Planted 5 Gallon Nano

[azn_fishy55]

Here is the tank set-up where I plan to breed some cherry shrimp for my 30 gallon and to sell to my LFS for store credit.A 5 gallon tank,a freshwater aqualight mini,a filter that came with the tank.I am think the filter brand is Heto which is a chinese filter brand.The intake tube holes are small enough to block any shrimp from being sucked into the filter.The substrate will be eco-complete or flourite depending on the availibility of either at my LFS,but I do know they have both.I haven't planned on any CO2 systems but I thought with this small tank dosing excel would be fine and if the plant growth is still bad I'll make another DIY CO2 system.I will dose kent pro plant and kent freshwater plant.I need help chosing the plants tho,I thought I could keep some glosso.I want some fast growing plants,I thought water sprite or some type of hygro.But I don't know if I can get my hands on some,if only the water sprite in my 30 gallon grew faster -_- .Any plant suggestions,or any input on this set-up?

 

[czcz]

If the aqualight mini is the 2x9w CF unit I think glosso will work. Watersprite grows too fast and takes up too much room, and if you really want a stem plant but do not mind pruning, a smaller leaved plant like Rotala rotundifolia or even Ludwigia repens would be nicer. (Hemianthus micranthemoides might be best but I have no experience with it.) Hygro corymbosa 'compacta' would be good. Your shrimp would love some moss, and a moss wall would look nice I think. If you can get it, Anubias barteri var. nana 'petite' would make your tank look huge.

 

[azn_fishy55]

I could order some plants online again,but I don't know many good sites.I don't think I am going to order from aquariumplants.com again because the last time I ordered the plants came half dead.Well maybe its because I am using the 2-3 day shipping and I didn't use a heat pack(I didn't even know they needed heat packs XP).I know I want glosso again so that is on my list.I can find some ludwigia repens from this LFS where I live and the plants look in great condition.I looked at heimiacanthus micranthoids and it looks good and want some but maybe Heimiacanthus calithrodes.I can attach the anubias nana to a piece of driftwood if I can get a small piece.How would I make a moss wall?Also would it be okay if I use a 19 watt NO fluorescent lights instead of cp.Becuase my cousin gave me some lights that are 24" and my tank is 15" so it will work,it'll just be a little big.Will I still be able to have plants like glosso?

 

[azn_fishy55]

I was going to use some christmas moss for the moss wall but man.those are soooo expensive well at aquarium plants.com.And they don't have any in stock either.I looked at aqua botanic and azgardens but none of them don't seem to have all the plants I want.Does anyone know any other plant stores online?

 

[czcz]

Be wary of calculating watts from an oversized light since obviously not all of it is going into the tank. I think with such a light setup you will have medium light at best, and should consider Marsillea sp for the glosso look. If you are looking for alternative lighting options, I remember Purrbox posting pics and details of some CF worklights for his nano.

How to make a moss wall: http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/plants/leong_Moss_Wall.html

If you cannot find it soon, I will start you with Xmas and Elatine trianda, which is a foreground plant that does not need as much light as glosso. (Other people are getting my next trims so it will be a couple of weeks.)

 

[azn_fishy55]

I do have the old lights that were a nine watt cp or something else and I am not sure.Thanks for the moss wall article,I appreciate you offering me some of your plants but I really don't want to trouble you and make you spend money(for the shipping) becuase I have no way in repaying you.But if you really want to get rid of some of the plant clippings I will happily take them.I guess I can repay you back for the plants since I got a mastercard giftcard for christmas but I don't know how I am going to XP.I might stick with the NO fixture, becuase the whole fixture is 24" but the bulb is only 18" and taking away the amount of space tooken by the matal caps at the end leaves it at 16" or 15" which most of the light will go into the tank.But just in case I'll stick with your suggestion with Elatine tiandra.Thanks!!! ^_^

 

[Purrbox]

Here's the link to the thread on lighting for my 2.5Gal that czcz mentioned. (Just for the record, I'm a her not a his! LOL)

In my experience, 26 watts is definately high light over a 2.5 Gallon tank. I'm still working with that tank to find a balance, so I haven't decided if it's too much light or not. I've got 10 watts over a 5 Gallon, and that's definately somewhere between Low and Medium Light, not the Medium or higher Light that I was hoping for before I learned about lighting on small tanks.

Best of luck, these small tanks can be really rewarding.