New 3 Gallon

[PrettyFishies]

Hello all,

I just bought a 3 gal Eclipse for my office desk. I also bought E Tennellus, java fern and anubias nana. The WG should be 2 with the 6W T-5 bulb included. My questions are about substrate and additives.

Do I need eco-complete or will they thrive with just gravel?

I plan on dosing with Flourish. Are these compatible with Excel? Will I need Potassium or phosphate/nitrogen with such a small tank?

Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Purrbox]

6 Watts really isn't very much light over such a small tank. It's probably going to behave like a low light tank at best.

Gravel should be fine, just make sure to pick out one that is fine grained and doesn't have sharp edges. You may want to use root tabs to give it a boost. Since most of your plants will be tied to rocks or driftwood this may not be necessary.

The only plants that usually have problems with Excel are Anacharis and Vals, since you're planning on neither it should be fine. It's not the size of the tank that determines what ferts are necessary but rather a combination of light level, plant density and types, and bioload. With such low light you'll probably only need to dose Flourish Comprehensive and Flourish Potassium. A few fish will probably provide enough Nitrates and Phosphates.

 

[travis simonson]

Purrbox is, as always, dead-on. Avoid burying the rhizome (the large tuber-looking part) of the Java fern and Anubias beneath the substrate if you decide not to attach them to wood or rock. They need to remain somewhat above the surface of the substrate or they tend to rot. The roots themselves can go under the gravel, but the rhizome of the plant should remain slightly exposed.

 

[PrettyFishies]

What other plants can I add to teh mix? will petite anubias nana be okay?

 

[Purrbox]

Anubias Nana "Petite" would be perfect for that size tank. You might want to look into Java Moss as well. Some of the smaller Crypts would also work.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Yeah I have Java moss at home...nice healthy bunch that sprung up on my DW one day I'll look into the crypts...