Urbguy 6 Gallon Edge Tank

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:00 PM

Already posted something on the edge thread about this tank. This tank; however, is not mine but my brothers and wanted to give him his own little spot so he can visit and check out the condition of his tank while he is away at school.

I actually got this for him for his birthday late April 2011. He wasn't sure if plants was what he wanted in the first place because he was afraid of the maintenance. I don't blame him, but he came around and found plants to be much more healthier for his fishes anyway. His girlfriend often buys him fish and they expire just as fast as they come. He needed a real fish tank so I bought him the edge. He came home for the summer and I thought what is a VERY fast growing plant? Riccia and it was easy. (I'll eat my words very soon).

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:17 PM

July 2011

After summer school, my brother brings back his tank and boy was there alot that needed to be done. He had alot of plastic stuff in the tank so it didn't do much for the tank itself or its occupants. Alot of algea was growing on it as well, hair algae. Here is a picture of the tank before anything was done.

So I gutted the tank, placed more flourite and added a few rocks netted by the Riccia. I was hoping for it to spring to life before August. Here is a picture of one of the shrimps sitting on one of the riccia rocks.

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:22 PM

July/August 2011

The riccia seemed to just have exploded. It looked very nice for a while. The longer it grew the more concerned I became because I knew it was fragile andwas not sure how to get his tank back to his apt at school. Alot of the netting was being held down by stainless steel s shaped hooks and it certainly was by no means stable enough for transport. So I thought about gutting it once more to add something more stable like HC.

Since the HC will develop a thick sod later down the road, I thought about using it; however, I've had some pretty bad experiences with HC. Maybe dwarf hairgrass? But that required alot of trimming as well. I thought, lets try it out again since this tank is smaller and the lighting seems to be sufficient. I installed the new MR11 LEDs and also a small DIY light attachment on the side of the light bar which brings it up to sufficient watts per gallon. (2.75-2.9)

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:28 PM

July/August 2011

It was moving day for my brother. His tank was the last on his mind. He thought to himself maybe he can do this without my help. Boy was he wrong. He drained some water and the Riccia just decided to make his day hell. It floated up and scared the substrate out of my brother. He didn't know it would be that fragile. He said, I can't take this home this is way too much I can't deal with this right now and right then and there, he pretty much gave up on the tank and kind of sweared off planted tanks. Later that night, I took a look at the tank and thought this was my fault. So the next day, I gutted the tank and introduced HC to the tank.

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:31 PM

July/August 2011

I DIY a bottle of yeast sugar mix for the CO2. Added it and boy did that make all the difference. My diffuser was a chopstick and the bubbles are just perfect. I noticed the bubbles gather at the corner of the tank and since it could not escape, it was in a perfect location to sit and diffuse into the water.

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:39 PM

September 20 2011

The HC has shown to respond quite positively; it has spawned multiple new runners and looks to have grown substantially. Alot of algae has accumualted due to the lack of other plants to absorb the excess nutrients. My shrimps seem to have dislodged alot of the HC. I have reinstalled them a few times but after the 3rd time, I just left it. The light seems to benefit the dislodged HC. Much of the growth is there.

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:46 PM

September 30 2011

I did a visual comparison and found it to be quite dramatic. The growth is incredible and this is within a month's time.

urbguy · 09-30-2011, 03:48 PM

Update:

Current fish stock:

2 guppies
3 neons
2 amano shrimps
2 crystal red cherry

A guppy has died and an amano shrimp has died. I do not know the cause of this but I will do a water change and run an airstone to see if that will help. I noticed the shrimp turns color when it dies. The amano shrimp turned a bright orange/red like it was cooked. Very strange...and all this right before work...oh well, TGIF.

urbguy · 10-06-2011, 08:20 PM

I want to go plant shopping but the LFS I go to has moved and still has not reopened. Was thinking about some Dwarf Hairgrass. I figured I need something long and another type of vegetation to soak up the excess nutrients. Any thoughts about the Dwarf Hairgrass?

urbguy · 10-07-2011, 04:37 PM

Posting a picture update. 10/07/2011.

urbguy · 10-07-2011, 04:38 PM

I did a substantial water change last night. It was way too green to see anything in there. I suspect the CO2. Going to do more water changes to see if I can clear this out.

2in10 · 10-07-2011, 04:43 PM

Great looking growth

NiteCrawlr2 · 10-07-2011, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by urbguy

July/August 2011

That Riccia looks awesome...any more pictures of when the tank looked like that?

urbguy · 10-07-2011, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiteCrawlr2

That Riccia looks awesome...any more pictures of when the tank looked like that?

Unfortunately, I don't. I took very few pictures because the growth was so fast, I couldn't keep up with it.

zoragen · 10-07-2011, 08:12 PM

Very nice tank!!

Are you waiting on Super Petz also???

I need more gravel & Petco just doesn't cut it

I'm going to try Pristine in Alex. Last time I was there they had hardly any plants tho.

Do you want something taller than Dwarf Sag?

09-30-2011, 03:00 PM	#1
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	Urbguy 6 Gallon Edge Tank Already posted something on the edge thread about this tank. This tank; however, is not mine but my brothers and wanted to give him his own little spot so he can visit and check out the condition of his tank while he is away at school. I actually got this for him for his birthday late April 2011. He wasn't sure if plants was what he wanted in the first place because he was afraid of the maintenance. I don't blame him, but he came around and found plants to be much more healthier for his fishes anyway. His girlfriend often buys him fish and they expire just as fast as they come. He needed a real fish tank so I bought him the edge. He came home for the summer and I thought what is a VERY fast growing plant? Riccia and it was easy. (I'll eat my words very soon). __________________ 60 Gallon

09-30-2011, 03:17 PM	#2
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	July 2011 After summer school, my brother brings back his tank and boy was there alot that needed to be done. He had alot of plastic stuff in the tank so it didn't do much for the tank itself or its occupants. Alot of algea was growing on it as well, hair algae. Here is a picture of the tank before anything was done. So I gutted the tank, placed more flourite and added a few rocks netted by the Riccia. I was hoping for it to spring to life before August. Here is a picture of one of the shrimps sitting on one of the riccia rocks. __________________ 60 Gallon

09-30-2011, 03:22 PM	#3
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	July/August 2011 The riccia seemed to just have exploded. It looked very nice for a while. The longer it grew the more concerned I became because I knew it was fragile andwas not sure how to get his tank back to his apt at school. Alot of the netting was being held down by stainless steel s shaped hooks and it certainly was by no means stable enough for transport. So I thought about gutting it once more to add something more stable like HC. Since the HC will develop a thick sod later down the road, I thought about using it; however, I've had some pretty bad experiences with HC. Maybe dwarf hairgrass? But that required alot of trimming as well. I thought, lets try it out again since this tank is smaller and the lighting seems to be sufficient. I installed the new MR11 LEDs and also a small DIY light attachment on the side of the light bar which brings it up to sufficient watts per gallon. (2.75-2.9) __________________ 60 Gallon

09-30-2011, 03:28 PM	#4
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	July/August 2011 It was moving day for my brother. His tank was the last on his mind. He thought to himself maybe he can do this without my help. Boy was he wrong. He drained some water and the Riccia just decided to make his day hell. It floated up and scared the substrate out of my brother. He didn't know it would be that fragile. He said, I can't take this home this is way too much I can't deal with this right now and right then and there, he pretty much gave up on the tank and kind of sweared off planted tanks. Later that night, I took a look at the tank and thought this was my fault. So the next day, I gutted the tank and introduced HC to the tank. __________________ 60 Gallon

09-30-2011, 03:31 PM	#5
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	July/August 2011 I DIY a bottle of yeast sugar mix for the CO2. Added it and boy did that make all the difference. My diffuser was a chopstick and the bubbles are just perfect. I noticed the bubbles gather at the corner of the tank and since it could not escape, it was in a perfect location to sit and diffuse into the water. __________________ 60 Gallon

09-30-2011, 03:39 PM	#6
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	September 20 2011 The HC has shown to respond quite positively; it has spawned multiple new runners and looks to have grown substantially. Alot of algae has accumualted due to the lack of other plants to absorb the excess nutrients. My shrimps seem to have dislodged alot of the HC. I have reinstalled them a few times but after the 3rd time, I just left it. The light seems to benefit the dislodged HC. Much of the growth is there. __________________ 60 Gallon

09-30-2011, 03:46 PM	#7
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	September 30 2011 I did a visual comparison and found it to be quite dramatic. The growth is incredible and this is within a month's time. __________________ 60 Gallon

09-30-2011, 03:48 PM	#8
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	Update: Current fish stock: 2 guppies 3 neons 2 amano shrimps 2 crystal red cherry A guppy has died and an amano shrimp has died. I do not know the cause of this but I will do a water change and run an airstone to see if that will help. I noticed the shrimp turns color when it dies. The amano shrimp turned a bright orange/red like it was cooked. Very strange...and all this right before work...oh well, TGIF. __________________ 60 Gallon

10-06-2011, 08:20 PM	#9
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	I want to go plant shopping but the LFS I go to has moved and still has not reopened. Was thinking about some Dwarf Hairgrass. I figured I need something long and another type of vegetation to soak up the excess nutrients. Any thoughts about the Dwarf Hairgrass? __________________ 60 Gallon

10-07-2011, 04:37 PM	#10
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	Posting a picture update. 10/07/2011. __________________ 60 Gallon

10-07-2011, 04:38 PM	#11
urbguy Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 385	I did a substantial water change last night. It was way too green to see anything in there. I suspect the CO2. Going to do more water changes to see if I can clear this out. __________________ 60 Gallon

10-07-2011, 04:43 PM	#12
2in10 Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sparks, NV Posts: 2,585	Great looking growth __________________ *2in10's 75 Gallon Jungle part duex* *2in10's 75 Gallon Jungle part 1* 8 Gallon Biocube Canon Pimp Club #041

10-07-2011, 08:12 PM	#15
zoragen Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3/100%) Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: N. VA Posts: 282	Very nice tank!! Are you waiting on Super Petz also??? I need more gravel & Petco just doesn't cut it I'm going to try Pristine in Alex. Last time I was there they had hardly any plants tho. Do you want something taller than Dwarf Sag?

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