2.5 gallon powerless desktop

[dskidmore]

Well, I've moved into my new cube. There are 2 T-8 lights to choose from here, they're lower than in the old cube, and there is more ambient light. I expect good things from this move, although I will have to be more serious about blackouts with all this ambient light.

I'm seriously considering replacing the bulb up here, the more accessable of the two lights has an old bulb that's yellowing and dark on the ends. I'll have to see if the cables on my phone are long enough to move it over and put the aquarium there.

Lots of new threats to put things in my aquarium.
1) Fish
2) Diver decoration
3) Spongebob decoration

Did a bit of aquascaping. Will post pictures next week sometime. I think I have too many species, I'll be wanting opinions after I post pictures.

 

[dskidmore]

Once again, no camera at work, but a brief update:

The Micranthemum umbrosum was growing like gangbusters, then suddenly declined. I suspect a nutrient imbalance. I removed some of the terrestrial vine and got more regular with my dosing, we'll see if it recovers.
Anubia is doing well, starting to anchor better to the wood, and becoming the focal point of the tank. I probably need to re-tie parts of it to complete the bonding to the wood.
Marsilea minuta seemed to completely disappear, but the Marsilea quadrifolia is doing very well, spreading all over the tank.
All three Hydrocotyle species are doing well, the larger one has propagated enough I could carpet the tank with it, but for now I'm moving the extra to the home aquarium.
The crypts are struggling, but surviving. All my ferts are in root tab form, so I've put the tabs around the crypts for a couple weeks in a row, we'll see if that helps.
The lighter crypts and Hydrocotyle make a nice contrast with the darker greens, but if my Micranthemum umbrosum doesn't spring back, I'm majorly lacking vertical interest in the tank. I suppose I could plant some of the Hydrocotyle in a vertical fashion, since the plantlets are chained, and it does equally well planted or floating...
I need to re-introduce the other snails in my aquarium. The MTS do nothing about the spot algae on the glass. I'm pretty sure things have stabilized enough to make that a good idea.

Any other suggestions for vertical interest in a 2.5 gal aquarium?

Second question, I need a F17T8 bulb for this location, all I can find is cool white bulbs locally. Should I go ahead with that, or mail order the daylight bulb? The bulb that's here obviously needs to be replaced, and the maintenance group ignored my request to replace it.

 

[Purrbox]

Definately go with the Daylight bulb if at all possible. The spectrum will be MUCH better for you plants. Sounds like things are progressing nicely.

A little PO4 dosing would help to eliminate the Green Spot Algae.

For the vertical interest you might want to look at one of the Dwarf Hairgrasses. It can be prone to algae, so I'd make sure that your tank is well established and stable before adding it.

I can hardly wait to see some pics of how the tank is progressing.

 

[dskidmore]

I need to pick up some K2PO4. According to Payton's experiences with shrimp, it's safer than other ferts, and according to your advice, I might be short on PO4. Does the fact that I have more slimy hair algae than spot algae affect your opinion at all? The hairy stuff is fairly easily manually removed, after today's extensive cleaning you can barely see any, but it will certianly come back with a vengence. (Need to develop a good blackout cover for the tank, and go back to weekend blackouts. New location has too much ambient light 24/7)

Somone sent me some hair grass, I think I temporarily stuck it in the 75 gallon. I hope it's still there.... I was so unworthy of all the gifts people sent me, going and getting a mentally deranged dog before I had finished setting up my high light holding tank....

I'll try actually looking in the pet store for the daylight F17T8, but it's an odd wattage for the length. I hate ordering a $2 item over the internet unless I have to.

Oh, and by the way, I found a diffrent aquarium calculator that takes light height into account: http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Calc.htm Still doesn't deal with my prior situation where the light was also much longer than the tank, but rates my current situation as medium-bright.

 

[Purrbox]

Unfortunately I don't know that anyone's nailed down what causes hair algae. I've got a thread going in the Planted forum to try to find out which deficiency is tied to hair and thread algae, buy have only received speculation to this point.

Since you've got more than one type of algae going, you might just want to make sure you have a full compliment of ferts on hand, so that you can dose as needed. The EI geared toward non CO2 tanks might be exactly what you need. (At least I don't remember you injecting CO2 or dosing Excel in this tank.) A couple of small dropper bottles with the appropriate fert mixes could be easily hid in your desk and dosed as needed.

 

[dskidmore]

I did just finish off my first yeast mix, debating keeping it up or dropping it. The ricia really seems to like it, but the algae is just as strong with it. Might do one more bottle since my big manual cleanout.

I need to pick up some dropper bottles and do liquid mixes. The clay pellets are rather easy, but I can't tinker with the mix...

 

[Purrbox]

Since you're running CO2 and have a low bioload, I'd say that fertilization looks to be the next thing that you'd need to address. The small tank certainly can be quite the challenge when it comes to finding that balance where everything is working right.

 

[dskidmore]

I started ferts at the same time as the co2, root tabs of my own formula, although I think I've waylayed the formula somewhere... I'm dosing 2 of my custom root tabs with each 50% water change, it's supposed to be a solid dosing form of EI. Others have reported thier root tabs take a month to disolve, I havn't dug any of mine back up to see how fast they're disolving, perhaps the next set will go up against the glass.

 

[dskidmore]

I think I put too much yeast in my last CO2 mix, it's brewing up a storm! Root tabbed crypts seem to have better colors now at least, we'll see if they grow back or not.

I'm having another nitrite spike, accidentaly fed two days in a row, need to keep a stricter schedule, Mondays and Thursdays or some such. I don't think it's the quantity, I'm feeding 1/4 of an algae tab, just need to give the snails and bacteria time to process it between feedings.

The Hydrocotyle did not like it's last transplant, I went overnight from having it planted as a ground cover over half the tank to a couple plants. The rest just melted. (May be partially responsible for nitrite spike.) I think I planted them too deep. The roots were so small, I was burying the stem a bit to keep it anchored down. Luckily I had left a couple plantlets floating, so I'll have a new supply to try again with in a few months.

I divided the Marsilea to cover up the bare spot left behind. Probably will divide another chain of it next time I have time to mess with the tank.

Lost my tweezers, but remembered my mother used to handle plantlets with just a stick, and found one outside that worked well for planting the Marsiliea.

 

[dskidmore]

For the vertical interest you might want to look at one of the Dwarf Hairgrasses.

Arg. I found my hairgrass, it's only 2" tall and has fewer blades than when I planted it. It doesn't look sickly, is it possible I just crowded it too much, and the extra plantlets died off? I put a root tab next to it, will try not to disturb it otherwise.

Maybe I just don't have Mom's green thumb. (Although hubby is impressed at the trick where I take roses and turn them into rose plants.)

 

[dskidmore]

Updated photo:

Going much better than the home aquarium. Background has is just starting to fill in. Trying to decide if I want to nurse the riccia, or just let the moss take over.

 

[dskidmore]

Hrm. I should consider the light timer thing more strongly. I left the lights on over the holiday, expecting to come back to a mass of algae and surviving plants. I actually had only a little algae growth, and lots of plant growth. Perhaps the photoperiod is too short, just having it on while I'm at work.

Question: My homemade root tabs are keeping the nitrates steady, but my alk and hardness are rising, despite the weekly 50% water changes. Should I back off on the trace minerals? clay? or should I suspect another source?

I don't really mind the alk being high, as it moderates the CO2 related pH swings. High hardness though might not be good for all the inhabitatnts.

 

[dskidmore]

Everything is going swimmingly. I left my lights on when on a business trip, and when I came back, all the hair algae was gone! Very odd. Perhaps the plants created more O2, which last I heard was bad for hair algae.

Need to get some weights for my Hydrocotyle, which is growing like gangbusters on the surface, but hates to stay rooted like a good little ground cover.

I've given up on the Riccia. I'm removing the floating bits as I find them, and encouraging the moss to take over the Riccia's space on the back wall. It just doesn't grow well enough under my conditions to make it worth the maintenance. I never got a carpet growing out of my form, just straggly bits that break off and make a mess.

I rediscovered some surviving Marsilea Minuta. I'm having to prune out the other variety to make room. Starting to think more about the scape, and less about getting things to grow.

Whish I could take a decent picture of this. The lighting is really horrible for shooting pictures, but in person you can easily focus past the glare and see inside.

Vaguely reconsidering getting fish. People keep stopping by and saying "Oh, you have fish!" They don't seem to realize that aquariums can be used for other organisims.

Told hubby if he doesn't let me have a dog by mid-April, then I'll be ordering a bunch of stuff for my fish tank. Definatly getting some shrimp in that case.

P.S. Also changed the lamp today. New light is much whiter, although not quite daylight. Old bulb was darkened for an inch or so on each end.

 

[dskidmore]

Wow. I got a call on another thread for pictures of my moss wall, so I came back and revisited this thread. I can't believe how far I've come. I still have a ways to go on that moss wall, finding the optimum pruning method and length, and I'd like to see the crypts spread a little more but overall it's hugely diffrent.

Tank in it's native environment

Close-up with the usual self-portrait in glare. (Can't do much about the lighting here.)

Oh, one more:

View from above shows off the moss wall better

 

[Atl300zx]

looks sweet, i would love to have something like this at work, but i am not allowed.

also i am not allowed a camera in my building so i wouldnt even be able to show it off.

 

[dskidmore]

looks sweet, i would love to have something like this at work, but i am not allowed.

Well, it's powerless mostly because I'm not allowed unauthorized electric appliances here. I asked if I could have an aquarium, and was told I couldn't have any electric appliances. I didn't exactly ask if an unpowered aquarium was allowed, but no-one has said anything in all this time. It's no different really from a safety perspective than a vase with plants in it. The camera thing, yeah, hard to get around that one. The rules here are kind of odd, I'm allowed to have a camera, but technically I was supposed to ask permission to take a photo.

 

[Atl300zx]

get this, i can have a toaster, coffee maker, mini fridge, etc...but cant have a fish tank (powered or powerless)

 

[dskidmore]

bizarre. What's the rationale? You allowed to have toys or plants?

Last place I worked even banned the newspaper. Couldn't have anything that wasn't obviously work related visible.

 

[dskidmore]

I unfortunately won't be submitting any more photos of the 2.5 gallon. I'm changing jobs, and the new workplace forbids cameras in the building.

 

[Atl300zx]

sounds like you work in the same industry as me.

I think the rationale is it would take away from work time.