[i'm a ninja]

Plants: Bolbitis, Java Fern, Anubias Coffeolia, Vesuvius Sword, Hottonia Palustris, Myriophyllum Mattogrossense, Hydrocotyle Leucocephala (Pennywort), Weeping Moss, Christmas Moss, Green Carpet Moss, and Salvinia Natans.

Fish: 10 Boraras Maculatus

Invertebrates: 3 Nerite snails, 24 Bee Shrimp coming in a couple days

Lighting: Archaea 27w
Filtration: Azoo Palm Filter

I'll start off by saying that this tank is being jointly operated by my father and I. Now what that really means is that I get to choose plants, choose equipment, and take care of maintenance, and my father is in charge of choosing livestock. Its been running for about 3 weeks now, we just got the fish today so I figured I would start a journal to track its progress.

I have been dosing Flourish Excel and will soon begin dosing regular Flourish as well. I'm going to try to get away without having to inject CO2 into this tank, with this light though I think I may have to at some point. Any comments, criticisms, and advice are welcomed.

And a couple shots of the fish, these little guys are awesome!

 

[2in10]

Very nice, looks good, unsure about the need for CO2 with PC lighting but you never know.

 

[WallaceGrover]

I really like how vibrant it is, and how the floating plants kind of filter the light...

 

[Quentin]

Tank looks nice and helathy. Is 10fish too much for that 2.5g? Either way I like.

 

[i'm a ninja]

Yeah 10 fish is a bit much for a tank this size. I really wanted this particular species though and the place I ordered from had a minimum order of 10 fish. They're super tiny though and once the plants grow I think it'll be ok, I change a little less than a gallon at least twice a week. As for CO2, I think if I keep the floating plants pretty thick I can avoid having to use it. Oh and I forgot to mention in the original post that there are six or seven small marimo balls in there also.

 

[i'm a ninja]

Update Time

My Black Bee Shrimp came it today, turns out they are really a mix of red and black, which is nice. Having kept SS and SSS CBS and CRS in the past I didn't think I would be impressed by these guys, but after seeing how active and robust they are I think I prefer them to the brighter inbred shrimp I have kept in the past.

And here is the tank today, pretty much the same as yesterday...

Today while sitting in a biology lecture I decided to look up local fish shops since I am new to the area. Turns out there is one only 5 miles from my apartment so I decided to stop by on my way home. All I have to say about the shop is WOW! I am very impressed, very large selection of healthy fish and plants, lots of tanks and good equipment. I am so glad I found this place, its way better than any place I knew back in Texas. I think its against the rules to post names, but If you want to know which shop it is PM me, or maybe somebody can chime with the official forum rule as to weather or not I can name names or not. Anyway these guys deserve your business if you're in the Denver area! I picked up a black pre-filter sponge, some small rocks to tie moss to, and some HM (which I could never find back in Texas so I was pumped when I found it).

As always I want to hear you guys' comments and suggestions!

 

[i'm a ninja]

Do you guys think I need a foreground plant? I was thinking about trying glosso since I've never had it before and I can get it at the fish shop close to me. Also is there any problem with a 6+ hour lighting siesta? I have the timer running them from 3am-7:30am and then from 2pm-9pm

 

[i'm a ninja]

Time for an update

Stopped by The Fish Den today and picked up 16 Red Cherry Shrimp and some Riccia. I also had them order in some HC for me that should be here Friday. I lost a couple of the Black Bee shrimp, and the others kind of have a cloudy look to the clear parts of their bodies. They're all eating, but I think there may be something wrong with them, if anyone knows what might be wrong please chime in.

Salvinia and Brazilian Pennywort

 

[150EH]

I think you need to get the heater & thermometer out of the tank, I think you could use a little reptile heater under the tank (not sure they adjust temp) and just pop the thermometer in to get it set up and after that you could just check it weekly, Texas stays pretty warm and moss & shrimp like it on the cool side.

But the little tank is beautiful and I think you have enough plants they might take over after they grow a little.

Your not in Texas, I saw something above.............?

10 Boraras Maculatus, they don't get very big, same size as a Chili Rasbora?

 

[i'm a ninja]

Oops, yeah I moved to Colorado for college, I suppose I probably ought to update my location. Anyway with the winter coming I threw the heater and thermometer in there just as insurance really. I have it set at 72 but the tank usually stays 73-74 without it. They'll come out after winter but I don't want to loose any live stock if it gets too cold in the apartment or the power goes out, the heater is actually plugged into the computer's battery back-up.

The Boraras Maculatus do get to be about the size of Chili Rasboras, so they're actually a pretty tiny fish. I like them a lot though, very active and voracious eaters.

As to the plants taking over... yeah its definitely going to happen. I know for sure that I'm going to ditch the Anubias eventually, and probably the Pennywort and one of the other two stems as well.

 

[Quentin]

I like the udpates.

 

[i'm a ninja]

Boraras and Shrimp Paradise 2.5 Gallons

Well its been about a week since the last one so it's probably time for another update.

I went to The Fish Den today to pick up the HC I had ordered and ended up spending way more than I had planned. In addition to the HC I picked up some Narrow Leaf Micro Sword (Lilaeopsis Mauritiana), 3 more very red RCS, and some food and other goodies.

I pulled the Anubias Coffeolia and put the micro sword in its place, I also pulled the unknown moss rock since it wasn't doing very well. Most of the Marimo went too to make room.

And finally the Vesuvius Sword and the Bolbitis are starting to put out new leaves.

RCS hanging in the Riccia

Another in the moss

Out of 10 fish and 40 shrimp, all added in the span of one week to a barely cycled tank with three week old Aqua Soil, I only lost two black bee shrimp. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

 

[i'm a ninja]

Boraras and shrimp Paradise 2.5 Gallon

How do you guys catch a single shrimp in tiny tanks? There is one RCS I want to remove due to poor color, however every time I try to catch her with a net I make a mess of the tank.

 

[Bahugo]

You could try sucking the shrimp out with a chicken baster or something like that. I can't say it would be worth it too try too do a shrimp trap for only 1 cull.

 

[i'm a ninja]

Yeah I don't really want to make a bottle trap for just one shrimp. The baster is a good idea, I'll probably use the siphon during a water change or something.

 

[i'm a ninja]

Well its been two weeks and not a whole lot has changed. I saw a baby bee shrimp a couple days ago, and I also spotted another berried bee shrimp so I should have a bunch of babies here in about a month.

FTS

A few of the Boraras Maculatus

Angle Shot

One of the redder RCS

In the last pic you can see my moss that isn't doing so good, I don't know what is wrong with it but its dying on both rocks for some reason. Also something is eating my new Bolbitis shoots, I suspect the nerites are the culprits. Besides that everything is settling in, the Microsword and HC are both rooting and showing new growth, and the Vesuvius Sword is putting up a new leaf every 2-3 days. The stems in the left corner reached the top so I trimmed them way back.

I'm getting an ADA 30C in a couple weeks, I'm going to move everything into the new tank and take this one down. I want more room for the shrimp once they start reproducing. Does anyone know how to pre-age ADA Aquasoil so that it doesn't leech ammonia when added to the tank?