Pete's 5 Gallon Paradise

[JessieVB]

Waiting for the plant ferts to get in (I ordered some last night or the night before... I forget when now).

I walked into the living room and saw Pete hanging out around the tank ornament. He got kinda stuck for a second, when he got out he had this air of "I meant to do that." Cracked me up. He's definitely coloring up nicely. A nice dark pink now.

 

[Karackle]

sounds good! I can't wait to see how it all comes together!!!

 

[JessieVB]

Ferts and test kit just got in! Finally able to get test results (yes I should have gotten a test kit sooner, so huge shame on me.)

Anyway, the Aponogeton is doing great (aside from some deficiencies that warranted the ferts). Two stems are hitting the surface of the water (counted 16 stems in total).

After a scare of Pete possibly having swim bladder last night, he seems to be doing good. He's no longer floating and is swimming normally; I will, however, presoak his food to avoid swim bladder.

My pH tested at 8.2 (maybe 8.3, hard to tell), so I tested the tap water and its testing at 7.8 (maybe 7.9 or 8.0). I have no intentions of playing with the pH, but thought a pH this high was odd and worth mentioning.

 

[Purrbox]

There was probably some dissolved CO2 in the tap water which is why the pH was a bit lower in the tap than in the aquarium. Just means that you've got hard water. Great for certain types of cichlids.

 

[JessieVB]

Everyone always says we have hard water, maybe I can look on on the net and see if I can find the specs. . . Thanks Purrbox!

Did the search and I think you're absolutely right. Not sure what the units are, but here's the numbers I found (from the city's municipal report for 2007) 2.6 for Total Organic Carbon, Hardness (GPG) at 17.1, pH at 7.56, and calcium at 176. Again, no clue what any of this means (except pH), but seems to support what you said. I can include a screenshot of the entire report if anyone is interested.

 

[Karackle]

Any picture updates?

 

[JessieVB]

lol. I will have to get some pictures up tonight. The plant is growing like crazy. 17 stems as of this morning. Will update once I get pictures.

 

[Karackle]

awesome! Glad it's going well!!! How's Pete?

 

[JessieVB]

He seems to be doing well. Lots of swimming. He likes to hide under the plant now that its filled in a bit more.

 

[Karackle]

sounds great! I can't wait to see the pictures when you get a chance!

 

[JessieVB]

Thought I'd give an update on the tank. No current pictures . But I did find my camera cord, so I'll upload pictures when I go back home this weekend and can take more pictures of the tank.

On Friday, I emptied the 5 gal. tank of all water except for an inch or so above the gravel, transferred Pete to the old 1 gal. for the hour ride home. When I got home, I got the last of the BGA out of the tank and set it up. I threw out the Aponogeton, which was dying and smothered in BGA. Went to PetSmart this weekend and picked up a new plant. I will look up what is later, slips my mind what it is right now, but its lowlight.

Quick question, how do I make sure that my WPG is around 2-ish? I have a 15watt light over a 5 gal. tank.

Anywho, here's a pic from when Pete was in his 1 gal.:

 

[Purrbox]

Figuring out lighting on these small aquariums is tricky since we can't use the WPG "rule". I've got 36 watts over my 5.5 gallon and I'd probably place it somewhere around medium to medium high light. Definately no more than high light.

 

[JessieVB]

Ty Purrbox. I just looked up what I bought at PetSmart, and it was a Moneywort. I was going to get an Anubias but they were all dying, and the moneyworts looked ok and were labeled low light.

 

[Purrbox]

Unfortunately I doubt most would agree with labeling Moneywort a low light plant. I looked it up at PlantGeek and it is listed as a medium light plant, which I find much closer to accurate.

 

[JessieVB]

Shold I take the Moneywort back and exchange it for hornwort if they'll let me?

Or will a 25 watt light be enough for the tank? I found a 25 watt light bulb thats compatible with my tank that I could get by this weekend. (I currently have a 15W light.)

 

[Purrbox]

The only way to know for sure is to give it a try. I suspect that it will allow you to achieve your goals though.

 

[Karackle]

I only have 15 watts over my 20 gallon high tank and I somehow get great growth in there. Even near the bottom. I planted some short stems of Wisteria, and they are growing like mad, i have some small crypt wendtii red that shoots out lots of new leaves and is quite low to the ground AND somewhat in the shadow of my driftwood....i don't know about the moneywort, but it sounds like you have a decent amount of light, i'd say it's worth a shot!

Can't wait to see the new pics!!!

 

[JessieVB]

The aponogeton did great until the BGA overran it. I'm seriously thinking about picking up some Hornwort when I go back home this weekend. Pete seemed to really enjoy the Moneywort when I was there, he was playing in it and laying in it.

 

[Karackle]

Hahaha Bettas do love to play in and relax on plants don't they? Mine LOVE the wisteria forest in his tank!

 

[JessieVB]

Yeah. I love watching him playing in the plant. He used the aponogeton as a hammock when it was in there. I think I'm definitely going to turn it into a fully planted tank over the summer. Now I just have to find a job to fund this. . . . Hmm. . . If it worked at PetSmart I could be a more edumacted employee AND get a discount. We'll see.