advice on new planted 3g picotope

5194 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by FrostyNYC, Jan 11, 2008

Diggs

Discussion Starter · Dec 22, 2007

3

So I couldnt resist buying this little 3g JBJ aquarium the other day. Which lead to me buying eco complete, a heater, and three species of plant. I dunno the scientific names but the common names listed at the aq store were Red ludwigia (x3 bunches), cabomba grass (x2) and java fern (x1 with several little ones attached). Tank is setup and def not aquascaped. I have a 9w 7100K bulb in the fixture that came with it and the little teeny tiny filter that also came with it. I am going to dose flourish excel and the occasional iron. Any advice on hardware or aquascaping is very very much appreciated. For example is just sticking the plants in the eco complete sufficient? There is one betta currently in the tank and he will get a cory catfish tankmate soon but no more fish than that. Suggestions and advice please.

As you can see from the photos there is no scaping.

joshua

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pet-teez

· #2 · Dec 22, 2007

Nice tank

One thing though, Corys do way better when they have a couple other Cory buddies to swim around with, you don't have much room for multiples but they don't do as well on their own. How about some RCS instead?

Diggs

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 22, 2007

pleaes explain the term RCS. I agree about the corys but didnt have any better ideas to go with the betta currently in the tank. He was kinda the impetus to get the tank in the first place. Thanks for the help.

FrostyNYC

· #4 · Dec 22, 2007

RCS = Red Cherry Shrimp. Tons of info about them in the shrimp forum on this site.

Not sure the betta would do well with shrimp though. A 3 gallon is a great setup for shrimp, cause they're very entertaining when they arent threatened by fish, and they have a miniscule bioload. My betta is mean, so he stays in his 1 gallon bowl and the shrimp are in the 5 gallon.

You could go with a couple snails instead. There are a ton of very pretty and interesting ones (red ramshorns, spixis, nerites) that would do well with your betta and not overload the tank if you're definitely keeping the fighting fish.

Nice tank, btw. Its gonna be a jungle.

JustOneMore21

· #5 · Dec 22, 2007

You don't have to get any tankmates for the Betta. He will live fine on his own.

If you just can't stand him being alone, shrimp would be all I'd put in the tank with him. You should try some Ghost shrimp before paying money for Cherry Shrimp, since the Betta might eat them.

Snails would be another option. Skip the cories.

Diggs

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 22, 2007

thanks for the advice, i will try and find some ghost shrimp, i think walmart actually has some. Any advice on co2 or excel?

hughitt1

· #7 · Dec 23, 2007

A dash of excel a day would definitely help. Otherwise you might consider trying out a mini DIY-CO2 setup, but for that size I think it would be more trouble than it's worth. Go with excel

daydreamer

· #8 · Jan 3, 2008

quick question,

Are you using the bulb that came with the light fixture, or is it a different bulb?

JustOneMore21

· #9 · Jan 3, 2008

daydreamer said:
quick question,

Are you using the bulb that came with the light fixture, or is it a different bulb?

Diggs said:
I have a 9w 7100K bulb in the fixture that came with it and the little teeny tiny filter that also came with it.

I'd suggest getting a desk lamp with a higher wattage PC bulb in it. I have this same tank and got a desk lamp from Home Depot to use. The 9w bulb is not much wattage at all.

Homer_Simpson

· #10 · Jan 3, 2008

Be careful with light, it doesn't take much to induce an algae bloom. I have a 3 gallon tank with only a 10 watt coral life color max and the java fern, cryptocorne bronze, and anubias really took off. This is an outdated picture but it still gives you an idea.

Things have really filled in since then. The only algae issue was some diatoms(barely noticeable), but this is to be expected with a newly set up tank. The tank has only been up for about a month. You can always see how well your plants do with the light you have then perhaps bump it up to 11or 15 watt, with a photoperiod or lighting duration no longer than 7.5-8 hours/day. If you end up providing the tank with too much light right off the bat and end up with an algae bloom, you will find it much more difficult to clean up the mess and rebalance the tank. In my experience, it is less effort to try and prevent algae, then deal with it once you get it, it can be a real PITA and depending on how bad it is, it may even mean tearing your tank down and starting over. Excel is fine. I found it gave me exceptional growth in my low tech nano tanks.

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Diggs

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 9, 2008

I have since removed the giant fern and planted all the little fernlets and planted them. The bulb in the fixture is a 7100K bulb i found at a lfs. I have a 36w fixture coming in the mail and it should be here at some point. I think my beta fish is eating my tiny guppies though. Good thing they were only 10 cent a piece. Anyhow thanks for the looks and advice. Any more suggestions are greatly appreciated.

@[email protected]

· #12 · Jan 9, 2008

i find it hard to keep tanks algea free unless there is something to eat them. you may want to add a few amano shrimp (betta may eat, but chances are much higher that they will eat RCS)

also, microsword would look great as a carpet in such a tank (betta will make it hard for it to take root though, they love to squeeze into places; like newly planted carpet plants)

frozenbarb

· #13 · Jan 10, 2008

Nice non aquatic mondo grass.

did you mix your eco?

Why does it have shades of red and white and grey

FrostyNYC

· #14 · Jan 10, 2008

My ecocomplete looks exactly like his, with the shades of red grey and white. Why is that? I've seen photos on here where the eco is much darker.

frozenbarb

· #15 · Jan 10, 2008

Are you sure its the CabriSea Eco complete? that cost around 25$ a bag

@[email protected]

· #16 · Jan 10, 2008

eco is taken from nature. the older eco is much better, it is darker and contains more humus (the nutritious organic material in soil). by now they got down to layers with less humus, and the variation in color results from the black rock being transported material not residual material (transported is soil that has been moved by rivers or glaciers or wind, residual is from the bedrock directly underneath). however the new eco has smaller grains, thats a plus for most plants.

Jeff.

· #17 · Jan 10, 2008 (Edited)

Diggs said:
pleaes explain the term RCS. I agree about the corys but didnt have any better ideas to go with the betta currently in the tank. He was kinda the impetus to get the tank in the first place. Thanks for the help.

I'm just curious...would pygmy cory's work OK in this type of setup since you could potentially throw a few in there, thus providing them with the grouping they need?

EDIT: just noticed the Nanofish list. Sorry, new guy. :icon_roll

FrostyNYC

· #18 · Jan 11, 2008

Frozenbarb - Positive. I just got it.

Marko - Thats very informative. I actually thought they made eco in a factory somewhere. No joke. I want darker eco. Blah.

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