# My Grandmothers 5G Planted Tank



## Savetheplants (May 24, 2016)

What if she decides to get an Oscar? Won't it tear the plants out and eat them?


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

haha she will not be getting an Oscar...she made a promise she will not put anything in the tank without my permission besides the pre-bottled water I gave her


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## nel (Jan 23, 2016)

I see other problem - grandmother and "won't you eat more?" said to shrimps :-D nice tank, good luck with it


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

I have to give credit to you. You have a real knack for making pretty little aquascapes. That's really nice and it looks fine inside that 5 gallon, who say's rimless is the only way to go?


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

I made gelatin food so hopefully it will not pollute the water. 

Thank you, I would have much rather gone rimless but this is what she wants  

As I am planting she says "I hate to say it but that looks like it has been there a really long time" so I must be doing something right.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Better yet, you can make jerky out of those gel foods. Just dehydrate them in the oven and they should last longer in the water. Some fish may not like the harder texture, but worth a try.

You can mount the ceramic diffuser lower in the tank to allow the bubble a tiny bit more contact time with the water. You could place it under a better circulated area as well. Probably won't make much of a difference though.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Interesting jerky idea, I will experiment with it. 

Yes I did mention I plan on moving the diffuser lower, I need to cut a longer tube for it. I put it on the left because for one I do not want air being sucked into my filter inlet, and two it provides a small amount of circulation to the opposite side of the tank that the filter is on.


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## randym (Sep 20, 2015)

I really like the rock cave. Did you make it yourself out of individual rocks? Are they glued together?


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## uptown (May 24, 2016)

Why not put a Betta in there for her?


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

randym said:


> I really like the rock cave. Did you make it yourself out of individual rocks? Are they glued together?


I was fortunate enough to purchase this on eBay for around $30, it is casted plastic of some sort. Looks very realistic which is the only reason I bought it since I am not a fan of decor. 



uptown said:


> Why not put a Betta in there for her?


Attachment issues when it dies, everything has to look the same so it is no big deal if one dies.


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## uptown (May 24, 2016)

Oh, that makes perfect sense. What about a small group of guppies?


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## nel (Jan 23, 2016)

I would suggest endler livebearer, smaller than normal guppy, in my opinion - prettier


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Ditto the Endlers: Smaller, and if you get males only there will be no problem about removing the fry. They are shrimp-safe, too.


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## Smooch (May 14, 2016)

You did a good job, looks great!


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## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

WaterLife said:


> Better yet, you can make jerky out of those gel foods. Just dehydrate them in the oven and they should last longer in the water.


Won't this lower the nutritional value of the food?

As for other questions and comments, we have covered a lot of them here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/100-low-tech-forum/1015985-community-tank-ideas-elderly.html 




.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Your Grandma is a lucky lady to have such a nice Grandchild. The tank is beautiful. Good job!


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Thanks everyone! I think Endlers are a great suggestion!


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

*To run that glass diffuser I ordered this aPump ("worlds smallest and quietest") the only one I could find with a US plug was a dual output since they are made in Ukraine. So I grabbed a gang valve and figured I would use it backwards with 2-in and 1-out...but this pump is weak! Too weak to even produce a single bubble from the diffuser so I am going to send it back.*


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## spore (May 7, 2016)

I think you are going to have hard time finding an air pump that isn't obnoxiously loud and expensive that will produce enough pressure to drive a glass diffuser. A regular or limewood air stone would probably be better if you are trying to get aeration going.

*Edit - are you trying to aerate, or introduce CO2?


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Aerate - I have the same diffuser running on a $10 air pump I got from Walmart.


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## spore (May 7, 2016)

huh.. interesting. Just using them because they are more aesthetically pleasing than an airstone?


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Both aesthetics and smaller bubbles, I know smaller bubbles can be achieved other ways but these are cheap and look nice, plus I already had it laying around.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

"the little bastards they come out look at me and go back in their cave" 

haha she is in her 80s, all I have in there so far are 2 Amano shrimp since the water is stable from that entire cave being seeded. I think I will add more Amano so they feel comfortable for a total of 4. Then load up on cherry/crystal shrimp for now. She does love watching them when they are out though.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

*I extended that airline, I am using another temporary pump. I was able to pick up 2 more larger Amano shrimp and a Nerite. This made the other 2 Amanos more social and outgoing so it made her very happy as well as the quite active snail.*










*Two days later I decided to pick up some red cherry shrimp, they only had 6 so I took them all...I know I have at least 1 female if not more. Those were a great addition, equally 'hard' to see; smaller but with color compared to larger and clear. I will end up getting another snail or two for her, and I check on the tank almost daily so I am not worried about overloading the bio.*


















*In the back behind the rock and to the left of the heater I planted some jungle val to flow up over the rock tips and forward in the current. The elodea looking plant in the front corner melted away I tried to replant and save what I could we will see. I bought some ludwigia for the back right corner it will help hide the intake tube with its constant rooting above the substrate, like a wall of vines.*


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

*The air pump situation is not working out...we went from tiny and quiet to large and loud lol...I bought this new on eBay for $20. It has the pressure needed however even on the lowest setting needed it is too loud. The large filter creates a lot of microbubbles so it is probably not needed, I am stubborn and will not use a regular airstone. I will consider running CO2 on this tank though...possibly those tiny canisters on a trickle. *









*
She felt bad that I was using my chemicals and such all the time so she gave me $100 to buy some...this is what I bought. Including the controversial Iodide for shrimp, can not hurt but may be a waste of $10 per 5 years haha. This is where I draw the line personally with Seachem's products, nothing shows deficiencies using these. I use 0.10-0.20ml of Prime per gallon of topoff plus a few drops into the tank on maintenance day. I do 5-8 drops of Iodide into the tank on dosing day as well. As for the Flourish Comp-Excel-Pot-Nitro-Iron I also dose these on maintenance day at a rate of 0.40-0.50 each instead of getting all technical with the dosing charts. Works fine for me but I just started using Iron and Potassium in my tanks so I do not know if doing this will build up eventually or not. The only sense I can make out of their chart is that maybe, possibly, throwing them all in the tank at once causes a lock up in the plants or something, or certain ferts are not absorbed well with others? On a side note...look how clear the water is in the background! I never run a tank without Purigen, also we have never done a water change on this tank either.* 










*I finally finished the lighting hood, instead of one 3-LED lamp in the center the way these tanks came it now has four. In the center I attached an LED bar out of a Marineland Contour 5 with moonlights in it as well, all the lights are glued using aquarium sealer. I have 3 DC adapters running on a splitter which is fine everything is low draw, the switches stay on and I let the timer control them. The only thing is I need to separate the moonlight wiring from this larger switchbox and run them to their own DC power supply on a separate timer.* 
















*

Here is a full shot with the new lighting, she can even see the shrimps much better she said. As for melting that plant I had to the right of the cave is gone for good I think, but the melting sword in the back left corner has new leaves. The moss on top of the cave tip that was on there for almost a year got ripped off by the current of the filter plus the shrimp so I cut it up into bits and let them get caught all over the tank to carpet out. I added some ludwigia repens to the back right corner that is doing very well. All the plants are doing great, she is very happy with the tank and finds amusement in them pulling the floaters down "their toys" but I did have to remove 2 of the 4 Amano shrimp for a few reasons. The largest one was a bit too mischievous pulling at plants and picking on red cherry shrimp, and the second largest seemed to take over that role plus it was too much for the tank those Amanos from my observation should be kept no more than 3 in a 10 gallon...the two left in this 5 gallon easily outcompete the reds for food I think so we feed them up to twice a week and watch nitrates. As for fish though I am still on a hunt for Boraras brigittae but have not had any local luck, I still may end up putting a few regular male guppies in there until I find them...then pass them over to my friend who has a male ender tank. I will only put 3 fish in here and see how they react, hopefully they stay together toward the top!*


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## iFerio (Jul 17, 2016)

I def. understand about the attachment issues. I'm in the same situation with my kids, I'm afraid to get fish without them attaching


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

*Everything is going great and my grandmother loves her shrimps now! I have added yet another power block to the collection haha this time for moon lights which run 24/7*

















*
This tank is officially a RCS tank, no more Amano shrimp. I just dumped around 40 babies in because she has kept a consistent 10 alive for many months now. They are breeding in this tank successfully but I breed them in another tank specifically for Sakura grade, so you will see high grade shrimp in this tank...even though technically this is my hull tank! I do flush out the stinkers to friends from her tank to ensure her population is not degraded. I thought the full size Nerite snails were too large so I have 2 Horned Nerites in here now that seem to keep the glass spotless without starving them. I have been experimenting with micro fish in this tank, I started with 3 Cobra Endlers and they fought with each other constantly and picked on the shrimp so I reduced them down to just 1 solo Endler. Then I added a male feeder guppy but the Endler picked on him and the feeder fought back and I liked the feeder better so the Endler had to go. Now we have just this feeder which is tiny and proportionate to the tank...you can see him in the top left. I am adding Galaxy Rasboras soon and if this feeder chases them I will have to remove him. You can see a small magnetic planter I made in the back but everything seems to die that I plant for various reasons, however the floaters seem to be keeping the nitrates in check now so I may not use it. I switched the floaters to entirely Salvinia Minima since the slim hood rots most other floaters, plus it propagates extremely fast aka uses nitrates faster. I added a Java Fern on some driftwood to the right, and an Anubias on the driftwood in the center, Java Moss on the top and some Wisteria in the back left. I created a Riccia mat on a rock using some nylon line, and the hair grass is dying I do not think the light is high enough. Very low maintenance tank and she loves it, sits next to it all day and I dose Seachem ferts on the weekend as well as a 15% water change.*


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## tlriot (May 10, 2014)

Such an awesome story! I love the process on this tank. Everything is very thought out, as usual.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

*Back to square one! I have slowly become more and more dissatisfied with the hardscape in this tank, I have built so many tanks since and greatly improved my skill. Every time I looked at this tank I saw my early work, and she consistently would say something like "nobody came out today, that damn cave" so I decided the cave structure had to go. Another factor was the massive invasion of pond snails that came from the used substrate, that needs to be eliminated this time. 

What I did was purchased a second 5.5G tank, and I will transfer her plants into this one. The stump is something I found down by the pond edge, I boiled it with salt and bleach. The rocks I had were left over from a lot I purchased on eBay listed as "Dragon Stone" but I think it may be sandstone. The base layer here is some sort of gravel marketed for planted tanks and made a great filler for the deep spots in the rear. I used a dry erase marker on the outside of the tank to mark the opening in the hood in blue, and the HOB down tube and heater in red...I need to be able to hide the hardware within my hardscape or plants. *


















*This is where I kicked this tank up, topping the planted tank gravel with ADA aquasoil (I dipped into a large bag I purchased for another project). The red line separates the ADA from the cheap gravel...I did top the entire tank but this just shows how close they look in appearance encase some gets pulled to the surface when messing with plants.* 


























*This is what I came up with after completing the ADA aquasoil cap, MUCH better! What I did was designed this tank based on the way she views it, which is from the left side corner and the long way from the left side. I will start with the background plants which is all she has in her tank anyway, do a few water changes then transfer her inverts and fish. I do have all the stuff to run CO2 on this tank and I will be adding it soon to help with foreground carpeting plants.*


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

*I upgraded her light hood during this time as well, I finally found waterproof chain lights comparable to the factory LED lights that come on aquariums now. I bought a strip of 10 from China for less than $5 they run on 12v and now all my lights run on a single power source rather than three separate chains and power adapters. I have a separate power source for my moonlight which stays on 24/7.* 


















*It has been two months since I planted this rescape and I love it! I decided not to run CO2 on her tank, I really do not need to complicate it including more maintenance of trimming back plants...I already have to dose a bunch of liquid ferts weekly so I just use Excel. I keep adding baby RCS that I breed in another tank, I still use hers as a hull tank. There are two Nerite snails in here, one of which is a Horned species which is very small and the other is a dwarf version of the smooth lager style. Both are in the Nerite family so they do a great job at keeping the glass clean, as a minor of fact I never ever clean it.* 










*I designed the tank to be viewed from this angle which is how she views the tank in her chair. You can see every plant in the tank from this angle, and all the shrimp come running to her when she feeds them. She really loves this tank, I still have that "feeder" fish in here which is a male Endler of some sort.* 









*
I put so much thought and planning into this when I laid out the plants, color, shape, growth patterns, etc. That Java Fern is climbing the stump which was my goal and I have been trimming it back lately to provide more foreground lighting, but I can not get a single runner out of that dwarf sag.* 










*I have formed a Riccia mat naturally on the filters intake prefilter sponge, I have to trim that back regularly but it helps naturally hide the hardware. I keep trimming back the Ludwigia to allow the Wisteria to catch up behind it. I also wanted a single stem base to the Ludwigia with multiple head splits so that I can see through the base of the plants to the Wisteria. I had just pruned it back before this photo but the tips do turn a nice bright red which distinguishes it from the Wisteria!*










*The Jungle Val along the back is a different species in the corner if you look it is a thinner type, the rest is a traditional thicker style...just a little touch. I had to trim one of the Wisteria plants to allow light to reach a little Java Moss patch on the wood which has some Riccia caught in it so it makes for a nice mixed patch I trim back.*


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Here is a video update of this tanks progression: https://youtu.be/PonMjo3I1ZE


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## Rrny (Jan 3, 2017)

Tank looks very nice, I hope everthing grows in well for her. Do you have a link you could send me as in to where i can find those new led chain lights you just got?


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Thanks. Search ebay for "5050 SMD 3 LED Module Waterproof Light Lamp Strip" however I had a few lamps burn out over the last few months so I am not sure if they are a good idea.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

*So here we are two month later, I have good and bad news. Clearly the tank is doing awesome, I think this is the most balanced tank I have ever built...I have never cleaned the glass or vacuumed the substrate. I dose ferts once weekly and do a 20% water change every 4 weeks/monthly. Besides for that all she has to do is add water and feed the tank. I do a pruning maybe twice a month. Here is the bad news...I am moving so this tank has to go, unfortunately she does not want to learn how to maintain it but she got a good experience for about a year and I felt terrible walking out with her tank. I gave it to my friend who was the best I felt could maintain it, actually it is a couple and they are both engaged in the hobby so between the both of them it is in good hands. It will never be the same though, I have a feeling it will get crowded and shadow out other plants in the scape but it is their choice what they want to do with it I hope they learn something...I gave them everything from tools to ferts. I will try to update this thread in the future as long as this tank lives on!*


































*I raised all the shrimp myself from a select 4 parents in another tank (my Marineland tall). The best addition to this tank was 4 Galaxy Rasboras, there are 3 in this photo the larger 4th one is always hiding. The orange highlights are much more vibrant in person because this photo was taken under the blue moon light, I do not really like these fish it is true what they said about them being extremely shy. I have had these fish in here for two months, a week after I updated this thread last is when I added them.*


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