# My 2.5 gal ATTAKGARDEN!



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Alllright. So this is my second attempt at a planted tank. My first tank was a 10 gal that I did with little research. This time around is different. I want to grow glosso and or HC the emmersed way. So they are grown and everything before i fill it up with water. Then i would like to put some kind of lite colored moss on the driftwood. any suggestions? As for a light its a 10w 5100k bulb. and Im not sure if i want diy co2 or not....i think ill just see how my tank grows without it and go from there. 

Now some questions:
1. I am going to use florite. Is this a good idea? or should i have a combo of sand and florite?

2. I am never good at hardscapes, but these are 2 that i like










or










Sorry for the poo poo quality pictures. 

Any suggestions would be great :thumbsup:


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## Roser (Jan 13, 2008)

I really like the first position for the driftwood.


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## fish_fasinated (Mar 30, 2006)

i like the hardscape the second way, i think it adds more flow that way. the hc or glosso sound like a nice idea, but you will need quite a bit more light then what you have already. 10W isnt alot of light really, maybe look for a 13W to put over the tank too. i would want to add a taller background plant behind the wood as well. maybe somehting like a nice red rotala? all in all sounds like this could be nice. 

oh and as for a moss you could try weeping or christmas moss.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Tied at one a peice. haha

Yeah I thought 10w was a little lacking for glosso. So 20w-25w is a good amount? 

As for the backround plant red rotala is a great choice, but kinda want to keep this a green tank.....or maybe it'll look good behind the drift wood as you wouldnt see it right away, but it'll still add a nice color.

Oooooo. Both christmas moss and weeping moss look good. I think that'll depend on what i can find first haha.

Ill prob put in some RCS when everything grows out and looks greeen.

Thanks for the replies :thumbsup:
Keep em' comming!


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## fish_fasinated (Mar 30, 2006)

ya 20-25W maybe even towards the 30W range to keep hc or glosso carpeting.

and a nice red behind the wood would maybe blend in, maybe a more subdued red. i think every tank needs a little red in it. lol


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

A single 13-16 watt spiral fluorescent bulb would be sufficient to grow HC in a 2.5 gallon tank. HC is not a light demanding plant, I'm growing a nice carpet of it in a 10 gallon with two 13 watt spiral bulbs now, and it grows quickly, and right along the substrate. Be careful what advice you take from forums, not everyone speaks from experience.


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

from my own experience I have been able to grow HC with 24w CF over a 2.5g. I have not been able to grow it with 12w or 15w spiral screw in. You may first want to grow it emmersed then slowly fill it with water over the corse of a few weeks after it is grown in.


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## tendril (May 27, 2004)

I had trouble growing glosso in a 2.5 gal with 13W of CF lighting. You might want to up the watts to get a good result.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Alright well ill see how my glosso grows (if i can ever find any!) with the 10w, and if it is crappy, then i will get a bigger wattage bulb.

Everyone reccomends zoomed 501 for nano tanks, but i ask why? Isnt it for a 30 gal tank? That seems like overkill to me. But then again planted tanks are demanding so ill have to see.

All i need is to find some glosso to get this tank rolling. So if you have any let me know!

oh and vote on which placement of the sticks you like more!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Does anyone have any history with buying plants with this company?

http://store.aquaticplantdepot.com/bunchedplants.html


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

They are local to me, so I shop there frequently. They are completely fantastic to deal with, and I highly recommend them for friendliness, quality, and price. But the one thing I cannot vouch for is their mailorder procedures, because I just pick my plants up from them onsite. I've seen the way they pack plants for mailorder, though, and it was very professional.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

haha ok cool. i think I am gonna buy glosso from them. Since no one on here seems to have any haha. But Im not sure how much I get. haha cause its like .57 cents for one...one pack? one stem? one leaf? haha we'll just have to see I guess.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

They're sold in bunches, just like common bunch plants found at your lfs.


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## Aquarist_Fist (Jul 22, 2008)

ohyeahcrx said:


> haha ok cool. i think I am gonna buy glosso from them. Since no one on here seems to have any haha. But Im not sure how much I get. haha cause its like .57 cents for one...one pack? one stem? one leaf? haha we'll just have to see I guess.


Haha. :biggrin:

I can vouch for their mailorder quality. Good store.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Don't know much about glosso, but I wanted to vote for the wood being the second way. I agree it adds more flow, and to me more depth to the tank. 

As for filtration, I've never used the Zoomed 501 (i think that's the mini canister?) but when I was looking for filtration for my 5g i looked into that one and asked about it on this forum, the consensus I got was that some people love it and some people thought it was terrible, I got more consistantly good reviews of the Red Sea nano HOB filter (or the Azoo palm...i think they're the same thing bascially) But if you'd prefer a canister type filter, the one comment that was pretty consistant was that while it's rate for 30g, most people said they didn't think it was enough filtration for more than a 5 or 10g on it's own, so it's probably not as much overkill as it seems to be  But again, the only one I have experience with his the mini HOB and i really like it.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Good. Since the response has been so good about the plant store, looks like Im buying from them. Sweet. As for the filter, Red Sea Nano filter, I did some research on it and everyone seems to like it for a 3 gal and under tanks. And you cant beat the price either! Found one for like 7 bucks, thats my kinda price. The only downfall to the filter, is i have an all glass top, and i dont want to cut it (too scary) so i think ill just end up not using a top (or wait do shrimp like to jump and get out of the water?)

Alright sweet about to order the glosso and filter. Did alot of research on glosso, so now i know what im doing....haha i hope. And doesn't christmas moss need to be grown in colddd water?

And ottos and shrimp get along right?


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Oh that's right, the AGA 2.5's come with a solid glass piece for the top....well whichever kind of filter you use you'll either need to get the glass cut or ditch that top....You could make your own using a small sheet of plexiglass (or lexan) from any home depot or Lowes, should be a lot easier (and less scary) to cut, won't be glass but at least you have a top. And a sheet the size for a 2.5g shouldn't be more than a couple bucks. I had to modify a top for my 20g so my filter could hang off the side and got enough plexi to make that for under $10 if i remember correctly. Or go without a top, but from what I hear, shrimp will jump occasionally. And yes, Otos and shrimp should get along just fine


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Ahh good idea. Ill have to check the depot when i get some free time..And good to hear about the ottos and shrimp, I just like them both. 

Haha ok so I bought the filter. But for the plants, the minimum I have to buy is 50. And that comes out to like $28 before shipping. Doesnt that seem a little high? Shipping will prob push it upwards of 35$


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

$35 for 50 plants? I've paid anywhere from $10 for 1 plant at my LFS, so that actually seems like a pretty reasonable price to me!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Haha i know when buying glosso you want to buy alot so it grows in faster, but is 50 plants too much for a 2.5 gal?


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

haha oh whoops! You meant the actual quantity of plants, in that case, I'm afraid I can't answer the question, I have no experience with glosso. But I'm sure someone else will chime in soon enough!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Haha thats fine. Ill do some more lookin around for some. Thanks for all the help :thumbsup:


haha I literally cannot find glosso for a good price anywhere else. Even in the swap and shop haha


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

UPDATE! for anyone who really cares haha.
Finally found someone in the swap and shop who had some extra glosso. So i just bought it off of him. He said he will send it out on monday, so I cant wait to get it!

Also, I purchased my Red Sea Nano filter last week or so and it still hasn't arrived! I know what the heck right! So checked the tracking number and it said it had unexpected problems, so it should get here monday. (not that i need the filter for about another month but oh well haha)

Also I think im going to get a bigger bulb. Right now I have a 10w 5100k bulb. Want to get one thats 20w or higher even! What household bulbs give off that white light insted of the yellow light?

Thats your update until next time!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Filter came. Not very exciting haha. Its a Redsea nano filter. Hopefully the Glosso arrives soon. I want to get this tank movin already! haha.


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## ktsgolfer (Jul 1, 2008)

good luck with the glosso! Mine is growing tall and leggy . Plant each plantlet individually and plant them so that only the leaf shows above the substrate. that should help. I would add source of carbon to help... either CO2 or excel


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Yeah the guy im buying them from, in the pictures there all tall and leggy.....so maybe thats bad to begin with? Maybe i can cut them down and plant them? any ideas?

http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/bs6749/ what it looks like


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Plant it. New growth should be low and compact if the conditions are right. Then clip off the old growth if desired. Or you can clip it off and plant first, but I find that's harder to get the plants to stay under the substrate.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Should i plant it straight up? Or like lay it down flat so its planted like this

__T_T___T__T_TT_TT___TT__ Plant it pararell with the substrate?

(the lines are the stem, and the Ts are the leaves.)

OR

I
I
=
=
I
=
I
I
I
=
I

(vertical I's are the stem and ='s are the leaves)


haha make sense?


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Ok so my Glosso came! Schwing! Here it is










And so as you can see its in long strands so i decided to plant it in rows so it'll grow somewhat evenly. Start to plant with tweasers, stick the first peice in the substrate and *snap* it breaks. so I think ok it musta just been a weak peice....nope as begin planting again *snap**snap**snap**snap**snap* so by this time i am pretty annoyed. so i just plant the ends in hope that the runners will send more runners and grow! Though it looks bad i hope it works.



















Comments?


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

No one? haha


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## ktsgolfer (Jul 1, 2008)

looks okay for now i think, that is some really leggy glosso. Hopefully the new runners will be better. Good luck man!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Ok so for like the 4 people watching this thread, the glosso is growing, but it might be getting a little tall. So If it keeps growin up ill upgrade the light to like 20w or something


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## ktsgolfer (Jul 1, 2008)

good luck honestly. I have 52w and my glosso is still tall . i trimmed it so, we'll find out what happens now.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Alllllllright. Update time.

So glosso has been in for about a week. So far its growing....up and up and up. So in other words it is a little tall, Which means it isnt getting enough light. But since ktsgolfer said he has 52w over his glosso and its still tall Im just gonna extend the photoperiod from 8hrs to 10 or 12hrs. and see if that makes any differnce


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

You're off to a great start.

You're being really patient, and I'm sure this will pay off.

Way back when, I grew a Glosso carpet in a 2.5 gallon tank with thirteen watts and Excel. So it can be done with 13W. It's just a question of they type of bulb, the distance from the bulb to the substrate, and the duration of the light cycle. I can't remember how long I left the lights on, but I usually keep mine on for at least ten hours a day.
This is just me, but I think many people are very conservative on their light cycles fearing an algae outbreak. If your tank's parameters are in check, ten to twelve hours should not be a problem.

Keep it up, man. Glosso's a bit tricky at first, but once you learn what it needs and how, you'll see that it's really quite simple. Light, CO2, and a nutrient-rich substrate.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Ugly Genius- Hey thanks! It seems that no one has replied in weeks! haha and I must be doing something right if you say I am. Cause by the look of your tanks, you know what your doing! haha they look amazing.

Also I am growing it emmersed, so I dont have to worry about algae outbreaks at all. So should I bump the light period upwards of 12?


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

Here's a secret to get people to respond to your journal, ohyeahcrx: photos!
Post photos and people will respond. I promise.
And change them up every now and again. Different angles. Action shots. Pictures of Jessica Alba. You know, keep things interesting.

And thanks for the compliment. I try my best with my tanks and because of this I can totally relate to your frustration. I get frustrated all the time. And it's also why I can appreciate your patience. Planted tanks are about staying enthusiastic between failure after failure.

Don't go over twelve hours. Start at ten, maybe eleven hours and you should be fine. If it still doesn't carpet with a ten hour light cycle after about a week and a half, it's something else. Your bulb, the distance, substrate nutrient levels...something besides duration.

But most important:
PHOTOS!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

HAHAHA your right your right. but theres like a maximum amount of condensation on the glass. haha so i have to wipe it off then take a picture. Fine you know what, im bored right now so thats what im going to do!

alright ill try eleven for the next few days and see how how it likes it.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

GLOSSO GROWTH! Nice and tall. Just the way I DONT LIKE IT haha.










and a picture from my 55 gal a while ago. You guys said you like pictures! haha


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

looking good! 

and woah! what kind of fish is that in the 55g pic?! (not the loaches ) He's awesome!


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

Duuuddde, what is that awesome long silver fish from the 55g? Whatever it is _I want one._


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

hahaha the long fish is a Sengal Bichir. Bought him at petsmart when he was like an inch. Its safe to say hes grown  or the Silver Blurs? Those are giant danios. Heck ill just tell you guys whats in that tank.
1 bichir 
1 brown african knife
3 giant danios. (want more)
4 clown loaches
and a female krib


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

I have to say, that fish is one of the most awesome I have ever seen.

Now, on topic, your glosso looks very healthy, even if it is tall. Good luck with getting it to carpet.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Thanks  About 2 years old, first fish i ever bought too. Started in a 2 gal hex, then to a 7 gal, 10 gal, 20 gal long, and now the 55.I love him. especially cause he eats pellets and beef heart.

Yeah all i can do is wait and see how it decides it wants to grow. So stay tuned!


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

the bichir was the one I was talking about. He's AWESOME!


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

ohyeahcrx, I never say "I told you so" but I _so_ did tell you so! Photos work!

That said, those are some really good photos. Your Glosso does look really healthy. Just up the duration to ten hours or so and you should be fine. 

Also, do you have any substrate ferts in there?


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Karackle- haha thank you. My family calls him/her "Dragon fish" haha

Ugly- yeah you are right! No nothing. I have some leaf zone that my friend gave me. should i be spraying them at ll or anything?


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

I would try to see if you could find some substrate fertilizers. I've used Jobe's Plant Spikes for Ferns and Palms with success. (It has to be the Ferns and Palms one, though.)


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Pics never worked for me .
But keep it up CRX!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Ok update. Glosso is growing...thats it.
haha
i have a twenty gallon long that i was breeding convicts in, then recently i decided to trade them in to a pet store for some giant danios because i want to get them big so i can put them in my 55 gallon so im just gonna feed them beef heart. ( but later the same day i traded the convict babies in, i went back to the pet same pet store and all the babies had ich and were dead....    that kinda got me sad.) But i found a power head in my basement so i put it in the danio tank. hah sorry if it sounds all mumbo jumbo. PICTURE TIME!









what the tank looked like with the convict babies.









what it looks like now. i like the whole desert look. What are good fishes i can put with giant danios?


Haha not an update on the planted tank but an update none the less 
will get new ATTAKGARDEN pics when the glosso grows in better haha


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Ok glosso is only growing up..not carpeting. So when trimming and replanting do i just cut it and stick it back in the substrate? or what


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## resowner92 (Jul 23, 2007)

ohyeahcrx said:


> Ok glosso is only growing up..not carpeting. So when trimming and replanting do i just cut it and stick it back in the substrate? or what


i think it means you dont have enough light


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

OKKKK. Update.
Glosso is growing!!!!...upp...haha so i think i am going to bump up the wattage alot.. here are some pictures


















Rock and roll right!? hahaha right. What wattage should i look at? cause right now its a 10w. some 20w? 25w?

Oh and ill do a trimm and replant too...it'll be really teadious thats why i dont wanna do it haha


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## bbaker (Jan 18, 2008)

ohyeahcrx said:


> Ok glosso is only growing up..not carpeting. So when trimming and replanting do i just cut it and stick it back in the substrate? or what


I've had pretty good luck with snipping the glosso tops so I get a long stem, then sticking the stem back into the substrate at an angle so it is less inclined to uproot. Glosso has been pretty hard to kill in my experience. Good luck!

And I have no idea if this will work with glosso, but keeping my dwarf hairgrass trimmed a little bit seemed to encourage it to send out runners. (Emphasis on the "seemed" to, I have no quantitative data)


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Hey thanks! haha its worth a try!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Alrighty then. Its been a while since ive updated so here we go. Lately ive been really really lazy, not doing much with the ATTAKGARDEN so today I decided to do something. I trimmed the Glosso and replanted. Then I installed an 18 watt light insted of the 10 watt light. It also looks like a brighter white which is good. Hopefully this gets that glosso to carpet insted of growing up. On to the pictures!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

To all of you who thought this thread died, you are wrong! haha

Well since ive put in the 18 watt light, like 12 hours a day, its still heading for the sky. so im gonna do yet another trimm and replant and i need a better light. im thinkin 25-28 watt light. what do you guys think?


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Yeah, up the lights and post a picture update!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

hahaha nice and tall


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

look'en good!


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## bill|408 (Mar 27, 2007)

may not be a carpet, but it looks pretty good, and have u thougt DIY lighting ..2 cfl? 
just a thought =)


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Hmmm good point. Its not like it would be very hard to make a lighting fixture for a 2.5 gal huh....well we'll see what time allows later on this week haha


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## bill|408 (Mar 27, 2007)

hows the progress on the tank so far?


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

alright well i just decided to build the lighting fixture right now because im bored haha. So i would say im about half way done. letting some glue dry right now. After im finnished i shall post more pictures of it running!!!!


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Ok so the hood is made, and it works!!! haha even though it looks horrible it still works and thats all that matters. Pictures dont give it justice for how bad it looks haha.

So now i have 28 watts of light over this 2.5 gal tank. I think that means CO2 right? so maybe when i put some water and fish in ill see if i want to do that.










Can you tell me which one is brighter? haha (this is with brightness turned all the way down on my camera.)


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## bill|408 (Mar 27, 2007)

oh wow, me likey .. thats alot brighter .. and uhmm left bulb right !?
HOPEFULLY thats enough to train your glosso. Good luck, im praying for you haha


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

I just hope its not too much light to where it turns the glosso brown and it starts to die.....


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## bill|408 (Mar 27, 2007)

i dont think so ... are you misting the plants every so often?
i have a cube at home with hc and hairgrass growing emersed , doing very well. no air in, no air out ..i spray it every so often when i feel its getting dry. I'm really looking forward to this tank .. hope it turns out the way u want it to


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

UPDATE> with the double light fixture over this badboy is causeing the glosso to go yellow, and stop growing. so i unscrewed the 15w and i have the 28w on and so far it seems to be bouncing back quite well. Oh well im ready to fill this motha tank up haha so i need some moss. Either flame moss or christmas or java or all 3 haha ( donations )
also i dont think ill be running diy co2 because i have a HOB filter


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## leemacnyc (Dec 28, 2005)

why don't you run the CO2 into the HOB?


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

I never really relized that was an option?? haha


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Alright so its been like 5 or 6 months this thing has been growing submerged. And since last update its shown no signs of improvement. So I just said screw it ill fill it up with what it looks like now. If it lives great if not scrap it and do a low tech with mosses and other low tech plants.


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Not the best looking tank in the world thats for sure. In fact its rather disgusting haha


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## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Update.

This is to anyone that cares haha

Ok so I had the 2 bulbs going at once ( like thirty something watts.) and left it on for ehh like about 13 hours or so. mass algae outbreak. on the glass thick swampy stuff on the ground, and my leaves were yellow. No bueno. So I took out one of the bulbs ( the less powerful one) and everything seems to be growing. That big tall one in the picture is approaching the top of the tank. haha. oh and I put in 2 little snails and I alreaddy see eggs so im sure ill have a mass snail outbreak. Im not sure if ill regret that or not but oh well haha. and I think im just gonna let this glosso grow all natural. no trimming, no messing with the light to get it to carpet, none of that. If it wants to grow up ill let it. Atleast its growing haha.


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