeopsis brasiliensis and placed it in the 10 gallon since i repositioned a piece of driftwood right where it was, shifted a few things slightly to work with the new layout, but it didn't change much overall.

The lighting did change, I previously used a lamp with a cfl, now its a diy fixture. I mounted a 4x4 octagon box on a 90 degree bracket and then mounted the whole thing on a floating shelf above the tank, this way no holes in the wall. Used a 21 W CFL sideways around 14 inches above the substrate. So will see if the hairgrass kicks in more with the increased light.

Filter changed to an elite hush 10 and im thinking of switching it out one day for a Fluval U1

I think in a couple months this tank might be shrimp ready, and during the move i found a real foul smelling mystery object in the tank that was probably the culprit in killing off my blue pearl shrimps a friend gave to me

enough babbling, heres a couple pics. (i'll update the tank specs above in a second)

[outcast]

One issue i am having with this tank is hair algae in the grass. The grass had it prior to planting and i did what i could to manually remove as much as possible, but it kept coming back. My dosing ratios are pretty standard except i go a little bit heavier on the potassium out of habit (i keep lotus's in my main tank).

What i've done to try to combat it is reduce feedings to once every 3 days, placed jobes spikes under the hairgrass in hopes that it'll root better, increased the metricide dosing, increased the lighting, and of course manual removal. Im trying to out compete it right now, but with the black flourite seems to be a magnet for this stuff.

The only other thing i can think of is stop dosing CSM+B since equillibrium is used in the water changes (adjust from Vancouver r/o water to 5.8 degrees)

Any other suggestions? Eventually this tank will have shrimp, which will help hide the issue, but i'd rather do what i can first to really limit its growth

[outcast]

added Cherry reds and some PFR Cherry culls to the tank. After a snail killing spree hydra broke out in the tank, i think they piggy backed into my tank from the plants the shrimp shipped with as i've never seen them before.

Also Treated the driftwood via lots of boiling and soaking to remove excess tannins. A shard of the bigger piece broke off, so i stuck it in amongst the stargrass. The other piece was too big and a pain to plant around the back of it, so i broke it in two, and chose the smaller of the two pieces for the tank.

Visited a friend and he loaded me up with a few species so i tossed plants from tank to tank to fix up the scapes a bit. So new plants, some others removed.

The updated Plant list:

• java fern
• Ammania gracilis
• Alternanthera reineckii 'roseafolia'
• Ludwigia 'ovalis'
• Heteranthera zosterifolia (stargrass)
• Azolla filiculoides
• eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hairgrass)
• asian water grass
• staurogyne repens
• Ranunculus Inundatus
• Fissidens fontanus

now for pics:

the ranunculus inundatus im unsure if it'll last in the tank as im a bit out of its ph range and on metricide only.


when the ammania gracilis grows a bit more, it'll really stand out.


the shard of wood with fisidens

as for the hair grass, its a never ending battle with hair algae, but the shrimp are atleast helping me out now