# Zac's Finnex 4 Gallon



## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Pardon the Black & White, I was playing with the iPhone. The green colors are actual colors though. Baby tears are growing like crazy. I purchased the Finnex 4 Gallon Deluxe model but ended up using the PX 360 canister filter on my Fluval Edge. Ended up using a Rea Sea HOB filter on this setup. I'll post specs below.

Fish are doing great. Water parameters are perfect aside from slightly high PH. My algae shrimp keep dying. Any suggestions? I want to buy some more expensive ones but am skeptical until I can get the algae shrimp to live first. Help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

Equipment:

Finnex 4 Gallon Curved Aquarium
Red Sea HOB Filter
Finnex Epoch Cliplight with Blue / White bulb 10,000k / 30000k
I'm not sure what brand co2. Can be found on eBay 
"Nano aquarium CO2 system Kit diffuser regulator"

Enjoy!


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

I don't know why the image is distorted. Click the image to see actual size!


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## Ben. (Mar 29, 2011)

What's the other pump for in there? circulation?


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## Bree (Dec 17, 2010)

That looks so cool! I am officially jealous, not to mention my search begins for that light!


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Ben. said:


> What's the other pump for in there? circulation?


Ya, I was looking online for ways to get rid of hair algae. More flow and more water changes was what I found. So far that combo has been just right.


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Bree said:


> That looks so cool! I am officially jealous, not to mention my search begins for that light!


Goodluck with your search! They're on amazon with free shipping~~


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Wow, that's beautiful! Is that Blyxa in the back? It looks really cool! And the foreground! Wow, that's just so dense!

As for the dying shrimp, have you tested your water quality (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, etc.) Because shrimp will die at the drop of a hat if ammonia and nitrite are even 1 ppm. I know, ridiculous. But good luck and keep a good journal!

BEAUTIFUL TANK!


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## Bettacrazy (May 22, 2011)

what is it stocked with? nice job aquascaping!


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

When you say algae shrimp, are you referring to Amano shrimp? The reason I ask is because I have found those to be nearly bulletproof. 
A few things that I can think of to check for if your shrimp are dying are ammonia and nitrite levels, obviously, but if they are fine you might want to check your PH levels early in the morning. If your CO2 system isn't turning off at night it is possible that you may be experiencing a very low PH early in the morning just before the lights come on. I checked one of my desktop tanks just before lights on because I noticed the shrimp behaving lethargicly and if you disturbed them they would just sort of weakly flop over and then right themselves. It turned out my PH was extremely low, so I had to tweak things to keep that from happening.
Small tanks are prone to PH fluxuations so that is one thing to look into.


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## Lisa816 (Nov 4, 2010)

Wow! That is beautiful!!! What is the low plant in the foreground? And is it growing attached to something or is it in the substrate? Great job on the aquascape!!!


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## kokomon (May 23, 2011)

really nice HC color!


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Thanks for the input about the shrimp Geniusdudekiran & Aphyosemion. I will def monitor the pH in the morning. There's really no hint of Ammonia so I am chalking it up to pH swings that have gone unnoticed. The shrimp are the cheap algae shrimp you can find a Petsmart.

Here's another pic for you guys:


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Quick question... I'm curious as to why I am experiencing pretty good color and growth with the 10,000k & 30,000k blue white bulb? I always thought 6500k was best. I was actually going to purchase the 6500k but the color the 10k-30k bulb puts out was more visually pleasing to my eyes. Can anyone chime in?


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## Quentin (Mar 16, 2011)

Nice pics, especially for an iphone. I like ur tank. I have a finnex even tho mine isn't quite as nice.


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Quentin said:


> Nice pics, especially for an iphone. I like ur tank. I have a finnex even tho mine isn't quite as nice.


Thanks! It just needs some TLC!


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Here's some before and after pics. First pick is week 1-2ish. The last pic was taken 3 days ago, 8 weeks later.


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## swoof (Jun 30, 2010)

Zac said:


> Quick question... I'm curious as to why I am experiencing pretty good color and growth with the 10,000k & 30,000k blue white bulb? I always thought 6500k was best. I was actually going to purchase the 6500k but the color the 10k-30k bulb puts out was more visually pleasing to my eyes. Can anyone chime in?


 The 10k is a brighter whiter light witht the blue added in it looks brighter like we want to see, plus could be the reason you are having some algae issues. The 6.5k is a better spectrum for the plants without it being so bright it washes everything out. I could be wrong and i'm sure someone will pipe in if so  Is that the 24w light?


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

swoof said:


> The 10k is a brighter whiter light witht the blue added in it looks brighter like we want to see, plus could be the reason you are having some algae issues. The 6.5k is a better spectrum for the plants without it being so bright it washes everything out. I could be wrong and i'm sure someone will pipe in if so  Is that the 24w light?


Thanks for the input. Yes, I did have hair algae in the beginning but with more frequent water changes that problem is gone.

This is a 26w energy saving bulb that supposively is equal to 100W. I don't know what that is calculated, lol.


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## swoof (Jun 30, 2010)

That's just saying it's the equivilant of an incandecent 100w bulb but only uses 26w. I have the same thing with a 6500k bulb on my Fluval Flora and i get a lot better growth from the plants on the bottom of the tank vs the 13w it comes with. With both the 24w and the 13w my plants pearl with the right amount of CO2.


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Here's an updated pic of my Finnex for you guys. I need to buy the proper trimming tools as I assume maintenance would be much easier! I saw a post of someone making their edge an open top rimless. I may do the same with my edge next.

Here's a pic with an actual camera instead of my iphone.


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## Quentin (Mar 16, 2011)

Looks nice and healthy. Do you still have shrimp in there?


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

looks great zac!


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

Quentin said:


> Looks nice and healthy. Do you still have shrimp in there?


Yep. There are a few in hiding. Not sure what the problem was in the beginning but everything has since then stabilized :thumbsup:


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Update!


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## Cottagewitch (Oct 22, 2009)

Lovely tank!


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## Aldon (Jun 16, 2011)

Dang Dude!! very nice tank! Srry if u have already stated this somewhere i just skimmed through your thread. but my question is what are u using to fertilize this tank? and would u mind posting a pic of what your co2 rig looks like?
Thanks and great tank


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## sssnel (Nov 8, 2011)

I love that tank!


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## Zac (Dec 16, 2010)

You guys will hate me for it but ...the carpet was getting to look like a jungle so I removed it to another tank. Here it is now:


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## Fluidmachine (Oct 20, 2011)

Not the carpet! Oh well, what can you do.

Very nice tank by the way. Looking at getting myself one of these Finnex. How is the little canister filter that comes with it?


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