# Aqueon 5gal Mini-Bow, low-tech (now with shrimp!)



## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Hello everyone! I was recently trying to decide what to do with my 5 gallon tank, and in the process found this forum via this thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/61491-5-gallon-planted-journal-r-i.html I kept several aquariums when I was younger, and always wanted to try keeping live plants. After reading that I was inspired to finally try doing so, since it looked possible to do so even in a small tank.

First, a brief history of the tank. Before this recent re-do, it had been established for about 4 months. A friend from work had told me about some sort of "cleaner shrimp" that he had bought to add to one of his community tanks. It killed a few of his fish on the first night, so he quickly realized that he had something else on his hands and wanted to get rid of it. I volunteered to take it in to save it from being flushed :icon_eek:. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money and take up a lot of space at the time (didn't want to upset the wife by moving furniture around,) so I got something that would fit on my desk- this little 5 gallon tank. Well, when he brought me the shrimp and I started to look up some information, I quickly realized that it was a juvenile Macrobrachium...and they get big. I successfully kept him in the 5 gallon tank for the 4 months, but unfortunately he pretty quickly out-grew the tank and passed away. This left me with a cycled tank that just needed some cleaning.

I vaccumned the gravel and did a good-sized water change (about 75%) two weekends ago, and added some plants. Last weekend, I added fish. I'm using the filter system that came built into the aquarium, I have a 25w heater, and I changed the cruddy incandescent bulb with a 10w 5500k CFL from Marineland. For plants, I have Anacharis, Red Ludwigia, and Moneywort. For animals, I have 3 Glofish, 1 Oto, and 5 glass shrimp. The tank is probably a little small for the Glofish, but i'm hoping with some good aquascaping they'll be comfortable (and after all, my wife wanted them.) I'm still using the same plain gravel as a substrate, which I know now after reading isn't optimal, but I'm hoping the get away with it. I'm fertilizing with API Leaf Zone, which is the only liquid fert I could find locally. The Anacharis and Moneywort seem to be doing well. I had to trim and re-plant the Red Ludwigia last night because the bottom parts of the stems were rotting (these were also the only plants that I didn't trim the bottoms off of before I planted them because they had a few small roots...so they may have already been rotting slightly.)

I think I want to place some plants on the front left, something that will stay fairly small. I'll move some of the smaller pieces of Ohio flint to the right to make room. One of the Petsmarts near me has some Anubias Nana on small lava rocks that don't look too bad, so I might get one of those. I'm also looking for suggestions for other plants that will do well in this sort of tank, and which would be good for a newbie to planted tanks. Some sort of ground cover would be great too. Here are some pictures, tell me what you think!


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## mief (Nov 27, 2007)

I really enjoy looking at smaller tanks. I think they're challenging in their own right to design/scape, but if I had to offer a piece of advise, I might advise to remove 1-2 of those smaller rocks. The 4 of them together look a little cluttered, but that's just one novice's opinion . By removing a few, it would add more room for some interesting plants for the midground. Anyways, I look forward to watching this one progress.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback! I'm sure that I'll be tinkering with it for a bit until I get everything right, and everything growing well. Then I plan on just letting everything take its own course.

I'm thinking about swinging past that Petsmart today to pick up one of the Anubias Nana plants (I know I should have bought one when I was there before.) That will go in front of the big chunk of flint on the left side. The other rocks will be placed more to the right to create a sort of wall. I was already placing the substrate higher on that side to give myself some room to plant the stem plants, so this may help me create this two-tiered sort of effect.

A little bit of ground cover to the left-center would look nice too I think, and maybe some moss on the larger rock? For ground cover, from what I've seen, I love the look of Dwarf Baby Tears, but not sure how well they would grow with 2 wpg? A lot to learn still...


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

The glofish are unsuited for that tank. They are banned in the UK and California due to them being glofish genetically modified. Danio rerios (Zebra danios aka glofish) need a least a 20g long with a power-head. They are really active. I am sorry but there really no way for them to be comfortable. Perhaps dario dario or a betta for this tank would be better. Heck having it as a shrimp only tank would look awesome. I also recommend taking away a few of those rocks as they look cluttered. Looks good though. I would not recommend getting baby tears though, perhaps start out with a moss mat.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Well, with any luck I'll be able to get a larger tank in the near(ish) future, and then they could be moved. (I'm already trying to convince the wife that a big tank in the living room would, in fact, be a great idea.) At least they are eating well for now, and seem to enjoy schooling through the plants. I think I remember having them (Zebra Danios, not Glofish) in a 10 gallon tank before with success, but that was quite a while ago...

Anyways though, I did pick up an Anubias Nana from one of the local Petsmarts that surprisingly looks pretty good, and I re-arranged some of the rocks to create more of a "wall" behind which I made the gravel deeper and elevated where I have all the stem plants. I may remove the one all the way to the right, it is rather irregular shaped and is the same color as the one next to it. I think some moss would look good too, either as a mat or especially on top of the large rock on the left, cascading down. Suggestions on a moss type? For now though, I will probably leave it alone for a bit to see how well the current plants take, before doing anything else.

New pic:


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## ssantac (May 4, 2010)

wow...thats looking really good!!!


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thank you :icon_cool

I'm thinking a small Java Fern on top of the large rock to the left would look good, and fill in that little space. Nothing too big though, as the filter intake is there. That side is a little shady, but I figure a Java Fern would work. The surface is mostly smooth, but there is a hollow covered in small crystals that should eventually serve as an anchor for the roots.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I got a different light for the tank today- I swapped out my 10w Marineland CFL with a 14w "daylight" CFL from Home Depot, the same sort that one would normally use in houshold lights as a replacement for 60w incandescent bulbs. I wish I knew this sort of bulb would work beforehand, because it fit perfectly and was a third of the price of the specialty bulb I bought! Much brighter looking too...I was a little concerned that the other bulb wasn't putting out enough light for some of my plants, the Red Ludwigia in particular. That plant shed a few more leaves today, but it looks like it has signs of new growth on the tips so hopefully it is taking to my tank. The Anacharis is already visibly longer (no surprise there, from what I have read,) and the Moneywort seems to be rooting and showing some new growth too.

However, like Caton posted above, I'm starting to see some bad behaviour out of my Glofish. One is slightly larger than the other two, and is incessantly bullying the other two. It patrols the tank, while the other two hide in a corner. If they venture forth, they get chased back immediately. Seeing as how I haven't had them very long, I'm thinking that I may want to use the 14 day return policy at Petsmart and bring them back this weekend. I feel like a bit of a noob, however I did read some reports that danios would work in 5 gallons. I guess you can't believe everything on the internet, huh :icon_redf

So, I'm looking for suggestions. The Oto and the 5 Ghost Shrimp (shrimp are awesome!) are definitely staying. I'm thinking either a Betta (if it won't be too agressive towards the Oto and shrimp,) or maybe a small school of Neon Tetras? (which is what I had been leaning towards getting before buying the Glofish instead.) Guppies, perhaps? Going to do some more research...help a newbie out (I may as well be one, given the amount of time that has lapsed since I've had an aquarium :hihi: )


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I had one glass shrimp die last night...I guess that's not too unexpected for a Petsmart shrimp though. The other four still look fine. There is still some definite aggression with the largest Glofish...it was chasing the smaller two back into their corner when I fed them this morning. I wish I had known they would be unhappy in a small tank. Plenty of sources I found said danios would do ok in a small tank. Like I said, I had some of them in a 10 gallon tank before with success, so I figured I would try again even though my current tank is smaller. You live and learn I guess.

I have three ideas for replacements, and am still open for suggestions. I'm trying to keep my choices (for now) limited to fish that I can buy locally though. (Petsmart basically, since I'll be using their return policy for the replacements. If there are any good specialty stores near me I'm unaware of them.) Eventually, when I get a bigger tank I may like to try some more uncommon species.

Here are my ideas, to go with what will still be in my tank (1 Oto, and 4 glass shrimp now):

- 1 Betta, and 1 or 2 more Otos
- 5 or 6 Neon Tetras
- "X" number of male Guppies

Like everyone else I'm sure, I've kept Bettas before and they are awesome fish. When I was very young, I had a 10 gallon tank with a breeding group of guppies. I'm uncertain if they would do well in a 5, but I do know that having a breeding population in a 5 would likely be bad! As for Neons, I've never kept any but I've seen a TON of the nanos here housing Neons, so they must be a good choice!

Eventually, I would love to get some Cherry Shrimp, but for now I'll be sticking with the Ghosts.


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

A group of rainbows - P. Gertrudae. Beautiful, hardy, loaded with personality and will cohab with a betta if you want one.










http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/blue-eye/Spotted-Blue-eye.jpg


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## Mikaila31 (Mar 28, 2010)

I love gertrudae's they don't like my water though. I use to keep them, and they spawned once but never lived very long. 

I just thought I would say the socket on this tank is dual sided. Modifiying it slightly can make it hold 2 x 14 watt bulbs which is what mine runs. Modifiying it requires you to drill a hole to move the socket over and then hack out all the interior plastic so a 2nd bulb will fit.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Those are nice looking fish! I doubt that I would be able to find any locally though  I will keep them in mind.

Mikaila, really? I'll have to check into that!


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I ended up having some spare time this evening, so I decided to correct my choice of fish. The three Glofish went back to Petsmart, and an indigo blue Betta with red highlights came home with me :red_mouth I had planned on getting two more Otos so my lone Oto would have some buddies to school with, but they didn't have any this time.

I can already tell the Betta is happy in his new home, especially after being stuck in that tiny little container at Petsmart for who knows how long. He definitely wanted OUT while I was acclimatizing him, and once he was freed he immediately went and explored the whole tank and his new neighbors. I think he paused and looked closely at each one of the Ghost Shrimp, much to their chagrin (they backed up and waved their tiny claws at him.) I then put a black background on the tank, which must have been just reflective enough (made of a shiny plastic) that he started flaring like crazy at the back of the tank. So long as he doesn't terrorize the other fauna in the tank, I'll most likely go ahead with my plan of 2 more Otos when I can find some. I've grown to like the little guys.

I'm still looking for something to get growing on top of the large rock on the left. I actually saw some Java Fern while I was getting the Betta which looked pretty good, but it was bigger than what I think would look good in that space. I know I want some moss there. I may just try to make a little moss mountain there, perhaps with another rock on top of the one there to give it some height. Another Anubias Nana might look good there too. I'm open for suggestions here!

I'm still not completely happy with the line of rocks either, that will probably get re-arranged. I did a partial water change while catching the Glofish, and replaced the filter media (it had been in there since I had my Macrobrachium in there, and was pretty nasty.) I removed the carbon from it this time, as I didn't know previously that carbon would absorb ferts. That means the ferts I put in last week had gone to waste...I plan on dosing again tomorrow morning as I think the plants could use it. They don't look quite as vibrant, and I'm seeing a tiny bit of melting on the Anacharis.

The tank also got moved from my comptuer desk upstairs, to my bedroom downstairs. It suddenly hit me today that the 2nd floor of my house gets unbearably hot in the summer, which would almost certainly overheat the tank. It's been fairly cool so far this year, but not for long I'm guessing.

New pics! They don't look as good as some I've seen here, I need to fine-tune the macro feature on my camera...


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## Morainy (Feb 8, 2010)

Your tank looks wonderful, really pretty. I love the different rock colours and the way they contrast with the gravel. I particularly like the more random way your rocks were organized in your first pics. 

Just lovely! Congratulations


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## aquav2 (Feb 13, 2010)

Tank looks great , whats the bushy green plant at the rear middle ?
My only criticism is the gravel , not good for plants as u said but the grain size looks too big for a nano , smaller grain size would give a better sense of scale , but good job well done .


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thanks all 

The bushy plant in the center is Anacharis. Since the tank is fairly small, it's serving well as a background/centerpiece. I'm not really happy with the rock arrangement either at this point. I wanted to create a taller level for my stem plants, which worked well but I'm not liking the look of the rocks all in a line now. I will probably move some of them around...maybe make a bit of a curve starting from the right, and leave a space open in the middle. I'm also kicking around the idea of replacing the large block on the left with some driftwood, although I really like how it has some crystal cavities (like geodes) on it. Either way, I want to get some moss in that corner, and maybe another plant that will grow on rock/driftwood and stay small. The rocks are all Ohio Flint that I collected about 15 or so years ago.

I know the gravel is far from optimal, but it's what I had available :frown: I think I'd like to switch it out for some black Flourite at some point. That should allow me to grow a better variety of plants too. So far the Anacharis and Moneywort are rooting into the gravel and look good. The Ludwigia is still shedding some leaves. I did re-dose ferts this morning, so perhaps that will help, along with the better lighting I put in a couple of days ago.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I spent some time yesterday looking through some more of the nano threads here, and thinking about what best to do with my tank. Today I went on a bit of a splurge. Here is the result (still a bit cloudy from the re-do, and annoying sun glare...I'll have to get some better ones later):










































I added two large Java Ferns on the right, one small one to the back of the rock with crystal pockets on the left, an Anubias Nana to that same rock (nestled in a crystal pocket,) and one more Anubias Nana to a small rock. The rockscape on the left now has a lot of small caves and spaces because of the loose stacking, which will give my ghost shrimp some more places to hide (the extra plants will be good for that too.) My betta has proved to be very belligerent- it seems that I am cursed in trying to get all of the fauna to get along. Yesterday he had all of the ghosts in hiding- despite some of what I have read, he has NO problem seeing the little guys. He flares and chases them, and chases the Oto too. I've jokingly started to call him the "Doom Fish." I'm figuring the new plants and hardscaping should bring some peace though :tongue: On a side note though, he has already been industriously building bubble nests, which is something I never saw any of the Bettas I kept in bowls do before. He's so much more active than the typical "Betta in a bowl" too.

The Red Ludwigia was still rotting from the bottom, so that is out. It's floating in a pint glass on a sunny windowsill; perhaps it will create some roots there. The Moneywort had already created some roots, so I know it does well in this tank at least. I chopped it down and spread it in front of the rock with the large Java Ferns. Oh yeah, I got to experience the wonders of superglue for attaching plants :icon_smil I never would have guessed that it works so well, had I not read about it here.

It is definitely coming together the way I want it now. I decided to take it a bit easy on myself, and add some plants that will grow attached to rock, and not have to worry about my gravel substrate being inadequate. I think the only thing that could look good would be something mossy in the middle- either a moss covered rock, or maybe a Marimo ball. Thoughts?

One other question, about the lighting- I checked my hood as Mikaila had suggested, and it can indeed fit a second bulb with some modding. I'm currently running a 14w CFL. Is that sufficient light for the size of the tank and what I have in there, (and that fact that I'm running low tech- no CO2, and no Excel either at the moment for fear it will melt my Anacharis,) or should I bust out my dremel tool?

If things prove to be calmer in the near future, I may still add the two Otos that I wanted to add previously. I'd still love to have some Cherry Shrimp eventually, but not unless Doom the Betta learns to accept his shrimpy neighbors.

Thanks for looking!


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Here's some better pics. I put some blanched zucchini in the tank today in hopes my Oto will eat it- he's looking skinny. I still think I'd like to add something mossy in the center. I just found out that there are indeed some good LFS's near me, so I'm planning on checking them out.


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## ren (May 19, 2010)

btw man nice tank:thumbsup:
im thinking of trying api leaf zone since it has iron in it wont it hurt the shrimp?
i myself have glass and cherry shrimp...


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## nerzaa (May 22, 2010)

i like the new scape.


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## SHMaRiM (Apr 21, 2010)

I really like that middle background plant. I have mostly stems in my tank with an exception of some microswords.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thank you everyone  I'm glad that my first, and admittedly spur-of-the-moment and completely unplanned planted tank is getting some positive reviews.

The Oto decided that yesterday, after the zucchini had sat for a while, that it was delicious and ate a bunch before I took it out before I went to bed (it was starting to look nasty.) "Doom the Betta" has decided that all shrimp are an affront to his senses, and as a result they stay solidly hidden until nighttime. I just recently saw two of the three left venture out, so either the third is still hidden, or it became Betta food. Hopefully, it is not dead under a rock in there. So much for any plans I had to add fancier shrimp to this tank...I'll have to make sure that when I setup my large planted tank, it will have shrimp-friendly fish in it. Because, I love shrimp  Luckily, he only chases the Oto once in a while, so I think that if I want to add more, they will be tolerated. I'm still thinking of two more Otos, or perhaps pygmy Cories if I can find them locally. Additional "cleaning crew" would be nice, becuase things are looking grim for the shrimp...

I noticed yesterday that a few of the tips of my Anacharis are starting to get a dust of brown stuff, I'm assuming algae. I have reduced my photoperiod from 10 to 9 hours now, and may go down to 8. I guess that answers my earlier question regarding adding more lighting. Apparently, I already have enough!

I'm still planning on seeing if I can get some sort of centerpiece plant for the tank, probably something mossy, from one of the LFS that I have recently found. I know one of them sells SeaChem products, so I am tempted to get some Flourish (what I wanted before I could only find Leaf Zone,) although I probably won't bother since I have practically a full bottle of Leaf Zone. I want to try Excel, but won't be in the near future (on this tank at least) because of the Anacharis.


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

Nice tank. Especially since you stocked all of your flora from Petco. You might want to check out http://www.aquariumdepot.net/. They are in Randallstown and should have everything you need regarding your tank. I was there about a month ago. You can read my post about them here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/maryland/9841-aquarium-depot-aka-aquarium-center.html#post1050217.

Good luck!!


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually found that thread a few days ago, and posted on it  I've been driving past that store for years...I had actually meant to check it out a couple of times, but never did. I guess I didn't because I wasn't expecting much, but it sounds really nice. I'm planning on stopping by sometime in the next few days to see what they have. 

I'm seeing a bit of new growth on my Anubias, and more than a bit on my Anacharis (actually trimmed it a bit yesterday, primarily the parts that were getting a fair amount of brown algae on the tips.) 

I'm starting to think that some of my missing shrimps have become Betta food. "Doom" spends most of his time checking all of the places I've seen the shrimp hide, over and over. It's like he's seeing if the buffet has been re-stocked yet  I only saw one shrimp venturing out yesterday.


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## Syafiq (May 27, 2010)

Hi there, 

You might want to get yourself some mosses to grow on the rocks and on the gravel and it will look nice .

Nice tank btw :thumbsup: .

Nur Syafiq .


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thanks  Moss is in the plans! I'm planning on stopping by Aquarium Depot on Sunday and will hopefully be making an addition from there.

I noticed yesterday that my Anacharis' growth spurt has resulted in it suddenly getting leggy looking with small leaves, except for the tips near the surface. It is also yellowing in areas near the bottom. I searched around a bit, and it sounds like it is doing that because of insufficient light- it is spending all of its energy growing up instead of growing bushy leaves. I decided to see if I could mod my hood to hold two lights, as had been suggested to me earlier. I was able to (after some cutting and drilling) move the socket over enough to allow me to screw a bulb into each side of it (it is indeed a double sided socket.) Unfortunately, this did not give good results for me. Because of the filter built into the top of the tank, when I relocated the socket one of the bulbs ended up being completed blocked. The other bulb was then spotlighting only the far right of my tank, and the net result was that the tank actually looked dimmer  If I wanted to remove the stock filter and use something external, this probably would have worked. In this case though, it ended up being a waste of time and I had to do a bit of rigging to get the socket to mount correctly in the original location.

After I moved the socket back, I decided to do something about the reflector built into the hood. It was pretty heavily tarnished already, and scrubbing it with some copper wool didn't do a whole lot. I then proceeded to line the inside of the hood where the bulb sits with reflective foil tape- now THAT actually seemed to make a difference in the amount of light getting down to my tank. So, I ended up getting the results (sort of) that I wanted, just not in the way that I expected.

All that said, I'm probably going to thin out my Anacharis a bit because I think some of the problem with yellowing is also that I planted it too densely. I like the way it looks so hopefully I can get it happier in my tank.

Oh yeah, I also saw all three of my remaining shrimp last night, so they have just been hiding well instead of becoming food. They seem to be getting a lot bolder about coming out during feeding time, probably because they've been going hungry for a few days.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I came back today after being gone for a day and a half to find that two of my remaining three ghost shrimp died. I know that they are known for having survivability issues due to poor handling by suppliers/store (and, I did buy them at Petsmart after all...) but I'm still wondering if I'm doing something wrong on my part. The Betta and Oto are still doing great. Perhaps the shrimp haven't been getting enough food (the Betta is pretty thorough about picking leftover food off the substrate,) or perhaps something is amiss with my water (I haven't tested it in any way since I've set up the tank.)

Anyways, did another partial water change today, dosed my liquid fert, and took the opportunity to thin out my Anacharis some. Several stems had grown all the way across the surface to the front of the tank. I had also planted it in three somewhat dense clumps, and sure enough a lot of the lower stems had yellowed where they were clustered together. I took the healthiest looking portions, trimmed them, and replanted. I did get a good amount of growth in a little over two weeks though- including some stem branching and root growth, so that made me happy at least 

The side affect is of course that the Anacharis is looking pretty sad at the moment, and I lost the nice "green wall" effect across the back of my tank. I'm sure it will fill in again quickly. New pics! (I'm still playing with my camera's settings...still not getting the quality photos that I want.)


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I got some more (very) noticable growth on my Anacharis in the past few days, so it doesn't look so sad now. More new leaves coming out on my Anubias as well, and even the Moneywort seems to be growing now. So, plant-wise the tank is looking good. The one remaining Ghost Shrimp molted and I just saw it scurrying about when I went to take these photos, so it is doing well too (at hiding, anyways.) I did get an outbreak of small white worms all over the glass on Monday though- right after I did my last water change, which seems weird. They're extremely small, less than 1mm, and as I said are mostly on the glass and some are in the water flow. You can see a few as specks in the new photos. From what I read here, I'm guessing they are young planaria? I've scaled back on my feeding for now to see if they will die off on their own.

As suggested above, I did get the time to drop by Aquarium Depot today on my way home. I'm going to post on the linked thread, but the end result was that I didn't bring home any moss like I was hoping for, but I did see some nice Panda Cories there- I'm thinking of returning to get a couple for my tank. 

A few new pics. I'm finding that because of the size of this tank and the way light reflects on the bowfront, it is simply hard to photograph well...


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

Beautiful, I love it! Love how is is spacious and arranged with the plants and rocks.

I also have a 5g aqueon minibow, check it out sometime too! ^__^


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thanks! I saw your tank earlier when I was first reading through this forum; it is looking really good now. I like your shrimp too! I'm definitely going to have some RCS in my next tank.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Scaling back feeding seems to have killed off the majority of the Planaria. After a week, some of the Anacharis is spreading across the surface again. It may be too fast of a grower for such a small tank.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Well, the tank had a bit of a crash and I am trying to recover from it now. I had been having an on and off fight with some thread algae, and especially blue-green algae that kept growing sticky threads all over my Anacharis. It was somewhat under control after I did another big trim, but I noticed it coming back at the end of last week. I was pretty busy because I was preparing for my brother in law's wedding last weekend, so I decided to do tank maintenance when I came back after the weekend. That turned out to be a big mistake  By the time I came back, the algae had continued to spread, and there was a lot of decaying leaves on the Anacharis and Moneywort. I ended up pulling both of those out (so, no more stem plants in this tank now,) and doing a big water change. 

Unfortunately, I lost my Oto during this, and my Betta is very sick now. I did another water change on Monday (the first was done Sunday,) and my water parameters as of yesterday are good. I can only assume that they were quite bad over the weekend though, since the Oto was mostly decayed by Sunday, along with the stems...there are also even more worms now that look like nematodes (I probably removed quite a few while vacumning the gravel at least.) 

I started treating with Pimafix and Melafix, as I thought the Betta might have a bacterial infection, but now I think it might be Velvet. I've already increased the temp and scaled back the lighting, and will probably get some different medication today.

The sad thing is, I used to keep Bettas in unheated bowls for years and they never got sick  I will see what I can do but I'm not terribly hopeful.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Well, I ended up restarting the tank today. My betta was not responding to treatments and wasn't eating for the past week. I looked at him this morning and he was showing signs of advanced dropsy (pinecone scales,) and some fin rot. His stomach had been kind of bloated the entire time, so now his symptoms all along make more sense. I decided to euthanize  I was also starting to get some BGA yet _again_, so I decided to just do a full tear-down...

I took the plants out (I'm down to just anubias and java fern attached to rocks,) and gave them a good rinse and wipe-down with wet paper towels. I was able to clean a lot of diatoms and BGA off of the leaves. I removed the gravel, and rinsed it with dechlorinated water. I didn't want to nuke all of the good bacteria, but I did want to remove the last of the decaying plant matter from my stems, and some of the nematode worms that had colonized the gravel (there were a lot, and they were gross.) I rinsed the actual tank and wiped the inside, but I didn't clean the filter in any way. I'm hoping that since I left the filter media alone, and rinsed the gravel with dechlorinated water, that I will not have to do a cycle, or at worse, will only have to do a "mini-cycle."

I also took this opportunity to prune some of the dying leaves off of the java ferns, and also to remove all the new plantlets that were growing on the leaves. I was able to use these plantlets to start a new rock of java ferns, so that was good at least  I got it all back together, dosed Leaf Zone, and also dosed Excel. I'm going to be dosing Excel in my 55 gallon, so I decided that since I have a big jug of it, that I'll start dosing my nano as well. Hopefully it will help me keep the algae down.

I also changed the lighting yet again, after I put in my own DIY reflectors, I had tons of algae problems so I downgraded my light again. I couldnt find my 10w CFL that I had bought, so I grabbed a 9w from Home Depot. It should be sufficient for the plants I'm growing now. This tank will not have stems in it again...the only thing I would like to add eventually is some moss once I propagate some in my big tank.

For now, I think I will leave the tank with just plants in it for about a week, and then do a water test. If the parameters are good, then I am going to order some RCS. This is now going to be a shrimp tank! 

Pics, as it stands now...


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I tested my water parameters last night, to ensure that nothing went out of whack after my tear down. My results:

PH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~10 ppm


I think I should be good to go for some RCS! I will be ordering them today or tomorrow most likely. I also have a small arched branch that I had cut off of my apple tree a few months ago, that is nice and dry. I plan to prepare that and then secure to it some of the Christmas moss that I have waiting to go into my 55g so the shrimp will have some moss to cling to/hide in.

Adding Excel to this tank has resulted in noticable growth in just a week, so I plan to keep dosing. I have a very, very small amount of algae starting to re-grow, which hopefully should become RCS food. I am a bit surprised that the population of planaria and deritus worms (I finally got a positive ID on my "nematodes") increased yet again over the course of the week, despite no addition of food to the tank. I guess there is enough biological "stuff" growing in there to feed them. Hopefully, they will become RCS food as well. I am a bit concerned that this may be a sign of low oxygen though, so I am going to add a small airstone to get some more aeration and circulation in the tank. The built-in filter is really weak, and unless I run the water low it doesn't do anything to break up the surface film.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

A pic of the tank after I cleaned it a bit and added the airstone and foam pre-filter (the one made for the Fluval Edge fits perfectly.) The pictures are unfortunately getting worse in quality now because the tank has picked up some scratches. A tip to anyone else who may use this tank: it is NOT made of acrylic, it is made of some sort of cheap plastic. Scrubbies made for acrylic tanks will scratch it badly. Paper towels will scratch it. Toilet paper will scratch it. Cotton washcloths will scratch it. Seriously. Between the cheap plastic and the weak filter, I couldn't really recommend this tank. I'm making the best of it since I already own it.

On a brighter note, I'm ordering my shrimp tonight :icon_mrgr


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

That's such a nice looking tank! It's unlike all the other planted tanks out there!


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thanks!  It'll look even better with a bazillion little shrimp swimming around in it...

I'm thinking I may want to stick something in front of the bubble stone to hide it, though. Maybe another chunk of flint...or I could start a moss rock.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

The shrimp are here! All 20 (ordered from Epicfish) arrived safe and healthy today. There is one adult in there and a bunch of juveniles. Some of the females are already showing saddles, so hopefully in a few months I'll have more :icon_mrgr


Acclimating in a measuring cup...I didn't realize quite how small RCS are until seeing them in person. I'm actually kind of glad I didn't try mixing them with fish at first now.












Released into the tank, exploration time!










































Eating a piece of algae wafer...om nom nom nom!






















I'm going to see if I can get some Crab and Lobster bites from the LFS tomorrow- the algae wafers are a little ungainly to feed. I haven't had the best luck with this tank up until now (noob mistakes,) but I am hopeful that I have turned the bend and that these little guys will do well!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

They look great!

It's a lovely setup for them, you're really going to enjoy this one I think. roud:

I didn't go back and read through the whole thread- but do you have something over your filter intake to make sure the shrimp don't get sucked in? The newly hatched shrimplets are TEENY TINY...


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Yep- it doesn't show up in the recent pics, but I put a foam pre-filter for a Fluval Edge on my intake a few days ago. It fits perfectly


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

The RCS have definitely been settling into their new home. The small amount of algae that I had in the tank has already been devoured, along with any food that I place in there. I had 5 molts in the tank last night, so they are definitely growing


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Another gang feeding frenzy:


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

A quick update...still no berried shrimp, and I have lost at least 5 or 6 of them so far  I'm starting to think that my water and shrimp don't mix. I have a heck of a brown and green spot algae problem too...the anubias are basically covered at this point and wiping the leaves with a paper towel does nothing (usually this works for brown algae at least, but I have some super version in there.) I may try removing the plants and gently scrubbing the leaves with a toothbrush to try to get the algae off...otherwise I'm concerned that the plants may get smothered.

This nano continues to be a challenge. On the other hand, my 55 gallon tank is doing great.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

A quick update, as I haven't been on this forum in a while. Unfortunately, the shrimp haven't worked out for me either. The population continued its slow decline, and at this point I believe I only have one in there. I wonder if the high ph/hardness of my water is what ultimately did the poor little guys in  The tank is in need of cleaning (I've neglected it a bit, and am still having an algae problem with only 6 hours of light,) and once I clean it up I am probably going to reboot it yet again as a single betta tank, keeping the current simple plants in there.

I'll post pics and new info once I get it re-re-setup.


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## naora (Nov 3, 2010)

Chaos_Being said:


> A quick update, as I haven't been on this forum in a while. Unfortunately, the shrimp haven't worked out for me either. The population continued its slow decline, and at this point I believe I only have one in there. I wonder if the high ph/hardness of my water is what ultimately did the poor little guys in .


Did you ever test for copper? Copper settles down on decoration, substrat and plants. Most of the stuff you can buy to kill algae contains copper, and of course if you still have copperpipes in your house those release always a little bit in your water. It's harmless for you but these small shrimp guys react bad to even small doses of it.

Try a copper test.

Edit says: Waterchanges once a week help against those algae. Change 1/2 of the water weekly and wipe the algae of the plants. Maybe you should try with a timeclock (dont know the exact word sorry) to get more than 6 hours of light in the tank.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

The algae is mostly my fault as I admittedly started slacking on the water changes. I did still have some problems with it even with 50% water changes weekly. The current photoperiod is 6 hours of only 9w of light. At this point, it seems that the actual plants are suffering and the darn brown algae is flourishing.

I never did test for copper, so that is definitely a possibility. Actually...yeah I do have some copper pipes visible in my basement come ot think of it. Damn, that is probably it. Grr. I guess the only solution would be to use bottled water...unless there is a way to remove copper from tap water (I take it the dechlorinators that remove "heavy metals" must not do it?)

Either way at this point it probably doesn't matter, I'm considering tearing down this 5g tank and moving stuff into a 10g that I have laying around that I haven't used in a long time. This will allow me to choose a better filter too. The small volume combined with the weak built-in filter of this tank has made it much more difficult to keep balanced then it should be. If/when I do that, I'll retire this thread. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the 10g, it will have my current anubias and java fern it it at least, and that may be it (keeping my 55g as my main planted tank.)


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## naora (Nov 3, 2010)

Chaos_Being said:


> The algae is mostly my fault as I admittedly started slacking on the water changes. I did still have some problems with it even with 50% water changes weekly. The current photoperiod is 6 hours of only 9w of light. At this point, it seems that the actual plants are suffering and the darn brown algae is flourishing.
> 
> I never did test for copper, so that is definitely a possibility. Actually...yeah I do have some copper pipes visible in my basement come ot think of it. Damn, that is probably it. Grr. I guess the only solution would be to use bottled water...unless there is a way to remove copper from tap water (I take it the dechlorinators that remove "heavy metals" must not do it?)


In germany tetra and other companies sell stuff to prepare the water. Most of these things get rid of the copper. 

http://www.drak.de/en/products/water-conditioner/aquadrakon-black.html

http://green-24.de/shop/product/32/1884-3/Sera-Aquatan-Wasseraufbereiter--5000.html

Something like that you should get here too. Disadvantage is these water conditioners bind the copper and it can set down on decoration or the substrate and can get active again later.

Best thing to do:

Use cold water from your tap. Hot water takes more copper from the pipes then cold water. Let the water run for one minute before taking the water for your aquarium.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I'm using a Tetra branded water conditioner for my nano as well (not the same as the ones you linked of course,) which I believe is also supposed to bind copper. I didn't know that it could become active again though. I think my main mistake was adjusting the temperature from my tap, and not flushing out the pipes before using the water to fill my tank. Live and learn, I suppose.

I cleaned out my old 10g and it is actually in good shape, so I am going to be getting a filter and hood for it soon. I'll clean up my anubias and java fern from the 5g and put it in there, as well as some starts of java fern from my 55g. I want to keep it very basic, and it will probably be fish only. I really like the shrimp but they just seem to sensitive.


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