# 2.5g planted nano: A brief glimpse back in time



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Well, after a long time of debate and plain being lazy, I've finally gotten around to posting my log of my 2.5g planted nano that I had up for about half a year before I moved to Japan (where I am currently working).

Do note that this tank was started in January of last year, and was up until approximately July (well, it fell into disarray around June or so, but&#8230. Here are some pictures, as well as my comments (from what I remember, etc).

Hope you all enjoy, and feel free to comment, I'm still a beginner to aquascaping!

Some basic tank specs:
2.5 gallon nano
Planted, no fauna
Lighting: 13W CFL 6500K at first, changed to 2x 13W CFL 6500K on February 19 2008. 
Filter: Red Sea Nano HOB filter
Substrate: Flourite 
Fertilization regime: EI dosing, alternating with macros and micros, with a 50% water change on the 7th day.
Plants: Varies. Cryptocoryne willsii, Java Fern, Anubias nana var. nana, Dwarf Hairgrass, Java Moss, Riccia fluitans, Bacopa monnieri, Hemianthus micranthemoides (HM)

*January 26 2008 *

Here's the tank shortly after setup. I've already rinsed the fluorite, but you can see it's still a nightmare to work with. Filter is a Red Sea Nano. I also have a (largish) 50 watt heater in there at this time. Also a (huge) piece of driftwood.

*January 27 2008*

After a day, almost everything has settled down. You can see how hugely unproportional everything is. There's a huge piece of driftwood, and a huge Anubias nana var. nana attached to it. The heater barely fits inside, and a thermometer is almost the height of the aquarium! Current lighting is a single 13 watt CFL daylight (6500K) bulb.

*February 2 2008*

Mostly clear now. You can see how large the heater really is. I moved the driftwood a little and planted some smallish Cryptocorynes (probably wendtii or more likely a willsii). I was hoping that they'd stay small with higher light. Also had a Java Fern attached to the piece of driftwood. Everything is too out of proportion (leaf size of the Fern, the Anubias, etc). Also added a black background (just a piece of black construction paper).

*February 19 2008*

Another update. This time, thanks to dekstr, I've gotten some Java Moss as well as Dwarf Hairgrass. I'm trying to grow a Java Moss wall (hence the plastic canvas in the back). The Dwarf Hairgrass has taken the spot of the Crypts, and the aforementioned have been moved to in front of the driftwood. I've also added a 2L bottle of DIY CO2, since I've added an additional 13W bulb. You can see my DIY CO2 drop checker as well (a lovely shade of yellow, indicating I have a lot of CO2 in there. I was getting about 1 bubble per 2 seconds, and the CO2 line was being fed into the HOB filter to have the bubbles smashed up by the filter. No fauna are present, so I didn't really care about CO2 levels (as long as it was high).

*February 22 2008*

I removed the Crypt because they just melted on me. I gave up trying to save them (and I was too impatient). Perhaps they melted due to the change in light (or more likely, that I uprooted them so many times!). The Java Moss and Dwarf Hairgrass already seem to be taking off, but I noticed a bit of algae on the Dwarf Hairgrass.


*March 1 2008*

Added a Riccia sandwich and left it floating (anchored to the trim around the tank with a paper clip (I didn't like it floating around the filter current all the time). You'll notice a green tinge to the water as well (I thought this was the start of green water!)

*March 8 2008*

Definitely a green tinge now. Eck.

*March 9 2008*

It's a little less green after some partial water changes, but still there. I've planted some Bacopa monnieri in the middle (just because I had nowhere else to put it and didn't feel like throwing it out. I need more tanks!). The Dwarf Hairgrass seems to be filling in quite nicely.

*March 16 2008*

A huge change. Decided to forego the driftwood for some zebra rock, and more of an Amano style. Shifted everything around. The Dwarf Hairgrass was planted behind the three zebra rocks; I was hoping to create a "grassy" background. The Java Moss is finally starting to poke through as well. The B. monnieri was moved to the corner. I also added some floating H. polysperma for the time being in order to absorb any excess nutrients that might be present. I tossed the floating Riccia sandwich, as it was getting covered in algae (due to improper maintenance, etc). More importantly, it was proof of principle that a Riccia sandwich would work (more on this later).

*March 22 2008*

Another water change (excuse the bubbles). The H. polysperma isn't really doing anything to hold back the algae (you can see a green tinge; it was greener before the water change).

*March 28 2008*

Full blown green water! Several water changes reduced the opacity of the water, but didn't help much (not pictured).

*March 29 2008*

A semi-rare shot showing equipment and some of the fertilizers/tools that I use. The tank is a bit clearer than the day before mainly due to the mass hydrogen peroxide bombing I did. I was desperate. You can see that the oxidation took a heavy toll on the Dwarf Hairgrass, which appears a lot thinner than before. I can't quite remember here, but I believe I ended up carrying out a 3 day blackout to eliminate the green water.

*April 5 2008*

Excuse the yeast fuzz on the CO2 tubing. The Java Moss wall seems to be coming along nicely, but isn't growing evenly. The Dwarf Hairgrass seems to be making a comeback. From the "experiments" with the floating Riccia matt in March, I tried to make a Riccia carpet. Some plant weights were sandwiched along with the Riccia to make it sink. Why didn't I just cover the whole foreground? At the time, I think I didn't have enough Riccia, and also, I wanted to test this out (another proof of principle).

*April 14 2008*

Not much change here, just an update picture. The Riccia is growing through the holes in the plastic canvas.

*April 20 2008*

Riccia is growing in very nicely. Notice all the pearling. The Bacopa (the one that I couldn't bring myself to throwing out) is starting to take over the right corner.

*April 23 2008*

Added another Riccia sandwich, as the proof of principle has proven its point. The other Riccia matt is growing pretty thick and bushy. Even more pearling. Sometimes, there's so much pearling that the entire matt is buoyant enough to lift it to the surface.

*April 26 2008*

3 days later, the second Riccia matt is taking off. The Bacopa really is taking over, and the Dwarf Hairgrass is growing in nice and green.

*May 5 2008*

Sold my Bacopa, but found some Hemianthus micranthemoides (HM) in my original Riccia matt that I keep in my 10g. Thought it was cool, so I put it in the place of the Bacopa. The Riccia matts are just taking off like there's no tomorrow, pearling like crazy.


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

*...Continued...*

*May 8 2008*

Rehoused the HM, as I didn't like it at all. Probably one of the better pictures from my collection. Don't mind the dark blue colour of the drop checker liquid, as I was testing out a new CO2 drop checker for a GTA Aquaria user.

*May 13 2008*

Removed the Java Moss Wall, as it was getting a little hard to maintain/clean (little bits of Riccia/Java Moss just got everywhere). In addition, return of the green water! A pretty mild case, so I tried a water change, and this was the result:

Temporarily, better, but&#8230;.

*May 18 2008*

Yay, my birthday! A lovely 2.5g nano. The Dwarf Hairgrass is really getting out of hand (thick, long, etc). The Riccia is still pearling like crazy. Unfortunately, I had a large Clown Loach in my 90g pass away as well. I've had it for the last 4 years, so it was a big loss for me. I'd say he's quite a bit older than 4 years, since he was about 5-6 inches standard length (not including tail).

*May 30 2008*

You can see the nightmare that a high light tank becomes. The Dwarf Hairgrass has completely overrun the tank. I tried to take some out, and you can see the roots (ugh) of the plants, since they just send runners all under the substrate. I also got tired of the Riccia pearling so much causing the entire matt to float up, so I took a pair of scissors and went trim happy.

*June 11 2008*

Having grown tired of the Dwarf Hairgrass running rampant, I went insane and just pulled up everything and took a pair of scissors to it all. This is the result. Very artificial looking, but read on&#8230;

*June 16 2008*

You can see the effects of uprooting and disturbing the substrate. More green water that is starting to show up. I've really been neglecting the tank as well (well, ever since May, really). However, do note how fast the Riccia grew in 5 days. In addition, the Dwarf Hairgrass has grown so much that it no longer looks artificial (compare with 5 days ago!)

*June 29 2008*


Another semi-rare backed up shot as well as a closer shot. Ignore the big, blue stuffed bear on the right. Also ignore my laptop on the left. I'm pretty sure this was after a 3 day blackout in an attempt to kill the green water. Worked pretty well, but the Dwarf Hairgrass took a hit (note the yellowing).

*July 19 2008*


My final update. Two final shots, with and without the black background. You'll note that the Dwarf Hairgrass is growing like mad again. I tried to remove some, but again, you can see the roots (ugh). Due to neglect, the Riccia really isn't doing too well, and there's a ton of algae (BGA, mainly). Some thread algae, or maybe what appears to be staghorn.

Anyways, that's the end of my 2.5 g nano journal. Approximately 7 months of pictures and such. Shortly following this (around the last week of July), I tore down the entire tank.

Edit: P.S. I didn't know there was a 10000 character limit on post length. Guess I hit it. Sorry for the realllllly long post, but I'm sure this is long overdue.


----------



## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

I always love reading youR threads ..

Could you please tell me where you get the plastic canvas ....my friend gave me some told me it was in the dollar store , but i just cant find it .


funny , with the big tank gone (going) I was thinking a small 10 gl , and doing what you are ...

do you mind if I copy ? thanks 
well not copy , but you have some great ideas .

This is amazing .....


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Thanks for the comments.

I find the plastic canvas at Walmart, in the "art" section.

Of course, I don't mind if you use my ideas.


----------



## killer007 (Feb 10, 2010)

WOW....so nice....
very amazing...
its hard to work in smaller tanks


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

An interesting blast from the past 

You can see my updated 2.5g nano tank and its reincarnation in my other thread


----------

