5 Gallon Fluval Chi

[JMex]

Hi! I got this tank a couple months ago but recently decided to do a rescaping with purpose so set this up a couple weeks ago. This is my first try at aquascaping (and really my first fish tank) so criticism is VERY welcome

Equipment:
5 gallon Fluval Chi tank
Finnex 26 watt clip on light
10,000-30,000k bulb
ZooMed 501 canister filter
Tetra 15 watt heater

Flora:
Anubias Barteri 'Nana'
Hemianthus callitrichoides
Taxiphyllum barbieri
Hygrophila difformis
Cryptocoryne wendtii v. 'red'

Fauna:
Super delta betta
Zebra thorn snail
Amano shrimp
Malawa shrimp

Currently dosing Flourish once a week and Flourish Excel daily. Pictures are taken with phone, so they aren't the best atm, haha.


All the anacharis is temporary just to have something to help prevent excess algae growth while everything is new. And floating stuff is there just cause Loki likes to hide in it.


Finnex clip on light


ZooMed 501 behind the tank




I originally wanted to put driftwood where that rock in the center is but couldn't find any that I liked when I was setting this up. Luckily flood season just ended here and I was able to go hunt for some. I found this piece that I think would look good if I chopped it up a bit.




Right now I'm thinking the driftwood is my best bet to make it look a bit better because everything is so short right now compared to the height of the tank.

[EnigmaticGuppy92]

looking nice and i agree that it needs some hieght try the driftwood and maybe add some valisneria

[vincenz]

Throw some twiggy driftwood in there and it'll look great. I'm not a fan of doing tall plants in a small tank. Throws off the scale too much.

[DishyFishy]

Beautiful tank, and my Betta's name is Thor, so they're brothers!

[JMex]

Thanks for the suggestions/compliments. I'm currently boiling the driftwood to put in. We'll see how that turns out before I add anymore background plants

@Dishy: Norse gods ftw!

[JMex]

So my anacharis has been slowly melting over the past couple days (I thought it was just new plant syndrome) but this morning it was so far gone I had to pull it. Did some reading and apparently excel kills certain plants and inverts so I'm gonna start dosing every other day instead and see how that works. On the bright side the HC is starting to carpet

[Chizpa305]

Yeah I heard that Excell also affects Pogostemon helferi (downoi). Let's see if I finally get that plant which by the way I have no luck finding, and see how it does in my tank. I have the same tank as you and the light I think is the same too.

[JMex]

Originally Posted by Chizpa305

Yeah I heard that Excell also affects Pogostemon helferi (downoi).

Thanks for the heads up! Good to know. Hopefully I can save up for pressurized c02 or stop being lazy and do some DIY so I don't have to worry about it anymore and just use it for spot algae treatment.

[JMex]

Driftwood was finally ready so I added it in and took out that rock.



I'm not set on how to position it yet. Any ideas? I also have a couple more small spindly pieces I could throw in. The HC is growing, but some bits are also turning yellow. Hoping it's NTS but just in case I started dosing smaller amounts of excel daily and have the light on a timer for 8 hours a day. DIY co2 parts are also coming in the mail and should be here by wednesday. All other plants are growing very well so far.

[PaytonGPettet]

How do you like the Finnex light? I'm looking into buying one for my nano tank.

[JMex]

Originally Posted by PaytonGPettet

How do you like the Finnex light? I'm looking into buying one for my nano tank.

It's working pretty good so far. For a tank this small I've found I have to have it on for much shorter time periods to control algae but it's growing everything else fast.

[JMex]

Thanks to Diana I found a wood setup that I like and looks more natural in the scape. I'm thinking of getting some more java moss to tie around the top parts of the branches to make it look kind of windswept. Other than that it's time to just wait and let it grow in.

[Linsanity]

It really looks better comparing the first one and most recent one!

[mattrt09]

looks very nice! much better with wood

[JMex]

Thanks guys!