2.5g Planted FW nano

[afilter]

Ok these two posts have motivated me to set up a fw planted nano in my office:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=87041

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewto...=726840#726840

Here is what I have so far:

Equipment
2.5g standard tank
natural carbonate sand (lizzard substrate) washed completely
Whisper 5-15g HOB filter Sponge and Pura Pad
Coralife mini light (2x 9w 5000k daylight bulbs) 18W total
AP plant tabs 11-15-20 (crushed and mixed in sand) 3 tabs
Kent liquid freshwater plant additive

Plants:
small Anubias
4 small vals
Baby breath (?)

Critters:
1 male betta
1-2 small snails (planning)
Shrimp(?) (planning)

The filter(smallest I had) is mounted on end of tank and does seem to produce a bit of current. Do you think I need to run it 24/7?

It has been years since I have done planted tank and much of the equipment/products have changed.

I am prepared to do a small CO2 soda bottle reactor if needed (old school).

Any thoughts on equipment or plants?

Here is a pic Quality not that great used my PDA



TIA,

[WaterPond]

looks like you'r off to a great start. How about a nice peice of driftwood in there and a black bacckground, that would look sweet. I would also recommend some java fern and java moss. LOOKS REALLY BRIGHT! plands should love that but such a bright tank is a pain to photograph IMO. Good luck with it!

[Purrbox]

You may want to reconsider your substrate, as it will likely raise the KH of the tank. This may or may not be desirable depending on your water and how much the substrate affects the KH.

You will want to either run the filter 24/7 or not use it. You could plant heavily enough to allow you plants to be the filter. If you find that this filter is too much for the tank, you could check out either the Red Sea Nano Filter or the Azoo Palm Filter. Both are quite small and designed for this size tank.

It's kinda hard to tell whether or not CO2 will be necessary on this size tank. If you didn't have the Vals I'd recommend simply supplementing using Flourish Excel. This is a much simpler method of adding Carbon to small tanks. As it is you'd probably want to look at DIY CO2 if you find that it's necessary, or just want better growth.

One last thing you'll probably want to get is a more comprehensive set of ferts. The product you already have only has Potassium and Micronutrients. You'll likely need Nitrates and Phosphates, unless you stock the tank heavily.

[afilter]

Originally Posted by WaterPond

looks like you'r off to a great start. How about a nice peice of driftwood in there and a black bacckground, that would look sweet.

Both in the plans, just need to find a suitable piece of wood that won't float. I think I gave all mine to my brother who maintaned a FW setup when I transitioned to SW several years ago. I also had some nice petrified rocks at one time.

Originally Posted by Purrbox

You may want to reconsider your substrate, as it will likely raise the KH of the tank. .

I will watch it. i was the only white sand I could find this time of year that did not have silicates.

Originally Posted by Purrbox

You will want to either run the filter 24/7 or not use it. You could plant heavily enough to allow you plants to be the filter.

Going to keep the filter going for now as long as it does not bother the betta. I will be adding more plants in a few weeks.

Originally Posted by Purrbox

It's kinda hard to tell whether or not CO2 will be necessary on this size tank.....One last thing you'll probably want to get is a more comprehensive set of ferts. .

I will be watching the CO2 as well as looking into some other ferts. In the old days I just added CO2 fertiled with laterite and added florapride. Of course my tnaks were more heavily stocked with fish.

Thanks for all the advice,

[afilter]

Did some upgrading this AM.

Added:
Drift wood
Rock
Background

It is like a mini version of the 30-75g planted tanks I used to keep years ago.

Here are the initial results:

[WaterPond]

looks better! lol. Love the betta too!

[rich311k]

Looking good!!