Fluval Spec 2G Nano

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Shadey

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
May 17, 2011
Messages
135
Location
CO
Got this for my birthday, at the beginning of May. I put in a carbon filter from an established tank, so its probably ready to go, but there isn't anything in it yet.

This is from when I first set it up:

spec_02.jpg


spec_01.jpg


Today my plants came in!

It is sort of an experiment. I bought a few pieces of HC. I don't expect them to grow. I would be perfectly happy with not dying. But I might not even get that. Um, adding it to my plant order seemed like a good idea at the time.... ! :whistle:

The HC is TINY. I didnt expect it to be... that tiny. The substrate Im using is the fluval flora stuff.... but it's not really dense, so... I just kind of mashed the HC down on top of it, as opposed to trying to root all of the tiny plants with tweezers.

Does that have a chance of working out okay? Or am I gonna have to try and plant them in smaller batches, to make sure the roots get between the substrate bits?

spec_jun01.jpg


spec_jun02.jpg


I was sooo proud of my java moss growth.... until I put the bright green HC next to it. Haha. It looks like a super sad lump now.

I bought this LED desklamp at Rona. It is SUPER BRIGHT, but there aren't any kind of specs on the box...

lamp_01.jpg


lamp_02.jpg


Do you think it would be enough to keep the HC going?

Thanks !!

:fish2:
 
with no specs its tough to say if it'd be enough light. Either way, more light can't hurt with HC.

You thinking of adding CO2 at all?

I've been considering getting a nano tank (spec/flora/etc) myself so I'm interested to see how this develops!
 
Looks like an interesting light... but I agree - without specs it is hard to say. No harm in giving it a go and seeing what happens.

FYI - if you added the established filter months ago, the beneficial bacteria required for the nitrogen cycle would be long dead by now, so you may need to recycle the tank prior to adding any animals. There are not too many fish that would be good for that size tank, but a few shrimp would be good.
 
Got rid of the java moss. Apparantly none of it was sticking to the rocks anyway. I thought that stuff attaches to anything!
spec_jun03.jpg


Fort - oof. Well, it was about 1 month ago. I guess I have to feed the bacteria?

Also - I keep getting this oily slick on top of the water. I took back the first pump b/c I thought it was leaking, but the second one did too. That doesn't seem like a good thing.

spec_oil.jpg
 
Its probably just some bio-film thats showing up on the surface, it's not a big deal (other than being unsightly). If you can get an airstone or some other surface disruption it will usually go away.
 
Yup, Capt is right on. It might slow or stop happening over time (often times new substrates, especially planted substrates will leach organics that cause this). Some surface agitation will definitely keep it at bay.
 
Cool, thanks! It's been awhile now, and it has yet to come back. Here's hoping!

The HC is doing pretty good. In some ways. I added two amano shrimp and they are happily cleaning anything and everything. Did a paramater test and a pwc yesterday, all was well. However, their tender ministrations are uprooting all of the HC!

Is there any way to encourage it to uh.. root faster? The plants seem to like the substrate and the light thus far, but the HC has itty bitty roots and the substrate is all big and floaty....
 
Sorry for the late reply -

Bury it deeper. You can bury HC until just the tips of the leaves are showing. This will encourage deep root growth without hurting the plant.
 
Back
Top Bottom