# Planted 2.5 low maintenance



## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

Hi all. I started this 2.5g around the holidays and its grown in a bit so I figured I'd post a few pictures. 

Here is my initial set up


And initial planting 12-21-09


Here is a picture of how it looks now. 


I'm going to give the D. diandra another month or so to start growing, otherwise its coming out of there. The plants are Taxiphyllum sp. and U. graminifolia. I dose Excel at about 2x per day. No other ferts or anything. I'm open to suggestions on how to make it better. Thanks!

-Mike


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## DreamProductions (Jan 14, 2010)

Wow very nice tank. Looks very peaceful.
Plan on putting some small fish in or shrimps?


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

DreamProductions said:


> Wow very nice tank. Looks very peaceful.
> Plan on putting some small fish in or shrimps?


He has some CPDs in there. I would love to get some of those--they look so cool in a tank like that. I wonder what a 10 gallon with about 40 of em in it would be like? LOL.


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

The CPDs are actually in my 20L now, but I was debating on CRS or some chili rasboras.

The tank is already swamped with snails. I don't know why they multiplied so fast but I must have 50 of them already. I don't mind them in bigger tanks but in a little one, they are big enough to be distracting. 

Maybe I'll do a few A. helenas and then get a few of the chilis if I can find them local. Frank's is a tad expensive on shipping so I'll be at the mercy of the LFS. Worst case scenario, I have some cherries that wouldn't mind that tank. We will see.


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## hybridtheoryd16 (Mar 20, 2009)

Thats very nice looking.

How much excel are you useing daily? 
Also what lighting are you useing on a daily basis?

And does the flame moss need frequent trimmings or does it stay pretty low in your set up?


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

Thanks for the kind words. I put around 4 mL Excel each day. The light is a 27w desk lamp. I trimmed the moss once but everything is growing slow and steady. I was going for low maintenance and so far its working. 



hybridtheoryd16 said:


> Thats very nice looking.
> 
> How much excel are you useing daily?
> Also what lighting are you useing on a daily basis?
> ...


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

That looks great man. Is it a de-rimmed tank or did you buy it like that?


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

Yeah its my third attempt of it. I cracked the first two. It still has a little bit of silicone at the bottom but it will do.



MrJG said:


> That looks great man. Is it a de-rimmed tank or did you buy it like that?


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

mikeb210 said:


> Yeah its my third attempt of it. I cracked the first two. It still has a little bit of silicone at the bottom but it will do.


Tank looks good! And I broke three tanks trying to derim a 2.5 and gave up. Wish I hadn't though. I really like the way it looks. Any advice?


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

Just go slow. The 2.5 is especially fragile because of how thin the glass is, but its well worth it. I used a box cutter and then just the razor after the rim was off.



Dream2MkBlve said:


> Tank looks good! And I broke three tanks trying to derim a 2.5 and gave up. Wish I hadn't though. I really like the way it looks. Any advice?


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## actioncia (Jun 9, 2005)

Nice looking tank indeed. Is that moss you've got in the foreground?


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

Yes its moss. I'm not sure if its java or flame or any of the other varieties, but I think its java. I tied it to flat stones w/ fishing line and its grown out enough to where the stones are intertwined now. I'm hoping for the ug to replace it, but only time will tell how that goes.



actioncia said:


> Nice looking tank indeed. Is that moss you've got in the foreground?


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## Morainy (Feb 8, 2010)

This is a beautiful tank. I really like that moss. Is it all attached to little stones, or is some of it growing on the substrate now? I'd like to start a tank with moss like this, but have no idea how to keep it in place.


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

wow! A++++ so amazing. UG looks so amazing.


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

Thank you for the kind words :smile:. I'm still trying to make this tank better. 

Yes I tied the moss via 2# fishing line to the stones and then just lined them up. The moss has now grown intertwined and I suspect that lifting one stone will pull the ones next to it up as well. 

I think the following method would work better though, as with mine it is a bit difficult to get the line to hold its place on the smooth stones:

Take a shower puff and unravel it. Cut a piece of it about 4"x4". Spread some of the moss on the stone and then stretch the netting over it. Fasten it underneath with a plastic zip tie. 

It should look like this:



Jason Baliban did a fantastic step by step on this method, but I can't find it right now. I'm using it for Riccia currently and it is working quite well. 

Good luck



Morainy said:


> This is a beautiful tank. I really like that moss. Is it all attached to little stones, or is some of it growing on the substrate now? I'd like to start a tank with moss like this, but have no idea how to keep it in place.


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

Thanks, I'm still waiting to see how it goes over the long term. I'm having issues with the UG in two other tanks so I'm happy its going well in this one. 



AlexXx said:


> wow! A++++ so amazing. UG looks so amazing.


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