At Long Last.... Sydney's Rimless Tank Build!

[Brian_Nano12g]

Glad to see you back. Sorry to hear about the goats. I know how rough school can be, so I feel you!

Anyways, I think if you stay constant with ferts, photoperiod, and CO2, your plants should recover. Don't think the light is the culprit. I use the same one on my 6g, which is actually 1" taller than your tank.

After I tore down my tanks after my apartment fire, I had the 6g setup as a holding tank. I put a bunch of plants in there (i.e. rotala, blyxa, s. Repens, DHG, marsilea minuta, pogostemon erectus, etc.) and everything grew... even the carpeting plants.

Here's the 6g with the Fugeray-R in both scapes, even so the first one was short-lived with that light.

Hang in there and stay on top of it. Do you not have your light on a timer?

 

[GreenLily]

Sorry to hear that you had a rough month. I hope this month will be better for you! It looks like the one (sorry, I'm horrible with plant id's) on the branch (3rd pic) has grown a little bit since the last pic. I really like that you have it growing there on the branch. I spy with my eye.. A shrimp? Or is it a leaf that looks like a shrimp? Beautiful betta!

 

[Scottyhorse]

Thank you guys


Lily, yes, that is an Amano shrimp I had three, one was super awesome looking, but I think two ended up walking. That Betta is a PITA!!!! I've had him for three weeks, and finally got him to eat last night....boiled peas. He is also being treated with API General Cure.

Brian, the light is not on a timer. I am going into town for another doctors appointment, and I have a list of things I need to get, so I will grab a timer too! Will that clear the algae up?

I did also get some more plants from the other Brian (OS) including more AR mini. Unfortunately, they all froze All the leaves are intact, but the color bled out of the leaves (?). Hopefully they will recover.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Couple pics of the AR Mini. Will plant them later today an put some root tabs in as well.

 

[GreenLily]

Well, that betta will certainly be regular, won't he? What other kinds of food have you tried on him? Darn all this talk about bettas! I want one really bad!

 

[Old Scales]

The green plants in the two pics sure don't look like AR mini. lol. Were the plants actually froze or just real cold? As long as they didn't freeze they should recover. Did you slowly let them get to room temp as I said in the letter? OS.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Well, that betta will certainly be regular, won't he? What other kinds of food have you tried on him? Darn all this talk about bettas! I want one really bad!

LOL! I have tried Omega One Betta Pellets, Omega One Tropical Fish Flake, Omega One Shrimp Pellets (crushed) and the betta and shrimp pellets soaked in garlic. He went after those, but didn't eat it. He was tearing up the peas! I am getting at least 2 more Bettas tomorrow....

 

[Scottyhorse]

The green plants in the two pics sure don't look like AR mini. lol. Were the plants actually froze or just real cold? As long as they didn't freeze they should recover. Did you slowly let them get to room temp as I said in the letter? OS.

They sure don't, do they? LOL The AR mini wasn't frozen, but I think the paper towels were, part of them anyways.... The paper towels that the Ludwigia and such were in were partially frozen as well. They look the same as the AR mini. I did let them come to room temp for an hour or so. I pulled everything apart, into individual stems instead of one clump, I think that might have helped them de-thawed.

 

[Old Scales]

SO sorry to here that. If the actual plant cells didn't freeze then they might pull out. Keep me posted. Brian. (OS)

 

[Scottyhorse]

It's ok, not your fault at all. If they had gotten here a few days earlier, I think they would hae just missed the really cold weather. I think it's on UPS, seems like they took forever to ship! We will just hope for the best

 

[Fresh2o]

It's ok, not your fault at all. If they had gotten here a few days earlier, I think they would hae just missed the really cold weather. I think it's on UPS, seems like they took forever to ship! We will just hope for the best

Hope the mini AR pull through. They are tough little plants. I got some from OS as well and due to misrouting and me being out of town they were in the shipping package over nine days. They did not freeze (spent most of the time in a PO probably). They bounced back.

Next time I trim the star repens I can send some up your way if interested. Let me know.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Brian, the light is not on a timer. I am going into town for another doctors appointment, and I have a list of things I need to get, so I will grab a timer too! Will that clear the algae up?

Yay for the timer! They do wonders for such an inexpensive add-on. Algae? What kind do you have? I'd go with h2o2 on the anubias. Excel (glut) for everything else, especially if it's green and fuzzy. If it's long stringy in green or brown, filamentous like, then algaefix worked for me. For GSA, that would be an increase in PO4.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Fres2o- I sure hope it bounces back And as for the S. Repens, that'd be great!!!!

Brian- I am sure the timer will be nice to have. In regards to the algae.... I think I have green spot algae on the glass, some black stuff on the anubias, and then brown slimy diatomes on the glass as well. Those don't bug me, I know they are normal and they are easy enough to remove

 

[Fresh2o]

Fres2o- I sure hope it bounces back And as for the S. Repens, that'd be great!!!!

Brian- I am sure the timer will be nice to have. In regards to the algae.... I think I have green spot algae on the glass, some black stuff on the anubias, and then brown slimy diatomes on the glass as well. Those don't bug me, I know they are normal and they are easy enough to remove

Here's a pic of the star repens with the mini AR to the right. There is quite a bit of under growth that will respond when the upper stems are trimmed off. Up until now I've been replanting them but I am running out of real estate. These came from a topfin gel pack from PetsMart 4 months ago.

 

[Sk3lly]

Fresh when you take a trimming from the stem plants, will they automatically grow roots?? Or do the trimmings need to have pre existing aerial roots?

 

[Rivercats]

Fresh when you take a trimming from the stem plants, will they automatically grow roots?? Or do the trimmings need to have pre existing aerial roots?

Stem plants can be trimmed and tops replanted. They do not need any roots as new roots will form off the end of the planted stem.

 

[Sk3lly]

I shall stop chucking them out then

 

[Scottyhorse]

Got the tank on a timer. Not seeing any change in the plants. Not growing at all.. :/

 

[Fresh2o]

Got the tank on a timer. Not seeing any change in the plants. Not growing at all.. :/

The timer won't increase your plant growth. It is more to control the growth of algae.
You may want to consider DIY CO2. Pretty simple to setup and maintain. I've seen tremendous results using it versus not using it.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I think the timer helps in growth in that you get a consistent photoperiod and you never forget to turn the light on or off.. and yes, algae control. Fresh is right about DIY CO2. Does wonders on a budget. If you go to my GLA 6g thread... I grew DHG and Blyxa with the Fugeray-R + DIY co2 and glut. After the fire, I used pressurized co2 + Fugeray-R in my 6g to hold my plants after I tore down the 60P. All the plants grew... even the red ones and semi-difficult ones like rotala macrandra and pogostemon erectus. You just have to maintain the trinity - co2, light, and ferts... and more importantly, stay consistent. Slow and steady wins the race!