Newbie Question: Small tank and riccia

[briggs]

hey everyone,

First time poster!

Here is a question or two I have.

I have a 2 gallon hex tank that I purchased.

I have some nice tahitian sand as the substrate and the matting i will need to lay it out.. etc.

I don't have any filters or any of that fancy stuff, just the tank, a ph of 7.2 or so, full time daylight lighting and a betta fish.

My question(s) is/are, will some riccia fluitans grow ok in those conditions?

I've read about the need for co2 for optimal growth and what not.. but i want to know if my setup and conditions will atleast let the riccia grow and turn into a nice carpet and stay relatively green!

Is it worth it to buy Seachem Flourish Excel?

Thank you

edit: if you happen to know of anythign that woudl do better in a tank in my conditions thats similiar to riccia or dwarf hairgrass, let me know!

[malkore]

I'm familiar with the tank. Your best bet is to replace the incandescent screw-in bulb with a power compact screw-in.
even then I'm not sure you'll be able to keep riccia or hairgrass alive.

[frog girl]

I have a hex tank too but it is quite large (60 gal.) & just on the edge of good lighting (1.3 wpg). I planted lileopsis (chain-sword) & it is doing fine. My hairgrass died & my riccia is doing the best floating & surviving fine about 4 in. below the water line. I would really reccomend the chain sword you can get a good carpet going given a little time.

The tahitian sand if it is of oceanic origin I would recommend against using in a fresh water aquarium. Is it white?? Some white sand is quartz (the good stuff) but other is just ground up bits of coral & sea shells (pure CaCO3). That will quickly make you water quite hard & drive your pH up. I would recommend pool filter sand.

You won't need extra CO2 or much aquatic fertilizer unless you get your wpg up above 1.5 or more. I add a bit of extra CO2 just so I get too watch my plants pearl but they do fine without it. I would also reccomend some anacharis or hornwort to start with (it will suck up the nutrients - ammonia etc. - that your fish produces since you will not have a filter).

best of luck & welcome to Aquarium Advice

[briggs]

Thank ya.

At the moment I have java fern and java moss.

The sand is caribsea black tahitian moon sand (spelling). It's not suppose to affect ph at all.

My tank is near a window but not in DIRECT sunlight, but it always has natural lighting aslong as there is natural light to be had!

I will see if i can find some of that chain sword also, if you think it will do better for my conditions! Mabe i wont get as much riccia then just incase!

I've heard hortwort can be quite messy if you dont have a filtered tank.

[frog girl]

Sounds like you will be fine with the sand.

Give the riccia a shot. If you get a high output compact flourescent you might be fine especially with the indirect sunlight. Though I have heard that any sunlight can cause algae problems.

If the riccia doesn't thrive then try out the chain sword. The nice thing about riccia is it doesn't really have roots as far as I can see but chain sword does so you might have to add fertilizer tabs for it if you are just growing it in straight sand (not sure).

I think hornwort is only a problem when it dies and falls apart. If you just ignore it & let it rot it would probably be messier than rotting anacharis. I have never had it in my aquarium (only in my pond) I have anacharis. However, tank girl (one of the advisors) likes it a lot.

As far as I know java moss will also makes a nice carpet & it does fine in low light. Travis Simpson who keeps amazing tanks & is often in this forum has done riccia carpets and would probably be able to answer any questions if you have some. You should check out his tanks just so you can be awed anyhow.

[Toirtis]

All my tanks with Riccia in them also have those screw-in fluorescents over them, and my Riccia is flourishing.

[An t-iasg]

Here are some websites for screw base fluorescent bulbs:

http://bulbman.com
http://bulbs.com

For your 2 gallon tank, I saw 4 and 5 watt bulbs.

Be careful with the tank near a window. I have a 5 gallon hex beside a window. I didn't think the tank got direct light either, since the window is a "bow" window and the tank is set back about a foot from the window. I spent an hour tonight cleaning up hair algae.

[briggs]

Thanks everyone !