# 5.5 gallon grass tank - 12/05/12 update



## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Tank as of 12/05/2012












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After lurking this site for a while, I've decided to share one of my tanks.

Specs:
Tank size: 5.5 AGA
Substrate: Organic peat moss capped with Fluorite Black Sand
Lighting: 27 watt Sunlight Desk Lamp
Filtration: Tom Aquatics Rapids Mini Canister Filter
Ferts: Seachem line with Metricide whenever I change the water once a month or so. Or whenever I feel like it.
CO2: None
Flora: Eleocharis acicularis, Anubias barteri var. nana, Cryptocoryne wendtii, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Limnobium laevigatum (Amazon Frogbit), Hygrophila sp. 'Tiger', Java Moss, Flame Moss
Fauna: 8 Danio margaritatus (CPDs), one Neritina natalensis sp. "Tracked", and multiple MTS

The majority of the plants started as small clippings. The crypts and anubias were pretty much just rhizomes when I dry-started the tank a year ago. The mosses and pearl weed were just one or two sprigs as well.


6/21/11 - Right before filling it up after about a year of a dry start.










10/18/11 - The tank as it is now.










Top view










This anubias used to be nothing but a bare rhizome.










CPDs










These guys used to be about the size of a grain of rice. Now their a little bit under an inch.










MTS










Another full tank shot. I should really trim the grass and the pearl weed back.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

i think it looks fine. post up a video!


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Newman said:


> i think it looks fine. post up a video!


Thanks! I should really post one I guess, to get the CPD's swimming in action.


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## doncityz (May 17, 2011)

Time for a trim?


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

doncityz said:


> Time for a trim?


I should give it a trim but I like the wild, overgrown look of the tank. I think Ill trim it this weekend.


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Looks amazing. It reminds me of a grass field (DHG) with bananna trees (the crypts). Doesn't need a trim; just mow the lawn a bit.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

I assume you have multiple tanks. If that was your only tank I am amazed you waited a year for the dry start!


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## Penny (Sep 16, 2011)

I think this looks awesome, very lush!


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

PinoyBoy said:


> Looks amazing. It reminds me of a grass field (DHG) with bananna trees (the crypts). Doesn't need a trim; just mow the lawn a bit.


Thanks. I wasn't sure how big the crypts were going to get when I first started the tank. When they got too tall, I had to ditch the lid to keep leaves from hitting the top.



diwu13 said:


> I assume you have multiple tanks. If that was your only tank I am amazed you waited a year for the dry start!


Yea, I only have one other planted tank at the moment and I was focused on that one for the longest time. I even neglected this tank for a while since I was busy with school and work when I first planted it dry. The only maintenance I did was pour water to keep the substrate saturated and remember to turn on the desk lamp. At one point, some of the emergent hairgrass was dying and dried out and covered with fungus.



Penny said:


> I think this looks awesome, very lush!


Thanks!


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

I did a small trim and took a few pics. I also recorded a short vid of the tank.

Trimmed the grass. It was a PITA to remove most of the floating bits. I also thinned out the Hygro and trimmed the pearl weed.










The crypts. The one leaf in the middle is a nice bronze/olive green color while other leaves are bright green.










Added some mystery moss to the tank. Can anyone identify it?










Here's the vid I promised.
http://youtu.be/GU-4zR-Uul4


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

probably java moss.
tank looks great! looks like I'll be doing dry starts in the future for at least 1 year lol...


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Looks like java/taiwan moss. Can't really tell the difference between the two.

Is your filter getting clogged with all that "grass"?


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Newman said:


> probably java moss.
> tank looks great! looks like I'll be doing dry starts in the future for at least 1 year lol...


Thanks!



diwu13 said:


> Looks like java/taiwan moss. Can't really tell the difference between the two.
> 
> Is your filter getting clogged with all that "grass"?


I was thinking taiwan moss, but the fronds don't look right. However I did buy the moss from a seller in the SnS as a mixed mat which also contained Peacock and Flame moss.

Actually, the filter is fine. The only time the filter gets clogged is when one of the crypt leaves melt and I am too lazy to pull the melted stuff out of the tank.


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## TheJadeShrimp (Oct 13, 2011)

Very nice! I like it!

I am looking for some Dwarf Hairgrass myself. lol


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

It doesn't really look like flame moss, but generally when I see flame moss its much thicker than that. I have a bunch of whatever that is so if you find out P: haha. I got mine and it was labeled as java/taiwan so who knows! All does the same thing anyway


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

TheJadeShrimp said:


> Very nice! I like it!
> 
> I am looking for some Dwarf Hairgrass myself. lol


Thanks!



diwu13 said:


> It doesn't really look like flame moss, but generally when I see flame moss its much thicker than that. I have a bunch of whatever that is so if you find out P: haha. I got mine and it was labeled as java/taiwan so who knows! All does the same thing anyway


Yea, I didn't think it was flame moss. I am thinking it's either peacock moss or taiwan moss.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

How did you specifically remove all the little floating bits? I might have to trim my plants soon so I'd like to learn of your methods. Besides using a plain ol' net would you recommend anything else?


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

diwu13 said:


> How did you specifically remove all the little floating bits? I might have to trim my plants soon so I'd like to learn of your methods. Besides using a plain ol' net would you recommend anything else?


Sure. I use a regular pair of scissors to cut the grass. Then I run a plastic fork through the grass and comb it to get rid of any blades/junk stuck in it. Next I top off the water to the frame (to get all the cut pieces floating to the top) and temporarily remove all the floaters. I then use both a small net and some tweezers to remove the floating bits. Anything that's left often breaks down, turns brown, and gets taken care of by my filter or by the MTS's. Or I just spot check daily to remove maybe one or two floating strands I might have missed. Hope that helps.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

*Trim update*

It's been a while since I've updated this tank so here's some new pics.











I ripped out most of the free-growing moss in the tank. Took out almost all of the baby tears. Trimmed the lawn to about three inches high. Mowed down the crypts (mostly for partially melted leaves). Took out the flame moss covered driftwood, trimmed the moss, shredded some of it, and glued it back onto the wood. And I added a small bunch of DWL since my amazon frogbit was looking half-dead.










It's nice seeing the anubias again. It's also grown a little bit since I last posted.










Mystery crypt that I found behind/under the moss I ripped out. It looks like _Cryptocoryne x willisii 'lucens'_ but Im not 100% certain.


Anyways, I tried adding a dragonscale plakat betta from Petsmart to the tank but there were two problems right after I introduced him. One was that the flow of the tank was too strong and he would end up just floating behind the return flow. Another is that he would constantly chase after the CDPs, trying to eat them while struggling with the current. He's currently in solitary confinement in a 1 gallon plastic container with some moss until I figure out where I can set up a 2.5 gallon tank for him

Here's some pics of the little terror.










He was in the small critter keeper just to take some clear shots of him.










It's a shame since he looks so much better in person when he's not stressed. His scales are a darker blue and the red on his fins are a much deeper wine red.


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## keilatan (Jan 22, 2011)

I love it! Your betta's going to have so much fun in there.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

keilatan said:


> I love it! Your betta's going to have so much fun in there.


Thanks! Sadly, the betta won't be going in there since he wants to kill the CPDs. Ill set up another tank just for him.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Yeah, i ended up moving my betta out as he was a moody guy. on some days, you would see some cherry shrimp flying towards him and pounce on him... on other days, he would be nipping at their tails, probably the pounce that broke the betta back....

Either way, it was stressful for everyone so he was moved out to my planted bowl. Just seems my shrimp and ottos are much happier together but i really want a tank with CPDs. they are just really active and go all over the tank.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

*06/06/12 update*

Well here's my tank as of today. A lot has happened since the last time I posted pics. First off, I had neglected my tank. Over a month ago, staghorn algae was all over my grass. I nuked the tank with H2O2 and did a major trim of the infected leaves. I pulled out all the java moss and did a vacuum of the substrate. After about an hour of waiting for the H2O2 to oxidize any organics and algae left over, I changed the water. Then, the long process of recovery began. I reduced the lighting period, added some diy CO2, and added some Root Medic caps to the substrate. Here's the tank as it is now:










As you can see, the crypts are loving my tank and the hairgrass is recovering.










I lost two CPDs during the staghorn ordeal (I think their deaths is what caused it...) but the remaining six are happy. There's also 5 dwarf rasboras, an olive nerite, and numerous pond/malaysian/ramshorn snails. My CDPs are more adventurous now that they have some dither fish.











The crypts are enjoying this tank. When the water level gets low, some of the leaves tend to shoot upwards out of the water.











One of the crypt leaves.











Nice red underside.











My anubias is growing well too.











The dwarf hairgrass easily reaches the top of the tank. I think it's a misnomer.

Til next time.


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## TobasB (Aug 11, 2010)

Lovely little tank fella.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

TobasB said:


> Lovely little tank fella.


Thanks!


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Very nice debacle!


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## Rell (Jul 22, 2012)

how is it that you don't know the variety of moss you have?

I don't mean to sound insulting or stupid, but I'm extremely new to this and wondering how exactly someone could come into possession of something they don't know the name for.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

bitFUUL said:


> Very nice debacle!


Thanks. Though I don't really think of it as a failure, but more of a tank I just neglect and it keeps on growing.



Rell said:


> how is it that you don't know the variety of moss you have?
> 
> I don't mean to sound insulting or stupid, but I'm extremely new to this and wondering how exactly someone could come into possession of something they don't know the name for.


When I first started this tank emersed, it was just a dumping ground for random moss clippings and crypts. It was more of a random experiment with emersed growth instead of a well thought-out tank. It started one day after reading one of Tom Barr's old threads on using the dry-start method to give plant growth a head start and to prevent initial algae problems. Anyways, one batch of moss I threw in had different pieces of moss intertwined together: peacock, taiwan, java, and some others I can't remember. To be honest I really don't care what kind of moss it is. As long as it grows I'm happy with it.


Though I'm thinking about starting this tank over again with MGOCPM instead of peat moss. Change the scape up a little bit. Also replace the regular DHG with the 'Belem' variety. Though that's another project for another day. I have other tanks and projects I'm working on. For now though, this tank is just basic maintenance of the CO2 (cleaning the gunk off the diffuser and changing the CO2 mix every 5-6 weeks), a water change once every two weeks, and the occasional trim every other water change.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

*9/18/12 - Restart*

So, I got bored of my tank. I started to neglect it. The hairgrass was growing way too tall for the tank. I pulled out most of it, and sold/traded it away. The crypts were pulled out and given away. They had awesome roots but they were just too big for the tank. The CPDs and the lone remaining rasbora are swimming in a 5 gallon bucket with some mosses and filtration. I decided to start this tank over, this time with Eleocharis 'Belem'. It would stay shorter, and would grow more thicker. I also decided to avoid crypts this time since their roots become way too invasive in dirt substrates. This time I'm using Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix, capped with the same Seachem 
black sand I used before. I will dry start this tank, however, instead of waiting for a year, I'll probably wait at most a month this time for the grass to become established. Now here's the pics.











Nice and clean tank. Cleaned it with H2O2 and vinegar.











Added some sand to the front of the tank.











In goes the dirt. I removed only the largest twigs. The rest of the organic material is still there.











Soil depth is about 1.5 inches.











Capped it with the rest of the sand.











The ruler says it's 2 inches in the tank...











But it looks deeper outside.











Here's the belem. I spent about an hour pulling apart two, 2x2 mats of the stuff.











Let the planting begin!











Prepping the individual nodes for planting.











I went overboard at the rear of the tank. But then I went with a more uniform grid pattern in the front. I used my fingers initially but then I used a chopstick to poke some holes in the substrate. I then gently placed each node into each of the holes. Took about an hour and a half. I still had plenty left over. The rest is was planted in a small container with wet MGOCPM and Osmocote pellets.











Flooded the substrate. Now the dry start begins.











Here's the rosewood I am planning to use in this tank. I'm currently floating it in a bucket, waiting for it to get water logged. But here it is in the tank for a brief moment, to see how it looks.











I have no idea what to attach to it. I have trident fern and needle leaf java fern, but I would like some opinions. I was thinking fissidens. 

Anyways, thanks for looking. Updates will be available when I see some new growth or w/e.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Fissidens would look pretty neat on the wood.


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## Bluek24a4 (Mar 16, 2010)

^ Agreed. Id go with the Fiss. 

Nice dry start so far Monster.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Bluek24a4 said:


> ^ Agreed. Id go with the Fiss.
> 
> Nice dry start so far Monster.


Thanks.



acitydweller said:


> Fissidens would look pretty neat on the wood.


Aight, I guess I'll go with fissidens.


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## chibikaie (Aug 2, 2012)

Wow, that looks awesome. I don't think I have that much patience. (Something tells me that I totally did not plant my crypts properly.)


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## bostoneric (Sep 7, 2011)

Monster Fish said:


> Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> Aight, I guess I'll go with fissidens.


hit me up if you want to buy some. I have tons of it!


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## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

Nice piece of wood. I really liked how lush your grass was before hopefully you can get that thick carpet on this tank going as well. Good luck. I agree with above statement, fissidens would look great on that wood.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

I'm so glad you revived this thread Monster! Sad to see the old scape go though  But I'm sure you can match it with this one too roud:
Sub'd this time (not making that mistake again)


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Hmmm. People bumped this thread. I guess it's time for an update.

Here's the tank as of yesterday evening.




















Added some emersed Ludwigia sp 'Red' and Ludwigia arcruata. These were pretty easy to convert. Just float a stem in a shallow container, add a cfl a few inches above it, then watch as the stem starts to grow out of the water. Then trim the tops and add to your emersed setup.











I added a pair of Erio parkeri to the tank. Hopefully they acclimate to the dry start. The one in the front is starting to grow emergent leaves. You can also see the fronds of fissidens I added to the wood. For some reason, even though the water level is up and I spray the tank 3 times a day, most of the branches dry out. I think I'll have to keep the fissidens lower on the tree to prevent it from drying out.











Here's the hairgrass. Most of the submerged growth has died out and has now been replaced by emergent blades. Now all I have to do it wait for it to start spreading. I keep the water level an inch above the substrate to keep the humidity up since it worked for me before, when I did my previous dry-start.


Currently I dose Rootmedic complete every other day to give the grass some extra nutrients. I'll see how this tank turns out in a month. If I'm satisfied with the coverage, I'll fill it up. If not, I'll wait another one.

Additional thoughts:
I was thinking about switching to paintball CO2 setup and EI dosing with dry ferts once I fill this tank now. But since it's still in the dry-start stage, I'll hold off on buying any new equipment.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Another thing I learned with reptiles is you can leave a plastic water bottle in the tank, poke a hole in it and let the water slowly evaporate out of it.

Good luck with the Erio parkeri, I'm sure that'll look amazing once it gets bigger.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

I think I'm fine with the water already in the tank. Also I have no place to put a water bottle. I just have problems with keeping the humidity even throughout the tank. Maybe I need to get a new piece of plastic wrap or something.


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## tinkerpuppet (Feb 13, 2010)

I really like the tank you had before, excited to see how this one turns out!


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Thanks.


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## Bluek24a4 (Mar 16, 2010)

That should look great when it grows in. Are the arcruata stems and Parkeri from me?

Dry starting with that much water doesn't give you any problems?


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Lookin good!


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Bluek24a4 said:


> That should look great when it grows in. Are the arcruata stems and Parkeri from me?
> 
> Dry starting with that much water doesn't give you any problems?


Thanks. Yeah, they were from you. The erios are slowly adapting.

When I previously did my dry-start, I always kept the water a centimeter or two above the substrate since misting alone wouldn't keep the humidity up. As the water evaporated, it would keep the humidity up. It seems like a lot in the front because I have a slope going on in the tank. The rear part of the tank has about 3 inches of substrate, whereas the front only has about 2 inches of just black diamond blasting sand. The rear of the tank is much drier. The substrate is saturated but the water doesn't cover the hairgrass at all. Though in an attempt to mist the top of the tree, I think I've misted a bit too much. I might remove a little bit of the water



frrok said:


> Lookin good!


Thanks!


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

Haven't tried it in a DSM aquarium yet, but a simple terrarium start technique when you need a good evaporative source but don't want standing water--is to use sponges clipped on the inside of the rim. Keeps them up off the plants, they're easy to re-saturate by spraying or drizzling with water and they don't block much, if any, of the light.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Interesting technique. Though the sponges would look a bit ugly in the tank.

Anyways, I drained some of the water. Now there's only about a centimeter of standing water in the front while the rear of the tank has the water just saturating the substrate.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

It's been about two weeks so it's time for an update.











Front of the tank wiped dry.











The hairgrass has exploded in growth. I think adding my DIY CO2 helped.











Added some more fissidens (thanks Jellie!)











Added another stem of L. arcuata and L. sp Red. They were growing slanted towards the light so I moved the fixture a little bit over the driftwood.











Here's some of the leftover grass. The substrate is MGOCPM with osmocote pellets. Started with about 10-12 plants about 3 weeks ago.










Some other updates:
One of the erios melted away. The other one isn't doing much. I might just remove it and try reviving it outside my tank in a smaller container. If I do remove it, I'll probably use that spot for some crypt parva. I've decided to keep the water level up since it helps with the humidity. After I turn off the lights, I remove a corner of the plastic wrap over the tank to let some fresh air in over night. I haven't had any problems yet with this method. There's a little bit of BGA growing on the CO2 diffuser but it isn't anything to be worried about. If anything, I'll douse the diffuser in H2O2 or bleach before using it in the submerged setup. Other than the little bit of BGA and the melting erio, everything is going fine. I think I'll still wait for the grass to fill in a bit more in the front before I fill it up.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

*10/31/12 update*

Here's the tank as of today. In two weeks, the hairgrass has nearly doubled in volume











_Ludwigia_ sp Red branching out with minimal effort.











The DHG 'belem' has really taken off.











The _Ludwigia arcuata_ is growing fast as well.











Other updates:
I added a black background to the tank to hide the pothos and the lamp behind the tank. I removed the erio and placed it into a small emersed container with some _Hydrocotyle_ sp. Japan. I replaced the erios with some Crypt parva. Most of them are going through a melt but hopefully they'll recover in about a week or so. I'm so close to filling the tank with water. However, I might wait a week or two to see if the C. parva starts shooting out new growth before filling it up. Maybe wait for them to get more established since they've only been in the tank for about a week. Anyways, right now I'm thinking of what kind of fauna to stock the tank with after it's been filled up and cycled. I'm trying to stay away from CPDs since I had them before. Any ideas would be great. Until next time.


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## 8foot6inchRod (Sep 18, 2011)

I've got CPDs too and love them, but I think my next nanofish is going to be Chili Rasboras. I think they would set off nicely with all the green and black in your tank.


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## Barbgirl (Feb 24, 2012)

Updates???

Hows the Hygroryza aristata??


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

*12/05/12 - Finally filled up!*



Barbgirl said:


> Updates???
> 
> Hows the Hygroryza aristata??


Here's your update 

Btw, your Hygroryza has taken off.


Anyways, I think it's about time for an update. I filled up the tank on the 11/10/12. I used ammonia to start the cycle and it took a total of about a week to complete. Now here's the tank now.











The fauna are:
_Boraras urophthalmoides_ aka sparrow rasbora X 15
Otocinclus X 2
_Caridina multidentata_ aka Amano Shrimp X 1
Bladder snail X 1
Ramshorms X 2

Flora:
DHG 'belem'
_Cryptocoryne parva_
_Fissidens fontanus_
_Ludwigia sp. Red_
_Ludwigia sp. Rubin_
_Ludwigia arcuata_
_Ludwigia ovalis_
_Ludwigia palustris_
_Ludwigia senegalensis_
_Limnobium laevigatum_
_Hygroryza aristata_

EI dosing with a 50% water change on Sunday.
DIY CO2 with daily Metricide-14 dosings.


Anyways, here's more pics.


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## LyzzaRyzz (Nov 6, 2012)

Great update! Wonderful tank! I love my hygroryza aristata too. What plant is I. Front of the driftwood? It looks a bit bare. Love the driftwood though! Perfect for a nano!


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

LyzzaRyzz said:


> Great update! Wonderful tank! I love my hygroryza aristata too. What plant is I. Front of the driftwood? It looks a bit bare. Love the driftwood though! Perfect for a nano!


Thanks!

The plant in front of the driftwood is Cryptocoryne parva. It grows incredibly slow though. I might replace it with another crypt or plant if it doesn't do much.

Yeah, I got lucky with the driftwood. I got this piece for $20 at the LFS. Most of the similar sized pieces were upwards of $30.


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## ivan.f (Aug 12, 2011)

Beautiful work on the tank! More updates please!


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## Anya (Oct 26, 2013)

Agreed, update please!


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

How's it look now?


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