# Fluval Chi 5g (Photo intensive update 10.07.12)



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

I got a free fluval chi from a great Houstonfishbox member and decided to turn it into a planted nano. This will be my first planted and first nano. I'm still in the beginning process and any comments, constructive criticism, or suggestions would be great! I've already received a lot of suggestions and comments on HFB and just wanted to share with you guys.

Tank specs & equipment:
5g Fluval Chi (31.25 L x 25.4 W x 25.4 H cm)
Eco-Complete African Cichlid substrate
Manzanita Driftwood
Zoo Med 501 Turtle Canister Filter (Seachem Matrix, Prefilter sponge, and coarse sponge)
12.5" 6 watt Ecoxotic Stunner LED 18-8000K White 6-453nm Blue
90w Lamp (not sure of the specs on it)

Here are a few pics of it currently setup and the equipment. Livestock includes 2 Molly fry, 3 chocolate tylos, and 3 nerites. Molly are temporary until shrimp and livestock are added. No plants yet but I'm slowly gathering them. The light is not going to sit in the tank like that. I'm looking for a mounting clip to attach the stunner strip to.

Sorry for picture quality. All photos taken with cell phone.

















































































































































Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

What kind of filter do you have?


----------



## Andrew H (Nov 17, 2011)

Take a razor are to the old filter mount. It should come off fairly easily when done carefully.


----------



## tetra10 (Aug 5, 2012)

GMYukonon24s said:


> What kind of filter do you have?


zoomed 501 mini external canister filter


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Andrew H said:


> Take a razor are to the old filter mount. It should come off fairly easily when done carefully.


Thanks! Didn't think about it and it didn't bother me much but I will definitely do that!

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Steve Hampton said:


> Way to go Kyle! I hope you have all the success you desire. Best of luck always.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve





tetra10 said:


> zoomed 501 mini external canister filter


^ this. Very well built filter

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

I have more updated photos of how it looks now. I will post them later today

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

nice setup. i have a fluval chi also that i am using to house the blue shrimps i got. its also my left overs tank, all my left over equipment, substrate, decor, plants, left over everything in that tank. cant wait to see wat you do with this setup.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Completely forgot about the pics again. Here they are. WARNING Photo intensive!


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Some layouts before I settled on one.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Temporary or possibly permanent tenants


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Two videos. Sorry in advance for any sounds/music! They were not intended!

Video 1

Video 2


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)




----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

I was given some shrimp that they said were Amano shrimp. Not sure if they were really Amano shrimp though. They all got fried this morning when the lamp fell in and electrocuted them all. Fish survived but no shrimp.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Another video

Video 1

Video 2


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Up-to-date photos (taken around 6:30pm yesterday)


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)




----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)




----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)




----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)




----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

How my canister is set up now. Removed all the ceramic rings and biomax I put in and replaced it with Seachem matrix. Sponge is still on the other side. No purigen still.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Updated OP with specs and equipment. Here are some FTS shots.

Front View










Right side view










Left side view


----------



## Bear Sage (Mar 18, 2012)

You like taking pics lol Last time i was i H-town i hit up a mom and pop in the oriental district and found a great stock of flora and dry goods. I brought home some H. 'bold' l. sessiflora and some fissidens. 
Looks good man. roud:


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Where the tank is now couldn't have happened without the help of such great members from Houstonfishbox.com! newb gave me the Fluval Chi for free! Mnemenoi donated tons of plants and plant trimmings along with assassin snails and rcs. Allysangels traded several plants for misc stuff and even gave some extra plants. Also got matrix from her. Murray (John, the owner of Houston Aquarium Warehouse a small but very awesome LFS) sold me the excellent quality manzanita driftwood and masked cories for extremely low prices! He always has great prices and great stock that most LFS don't carry or overprice down here. Definitely good people over on HFB!


----------



## Bear Sage (Mar 18, 2012)

I really like the community on HFB. Recently joined.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Bear Sage said:


> You like taking pics lol Last time i was i H-town i hit up a mom and pop in the oriental district and found a great stock of flora and dry goods. I brought home some H. 'bold' l. sessiflora and some fissidens.
> Looks good man. roud:


Majority of the pics were old pics. I continuously updated a similar thread over on HFB. I just thought I'd like to share my noob skills (just started the planted stuff last month). Which mom and pop store? The oriental district sounds like the SW side of town. The only ones I can think of are Xtreme Fish n Pets, Fish n Pets Unlimited, and City Pets. There's also Fish Ranch II, but it's ran by one guy and some hired employees.

Thank you! It's definitely nowhere close to what I have in mind. All of the plants are in there just to keep the tank stable and free of algae. Although that failed horribly and I have tons of algae. I just got a bag loaded of plants today so hopefully that'll choke out the algae.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Bear Sage said:


> I really like the community on HFB. Recently joined.


Ah! Were you the one who had the 4 tanks, hydrocotyle tripartita 'Japan' and h. zosterifolia? Or am I mistaken?


----------



## Bear Sage (Mar 18, 2012)

I is. Saw your thread thought I'd check out where you were at.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Cool! I actually have your plant pictured with my end result. Plant to do sort of a carpet with the two and a path with the hydrocotyle tripartita 'Japan' cutting through the middle of the h. zosterifolia leading towards the back left corner right through the space of the driftwood. Mid ground will be assorted crypt wendtii to give some contrasting colors. Not completely set in stone on what other plants I will add to occupy the midground other than the wendtii. Also not sure about the background. Right now I want to try a wall of rotalia indica and bacopa. If I don't like how it looks, I'm gonna go through my list I made of low light plants and look for something else to try out.


----------



## Bear Sage (Mar 18, 2012)

Rotala rotundifloria makes a great choice for a background wall in low light. I keep r. colorata and bacopa australis, even in the shade they grow well. Look good too.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Wow! I really like that! Would definitely look nice! There wouldn't happen to be any blue-ish low light plants would there? The tank is for my gf and she doesn't really like red, but blue is her favorite hence the reason why I'm getting Blue Velvets and several other blue fish for the tank. The RCS and cory cats are just to occupy the tank for now.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

I haven't taken the time to update this thread. I've taken too many photos and already posted them up elsewhere, so here's a *link* to my 5gal thread on Houstonfishbox.com. I recently updated with some pics. This tank has gone a long way since September and only had algae problems for the first few weeks. I'm gonna step up the fert dosing to get some better color out of the plants, but for now I'm only using Excel and Flourish.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

So far I'm quite pleased by how it turned out. Still working on getting the hydrocotyle japan to carpet which will take a while. DHG keeps getting uprooted by the snails, o-cats, and shrimp. HC is growing great too! Moss is finally growing past the melting phase from the excel and is tolerating it well now.


----------

