# Lara's 5.5 gallon "Minuet"--update 3/15



## Chafire (Jan 6, 2010)

Tank looks sweet!, any chance do you know what type of rocks those are?


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Thank you. The rocks were labeled as "Zebra rock" at my LFS.


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## neumahrs (Jan 12, 2010)

I really like the way it looks, kinda reminds me of the coast. I'm also using zebra rock, but for some reason mine looked way darker when wet.

Anyways I'm looking forward to seeing more pics once the plants start growing in.


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Water is clear! I'm so excited. Though, I do feel that it needs to be refined. I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticisms! The CPDs are pale because I had just turned on the lights. 

neumahrs, I'm sure there's a lot of variation with any type of rock. Though, I don't trust that LFS to label rocks correctly. Maybe they figured that any rock with stripes could be called zebra rock? LOL.

Edit: You know... I was just looking at the pictures and realized that the Blyxa really doesn't fit in. Do you agree? What can I put there instead? I was thinking about downoi, since it's smaller. Maybe a few in the corner?


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Wow, just discovered this one. Awesome! I like how different this one is. How are you going to keep the sand so steep? Nice one.


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

Sweet! roud:roud:


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## CRSlover (Jan 8, 2010)

i really like the sand and the rock... look cool


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Thanks!! As for keeping the sand steep, I'm hoping that the rocks are enough to keep it like that. The rocks are actually quite large and are mostly under the sand 

I think I'm going to plant more HC though. It's sitting in a bowl of water right now, so I might as well :smile:


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## flyjsh (Jun 2, 2008)

the center "channel" -- are you going for a dry riverbed look? If so, you might try to find some small round stones (pea gravel or smaller) to line the channel.

Other than that, looks very good. looking forward to seeing it grown in.


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## strom (Jan 17, 2010)

Hi, first post! Just started reading tonight and caught this thread. Really nice. I have a Finnex 4 I'm going to start soon.

Love the hardscape! I have no clue to that.


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## strom (Jan 17, 2010)

I confess. I've been reading for months. First thread read tonight.


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

i love the hills and zebra rocks! i agree the blyxa seems out of place. i think more carpet there would look great. some times i think nano tanks look better with a larger scale of carpeting


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## neumahrs (Jan 12, 2010)

Maybe instead of the blyxa you could put some giant hairgrass trimmed to the same height as the blyxa and another small rock.


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

strom said:


> I confess. I've been reading for months. First thread read tonight.


LOL. Thanks for the compliments 

*JennaH*: Thanks, that's what I did today! I took out the Blyxa and added more HC. I like it much better now. I'd still like to refine the scape before I let it grow in, but I have to think about what else I can do differently.

*neumahrs*: I think adding another rock would be a great idea, though I'd have to find one small enough. I did also want to line the 'river' with some small pebbles or rocks. I'll see what I can find, and if it looks good. I have a hard time imagining what things might look like!

*flyjsh*: thanks! yep, dry river bed is what I'm aiming for. I wanted something like a river flowing between two cliffs, and I think I accomplished that on the left side, but not so much on the right side. I'm shocked at how different the pictures look compared to 'real life'. the hills look much higher in real life, and that left cliff looks much taller as well. strange!


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Brief update: 

I took out the Blyxa and added more HC. I also added an extra stem of Limnophila 'guinea'. When I have time (maybe next weekend), I'll see if I can find some small rocks/stones to refine the scape. I'm still open to suggestions! 

It's tough to get good pics during the day, so I'll replace that 2nd pic after I get some 'night time' pics.


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## lilsoccakid74 (Jul 13, 2008)

beautiful tank! i love the pronounced slope, makes the fish swimming over it look really cool. should look great when the plants grow in!


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## neumahrs (Jan 12, 2010)

If you have a hard time finding small rocks, you can break up larger pieces. Zebra rock breaks up pretty nicely with a slotted screw driver and a hammer (just don't use a nice screw driver)


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

great pic w/ all the fish! looks much better without the blyxa


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

lilsoccakid74: thanks  I can't wait until it's filled in!

neumahrs, I did try that, but instead of breaking the rocks, I severely dented my hammer! Although, I was using the hammer directly on the rock. I suppose that if I used a screwdriver, the force would be much more concentrated and the rock my actually break. I'll try it!

JennaH, thanks! I thought so too :icon_smil

More good news about this tank.... All three of my female cherries are berried!!!! You can see them in this pic :icon_smil


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Update pictures:



















Rotala forest:









Left side:


















I think that the hills are not as high as they were last week :icon_frow Are my mountains going to keep sinking like that? I'm really sad about it.


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

it looks great! make sure u dont over stock though and that those fish dont eat your shrimp babies!


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Looking really good. Unfortunately yes, your hills will probably settle some over time. But it still looks awesome!


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

*AlexXx*: you know, I just realized that my tank is overstocked. Originally, this tank only had 6 CPDs in it. I decided to move the CPDs to another tank because I just wanted to take this tank down. I moved the CPDs but got lazy about taking the tank down--it sat there for about 3 days with the filter and heater off. One day, I decided to finally empty the tank, and I saw so many CPD babies in there!!! They were almost microscopic and stuck to the glass. At first, I wasn't sure that they were fish! 

So all this really happened by accident. They grew so fast and before I knew it, the tank was overstocked! I have a 25 gallon that I can move the "babies" to, so i'll be doing that this week (I just decided after reading your comment!). I'll leave 5 or 6 in there to see if they'll spawn :icon_smil. Thanks for the heads up about being overstocked!

Oh, about the shrimp babies--I started with 10 shrimp in October and now I have about 40! I guess a lot of them are surviving :icon_smil

*Outlawboss*: that's too bad :icon_conf I hope it won't settle too much more. Thanks for the compliment though


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

I removed 8 or so CPDs and put them in my 25 gallon. They seem happy there, and this tank can breathe now! I'll probably transfer a few more to the 25 gallon. Eventually, I think this will be a shrimp-only tank. 

And the reason why is.... I got some tiger shrimp!! They are gorgeous. I'm so happy. Here's a picture:










I think the CPDs are eating some of my RCS babies, and that makes me angry :angryfire


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

woooowww where did u get that amazing lil guy! and how much!


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

They just arrived yesterday; I bought them from Jeremy VanderKelen off the SnS here :icon_bigg He posted a 'for sale' thread a week or two ago. Amazing price, too!

Oh, I wanted to post a picture of a shrimp I have, because It looks different from most. My cherry shrimp gave birth to it (yes, I'm positive), and now it's berried! Is this just a wild type neocaridina? I know it's just brown, but I really like it!


























I also just took this picture....How toxic is fertilizer? I'd love to know, because my cat just discovered the tank and I think she's been drinking from it. :icon_conf


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## mumushummus (Sep 16, 2009)

lol the cat picture is awesome!


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

that brown shrimp is amazing!


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Amazonfish said:


>


Your brown cherry shrimp looks like a wild color type.
Is it just me or do I see blue tinting on that brown cherry shrimp?


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## Bonefish (Mar 14, 2009)

This is a beautiful concept. It reminds me of talus slopes at the base of mountains, where there are pebbles mixed in with larger boulders, and a few patches of grass and shrubs manage to work their way between the rocks. 

The shape is dynamic, I love those sweeping hills.


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

PinoyBoy said:


> Your brown cherry shrimp looks like a wild color type.
> Is it just me or do I see blue tinting on that brown cherry shrimp?


No, I think it must just be the angle that the picture was taken. It really is brown. Is it strange that I really like the color of my brown shrimp? I found another brown shrimp in this tank, and she's berried, too!

*TsuRyuu*, it really does resemble talus slopes!! I hadn't thought of that at all! Thanks 

I think I'm going to replace the marsilea patches with HC. Marsilea grows much slower than HC, and I'm afraid that I'm just going to have a bunch of bald patches in the scape. I'm going to try to add HC in the front left corner of the tank, too, where (unfortunately) the filter intake is. Any opinions on that?

Edit: Also, I got a bronze membership today  I'm pretty excited.


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

I thought I'd post an update on this tank since it has been a couple of weeks. The HC growth is reeeeally slow. I think it might be time to trim the java moss, though I'm afraid of what it will look like when I'm done... Usually I take the moss rocks out and trim them in a separate container, but I don't want to mess up the scape on this one. 

I have some super exciting news!!!! One of the Tiger shrimp I got last week is berried!! I'm so so so happy! Here she is:










And here are some other weird shrimp I saw in my tank (I seem to have a lot of strange colored shrimp):

A white "cherry" shrimp:









A beige "cherry" shrimp:









Today's FTS:


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

I love this tank. I don't know what it is yet. Maybe it's the unusual substrate color. Or, maybe it's the oddball colored cherry shrimp. 

The cool thing about Java moss (and really any of the mosses) is that you can whack them back pretty good and they'll always come back in a few weeks and look just as cool as ever.


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

man i love this tank. Odd shrimp too! hahah. I wish my tank was growing like yours!


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## Bonefish (Mar 14, 2009)

Looking gorgeous-- and unbelievably spotless! What a clean 'scape. 

Congrats on the berried shrimp. Hopefully you'll see a few Mini-Mes running around in a couple weeks.


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## dj2005 (Apr 23, 2009)

Outlawboss said:


> I love this tank. I don't know what it is yet.


For me it is the natural appearance it has, along with the sense of scale. Great job on the tank.


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## Jason K (Jan 3, 2009)

So I've heard many times that CPDs should be in 10+ gal tanks at minimum. Are the CPDs in this setup healthy/active?


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

I believe that my CPDs are really healthy--I've had them since birth  I've experienced one loss, but it was a jumper :-(

The CPDs were really active when they were in a group of 20 (this was a grow out tank). I transferred 13 of them to a different tank, and the remaining 7 have become EXTREMELY skittish. They hide almost all the time, and are scared to come out to eat. I felt so bad that I decided to move the rest of them to the other tank. I've moved a few more since then, but I can't seem to catch the remaining 4. They hide in the rotala 'forest'. It's going to be tough!

I'm not sure why 10 gallons is stated as the minimum. Swimming room maybe? They are active, but I wouldn't consider them to be fast swimmers, and they do like to 'hover' from time to time.


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## actioncia (Jun 9, 2005)

Nice looking tank you've got there!


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Trim time... I feel like trimming always brings the 'scape a step back, but it's still necessary :redface:

I was DREADING having to trim the moss. It was definitely time though. I tried to trim the moss rocks while they were still in the tank, but that made the biggest, most regrettable mess I've ever seen. It took me an hour to get all the pieces out. In any case, even after going through all the trouble, I had to take the moss rocks out anyway :angryfire I waited way too long to trim, because the moss that was holding everything to the biggest rock had died....

I had to tie new moss onto that rock, and now it doesn't have that nice bushy look to it anymore. At least I know that java moss grows fast! 

The rotala in the back right isn't doing very well at the moment, and I think it's because I backed off on dosing ferts. I had a few cherry shrimp die in the past few weeks, and I thought it might be the copper in the micros. I have a feeling that it's not the ferts, so I'm going to start dosing again. I replanted some HC because some of the sand that settled buried a lot of it. It doesn't look like it has filled in, but I promise it has. I had to 'transplant' some to areas where I removed marsilea and dwarf hairgrass. It should start to fill in better now 

Here's a 'before' picture:









And here are some 'after' pictures:


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## tak13 (Jan 12, 2010)

How do you grow the java moss?
I just got a small portion of java moss and I don't know what do to with it.
Can you tie them to a piece of rock?


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

I tied my java moss to a rock. You can tie it to wood as well. Make sure to trim it when it gets really bushy though, because the part attached to the rock will die and it will come apart from the rock.


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## tak13 (Jan 12, 2010)

Amazonfish said:


> I tied my java moss to a rock. You can tie it to wood as well. Make sure to trim it when it gets really bushy though, because the part attached to the rock will die and it will come apart from the rock.


So Java moss can grow floating right? it doesn't need to attach to the soil? So tie it to a rock just to keep it not floating right?
Thanks for reply!


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## hybridtheoryd16 (Mar 20, 2009)

tak13 said:


> So Java moss can grow floating right? it doesn't need to attach to the soil? So tie it to a rock just to keep it not floating right?
> Thanks for reply!


Exactly .....tie it to a rock or drift wood or let it float if your current is low enough.

And if you tried to bury some of it in the soil to hold it down, that would rot away very quickly.


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## tak13 (Jan 12, 2010)

Any update?


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

The tank is doing well, except for a couple of things:

1. I had to replant all the HC on the left side because when I let the water level get a bit low, the water pouring out from the filter uprooted all of the HC on that side 

2. I started dosing excel and ferts again, and I've had two more dead cherries. It's gotta be either the ferts or excel. I'm really upset, because my favorite cherry died--she was the brown 'cherry' a couple pages back. Could it really be the ferts? I need to figure this out. Maybe I should dose excel every other day instead of every day. 

The lights are already out for the night, so I'll have to wait until after the sun sets tomorrow to get some pictures. The java moss has already grown back and I think it's time for another trim.


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Quick update pic 

As you can see, the replanted left side has a lot of growing to do. The HC on the right side is coming along though. I know, I know. I should take care of those snails. I'll start this week. And I need to trim the rotala to let is branch again.


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## hyphination (Sep 25, 2008)

looking good! I especially like the elevated bank on the left. Reminds me of a river bend or something.


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

how are the shrimpies doing?! The tank is coming long great! The bank is slowing deteriorating though i can see


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## derf9h (Dec 9, 2007)

Amazonfish said:


> They just arrived yesterday; I bought them from Jeremy VanderKelen off the SnS here :icon_bigg He posted a 'for sale' thread a week or two ago. Amazing price, too!
> 
> Oh, I wanted to post a picture of a shrimp I have, because It looks different from most. My cherry shrimp gave birth to it (yes, I'm positive), and now it's berried! Is this just a wild type neocaridina? I know it's just brown, but I really like it!
> 
> ...



My all black cat does the same thing! He would rather drink this than the fresh water I give him in the toilet :icon_lol:


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## Aquarist_Fist (Jul 22, 2008)

Excellent tank! I like the notion of HC being grown successfully without pressurized CO2.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

nice catfish. ever think about putting in a white or back background to hide the chord from the heater? Just a thought. Looking good!!


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Aquarist_Fist: As it turns out, I'm not even using DIY CO2!! The excel alone is growing this carpet 

Fat Guy: I think I'm just going to move the cord out of the way. For this tank, I think i'd prefer a white background.

derf9h: Haha. It must be a black cat thing, because my gray cat doesn't go for tank water!



I'm really enjoying this tank, except that the left side carpet won't stay down!! I keep having to replant every few days, and it's been that way for months. The flow from the filter is uprooting everything daily. I keep the water level high, but that doesn't seem to help. Any suggestions?


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Very nice tank! Love the scape :icon_mrgr


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Well...I'll be starting my second year of med school this fall and won't have time for all 6 of my tanks. So... even though I've really enjoyed this tank, I've chosen to take this one down in favor of my larger tanks. I've posted the tank as a RAOK on the SnS if you want it!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

derf9h said:


> My all black cat does the same thing! He would rather drink this than the fresh water I give him in the toilet :icon_lol:


 

not to thread jack... but my cat won't drink hardly anything except running water from the tub faucet... lol...


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