# Newbie and new 2.5 gal



## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Your lighting might be overkill by a tiny bit. But your plant selection is good.

Lets see.. On your layout, I'd move the mid grass away from the rocks and keep a flat plane of some kind of short grass/moss floor. And have a grass field to the left of the rocks.

That's just what I'd try. It looks good to me.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

Thanks for the advice MABJ!

What do you mean by overkill on the lighting? What effect will having too much light do to the plants and what can I do to reduce it?

I plan on putting the rocks in the middle of the tank (mid-ground), do you recommend putting the grass field in the mid- or fore-ground?


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## Wwwwd82 (Feb 26, 2012)

What light is that and where online could I buy one if so?


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

The light isn't overkill. Whats the K on your bulb? 5000k or 6500k is good for your kind of tank. I'm no expert on plant layout so I'll leave that to someone else. Otherwise everything looks good.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

Wwwwd82 said:


> What light is that and where online could I buy one if so?


The light's manufacturer is GILIGHT, but I got it while I was in Taiwan, so I don't think you'd be able to find it here. There's probably similar ones online, but they're probably much more expensive here...:icon_eek:



FisheriesOmen said:


> The light isn't overkill. Whats the K on your bulb? 5000k or 6500k is good for your kind of tank. I'm no expert on plant layout so I'll leave that to someone else. Otherwise everything looks good.


The bulb that came with it is 8000K, but I bought a spare that's 6500K since I was unsure if I'd be able to find one here in the US (bought everything in Taiwan). 8000K just means it'll be really white right?


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

I would recommend using your replacement, 8000k is not very strong.


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Light is fine if you add some floating plants. I have a 13W over my 2g, but it's taller than it is long.

I would do medium/higher-light plants, no anubias nana. Maybe blyxa japnica? It'll probably turn red under the light. Why stick with garden variety low-light plants when you have the wattage to do more?

Nice paint job


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Wattage doesn't matter as much. That just shows how much energy and heat is outputed. 8000k is the light level of like 60-100 ft below surface(i think). 2500k is what you see just below the surface (this would fry your plants). I say go with the 6500k and save yourself the hassle.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

xenxes said:


> Light is fine if you add some floating plants. I have a 13W over my 2g, but it's taller than it is long.
> 
> I would do medium/higher-light plants, no anubias nana. Maybe blyxa japnica? It'll probably turn red under the light. Why stick with garden variety low-light plants when you have the wattage to do more?
> 
> Nice paint job


Thanks for the input, what kind of floating plants do you have? and blyxa sounds like a good plant, but if I put in floating plants, will it still thrive? I was thinking anubias to get some different shapes in there, but it seems like with the lighting, it'll probably grow algae.

As you can see, I'm a paint PRO.



FisheriesOmen said:


> Wattage doesn't matter as much. That just shows how much energy and heat is outputed. 8000k is the light level of like 60-100 ft below surface(i think). 2500k is what you see just below the surface (this would fry your plants). I say go with the 6500k and save yourself the hassle.


I looked it up and it seems that around 5000-7000k is full spectrum light that's good for plants. The higher K is more white/blue spectrum and more for corals/saltwater/etc.


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## Overgrowth (Feb 19, 2012)

With your plant selection and lighting you definitely need to dose ferts but you don'
t need CO2 gas. Just grab a bottle of Seachem Flourish Excel or API CO2 Booster and use that instead of CO2 gas. Much easier. :thumbsup:


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

Overgrowth said:


> With your plant selection and lighting you definitely need to dose ferts but you don'
> t need CO2 gas. Just grab a bottle of Seachem Flourish Excel or API CO2 Booster and use that instead of CO2 gas. Much easier. :thumbsup:


I took a quick look and it looks like it needs to be dosed daily. What do you do and what dose?

Also, I was thinking about getting a marimo ball, will the seachem kill it?


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Awesome light, but probably better on a bigger tank. Then again, algae is a plant!


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Sorry but Watts do matter to some degree.

Yes the K rating matters more, but if you're going with lower light plants, it matters less. 

As I said, the light will be fine, but such a large light may be overkill in a few ways. 1: The look. 2: The inhabitants may be a bit overwhelmed, you never know 3: Depending on the type of bulb you pick, the heat. 

Fr0sty, don't be confused. Ferts do different things than Co2 does. They are NOT the same. 

Marimo balls will be fine in your tank. They're algae and very resilient. 

If you do choose to do Co2, you'll have much less of an algae issue. But if you keep marimo balls, RCS and maybe ONE nerite snail, you could easily pull off an algaeless tank.

Floating plants will not inhibit low light plants, like Anubias Nana. I would avoid duckweed, tho x.x 

Without floaters, you could certainly try some higher light plants. 

This brings me to my final point: You will probably need co2 with such a strong light. 


(A neat plant which will show you if you have low or high light is ludwigia repens. It turns red with high light and green with low light.)


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

MABJ said:


> As I said, the light will be fine, but such a large light may be overkill in a few ways. 1: The look. 2: The inhabitants may be a bit overwhelmed, you never know 3: Depending on the type of bulb you pick, the heat.
> 
> If you do choose to do Co2, you'll have much less of an algae issue. But if you keep marimo balls, RCS and maybe ONE nerite snail, you could easily pull off an algaeless tank.
> 
> ...


Light doesn't look good with the tank?

Should I look for another tank then? Maybe a 5 gal cube?

Why do you say just "ONE" nerite snail? Do they reproduce like crazy?


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## Basil (Jul 11, 2011)

They mean power in general. The more light the plants get the more they will try to grow. In order to grow they will need C02 and fertz (food.) If you have lots of light and no ferts the plants basically starve but if you have too little light your plants won't grow since they don't have the energy for photosynthesis. 
Anyways your light looks fine on that tank. It reminds me of a Catalina Fixture. When dosing use Excel and Flourish and this will cover what your plants will need.


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Basil said:


> They mean power in general. The more light the plants get the more they will try to grow. In order to grow they will need C02 and fertz (food.) If you have lots of light and no ferts the plants basically starve but if you have too little light your plants won't grow since they don't have the energy for photosynthesis.
> Anyways your light looks fine on that tank. It reminds me of a Catalina Fixture. When dosing use Excel and Flourish and this will cover what your plants will need.


Thanks for the good explanation! Lol. 

I personally think the light looks like too much. But that's just me. I love my cubes and my LEDs.

No nerites do not reproduce like crazy. In fact, they will not reproduce at all in fresh water. You may only stock one simply because of the HEAVY food requirements for them. They NEED algae daily to survive. They need a lot, too. The rule of thumb is 1 per roughly 5 gallons of water in a planted, well lit tank.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

so it looks like i'll need both fertilizers and CO2 in some form (flourish or DIY) if I use this tank.

but if I can find a larger 5gal cube or something, than I probably won't need either right?


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## Basil (Jul 11, 2011)

It depends on the plants really. A larger tank will give you more space and more plant options. If you get low light plants then your light should be fine. Also if you want to still go with 2.5 gals you can always try a lower wattage bulb in the fixture or try a different light.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

I think I'm gonna stick it out with this and give it a try...

I've been looking into the dry start method and know I can do it with HC, but can I dry start blyxa japonica and rotala colorata?

Also, would it be a wise choice to add some frogbit to this?


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

Another question, the HOB filter I have is meant for aquariums up to 10gal and adjustable flow rate to 60 GPH.

Is it too big/powerful for a 2.5? how about a 5?


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## 82nd_Airborne (Mar 28, 2012)

Just my 2 cents and im relatively new to this whole deal as well, but the frogbit may not like the current your HOB is going to produce, although it will cut the light to the rest of the tank. I added duckweed to my 5.5 chi with an AQ 20 HOB and it blows around like crazy. Then again I hear duckweed is near impossible to kill so I dont really care. Could always add a java moss grid to the HOB outflow to reduce current but not flow. I'm just throwing stuff out there, but I hope I was at least somewhat helpful.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

So here goes my first planted tank!

The final layout which I decided on:








Plastic mesh to eventually grow a moss wall background.
Decided to get rid of the driftwood since there wasn't much room and took away from the rocks.

The plants arrived today from H4n, which look great to me!
- HC
- blyxa japonica
- rotala colorata
- taiwan moss

I think I should've gone with DHG instead of the blyxa, wasn't expecting the blyxa to be so large and I'm thinking of trying to go with a taiwan moss wall background.

I used the DSM method to try to get a carpet of HC, but dang, planting it was a pain! luckily the tank was only 2.5 gal

*Quick question: *Can taiwan moss grow with the DSM method/humid environment?

After planting with DSM:








HC:















Moss "wall":


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

I'm pretty sure blyxa does not have an emersed form. Better put it in some water, its gonna die.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

o snap! really?

Also, I plan on eventually adding shrimp to this tank, but while the plants are still getting settled (probably month) should I just leave the light on 24/7? or on/off cycle?


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## Basil (Jul 11, 2011)

Yes, plants need a light/dark cycle. 8~10 hours is pretty normal. I've done 12 hour cycles before but algae would be a constant battle. Another option which some have done is split up the light cycle; 4 hours on, hour or two off, then 4 more on then off till next day. As long as the plants get 8 to 10 hours of light it's fine. Also once you get the tank going C02 will only be taken up by the plants when they are actively photosynthesizing. Aka they use it during the day and not at night. Can't wait to see this baby grow and fill in.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

So here's the tank filled because of the blyxa:








Am I going to have to use seachem flourish to help get some CO2 in there so the HC will carpet?

Will adding fertilizer (seachem flourish excel) be needed with the 13W light I have?


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## Basil (Jul 11, 2011)

Yup. You will want both of those. If you have an eye dropper or a pipet then use thoses to give you the most accurate dosing.


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Nice progress! 

I'll say just because I'm experiencing it with my Blyxa, be careful lol. Too much light, not enough ferts and other fast growing plants will make it wilt. I'm working on reviving mine now :S


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

Thanks! it looks like everything is slowly getting situated (I'll post a pic probably tomorrow).

Some of the older leaves on the blyxa have slightly wilted, but the younger ones on top seem like they're doing pretty well.

The HC looks like it might be growing a bit, some of the leaves look new-ish and bright green. The rotala seems to have some new-ish growth on the tips also and doing pretty good.

I've got some DIY excel and tropica (from nilocg) coming soon that I'll dose the tank with the help mostly the HC to carpet.

Also, it seems like there was a tag-along snail that's just cruising. Should I let it cruise and eat some algae or get rid of it?


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## moosenart (Feb 18, 2012)

what HOB filter is that?


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## maxwellag (Mar 30, 2012)

FisheriesOmen said:


> I would recommend using your replacement, 8000k is not very strong.


K, which stands for kelvins, is the color temperature of the light emitted. It is no where near amount of power (watts or brightness). 8000K and 6500K are both perfectly usable for the plants, it simply depends on what they prefer. 6500K will look more yellow, while 8000K will look a little more blue.


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## maxwellag (Mar 30, 2012)

MABJ said:


> Nice progress!
> 
> I'll say just because I'm experiencing it with my Blyxa, be careful lol. Too much light, not enough ferts and other fast growing plants will make it wilt. I'm working on reviving mine now :S


IMO fast growing plants is the same as not enough ferts. LOL. 
Fast growing plants=not enough ferts (after a short time)


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## shinycard255 (Sep 15, 2011)

What did you use to make your Java Moss wall? I tried using screen for a screen door, but the holes are too small for the Java to make it through all of them and the white screen you used has bigger openings than what I used and am curious now.


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## fr0sty (Jan 8, 2012)

Updated pics!:

















I just got the DIY excel and just dosed it today, how often are you supposed to dose it? I also got some DIY TPN, how often is that supposed to be dosed?



The original HOB was one I bought in Taiwan, but it ended up too big so I bought a Deep Blue Biomaxx nano filter, it's working pretty good, not very noisy at all. It came with just 2 mesh screens, but I cut one of them and moved it to the side and then put in a mesh bag with some chitosan filter balls (supposed to have lots of surface area for bacteria).
Top:








Side:








I swapped out the 8000k one for now, but I'll use it later when the 6500k dies.

For the moss wall, I got a piece of cross-stitch plastic at the local craft store, it's only ~$0.50. I didn't use the full piece as I was just testing it out. The one bad thing is is floats, but if the moss can grow on there, I will eventually use the full piece of plastic and wedge it into the back.


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