5 Gallon Planted Journal - R.I.P. Mr. Betta and little tank! (!56k)

[Karackle]

Quick update (sorry no full tank shot yet) I went back to the petstore to replace the little Cory that I lost, and couldn't help myself, I got an extra one too. Drip acclimated them last night and I'm happy to say that all 5 are happy and darting all around the tank today! I hope it stays that way! Will try to get a FTS soon.

[Jimbo205]

Nice thread and great photos.

Good job!

[lauraleellbp]

I agree- they're adorable, and you've done such a great job with this tank!

[Karackle]

Jimbo - thanks!

LLBP - thanks so much! That means a lot, you were very helpful in getting it started so I really appreciate the kind words! Thanks again! And I know, they're so cute!!! Heehee! :-D

[Karackle]

Well, it's a sad day for me, I came home from my long weekend away, and the Wisteria in my 5g seems not to have re-taken after the excessive light incident (the lights are on timers now) and there was a bunch of die-off, which wouldn't be SO terrible (i have FLOURISHING replacement wisteria in my 20g) but I fear the excess of ammonia from the dying plants and new cories caused one of my Otos and 3 of the new cories to pass
I pulled all of the dead and dying Wisteria from the tank, did a 75% water change, replanted the one wisteria stalk with a good root base, pulled a LARGE stalk of Wisteria with a great root base from the 20g and planted it in the 5g.
I'll give it a day or two to settle in, then as long as the params are ok, i'll probably add back an Oto since they do well in groups, but I will wait a little longer to add back the cories.
I took a couple pictures of my now very sad looking tank, they're not great because the water was still cloudy, and some of the cabomba is bent over because it got uprooted while I was away and was floating or stuck under part of another stalk upside down and curved up and around to the light :-P, anyway I thought I'd post something...Once everything starts growing back in I'll post more new photos...Thanks for looking!







As always, questions, comments, concerns are welcome!

[Karackle]

I picked up another Oto while I was at my LFS for the 5g, it's drip-acclimating right now I'll wait until the tank is back up and lush and green before adding back any cories though.

[Karackle]

Just thought I would post a quick update. I went away for the weekend again and came home to a crystal clear tank with only a smattering of dead Wisteria leaves (only 1 or 2). The cabomba had little to no death, and the Crypt wendtii and the Anubias both have NEW growth. So it seems like the tank is starting to bounce back! Both Otos and my betta are doing well. Tank appears to be having a mini-cycle, ammonia and nitrIte are both at readable levels (~.25) NitrAte is 5-10, but I think mostly that's from the fert tablets I put in the tank. I did a ~50% water change to reduce the ammonia and added some pieces of wisteria with good roots growing out of them from my 20g to float in the water and hopefully suck up some of the ammonia/ nitrite etc., and hopefully the beneficial bacteria on the leaves will help as well The pH is low I believe from the driftwood. So i'll be keeping a close eye on this tank and trying to get it to bounce fully back.

[Karackle]

Just wanted to post another quick update, had a couple randomly melting crypt leaves today, but the wisteria finally seems to have bounced back and is growing instead of dying, so yay for that! I added a tiny bit of crushed coral to the filter, pH is up a bit! Betta and Otos are still happy. And the mini-cycling is progressing nicely, ammonia is still around .25, but the nitrIte is at about .5, and nitrAte is at ~10+ even though i haven't added any more fert tabs recently, so the bacteria seem to be kicking into gear and hopefully we'll have the ammonia and nitrIte back down to 0 again in no time! Here's a couple of pictures, i know i need to move things around a bit, but I want to let everything get some roots and get healthy again for a little longer before I start moving things

2 Tank shots (different settings):




And a couple nice shots of the Betta
With Flash:


And a couple without the flash so you can see closer to the color that I see when I look in the tank:




Sorry...he got camera shy after the first one so he's kind of hidden by plants :-P

[Karackle]

Very quick happy update on the 5g....plants are all starting to show signs of NEW growth instead of dying on me! WOOHOO!!! mini-ish cycle is chugging along, should be good as new soon, and the pH is holding at a steady 7.2...I believe it's time to start thinking about getting my sad lonely Oto a new friend soon!

[Karackle]

Quick update...plants continue to grow in nicely! WOOT! Parameters have been stable for about a week, ammonia and nitrIte are finally back to 0 and nitrAtes are rising, pH is steady at 7.2-7.4, GH is about 8, KH is about 2-3. Phew. So with more stabilized parameters I decided at the end of last week it was time to add back Oto friends for my one tough little guy that made it through all the turmoil. I got 2 in case one didn't make it, but both are doing well! So i have 3 active, fat, happy, healthy looking Otos in my 5g now. Might be too much bioload to add back the little cories, not sure. They might have to wait until the next tank I set up Or possibly i'll put them in the 20g. They're so cute, i'm absolutely in love with them now so I need to get them for SOMETHING! :-D

Need to do a little trimming and replanting now that the plants are healthy again and then i'll post pictures.

So many projects now that both tanks are happy again! :-D

[chase127]

youre tanks looking really nice!! i still cant find pygmy cories

if youre trimming the cabomba ill take some

[Karackle]

Thank you! Yeah, the pygmy cories were hard to find at a pet store, you may end up having to order them. I'm concerned that when I go back to get more, they'll be gone!

Hahaha i'd love to send you some cabomba, unfortunately I don't have enough to take any out just yet, just move it around and perhaps trim some and replant it to bulk it up....Wisteria on the other hand I could probably spare a little of if you wanted it :-P

[Karackle]

I did a bit of rearranging in the tank today, I switched which side the cabomba and wisteria were on and moved the large crypt from behind the driftwood to in front of it. And I shifted the driftwood to the right (if you're facing the tank) a bit. I'm not sure if I like it, I think I do but i'll have to wait until it grows in a little more, and "fluffs back" up....plants never quite want to stand straight and look nice right after they get moved around do they?

I took a couple pictures but the water is a bit murky. I'll take some more when the water clears and the plants are (hopefully) no longer leaning in weird directions!





As always, input of any kind is more than welcome!

Thanks!

[@marko@]

crypts are heavy root feeders IME, they would do better if you gave root tabs (unless you are already).

[Karackle]

Marko - thanks, yep i do put root tabs in there for them!