# Setting up Fluval Spec



## atomicjade (Jun 23, 2012)

Hello everyone, I had this tank set up a year ago which really got me to appreciate the beauty of a planted tank. Life happened and its been torn down but I'm itching to give it another try. 

First off.. I had some issues with the Italian vals. I chose them because I thought they were suppose to grow easily and they look kinda like grass. Mine never grew tall, it would spread in runners and the roots would turn brown and eventually rot and die. I used black sand which is actually iron for substrate, a few rocks I collected, and hard driftwood I also collected however all was properly sanitized by methods of boiling and baking. I used different lights from the stock one, to a 26w Finnex, and then to a study lamp with a 13w fluorescent... None made a difference. I also started out with foxtails but they died early on. 

Anywho... I really want to use my Finnex light, get rid of the iron sand, and use rocks for a substrate. Does anyone know what kind of plants prefer ample light and will grow through rocks? I also wanted to keep my wood. I had a betta in there before and I really enjoyed him, but I'm open to others. I would like some shrimp and snails. I had just the generics before but loved watching them. Thanks for reading and am looking forward to advice! Oh I have a test kit and it always tested softer.


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## mark546 (Sep 12, 2013)

Depending on what you mean by rocks. If they are large rocks anubias and java fern. That light will be overkill. I got great growth on both with the factory light.

If it is gravel, most anything. That 26w finnex if it is the one I am thinking the CF fuge lamp then almost anything provided you used root tabs.

Assuming you have the fluval spec or spec 3 a 26 watt CF fixture should put you in the high light category where you need to use co2.

On my spec 3 I am using the Ebi light 13 watt CF, MGOPM below a layer of floramax, water changes from my heavily planted 55 EI fert tank, and a dose of Glut every morning and getting fantastic growth out of my low light plants and slow but healthy growth from my baby tears. staurogyne repens, and hydrocotyle (had excess it was an experiment.)

If you are asking about using regular gravel and do not plan on fertilizing or using soil then I would dial it back on the light.


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## atomicjade (Jun 23, 2012)

The Spec I have is the original 2 gallon. I'm wondering if maybe there was floating plants the light wouldn't be so intense? Or would those plants probably not fair too well either. Also the rocks I have are larger than gravel, but I can collect smaller pieces. What's considered too large?


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## mark546 (Sep 12, 2013)

No offense but the great thing about nanos to me is you can go high end on everything and still have very little money in it. If you want to plant it I would go with a sand or small grain gravel cap over dirt. A bag of miracle grow organic choice potting mix is 5 bucks, a small bag of sand at petco is 5 bucks. thats $10 total.

If you dont want to dirt it go with something like eco complete, florite, or floramax. A bag of floramax at Petsmart is $10.

In my Spec 3 I am using MGOCPS with a Floramax cap. I had a ton left over from my 55 gallon tank.


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## Basil (Jul 11, 2011)

I'm with mark546 on this. Doing gravel or any other inert substrate would hinder the growth of plants that use any sort of root system. If you go with gravel or larger then slow growing plants like anubias would look quite good ill put a picture of an anubias only tank, it's beautiful. 



If you want to grow any sort of 'grass' then you'll want a nutrient rich substrate like Maricle grow organic potting mix. This will sustain a nano for along time without having to use root tabs for fertilization of the substrate. In my spec I use Flourite and my plants love it.


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## atomicjade (Jun 23, 2012)

Thanks guys. Sorry for dumb questions but with a dirt bottom would I insert the plants then and after that add the sand and/or gravel over them? Or just kinda wedge them down and the roots will find the dirt on their own. How deep overall should the substrate be? I want to use the rocks I collected but they are larger than small gravel, could I put a layer of them on top of the rest without it being too much? 

I wanted to do a native tank and today I set it up. It took me awhile but I want to redo it anyway so I can upgrade the substrate as I have just my rocks on the bottom right now. I don't know what kind of plants I have but I collected them submerged in a ditch. The floating ones were in a pond where I also caught a few mosquito fish and shrimp. I'll try and attach a pic. 

Btw I love anubias!


Tried to upload with no luck, due to my phone I gather. Here's a link via instagram, sorry they aren't the best particularly for plant ID but its something



http://instagram.com/p/hmjbPxOnsI/
http://instagram.com/p/hmjlGLunsc/


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## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Tagged to follow... I'm setting up a Fluval Spec also in the next couple of days and this seems to be exactly where I want to be headed!


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## atomicjade (Jun 23, 2012)

I'm heading over to my moms house where I can use her computer, as a result I'm going to take some pics with my good camera and not just my phone. Plant IDs would be great, and an ID on one of my fish. Any insight on my previous wonderings would he highly appreciated as well! I bought the organic potting mix today and am going to reset my tank up tomorrow. How deep does my substrate need to be? Also if it is of any note, the plants in there now have been growing despite having a strictly rock bottom. Not sure if that would last, but good to know they seem to be thriving in the mean time. Ok, will update a bit with some pics!


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## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

From the way I understand it, if you dose with ferts and/or root tabs, the substrate is less important, you just need enough for the roots to grab onto something. The Spec is small enough I wouldn't want more than 2" total for the substrate (including topper if any), or you'll make a small tank considerably smaller. 

I have about an inch, and an additional inch in a "terraced" section. There is a pic of my setup in my setup thread here (I've since pushed the DHG and Anubias deeper into the substrate, Eco Complete, since I had a bit too much root showing.): http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=500705&page=2


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## atomicjade (Jun 23, 2012)

Good to know. I like the terraced effect- nice! here's a few pics of the tank; I know there's more fish than needed... dearest bf over collected and I haven't released them as of yet. If someone knew what the plants and the one little striped fish are that wold be fantastic! Tomorrow tank is being re set.


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## BillV (Aug 27, 2011)

that is pretty nice looking, good job, really cool looking. I am setting up a spec v myself, just did mcocpm, and planted it tonight. I'm using a satellite plus as a light.


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## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

atomicjade said:


> Good to know. I like the terraced effect- nice! here's a few pics of the tank; I know there's more fish than needed... dearest bf over collected and I haven't released them as of yet. If someone knew what the plants and the one little striped fish are that wold be fantastic! Tomorrow tank is being re set.


OUTSTANDING!

I LOVE your branch. That's my biggest stumbling block at the moment: Finding a source for awesome bits of wood like that. For now, I'm stuck with what PetCo and the LFS has (not much, at least in the small sizes). PetCo has next to nothing (although, ironically, the one piece of Mopani in my Spec did come from PetCo, but it's only barely tolerable, IMO), and my LFS has a few nice pieces... if you're looking to stock a 50 gallon tank.

There's a shop about 40 minutes from here that seems to have a better selection (they sell a lot on eBay). Might be worth it for me to check them out. Although I still haven't seen anything like yours. Where did you get it?

I look forward to seeing the list of plants you have in there. Is the stuff across the bottom a loose moss, or is it actually planted? I don't see much substrate, just a very thin layer of river rocks and full-size gravel, essentially? I'm putting a betta in my tank, and I don't do that without a lid, so if I found a branch like yours, I'd need to shorten the tips enough to get the lid on. Keeping mine low-tech, also... stock light for the foreseeable future. At home I'd want something with a blue moonlight mode, but for the office, the stock lights on a timer should suffice.

Great photos, too, btw! I need to get out my Nikon as soon as my Spec is fully populated. I think my 105 macro will be too much, though, should be interesting to see what the lesser zooms can do.


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## atomicjade (Jun 23, 2012)

Thanks guys!!!  sorry for the noob question but what is mcocpm? 

I collected everything in the tank personally. I'm not sure exactly what kind of wood the branch is, but I found it as part of an overturned trees root system when I went on a kayak fishing/camping trip off by Marco Island. It was naturally sand blasted and is extremely hard. I took a few other pieces and wish I had more; they all look really cool and unique. 

I have no idea what the plants are. The moss type grass on the bottom does have roots. I obtained the two types of rooted plants in a ditch, the small floaties in a pond, and the large ones in a mostly fresh canal. The substrate is all pieces I hand picked at the beach, most of them are some sort of petrified wood or bone. I threw some sharks teeth down there too. 

I had a betta in this tank previous and I really enjoyed him. I miss him, he was very cool to watch. I'm surprised but the plants have been growing despite not really having any supplements. If you ever want to upgrade your light I have a Finnex 26w clip on that has moonlight LEDs that is awesome to allow night time viewing. Just saying I recommend it, especially if you have the V! I love the V but I bought my Spec when they first came out. My betta actually got me into the planted scene... I bought the poor guy from Wal Mart and needed to get him something more substantial than a bowl. The rest is history! 

Oh edited to add: I just used the stock 18-55mm lens when I took the pics. A real macro lens would probably take some awesome ones!


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## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Nice work, regardless. Man, I wish I could find some great branches like that. 

mcocpm - I think it's mGocpm - Miracle Gro Organix Choice Potting Mix.

I can't wait until I get back from holiday travels and can get a new betta to enjoy the lovely tank I've set up for him.  After my last betta passed (after 7 years!) I've been holding off. Reading the reviews of the Spec tank, and googling images, brought me to the stunning world of planted (and aquascaped!) tanks. I had no idea they could be so gorgeous! Plus, amazingly, less maintenance than the little .5 gal bowl I had before! Win-win!

The 105mm lens takes great pics, but ironically a little TOO small for this. Great detail shots, but the lens is so long I'd have to stand 6' away to fill the frame with the full tank!


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## atomicjade (Jun 23, 2012)

Not a very good pic but yesterday I re did the tank. I put a layer of potting mix on the bottom and capped it with good ole Florida sugar sand. Some stray pieces of mix came up but I prefer the look as most freshwater Florida streams have bits of plant matter mixed in with it. I took out the terrestrial plant so I only have the dwarf hairgrass and the floaties. I'm hoping with the new substrate they will grow well. I still have the one heterandria Formosa and I'm down to one shrimp... I know at least two had jumped out, and perhaps the mosquito fish ate a few before I released them. Checking my minnow trap in a bit hoping for a few more H. Formosas!


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