# 2.5g nano reborn



## Darkblade48

I decided to start up my 2.5g nano again. Some of you may have remembered this journal:

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7502

This time, I've decided to chronicle my tank...I'll try to update regularly 

So here it is on day 1 (yesterday, September 7)



Some nice Manzanita wood in there; unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to water log it, so it floats up if I disturb it 

You can see some plastic canvas, which is really a Riccia sandwich. I have not found HC yet, so in the meantime, Riccia will have to do. Also, some Dwarf Hairgrass in the right back corner.

You'll notice a small glass diffuser on the left; I'm using pressurized CO2 on this tank, as I have a total of 26W of CFL lighting over it 

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my CO2 setup, but maybe I'll snap one tomorrow.

Here is a zoom out.



*September 8 2009*

And this, kiddies, is why you should always cycle your tank!


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## Darkblade48

September 9, 2009. Day 3.

Tank has cleared up significantly. Now I am seeing fungus all over the place 



No wonder some people are scared when they see this in their tank! I would have been worried too, if I didn't know what this was


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## Chris S

The rebirth! I'll be interested to see how this one goes =)

Btw, your setup looks a bit complex for such a small tank. It would probably look a bit better if it was simplified, but perhaps you are just sinking your manzanita right now.


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## Darkblade48

Chris S said:


> Btw, your setup looks a bit complex for such a small tank. It would probably look a bit better if it was simplified, but perhaps you are just sinking your manzanita right now.


I was thinking of keeping the Manzanita in there, but I'm not too sure. The last scape with this nano was with rocks only, so I felt like using some wood. Do you have any suggestions?

Ideally, I would want to use Dwarf Hairgrass and have a nice HG foreground, but nobody seems to have HG. That, and I want to get a (much) smaller grained substrate. Flourite is great for larger tanks, but it is just too big for a tank as small as 2.5g.


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## Chris S

flourite sand is nice, I have the black in one of my 40g planted. Looks nice.

I find the small tanks like those seem to always look better with pure rockscapes. 

If you want to keep the wood in, try to get more of a horizontal look to it - right now it looks like everything is going up and down.


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## Darkblade48

I'll see if I can get a more horizontal look to the wood, though I'm pretty sure I'm limited by the piece of wood 

As for Flourite sand, I posted a "wanted" advertisement in the classified section, but no responses  I don't want to spend $32 at Big Al's for a bag of which I would only use a little anyway.


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## Darkblade48

Was a bit bored, so here are the pressurized CO2 pictures as promised:

10 lb CO2 tank. I DIY'ed a "stand" for it. No way is that heavy dual stage Victor going to tip over my tank when it's empty 



Closeup of the Swagelok metering valve:


I picked up this Swagelok SS-31RF2 for $20


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## Darkblade48

Some long over due updates:

*September 22 2009*

I tried my hand at some HC.



Unfortunately, due to neglect on my part (i.e. no fertilizers for a few days here and there...) it eventually got overridden by algae and (literally) got strangled.

From my experience: do not try to plant HC in fluorite. It is a pain. I found it difficult in a 2.5g, I don't know how other people do larger tanks with HC carpets. For those that were curious, I did not try to the dry start method of planting the HC (perhaps something to try next time).

*October 20 2009*
Another month of general neglect, and the tank is nearly completely overridden with algae. The only maintenance I did was the occasional water change (maybe once every 2 weeks, LOL)




Look at all that algae!

*January 4 2010*
A new year, a new aquascape. Tore down my old tank because I was tired of looking at the same thing. It kept me entertained for the first month and a half until I got bored of it and stopped taking care of it 

Anyway, replaced the ugly large-grained Fluorite with some much nicer Fluorite black sand.



Excuse the bubbles, I just filled the tank yesterday.

Since it's getting late; the updates will have to wait until later  Stay tuned, I -just- changed the aquascape (again!) since I didn't like the piece of wood (much too thick, takes up too much space, poor focus, etc. Perhaps it would do better in a larger tank, say a 10g...)


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## Darkblade48

*January 5 2009*

Here is the setup as of yesterday. I didn't bother taking out the equipment before a shot, and I couldn't find a nice black background, so I just used blue.



Current setup is:

1x 6500K 13W CFL bulb
1x 3500K 26W CFL bulb

Red Sea Nano Filter

Fluorite Black Sand substrate

Pressurized CO2 (see below)


CO2 setup is:

10 lb tank
Victor HPT272-350B regulator
Parker solenoid
Swagelok B-SS2-A metering valve
JBJ bubble counter

Current flora include:
Dwarf Hairgrass
Anubias barteri var. 'nana'


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## Ciddian

I love watching your nano adventures :3 Looking great!


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## Byronicle

you seem to change your nano seasonally? lol


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## Mr Fishies

Darkblade48 said:


> CO2 setup is:
> 
> 10 lb tank
> Victor HPT272-350B regulator
> Parker solenoid
> Swagelok B-SS2-A metering valve
> JBJ bubble counter


Your CO2 setup probably weighs more than twice the tank...with water. 

Tank looks nice BTW, a close-up shot with no gear to reference size included would look well balanced I bet.


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## Darkblade48

Byronicle said:


> you seem to change your nano seasonally? lol


I get bored quickly of my scapes. When I do, I stop taking care of the tank, and then algae sets in quickly too 



Mr Fishies said:


> Your CO2 setup probably weighs more than twice the tank...with water.


Probably! A 2.5 gallon tank filled (including substrate) is maybe 30 lbs at most? The steel cylinder alone has to weigh at least 20 lbs (plus the 10 lbs of CO2 gas, means it's more than the aquarium filled!)



Mr Fishies said:


> Tank looks nice BTW, a close-up shot with no gear to reference size included would look well balanced I bet.


Thanks, I'm looking for more plants. Right now, I only have some Anubias, Dwarf Hairgrass and some Riccia with me (in London). Unfortunately, I didn't think to bring more with me from Scarborough


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## DaFishMan

Just stumbled into this thread 

I liked seeing the different stages of the tank. That's an interesting light setup & the driftwood is interesting. Don't blame you for switching out the flourite (I got sick of mine and wanted something darker and smaller grained, so now it's an underlayer in my 25g as 'filler') 

The darker flourite was a good switch in your tank, visually much nicer and I'm told hairgrass will go nuts in it. Even with tweezers planting a nano tank must be a pain, lol. 

Re the algae, raising the lights higher or just using the one higher k bulb may have given you more slack time on the dosing ? What happened to the moss ? 

Some needle-leaf java fern and moss would look wicked on the driftwood. 
Curious to see how this tank pans out looks great !


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## Darkblade48

DaFishMan said:


> Just stumbled into this thread
> . Even with tweezers planting a nano tank must be a pain, lol.


It is, it is. That, and I'm clumsy, so it's hard for me to work with so little space.



DaFishMan said:


> Re the algae, raising the lights higher or just using the one higher k bulb may have given you more slack time on the dosing ?


Well, after the algae, I just scrapped the tank and redid everything. We'll see where the current light setup leads. I'm still using EI dosing, as water changes on a tank this size are pretty easy to carry out, even without a Python.



DaFishMan said:


> What happened to the moss ?
> Some needle-leaf java fern and moss would look wicked on the driftwood.
> Curious to see how this tank pans out looks great !


The Java Moss idea was trashed a long time ago. But, I was thinking about some Fissidens on the branch, as that might look good.

I need some kind of foreground plant; the last time, I tried HC, and it all died on me. I'm afraid of trying it again because of the complete *pain in the $(&@($&@** it is to plant it, even with tweezers.


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## Mr Fishies

Darkblade48 said:


> I need some kind of foreground plant; the last time, I tried HC, and it all died on me.


What about scattering C. parva throughout the foreground instead of a carpet type plant. Not a full sheet of green, but it will eventually spread and take over like any crypt, they only get ~2" tall and would be a lot less maintenance, just pull the leaves that do get taller than you like.


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## Darkblade48

Mr Fishies said:


> What about scattering C. parva throughout the foreground instead of a carpet type plant. Not a full sheet of green, but it will eventually spread and take over like any crypt, they only get ~2" tall and would be a lot less maintenance, just pull the leaves that do get taller than you like.


Not a bad idea, but I do kind of want a carpet. Maybe I will suck it up and try planting HC again 

Or, if not, what about UG (Utricularia graminifolia)? Anyone have experience growing it? Will shrimplets be OK with it around?

Regarding the Java Fern, is there a difference between Java Fern 'narrow' and Java Fern 'needle leaf', and if so, which would be more suitable for a nano?

If I do place some Java Fern in the tank, I'd be on the wood (naturally), but I'm afraid it might give too much "verticalness", as the three smaller branches are already quite up-and-down.


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## DaFishMan

"is there a difference between Java Fern 'narrow' and Java Fern 'needle leaf', and if so, which would be more suitable for a nano?" 

People argue if they are same. My take is they are separate species, needle-leaf being smaller (and harder to find). You'll want to research it. Harold (Menagerie) would prob know for sure, as would Aquatic Magic (Mike) in Ebay. Needles a great candidate for your nano.

C Parva, very slow growing but a nice little crypt. C. 'x' willisii would sub in a pinch, but Parva is nicer. There's another one, I need to remember it....

I tossed the stuff in my 10 as well due to the same green filamentous algae someone else in here just posted about. I much prefer BBA !

JimmyJam or Evans (who did the dry carpet) may have hc. I bought a starter pinch of Fissidens from Jamesren but still have to grow some out.
Aquatic Magic and JRS may have some. Local sources are best.

It'd be totally sweet if Harold could get in some needle-leaf java ferns, fissidens and erect moss, C ballansae, and C parva (HINT HINT HAROLD !!!!) 

Hope this was some help


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## 1dime

hey guys, i just wanted to ask from your experience why it was difficult to plant HC on flourite (not the sand)?. I plan on giving HC a shot and im using Flourite Dark


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## DaFishMan

Best guess only, (haven't grown it) HC is a small fine leaf tiny roots plant that will grow best in a smaller grain substrate then flourite. Same for hairgrass, although some have pulled it off. Flourite sand or amazonia (or other aquasoils). Maybe eco-complete too not sure on the grain size, and diy layered nutritious substrates capped with very fine grain pea gravel.


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## Darkblade48

Interesting information regarding the different types of Java Fern. I'm not in Scarborough right now, so getting plants from Harold is unfortunately impossible 

As for the HC, I got my last batch from jimmyjam, but it died on me 



1dime said:


> hey guys, i just wanted to ask from your experience why it was difficult to plant HC on flourite (not the sand)?. I plan on giving HC a shot and im using Flourite Dark


I tried planting HC in normal fluorite (which is the same grain size as flourite dark, I would assume). It was a pain, even with tweezers. No other plant to date has tested my patience more than this one 



DaFishMan said:


> Same for hairgrass, although some have pulled it off.


In my experience, Dwarf Hairgrass grows fine in normal grained fluorite. Check out the link in my first post (it links back to an older 2.5g nano journal where I grew Dwarf Hairgrass in normal fluorite).


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## jimmyjam

hey bud sorry to hear about the hc..if u wanna try it again ill hook u up with a bunch if u wanna come by, I have lots to spare, especially for u who help out in the forum so much. call me at 647 201 2166 when ur backs scarberia


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## Darkblade48

Thanks for the offer! I'll be sure to pick up some when I'm back in Scarborough.

I'll take a look through your other stuff too, maybe there's something other stuff I want to try


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## Darkblade48

Here are some updates after my first water change (all pictures are *clickable* to enlarge).

*January 10 2010*


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## DaFishMan

The tanks lookin great DB48 keep up the good work


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## ameekplec.

DaFishMan said:


> "is there a difference between Java Fern 'narrow' and Java Fern 'needle leaf', and if so, which would be more suitable for a nano?"
> 
> People argue if they are same. My take is they are separate species, needle-leaf being smaller (and harder to find). You'll want to research it. Harold (Menagerie) would prob know for sure, as would Aquatic Magic (Mike) in Ebay. Needles a great candidate for your nano.


I'd argue that Needle leaf java fern is a totally separate variant. I have some needle leaf in my possession, and the leaves start their growth pattern very differently than the narrow leaf - the needle leaves are about 3 - 5 mm wide till they're about 4 - 6 inches long. The narrow leaf start much broader.

Also, the needle leaf probably isn't a good candidate in a nano - it gets well over a foot long.


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## Darkblade48

Would you recommend Java Fern 'narrow' in this case?

I need something to obscure the driftwood; it seems disproportional in a tank this small (i.e. the thickness of the wood...)

If only I had some thinner, branchier Manzanita driftwood...


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## Darkblade48

Updates for this week (all images are *clickable* to enlarge):

*January 17 2010 *

Excuse the bubbles, I just did a water change 




The Dwarf Hairgrass grows very quickly, and I had to already prune/thin out a bit of it (hence you can see all the roots showing).


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## kaegunim

I like the buildup of substrate up to the right and the bit of tilt to the rocks~ It seems to add a bit in character or depth to the design ^_^V

You should try posting a cropped photo so we can get away from the scale reference~ Though I guess the log serves as reference anyways?

Getting pretty nice with the grass filling in~~~


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## Darkblade48

I find it difficult to take a close up picture of the aquarium without getting a glare off the front pane of glass. 

The tank is far from being "picture worthy"; it still needs a lot of work in terms of background/foreground plants.


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## Darkblade48

Update for the week.

*January 24 2010*

Got some new plants, and heavily replanted everything. Thanks to jimmyjam for the plants.

Here's to hoping that the HC doesn't die like last time. At least planting it in Flourite Black was a lot easier than trying to plant in (normal) Flourite.





On another note, does anyone happen to know what might be the cause of algae on the tips of my Hairgrass? I still notice that there are little tiny tufts of algae that form on the tips (appears to be hairy, dark green in colour; hair or maybe beard algae). I'm considering Excel, but with the Fissidens in there, I don't want to risk it.

Dosing is EI regime, lights have been switched back to 2x 13W 6500K CFL approximately 20 cm away from the top of the tank. Pressurized CO2 is being injected, and drop checker with 4 dkH reference solution is green when the lights are on.


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## AquaNeko

Darkblade48 said:


> I find it difficult to take a close up picture of the aquarium without getting a glare off the front pane of glass.
> 
> The tank is far from being "picture worthy"; it still needs a lot of work in terms of background/foreground plants.


Try taking the photo on a slight angle as I've found that helps when I do close in shots of shiney things.

Alternatively light up the whole area there with a bunch of lamps, turn off flash, slightly bump the ISO up, play with the exposure levels in manual mode and take the photo that way.


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## kaegunim

I am enjoying the bubbling sparly fissidens! The blixa too!

This is apparently an exciting day in nano aquaculture. Congrats ^o^V


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## DaFishMan

Darkblade, glad to hear you found some Fissidens 

With your knowledge of nutrients I will look in the other direction and ask,
How's the water movement in there ?

Excel should only hurt moss if it's dosed more then directed or directly applied. Dosed as per the bottle, into a tank shouldn't hurt, although it might hurt the algae


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## Darkblade48

DaFishMan said:


> With your knowledge of nutrients I will look in the other direction and ask,
> How's the water movement in there ?


The only movement is provided by the Red Sea Nano filter. Do you think maybe lack of movement is responsible for algae?



DaFishMan said:


> Excel should only hurt moss if it's dosed more then directed or directly applied. Dosed as per the bottle, into a tank shouldn't hurt, although it might hurt the algae


I thought normally, Excel has to be dosed in higher than recommended dosages before it starts to put a dent in algae.


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## DaFishMan

"Do you think maybe lack of movement is responsible for algae?"
Good water movement with no dead spots helps prevent as well as get rid of. This is why in larger plants tanks powerheads are popular (besides doubling for co2 diffusers). I just upgraded the filters in my 3 tanks to increase movement, although one isn't planted yet. Luckily I had a larger filter handy to start the chain. All the plants have at least slight movement now, that is the key. Combine water movement with excel for a one-two punch. 

Someone in here aimed their filter return at an affected area to get rid of hair algae. I used a second filter to to help reduce bba in the past, it really helped. Since then I wanted more current with one filter, hence the upgrades.

Any excel helps with hair algae, being so thin. Fissidens is one of the more sensitive mosses, if any browning is noticed with Excel, stop. My thread leaf vals (similar to or could be val nano) was especially sensitive to normal amounts, almost disappearing from the tank. 

Do you have a spare small filter around you could pop in there for a bit ?


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## Darkblade48

Unfortunately, I don't have a spare filter at the moment. To be honest, in a 2.5g nano, any space that can be saved is appreciated. There just isn't enough "real estate" to work with larger filters.

I have been looking for either the Tom or the Zoomed 501 canister filter, but haven't seen it around locally. I was considering it, as I figure it should be able to provide more flow than the Redsea Nano.


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## Darkblade48

Some updates for *January 30 2010*

I happened to put some RCS (12 of them) in on Tuesday, but didn't really have a chance to snap up some decent pictures until today. Even then, the photos aren't the best, since I'm limited by the macro on my digital camera.

Out of dozens of pictures, here are the "best" (still pretty bad, but oh well).


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## Darkblade48

Two more pictures that I thought I would share:


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## kaegunim

I don't see why you are complaining about your camera... it seems to do a pretty good job.

That first shrimp photo is pretty good IMO~

They really do look good agains that luxurious black substrate. How jealous I am ^o^

BTW, could just be the photo, but is there less of an algae halo around your grass?


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## Darkblade48

The camera does a decent job. It more often than not focuses on the wrong thing, etc.

There is still algae on the hairgrass (and everywhere else). I'm starting to make inroads only because I spend ~30 minutes a day picking it out by hand with a pair of long tweezers.


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## crxmaniac

I have a question for you, what is the reasoning behind using the 3500k bulb? Does it give the plants a better/broader spectrum that they need? thanks


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## Darkblade48

There was no particular reason behind using the 3500K bulb versus the 6500K bulb. I have actually switched back to the 6500K bulb instead of the 3500K now. 

It was purely for aesthetics. The K rating of bulbs does not really matter, as long as it is less than 10K, the bulbs will emit usable light for the plants.


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## crxmaniac

ok cool that answers that


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## Darkblade48

Some updates for *February 6 2010* (Sorry about the diatoms on the front glass)

The HC is finally start to root, I think, and the Blyxa that was previously melting has finally started to bounce back and put out new roots.



Also some pictures of my RCS. I noticed two berried females, so new RCS babies should be coming along soon.


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## jimmyjam

*algae*

if your still having trouble with hair algae, go and grab a syringe, and syringe 5ml of excel and about 2 ml of tank water at a time on the effected algae. Dont hit the moss, it will kill it, but I have used this method in my smaller tanks with good results without having to overdose on excel.


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## kaegunim

That shrimp looks quite happy in the Blyxa! And among your madly growing HC~

How jealous I am of your short glass-subject distance!


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## Darkblade48

Update for the week of *February 16 2010*

Snapped a few pictures. Didn't bother taking out any of the equipment prior to FTS.



It's nice to see the _Fissidens_ finally starting to take off.



Excuse all the diatoms  I was too lazy to scrape it off...

A bit hard to see in the picture (or maybe not), but the HC seems to love growing upwards instead of carpeting like it's supposed to. Some of them, however, are strange in that they are growing diagonally too...might this have to do with lighting?


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## NuclearTech

On the driftwood with the Fissidens, I think there is a shrimp looking DIRECTLY at the camera. Creepy  . Speaking of the Fissidens, as I have no experience with it, is it a slow grower, co2 and higher light? I like it.

The equipment in the tank looks huge . Without it, the tank looks 10 times its size. It's a very good demonstration of perspective.


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## Darkblade48

I think the shrimp just wanted its 15 minutes of fame  I didn't mean for it to be in the picture at all, it just managed to jump in.

Fissidens is a moss, so it is fairly slow growing, and low light tolerant. I suspect that with lower light, it would grow even slower. It does not require CO2 per se (if you are growing it under low light conditions), but of course, CO2 is beneficial, even under low light conditions.

Indeed, the aquarium is tiny. It's slightly shorter than the height of a regular 500 mL bottle of water


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## Darkblade48

Just noticed that one of my berried female's eggs are no longer yellow, but are starting to turn clear. In addition, I can actually see the beady little eyes of the baby shrimp in the individual eggs


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## kaegunim

Great!
Try to grab some photos~


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## Darkblade48

Unfortunately, I do not have a camera with a macro lens, so it will be impossible to take a picture


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## Darkblade48

Saw a few baby shrimp today


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## BettaBeats

awesome! I had red/black gravel in my 10 gal a while back, it was so hard to spot the baby cherries, but I also think that's what kept them alive in the community tank.

Good work! also, what type of plant is that tied to the driftwood?


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## Darkblade48

BettaBeats said:


> Good work! also, what type of plant is that tied to the driftwood?


It is _Fissidens fontanus_ also known as Singapore/Phoenix moss.


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## Darkblade48

So, I was a bit bored today, and ended up tearing apart my 2.5g nano. 

Not to worry, I fixed everything up, and rescaped a bit. Personally, I like this one more, but feel free to comment; I am always looking for ways to improve.

I saw at least 9 baby shrimp while I was rescaping, but I don't know how many baby shrimp I killed  I don't think I crushed any adult shrimp though. On another note, I found a shrimp in my filter 

And the pictures:

Before rescape (I don't know why it's so green, but I didn't bother changing the colour):


Without black background:


Rescaping in progress; what a mess.


Almost done:


Tank is still a bit muddy, and didn't bother taking a FTS with all equipment out. Also, lots of bubbles due to the water change, and the _Fissidens fontanus_ looks all strange because of the new placement.

Finally, obligatory shrimp picture:


Comments are welcome!


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## kaegunim

This angle on the wood makes it much more powerful...

I have issue with it sitting on/overshadowing the right-most rock though... I know that you dont have much room to work with, but I think you need to eithergive them some more separation or somehow (no idea how) link them together more...

Just my thoughts~

PS Wow... you clearly have some powerful experienced mother shrimp. None of mine manages to hold onto nearly that many eggs!


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## NuclearTech

Looks great !


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## Darkblade48

the layout was bothering me a bit, so I tweaked it a little today.


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## Darkblade48

Got aggravated again.

Hopefully, I didn't cause the RCS too much undue stress. Imagine having the furniture in your house rearranged three days in a row by giant tweezers coming from the sky

Oh the mess:


Edit: Here's a full tank shot after the dust settled:


Top down view. The two rocks on the left take up the entire depth of the tank. The rock on the right is just under half the depth of the tank.


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## kaegunim

Can't really see the one rock in the back, but I am not complaining, as it looks nice. The rocks and wood seem to be really getting along in this shot.

The wood seems less heavy in this orientation - good for un-scaling the setup~

I feel the right side need something in front of the wood and blyxa... From the top in the empty space diagonally between the wood and the drop checker.... Some hairgrass there?

The (hopefully) constructive criticisms aside, I am liking this new layout~


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## DaFishMan

"Got aggravated again."

That happens to us all sometimes, right now I'm frustrated with everything tank related since the angelfish went for a gold in high jump. Don't feel like doing anything. It's prob the winter blahs lol. 

It seems like everyone getting hit by algae right now, I'm wondering about the phosphate levels in the tapwater or other unk nasties. 

RCS can be surprisingly tough. 

"Imagine having the furniture in your house rearranged three days in a row by giant tweezers coming from the sky"

I need those, to de-clutter, or pass me a winning lotto ticket. Pass em here


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## Darkblade48

DaFishMan said:


> That happens to us all sometimes, right now I'm frustrated with everything tank related since the angelfish went for a gold in high jump. Don't feel like doing anything. It's prob the winter blahs lol.


Sorry to hear that your fish went out for a walk.  Maybe it got excited by the Olympic ski jumps?



DaFishMan said:


> It seems like everyone getting hit by algae right now, I'm wondering about the phosphate levels in the tapwater or other unk nasties.


Indeed, it looks like I have some Staghorn on my HC. It's aggravating that RCS won't pick at it.



DaFishMan said:


> I need those, to de-clutter, or pass me a winning lotto ticket. Pass em here


In the even that you had to move furniture, sky tweezers would help you


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## Darkblade48

Some updates for *February 28 2010*

Adjusted the hardscape a little.

Before:


After:


Excuse the fact that I didn't bother taking a picture without all the equipment. I had just moved everything around, and didn't want to wait for the dust to settle. Perhaps next week 

Finally, a picture of my attempt to grow HC emersed. It looks like it's doing quite well (better than my submersed form).


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## Darkblade48

Update for *March 4 2010*


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## AquariAM

Darkblade48 said:


> the layout was bothering me a bit, so I tweaked it a little today.


Excellent.


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *March 15 2010.*



The _Fissidens_ has really taken off now.



And a picture of some RCS feeding!


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## kaegunim

She is a preggo little eggo ^_^V

Your HC seems to be spreading a bit more, or am I mistaken?


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## Darkblade48

It's slowly spreading, but you can also see all the BBA that is on it.


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## Byronicle

I was reading how Walstad recommends Organic Potting Soil by Miracle Grow, I am doing it right now and my HC has definitely tripled in like 2 weeks


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## Darkblade48

I wonder if it's the urea that's in the potting soil?

I haven't even read the article yet


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *March 21 2010*

Here's an angled shot of the HC carpet that I have. It's slowly starting to carpet, but it's taking a lot longer than anticipated. It's been nearly two months, and it hasn't really taken off yet  You can probably see some of the BBA that's on there as well (trimming it as we speak)



Full tank shot:


My emersed HC experiment. It isn't really taking off either, but it's slowly spreading.


Finally, a picture of the shrimp. I have so many babies now, every time I do a water change, I wonder how many of them get sucked up and get dumped.


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *March 28 2010*

Excuse the GDA on the glass, I didn't bother cleaning it off before taking a full tank shot. Oh well. There's some BBA that you can see on the rocks as well, ugh. I'm trying my best to keep on top of (it's on some of the HC, and the Fissidens as well)



And here's my HC emersed "experiment"



Shrimp pictures to come in a bit!


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## BettaBeats

looking good! what wattage and light set up is on your tank? the HC is growing in nicely!


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## Darkblade48

BettaBeats said:


> looking good! what wattage and light set up is on your tank? the HC is growing in nicely!


2x 6500K 13W CFL bulb is the current lighting.

The HC is growing in slowly; it seems to take so long to carpet. That and there's some BBA on some of the leaves that I'm slowly trying to fight away.


----------



## Darkblade48

And here is a shrimp picture


----------



## BettaBeats

this is your nano! riiight. I think the HC is worth the time investment. it is a short plant and will provide a nice covering once it grows.

have you worked on the temp/co2/light mixture to get a peak performance out of photosynthesis?

I wish i could get HC in my 10 gal..


----------



## Darkblade48

BettaBeats said:


> this is your nano! riiight. I think the HC is worth the time investment. it is a short plant and will provide a nice covering once it grows.


Yep, this is my tank. But I agree, HC is definitely worth the time and effort. Once grown in, it makes a fantastic lawn.



BettaBeats said:


> have you worked on the temp/co2/light mixture to get a peak performance out of photosynthesis?


I don't really bother; the temperature is set around 76F, the CO2 is set so that it gives my drop checker a nice green shade, and the lights can be moved up/down to increase/decrease the intensity. Of course, fertilization is a must, and I dose EI.


----------



## chhay24

just looking at yours makes me want to start a shrimp tank lol


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## Darkblade48

Do it! You won't regret it


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## Darkblade48

So it's been about a month since my last aquascaping; everything has really started to grow in, but I just noticed that I am really starting to have an algae problem.

It's all over the HC! And into the _Fissidens_ as well!



Can anyone positively ID it for me, and possible remedies?

Lighting is still 2x 13W CFL bulbs
Pressurized CO2, enough to keep a drop checker with a 4 dkH reference solution green
Dosing is via EI regime (I took the 10 gallon tank measurements and scaled down for a 2.5g)


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## Rmwbrown

Everyone always says low CO2 when it comes to Black Beard. Is the regent reading correctly does it need to be changed?

I keep hearing murmurs about H2O2. Seems a bit risky in a nano though. Perhaps you should pull it out of the tank and dose it with Excel/H2O2


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## Darkblade48

Rmwbrown said:


> Everyone always says low CO2 when it comes to Black Beard. Is the regent reading correctly does it need to be changed?
> 
> I keep hearing murmurs about H2O2. Seems a bit risky in a nano though. Perhaps you should pull it out of the tank and dose it with Excel/H2O2


I'm thinking it might be Staghorn, due to its short length, and perhaps not BBA. As far as I know, the 4 dkH reference solution does not "go bad" per se, but I can try changing it out and see if I am actually getting lower than anticipated CO2 levels.

As for H2O2, I cannot really pull the HC out of the tank and treat with Excel/H2O2. That would defeat the purpose of trying to get HC to carpet.


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## Rmwbrown

Break the roots up a bit - get some new growth going!! Fair enough, pulling your plants does put the carpet on hold for another couple weeks. 

I have only ever got rid of staghorn by cutting out as much as possible, doing big water changes and increasing C02. Actually, I also switched over from the Big Al's dechlorinator to Prime thinking there might have been excess ammonia in my tap water. 

That is what i figured with the regent as well. Does it effect the reading if the regent is diluted with tank water?


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## Kevdawg

Might be your filtration. I've only had that problem when I lack good water circulation. That sponge attachment maybe killing your output.


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## Darkblade48

Rmwbrown said:


> Break the roots up a bit - get some new growth going!! Fair enough, pulling your plants does put the carpet on hold for another couple weeks.
> 
> I have only ever got rid of staghorn by cutting out as much as possible, doing big water changes and increasing C02. Actually, I also switched over from the Big Al's dechlorinator to Prime thinking there might have been excess ammonia in my tap water.
> 
> That is what i figured with the regent as well. Does it effect the reading if the regent is diluted with tank water?


If the drop checker was leaky, and tank water managed to mix with the 4 dkH reference solution, then it is possible the readings are off.



Kevdawg said:


> Might be your filtration. I've only had that problem when I lack good water circulation. That sponge attachment maybe killing your output.


Darn; algae, or the lives of baby shrimp?


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## Kevdawg

Darkblade48 said:


> Darn; algae, or the lives of baby shrimp?


Both 

Get a stronger filter and the attachment won't be a problem. I overpower all my tanks. There aren't any good filters for nanos in Canada, but you could always make a DIY canister filter for $25-40 depending on what parts you may already have.


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## Darkblade48

What do you think about using an Eheim 2213 on a 2.5g nano?


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## Kevdawg

Darkblade48 said:


> What do you think about using an Eheim 2213 on a 2.5g nano?


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## Darkblade48

The image has been moved and/or deleted.


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## Mr Fishies

That algae looks to be growing in pretty dense tufts...not the usual "twiggy" staghorn growth I've seen. Staghorn looks like a bare tree in winter, you have something that looks a lot like BBA to me.

I used to have a 7G tank w/ cherries that I used H2O2 on, as long as you stay at ~1ml per gallon you should be OK. Shut the filter off, hit one or two spots with a pipette, small syringe or something similar and wait a few minutes before you turn the filter back on. Give it a day and see if it kills it off. If it works you can hit a patch a day or you can do more than one treatment a day if they're a few hours apart. H2O2 doesn't live very long with circulation and bright light in a planted tank.


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## Darkblade48

Here are some updates for *April 4 2010*

Full tank shot, with all equipment removed from the tank:


Here's an from above tank shot to show the progress of the HC carpet:


Thanks to most people, I think the algae that I have is BBA. It's growing in little tufts, so I'm thinking of blasting it soon with some glutaraldehyde (Excel). I would imagine I would spot treat according to the instructions for a tank my size, and go from there?


A shot of my emersed HC experiment. It's really starting to take off now.


And finally, some shrimp pictures:


They're going crazy over it!


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *April 10 2010*
I've been spot treating with Excel for awhile now, and it seems to be killing off the BBA. However, at the same time, it seems that there was a mass RCS die-off as well, so I'm going to stop for now (> 10 shrimp dead). The problem with Excel in a nano aquarium is that it is very hard to measure out the proper dosage (I am already using a syringe to measure out 200 microlitres).

Also, I haven't really done any maintenance on the tank in a long time, so excuse the overgrown look of the tank.



On another note, the emersed HC is doing quite nicely



Finally, the RCS that are remaining (there's still at least 20 or so):


Note that they aren't as red, etc. I guess that is all due to the Excel.


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *April 18 2010*


Compare with February 28


My emersed HC experiment is doing quite well:

Comparison with February 28


And a little surprise:

Oh no, the horror! You can also see how many shrimp I have in my 2.5g nano (I counted ~25)

So, I decided to rescape the entire 2.5g nano, as I was getting bored with the current scape. It went from the current scape to something a little more sparse.

I'm not really aiming for Iwagumi, but it definitely has that feel to it now.



Here it is just before filling:


And more pictures to come tomorrow after the dust has settled.


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## Darkblade48

The dust has settled a bit, so I snapped a quick picture. I was too lazy to take out the equipment; also excuse the bubbles.


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## igor.kanshyn

It's great. But what the most important, it's different  

Are you sure you need that heater out there? Is it really cold in that room?


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## Darkblade48

It gets a little cold at night (I turn off the heat). Maybe when it gets a bit warmer, I will remove the heater. But for sure, I needed it during the winter (the room temperature drops down to < 10 C, as I turn off the heat to save energy )


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## igor.kanshyn

10C ? Do you live there? It's too cold to live there, I guess


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## Darkblade48

igor.kanshyn said:


> 10C ? Do you live there? It's too cold to live there, I guess


Well, at night I turn off the heat, so whatever the temperature it is outside, it's probably not that much warmer inside 

I do heat the room I sleep in, though.


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## igor.kanshyn

I see. The are some small heaters that can be buried into a gravel. Hydor Mini Aquarium Heater 15w, for instance.

I've never used them, but theoretically this should work and only a wire will be visible. You can consider one of these, when you will change something again


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## Ciddian

LOL Dark I always find myself in horror when I see you tear down the tanks that you make but then I am always delighted soon after to see the new layout. LOL

I keep trying to remind myself that its just a 1 gallon right? or two gallon?

they always look fantastic!


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## arinsi

tips on growing that awesome hc?


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## Darkblade48

igor.kanshyn said:


> I see. The are some small heaters that can be buried into a gravel. Hydor Mini Aquarium Heater 15w, for instance.
> 
> I've never used them, but theoretically this should work and only a wire will be visible. You can consider one of these, when you will change something again


I was considering them, and BA's does have them, but they are quite pricey. The cheap Tetra heater I have seems to work fine, and it only cost me $14 with tax. 



Ciddian said:


> LOL Dark I always find myself in horror when I see you tear down the tanks that you make but then I am always delighted soon after to see the new layout. LOL
> 
> I keep trying to remind myself that its just a 1 gallon right? or two gallon?
> 
> they always look fantastic!


It's a standard 2.5g tank. I'm thinking the new layout already needs some changes. I am definitely not that satisfied with it yet.



arinsi said:


> tips on growing that awesome hc?


The best way is to grow it emersed. I painstakingly planted each individual stem of HC (take a look at the difference from February 28 until this week). It eventually carpets, but there was a lot of problem with BBA, etc. If you take a look at my emersed "experiment", it carpets just as well (if not better), and you don't have to deal with any of the BBA, nutrients, CO2, etc.


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## arktixan

igor.kanshyn said:


> I see. The are some small heaters that can be buried into a gravel. Hydor Mini Aquarium Heater 15w, for instance.
> 
> I've never used them, but theoretically this should work and only a wire will be visible. You can consider one of these, when you will change something again


I bought this one during hte big als madness, paid 21.99 for it..
and i love it, i put it right beside my filter, have my tubing an cord, tied up so it looks neat, an i love it.

with the summer kicking in, i may not use it as much... but winter it will work great.

when using it, i've noticed my temp go up 3 degrees F.
usually hang around 72-74, when i turn on heater goes to 75-77


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## arktixan

Tank looks amazing  i like your experiment... what does HC stand for?

it's really neat, I may want to get my hands on some


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## Darkblade48

arktixan said:


> when using it, i've noticed my temp go up 3 degrees F.
> usually hang around 72-74, when i turn on heater goes to 75-77


This may not be enough for me. The only reason I ended up getting a heater is because I noticed the water temperature dropping to the low 60's in the winter when the (room) heating was off.

I don't think a small Hydor heater will be able to raise the temperature 15 degrees F!



arktixan said:


> Tank looks amazing  i like your experiment... what does HC stand for?
> 
> it's really neat, I may want to get my hands on some


HC = _Hemianthus callitrichoides_


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## arktixan

Darkblade48 said:


> This may not be enough for me. The only reason I ended up getting a heater is because I noticed the water temperature dropping to the low 60's in the winter when the (room) heating was off.
> 
> I don't think a small Hydor heater will be able to raise the temperature 15 degrees F!
> 
> HC = _Hemianthus callitrichoides_


oh ouch... a 15 drop eh? thats is intense... your room in a basement i suppose?


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## Darkblade48

arktixan said:


> oh ouch... a 15 drop eh? thats is intense... your room in a basement i suppose?


Well, half the apartment is below ground, while the other half is above ground (i.e. when I look out the window, it is level with the ground outside)


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## Darkblade48

Tweaked the positioning/angle of the rocks on the right a little.

Also didn't bother taking any of the equipment out


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## arktixan

Darkblade48 said:


> Well, half the apartment is below ground, while the other half is above ground (i.e. when I look out the window, it is level with the ground outside)


That would def do it then!

I like the re-scape  looks good.


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## Darkblade48

Thanks for the comment!　Any other suggestions/criticisms are of course, welcome!

I'm here to learn


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## igor.kanshyn

Iwagumi guys usually place three noticeable rocks.
One is bigger. It's focal point. It's should be located as golden rule suggested.
Other two rocks should 'point' to the main rock. They should lead you sight to the first one if you stop focusing at it.

But this is just rules. To make something really good, you need to break them 
and you already did 

I would try to swap two smaller rocks. I'm not sure that you didn't do this before 
The bigger rock looks fallen. It lead sight to the left. Make it straight
Do not afraid make a tall rock composition. Vertical space can be used as well.

Sorry for giving advices. Your scape so good, that I'm trying to get a piece of its credit  
Good luck!


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *April 25 2010*

Plants are doing pretty well even after being uprooted. The _Blyxa japonica_ is melting a little, but that's expected since it was uprooted. The melting isn't as bad as the first time (when I moved it from Scarborough to London ).

It also turns out that the Red Sea Nano filter is a great shrimp killer. Even with the yellow sponge over the filter intake, it managed to to suck up 4 shrimp overnight...I was working last night, and heard this grinding noise from the filter. Turns out it was the sound of a RCS hitting the impeller  ... So I tried to turn down the filter, reposition the sponge, etc, but still managed to get 4 more shredded shrimp this morning. 

Tank pictures:


The emersed HC


And finally, the RCS. Not to worry, I still managed to count 15+. 


As always, comments/suggestions are welcome


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## arktixan

I am really enjoying your HC project, looks excellent, i gotta get some for my self one day, I think my shrimp would love it.

I really think you should pick up one of these 
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17904/si4371555/cl0/breederspongefilter30

to prevent any more deaths.


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## Darkblade48

arktixan said:


> I am really enjoying your HC project, looks excellent, i gotta get some for my self one day, I think my shrimp would love it.


Thanks! Growing the HC emersed is definitely much easier than trying to deal with the (inevitable) algae that will form when you are trying to get it to carpet when immersed in water.



arktixan said:


> I really think you should pick up one of these
> http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17904/si4371555/cl0/breederspongefilter30
> 
> to prevent any more deaths.


I think of it as survival of the fittest.  Only the strong RCS will be able to swim away from the impeller of doom 

While a sponge filter would be nice, space is truly a premium inside a 2.5g tank, so I'll stay with the Red Sea Nano with the sponge over the intake. I'll probably decrease the flow even more (with the adjustable knob), or perhaps snip the blades of the impeller if things really get bad.


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## Darkblade48

Just a picture I thought I'd share


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## AquaNekoMobile

Kevdawg said:


>


Got to ask, what movie is that from?


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## AquaNekoMobile

Darkblade48 said:


> Updates for *April 25 2010*
> 
> Plants are doing pretty well even after being uprooted. The _Blyxa japonica_ is melting a little, but that's expected since it was uprooted. The melting isn't as bad as the first time (when I moved it from Scarborough to London ).
> 
> It also turns out that the Red Sea Nano filter is a great shrimp killer. Even with the yellow sponge over the filter intake, it managed to to suck up 4 shrimp overnight...I was working last night, and heard this grinding noise from the filter. Turns out it was the sound of a RCS hitting the impeller  ... So I tried to turn down the filter, reposition the sponge, etc, but still managed to get 4 more shredded shrimp this morning.
> 
> As always, comments/suggestions are welcome


I keep getting that scene in Deuce Bigalow where Anton comes home and I think some girl blends I think the puffer fish which was put in the blender as a container to hold the fish and Anton drinks it as a margerita and comments 'A little spicy'. Well anyways that's what I thoguht when I read the RCS going through the impeller. BTW what species RCS are yours? They are freaking intense red!


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## Darkblade48

AquaNekoMobile said:


> BTW what species RCS are yours? They are freaking intense red!


They are your standard _Neocaridina heteropoda_


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## Mr Fishies

AquaNekoMobile said:


> Got to ask, what movie is that from?


Starsky and Hutch

See 1:15


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## TBemba

I have an opinion 

It looks amazing would like to try this one day.

I have a sponge like the one at Ba's in a 1.5 gal and takes up less than a 1/3 of the tank and shrimp love sponge filters they hang out on them because it is a great source of food. I would look at getting all the same type of rock I think it is one of the secrets of getting the real landscape feel.


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## Darkblade48

TBemba said:


> I would look at getting all the same type of rock I think it is one of the secrets of getting the real landscape feel.


The rocks that are currently in the aquarium are all seiryuuseki. It's just that the texture of the small rock on the left is slightly off (darn, I didn't have enough pieces to choose from afterall).


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *May 2 2010*

Full tank shot:


Here's a shot of one of the female RCS doing her thing:


Finally, a shot of my emersed HC. Sharp people might notice that a rather large chunk of it seems to be missing. I have a good reason for that!



Tada!




Updates to follow!


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## igor.kanshyn

Darkblade48 said:


> Tada!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Updates to follow!


Wow, you've got a new rimless tank!
I'm jealous!


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## Darkblade48

An update for *May 16 2010*

Full tank shot:


A picture of the emersed HC. It's bouncing back pretty quickly even though I trimmed a large portion of it out.


Growth of the emersed HC in the other tank.


Finally, some shrimp.


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## arktixan

if you don't mind me asking, how did you grow your HC?

I've noticed a small container...
thats about it 
I got some HC, and wanna try what you've done, looks very successful!

another silly does HC =Glossostigma elatinoides?
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/101286073/Glossostigma_Elatinoides_Live_Aquarium_Plant.jpg


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## Darkblade48

arktixan said:


> if you don't mind me asking, how did you grow your HC?


I have grown it several ways.

In my current 2.5g nano, I started it immersed. For fun, I also started a small pot of it emersed.

For my new Mini-S, I am growing all of the HC emersed first.



arktixan said:


> another silly does HC =Glossostigma elatinoides?


HC = _Hemianthus callitrichoides_


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## arktixan

Darkblade48 said:


> HC = _Hemianthus callitrichoides_


cool thanks!

boy they really look similar the HC, and Glossostigma elatinoides (which is what I have)


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## Darkblade48

arktixan said:


> boy they really look similar the HC, and Glossostigma elatinoides (which is what I have)


Not at all. HC has much smaller leaves when compared with Glosso.


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *May 24 2010*

The HC is finally taking off to the point that I have to trim it back from time to time 

The _Blyxa japonica_ is also really starting to take over the sides of the tank.



I usually take out my equipment (heater, filter) when I do my photos, and as usual, today was no exception. I left my filter out in a plastic container for about 45 minutes as I was changing the water, etc.

Anyway, as I was about to put back the filter, I thought "maybe I'll squeeze out the sponge that covers the filter intake". To my surprise, two shrimp were trapped in the filter strainer 

However, after placing them back into water, they seemed fine, and even swam out. Crazy shrimp! 

And finally, the ADA Mini-S with the emersed HC carpet.



Edit: Almost forgot my other emersed HC picture.


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## ShrimpieLove

love how the tank looks! so green and what a nice carpet  how many shrimp approximately do you have in the 2.5? 
love it!


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## Darkblade48

Thanks for the comment!

I have about 12-15 now (at least, that I can count). I had a lot more before a massive die back a few weeks ago.


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## ShrimpieLove

awesome  I was curious how many shrimp can live in a smaller tank, I have a new 5.5 gallon, not sure what Im going to put in it yet, but possibly just a cherry shrimp tank or a crystal red shrimp tank and wondered how many can be happy and healthy in a small environment? one of My cherry shrimp is pregnant so I may have some instant inhabitants for My new tank... I would love My new tank to look like yours  that blyxa japonica is really pretty... I have some Echinodorus tennelus that looks sorta similar in shape but not as nice as the blyxa you have, but My amano shrimp destroyed it and now its very short...


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## Darkblade48

A 5.5 g tank should be able to support quite a sizable population of shrimp.

I would suggest you start off with RCS rather than CRS, and the latter are much more sensitive to water conditions, and can be quite expensive.

As for your _E. tenellus_, it is unlikely that your Amano shrimp destroyed it...


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## ShrimpieLove

ok thanks for the info! Ill have lots of RCS soon  
really beautiful tank !!


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *May 30 2010*.

Full tank shot. The _Blyxa japonica_ is really starting to look overgrown. If anyone is interested, I may have a few plants for sale (I am coming back to Toronto this weekend!)



Haven't had a shrimp picture in a long time. Since my last die-off, I haven't seen any berried shrimp in a long time, until today.



My emersed HC growth:



And finally, the ADA Mini-S emersed HC growth. So far, so good!


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## DaFishMan

The nano and emmersed plants are looking good


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## Darkblade48

Thanks!

The Mini-S HC carpet is growing quite well, while the _Blyxa japonica_ in the 2.5g nano is really starting to get overgrown.


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## arktixan

I want your HC!


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## Darkblade48

Do you mean you want to buy some, or want to have a nice HC carpet?


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## arktixan

Darkblade48 said:


> Do you mean you want to buy some, or want to have a nice HC carpet?


A little bit of column A.... and a little bit of column B .


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## Darkblade48

I may have some for sale during the next long weekend  Keep your eyes open!


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## arktixan

Darkblade48 said:


> I may have some for sale during the next long weekend  Keep your eyes open!


will you be in Scarb during that long weekend... I know I should be in scarb.


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## Darkblade48

Unless something unexpected comes up, I intend to be in Scarborough during the Canada Day weekend (I plan to take a vacation day on Friday)


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *June 13 2010*

Full tank shot:


ADA Mini-S emersed carpet progress.


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## igor.kanshyn

Cool!
The first picture shows a real underwater garden. It's perfect.


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## Darkblade48

Some updates for this week of *June 20 2010*

A somewhat rarer, zoomed out FTS of my 2.5g nano. It's really starting to get overgrown, so I'll probably be rescaping soon. Either that, or moving everything over to the Mini-S, since the HC carpet is looking quite filled in at this point.



Here's a pregnant RCS


And finally a FTS of the Mini-S


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## Darkblade48

Updates for *June 27 2010*

This will be the last update for the 2.5g nano...

The unimaginable horror!


It's finished for now 


I may use the 2.5g nano in the future for an emersed setup (or maybe I'll just start another aquarium...), we'll see 

Check out my new journal below:
http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?p=119050


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## DaFishMan

Noooooooooooooooooooooo


----------



## killer007

>.< you take the tank down?


----------



## Darkblade48

Yes, I tore down the old 2.5g nano and set up the ADA Mini-S. However, keep checking back for updates  I will have a surprise soon!


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## killer007

hahahhaha excellent excellent
i like surprise...


----------



## Darkblade48

Here's your surprise . I ended up using my 2.5g nano tank as an emersed grow out tank.

Here comes the HC and the Dwarf Hairgrass. It's my first time trying to grow the Dwarf Hairgrass emersed; we'll see how it does.


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## camboy012406

very nice tank.. i wish i would end up like yours..im so jealous!raaaaaarr!. could you help me please????????????????????????


----------



## Jsu

What are you using as a subtrate, how much light are you using and how long is your light period. Im growing ricca, HM, moss (not doing too well) and hair grass emersed. Everything is good but slow.


----------



## Darkblade48

camboy012406 said:


> very nice tank.. i wish i would end up like yours..im so jealous!raaaaaarr!. could you help me please????????????????????????


What do you need help with?



Jsu said:


> What are you using as a subtrate, how much light are you using and how long is your light period. Im growing ricca, HM, moss (not doing too well) and hair grass emersed. Everything is good but slow.


Flourite Black Sand is being used as substrate. The current lighting over the tank is 13W CFL 6500K, for a duration of 8 hours.

In general, emersed growth takes some time for the plant to adjust to, and once it has, it will begin to take off. My small carpet of HC in my Mini-S took approximately 8 weeks to cover half the tank.


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## arinsi

i like your choice in plants


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## joe

Darkblade48 said:


> Some updates for this week of *June 20 2010*
> 
> A somewhat rarer, zoomed out FTS of my 2.5g nano. It's really starting to get overgrown, so I'll probably be rescaping soon. Either that, or moving everything over to the Mini-S, since the HC carpet is looking quite filled in at this point.
> 
> 
> 
> Here's a pregnant RCS
> 
> 
> And finally a FTS of the Mini-S


this setup was a keeper! last pic the dry one with the tree


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## Darkblade48

joe said:


> this setup was a keeper! last pic the dry one with the tree


You can see the updates of that aquarium here:

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22150


----------

