# Planted 5.5



## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

Im new here on the forum and this will be my first attempt at a planted Nano.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

Went shoping for a filter and went with the Hagen Aquaclear 20 and a Toms surface skimmer. I bought an extra box of sponge filters so I can stuff three of them inside. I also picked up some drift wood and they are now in a bucket of water to get the tannins out. Looks like the skimmer is a little to big for this size tank..


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

*Update*








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Sorry for the lack of updates. But here is a picture of my tank as it is now. Its still a work in progress. Its a 5.5 gallon tank with Flourite and Co2. Theres Anubias Nana, Elodea, Glosso, Java Fern. Java Moss, Marimo, And Willow Moss. For Fauna I have four Amano shrimps, Three Ghost Shrimps, Two Ottos and a mix of snails. The tank has been up and running since 9-9-06.


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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

COLEKO said:


> Sorry for the lack of updates. But here is a picture of my tank as it is now. Its still a work in progress. Its a 5.5 gallon tank with Flourite and Co2. Theres Anubias Nana, Elodea, Glosso, Java Fern. Java Moss, Marimo, And Willow Moss. For Fauna I have four Amano shrimps, Three Ghost Shrimps, Two Ottos and a mix of snails. The tank has been up and running since 9-9-06.




cant see the pic--update that hehe


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

Sorry about that. Did not notice it wasnt working.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

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## |GTO| (Oct 9, 2006)

tip here for ya--if your worried about algae ever becoming a problem in your tank, which everyone is..then dont leave your algae scraper in your tank--ever. In your case, a mag float.

In my own horrible experience, mine turned into an algae incubator becuase i left it inside. just a hot tip for ya--anything used to remove algae should never be stored in the place where you dont want algae. food for thought :hihi: 

nice little setup tho--i suggest trying to get as much nice deep and bright greens going as possible to counteract the bright red substrate--it becomes overpowering.

another possibility, if thats flourite? is to take some out and cap with white sand or a more neutral color--it will make your plants stand out better and add to an overall better look--

great start otherwise! ill be looking forward to more updates!

cheers,


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

jdb416 said:


> tip here for ya--if your worried about algae ever becoming a problem in your tank, which everyone is..then dont leave your algae scraper in your tank--ever. In your case, a mag float.
> 
> In my own horrible experience, mine turned into an algae incubator becuase i left it inside. just a hot tip for ya--anything used to remove algae should never be stored in the place where you dont want algae. food for thought :hihi:
> 
> ...



Thanks for the tips:icon_smil . Sofar ive been lucky. Ive never has a major algae break out in this tank yet. Ya The Flourite is really red. Im waiting for my glosso to fill in more in some areas. As for more green, Im still searching for more plants in my area. I might just have to order some online since all this driving around searching is costing me more on gas.


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## CAF (Oct 22, 2006)

Keep an eye out on the swap and shop forum here. A lot of really great people often have plants just for the cost of shipping. It will save you on gas and the cost of the plants at a LFS.

:hihi:


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

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Above is a closeup of the Tom surface skimmer I cut and modified to fit this tank. It works by adjusting the filter to full flow when I need skimming. I also added magnets to the adjustment knob so that it can be removed to fit under my glass top. 








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Here is a shot of my tank on my work desk.








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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

Nice looking setup. Very simple and yet nice looking.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

*Nana*








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Just added an Anubias Nana to the left. I was at my LFS an saw this nice specimen so i bought it. Now im waiting for my other plants to arrive in the mail. More updates when they come in.


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## lljdma06 (Oct 16, 2006)

I enjoy looking at your setup. I think the green contrasts very well actually with your substrate. There's a reason why landscapers use reddish mulch; it looks good against green. Your marimo/marimbo (never know which one it is) balls especially look good against the substrate. I never understood the appeal of those things. We spend so much energy trying to not have algae in the tank and then there are people who are actually putting it in. :hihi: The only thing I would suggest is possibly a background to hide some of your hardware.

Keep us posted, look forward to seeing this little tank develop.

llj:icon_smil


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

Nice i plan on starting a 5.5 gallon nano once i'm done setting up my 55 gallon.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Looks great! It is diffrent seeing a skimmer in a planted tank because generally people dont use them, but I think that you just hit me in the head with an idea to keep shrimplets out of the filter!:hihi: THANKS!

- Andrew


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

lljdma06 said:


> I enjoy looking at your setup. I think the green contrasts very well actually with your substrate. There's a reason why landscapers use reddish mulch; it looks good against green. Your marimo/marimbo (never know which one it is) balls especially look good against the substrate. I never understood the appeal of those things. We spend so much energy trying to not have algae in the tank and then there are people who are actually putting it in. :hihi: The only thing I would suggest is possibly a background to hide some of your hardware.
> 
> Keep us posted, look forward to seeing this little tank develop.
> 
> llj:icon_smil


Thought I try to use the Marimo balls in my tank.. Its hard to find a good spot for them. One time all they did was float mid level hovering around.:hihi: As for the background im going to go with black.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

fish_lover0591 said:


> Nice i plan on starting a 5.5 gallon nano once i'm done setting up my 55 gallon.



There fun. What I like about the small tanks is that if you dont like somthing there easy to change around.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

Fish Newb said:


> Looks great! It is diffrent seeing a skimmer in a planted tank because generally people dont use them, but I think that you just hit me in the head with an idea to keep shrimplets out of the filter!:hihi: THANKS!
> 
> - Andrew



You dont see to many skimmers in a nano tank:hihi: But they sure help when there is surface film. Its not skimming all the time but you can set it to do just that.


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

you are using co2 right? what sized bottle are you using and what are the mesurements of the yeast and etc ? also how long does a bottle last ?


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## trckrunrmike (Jul 20, 2005)

what light are you using?


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

fish_lover0591 said:


> you are using co2 right? what sized bottle are you using and what are the mesurements of the yeast and etc ? also how long does a bottle last ?



Im using the Hagen canister with diy mixture. The recipe that I use is from the forums. Its sugar to the first line then water to the top line. Add 1/4 tsp of yeast and 1 tsp of banking soda. Im not really sure how long it can really last since I change out my mixture every week just to make sure I have a good supply of Co2 in my tank.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

trckrunrmike said:


> what light are you using?


Im using two standard 16 inch aquarium light fixtures with two 15 inch 14 watt Hagen aquaglow bulbs.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

*Help*

I just got some Seachem Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus. Anyone know how many drops of this stuff I should be dosing for a 5.5 tank?


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

*Update*

Here is a update of this tank. Things are growing good.


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## emjhay27 (Sep 2, 2005)

*dude*

dude dats sexy.....
i like da setup already... what live stock u go tthere now??


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

emjhay27 said:


> dude dats sexy.....
> i like da setup already... what live stock u go tthere now??



As of right now theres six Amano shrimp, One Ghost shrimp, Two Ottos, Two Guppies.


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

aquaphish said:


> Nice looking setup. Very simple and yet nice looking.


WOW!!! Not very simple any more. But still very nice!!! Make sure you don't place too many plants into your aquascape. It looks very nice the way it is. Just set back and let it grow in a bit.


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

Hey its progressing really well good job  but becareful once you start dosing ferts as one mistake can lead to chaos in such a small tank and sorry i don't know how much Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus you would need to dose .


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## Solstice (Jan 9, 2006)

COLEKO said:


> I just got some Seachem Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus. Anyone know how many drops of this stuff I should be dosing for a 5.5 tank?


According to SeaChem you should be using:

Nitrogen: .25ml twice a week
Potassium: 1ml 2-3 times a week
Phosphorous: .6ml 1-2 times a week

Get yourself an oral injector like these. They're awesome for dosing small tanks.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

aquaphish said:


> WOW!!! Not very simple any more. But still very nice!!! Make sure you don't place too many plants into your aquascape. It looks very nice the way it is. Just set back and let it grow in a bit.



Im glad you like my aquascape . I got my inspiration from visiting the Foster botanical garden in Oahu. I like the way the plants grow naturally in Hawaii.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

Solstice said:


> According to SeaChem you should be using:
> 
> Nitrogen: .25ml twice a week
> Potassium: 1ml 2-3 times a week
> ...



Wow thanks:thumbsup:. This is good info.


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## Solstice (Jan 9, 2006)

NP  You might want to dose a little less often and kind of ramp up to make sure you don't hit algae issues right off the bat....


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

For anyone living in the OC area or LA county I went to the Cypress college Swapmeet today and picked up all four Stainless tools for $7.50. There is a few people there every weekend that have all kinds of stainless tools for cheap. Just thought I post this here to help out anyone looking for some. My tank is doing good ill post some pics later in the week. Things really started to grow fast.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

*New Pictures*

Well its been a long time since I put up new pictures of the tank. My camera decided not to work one day and I finally had it fixed.


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## Haeun (Mar 9, 2007)

> For anyone living in the OC area or LA county I went to the Cypress college Swapmeet today and picked up all four Stainless tools for $7.50. There is a few people there every weekend that have all kinds of stainless tools for cheap.










I didn't know people had to pay for those. I thought they were everyday tools everyone had lying around in their house. My dad's a vet, and he uses those tools for surgery. He brings home the ones he don't use anymore, so I just use those for my tank.









Anyways. Good improvement since the first picture.
The piece of wood looks a bit overpowering in this tank though. O_O Looks so big, especially with that growth of .. moss? on top. Makes it very dark. Maybe you can lay the wood on its side or something?
Heheh, the mossimo moss balls are cute.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Very nice looking planted tank  Congratulations  I agree I love the Marimo balls as well


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

Here is a couple more pictures of my tank as it is now. I trimmed some moss to get more light in the tank so now its more brighter. Im also waiting for some RCS to go in this tank.


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

One more.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Great looking tank, you've had nice growth :thumbsup:


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## yoko (Mar 16, 2007)

B, I love it!!!! OoOo I had an idea for your "small tree", but I'm not gonna tell you:icon_mrgr 
K I'm gonna email you now :red_mouth


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

*Been a long time/ Updated pictures 3/16/08*

Well it has been about 11 months since I posted a update on my tank. I do not run C02 anymore and pretty much went low tech. I moved around some plants and got rid of others. It now has a nice size colony of RCS, Couple Amanos, and Nerite snails.


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Well still looks great, Got to love the ease of low tech.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Haeun said:


> I didn't know people had to pay for those. I thought they were everyday tools everyone had lying around in their house. My dad's a vet, and he uses those tools for surgery. He brings home the ones he don't use anymore, so I just use those for my tank.


You should sell them in the S&S! Seriously!

EDIT- I TOTALLY saw that this was a year-old post... :icon_redf


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## COLEKO (Aug 25, 2006)

lauraleellbp said:


> EDIT- I TOTALLY saw that this was a year-old post... :icon_redf


I just posted updated pictures last night.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

lol I just didn't catch that this thread had been inactive for a while.

It's a very lovely tank, and kudos on maintaining it so well!


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