2.5 Gallon Photo Log

[Glenc]

The HC did not come from my tank as I was having some algea issues at the time. I was submersed when I got it from BA. Maybe it didn't like the travel time. It is an easy plant but I have seen it disintegrate in poor conditions, low CO2, low light. It is starting to green up nice in my 10 gallon. The parva grows slow for me, It spreads out but not up. It will eventually send out runners and send up new plants. It took mine 6 months to do this. The parva you have was from a low light 25 gallon I have in my son's room, (again, had algea issues in my 20) I'm sure it is enjoying the pristine conditions you are giving it! All your tanks look great by the way, really like the driftwood in your ten gallon, it's going to be another beauty!

 

[Purrbox]

Here's a new pic taken on 6/29/2006. As you can probably tell I recently had some algae issues crop up due some nutrients bottoming out while I was gone for a weekend. Nothing too bad, but still working to get rid of it.

If you look closely you'll notice the new Eleocharis Parvulus and Rotala "Goias" that were added to the tank recently. The Eleocharis Parvulus is looking wonderful, but I'm not entirely sure that the Rotala "Goias" is going to make it. The Rotala was looking a bit worse for the wear when it got here, so I'm not sure if it was the shipping or something about the tank that it doesn't like. Hopefully it will pull through and start doing well once it gets established.

I recently tweaked the dosing schedule on my tanks, and this tank also seems to be responding well. There's been a definate reduction in the amount of Green Spot Algae and I really appreciate not having to use quite as much elbow grease during water changes.

 

[Glenc]

Very nice tank, growing like crazy! What did you do to tweak your dosing shedule? Just curious. Having some green spot issues myself.

 

[Purrbox]

Switched to dosing Macros and Micros every other day. Reduced the amount of Potassium being dosed. Eliminated Nitrate dosing right after water changes due to having high Nitrates in my tap water. Doubled my Phosphate dosing. My Nitrate to Phosphate ratio is actually 5ppm NO3 to 1ppm PO4 after these changes. Current schedule is as follows.

Day 1
Water Change
(13ppm NO3 from tapwater)
7.5ppm K (K2SO4)
2ppm PO4
Day 2, 4, & 6
2 ml Flourish (about .3 Fe)
Day 3 & 5
10ppm NO3 & 6ppm K (KNO3)
2.5ppm K (K2SO4)
2ppm PO4
Day 7
No dosing

I'm also dosing Flourish Excel slightly above recommended levels in an effort to kill off some of the existing algae.

 

[plecoperson]

Hey, is Chubbs still a resident?

 

[Purrbox]

No. Unfortunately the new CO2 Reactor was even more efficient that initial testing had shown. As a result the CO2 levels were much too high for the Dwarf Puffers (or any other fish for that matter), and neither made it. Now that I've managed to get the CO2 back down to more reasonable levels by reducing the size of the CO2 generator bottles and increasing flow, I'm considering giving them another try.

 

[Purrbox]

Well the algae is definately being the most stubborn about sticking around in this tank. More than likely due to it having slower growing plants. Despite everything the HC is filling very nicely.

 

[rich311k]

Looks great I love the plant shapes and the arrangements. The driftwood is perfect and the grass like growth in the back is unique.

 

[Glenc]

How you get these kind of results in such small tanks blows me away. Your scale work is really amazing, your tanks look way bigger than they are.

 

[travis simonson]

Very nice Joy The scale totally surprises me. If I had to guess, I would say that it's a 20 or 30G tank. That E. acicularis looks like it is a foot tall - LOL. I've had algae issues with it before too. It is so fine that it just seems to attract it.

Increasing your PO4 to 1.0-1.5 ppm is exactly the right thing to do to get rid of green spot algae on your glass too. Nice work

 

[Purrbox]

Thanks for the complements and encouragement everyone. I'm toying with a few different ideas on how to get this tank back in line.

1. I'm definately planning on adding some of the Cherry Red Shrimp from the 10 Gallon once the colony gets going well enough. This should help to minimize the algae problem, though I certainly don't expect them to take care of it entirely. Unfortunately it's probably going to be several months before I have the extra shrimp available.

2. I'm also thinking about changing the CO2 bottles on this tank more frequently. I've noticed that the HC tends to get extra green and go on a growth spurt the first week after I change out one of the bottles. Perhaps running the CO2 a bit higher with help the current plants out compete the algae. I'm already running the CO2 between 45-60ppm, but they really seem to prefer it when it's closer to the 60ppm.

3. I'm contemplating rethinking my layout and finding some way to incorporate a fast growing stem plant back into the scape. This would probably be the easiest way to handle the problem, I just really want to find a way to make the current aquascape work. If I do that I'll probably pull most of the plants out again, and work some more driftwood into it at the same time.

 

[travis simonson]

I've been sitting here pondering what sort of stem plant that you could use in this tank PB. It has to be fairly small in order to avoid throwing off your sense of scale and possibly delicate as well. My two ideas are: Micranthemum umbrosum and Didiplis diandra. I'm thinking the D. diandra would look the best and might be simply spectacular if you can get it to turn red on the tips. With such a small tank and sufficient light it could be worth a shot. PM me if you need any

 

[plecoperson]

The scale fools the eye so well that looks like a 3" snail on the glass! Lovely-

 

[Purrbox]

Having already tried Micranthemum Umbrosum in both the 2.5 gallon and 5.5 gallon, I can safely say that it grows too fast for my nanos. On top of that I could never keep the bottoms looking good so it soon looked an aweful mess. I think that plant is much better suited to larger tanks despite its lovely small leaves.

After doing a little bit of research on the Didiplis Diandra, I think you may be right about it being an excellant selection for the tank. The leaf shape will complement the hair grass, the size is perfect, and if I can bring out the reds it will give the color contrast I've been missing. I'll definately keep it in mind if I go that route.

 

[Purrbox]

Well, I completely tore apart the tank today. The aquascape was just grating on my nerves so tore out all the plants and did a major water change. I've got everything back in the tank and replanted. It looks tons better to me, although it's not quite where I want it to be. Getting closer at least. I hope to get pics later tonight once the light's a bit better.

I'm beginning to think that the Hemianthus just isn't going to work out for me. The Turface I'm using just for a substrate doesn't seem to be fine enough for it to root really well. I'll probably need to switch to Aquasoil or Sand if I want to keep trying to get it to work for me.

EDIT

Here's the promised pic.

 

[Purrbox]

Well this tank finally has some inhabitants other than the snails. Tonight I added a pair of Boraras Brigittae (Mosquito Rasboras). Abosolutely stunning little fish. Of course they promptly disappeared into the plants right after being added so it may be awhile before I can get some pics.

 

[Glenc]

Cool, please post pics of the Mosquito Rasboras as soon as you can, love to see them.

 

[Purrbox]

Today the Boraras Brigittae were out and about, not acting very shy at all. I think they just needed to settle into their new home. Even managed to get a single picture that wasn't a blur. They've colored up beautifully.

 

[rich311k]

Very pretty fish. How big do they get?

 

[Purrbox]

Those fish are full grown. They max out at 0.8 inches. Obviously this makes them excellant for Nanos.