# My "attempt" at a 2.5g nano tank *updated 4/26/07*



## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Hello anyone reading this,

Here's my stab at a 2.5g nano tank. I decided to try a nano since I see peoples pictures of them on this forum and i'm so freaking jealous! My main tank is a 29g heavily planted tank so I thought i'd try a 2.5 planted tank.

The specs are:

100% Eco Complete substrate
Azoo Palm Filter (hob)
No heater
Dose Seachem Flourish every other day.
No co2
Lighting is just a desk lamp for the moment.

Plants:
Red jungle val
Taiwan moss attached to rock
Rotala rotundifolia
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Hygrophila Polysperma (just a smidge since it grows fast)

Hardscape:
3 rocks (1 with taiwan moss attached to it)
1 river rock

Fish:
Right now 4 male feeder guppies to help the cycle get started
(reason for 4 males is so the females don't reproduce, it's happened)

Thinking of making this into a shrimp nano, not sure of what shrimp I want to put in it at the moment. I have red cherrys, crystal reds, and an atyopsis moluccensis in my 29g so i'm thinking something different for this tank. I was thinking about Snowball shrimp since they're hardy shrimp and can withstand a wide range of PH levels like red cherrys (hey, they're practically red cherrys, just white) because my water out of the tap is 7.6. 
I noticed almost all Caridina sp need acidic water hence why i 'want' to go with a neocaridina sp shrimp. 

Here's a couple pictures of what it looks like at the moment:

With the flash on:









Without flash:









Please critique me and don't worry about hurting my feelings, it takes more than words...:thumbsup:


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

The rock is a little bright but everything else seems really good. Cant wait for more.


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

looking good i need to get a memory card reader then i can start my own little journal i just setup my nano yesterday


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

The tank is pretty nice! I'll give a few constructive scaping comments though..

Too many different rocks! Ditch the River rock, doesn't go at all:redface: . Then move the rock to the left of where the river rock was to the right about... 1 inch? So it isn't like just off center but is a little bit more.. 

Maybe, I would even do this. See the picture? It looks like the space between the river rock and the other rock the other rock could go right into that space, I think that could give it a really nice feel then either leave the little part in the front left hand corner bare or put a low carpet of something in. I think that would make the tank look bigger. 

Besides that I really like the tank, the two main rocks have nice color and add some nice texture to the tank as well.

I'll be watching!

-Andrew


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Fish Newb said:


> The tank is pretty nice! I'll give a few constructive scaping comments though..
> 
> Too many different rocks! Ditch the River rock, doesn't go at all:redface: . Then move the rock to the left of where the river rock was to the right about... 1 inch? So it isn't like just off center but is a little bit more..
> 
> ...


thanks for that Andrew! <--my real name too 

I'll do just that! Thanks a lot for the advice!


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Your tank is going to lok really good when it fills in.


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## actioncia (Jun 9, 2005)

nice looking tank you've got there may be even try to create some sort of slope towards the H.M. You've have CRS? Regards, JC.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate them. 

Jc- Yes, I have CRS.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

A little update...

I got rid of the river rock from the right hand corner and moved the center rock to that side....I'll post a picture in a bit..


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## Jubs (Apr 5, 2006)

Off to a great start, look forward to seeing what becomes of it!


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

will actually look cool too when a little bit of algae forms on the rocks...gives it really a nat look...nice job. Keep us posted.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Thanks for the kind words so far guys...

Here's a little updated picture from tonight:









I took out the river rock in the right hand corner and moved the rock that was in the center to the corner the river rock was in. 

ALSO as you can see, I TRIED to add some HC I bought from Milalic. I hope it takes and starts to fill in.


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

I think the rock would look cooler a little left of the middle in between the two stem plant specues...but thast is me :redface:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

fresh_newby said:


> I think the rock would look cooler a little left of the middle in between the two stem plant specues...but thast is me :redface:


Are you saying beside my other moss covered rock? Or between the HM?


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

between the HM and the other stem plant. it would look a little better there.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Ok thanks for that suggestion! I like it.  I'll do a little aquascaping and take another picture and post it.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*Update!*

Here's a little update - I just can't leave it alone, I think I like it one way, then I think of something else to add so here is the latest picture taken today:









The river rock is holding down the piece of driftwood, I decided not to soak the driftwood in it's own tub of water since it's so small and I'm in no hurry whatsoever to add livestock(just 4 feeder guppies in atm to try to keep it cycled) so it can leach all the tannins it wants and I'll just keep doing weekly water changes. The piece I added is a grapevine piece of wood wrapped with java moss.

Not sure if this is how it's going to remain, haha.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

It looks good now.
the grapevine may not even leack tannin.


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## pens_fan (Dec 19, 2006)

looks very nice :thumbsup: i really like the DW


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Great looking nano! The drift wood looks really nice in there  Can't wait to see it with some shrimp roud:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. The tank is coming along pretty well so far. I guess you can say i'm experimenting with the dosage. What i'm doing is dosing Seachem Flourish Excel, Flourish, and Iron every other day. This setup has no co2 so i'm guessing the excel will work in that aspect. Hoping the Flourish will give me the essential nutrients for the plants along with the Iron.

The mosses I have in their right now are doing good. I have Java moss attached to the dw and I have Taiwan moss on the left rock. They're both growing new bright green buds on the ends. The HM is taking root pretty well although some of the leaves are a little brown. Not quite sure why, perhaps it was the move from my 29g to the nano. The HC is just kind of...there. I hear it's a slow grower so i'm not too worried about it. The Rotala Rotundfolia is doing pretty good along with the Hygrophila Polysperma.

The four feeder guppies are hiding as usual in the plants. I never see them only for a couple seconds when I throw in some Hikari fish flakes. I have a couple ponds snails(hitchhiked w/ plants) and 2 brown ramshorn snails(they were intentional). I see snail eggs sacks throughout the tank, not quite sure if they're the pond snails' or the ramshorns'.

Still not sure what type of shrimp I want to put in here. Definitely not going to go with an expensive type. I'd like to do snowball as I mentioned before but now it seems like they're hard to come by and are sort of rare so there goes that idea. Might try tiger shrimp. I don't want to put any of my RCS or CRS in my 29g in there since I already have them. I'm not going to do Amano's either since they committed suicide in my 29g tank the first two weeks I had them also they're a little bigger than the other dwarf species and i'm assuming they need more room than a 2.5g nano tank.

Decisions, decisions.

That's a little update since i'm sitting here bored on a wintery, cold, miserable day.


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## Rion (Dec 29, 2006)

that grape vine is gonna give you problems. you don't use grape vine an aquariums because it doesn't sink also it's gonna get a white film/fuzz on it from decomposition if I remember correctly.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Rion said:


> that grape vine is gonna give you problems. you don't use grape vine an aquariums because it doesn't sink also it's gonna get a white film/fuzz on it from decomposition if I remember correctly.


I beg to differ. You think i'd use it if i knew it was just going to rot and give me problems? No. I've done my research.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Ok, nothing much happening with my nano besides a little bit of an algae outbreak...errg. I've been dosing Flourish, Excel, and Iron every other day trying to combat any algae but I guess it's not working or i'm not giving it enough time.

Pictures:

Full tank shot taken today 02/05/07









Two Ramshorn's in my tank:

















I don't even think my Ramshorn's look that healthy, are their shells supposed to have that whiteness on them? They were stowaways with plant purchases so I won't be too crushed if they bite it but I do think they're neat.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

The tank looks great  And those are some sweet snailsroud:


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

How hard is your water?
they need the calcu=ium and stuff to grow proper shells, but don't fret if they die, they aren't really rare, i have a breeding population of about 500 in my 55.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

I'm not worried if they die. I just wanted to stick something else into my nano, haha. They came from my 10g guppy tank. I also have a booming population in my 29g planted tank. I have no idea how hard my water is.


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

Cydric said:


> Ok, nothing much happening with my nano besides a little bit of an algae outbreak...errg. I've been dosing Flourish, Excel, and Iron every other day trying to combat any algae but I guess it's not working or i'm not giving it enough time.


You aren't giving it enough time. Relax, it will grow in and you will be ecstatic. It's almost time to trim the stems and replant the tops back into the stand. This will help you get that bushy look and increase the plant biomass.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*Update!*










Ok, been a couple weeks since I've said anything about this algae ridden nano. I added a couple olive nerites and 4 RCS today to see if they'll eat any of the algae. That's all the inhabitants besides those pesky pond snails. 

I've just been dosing excel every other day trying to combat the algae but i'm losing terribly(hopefully i'll win the war). I'm really trying not to make this to high tech of a tank. I'm not adding any co2 besides adding excel every other day. No ferts for the plants although I know I should but I'm concentrating so hard on trying to keep my 29g alive by using micro and macro ferts. I really, really don't want to get into that with my nano but if i have to, i will (unfortunately).

As you can see in the picture, the rotala rotundfolia is taking off pretty well. My HM turned a little brown but still seems to be managing it. My moss looks pretty good. My HC spread a tiny bit which i'm most proud of. 

Well that's a brief update, critique if you like.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

it's growing out nicely bro....
What kind of algae is in there? You can try a lower photoperiod and adding floaters/hornwort for a higher plant mass until it grows out.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

It is looking very nice Cydric :thumbsup: I hope you win the war!:icon_eek:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> it's growing out nicely bro....
> What kind of algae is in there? You can try a lower photoperiod and adding floaters/hornwort for a higher plant mass until it grows out.


It's not BBA that's taking my 29g by the throat. I don't know what kind of algae this is...it's really green and blotchy looking. You can see it in the picture I just posted. It's on all sides of my tank but mainly the rear back side. I did lower my photo period down to around 8 hours instead of 12. I have some hornwort I can throw in if that'll help.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

RESGuy said:


> It is looking very nice Cydric :thumbsup: I hope you win the war!:icon_eek:


Thanks! I'm trying!


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*Update w/ Pictures!*

3/1/07

Here's an update on my 2.5g nano tank that has been up and running since January 25, 2007. 

The plants seem to be growing in pretty nice and i'm now finally getting the upperhand on the algae outbreak!

Finally, the pictures:

Full tank shot:









Full tank closeup:









Middle tank HM:









No more yellow rock needed as a weight for the driftwood! :









Right side of tank:









Java moss(left side of tank):









Rotala rotundifolia:









Olive nerite:









Other olive nerite (can you find him?):









Full tank shot 2:









Full tank shot 3 (can you find the RCS shrimp?):









That is my update for today. I hope you enjoyed my picture update!


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Wow the plants are growing in very nicely! I love your tank man it is amazing, that is a really cool looking driftwood too. And great pictures! Here are your challenges:


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## pens_fan (Dec 19, 2006)

You're growth looks great. . .I especially love the HM!  

Yay for no more rock on your DW! 

I'm glad you got the upper hand on your algae too! Keep up the good work!


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*Berried RCS!!!*

Look who I just spotted in my nano peaking through my Taiwan moss/Java moss:

















A little blurry but you get the hint.  Hopefully I'll have babies in a month!


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Looks nice. where'd you get the olive nerites?
The moss and hm and hc and etc. look awesome. one suggestion, move the driftwood, flip it, angle it etc, until you can't see the straight cut ends and stuff. It looks too unatuaral.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> Looks nice. where'd you get the olive nerites?
> The moss and hm and hc and etc. look awesome. one suggestion, move the driftwood, flip it, angle it etc, until you can't see the straight cut ends and stuff. It looks too unatuaral.


Thanks Dufus for the comments and suggestion! I purchased the olive nerites from my lfs (AOA) for $1.25 a piece. I added 8 to my 29g tank and 2 to my nano. 
Thanks for the compliments on my plants, i'm pretty excited about how they're growing too. I see what you mean about the top of my dw looking too unnatural. I don't see myself moving it, I like it where it is, perhaps i'll just plant something in front of the cut off piece and that'll hide the straight-cut edge.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

Dood, that's filling in nicely. I hear there's a local nano contest - you should prep your tank up for submission


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> Dood, that's filling in nicely. I hear there's a local nano contest - you should prep your tank up for submission


Haha, yes, I 'read' about it...somewhere.  I don't think this nano is even worthy enough against what you and the 'others' will submit. I'm just happy my plants aren't dead. :icon_lol:


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## Storm_Rider (Sep 30, 2006)

b-e-a-uuuutiful


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Storm_Rider said:


> b-e-a-uuuutiful


Nice quote from my favorite actor.  I'll also take it as a compliment. :thumbsup:


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Cydric said:


> I see what you mean about the top of my dw looking too unnatural. I don't see myself moving it, I like it where it is, perhaps i'll just plant something in front of the cut off piece and that'll hide the straight-cut edge.


That will work too, i just can't stop looking at the cut end. i'm a freak like that though.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> That will work too, i just can't stop looking at the cut end. i'm a freak like that though.


Haha, i'm sorry it's bothering you that much! I'll put something in front of it tonight when I get home from my girlfriend's. I had to cut to make it fit in my nano.  I didn't want to, I really thought it was short enough to fit in properly. 

Thanks for pointing that out to me, Dufus.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

Don't sell yourself short bud. It's coming along nicely.....and it's free entry


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> Don't sell yourself short bud. It's coming along nicely.....and it's free entry


I'll think about it more and talk to you about it on Sunday at the PAPAS meeting. :thumbsup:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*hmm*

Ok, I need a suggestion for my nano here. I have HM growing in the back middle of my tank if you hadn't noticed yet but more recently it's starting to grow horizontally and is now taking root to my subtrate in the front where my HC is. 

My question is, should I remove the invading HM from the foreground or let it mix in with the HC? 

Any suggestions?

Here is a picture of what I am talking about. You can clearly see the HM starting to over take the right side of my tank where the HC is.


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## pens_fan (Dec 19, 2006)

I like how the HM drapes over the dritwood, but I would trim it up a little where it starts invading the HC. That's my opinion. :wink:


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

I agree, I would remove it before it mixes in but keep it hanging. If you let it mix in you'll find that the HM outgrows the HC and you won't be able to see the HC soon.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Thanks for the suggestions guys, i'll remove it then.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

I would move the stems invading sideways so it can grow across the back.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

I agree with the others on the HM. But your tank is looking ravishing by the way


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> I would move the stems invading sideways so it can grow across the back.


Thanks for the suggestion, dufus. I'll do just that. I wouldn't mind the HM growing in the back covering up a little of the substrate. I 'might' be adding a moss wall in the back of this nano. It's currently growing out in my 29g. 

Do you guys think I should add it once it grows out a little more? It's java moss on black crafting mesh. 

Also, I need a plant suggestion to cover up the piece of my dw that is cut off. Anyone?



RESGuy said:


> I agree with the others on the HM. But your tank is looking ravishing by the way


Thanks!  I can't wait for the HC to fully carpet!

Oh, and I added 2 more occupants to the tank. I just couldn't resist picking up the last two dwarf cajun crayfish (cambarellus shufeldtii) from my lfs. So they are in there now sharing the tank with 4 RCS, 1 gigantic ramshorn snail, and 2 olive nerites.  

I'll add pictures of the dwarf crays once I can get a good enough shot of them. They tend to blend in a little with my ecocomplete substrate.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

You can try to extend the bush of Rotala rotundifolia into the midground - Dutch style - to cover the driftwood end.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> You can try to extend the bush of Rotala rotundifolia into the midground - Dutch style - to cover the driftwood end.


Ok, i'll do that!  Thanks bud!


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*dwarf crays!*

Here are the best pictures I could take of my dwarf cajun crayfish in my 2.5g nano:


















This is at feeding time. I threw in 2 little pieces of Hikari algae wafers for whoever would eat it. My two crays came out of the woodwork and snatched both pieces up. Each cray got their own piece, not leaving any for my RCS or snails, lol. 

The above pictures are of one of my crays totally bogarting a piece of an algae pellet.


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## pens_fan (Dec 19, 2006)

Good pictures of your crays! They blend in pretty well to the substrate haha. :hihi:


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Dwarf crays are awesome guys to have. i think petite nana is a good plant for covering the dw


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Nice crays dude, greedy ones aren't they?:hihi: I would like to have HC in my tank ... maybe when I upgrade to a 10 gallon lol And I need some dirt like substrate too when I upgrade because it is hard to plant in gravel:icon_surp


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Thanks for the compliments! I wouldn't mind having petite nana in my tank but I don't know where I could get some. My lfs doesn't have 'petite' just A. barteri var. barteri.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Internet Internet Internet!!!!!


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> Internet Internet Internet!!!!!


thanks for pointing out the obvious to me, lol. I'm checking now...


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Hehe I'd have to agree with dufus. If you haven't already you should make a WTB thread in the SnS.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

RESGuy said:


> Hehe I'd have to agree with dufus. If you haven't already you should make a WTB thread in the SnS.


I might in the future. Right now, I just bought some flame moss so i'm going to hold back from superfluous purchases.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

holy cow, your crays are actually visible. Unless I sneak up on them once the lights are out and turn on the light quickly, I have a hard time finding one, let alone multiple crays out of 4 in my ten gallon.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> holy cow, your crays are actually visible. Unless I sneak up on them once the lights are out and turn on the light quickly, I have a hard time finding one, let alone multiple crays out of 4 in my ten gallon.


Haha, yes they are. I spooked the crap out of one this morning when i turned their light on. It bounced all over the tank and the settled down lol. Most of the time I can find them but they're normally hiding in my HM or behind my rock with the java moss on it.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*A little update*

Here's a quick little update on my nano:

It's doing all right. I added a little snip it of _Rotala sp._'Green' to the left side corner. 
I have to get in there and scrub the glass of green spot algae about twice a week.  but besides that it's doing ok. The HC turned a little brown which i'm disappointed about. Not quite sure why it did, nutrient inefficiency i suspected is the culprit so now i'm dosing micro and macro ferts plus 2ml of excel every other day. I do 50% water changes every sunday along with my 29g tank. No DIY co2 besides the excel dosing. 
I hope my lighting isn't the culprit, it's a Home Depot light that is 18w 6500k. 

Anyway, here are a couple pictures:

Far away shot of my nano, you can see my sort of DIY lighting:









Full tank shot: 









My dwarf crays being photogentic:

















RCS:

















Enjoy!


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

It's filling in nicely bud. If the HC is getting a little yellowish/brown you might be a little low on nitrates. Just make sure you increase any ferts slowly, it's pretty easy to OD something in a nano.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> It's filling in nicely bud. If the HC is getting a little yellowish/brown you might be a little low on nitrates. Just make sure you increase any ferts slowly, it's pretty easy to OD something in a nano.



Thanks.  I dosed ferts yesterday and with the calculation I have it's pretty miniscule. 
Do you think 2ml of excel every other day is a little much? I heard HC likes excel a lot...?


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

i think so, maybe. it would be better doing 1m evry day. i dose 1 ml of diluted excel in my 1g. it's 1 part excel to 10 parts water i believe, but you would need like1/4 the dose for a 10 gallon, which would be like 1/4 of a ml. which if you dilute like 1 part excel to 4 parts water, i think that's about the normal level, but someone please check my math there.lol


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

super sweet nano. i have such bad luck with nanos.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> i think so, maybe. it would be better doing 1m evry day. i dose 1 ml of diluted excel in my 1g. it's 1 part excel to 10 parts water i believe, but you would need like1/4 the dose for a 10 gallon, which would be like 1/4 of a ml. which if you dilute like 1 part excel to 4 parts water, i think that's about the normal level, but someone please check my math there.lol


I need to dilute my excel dosages? Really? That doesn't sound like something i'm up for. I'll keep dosing 2ml every other day and keep up with my weekly 50% water changes.





danepatrick said:


> super sweet nano. i have such bad luck with nanos.


Thanks  This is my first nano attempt, so far it's going ok for me.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

2 ml does sound a bit high at one time....that's like dosing 8ml in a 10 gallon, or 40ml in a 55 gallon.....that's alot! But as long as your critters aren't affected by it and you do regular water changes you can continue trying and see how it turns out


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> 2 ml does sound a bit high at one time....that's like dosing 8ml in a 10 gallon, or 40ml in a 55 gallon.....that's alot! But as long as your critters aren't affected by it and you do regular water changes you can continue trying and see how it turns out


So do you think I should go down to 1ml every other day?


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

My main concern would be the high dose of excel affecting your livestock. If they seem to be doing fine you can see how it works out with that dosing....


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> My main concern would be the high dose of excel affecting your livestock. If they seem to be doing fine you can see how it works out with that dosing....



Yeah, I'm concerned about that too. I did notice one of my female rcs dropped her eggs.  I don't want it affecting them anymore or my dwarf crayfish.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

I would try just 1ml every other day then, and see how your inhabitants react. The shrimp should be a good indicator too....if you see them flying around the tank after dosing they probably don't like it too much.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> I would try just 1ml every other day then, and see how your inhabitants react. The shrimp should be a good indicator too....if you see them flying around the tank after dosing they probably don't like it too much.


Thanks man!  I don't see them flying around my tank, only when one of my crayfish creep up on them and scare the poo straight out of them. :hihi:


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

i think it's fine, i was just calculating the "correct" dosage, but i think the charts breakdown at nano size, much like WPG.

Cherries may be immune to excel, because i dosed about 30x my 1g dose in about 1/2" of water sunday for algae issues. the endlers, ottos, and RCS were less than affected, they loved it!


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> i think it's fine, i was just calculating the "correct" dosage, but i think the charts breakdown at nano size, much like WPG.
> 
> Cherries may be immune to excel, because i dosed about 30x my 1g dose in about 1/2" of water sunday for algae issues. the endlers, ottos, and RCS were less than affected, they loved it!


Well that's a good result.  Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

*Tiny update!*

I added a new plant to my nano...can you guess which one it is? 

A far away shot:









Closer shot:









Now, the reason why I won't enter my nano in the GPASI show tomorrow:









Look how awful my HC looks  It's slowly turning brown and dying. Very upsetting. 

I'm also in a dilemma about if I should keep my dwarf cajun crayfish in this tank because they feud everytime they come in contact with each other. Plus, one of my female RCS is missing half of her uropod. I'm suspecting she came too close to one of my dwarf crayfish.  Doesn't make me too happy but I guess I was asking for it putting 4 RCS plus 2 dwarf cajun crayfish together in a cramped 2.5g nano. 
Oh! and my berried RCS gave birth recently because I spotted about 3 babies in my java moss.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

I geuss blyxa!
I think the crays(or at least one) would benefit from being moved to a 10 gallon or so. the cherry may be due to the cray, but i don't suspect it. if you hold one of your crays, instead of pinching you, they push away from youwith their claws.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> I geuss blyxa!
> I think the crays(or at least one) would benefit from being moved to a 10 gallon or so. the cherry may be due to the cray, but i don't suspect it. if you hold one of your crays, instead of pinching you, they push away from youwith their claws.


It has to be one of the crays because who else is going to cut off half of her uropod?


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Well, unless she got stuck in or under something and it ripped off, then i ggeuss the crays are the only option.


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## Solstice (Jan 9, 2006)

Cydric,

In a 2.5g tank you should be dosing about .25ml of Excel a day. Get yourself an oral syringe they make for giving medicine to babies. They're about $2 at any drug store. I use this one: 










I measure out the .25ml, then fill the rest of the syringe with aquarium water and then squirt it in the tank.

None of your critters are immune to Excel. Excel is an isomer of glutaraldehyde which is toxic to just about everything in high enough doses and it will certainly kill critters if you overdose it to extremes.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Solstice said:


> Cydric,
> 
> In a 2.5g tank you should be dosing about .25ml of Excel a day. Get yourself an oral syringe they make for giving medicine to babies. They're about $2 at any drug store. I use this one:
> 
> ...


I have that oral syringe that I use to dose in both tanks of mine.  Thanks for the dosage recommendation. :thumbsup:

Dufus, 
I'm only guessing it was a crayfish that did that to my shrimp. She could've caught it on something but i'm not sure what. 
Interesting.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Hmm, the case of the missing cherry.......butt.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Well, your tank looks AWESOME! Too bad about your HC and the buttless RCS  
That's why I don't want anything but shrimp and snails in my tank (And obviously plants).


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

dufus said:


> Hmm, the case of the missing cherry.......butt.


Yeah  I hope no more cherries end up under the same circumstance.




RESGuy said:


> Well, your tank looks AWESOME! Too bad about your HC and the buttless RCS
> That's why I don't want anything but shrimp and snails in my tank (And obviously plants).


Thanks for the compliment!  I hope my HC swings back around too, it's really a bummer.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

Is the HC you got emersed? I'm thinking that may be the case because you have healthy looking HC around a patch that is dying off. If the healthy looking stuff keeps spreading, I wouldn't worry about it. If it really bothers you though, you can always trim out the bad stuff  I wouldn't change much right now other than cutting back a little on the Excel as Solstice suggested, it's coming along nicely.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> Is the HC you got emersed? I'm thinking that may be the case because you have healthy looking HC around a patch that is dying off. If the healthy looking stuff keeps spreading, I wouldn't worry about it. If it really bothers you though, you can always trim out the bad stuff  I wouldn't change much right now other than cutting back a little on the Excel as Solstice suggested, it's coming along nicely.


I'm not sure if the HC was grown emersed or not.  I hope it spreads and over takes the dying HC. I want a nice, lush foreground of green. I'll cut back on the Excel and dose accordingly. 

I also cut back on the photo period of lighting to about 8 hours because i'm tired of getting my big awkward hands in that little tank scrubbing algae off the glass every other day.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

lol
is it green spot algae? Takes some muscle to remove, feels raised when you touch it.....if so raise up your phosphates a little and that should clear it up.

My non-CO2 HC took about 6 months to triple in size, so I would give it some time.....the more I look at it the more I suspect the browning stuff was the initial HC....it looks like you're getting nice growth otherwise, just give it a few months


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Cydric said:


> I also cut back on the photo period of lighting to about 8 hours because i'm tired of getting my big awkward hands in that little tank scrubbing algae off the glass every other day.



I'm suprised you have this stuff with excel to that point.
i know co2 got rid of it in my big tank.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> lol
> is it green spot algae? Takes some muscle to remove, feels raised when you touch it.....if so raise up your phosphates a little and that should clear it up.
> 
> My non-CO2 HC took about 6 months to triple in size, so I would give it some time.....the more I look at it the more I suspect the browning stuff was the initial HC....it looks like you're getting nice growth otherwise, just give it a few months


Yes, it's green spot algae. It's a major pain in the butt to scrub off and I always end up splashing water everywhere no matter how much water I initially take out.  




dufus said:


> I'm suprised you have this stuff with excel to that point.
> i know co2 got rid of it in my big tank.


Yeah, well, i'm going to keep my photo period down to 8 hours as long as I can help it.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

hmm.....women have small hands....... :hihi:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> hmm.....women have small hands....... :hihi:


lol! ohhhh hunny! :icon_lol:


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## pens_fan (Dec 19, 2006)

haha, expecting me to do all your hard work for ya now? :tongue:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

pens_fan said:


> haha, expecting me to do all your hard work for ya now? :tongue:


Haha......:help:


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## pens_fan (Dec 19, 2006)

Cydric said:


> Haha......:help:



I would clean it for you, but you'd have to bring it to my house. . .hehe. :wink:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

pens_fan said:


> I would clean it for you, but you'd have to bring it to my house. . .hehe. :wink:


No road trips for my nano! It's safe and sound where it is now!


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## pens_fan (Dec 19, 2006)

lol, yeah better leave it where it's at. we'll have to get you a scrub pad with a handle. :icon_wink


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

pens_fan said:


> lol, yeah better leave it where it's at. we'll have to get you a scrub pad with a handle. :icon_wink


Yeah, I agree. 

Well, my _Rotala sp_. 'Green' officially bit it in my nano. I didn't receive it in the best of shape but now it's definitely a goner. Ah well.

Anyone suggest another little stem plant I could use in the left side of my tank?

The plant:


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## Spidergrrrl (Nov 10, 2006)

Hi Cydric,

Your tank is looking great. I don't have too many ideas for a new stem plant (I'm still new to planted tanks, myself). 

Does it have to be a stem plant, specifically? I've got water sprite growing in my tank, which is set up similarly to yours. It's an easy plant, so I'm happy with it.  Or, maybe some bacopa or ludwigia?


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Spidergrrrl said:


> Hi Cydric,
> 
> Your tank is looking great. I don't have too many ideas for a new stem plant (I'm still new to planted tanks, myself).
> 
> Does it have to be a stem plant, specifically? I've got water sprite growing in my tank, which is set up similarly to yours. It's an easy plant, so I'm happy with it.  Or, maybe some bacopa or ludwigia?



Thanks for the compliment, your tanks look great, too!  

I'd like a stem plant on the left because I have _Rotala rotundifolia_ on the right side. 
Water sprite, in my opinion, is a little big for my 2.5 crammed nano. I liked the skinniness of Rotala. 

The only Bacopa I have is _Bacopa sp._'Colorata' and it's growing like a weed right now in my 29g and it's too colorful for my nano. I want to keep everything green. I'm hoping my _Blyxa japonica _doesn't turn red. 
The _Rotala rotundifolia_ in there right now is the most color I'll allow. 

Thanks for the tips, though! :thumbsup:


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

You can try Micranthenum umbrosum in that corner. It would provide some contrast in leaf shape with the other plants growing there.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> You can try Micranthenum umbrosum in that corner. It would provide some contrast in leaf shape with the other plants growing there.


Yeah, I really like the looks of that plant. The leaf shape isn't like anything I have in there.

Thanks!

On a side note, my preggy RCS from a few weeks back had her babies. I've counted 4 or 5 baby rcs in my taiwan moss. :thumbsup:


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

Sweet! Now since I know you have both, and the abbreviations are always mixed up - is this the crystal reds or the cherry reds? If it's the former I'm calling dibs on the first extra batch! :tongue:


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

hooha said:


> Sweet! Now since I know you have both, and the abbreviations are always mixed up - is this the crystal reds or the cherry reds? If it's the former I'm calling dibs on the first extra batch! :tongue:


Haha, too bad they're red cherry shrimp. My crystal reds that were berried in my 29g dropped their eggs I do believe because they no longer have them and I don't see any babies. They haven't had their eggs for about 3 weeks now. :icon_frow Perhaps I should move my RCS and crayfish to my 29g and put the CRS in the nano


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Cydric said:


> Haha, too bad they're red cherry shrimp. My crystal reds that were berried in my 29g dropped their eggs I do believe because they no longer have them and I don't see any babies. They haven't had their eggs for about 3 weeks now. :icon_frow Perhaps I should move my RCS and crayfish to my 29g and put the CRS in the nano


Congratulations on the baby RCS!! 

I think that the CRS would look nice in the 2.5 gallon but I don't think they would adjust very well. CRS are extremely sensitive to water parameters and the smallest mistake or problem in a 2.5 gallon tank can mean disaster and may wipe out your entire CRS colony. I think I'd rather be safe than sorry and stick to the larger 29 gallon tank for the CRS


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## erodstrom (Apr 9, 2007)

I just found this thread; very helpful! I've got a 2.5g also that's been up for about 5 weeks, so I'm a bit behind you. Running DIY CO2 and a 15 watt light on about 10 hours a day. I had similar algae issues. I put in an Otocinclus and a chinese algae eater (impulse buy) that I'll have to pull out when he gets a bit bigger. They've actually cleaned up the majority of my algae issues, going up each Micro sword leaf to clean it, amazing!


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Congrats on the rcs babies cydric.
welcome to The planted tank erodstrom.


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

erodstrom said:


> I just found this thread; very helpful! I've got a 2.5g also that's been up for about 5 weeks, so I'm a bit behind you. Running DIY CO2 and a 15 watt light on about 10 hours a day. I had similar algae issues. I put in an Otocinclus and a chinese algae eater (impulse buy) that I'll have to pull out when he gets a bit bigger. They've actually cleaned up the majority of my algae issues, going up each Micro sword leaf to clean it, amazing!


I'm glad my journal has been some help to you.  I'm glad it's helped someone. I'm not running DIY co2 but I did think about it. I don't think I could stand changing the ingredients in DIY anymore than I have to because I have 2 other tanks running DIY co2, lol. I run my lights only around 6 - 8 hours a day now because of green spot algae on my glass. That's the only place it is, on my glass right in front. None on my plants. 

I thought about putting an Otocinclus in there but then it'd be too crowded since my RCS are now breeding in there. I bet your CAE will outgrow that tank in a month! haha.




dufus said:


> Congrats on the rcs babies cydric.
> welcome to The planted tank erodstrom.



Thanks


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## Cydric (Dec 6, 2006)

Ok, it's been a really long time since I said anything about my nano. 

A few things have changed:
Removed the _Rotala rotundifolia_ from the back right hand corner because I got sick and tired of trimming it every week and quite frankly I wasn't liking how it was looking anymore.

Removed the _Rotala sp._'Green' from the back left hand corner because it was just slowly dying and looked horrible. 

I added a sprig of _Cryptocoryne x willisii _'Lucens' in the front left/middle just to add a slow growing plant. It came from my 29g shrimp tank. 

My HC doesn't seem to want to grow anymore but my HM on the other hand is growing at a ridiculous speed. 

Removed my 2 cajun dwarf crayfish and placed them into my 29g shrimp tank. 

Added 6 Neocaridina palmata 'Nectarine shrimp'. 

You can see a couple of the shrimp in the picture but you can clearly see one on my taiwan moss on the left front side of my tank. 

Here's a quick snapshot of the tank as of today:









Here is a picture of the Crypt I added along with one of my new shrimp picking away:


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Wow your tank looks amazing! Great green growth! And nice shrimp  Congratulations


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

"HM....good for nanos" 
I like the new look, my only suggestion is to figure out a way to get the 'cut' end of the driftwood hidden and more of the 'other end' showing....


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## stanley2 (Apr 18, 2007)

hey cydric what is the name of that beatiful foregound plant in the front bottom that you have.

(by the way NICE TANK MAN i like it):smile:


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Are you talking about the carpet plant? If so I am pretty sure that is HC


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